Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1892-08-14
AT THE QUARRY.

mark the sites where Indian lodges were
once established, and everywhere are
scattered fragments OF pipe-stone, rep
resenting the waste of manufacture.
This material seems to have been Sc
lected by the Savages because OF It's
beauty and softness when fresh. The
latter Quality renders it easy to carve,
while subsequently 1t becomes extreme
~ hard. It's color is an exquisite I'm
dian red" Much Of the carving work
done on the pipes is of highly artistic
quality. Some of the specimens Sc
cured by Prof. Holmes, who made the
collections referred to, would do credit
to the most skilled workers In the meer-
schaum.
The pipestone deposit described is
the only one OF its kind in this coun-
try. It is stratum of an unusually
hard red clay, the edge Of which is ex-
posed along the side Of hill. AT the
beginning there could have been no
difficulty in procuring it from its ma
tive bed, but the labor Of Quarrying it
has become very great, owing to the
fact that the edge Of the stratum has
been removed, and in order TO get more
IL is necessary to dig down through sew
eral feet OF quartzite. The stratum be-
ing horizontal the slant Of the hill COW
ering it makes the toll incidental to
working the quarry progressively more
severe. Pickaxe and shovel are the i'm
elements utilized for the purpose by the
Indians, who have not as yet learned
the art of blasting.
THE VALUABLE STRATUM.
On account of the difficulties attend
ing the mining of the pipestone 1t is
quite precious substance, a piece one
foot square being worth from 50 to So
in the crude. The stratum described
is about u inches in thickness and
seems TO be evenly continuous for an
indefinite distance through the hill.
However, only two inches Of this thick
ness is of good quality, being smooth to
the touch and free from grit. OF recent
years the Indians have learned how
to inlay the pipes with silver
and other metals, performing this kind
of work iii a manner very artistic. They
do all the pipemaking, the labor in
volved being too great to pay d white
man for his time. White people buy the
pipestone and make many other articles
out of it for sale, from complete house
down to miniature pieces Of furniture
and trinkets.
The fact that this pipestone quarry
was regarded as sacred is indicated by
extensive photographs on the rocks in
the vicinity of certain huge boulders
found on the spot, representing aborigi-
nal gods and other things OF religious
significance.
PREHISTORIC COPPER MINES.
Prof. Holmes also visited the wonder
full prehistoric copper mines OF Isle Roy
ale. in the northern part of Lake Supe-
rior. They were worked long before
Columbus was born, by the Indians, who
procured from them metal for their i'm
elements and ornaments. The copper
occurs there in masses Of abe pure or
"native" metal. imbedded in the vol
canic rocks, and the primitive miners
were accustomed TO dig it out with no
better tools than stone sledges. AL
though the island Is not adapted for hu-
man habitation tribes from all the sur
rounding country gathered there in
ancient times for the purpose Of OBJ
tanning the precious material. In order
to find it q great deal Of prospecting"
had been done, and thus the surface OF
the hills to-nay are everywhere found
covered with old pits and trenches,
partly filed up and overgrown with
pine forests.
STONE MINING TOOLS.
In these ancient holes are discovered
numerous stone implements which bear
the marks of use as mining tools. So
thickly are such rude tools scattered
about that not less than so, 900 of them
are TO be seen on the surface Of the
ground, affording an illustration Of the
extensive character Of the work that
was carried on. The copper
was sometimes found in masses
so big that they could not
be removed, and many such gigan-
tic nuggets of pure metal have since fur
nished bonanzas to the whites, who for
wears made a business Of exploring the
old workings in search OF them. One
nugget weighed $4,000 pounds, and be-
cause it was not practicable to cut it up
or blast IL into pieces it had to be con-
veyed bodily to the lake shore and car
ried away in g vessel, requiring much
ingenuity and the best modern appli-
ances for the successful accomplishment
OF the task.
HOW THE INDIANS WORKED THE METAL.
When the Indians came across such
a mass OF copper the best they could do
was to break off few projecting pieces
OF it. The business OF prospecting for
such abandoned nuggets was finally
given up by the whites because they
ceased to find enough of them to pay,
although more than 1000 pits remained
untouched by them. After the miners
of antiquity had got the copper they
hammered it into tools and ornaments,
which were carried to all parts OF North
America and distributed by trade. Such
articles, for which the material was
originally obtained from Isle Royale, are
found to-day in mounds and graves
throughout this country. This explora-
ton by the Bureau OF Ethnology of
these great prehistoric workings for
metal is the first that has been made,
and the results, which will be Illus
trated by collections at the Worlds
Fair, throw q new light upon the abo-
rlginal people who have left behind
them proofs Of such gigantic labors.
GENERAL SYSTEM OF Trade.
Considering the vast extept OF the
country ana the lack Of any but the