The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1882-11-17
Mining Property IN 81: Rocky Mount.

hiris.
The belief is becoTnasg widespread
that the business of TllnlAg as Conducted
in the Rocky Mountans i unprofiiable.
Gold mining; unless II l'laecr ground,
has proved TO be alhi9zt M yefs ally a
Iosing business Silst:k o ihine. enrnpafi-
les. unless the veins "a be of phe-
nominal richness, pas no dis':deBds 10
their STOCKHOLDERS. present there Z
considerable excitenIenf over some sun
posed discoveries of eepper ore in Wv
omipg. The finders pf these copper
mines overlook The fakI that vein of I
copper ore situated inlf The Rocky Mount.
aims. d region where Nae transportation
to the distributing pp pts IS controlled
by the Land Grant sEoads, and when
from these points tt. sfnihes Everything
has to be hauledi in N;sRoHss IS worthless
and viii not be worth anfihing Until the
mines of Lake SllpeEip iprs hat practiealfy'
control the Auerie 4 mark cts. are ex-
hausted, and tIIe NFages ent OF the
Land Grant raiilrQ2 las gHe sharply
coerced hy iosti las leEislss
What is the trouble With the Rocky
Mountain mines? There Is no trouble
with the mines The fault lies in the
management of the mines, mills and
furnaces. Capable mine managers are
scarce in the mountains. and able mill
men are still scareer Before the ma
iority of these mines can pay profit great
changes must take place; The mining
districts must have cheaper Transports
ton, cheaper labor, and better mining
laws laws that will aid instead of re-
tarding the development of the district.
The fact that mine management is an
intricate business, REQUIRING for success
rare characteristics of mind, must be
realized by mine owners. 1t IS true that
there are hundreds of capable mine and
mill managers in the Rocky Mountains.
The majority of the really capaR8snes
were graduated from the works. But
for one COMPETENT man found in charge
of yaluablefnine there are five incom-
petent men having charge of five equally
valuable mines. There is one success
and five failures on veins equally rich
and easy towork. A mine is not simply
a hole in the ground, but it is an Under
ground city, where contract work Should
be used to break vein of ore. Ii Is the
managers business 10 supply the in
liabitants of this town with air, and
to cheaply transport and elevate the
ore they cheaplY break, and prevent
creeps. falls, crusles and flooding. BE
should have a Through knowledge of
the actual cost of breaking ore of differ
ent degrees of hardness, and this knowl-
edge should be supplemented with
sound understanding Of mechanics. A
mill man who Understands his business
has of necessity to be chemist, and to
be able 20 turn his chemistry topractical
use Not one sO-ealled chemist in a
hundred can do this.
A stock company is formed in codu-
try town The lumber merchant, who
has a local repdtdtion as an able tinan-
cier, gained By sharp deal in lath or
No. shingle, Is elected President. The
druggist. the owner of a dead-shot liver
pill: the Couniy Sheriff, a long-legged
ignoramus from Kentucky, where he
was failure as hemp grower; broken
drown saloon Seeper. couple of gro
cerymen, and a iEermers fill up the
board of directionsyz lot one of these
men has the least ida of mining. They
buy & prospect hole and claim to have
mine. They elect q general manager
and he is sent to the mines. No care IS
exercised in the selection of manager
| have known carpenters, saloon keepers,
coopers, blacksmiths, dry goods clerks,
drug clerks. coal dealers, drOvers, indeed,
men from all kinds of occupations meta
phorically taken by the coat collar and
hauled from the region Of agriculture to
the land of mineral, and placed III charge
of mines. The only qualification the dl-
rectors of mining company organized
in the agricultural districts expect In their
manager is that he be contented on wages
no larger than those received by clerks.
bartenders or journeymen workmen IN
the town where the company was organ
lied. "a mine is nothing but hole In
the ground;" but it proves to be hole
that swallows all the hard-earned savings
of the directors and stockholders before
they realize that skill is required IN the
management of the hole, and that the
manager they sent to the mine had not
brains enough to superintend the digging
of post hole, nor sufficient knowledge
of mechanics to enable him to run hand
coffee mill.
Again, these mismanagers OF mines
are inflated with the Importance OF their
positions and they wish to have extern
sive works under their control. 90 long
before they have enough ore IN sight to
Justify the expenditure, they recommend
the erection of stamp mill. The news
that the company is building stamp
mill will help sell stock. The directors
agree to the expenditure. They are
probably sincere in their belief that there
is use for stamp mill. The mill is
built. The manger of the mine thinks
he can run it. 'sIt is no trick to run a
mill Just shovel the ore under the
stamps and have plenty. of water
and plenty of quicksilver. Any one
can run a mill;'' and he is put in
charge of it in addition to the mine. He
knows nothing sbout mining. He knows
nothing about milling. He sinks all the
money the company can raise. and then
the mine suspends work. That is fair
history of the operations of hundreds of
mines in the Rocky Mountains; and of
hundred mines 50 mismanaged ninety
five should have remained undeveloped
until wages fell and transportation
cheapened.- r San.
COuldBreak on.
When a certain family on the Brush
farm took a new cook last month it was
- -+ofa1 and fr1llv ,,ndarStrr,d