Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1894-06-22
Thetford Asbestos Mines.
Written for the HERALD

MT. EtlllOI II iihe Tvs ~
! give a short account to your readers oil
the asbestos mines here at Thetiord and
the manner of operating them. The mines
are situated in Thetiord, Mcgantic
! County, p. o.. town of some 5000 IN
babitants, consisting chiefly OF tie men
employed i'm working the mines, and the
usual class of business men, merchants,
professional men, etc. Thettord is a
French town, only n small portion OF its
inhabit ants speaking the English Ian
ruage. The town has grown up and de-
veloped within the past thirteen years.
The richest, best equipped and most cx-
tens;yely worked mine is the Belle, "
owned by English capitalists, chief OF
whom is Mr.. Bell OF London, Eng. There
are three mines side By side, through
which the Quebec Central X. X, runs, the
working positions being on knoll east
of the railway. To the north, AMI east
Of the track is the King" mine, owned
by King Brothers the lumber merchants
south of this is the Bell, and next to
the latter is the johnson" owned by the
Johnson Brothers. To the west OF the
track is the Ward" mine owned by Ward
Bros. & Co., and the Beaver" owned by
Messrs. Lucke s, Mitchell and n New
York man. There is one other mine Ill
the group hut it is not worked at present
This group is without doubt the richest
asbestos bearing serpentine rock yet
discovered. The three east OF the railroad
track, namely the King, Bell and Johnson
are the best, alike as to the quantity and
quality of the fibre There is no under
ground work i'll mining here; they
simply start on the surface. y circular
pit, say about so feet i'll dianetcrls sunk,
and this is enlarged as they proceed, care
being taken to keep the sides OF the pit as
nearly perpendicular as possible, consist
ent with safety, so as to afford the work
men room at the bottom i'll which to
carry on the work. Some of the pits are
$50 feet deep. On the edge Of the pit is
placed a derrick. and there are two boxes
belonging to each derrick. These dcrrIcks
are constantly hauling up the loaded
boxes or dropping down the empty ones
The power used on the larger mines is
compressed air; the drills and hoists and
other machinery are run by this air, 1t
having the advantage over steam in that
it can be transmitted great distances
with only the slight loss caused by fric-
ton. Tracks are laid from each pit to
convey the waste rock to the dump, aud
the asbestos to the sheds to be cobbed
and fitted for the market. At Black
Lake, six miles south of Thetford there
are six or seven mines, only three Of
which are being worked, and two of these
were recently started. The hard tunes
affect this industry the same as all
others.
have occasion to go to Black Lake
frequently on business, and | am often
forced to laugh at a curious occurrence
that happened on one trip. | had FIRE
quently noticed on these Journeys black
and white bull calf; about an equal
amount of black and white distributed
all over him III curious blotches. 1t was
lonely, homeIy, and degenerate looking
animal, with very long tail. | never
could make out how such a poor calamity
of calf could develop such darned cx.
travagant tail, but it did. 1t might be
because the calf was SO full of grit; OF
else it might have had the misfortune to
get before mirror. and the shock at see.
ing it's own notified "phiz" must have
sent all the zap and energy to the end
farthest from the looking glass. This
seems to me the most reasonable way to
account for such weary prolongatlon
But to proceed. On the trip referred to
this poor calf was in trouble; white
goose or gander IL don't know which,
was walloping that calf, making it emit
long dismal yells. think that bird must
have been a goose because it was so
wicked. i Calls not a meiodous ami
NAL; it has only a couple of fiat notes,
but the way it was leaning on those
notes was a caution. 1t stood its
l. g., "a l,t,t n la Of ii
seemingly came to the conclusion that
discretion was the better part OF valor :;
that it was better to save half his hide
than to have no hide at all, on the prin.
ciple that half a loaf is better than no
bread. But the goose; oh! wasn't that
goose warbler Between the goose and
calf they sent my recollection back to a
certain hall-not one hundred miles from
Island Pond-where a brass band was
taking its first music lesson. The calf lost
the battle and made for the barn, and as
it passed through the gate it was the
most demoralizcd looking animal ever
saw. Well, couldn't help moralizing a
little after the excitement wasover. | am
prone to make comparisons. and came
to the conclusion that the aforesaid dolly
warden calf was not the only unfortunate.
On a higher plane OF existence there is a
kind of white goose that can knock sew
enteen kinds of lamentation out of kind
of a calf who has got high enough i'll the
scale to wear white collars and tight
boots, and can send him off defeated, and
with feeling that the loveliest stars are
mere murky blotches in the sky, and that
the last rose of summer is dead forever.
MATTHEW SHERIDAN,
Thetford Mines. Que, June 16, 1894.