St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-04-13

NINE.
indeed, one has been written-of it
alone, it is surpassed in one respect, the
depth of its openings, by its neighbor,
the Tamarack copper mine. The his
tory Of the Tamarack reads like ro-
nance. 1t was, strange to say. made
to-ordcr minc. The trend and pitch Of
the Calumet & Hecla copper lode,
probably tho strongest and most persis-
tent mineral body ever opened, is al-
most uniform. It pitches to the north
west at an angle Of 3.is degrees. vary
ing scarcely q degree III this slant from
the initial openings, made on surface
outcroppings, to the great depth OF
nearly mile which has been attained.
Capt. John Daniel, Cornish miner in
charge Of the Osceola mine, was much
struck by the uniformity of this pitch,
and instead Of simply wondering at it,
as others had done, set to work to plan
some way in which to profit BY this
knowledge which he In common with
others possessed.
Adjoining the holdings Of the Calu-
met & Hecla company were several
tracts Of land, Of forty acres each. It
was supposed that the Calumet &
Hecla conglomerate copper lode un-
dcrlaid these tracts, but If the angle OF
S1k degrees was maintained, the lode
would be found only at an enormous
depth. Quietly securing these tracts,
Capt. Daniel interested with him sew
eral Boston capitalists in the venture.
At first the latter were appalled, by the
enormous cost of the projected work.
but Daniell's quiet persistency, the ease
with which he demonstrated the pres
ence OF the lode under the lands at q
depth ranging from 9, 200 to G.oo0 feet,
was finally rewarded, the capitalists
put in their money, and decided by q
single bold stroke to risk several hun
dred thousands of dollars on the chance
Of winning millions.
The Tamarack company was organ
lied, the shares being taken by the
few who had faith in Danicll's ability
to make q mine. Work was begun and
q shaft was sunk. Instead Of sinking
q small shaft, the dimensions of the
first opening were 6x24 feet inside OF
timbers. A heavy plant of machinery
was placed on the ground, and night
and day for three years the miners
hammered, drilled and blasted and the
big shaft went slowly down. Miners
laughed at the folly Of sinking shaft
Of three compartments on such slender
chance of winning o mine, capitalists
ssrcastically inquired when dividends
would be paid, and the men behind the
venture kept putting two or three hun
dred dollars day into the hole.
Capt. Daniel had figured that the
copper lode would be cut at depth of
2,25O feet. At that depth nothing but
the barren trap rock was found. Work
was kept on, and only twenty feet
further down, the great vein of the
Calumet & Hecla, sparkling with cop
per, worth more than q gold mine to
the owners, was struck. From Q crank
Capt Daniel became an authority on
mining, and those who had furnished
money for the working out of his plans
were speedily rewarded. The Tama-
rack mine, when the first CARLOAD OF
copper-bearing rock was hoisted to
surface from the big vein, was worth
more than It had cost, several times
over. Although less than ten years old,
the Tamarack has paid over four mil
lions Of dollars in dividends, and is
rood for many millions more. 1t grows
bigger daily, and its future no man can
predict. But its sharcs no longer sell
for q few dollars, and, like the other
big copper mines, the value OF its stock
Is proportioned upon the anticipated
ability Of the mine to earn dividends
With the completion of the first shaft,
o second was started, then third, and
soon after fourth. Shaft No. Sreached
the copper lode on August I. 1894,
striking the conglomcrate at depth G!
A,ls5 feet from the collar of the shaft,
which is flush with tho surface Of the
around. At the time this shaft was
successful in reaching the lode 1t was
the deepest In the world. but 1t must
now Yield the palm to No. 4 shaft.
which is said to have struck copper in
the middle Of January, 1895, at q depth
spfroximating 4,45O feet. 1t Is now
the deepest shaft in the world, being
$50 feet deeper than No. 5. Shaft No.
3 win be begun as soon as No. 4 reaches
thu vein.
The equipment Of the shaft-houses
which receive the rock brought from
the bowels of the earth Is most com
plete. Hosting engines Of wonderfu!
.li,e and power, which raise the loed'"i
caaes, weighing eight tons, at tho speed
of ffty miles an hour the speed Of the
fastest express trains annihilate space.
At N6 shaft there are SIX full sased
compartments, the shafting being 16xs1
feet between timhers, and each COM
partment eight feet square Ladder ways
for the men in case Of accident, ways
for the pump rods, discharge pipes.
compressed air and electric light, power
and signal wires are contained IN two
Of the compartments. leaving four Tor
the cages, which work IN pairs, ono de-
scending as the other goes up thereby
materially assisting the engines N nan
ding such poaderous weights q se-