Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1887-1890, 1888-04-14
GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE.
SATURDAY. APRIL H. 1888.
Semi v eek|y
GREAT SHELTERS.

Our amiable and interesting friend
Editor Read, of the Inter Mountain, dis
courses as follows about great smelters
1.-THE Inter Mountain is glad that Great
Falls is to have great smelter and hopes
that Helena will soon have a similar
cause for rejoicing, but we submit that il
is in bad taste for the newspapers of those
enterprising villages to blow about having
the greatest smelling plants in the world
If those journals feel that they must lie
about something, let them tackle the bank
deposits in Helena or the availability of
the Great Falls water power, or dilate on
the subject Of democratic harmony o. at
tempt to justify the action of the demo
cratic committee in its resolution to APP
point Cleveland delegates to the st. Louis
convention, but in pity let them ease off a
few points on great smelter' talk. Ana
conda has the greatest smelter in the
world and is not likely to be robbed of
that distinction during the present cen
fury. The Anaconda company is now
working 1900 men, and is producing
daily ton Of ore for every man it EN-
ploys. At the smelter tomorrow 1,5O0
men will be paid for their work in March,
If the Great Falls Tribune will study
these figures it will see how absurd are
its CLAIMS for the erection of its world
beaten on the banks of the Missouri. The
Anaconda smelter cost somewhere in the
neighborhood of 100000 and we hardly
think that Jim Hill cares about duplicat-
ing that investment. There are some
good mines in northern Montana, but not
enough to keep $4,O00,O00 smelter in
operation unless wind and water power
and climate and town lots could be mixed
with the ore and smelted to profit II
the Anaconda enterprise is ever exceeded
in magnitude it will have to be done by
some Butte company working the product
of Butte mines. When the Great Falls
smelter shall be completed we venture.
the prediction that it may be placed in
the main building of the lower works at
Anaconda, and that the editor of the
Great Falls Tribune will not be able to
find it without the aid of a telescope"
The Tribune in claiming immensely and
merits for the Great Falls reduction
works, has no desire to depreciate the big
enterprise at Anaconda, but we must in
sist that the Great Falls smelter, when
completed, will be the most extensive
works in the United States for the treat.
ment of silver-lead ores. A copper plant
is altogether different thing, and we
make no pretensions of surprising the
great Anaconda, although works of that
kind will be established at Great Falls
soon that will make Mr.. Haggin look
little to his laurels.
To show our claim that the reduction
works of the Montana Smelling company
at Great Falls will be the largest of the
kind in the United States is we'll founded
we submit the following description,
which will give some idea of the magni-
tude of the enterprise:
Number of blast furnaces. .......... 20
Number of roast furnaces , so
Amount of building brick .....,....., 81, 200 900
amount OF hre brick. ............ 3,00O000
Capacity per day (tons of ore) ......... 1000
Number of cars per day (for transporta-
tom neutrality-suspicious.. 200
Men employed IN construction. ......... 800
men employed IN operating. ............ 1000
If Mr.. Read knows of any smelter of
this capacity at Butte, or anywhere else,
barring copper plants, we would be
pleased to have him bring them into the
foreground.