The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-04-09
More Development Work the Past
Winter Than Ever Before IN
the Panhandle Country.
Lucky Find Made by q Practical
Miner in the Vicinity OF
Wardner.
Tho Orc Row BeinK Taken Out BY the
Drum Lummon not Of High Grade
Bright Prospects,.

a. " AA0 @
During the last winter and al the present
time there is more vigorous development
work going on. and with batter results.
thaA for q long time. Notwithstanding the
.unfavorable reports that have gone out re-
Rarding the cause Of b spreaent shutdown,
il has not deferred msn from taking hold Of
prospects and carrying out their devclop-
ment; in fact a new era has set In and IN
started afresh in mining. Prospects
that have long lain idle, and in some in
stances entirely abandoned, have been
taken hold of md worked upon with the
most remarkable reaults. TIL mineral belt
at Wardner is a very extensive one and Dur
ing the early cxcitement a great many
claims wers located moro or less pronniscu-
ouslv, After considerable DEVELOPMENT the
extent Of the belt and ore-bearinR ground
was pretty we'll determined. and many OF
the promiscnous claims we're abandoned.
Mines were developed at intervals along
the belt for q distance of about three miles,
extending from the Bunker Hill and Sulli-
van westward to the Grown Point, beyond
this, only indifferent conditions and
amounts Of ore were found, and many of
the claims we're abandoned.
One day a year ago last fall %. j. Shank
lin, 9 we'll known prospector. who had some
interests in the vicinity, while tram ing
over the hills took occasion to examine the
rock thrown out Of az old prospect hole.
It's peculiar appearance excited his cur
iosity, being Of a orumbled, sandy texture,
with q greenish yellow tinge. Ho had seen
chloride, and judging BY comparison. he
-G- 49, - & AL-A Ahsa xx,Srht Va hn chl1rI1n
After looking around for a favorable piece
he took a sample and had it tested, and to
his astonishment it assayed ST. 400 to the
ton. His dreams of forty years We're re al
lied. The fortune that he had hunted for
during the best years of his life was found.
There was one obstacle yet bstweea him
and opulence; the ground upon which it
was found was not yet entirely vacant.
The parties who claimed 1t had practically
abandoned it, but the time for the assess
ment work to be done had not yet expired,
and there was some uncertainty and sus-
Claimants had left the couatry
and he concluded that his best plan was to
remain mum until the time expired and
then locate it. But when the time came it
was buried under several feet of snow, and
he had not yet sufficient knowledge Of it to
tell its course or the best way to locate 1t,
and as there was likely to be a complication
with other claims in the vicinity, be let 1T
remain undisturbed during the winter. and
lay awake nights conjeetnting what he
would do with his money.
When spring came, and after lnvestlgat-
ing the ground, he impaired the knowledge
of ii to owners Of claims in the vicinity
with whom he made a relocation Of them
all, 30 az to as nearly as possible get the
full benefit Of what was in themo The
property is known as the Wyoming group,
and consists of four claims, the Wyoming.
Eldorado, Homestake and Bi-Metalic, and
are owned equally by 0. L. Shanklin, Dan
and Heugh MoEachern, Dan Mcdonald, A.
]. Devlin and Henry Black. All these
men. with the exception Of Mr..
Black. who is a leading merchant here, are
practical miners and Immediately com
menced vigorous DEVELOPMENTS. Their
first work was to sink a shaft fifty feet, but
owing to the jurnbled condition of the
ground and amount of water, this plan was
not satisfactory. Neither did they get a
very great amount of ore, such as was first
assayed, which to them was very mis!sad-
ing. The ore was simply the oIidized bases
Of a sulphide of lead ana iron which gave
it the Appearance of chloride and free mill
ing. The conditions. however, were such
as to warrant them in undet taking its dc.
yelopment on a somewhat extensive scale
by a long tunnel, which was started some
what t'blind'' to run obliquely across the
qualification through tho foot wall. to tap
the ledge Immediately under the ore shute
that appeared on the surface. This would
make a tunnel 500 feet long and be at that
point 250 feet deep. Work has been going
on ever siuce uninterruptedly but without
reports of results. Certain maneuvers and
conduct of the owners created some curios-
ity and the suspicion that there was more
there than the owners would tell about, and
your cor espondent, watching for an oppor-
fnrifv tnpk n1unntnn a of tho a hnan No of fhm
owners and got access to the mine, and
what he found we'll paid him his t ouble.
The unnel had reached the vein ut about
300 feet and continued more or less irregu-
larry across it for about 100 feet, In this
100 feet several ore shutes we've cut of. AT
about 400 feet the hanging wall Was reached
n the tunnel continued along this on a
chute of ore for another 100 feet, which at
the end was q full face of ore. There
we've several drifts and crosscuts run, and
these were filled up again with the best ore,
some of which il very rich, only the poor
est being put on the dump.
When the trespasser returned to town he
met n of the owners and told him he had
been in the tunnel. and elected some more
information and the permission to publish
an account of it. 1t seems that all title to
the ground had not yet been cleared up and
the facts of development were kept con.
cealed SO as not to interfere with the pend
aug AeSVblht'OAss WHlCL Lave p66u recently
concluded. Mr.. Devlin, one of the owners,
gave a very lucid account of the conditions.
As near as he could tell there was about
forty feet of ore bearing ground. In which
they crossed five distinct ore chutes each
about five feet in width. The ore
is mostly gaiena, some of it quite clean, but
most of it will require concentrating
Numerous tests have given returns of about
thirty ounces of silver and 60 per cent Of
lead to the ton OF cleaned ore. Some epota
and places are very rich, especially wher,
the ground is loose and the primary orei
o1idized. There are some fine specimens o
crystalized lead and native silver. Th,
vein and ore have many of the characters
tics of the other great vein of the district
but is evidently not the same. The coua
try is a soft rock, and the vein soft quartz
grading in places into plain quartzits. Yh
hanging wall shows II perfect cleavage will
evidence OF assuring. The foot wall coun
try or underlie of the vein does nos sho,
regularity, but the hanging wall shows
we'll defined boundary. 1t is located owe
the ridge from the Crown Point. nearl
parallel and 1000 feet south.
THE DRUM LUMMON.