St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1894-02-17

the cold weather and snow have frozen
the malignant disease .out and there
are At present only about 80 cases
The unusual fatality is probably due
to lack Of proper food and necessary
medical attention. The foreign ele-
ment in this mining community Is
very large, and tho Cornish and Fin
nish men pay little attention to any
kind of illness. 1t was asserted that
some of these men were reduced to
such desperate straits that they killed
and devourcd their dogs and cats, this
meat being fed generally to the sick.
who demanded something more nour-
ishing than potatoes, or bread made Of
coarse -four and water. Happily this
state of affairs Is over for the time
being. and tho local relief committees
are sending food and clothing to the
houses Of the stricken people who are
unable to come for them.
The explanation of the existing con-
dition of affairs is simple. The recent
panic paralyEed the iron industry.
One after another Of the great iron
mines shut down and men were
thrown out Of employment until all of
the great mines on the range were
closed and an army of 5000 men was
added to the unemployed. With the
exception of a few men here and there
at work on the ore piles, or checking
the flow Of water in the subtcrranean
passages all OF the great mines of the
range have been idle since early last
summer. To appreciate this statement
it Is only necessary to state that these
idle mines shipped ten million tons Of
ore to the iron markets last year!
There is . picturesque background
to this setting of AFFECT poverty and
human misery. Contrast the con-
ditions Of to-day with the Gogebic of
four years ago. Thsn the eyes Of the
civilized world were turned on this Sec
ton Of country that had suddenly be-
come . great commercial and indus
trial center. The primeval forest gave
way to busting towns and great and
important mining settlements as the
morning mists before the MONDAY sun.
In the course Of . year after the dis
covery Of the original Colby and other
of the famous mines, the pine forests
had disappeared and towns Of great
importance had sprung up. The Colby
mine is now known IS the Norrie, the
greatest iron producing and shipping
mine in the world. . proud distinction
indeed. Fortunes were made in day
and millionaires were as thick as sand
flies. Thousands Of men found en-
ployment in building the towns, in de-
veloping and working the mines and in
sweeping away the forests 1t WIS an
era without parallel in the develop
ment of the country. Carpenters and
artisans commanded the highest
wages. miners were well paid. and in
few months time thousands of men bad
been attracted to the new Eldorado.
Times were prosperous. money plenty.
spectators reckless and great things
were planned. The inevitable hap
pened-new iron fields were opened,
the price Of iron declined, the mine
owners combined to reduce high pres
sure expenses, the spectators failed.
the mushroom iron kings" collapsed
and business men came in to take their
places The palmy days were over.
Things ran along in this way until
last summer, when the panic came and
the very bottom fell out of the Go2ebic
boom. This in brief is the rise and
fall of the iron community, and ex-