Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-12-04
Wilson InterYieWd.

Of the Rapid Journal. The means EN-
ployed in extracting this information is
not stated. but We are inclined to the
belief that it was some newly invented
power, wholly unknown outside of the
Journal office:
"a representative Of the Journal had
the pleasure Of an interview with Mr..
James Wilson. of the Harney Peak Tin
Mining company, last evening, regard
ing the present operations of the COM
pany in tin property Of Pennington and
Custer counties, and the work in i'm
mediate prospect. Mr.. Wilson is con-
servative in his expressions of opinion
regarding the value Of the many tin
locations purchased by the company
and while he admits that among them
are number of fine prospects" he
considers that much work of develop
ment is yet to be accomplished before a
single one will be developed to such an
extent as to deserve the name Of mine"
AS to the opinion Of Mr.. Wilson and his
colleagues of the company regarding
the probable value Of the tin properties,
that may perhaps best be judged from
their actions. They have already ex-
pended large sums of money in the pur-
chase of tin locations, in Harney, Hill
City, Tenderfoot and other districts in
Pennington and Custer counties, and
some purchases have been quite re-
Gently consumated. Among the latest
is the purchase of
THEADA GROUP,
near Remington's ranch, and about a
half mile from the Golden Summit mill
The property was located by Remington
some time ago and was bonded by w.
w. Challis. The attention Of Mr.. Will
son was attracted to the location on a
visit he made TO the Hills some months
since. and he secured from Challis an
option upon it, at the same time fur
nishing money sufficient to prospect
the ore body to a considerable depth
This work of development has been
performed and is of character so salts
factory that on yesterday the deal was
closed, and the mine passes into the
hands Of the company.
THE WORK IN PROGRESS
Under the superintendence Of Myron
Willsie the company now employs about
sixty men. These are distributed in
small working forces here and there on
property purchased by the company in
various districts, generally engaged in
doing assessment" work. An excep-
tion to this is in the case Of the Eta
mine, where the force is employed in
sinking upon the ore body from the
bottom of the old tunnel. 1t is the in
tention to push shaft down to a
considerable depth in order to de-
termne the extent and value Of the ore
body before recommending work of re-
duct m. While at the Eta mine Mr..
Wilson superintendent thorough test
Of the talings from the mill, aud the
fact was developed and demonstrated
beyond question that these tailings
contain from
ONE To ONE AND A HALF PER CENT.
of black tin. In other words, it is found
that the amount Of tin wasted or lost in
the reduction Of ore from the Eta
would, if saved, be almost sufficient to
pay, not to speak of the amount which
was actually saved. Rumors had been
current here for some time that the
tailings Of the Eta mill contained large
quantities of black tin, and this state
ment of Mr.. Wilson confirms them.
Regarding the intentions Of the COM
pany Mr.. Wilson spoke quite freely, the
substance of his statements being as
follows: The company will have the
required assessment work performed
upon all the mining locations it has pur-
chased. 1t will move as rapidly as
possible toward securing patents for al |
this property, with view to having
perfect title before expending any great
amount Of money in developments
When title shall have been secured
several, probably three or four, loca-
tions will be selected to be first devel-
oped, and when once this work is
started it will be continued to such
lengths and depths as to thoroughly
prove the value Of the property. There
is to be no guess work, nor is there to
be any possibility Of litigation concern
ing the title to a mining location once
the company has demonstrated the fact
that it contains valuable mine.
In conclusion Mr.. Wilson stated that
while it is possible the tin mines may
prove Of great value and benefit to their
owners and to the Hills, it will require
time money and labor to make them
productive, and people must not be i'm
patient The necessary capital will be
furnished, and if the mines prove to be
what we believe them they will be
worked extensively. He spoke with
some feeling about the setting up of
bogus claims to property, and said that
such action on the part of few men
had already done much to keep money
out of the country and to retard devel-
|opment Of the tin resources ofthe Hills.
1t is not unnatural for people of the
Hills to feel encouraged to believe that
the tin interests Of the country are des-
tined to become important. The pur-
chaseS continually made by the Harney