The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1882-04-28
Che alew Anrth- aa'est.
CALUMET, MICHIGAN.
The Model Mining Town of America.
Harper's Magazine, May 1882.

Harper's Magazine, May 1882.
The northern part of the upper peninsul
Z Of Michigan iuts out into Lake Superior lik
a gigantic thumb. This Ii Keweenaw Point
and through IL runs at inclined system c
rocks known TO biologists as the copper
bearing SERIES" and 10 miners rs the cope
"mineral range" This supplementary pen
insula, which liz not more than fifteen mile
wide, is cleft from on" side /" The other nea
its base, aud below the level IL the lake, b.
valley IN which lies a long, Irregular shee
Of water called Portage Lak", through
which large boats pass freely. Ca the side
OF this inlet are the great stamping mills o
the copper mines, and few rhiles north o
II Is the great Calumet aud Htcia mine
which, whether viewed commercially. social
~, ur mdustrIally, Is one OF the notable es
adjustments Of the world. 4 slice OF con
plomerate rock, varying from ten TO ffteen
let In thickness andreaching to an nnknoWn
depth into the earth. Is strcaked aud veined
through more than a mile of It's length with
copper--not copper ore, which must 90
through an expensive process of concentra-
ton and smelling, but metallic copper, good
enough to hammer into pennies and receive
the mint mark. One twentieth or more OF
the whole mass Is copper; aud when we re-
feet that copper Is worth three hundred and
eighty dollars "A ton, that the regular monthly
product of the mine Is fourteen hundred tons,
that other mines whose rock contains one
fifth as much copper and IL less easily OBJ
tanned are able 10 earn regular dividends, we
can form some idea of the princely income
Of this magnificent property. AT the mime
Is a village OF eight thousand inhabitants, all
living on land aud in houses owned by the
company, and on wages paid by the company.
As a straightforward manly development uf
American civilization this village Of Calu-
met IL without peer. There IL no lawyer,
aud the only justice Of the peace is obliged
TO act as supei intendeBt of the railroad for
occupation. There is indeed, lawyer in
the adjoining aud subsidiary village of Red
Jacket, but one lawyer Is Of Necessity as
harmless as half n pair of shears. No one
has ever been sent to State-pris0n during the
ten years Of the towns life. During a stay
of d fortnight saw no one under the influ
ence Of liquor-a state Of things so unnatural
In mining town as 10 make one feel uneasy.
Two "Molly Maguires " from the coal re-
gions would make more noise Than the two
thousand employees of Calumet. The moral
tone Is as braciBg as the fresh cool air. The
miner, instead of eying a stranger sulkily,
and as If hesitating which stone he should
bhIoN gives Bbpl-ddg NllttlhJ
and heartily, as used the old-time rural pop
ulation of New England. Here are Swedes,
Norwegians, Danes, Films, Scotch, Cornish
men, Canadians, Russians, Bohemians, Span
iGrds, Italians, and Germans, quietly and
tremendously developing into self-respecting
American citizens. Thirteen languages are
spoken on the reservation. Mining compan-
les usually prefer this mixture of nationali-
ties, as a security against strikes; for confu-
sion of tongues has been preventive against
unlawful combinations Of labor since the
building of the Tower of Babel. The tie
which binds wage-earning men together Is
readily Embossed by race iealousies. A mi
ners' union In thirteen languages is impossi-
BILE. But the Calumet Company has no rea-
son TO fear strikes among any portion of its
force. No man is discharged without cause,
or forced TO lose time. Payday is as pune
tHal as the moon. The company employs
four physicians, and has built a school-house
with ample room for twenty-five teachers
and eighteen hundred children, and equipped
IL with all the most approved aids TO teach
ing. To the miners aid fund the company
snbscribes exactly the amount the miners do,
making last year a free gift Of nine thousand
dollars. Bat IL is not SO much gratitude for
this liberality as the absolute certainty felt
by the miner that the company is governed
by stern. principles of rectitude which gives
tone TO the Calumet community and makes
1t the most efficient body of workingmen I'm
the world. IL gives the strongest testimony
TO the immense silent power of character, In
this age when we refer everything to the bal
ance of material forces and the action of
physical laws. When Fisk had control of
the Erie Railway, the unciyilized bandit be-
gan to crop out In every conductor and
brakeman and If his spirit could enter the
Calumet and Hecla direction, its debasing
influence would filter through the organize
ton aud make Calumet among mines what
Erie WAS among railroads.
A great property like this Is trust I'm
more senses than one. With its unexampled
facilities for producing copper, the company
has the power of crushing competition. They
might run the price of the metal up and
down as enc losses ball in the air, until all
the companies working on a narrow margin |
were forced 10 succumb. Its efforts, how
ever, are directed toward securing a uniform |
price, toward preventing the wide fuctua-
lions which, If promoted, might leave it |
without competitors. Its oyersbadowing |
power has, however, tendency TO check |
systematic exploration. While IL can hardly |
be expected that another SO valuable a de-
post will be found, IL can not be denied thai
the copper region is as yet imperfectly de-
veloped. Capitalists naturally hesitate to
enter business where there is one producer
Of such prepondcrating influence.
All the equipments of this mine are Of
the highest order of mechanical excellence.
A depth Of twenty-three hundred feet, meas
nring on the slope Of forty degrees, has been
reached; and the new compound engine Of
three thousand horsepower, strong enough
% turn the two Corliss engines of the Cen
kan $50 A .Lnsw |
work In addition, Is capable OF supplying
,ower until depth Of four thousand feet is
cached. Compressed air at pressure of
ixty pounds IL carried TO every working
,oint. The mine itself resembles q section
II rectangular city. Eight parallel main
each with Its railroad, reach half
nile into the earth. Twenty-three horizontal
treets nearly O mile long intersect them.
The work goes Oh day and night three hum
red and ten days In the year. Going down
nio this mine and seeing the perfection of
he machinery, the tremendous effect of the
explosions, the splendid ply
igne and discipline of the force, all material
seem to vanish and one says invel-
ntarily: "Why not keep on till we touch
he center of the earth?" ~
The income Of this mine ascends TO the .
pex of the social pyramid-if there be In
america social pyramid and 1t have an !
pex. The results OF the great mining for
unes IN our country are for the most part SO
a. "a mansion on Fifth avenue, a villa
I Newport, stable full or nimblc horses, !
family .frages consumers natl, at best q ]
aliery of chance-selected pictures, are so /
the highest outcome-that the I
ountry is to be congratulated that these {
early millions 90 into worthy hands and |
tain worthy objects. IL seems an exagger-
ton to say of an industrial establishment, I
ut y Ii not too much to say 1t of Calumet ,
nd Hecla, that 1t adds m honor to great :
.ientlfic name.