Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1889-10-18
Il NEW MINING DISTRICT.
The '!SOmmers District, on the
Head of Rapid RireI', IN
Washington and Idaho
Counties.

gentlemen who have this
summer inspected the pros
poets in the new mining dis
trict on headquarters Of Rapid
river, so close to the bound
airy line that without doubt
a part of the new district is
located in Idaho county. They
all talk of the new camp as
one that will soon rank among
the best in this territory, as
every mine yet discovered is
rich and shows unmistakable
and we'll defined fissure veins
from two to seven feet in
width. The group of mines
consisting Of the Twin Lakes,
Bostonia and Magnolia are the
property of Ruth Il Co. The
Eureka and Beatrice are owned
by Messrs. Richards and Leon
ard. The veins are in green
stone and porphyry. The ore
is gold and silver; gold pre-
dominating. All the ore car
ries black sulphurets and tel
lurrium. A test of the ore tax
.en from the Twin Lakes mine
(ten tons of selected ore) was
made at Rnth's mill near
Ruthburg ard it yielded $500
per ton; though assays have
,been made of the ore from this
.lnine that went as high as
1872 per ton. There is now
on the dump of the Twin
Lakes mine fifty to seventy
five tons of ore that will aver
age 500 per ton. But little
work has been done in this
camp this season and the for
est fires have prevented much
prospecting. Mr.. Ruth is one
of the best prospectors in this
territory and a man whose
judgment on a mine is rarely
out of the way. He believes
this is one of the richest camps
in the territory and one that
will produce as much gold and
silver as the best of them.
Quartz basin camp, in the
Seven Devils district has long
been noted for the large bould-
ers of float quartz that are
scattered broadcast in it and
from which its name is taken.
These boulders all contained
free gold, but not till late last
year was any ledge discovered,
and recent prospecting has
developed a veritable bonanza
of free milling ore, and a great
camp will undoubtedly be es-
tablished there in the ordinary
course of developments.
Shipments of ore are being
steadily made from the copper
mines of the Seven Devils dis
trict, which shows a healthy
condition of affairs in that rap
idly developing region. The
ore is shipped to Portland,
and thence around Cape Horn
to Swansea, England. The
ores can be landed in England
1T about the same figures that
It can in st. Louis. This
seems incredible, but it is a
fact, and shows under what |
Disadvantages the mining in
dustry labors, with exorbant
railroad companies eating up
The profits of the richest dis
tricts. and even causing a sus-
pension of operations, as wit
ness Wood River and Cour
d'Alene. But still we read
about the foolish miners in
hose camps petitioning cong
ress for more protection
against foreign lead. They are
fools. They already have one
md q half cents per pound tariff
M foreign lead. What they
.eally need is protection
against the transportation mo-
If the tariff on lead
vas a dollar and a half per
pound the rascally and theiv-
ng railroads would increase
heir freight rates proportion
ltely. And anyhow, why
should the lead-miner be pro-
,ected while the men who
work in gold and silver