The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1883-07-11
Trouble at the Ely Mines.

Inc past week mas been ev0ntfu and dis
graceful for Vermont For the second time in
her history the militia has been called out by
the governor for the purpose of putting down a
riot, the first time being in 1S47 when the labor
ers who we're building the Vermont Central rail-
road at Bolton defied the law, The rinp-lead
ers we're arrested and the turbulence duieted
without bloodshed. Since that time the civil
authorities have always been able to preserve
order in our peaceful and law-abding state,
and while in other states mobs have some
times defied the authorities and have been put
down by the aid OF military power, IL has been
our proud boast that in the Green Mountain
state the Inhabitants obeyed the laws without
more coercion, at the most, than the weight of a
snerlfi arm, or the sight of Justices war
rant. That is still true to-day There was no
time during the past week at Ely or West Fair
lee, anywhere in the vicinity of the mines, where
the, civil authorities could not have queled
what disturbances there were. There was not,
In our opinion, any necessity for calling out the
troops, and the disgraceful occurrence Is a
monumental instance of what cowardce and
lncapacty in an important office may do. Col
Roswell Farnham is also to blame for the adj
vice which he gave the sheriff and the governor
Responsibility seemed to make him panic
stricken.
A representative of this paper spent three
days in and about Ely and made thorough
investigation OF the occurrences Of the week
and also Of the circumstances which led to
them. These we lay before our readers. But
uoiOio uOluB 81, We WILL sJaLe WDaJ ola not
happen, for the purpose of clearing the field and
removing any false impressions which the false
reports sent to the Boston papers, particularly
the Journal, may have created.
THE BOSTON JOURNALS MIssTATEMENTs
First, there has been no insurrection; second
there have been no threats made by the miners
as body to destroy property; third, there has
been no property destroyed fourth, the COM
pany store was not raided or 90 sacked" fifth
Col. E. Ely-Goddard's home was not "gutted,'
nor was any harm done to it; sixth, the pow
der was not held by the men in defiance of
the law seventh, the men had very few arms
OF any kind fewer than are generally found in
any community of the same size. Statements
such as are here contradcted were sent from
day to day to the Boston journal by its YER
mont correspondent, Mr. Charles S. Forbes of
ST. Adams; but for the sake of the good name
OF the state, we are glad to say that they are
untrue. No such things happened as he stated
Why he sent such stuff, OF course, cannot be
told. 1t would seem that he must have discov-
cred before he left the scene on Saturday, that
Ey-Goddard's home, for instance, and the
store, had not been injured; yet he sent no
contradiction to his paper and Mondays Jour
nal, contained as many incorrect statements as
any previous edition.
FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES.
The Vermont Copper Mining Company, which
operates the mines Of Ely, was chartered by
the Vermont legislature in 1853 1t began
mining the same year and did business in a
small way Tor ten years. In 1868 Mr.. Smith
Ely became stockholder He soon became
the owner of about four-fifths of the stock, aud
| in 1860 he became its president and has always
been since. lie Is now nearly eighty-fve years
old, but he is not 80 decrept as has been stated
While partially blind and, of course, showing
the weight of mis- more than four score wears
his mind is apparently as vigorous as ever, and
he Is not by any means in his dotage. Mr.
Ely after becoming president, spent several
| thousand dollars in developing the mine He
erected buildings, put in machinery and es-
tablshed large smelling works. For many
years the mine made a great deal of money.
1t sometimes produced three million pounds of
smeted copper year, which was all sold to
the Ansonia copper and brass company at a
good profit. But about five years ago copper
began to decline and kept falling until in 1880
and 1881, the company lost money The crisis
came IN May, 1882, when the company owed
about S2OO,OOO, included in which was three
and half months pay to the men. In addi-
ton to losing money by the decline in "copper"
Mr.. Ely recently spent large sums in building
new hosting engine, enlarging the furnace
ETC., in consequence, it is said by his friends,
OF falsely fattering reports of the condition of
the mine made to MIN by Thomas Pascoe, then
the captain OF the mine. The old gentleman
lost his grip when he realized the bad
financial condition of the company, and Mr..
+. M. +. Cain, skillful mining engineer, was
brought upon the ground. He examined the
mine, made favorable report as to its capac-
ity to produce copper, and ON the 10th of May
MIR. Ely decided the property to Cain and his
grandson, E. Ely-Goddard, the consideration
being 100000 in bonds secured by first
mortgage on the mine. Cain had one-third
interest and Goddard two-thirds. Cain and
Goddard managed the mine until June 18th,
when they decided 1t to new company called
THE VERMONT COPPER COMPANY,
which had been organized with nominal cap
ital of a million dollars The new company
executed mortgage of 100000, represented
by bonds to the old company, and OF the cap
ital stock (Which was divided into ten-dolar
shares Cain had twenty thousand shares,
Ely Goddard forty thousand shares and the
rest was working capital" Goddard was the
president and Cain the manager. Cain re-
NAMED in power until the middle of October.
when he was eliminated by some sort of
maneuvre, the legality of which is to be tested
by the courts. 1t Is said that Mr.. Cain made
the mine pay while it was under his manage
ment, which has not been the case since. He
was rather arbitrary and lacked tact He made
up his mind that there were too many men
holding soft positions and drawing large
salaries which eat into the profits of the mines
In attempting to remove the barnacles," he
made bitter enemies who rrejudiced Mr.. Ely
against him and made him believe that the
mine was being ruined Goddard spent the
summer at Newport and managed to draw
| about $4,000 from the mine in four months
When he came back, wiser heads than
his got up plan for getting rid of Cain,
which was duly carried out. Lots Of litigation
thereupon ensued, which has hitherto been de-
scribed in this paper. On the 18th of January,
1888, the Vermont Copper Company decided the
mine to the Vermont Copper Mining Company,
and the old company, under the presidency of
Mr.. Ely, is still running it. The mine has lost
money continually and it is said that MIR. Ely
took $45, 600 out Of his own pocket between
January and May, and sunk it in the business
The last payment to the men was made in the
latter part of May, when they were paid up till
the first of May. The men were good deal
provoked at this time. The 10Th of each month
is the regular payday, when the rolls are made
up to the first of the month. When the 10Th
Of June came, and no sugar" the men be-
came very much dissatisfied Promise after
promise was made to them and broken. FL
nally they announced that they should quit at
the end of the month, unless they were paid,
and a week ago last Saturday night, the Both
of June, they carried out their purpose, and no
work has been done in the mines or smelling
works since.
AN IMPORTANT INTERVIEW.
There were about four hundred men at work
in the mine and the works connected with it at
the time OF the suspension. Many of these
men have families and almost all of them are
destitute. or course, the only place where they
could get any credit was the company store,
owned by f. Ely-Goddard 1t was bought
year ago, or so, by Goddard and Cain; but