The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1881-12-14

be s'annexed'' il due form before long
There are several house, but not many in
habitants.
Just above Gaena, and right in among the
leading mines, is Hughes City. It is the old
est town, and just now is the liyeliest. The
location is not the best by any means, but as
long as the mines in the vicinity continue to
yieldssrich ore il abundance Hughes City will
be an important business point. Choice lots
command good price and quite a number
Of buildings are nov in course Of erection
There is not little Of jealousy existing
among the residents of the different towns
named, particularly between Gold Run and
Hughes City, which we think is altogether
needless. If the outcome Of the camp is
what we all expect there will be town from
one end Of the gulch to the other. Hughes
CITY and Gold Run will both be important
points, and the sooner this spirit Of petty
jealousy is allayed, the sooner will their day
of prosperity arrive. We have confidence
enough in the Barker mines to believe that
the time is not far distant when both OF
these towns will be one, and working har-
moniously together for the commonWeal.
THE SHELTER.
We were agreeably surprised upon coming
in sight Of the smelter and even more so
after taking look through the mammoth
building. We expected to see temporary
structure with rather meager works, but the
reverse is just what may be seen. The build
ing is 11Ox65 feet in dimensions and four
stories high. It is built in excellent style
and presents very handsome appearance.
The arrangement is excellent throughout and
the building itself pesents sufficient evidence
that Prof. Foss understands his business.
Mr.. A. j. Scott was the foreman of construc-
tion, and the Professor accords him the high
est possible praise for the excellent work he
has done on the building He says he would
recommend Mr.. Scott now to build smelter
for anybody.
The process in which the ore is treated
at the smelter is briefly as follows: The ore
III
crusher and rollers and thus broken up or
pulverized. During this process it passes
from the upper floor to the one just beneath,
or the sampling floor, where it is sampled
(to determine its value) and then passed
through the roaster on the next floor beneath.
Here it is freed of sulphur, autimony and
other ingredients and is taken in the fu1m OF
slag from the roaster. The slag Is pussest
through another crusher to pulver'z It when
it is ready for the blast furnace or snelter
proper. Thus far Prof. Fosa has only
roasted second class ore from the Barker
mine in order to obtain necessary tux Tor
smelling and it has come from the roaster in
the same form it is put in and not as Stag.
The latter is obtained when ores containing
mixed.
The crusher was started on the Both OF
November and the first chafse pat in the
roaster the same Gay. I liz lat.ol nas been
running steadily night and day ever since
and the crusher Whene yer its services were
needed. The crusher has capacity Of twenty
tons day and the roaster OF ten, although
only six tons day are roasted now with the
view of having the work done as well as pos
sible. Since the start was made everything
has moved along as nicely IS could be and !
has not been necessary to stop the machinery
for a minute The blast furnace will bt
started about the 10th Of January at which
time q run Of about 800 tons will be crushed
and roasted and ready to be turned into bass
bullion. The furnace has capacity Of 2,
or 80 tons day so that ten days will suffice
to smelt all the ore that can be put through
the roaster in month AS soon as tht
amount of ore in sight will warrant it Prof
Foss proposes to build another roasting fur
mace and then he can turn out just twice al
much bullion With their present facilities
he estimates that they will have 800 tons o1
bullion ready for shipment by the first Of
April. Think Of the number of teams tha
will be required to move this product Of tht
smelter to Benton!
1t mas not Deen Tue Iult III NlOHtaHaa W.
believe, for a smelter to start up and do it
work without the least difficulty from the very
beginning. So far the smelter at Barker has
proven perfect success in every particular
and we are assured by Prot. Foss that when
the time comes to fire up the blast furnace
il will work just as the crusher and roastel
have, without any difficulty whatever. Hf
says that he is going to prove it possible {
start q smelter in Montana without having
the customary delays, and we are condden