The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-05-31

great industry, distinct In itself,
which IL created Ly the men who sup
ply this fuel.
There Is no question that wood IL now,
and up to this time, has been The fuel
Of Butte. This wood Ia and has been
cut from government land, by several
different classes of men. There are
many there now who began by chop
ping enough cord wood to pay the men
who bought their Ak, clothing and sup
plies, men In short who began without
. penny, but now are out Of debt aud
own several hundred cords Of WOOD OF
their own. There are others who are
chopping under regular understanding
with some contractor for . milling and
smelling company that the latter will
receive all the cord wood at y certain
price. There are still Others who chop
themselves, but have nevertheless
made enough money to employ other
chopr ers, whom they feed and clothe,
and pay for their work 90 much per
cord. All sorts Of men may be found
in the Park, good. bad and Indifferent,
from almost all nationalities and creeds.
They are - rule, however, an hone t,
jolly Get Of fellows, who earn their liv-
ing by the sweat Of their brow, and
live under the open sky up In the
mountain glens, fearing no man. de-
pendent ON no man, and able to Look
each other and the world squarely In
the eye. One sentiment IL noticeable In
some degree among them. They seem
more or less impressed with the idea
that the milling end smelling cempa-
mics are trying to grind down the price
Of cord wood to IN unfair figure, and
naturally are more or less determined
that this shall not be done II they can
help 1t. Some Of them, however, In H.
olated camps, hard up after several
months cutting Of wood which they
have been disappointed in selling, dispose
OF the proceeds for not more than one
halfof what they would ask II they had
. few dollars in their pockets. They
build cabin in some sheltered nook,
near . spring and surrounded by the
mountain FIR, from whose branches the
coolest, toughest winds Of winter can
but extract . soft soothing melody.
Thus lulled to sleep, they dream Of the
absent wife and children, In the States,
and fret with impetience for the time
to come when they may 30 able to cell
their wood and send the greater por
ton of the proceeds to tie loved ones 1t
home.
In Elk Park proper, there are some
seven hundred choppers scattered In
camps Of from three to seven or eight.
This does not include Yankee Doodle
0ulch, or the north Lowlands, In each
Of which there are many men now 1t
work. After all It may - we'll be
stated that the Park h nothing moro
than . long oval prairie enclosed BY
mountains and not dissimilar to the
valley south Of Butte. All round the
sides Of this plateau, for ON account Of
its elevation It deserves the name, open
gulches, down many Of which comes .
small stream enptying into the main
creek which runs north-east through
the plain. The Park lies on the other
aide of the divide from Butte, and h
four or i've hundred feet higher. It h
about eleven miles from the farthest
wood camp to Butte, and about four
miles tn the head Of the Park. It may
DO reached ftom here through Yankee
Doodle 0ulch which runs MOI theast
from the Montana smelter. over the
divide, or by Park Canyon through
which runs the Helena coach.
1t IL said that there are three hundred
wood camps around the edges Of the
Park, and many thousand cords Of
cut wood lying at the stump. When
the chopper leaves bis wood where he
cuts It, the next operation IL banking 1t,
generally done by . middle man who
receives from seventy-ave cents to
. dollar . cord therefor from the con-
tractor or company to whom the wood
is sold. At the stump the wood 10
selling in the Park for from one dollar
to four dollars . cord, according to
the distance from town. There T. ems to
q very general disposition on the part OF
tie choppers to hold their wood for bet
ter prices rather than to sell it for what
they think too little, no matter how bad
ly they need the money.
In another column will lie found q
telegram bringing from Washington the
information that Secretary Teller, Of the
Interior Department, has made decis-
ion the effect Of which II that these