The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-05-07
THE COPPER KING.
A Chat With Marcus DAILY on
Mines and Fast Horses.
EMPLOYS AN ARMY OF MEN.
Came e the Unlsed States Poo1 hoy,
Wss Penniless ct Is, L. Now Mon
tans's Biggest Millienaire.

By all odds the most striking character
in Montana today IL Marcus DAILY, the
famed Anaconda millionaire, tho cele.
brated horse owner and tho chief Of the
copper kings Of the United States. No
one knows how much Daily is worth. He
owns bank or 30. An electric railroad.
big hotel, something like million dollars
worth of horses and lands, and he has, I
am told, . one-fourth interest in the Ana
conda copper mines, which are the biggest
and best paying Of any In the known uni.
verse. The army Of employees who work
under him 10 a. large in number a. that
which Xenophon led in the famous retreat
described in the "Anabasis," and his pay
roll runs into the ten Of thousands of dol
lars day. Still, he came to the United
States . poor boy. and when he landed q {
San Francisco at the age of Ii he had not
. cent in his pocket, and he trotted up and
down the board walks for three or four
days seeking job. He looked In vain.
until at about the end Of the fourth day
he saw an old farmer in . wagon driving
through the streets. He stopped him and
said. Haven't you got something out at
your place that can do2"
well, I don't know, young man. What
can you dor"
lean do anything" replied young Daily.
Can you dig tatersf'
Yes, can" said DAILY; the man there
upon told him to get into the wagon and
he took the boy home to his ranch. This
was some place east of Oakland and Daily
dug potatoes for the old rancher for three
weeks. He said it nearly broke his back.
but he stuck to it until he got q little
money. and then, boy as he was, he started
for the mines. He grew up surrounded by
gold and silver and he soon developed q
wonderful ability as an expert miner.
When the Comstock lode was discovered
he was in Nevada. He had by this time
become acquainted with Mackay, Flood
and o Brien and they made him the FORE
man Of that mine. After working here for
some time he drifted to Salt Lake and was
engaged there by the Walker brothers,
who have. you know, owned some Of the
most famous mines of our history. He
served them as q mining expert, and it was
about sixteen years ago that he was sent
by them from Utah to Montana to expert
the "Allice" mine.
The Alice mine is one of the most IA
nous in Montana. It has produced mil.
lions OF dollars worth of gold and silver.
Its output tor 1891 was nearly . million,
and it is still worked at great profit. At
the time that the Walker brothers thought
OF buying it the stock had fallen very low.
They knew that it would rise at once if 1t
was known that they wanted it, and Daily
was sent here to find out all about it He
came to Butte City Is miner. He was
dressed in rough clothes and pretended that
he was dead broke and wanted work. He
went to the old Con tinental hotel and pre-
tended to Look for work for week, but
failed to get it, and told the landlord that
ne had no money to pay his board. This
seemed strange to the landlord, as all min
ers were well paid, and AZ there was q
great demand for extra hands. The land.
lord said: well, will see If can't get
you job" He then went down to the
Lexington mine and got place for DAILY,
and told him about it. Mr.. Daily said: II
am little particular about my work.
the job" He did so and came back
the same day, and said that the mine
was too wet, and that as his lungs were not
strong ne feared to go to work in it. He
then ioafed around for another week, and
the landlord. getting more desperate still
ABOUT the payment OF his board, went out
and found him another job. Daily looked
AZ 1t, worked in 1t for two days and then
came back and said that the mine was not
timbered properly and that he would not
work 1t. Now the board bill for three
weeks Was due, and the landlord got hot.
he went up to VAUDEVILLE and got Daily a
job in the Alice mine. He told the Wall
kervilte owners that ne had q man loatng
around at his place for whom he wanted
work long enough to pay his three weeks
board bill. They gave him the job and he
came back to DAILY. He swore at DAILY
upon his return, telling him he was too
d-n particulay about his work and too
On easy about his eating. He said that
he had got him another job and that he
wanted him to take it and stick to it, As
Daily heard him say that the work was IN
the Alice mine his heart must have
jumped, but there was not change in his
features and he only said:
We'll, will go aud look at it."
1t was the opportunity he had waited
for and he took his place as an ordinary
miner In the Alice. He worked tor three
weeks, inspecting the property as he dug
and mined, and at the end of this time he
threw up the job and left Butte City. Six
weeks later he came to the surface as man
ager OF the property. The Walkers, at his
advice. bought the mine and they put him
at it's head.
While Mr.. Daily was managing this he
was looking about for other mines on his
own account, and he invested in a number
oil silver mines. / asked him whether he
mad ever made any money in silver mines
and he replied that he had, but he did not
give me the figures. Among the mines he
bought was the Anaconda mine tor which
he paid, think, $4,000. 1t was begun as
SILVER mine. but after running down 100
ieet the lead developed into one of the big
gest copper veins on record.
UP TO this time not much attention was
pald to copper, bat Daily organized a COM
pany and went 10 work in this mine. The
company consisted OF j. b. Uaegin Of
california, the late Senator George Hearst
Marcus Daily and one or TWO Others. and
II has materially added 10 the millions OF
THESE Weiiknown ml4iionsires can't
give you any adequate idea of the enor-
NOUS extent OF these great mines. Two
thousand miners are employed in the
mines day and night. anu within the last
zen years the enormous sum OF 100000
mas 0een spent by Daily in wages and in
WoFAs Tor operating these mines. All of
this money has come out OF the mines and
no one pGi the owners know now much
more TIE mines have ald. The stock -
NOT Tor sac and the Anaconda mines and
sheiseFs form close corporation. The
lumber which Is used each month for
operating the I2lne would make Il board
"ath Two feet wide from Washington CITY
10 Philadelphia and leo cords of wood are
eaten NJ each Gay Ia The NINE Three
Thousand TONS Of ore are shipped out from
ihe mines daily, and everything connected
y III" THEM II done alter tue latest methods
VIA The finest al improved machinery
snd on : eautIc scale
These mines are located at Butte CITY.
out the ore is ali brought about thirty
seven miles TO Anaconda TO be sinelted.
aAd The biggest smelling WORKS in the