St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-12-27
gable Of the Old South, and thus the British
beasts and the country are saved
A LOST MINE.
Untold Treasures Waiting in the
Bowels Of the Earth for
the Lucky Finder.

DUh-le vi luc Ldt III luz
the Lucky Finder.
Aaron Leopold. besides his marine inter
ests, Is large investor 10 Lake Superior
mining properties. II was his good luck TO
be one OF the men who held Calumet aud
Hecla stock before the Agassiz process for
reducing copper ore was discovered. which
discovery increased the value Of copper mine
stocks five hundred fold, and placed Calu-
met and Hecla among the greatest wealth
producing shafts ever dug into mother earth.
In conversation with a reporter q day OF
two ago, he told the following fascinating
story: Copper Is undoubtedly god thing
No man who Was lucky enough TO get into
some Of the Michigan mines on the
ground floor can gainsay that, but silver
is better thing, for all that, and
as sure as my name Is Leopold, some time
or other there viii be one Of the biggest
strikes OF silver made on the Dorth shore OF
Lake Superior ever beard Of in America.
Il viii Guido the Rocky mountain finds,
just as our copper gets away with the Arizona
mines. or course. you know that where
copper occurs, silver is likely to be also
found, aud that this Is more than theory the
frequent discovery Of silver in northern
Michigan, aud especially on the north shore,
proves. You know there is an island on
Lake Superior called Silver island, on which
silver is very probably mined. Did you ever
hear the story Of the lost silver mine"
Never" said the reporter.
"Well, It is good enough to print" said
Mr. Leopold. 'sIt is q current tradition at
Ontonsgon, Hancock, Houghton, aud espee-
tally at Duluth, aud while you can hear 1t a
good many ways, have looked into il very
often, and believe you viii find this is about
the truth OF II. About sixty years ago all Of the
country north Of Duluth was a wilderness.
There were few Hudson bay eompany's
posts scattered about toe lakes and rivers up
there, and the rest Of that part Of British
America was the home Of rowing Indians and
nobody else. The story was current then
that somewhere down along the northern
shore OF the lake there wasa mine where vlr-
gin silver was 10 be found 10 Jumps. One
day a party AZ Indians-this is the cold truth,
which YOU can fud on record in books
printed years ago-one day party Of Indians
came into port on Lake Winnipeg to trade,
but instead Of furs they had sold ingOts Of sill
yer. Every one Of the party Was provided
with bricks worth hundreds Of dollars. You
may believe this caused q sensation. II
proved that the rumOrs current so long had
some foundation. The Indians we're stran-
gers at the post. They belonged to . differ
cut tribe from any ever seen there before,
aud they pointed out vaguely in . south
easterly direction when asked whence
they had come or course they had the
usual carouse, and at last they
loaded up With guns, ealieoes, beads,
and whisky and started for home Two
Freuchmen, who were at the post, tracked
them across the wilderness, shadOwing them
like pair of detectives, and after about one
hundred miles further than from 81. Louis
TO Chicago-through incredible hardships
and sulferings-they al last tracked them to
earth. According 10 the story the home oil
these Indians were in the range OF hills
between Crooked lake and Superior,
south Of Pigeon river, In what
IL now the state Of Mime
sofa. They did more than this, they found
the Indian mine, and its wealth was beyond
all the stories told OF Il. In 4 grotto Of rot
ten rock the Virginia silver Was to be seen
Weighing the sides in every direction. Tue
two men marked down the position of the
mine as closely as could be, taking a NUN
Der Of landmarks, so that there could be nc
mistake. The mine stood at the head
Of long serpentine ravine which
treuded southeast. Then they loaded
up with all the silver they
| could carry and started back. All this time
the Indians knew nothing OF their visits.
| Well, they toiled along for days aud days,
borne down by the weight Of metal, and al
last one OF them sickened and died on the
road. Winter was coming on and the re.
maining explorer struggled onward aftei
burying his companion, and now and Their
stopping aud eacheing some NOR,
silver, until at last be got back to the post
! The work aud the exposure we're too muct
for him, however, aud in 8 coupl,
of DAYS he too sickened ant
died. He gave the most explicit instruction.
To his companions at the post as TO how Ii,
mine was TO be reached, and you may believ,
that the search made the next summer wa
an exhaustive one. The body Of the othe
explorer was found, so was also the silve
| hidden on the road, but the mine itself Wa
not come upon. There Is an old Canadian
that everybody calls Leon, who is occasion
aIy seen in Duluth, where b.
comes to buy stores. who 1
the son Of one Of the men tina
were at the post when the survivor OF the tw,
frst finders got back. This Leon has don
| nothing all his life but hunt for that mine
He has got old papers describing its location
as closely as possible, but be has never foun,
il, although there Is not a ravine in thos
hills that be has not examined. BE wi
keep I'D the hunt till be dies, OF course, AM
be may find it-stranger things have hap
peped."
500 you believe the stoyl'
'tCertainly do. Il may be exaggerated
but that the Indians knew OF some great sil
der deposit nobody who has frequented tn
north shore has any doubt suppose LOO
men have at one time or another been a
work looking for that mine. You can't he'll
believing story that brings along as evi
denee the actual ingots Of silver, and O
these ingots the records are too plain an,
sure 10 leave any doubt"
at seems as though these Indians woul,
hardly be satisfied with taking one lot Of sill
yer out os the minei"
"They are not satisfied. There are hun
dreds of stories afoat about trades made b
the Indians wherein solid ingOts Of silve
| were bartered on TOT couple OF yards o
calico. Some OF them i suppoae are falls
and others true; but as to their appearing a
Winnipeg with the silver, nobody who vii
take record evidence for any fact can doubt
Il is as sure as anything can be-"
Moon AND Sun PowER.-Not taking int
account atmospheric absorption, Sir William
Thomson hAs computed that We receive iron
the full moon light equal 10 that whie
would reach US from tveuty-seven thousani
million million candles spread owe
the moons esrthgard hemisphere