The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-11-17
.uIuth Minne
SILVER.


| Whole Island ofsIIrer on the North
shore MlllioEs Being Taken Out
The Most Remarkable Discovery o.
the Age. ... .f.....,, -...., .....
We have before alluded to the Sil,
yer Island OF the north shore Of Lake
Superior, in the British Possessions
/ lust below Thunder Cape, and sOmt
/ fifteen miles beyond Fort William,
I The island is quite small in dimen'
I sions-say one hundred feet by forty,
! and the most of it is submerged al
nigh water-a small part at one end
is about eight feet above the lake lev
/ eI. This island was entered by the
Montreal Mining Company as part oi
a tract embracing lOS,OO0 acres, and
I the island was subsequently pur-
chased of them by Capt. VIM. Frew
/ formerly of Portage Lake, and Su-
perinteudent OF the South Pewabic
copper mine, for himself and associ-
ates, including among them Major
Sibley, of New York, a brother, we
think, of Gen. Sibley, Of st. Paul.
The Montreal Mining Company
first made the discovery that the is-
land contained silver, and by their
agents sunk a shaft on the island, but
these knew but little or nothing about
mining, and the water coming in up
5h, them further working Of their
mine was abandoned as useless. II
7 WIS only this last summer that Cap
Ckin F. and his Company completed
their bargain with the Montreal Com
oany for the island, and secured il by
paying, or agreeing to pay, S25O, O,OUO
fOr the entire l0S,0O0 acres. They
went Immediately 70 work at i'm
lproving the mine in q "wOtkmanlike
Banner Their first step was 10 sur
e6und the island with cribs Of timber
flied with stone, TO serve as a break
1rater and icebreaker; and within
these cribs a Golfer dam was built, and
puddled with clay, having the effect
Of making the whole interior of the
island nearly water-tight, at least
tfrOm the intrusion OF the lake. d"
The next step was to set up two
| large syphon pumps worked by steam
! by when tbs inside was pumped dry,
or nearly so, and il has since been
/ found that very little working OF
the pumps daily keeps the island
clear of water entirely. Then they
went to work laying bare the vein
and now have exposed seventy feel
IN length. and find It to be true
fissure vein, with perpendicular walk
the vein of silver alatriX being cal
lcareOus spar, with some little quartz
! intermiXed. The vein l. eight fee
wide, and eye witnesses from there
state that fOr one-quarter of thk
width il will average 20 per cent. 'o
pure silver. 'Hr .''.a .a.' "+.' r
On the first trial after the water was
| gotten out six men took out S35, ,O0l
worth ofsilver in four days; and uI
to the latest accounts, the working
has been continued about this rate.
Already I25 barrels of native silver,
estimated to be worth S75, 900 TO 500,
600 have been shipped. The yield o
the mine computed by the ton, is no
less than q dollaTtO the pound. ph'
/ mine employs about forty men, anC
tine Company will increase their force
/ Immediately D. ~ ....-
The "rOyalty" paid on. this to tht
! English Government is quite small
not exceeding One-twentieth. Eye
I witnesses. Of intelligence, judgmen
and experience report that Captain
Frew will probabl Y take out silver
\ up to the opening Of navigation mex
spring, fOm 81, 900, 600 to 50, ,000, ,O00 il
money value. -... ,nr.. :s.sat.-..h .
4, The steamer Meteor conveyed dOWI
the lakes on her trip before last sixty
1.-TWO barrels of silver. This silver is
land Is no hambug, but an actua
bona fde affair, in which the mos
I wonderful results have already beer
obtained, and all bids fair to make j
3 in yield and richness the most re
markable mining discovery in thi
country for many years. Some mass
es of silver went down on the MeteO
larger and heavier than a man cOult
lift. A part of the island vein, sa,
1.-TWO feet Of the eight feet in width,
1nderfully rich, and 1t is from thi
fp9Ftion that the large silver masse
are-extracted. Other rich mines Q
I silver ane reported as having Oeel
found on the main north shore in th
range of Silver Island, and Captain
I Hodson, of Portage Lake, has gon
/ g. ,,,-,-o ,,i,o q ooronanry n work thprf