New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-12-05
LEADVILLE AND IT'S MINES.
TIE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE CHIEF.

RESERVES lMPROBABIITY OF FUTURE LIS
CoVRRIHs or PAY ROCK.
IRON 4 STAFF ,oRIl2sPoNDENT OF THE TRBUSEj
LFADvIILE, Col. Sept 1G.-Lying almost IN tn'
mdde OF the two great ore shutes OF Fryer hlD'
and sandwched IN between the properties OF the
Little Pittsburc and the Cbrysolitc Companies.
ne Little Chief mine though smaller in area thai
either cf It's immediate neighbOrs, was one OF tn
richest of the remarkable district in winch II Is ST.
uatcd. Daring its brief but brilliant career l.
yielded more ore. believe, than any other clam ri
equal extent III the vicinity of Loadville, anu IL
vas worked so systematically that during the as'
fsw months before II gave out the removal or us
reserves was as simple matter as the taking OF
-four out of a barrel. 1t is now among the mines
nat were, the practical exhaustion Oh it havin'
been completed during the carly days of my present
lay in Leadville and, after a VISIT to the under
grouud workings of IT, telcgraDhed an account OF
its exact condition 10 The TRIBUNE
When the Little Pttsburg stock was placed upon
the MAJ ket, six cen months ago, there was con
test pending the possession OF the ground heid
by the owners of the Little Chef The Little Pitts
burg people asserted that the BODY IN the Little
Chief was part OF their vein, and that under tile
mining laws OF the United States they were entitled
10 IL wherever It might lead remember that much
stress was laid upon this clam during my former
visit this camp, and that some OF the purchasers
OF the Lutte Pitsburg stock ANTICIPATED that the
value of Their property would be greatly increased
when they captured the Little Chief ground.
Subsequent to MAY. 1879 it was found that the orc
deposits on Fryer Hi OF such Irregular char
acer and Were SO broken up anu pooke;y, that il
would inc almost impossible for the owner Of any
Eine there to prove the continuity OF me vein which
he owned beyond the boundaries OF his claim, or, IL
deed, to prove the existence of VEIN at all aud by
general consent he operations OF each COMPANY
which owned property on the hill were confined 10 the
area of which it held undispdtcd possession on tie
surface. No similar compromises have been made
elsewhere than on Fryer Hill. On Carbonate and
Iron Hills, the ore lies IN well-'!eflncd contact
veins the course of winch may be traced without
difficulty. On Fryer Hill the undoubtedly lies
between porphyry ana limestone. but the space be-
tween these two formations - very great and IS
filled with rregu ar masses Of iron ore through and
around when the silver and lead ore IL distributed
IN irregular bodies. believe that none of the
ploratIons Oh Fryer Hill have yet been carried down
to the underlying limestone
FIRST IMPRESSIONS or LITTLE CHIPF.
4 general description of the oIe deposits in the
Little Chief mine will be found IN a letter which
recently wrote to THF TRIBUNE the Two great
ore shutes of Fryer Hill. Both OF these shuies
shute being about $50 feet and the south one about
10 feet wide In The early spring Of ,hIs year MIR.
George DAILY, the manager OF the nine made All
estimate of H., ore IN sight in it. At that time
mart of the nine had been blocked out, but there
was large ara which showed the presence OF goCt
ore IL aba. dance on three SIDES through tho
middle of which no prospecting drift had
been cut II was not at all unnatural that undet
the circumstances Mr. Daly should suppose that the
ore continued all of the way through this extensive
piece of ground. Bur when be began 10 explore ii
more thoroughly he found that, instead OF having
solid block of ore something less thal 800 feet
across, there was simply Shell Of ore incIosing
large core of barren pprphyry. II was as though
we should estimate the amount of pulp in n
peach by measuring aud weighing it. forgetting
that there was a large mt IN the centre.
As soon AS hc discovered the istal1e which he
h.. made, Mr. DAILY says that he at once informed
the officers # the company, ana from that time
until the mine was finally exhausted he constantly
warned the company that the end was approaching.
Prospecting drits were driven III every direction
until the underground workings If the Little Chef
mine became a labyrinth of pas-age-ways through
barren iron and porphyry. Sometimes drift may
be run above or below ore body which thus might
escap, discovery. but Mr. Daily. 10 guard against a
mistake of this KIND mas at frequent intervals made
Al upralsa until he found the everything poTphyry, or
SINK VIII ~ until he has satisfied himself that no
ore lay be cath his workings The greater part Of
this prospe, '-s ork has been without encourag-
ing results. r-re and there little strIngcrs Of ore
have been found and removed. Dut no large bed .es
have been discovered and the general result OF Mr..
Dalys explorations has been To prove that here are
only two great ore shutes on the northwest side of
Fryer Hill. the boundaries of which now pretty
well defined, and that the which they contained
has now nearly all been taken ont.
MERcILE,s EXHAUsnoN or THE MINE.
After it began to be apparent that the reserves
IN the Little Chief mine were decreasing instead Of
increasing, and that unless new discoveries Were
made or the prOduc ION diminished, the mine would
soon be exhausted the Eastern management Of the
company. for reasons which 20 them ! suppose
seemed sufficient De gan to crowd the output and to
call for the largest possible returns from the mine
every month Between February and August d,vi-
dends amounting TO no less than 500, 900 paid,
but, to use the language of Manager DAILY. it was
necessary 10 gut the mine most mercessly
IN order to do it, and 1t brought on the
collapse of the mine very suddenly although the
final bursting of the bubble ought not to have
surprised any of the stockholders, because they had
received weekly warnings of the approaching catas
trophe through the reports of Manager DAILY to the
president aud secretary OF the company. When the
end finally came the mine had been so thoroughly
cleaned of ore that there was barely enough left to
nav the wages due to workmen, and none to pay for
further explorations.
OF course the ,wners of a mIUeihave q right TO ope-
rate II as they please. II they sire to take out all
the ore which their property contains, aud divide
the proceeds of IT among their stockholders, nobody
has a r. ght to complain, but it has been the almost
universal experience OF the best miners that such
policy under any circumstances Is a dangerous one,
and that il 5 often resulted III the destruction Of
the value Of what might otherwise continue to be a
good property. Exploration is as necessary part
of successful mining rs the Stopping and removal of
ore. The pay ore has to be cxl oscd by means Of
drifts and cross-cus before the miners can begin TO
take it out and un.ess the prospecting work Is
,rnll ahcnd OF the OnL-nut the