The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1891-10-07
PIGS FOUND THE WEALTH,
HOW A CELEBRATED COPPER MINE
WAS DISCOVERED.

A Michigan Boarding.House Keeper
Found the Animals Roofing and
SqueaIing in Fine Ore.
''How was the Calumet and Hecla
discoveredl you ask. Here, Captain
Duncan, you tell this man what he wants
to know"
Thus appealed to the broad-shoul-
dered, smiling faced man whose spirit
pervades the great copper mine, stepped
up to the little group waiting for dinner
in the hotel at Calumet.
''It was pigs" he said.
"Pigsp exclaimed incredulously.
"Pigs, and no mistake" returned the
captain. Back in 1863 an exploring
party came here to try to find copper.
They built a shanty to live in, and of
course, they brought some pigs. One night
the pigs were lost. The clearinghouse
keeper started out to find them. After
long search he heard the pigs roofing
and squealing, but he could not see them.
The noises seemed to come from down in
the earth. Next morning party of men
went back to the place whence the noises
CdhCg uhN ulbCl a oCdACl bhCl lOuuu a
pit ten or fifteen feet deep. The mouth
was covered with bushes, and the growth
of the trees about the sides gave every
evidence that it had not been used for
centuries. There the pigs we're content
edly roofing among broken pieces oi
rock.
ga rude stone hammer and some
charred sticks give evidence of earlier
explorers who had evidently gone away
unsuccessful. The hammer was of the
same kind as the other implements,
which had been traced back to the days
of the predecessors of the Indians whom
the French found in possession of the
lands-the Indians who built the
mounds and who over-ran the whole
country from Mexico to Lake Supericr
where tiaoy got copper for their imple-
ers, like the explorers who had discov-
cred the ancient pit, looked for copper
only in masses, as it had been deposited
in fssure veins and in the lava flows.
The huge chunks Of virgin copper weigh
ing many tons and the smaller masses
hanging in the rocks like metal icicles
were the only kind known to the an
clients, and the moderns had been assured
by the learned geologists that copper
could be found only in rocks formed
from lava.
''But the pigs had turned over pieces
of rock formed by the action of the
water-aqueous rocks land in these
conglomerates there certain was copper.
This seemed find indeed. But when
the matter was reported science scoffed
at the explorers, saying that the copper
conglomerates found were simply freak
of nature and that money would be
wasted if an attempt should be made to
work them. So Mr.. Huflbut, who
owned the lands, continued to give his
attention to the Huron mine, which was
working the lava flows. For the money
he borrowed for the Huron he gave tC
Quincy Shaw, of Boston, the lands on
Mr.. Shaw soon began to work these
rocks, and from these beginnings the
richest, the most staple and the best
promising copper mine in the world has
been built up"
The Calumet and Hecla is a myste,
rious corporation. Owing the greatest
mining plant in the world and spending
money lavishingly in experiments, i'm
| provements and elaborate machinery, the
company allows none but its own EN-.
ploYes under ground and guards the de-
tails of all its affairs with jealousy that
piques curiosity. The company owns
thousands of acres of land from which il
takes the wood-considerably over one
hundred cords a day-which in summer
feeds its extensive battery of boilers, coal
being used only in winter. As the res.
inous wood crackles in the fierce heat il
gives off pungent odor. No lands are
sold, but the employees of the company
lease the surface right of their lots and
can sell out to the company at a fair val
uation for improvements and lease.
The company has built an enormous
school house, and the towns of Calumet
and Red Jacket enjoy good degree OF
civilization. The very large number OF
educated men employed in the various
mines makes an excellent society, which
has close connections with New York
and Boston, where the mines have theil
financial headquarters. Saturday, July
! 18, was pay day, and the various mine
disbursedin in cash $3.50, ,000-an enormous
amount of money to flow into the littlC
towns about Portage Lake. The people
in Houghton and Hancock buy Calumet
and Hecla stock as they would make d
deposit of money in the savings bank
At the present rate of output President
Agassiz reports there is work in sight fol-
seventy years to come. Tne company is
increasing its capacity so as to about
double its present output, or to work out
the ore in sight in about thirty-fvt
years.
The machinery for the Red jacket
shaft now beng put in place will cost
the company 81, 100000. Like all th'
other machinery operated by the Calu
met and Hecla, it is built to stand fol
ages. The granite on which it rest
comes from Massachusetts and the cast
ings from Philadelphia. The great en-
gine in the central power house has q
greater power than the two Corliss en-
gines which were the wonder of the Cen
tennial. From depth of 1900 feet il
hauls trains of ore and dumps them OF
cars to be taken to the great mills OIL
Lake Linden, where the ore is crushed
and the rock portions are washed away
by successive washings until copper par
ticles as fine as -four are deposited on the
| xuacbiuu fablae