The Butte daily miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1885-18??, 1886-01-01

OOsn eI0 !3F2e mines, and a60Ay from forty
20 several hundred dollars. The Grubstake
mines that have been profitably operated
tnls season. The great drawback to the
working OF the mines OF this district 10 the
abundance Of water in them, which 10 no
great that expensive pumping machinery
vii! be required to keep them open. Some
OF them have been worked over 100 feet
below water level; but this was as far a.
the owners could 60 with he>peans at their
command, and when work was stopped
and the mines were allowed to GIL up with
water, they could not be redrained with
any appliances which their owners could
afford.
IS outh.we Of Red Bluff, in the near neigh.
.orhood. lies the Sterling belt. Here an
immense amount Of money was expended
IN the early days; but. as the same condi-
tionS existed q characterized the mines OF
Alder Gulch mentioned above, the same re.
suits were obtained. Since, then. however,
o number OF lodes have been profitably
worked, by extracting the ore and shipping
it to Omaha. Last year, the Revenue Min
ing Company, j. H. johnson, manager, sue.
cessfully operated q tsn-stamp mill and
concentration. It il now shut down for the
winter, but will resume operations early in
the spring. The mines controlled BY this
company are situated at Richmond flats,
about one mile distant from Sterling,
Still southwest Of this place, and between
it and Virginia City are the new Meadow
Creek mines. where it 10 claimed that large
deposits Of gold and silver.bearing quarts
were found last summer. Much work ID
being done this winter in it's development.
Roads were built early in the fall, and ma
te1ial has been hauled in, sufficient to keep
good force Of men at work during the
season of deep SHOWS. Messrs. Fletcher,
Richter, Carly, and others, are spending q
good deal OF money here, and are sanguine
that they have fortune by the forelock. OF
course, time only can tell the story Of their
success.
have now made the grand rounds" Of
the mineral belts Of Madison County. To
sum up, may say that in no y ear since it's
settlement has the industry Of quartz min
ing been 20 vigorously prosecuted a. in this
year 81 grace, 1885, and in NO year have
the results been 90 uniformly satisfactory,
both as regards the pecuniary returns to
miners for their labor and outlay, and in
concerning the extent and permanency Of
the mines, and do not doubt that future
operations will still further demonstrate
the existence Of paying mines, and many OF
them, in the districts / have hastily re-
viewed In this letter. From personal OBJ
ssrvation, and from the most reliable re-
ports obtainable, ann impelled' to the con-
CAV0lVu VukSV G1A9uA1OU NOVUty Will, SI0 lOu&S
rival some Of the now famous mining re-
sions Of the Territory; and, while no one
district may ever wrest from Butte it's
supremacy as the mining metropolis Of
Montana, most OF them will become impor-
tant and valuable producers OF the pre-
cious metals. The outlook for 1886 10
certainly most promising and miners in
general are more hopeful than they have
dared to DO for 10 these many years.
Outside OF mining, agriculture and stock
raising are the principal industries Of the
county, and in these those engaged in them
have been exceptionally successful. Five
valleys-the Ruby, Madison, Beaverhead,
Big Hole and Jefferson-are, In whole or in
part, within it's boundaries. It is difficult,
because Of the varied Interpretations put
upon the Law recurring producers to give
STATISTICS Of their products to the asses
sors, to correctly estimate the annual yield
Of cereals, vegetables, ETC., but the fact that
these producers are, almost without ex-
ception, in comfortable, and even afflu-
ant, circumstances, 10 evidence enough
that their pursuits pay. The mate
rial wealth Of the county has, at one
time since the early days, augmented by fic-
steady increase and every year shows q
comfortable addition to the assessment
roll. There are in the valleys above
named farms that for fertility vie with the
bestin Montana-or anywhere else for that
matter. Our horse and cattle-breeding e.
Enthusiastically those Of w. III.
Raymond, Noah Armstrong, Alsx. Metsel,
D. R. Beck, and others, are stocked with
the finest strains OF imported blood, and
would be objects Of local pride In any To-
cality in the Union, while our ranges, II
not crowded with the immense herds to he
found in the ''cow Countess" are covered
with fine bands Of graded and ordinary
cattle and horses, that will average up
County may he truthfully said to contain
| thu elements which no to make n com