Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-09-21
MINING MARvELS.
Wonders Wrested from the
Bottom Of the Earth.
Improvements in this Great Industry
as Shown at Worlds Fair.
Ada ReAaA In Silver and The Pillar q slR
Great Attsaetisas.


wogIn's FArs, Sept a-Ispeciall-I
have been a.. Der the Mining building
three times, ana s.i1 hesitate to attempt
descrip,ica--f=s. iseca9se | am in this
case unusually anSioi,s TO do full justice.
and, secondly, hecsfise IN mining matters
all crrors arc ssrioas Even an omission
may prove 3 Ser.0ys error, for there are n
thousand lit.lo variations in the chemistry
Of minerals, and quite as many little tech
nicalities In th9 terms to describe them,
and as a very minnie variation in the con-
stituents OF III ore may and often does
make all Tho tiiTe~ sr9e between profit and
loss, so a siniilr ~ iation in terms may
turn important tr,..I into nonsense. There
are many grades in other kinds OF report
ing
A szine Conuoisseur.
II knew rs little of mining as do Tor
recently did of art, should tackle the sub
ject with the same conference.-the sublime
self confidence, as /; were. shown by the
monkey Of the fable who wound the watch
with corkscrew. But as wasl for many
years examiner of mines and writer
thereon in Utah and Colorado, the case is
different In the coal mines of Indiana,
Ohio and Nova Scotia, have often had oc-
casion to notice how completely nature re-
verses herself, and that familiarity with
that kind Of mining rather disquahfes one
for understanding silver mine. Coal and
iron are in beds, SO to speak. They tend
toward the horizontal. Silver and gold
lodes are in assures mot quite alwaysl and
tend to the perpendicular. Hence, the
longer a true fssure vein is worked, the
more difficult its working becomes, by rea-
son of heat and water. hoisting the greater
distance and the accumulation of such
waste matter as is left in the vein.
And here is where the mining engineer
gets In his science, and it is in this line that
this building is indeed full of marvels
There is the great model section shown by
the Calumet and Hecla Mining companies
Of Michigan, and though their output is
copper the system of timbering Is the same
as for silver. A large space upon the wall
represents the mine-the 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 shaft or
incline, running to the greatest depth work
ed. the chamber which has been worked out
and timbercd up, and all the slopes, drifts
and wines for opening new ore ground and
taking out the ore by back stopping"
Here, too, are the great fans, which drive
regular little tornado of cold fresh air to
the bottom Of the deepest shaft, and the
great suction tunnels, which in turn draw
up the foul air.
In Subterranean Depths.
All these are running at lightning speed
as everything does In a mining country, an6
II you think such tremendous drafts unnec
essary consider that at the 800 Zee, level IN
the great Comst ock lode the thermometer
in tie side drifts stood the wear round at
152 degrees, and the men could work only
by half hour shifts, resting between times
in the main passages, where connection had
been 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 appli
ance5 for crushing, sorting, roasting, con
centrating, separating, chlorinating, wash
ing, desulphurizing, melting and finally re
flning, for even tho rich and comparatively
clean sulphuret ores Of Colorado must go
through 10 elaborate processes after leaving
the mine, and every process demands the
highest kind Of engineering skill. Don't
tell me that silver will cease to be u pre-
cious metal; it takes too much labor and
skill to get it.
Ada Echan's Statue.
In view Of all these things, it almost ag
gravates an old miner to see SO few people
in this building and TO note that the crowds
are about two or three particular sights.
One is the diamond washing and polish
Z hnn- nh ,at
enough to watch the process, for it draws
the people in mass. BY the way, another
thing ! have not been able to see is the
scenic theater in the Electricity building,
for there are hundreds waiting there when
ever it is open. Montanas silver statue
Of Ada Rehan of course draws a crowd,
and so do the wonderful copper exhibits.
1t Is indeed pleasure to look at the
great masses, 5000 and 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 "howered'' ore, its
surface shining in brilliant green. Gold
is the only metal, believe, which flowers
or gives stain Of its own color. Copper
stain is green. iron stain is red, lead stain
is siivery gray, and the sulphurets, gener.
ally in combination with other minerals,
flower out on the surface in all the gorgeous
disorder of the so called peacock ores"
Another crowd is generally found about
the petrified woods, Of which Colorado, New
Mexico and Arizona have sent some truly
wonderful specimens. Imagine n cross sec
ton sawed ont of freshly fallen oak and
then suddenly turned to the hardest agate
all the veins and annual rings, and even
the minute variations just under the bark.
fixed in the eternal statuary of nature.
Some OF these slabs are two feet across, and
while the vim is left in the natural wood"
20 to speak, the face is polished 10 mirror
ike smootbness The so called moss agates,
water agates and ribbon agates attract
much less attention, as, though pretty, they
are not specially curious.
Other Mineral Curiosities.
The strange forms which silver assumes
are more interesting. When there is more
of the pure metal ia a 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 nass--some-
times in fine spun threads OF silver hair,
sometimes IN wire silver and again in ruby
silver, horn silver or silver glance. In rare
instances the excess coats the oar mass in
filmy folds like what butchers call leaf
lard" Ali these interest the people--as
curiosities merely.
Under the Kentucky pavilion II a repro
duction Of one chamber OF the Mammoth
cave. In the Washington building is the
mammoth block Of fcoai-4l 900 pounds. The
famous A. u. Foote collection Of 80 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. 5 feet inches high, was cut from a
single block taken from depth Of 20 feet.
All these and a few more interest the peo-
yle for few minutes each: but alasl they