Milford chronicle., 1893-09-29

ric1 >d
ImpnsremeaA. 81 rais assat leaastry pa
-sbown at taa caieak2 fair-Aea s.ei'aa' &
III silver aaa aPnias % Salt Great a 4
fractions F6- the People
WoRLD's FAIR. Sept %. lSpeciall-i
9avo bsen all over the Mlius tgilding
.bree times, and still hesitate to attempt
/, description-lfst, because l am 10 TINS
.ase unusually anxious to do full justice,
md secondly. because in mining matters
an errors are serious Even an omission
NAV prove a serious error, for there are
thousand little variations in tho chemistry
Of minerals, and quite as many little teen
nicalities in the terms to describe them'
and rs q very minute variation IN the con
stituents of an orc may and often docs
make all the difference Between profit ana
loss. SO a similar variation in terms may
tilrn important truth into nonsense. There
are many grades in other kinds OF report
ing.
fIIncw rs little Of mining as ! do tnr
,rcentlyditi) Of a-t. I should tnckle the sa D.
iers v-ith thas..ie con glene -tle'iHh il'a
self conf l.nce, ns it were, shown by iae
NOME OF i.ia i..b.e who wo1nd tine watch
win a corlsc-aw. But as / was for many
rears examiner OF mines and writer
bereon in Utah and Colorado, the case Is
different. In the coal mines OF Indiana,
Ohio and Nova Scotia, have often had oc-
,asion to notice how completely nature re-
verses herself, and that familiarity with
that kind of mining rather disquallhe' one
for understanding Il silver mine Coal and
iron are in beds, 50 to speak. They tend
towar.l the horizontal. Silver and gold
lodes are in Gssares mot Qui.e alw1ys) ana
tend To the perpsndicIllr Hence, the
lancer q trus 1ssure vein is worked, the
more difficult its working becor;es' by rea-
son of heat and water, hosting tae greater
distance and the accumulation OF sucA
waste matter as Is left in the vein.
And l.9s IS where the mining engineer
pets in his science. and IL is in this line that
this builling Is indeed fu'l Of marvc's.
Thrre +, the great model section shown by
the Calumet and Iiecla Aiiuing companies
uf Michigan, and though their ol0pu5 Is
conner the system Of timbering is the same
as for silver. A large space upoA the w1il
reprs3etts The minr-tne opposite wall is
supposed to be removed and the spectator
to have his position in its place. Then he
has before him the long timbered shalt or
incliae, Running to the greatestttepth work
ed. tao cidnlberwhich has been worked out
ami tinberel up, and all the slopes drifts
and wines for opening new orr ground ana
taking out the ore by back stopping,
Here. too, are the great fans, which drive
REGULAR little tornado of cold fresh ar 10
the bottom of the deepest shaft, and the
great suction tunnels, which in turn draw
up the foul air.
InSabterranean Depths.
All these rra running at lightning speed,
as severything does in mining country and
if yon think such trem endous drafts unnec-
essary consider that at thel ,9J0 feet level IN
the great Comstock lode the thermometer
in tLe side drifts stood the wear round at
f52 degrees, and the men could work only
bv half hour shifts, resting between times
in the main passages, where connection had
bern established, the air rushing down one
shaft and up another and sweeping all the
intermediate sections. Here, too, are the
monster pumps which pour out those
great streams one may see flowing down
the mountainside, and here are the monster
hosting engines and all the latest appll7.
ancrs for crushing, sorting, roasting, CON
centrating, separating, chlorinating, wash
ing. desulphurizing, melting and hqaNy re-
dning, for even the rich and c9mBAratively
clean sulphuret ores Of ColOrade must so
through l0elsboratc processes 2iteF leaving
the mine, and every prOcesi4 demands the
highest kind of engineering skill. Don't
tell me that silver will case to be a pre-
cious metal; it takes 800 much labor and
skill to get it.
Ada z HAMS Statue.
In view Of 9 these things, it almost ag-
yrav9tas 4HR miner to see so few people
be ,ase and tonOte that the crowds
'sfr = %. vo or three particular sights.
re aDoulA Nlamond washing and polish
Jns = ,' suo BOT been able to get near
". ~ ch Iie process, for it draws
',lous,u i,ll 49, ~ @s' by the way, another
nv .,'.' 49, - ~ een able to sec is the
-n1,,f aa,,;,. tl,eater ~, Electricity building,
~. i,,,e are hr,ndr3 s waiting there when
.veT it q omen. MoWtana's silver statue
of Ada Tehap Of coufse draws crowd
and so do the wonderful Nopper exhibits
1t is indeed pleasure u iooh ut the
rreat masses, 5000 andl 5000 pounds
each. of this metal almost pure in its
native state from the mines Of Michi-
gan. In the cases, too, are hundreds
Of specimens of the "nowered" ore, its
surface shining in brilliant green. Gold
is The only metal, believe, which flowers"
or gives a stain Of its own color, Copper
stain is green, iron stain is red, lead stain
is silvcry gray, and the sulphurets, genet
ally IN combination With other minerals,
flower out on the surfacein all the gorgeous
disorder of the so called peacock ores. "
Another crowd is generally found about
tbepetrlied woods, of which Colorado, New
Mexico and Arizona have sent some truly
wonderful specimens. Imagine cross sec
tion sawed out of a freshly fallen oak and
then suddenly turned to the hardest agate
all the veins and annual rings, and even
tbs minute variations just under the bark,
fixed n tbe eternal statuary OF nature.
Some Of thess slabs are two feet across, and
while the vim is sleft ip the natural wood -
so to speak, The face is polished to mirror
like smoothness These called moss Rgates,
water agates and ribbon agates attract
n4uch iessattention, as, though pretty they
are not specially curious.
other Mineral CgFinsities,
The streugc forms which silver assumes
are more interesting When there is more
Of the pure metal i'll mass Of ore than
the quartz or other matrix can hold in
chemical or mechanical union, the excess
forms upon the face of the ore mass-some-
times IN fms spun threads OF silver hair
sometimes in wire silyaV and again in ruby
silver, horn silver or silver glance. p rare
INSTANCES the excess coats the oar mass in
flmy folds like what butchers call, 'leai
lard" All these interest the people-as
curiosities merely
Under tie Kentucky pavilion ig repro
duction OF one chamber of the Mammoth
cave. In the Washington building is the
mammoth block of coal-4l coo pounds. The
famous A. Il. Foote collection of $50 tons
OF rare minerals, which was shown at the
! Centennial and at Paris, is also here. The
Greeks have sent many things OF interest
as antiquities, The statue Of Liberty in
salt, 3 feet inches high, was cut from q
single block taken from depth Of 250 feet
! All these and a few more interest the peo.
1 pie for a few minutes each; but, alas they
care nothing forall the science embodied in
these wonderful machines and mining mod
els.
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