St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-02-22
Iron Here and Precious Metals
Farther West Are All
the Rage.
A Great Boom to Be Given
the Great Copper Mining
Industry
When the Railroads Require
That Metal for Electric
Wire Purposes.

TIE mining districts entertain their
friends with many fascinating word
pictures of mineral wealth, both pres
ent and prospective. In the hotels the
great grain crops are almost forgotten,
and the air is laden with discourSes on
gold and silver. coal and iron, quartz,
galena, tin,. Lead and copper. Occa-
sionallY a railroad protector may be
seen devising, figuring upon and, some
times, concluding his plans for running
the rails into these attractive regions of
mining industry.
The Northern Minnesota men have
aroused veritable boom in iron mining
properties, and they talk on hematIte or
Bessemer, magnetic and other classes of
ores with ali the fluency of a PeunsyI-
vania expert. Dakota people lay great
stress on the continual prosperity of
their mining Industries. In Montana
and Idaho the most active movements
toward securing properties bearing
precious metals seem to have now Just
fairly begun. So far as can he CLEANED
from the most reliable authorities, the
Montana people are likely to have the
greatest and most satisfactory results
from the development of valuable min
Ing districts that have heretofore, prac-
tlCdllS. ldlu uQlIlldnI, ana also from the
opening of new districts.
Some of these Montana districts have
awaited the advent of railroad extern
sions which now promise to soon pro-
vide desirable facilities for easily mar
ketlng their valuable ores. Among the
mining camps of this class the most alb
sorbing interest is centered upon the
famous New World district, otwhich
Cooke City, Mont, is the distributing
point. 1t is located at the feet of the
Snow mountains. i'll the eastern out
skirts of the Rockies" Delightful
mountain scenery attracts the eye to the
westward. Yellowstone park lies i'm
medlately south, and the picturesque
valleys of the Yellowstone river stretch
north and east. Many asplucky miner
has picked his way through the deep
canyons and narrow defiles in order to
reach the New World mines and, in
Spite of the Dangers
from Indians and other sources, more
than 1000 claims have been filed upon
lands situated within a few square,
miles surrounding Cooke City. The
large amount of mining done in various.
parts of the district has brought forth,
ores in quantity and of value sufficient
to place the district among the impor-
that showed all output f1om mining, i'm
1890, valued at SAT. 073. 7O1. not including
coal which was estimated at S1,811, ZOO.
Cooke City, Mont. is only fifty or sixty
miles away from the facilities of railway
transportation, and it is not likely that
the appeals to congress for the right to
construct a railway into the New World
district will much longer be denied. The
Montana legislature and the leading
citizens of that state have been sur
prlsed at the apathy which has been dis
played by congress in this direction, but
it is fact that influential efforts toward
this desired end are progressing very
fayorabiy. Many of the settlers located
there previous to the establishments of the
Yellowstone National park. Many
others have filed claims since then. The
government has accepted their filing
fees and recognized their rights, and it
seems unlikely that the senatorial OPP
position which has opposed such a
movement for years at the national
capital will continue its antagOnism in
the face of the popular feeling on the
question in Montana and of the urgent
demands that have been made by the
Legislature and many leading citizens of
that state.
A smelter was built at Cooke City in
lSS4-5 by Col. George o. Eaton at cost
of S315,0O0. On the trial run of the
smelter 440 tons of silver-lead bullion
were produced, which sold in PennSyl-
vania for more than $4,000 gross. There
would have been considerable profit on
this, only for the heavy expense of haul
ing coke i'll and bullion out by wagons.
Prof. q. c. Swallow. inspector of mines
for the state of Montana, says regarding
the New World district: Cooke City is
surrounded by lofty mountains with
pointed peaks and rounded foothills.
These mountains to the very summit
are interSected with numerous mineral
veins containing iron, lead, zine, copper
and manganese, all carrying silver and
gold"
In April, 1890, it was estimated that
there were 1900 tons of ore on the
dumps OF the New World mines, and
that the daily output was estimated at
5000 tons. The possible results of fut-
ure developments in this camp may
readily be imagined. With improved
wagon roads or with railroad facilities
the improvement will go forward rap
idly.
Coming Demand for Copper
A prominent railroad man in discuss
ing the mining prospects Yesterday
said: "There is field opening in the
copper-mining industry that is almost
limitless in its possibilities of profit
Just think: Such men as Henry Willard
and Chauncey M. DepeW freely predict
that within ten years many railway
trains will be run by electricity. Their
views are accepted by many well-posted
men, and [ coincide with them. Such
a change, or revolution, from steam
to electricity on passenger and freight;
traffic would necessitate the use of cop
per wires each as thick as your thumb
on the side of each iron rail- They
must be OF pure copper. no better sub;
stitute is believed to be obtainable
Now. if the railroads of the United
States have required such an immense
amount of iron for their constructions
and still require such great quantity
of iron annually for repairs and extern
sions, what draft there must be on
copper production for the purposes of
utilizing electricity, especially when
this revolution in railway transportation
is under way. The question is: Where
can sufficient copper be obtained? L
tell you l wouldn't like anything better
than to OWL a copper mine right now.
Just look at the Anaconda copper prop-f
critics in Montana valued at S25, 900, 000.i
What comparatively short time it has
ship from Anaconda to Swansea, Eng,
where the output is made into copper
plate, and much of this plate comes
back to America. They claim now.
however. that they have the machinery
and will be able to make the plate at
their home works. Of all the mining
opportunities now open none present
to me such promising prospects as those
that include the production of copper.
Some people ask, ''What would the
railroads do with their expensive
locomotives when electricity is in
troduced?" Now, the locomotives
have excellent boilers and machinery
which can be used for generating the
power by placing them at intervals
along the road. A good shed built over
a locomotive would make quite power
station"
How many of these undeveloped min
eral fields are there in the Northwest?
1t is past the power of man to even
guess. Yet it is the cool-headed men
and those who understand mettallurgy