St. Paul daily globe., 1892-03-02
IRON STOCKS KITING,
Excitement Over Mesabi Ore
Finds Still Unabated at
Duluth.
Capitalists From Eastern and
Southern States Continue
Pouring in.
Reports Of Various Experts
as to the Richness Of the
Mines.
Some Of the Companies Which
Are Already in the
Field.
Special to the Globe.

continues undated, ana every day ADDS
to the Importance of the outlook. From
the range daily come reports of new pits
being sunk OH the properties of the diff
ferent companies, always accompanied
with the statement that new and rich
deposits of iron have been found. 1t is
no eXaggeration to say that every train
continues to bring in additions to the
already long roll of prominent capitalists
from the Eastern and Southern states
now here. Stocks of the different COM
panies continue to be the absorbing
topic of conversation, and thous-
ands Of dollars change hands every
day, the lucky holders realizing
hunrdeds Of dollars in few minutes.
The stocks of the Humphrey syndi-
cate still continue TO receive great
deal of attention, but those of the Mer-
ritts are equally prominent. Speaking
of the MerrittS reminds me that very
little has been said regarding their
wonderful holdings on the range. The
first in their affections is the Mountain
Iron company. which is capitalized at
$4,000, ,000-Sl, 100000 issue and S600.O0O
treasury. They own 1000 acress in fee.
all well located, in 5S-lS and 59-17, and
about 5000 acres of state leases, these
latter in 1913 and 53-19. The president
OF the company is Lon Merritt; secre-
tafy. 5. h. Payne and treasurer. Alfred
Merritt. 1t is significant fact that
nearly all these gentlemen are also the
owners Of the Duluth, Mesabi & North
ern railroad, so it will at once be seen
that it iS a uarU ctrOnr
The Deposit of IRON
covers surface of 800 feet one way and
LOCO the other, and the company has
now six pits in clean high-grade Besse-
mer ore, the ore having an average
depth of forty feet, covered by sur
face of twenty feet OF gravel and clay.
The ore on this property can be mined
for 40 cents per ton, and it will cost 65
cents to get it to this city and about
sI.25 to ship it to Cleveland. Capt.
Wood. an expert of many years expert
ence in the mining of minerals, and
especially of iron, has been employed to
open the mine, and is proceeding TO do
so now. Men are being hired this week
and are being forwarded as rapidly as
possible to the scene of their future
operations. The company has just
closed a contract, an exclusive
one. with the Duluth, Messabi &
Northern Railroad company for thirty
years for the shipping of their ore.
In the beginning OF this letter | spoke
of the money that was being made in
stocks. A better idea of what is being
done in this regard may be gained from
the fact that the stock of the Mountain
Iron, which was placed on the market
at 10 cents. yesterday sold at 60 cents on
the dollar, or $50 per share. Next in
Importance to the Mountain Iron CON-
pany is the Biwabik Mountain Iron
This is capitalized at 50. .OO0,-
600, of which S2,300,000 is issue and
100000 treasury. The officers of the
company are Messrs. Lon Merritt pres
ident, and E. II. Hall secretary and
treasurer The company has eighty
acres ins fee simple, and about 1000
acres of state leases, all we'll located on
the Mesabl and Vermilion ranges. They
have mine in sections and 8, 5S-16,
and they have
Nineteen Pits Sunk
in clean ore varying from 200 to so feet
in depth. Like its predecessor, this is
hIgh-grade BesSemer ore, and can be
mined for about so cents per ton. The
company is now stripping, preparatory
10 shipment, and just as soon as the
Duluth, Mesabi & Northern is COM
pleted in to the mine, which will be by
July l, or sooner, perhaps, they will be
in position to ship out all the ore that
the road can handle. The Biwabik is
another company whose stock has gone
exiting" Placed on the market at s10per
share it found ready sale. and it has
at $50 per share. There is very little
stock of this company on the market:
and, in fact, so valuable has it become
that the Merritts are buying in every
dollars worth that they can get their
hands on. as they are confident that
it will go to par, and that before long.
In lesser degree has the Shaw Iron
attracted the attention of the j
speculative public. This is, of course,
another of the Merritt properties, and 1t
is looked upon with great degree of
favor, not only by the owners them
selves. but by the investors and capital
lists already spoken of. 1t has capital
stock of S3,000,000. 100000 issue and
Sio0, 900 treasury. The company's hold
iHgs are 1000 acres in fee simple in
5S-l6, 600 acres of which are located on
the iron belt. They have one pit down,
the last report on which gave six feet in
clean ore of the usual high grade Bes-
semer quality. The officers of the COM
pany are Alfred Merritt, president : A.
L. Talon. secretary, and n. B. Merritt,
general manager. The stock of this
company has
shown Great Gains
lately. Started at $40 per share, it has
advanced rapidly to S22 per share, and
holders are looking for further raise.
Nearly all the Merritt properties are
nigh unto the famous holdings of the
Humphreys syndicate. For instance,
the Blwabik lies just east of the Cincin-
natl mine, the developments on which
caused the greatest surprise among the
experts who visited 1t for the first time
a week or so ago. Part of the Shaw
cOmpany's holdings lie close to the won
derfnl Mckinley mine, which is con-
eeded to be one of the richest on the
Mesabi range, and while in general
way this proves nothing as to the size
of the iron deposit underlying the sur
face, yet, in the language of the street,
ait is dollars to dOughnutS" that there
is iron there. and plenty of it. The
Merritts themselves are great hustlers.
Reared in the city of Duluth. they have
made specially since their. arrival at
mans estate of real estate and pine
lands. In following up their vocation
as traders in this line. have done great |
deal OF exploring, aid III this way be-
came familiar with the merits of the
Mesabi range. Thus they have explored
almost all the range, and In the course
of their explorations picked out their
o,ur,Io Io,,ds ca tho in offariDo o. th air StQnk