The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-08-29

Ce,tldnd Herald. y ;' Il 's.EtJ sl. M. Y In
The schooner lronton arrived in Dor
last night with the first cargo Of iron or,
ever mined and shipped from tho nov
Vermillion Lake irondistrict Of Minnesota
and, In fact, the first orc eyer mined in III,
state Of Minnesota. It Is consigned te
Messrs. G. II. & S. p. Ely, Of this c;sy, ant
will be unloaded at the Cleveland & Pitts
bursh dock. Tho propeller EIecla, will, +
similar cargo, touched here last night lont
enough todrop of tho Ironton, and ther
proceeded to Aslttabula, probably arriy
ing there carly s'morning The pro
peller lIiawatha and consort Minnehah,
arc also bound down with cargocs Of tb(
same orc. Mention has nlrcady beer
made in these columns OF tho now or,
fields recently discovered in tho ywilds d
Northern Minnesota. This great Stat,
until within aiew years has given no signs
OF possessing any Of the enormous mineral
wealth Of the Lake Superior regions-u
wealth which, though already drawn OIL
to tho extent OF millions Of tons, shows
us yet no signs OF exhaustion. 1t Is, there.
lore, no oc%aggcration to say that tho ar.
rival OF the lront8Ii, marking us it docs
the opening up OF d new and productive
orc field, is an event Of almost National
importance. Re. N III" ~
1t has been known for several years that
ore deposits were 10 DO found in certain
parts OF Minnesota, hut whether in nav.
ing quantities or Of rich quality has never
been definitely asccrtaincd until about Il
year and y huff ago. In tho winter OF
1883 Mr.. Edward Ercitung, OF Negaunec,
MICH, together with several wealthy con.
tlemcn OF Philadelphia and St. Paul, be-
came interested III some ore-bcaring prop.
erty in st. Louis county, Minnesota, or,
rs better known to tourists and local
geosrnphcrS, the Vermiiion Lake region,
situatedin the northeastern corner OF the
State, and within forty miles OF the Cana
dian line. Very little had been done in
the direction Of mining operations, partly
owing to an uncertainty us to the auality
OF the ore, and chiefly because of the iso.
lated location OF the mines and tho meager
facilities for transporting the machinery,
10 say nothing OF shipping the orc after it
had been taken out. Duluth, the nearest
available railroad point, was fully ninety
miles distant, and it was seventy miles
straightacrossthc co untyto the nearest port
ON Lake Superior, il Agate IIarb0r, lis it
was then called, could fairly be dignitied
with the appellation Of sport" Mr. C.
Tower, Of Philadelphia, was the principal
capitalist backing up tho enterprise, and
even he hcsitated about furnishing the
funds necessary for such IN immense un.
dertaking Us building railroad through
this wilderness until he became thor
oushly satisfied Of It's merits MS IN invest.
nent,
Mr., George i. E!y, Of. this oily, On init.
lnate friend OF Mr.. 1sriciung who in the
meantime had been elected to Congress
from the Marquette district, was induced
by the latter to take an interest in the
Minnesota tf0p GAE!tla..y, As II WAS then
and is now styled. Eef9rc dQlhg So, how.
eyer, Mr.. S. r. Ely,a brother and Junior
MelnLcr Of the firm OF &, Fl, as, i, Ely,
made personal examination OF the mines,
and brought away with him numerous
specimens Of the ore. Upon analysis these
were found to be remarkably rich in me-
tallic iron and correspondingly free from
hihesnhar!!s ana 9k!iur l,npuritius. The
hre waspi the very highest Dtssemer grade,
and, with tho possible exception OF the
best Republic ore, superior to any on the
mIlarket VpoH the representations Of Mr..
s,Ely, who beuts .l.c tepVtatian OF being
one OF the best Judges OF iron ore in the
country, the newly formed company en-.
tered upon the work of opening IN
to, tho markets OF the world this yaf-
Ks aase Ns aYiia as ea RS" has $ a l,en
porated and bonds ! to- the, amount
Of $4,000, 900 disposed Of at par. The road
was projected to run ir9m Duluth to Agate
H15arhhes!s wh!sl! N.Y. fe:pltnistenal Two
graphical features, and from there direct
70 YermillioH Lake, a distance Of ninety
juno lSs and oh ho fsts day II august
1854, tho line was completeland in opcr-
alton westward from Two Harbors to Yer.
million Lake. The construction of the
g a!Es sss9iRses S 5sEI sss 81!
minal facilities haYe, been provided at
Two Harbors, @lth pocEets sufficient to
hold 10000 tons Of ore. There Is sixteen
feet Of water alongside the docks and a
good channel to the deep water Of the
lake, 4 small approximation, .Wna sernfeN
from the Goyernhient at the Inst session Of
Congress, and Il brcakwatcr lias been pro:
jected that will, il built, make Il fine har-
Dor Of refuge, Some 20, 600 tons OF ore has
been mined during thp summer and II
nov awaiting shinmcnt: O.. I'LL. :
* general similarity has been observed
between the Yefmillion district and the
famous district IN township. II, range ",
Marquette county, A!ieh., which includes
the Well-known Cleveland, Jackson, lake
Superior, Barnum and New York mines.
The Nermillion Lake deposits. however,
appear 10 be much larger, so iar Ms first.
class ore is concerned, than the latter dis.
tric). In tho unlAl0A IT irst:plass ore OK.
perts, tho quantity Of ore now exposed at
Nermillion Lake exceeds what was OK,
posed OF that grade Of ores at. the SAME
stage OF development, in I'LL the mines OF
slgr0uctte county. There lavo been eight
mines already opened, n hFof account OF
the results attained in cach will prove in.
tercstins. The Stuntz Mine, for the sur.
face already stripped, shows q width OF
about twenty-five }cot OF ore tor about 400
feet in length. Tho outlook westward is
also excellent. The ore is q ooarsc.grainetl,
rcd speeUIar ore, with q good lustrc, much
resembling his bright Republic orc 0!
Marquette county,, The belt Is almost en-.
tircly pure needing very little asserting
8Tle Stone mino about ali eight Of a mile
west Of the Stunts has M elevation Of 2;
foot above It. The main deposit lsa yer,
large ono, Of a close grained red apecula,
orc OF grca. purity, much resembling somt
OF the best ores IN the Lake Superior mine
in Marquette county. At the eastern
end, SO far as now developed, it is abou
SIS feet in width, gradually increasing, fol
eco feet westward, to o. feet in width ant
maintaining a width Of ,46 feet at 100 fec
westward. This. body Of ore at its prosen
stage ol surface development in respect Il
tho combination OF size, ednttnaoHs e4tent
and great purity, is claimed to stand with
out Il parallel lin tho United States up t