The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1880-04-13
THE oUrLooK:
views OF u Prominent Mining operator
on Bufte's Prospects.
why the Railroad Should be Const rueted
Direct to this City.
which Is the Center Of Business. popuIa.
ton and Wealth.

"~ A''"i'S llteleSt III tnlS camp, TO note the
good opinion which every visitor to this city
forms IN regard to the Butte mines. No ex-
pert, mining operator or capitalist of any
note who has given any study to the forma-
ton and the other characteristics of the mines
OF the Summit Valley district has ever left
the camp without expressing here and else
where the most favorable opinions as to their
exceptional value and permanence.
Opinions do not make mines, nor is expert
testimony at all times reliable, but when men
Of conceded good judgment and the highest
respectability, who have devoted their lives
to the business of mining, and who have ex-
amined and operated in every mining camp
on the Coast, come here and express a disin-
terested and deliberate conviction that this is
the most promising camp they have ever ex-
amined, with the single exception of the
Comstock region in the early days, it must be
apparent to all that some solid grounds exist
upon which we may reasonably base the most
hopeful expectations. Mr.. A. o. eager and
W. S. Godbe, who during the past week have
been visiting the district, are no exceptions to
the rule. They are we'll known in Eastern
financial circles, command an immense CAPT.
tai, and their extended experience in mining
is of a nature to place their opinions on that
subject high above the value of ordinary
speculation. Before his departure on the
coach yesterday morning, Nr. Godbe was ap-
preached for his views on the mining outlook
here, and in reply to a query said:
"The camp is about three tines as large as
l imagined it to be, and l was equally MS
taken in my impressions as to the number
and magnitude of the mines now in process
of Developments
"What is your opinion of the Alice"
cit is one of the most valuable properties 1
ever examined. 1t is what the newspapers
call a bonanza and the term seems to be well
chosen. 1 quite agree with the very flatter-
ing reports of Professors Blake and Clayton
in regard to the mine, though before l had
seen the property, l must confess l thought
them somewhat highly c0lored. The company
is fully justified in my estimation in the cree
ton of the forty stamp mill, and with abso-
iuIC SaiCGy, ! tAilih, A'iSub HdfC uutDlCu tldU
number of stamps. There should not be
fewer than one hundred stamps in operation
on Alice ore within twelve months, and from
the present showing in the mine | think their
erection may be safely calculated upon"
GLOW do you regard the general prospects
of the camp"
"~Encouraging in the extreme, and more
certain to be realized from the fact that the
prosperity of the district is rot dependent
on one or two leading companies. From
what | can ascertain. there is at least one
other mine here, the Gagnon, equally rs
promising as the Alice, and a large number,
the value and permanencc of which are be-
coming daily less doubtful. | fully coincide
in the opinion frequently expressed that with
in a short time Butte Will boast Of more div
idend paying mines than any other camp in
the West. The entire hill nortl! Of the city
seems to be lnterlaced with lodges, 'hc large
into fine properties"
"What do you regard as the principal
drawbacks Of the diStricL?'
81 see none which may not be readily over
come. The camp is in its infancy. it is not
yet out of long clothes, it the expression
may be used, and it needs -" helping hand OF
capital to give it nnurishncnt and growth.
But you may dupen, that capital will come,
for it always has an eye to its own interest,
One serious drawback seems to be the lack OF
the necessary machinery. Water appears tc
be always encountered here at no very great
distance from the surface, and with only q
windlass or a within deep mining is of course
impossible, SO that the camp suffers from lack
of d~evelopment-a defect which time vii.
remedy. Another circumstance Which tenn,
porarily checks the progress of the camp, Is it,
isolation from the rans-continental lines o.
travel, but the railroad men will soon put I
stop to any complaint on that score"
"You think then that the road will be
constructed direct to Butte by the neares
practicable route ?7
81 certainly see nothing TO prevent such :
belief. Railroads are not built for glory, al,
that would be MI. Gould's only reward shoul,
he build the road to Helena before e~Xten1in!
it to this city. | think no uneasiness need b.
felt on the railroad score. Coming dowI
from Walkerville to-day l noticed, near Mr.
Meader's office, between two and three thous
and tons of copper ore sacked ready for ship
ment, and, as a gentleman remarked, mutel,
appealing to the railroad company for cheaI
transportation. Mr.. Meader, 1 am Informed
intends during the present year to ship at leas
five thousand tons of ore to Pennsylvania 70
reduction. The Alice company, as Tie NIINEI
announced this morning, will ship into tn
Territory fully four thousand tons ofminin,
and milling machinery and supplies. Thu
by eXlenliug The road to Butte this year th