The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1870-11-23
An Island of Silver.

h.. We have.before alluded to the Sill
yer Island of the north shore of Lake
Superior, in the British Possessions
just below Thunder Cape, and some
fifteen miles beyond Fort William
The island is quite small in d.
mensions-say one hundred feet by
forty-and the most of tits submerg-
ed at high water-a small part at one
end is about eight feet above the lake.
level. This island was entered by the
Montreal Mining Company, as part
of track embracing 108,000 acres;
and the island was subsequently pur-
chased of them by Captain William
B. Frew formerly of the Portage
Lake and superintendent of the South
Pewaubic Copper Mine), for himself
and associates, including among them
Major Sibley of New York, a brother,
we think, of Gen. Sibley ComleY, of
ST. Paul. the Montreal Mining Com
pany first made the discovery that the
island contained silver, and by their
agents sunk shaft on the island /;
but these knew littleor nothing about
mining, and the water coming in upon
them, further working of their mine
| was abandoned as useless. Itwas on
iIy this last summer that Capt. F. and
his company completed their bargain
with the Montreal Company for the
tisland, and secured it by paying or
/ agreeing to pay S25O,O00 for tine en-
| tire 100000 acres. They went i'm
mediately to work at improving the
mine in stworkmanlike manner. p.
Their first step was to surround the
island with cribs Of. timber filed with
stone, to serve as a break-water and
ice breaker; and within these cribs a
Golfer dam was built and puddled with
| olay, having the effect Of making the
| whole interior of the Island nearly
water tight, at least from the intru-
sions of the Lake. The next step
was to set up two large syphon pumps
| worked by steam, by which the inside
was pumped dry, or nearly SO, and it
has since been found that very little
working of the pumps daily Keeps the
Island clear of water entirely They
then went to work laying bare the
vein,r and have exposed seventy feet in
length, aud find it to be true fssure
vein with perpendicular walls-the
vein or silver matrix being calcareous
spar with some little quartz intermix-
ed. The vein is eight feet wide, and
eve witnesses from there state that for
one quarter of this width it will av-
.erage seventy per cent. of pure silver.
| On the first trial, after the water was
gotten out, six men took out over
SIS. 900 worth of silver in four days;
and up to the latest accounts the work
ing has been continued at about this
rate. Already one hundred and twen
ty-three barrels of native silver, esti-
mated to be worth s75, 900 to $780,
900 have have been shipped The
yield of the mine, computing by the
ton, is not less than a dollar to the
poundl The mine employs now about
forty men, and will increase their force
Immediately a.
The royal paid on this to- tho En-
glish Government is quite srnall-not
exceeding one-twentieth. Eye WIT
nesses of intelligence, judgment and
experience report that Captain Frew
will probably take out of silver, up to
the opening of navigation next spring,
from 81 600, 600 to SO, ,0G0,00 in
money valuel The steamer Meteor
conveyed down the Lakes, on her trip