Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1896-05-27
ORE MOVING RAPIDLY.
Demand for Desirable Grades Suf-
ficient to Ensure Continued
Activity.

Marquette, Mich, May 23-[SpeciaI.l
The extreme tension between the min
ing companies on the Marquette range
and the employees is rapidly disappear
ing, and the outlook for harmony is
more promising than it has been for
some time past. OF the 800 men dis
charged by the local mines a month ago
several hundred have been taken back.
1t is the general opinion of the men land
there seems to be ground for their so
thinking that some of the men who
were let out last month will not get
their jobs back under any circumstances.
and that they are not at all likely to
get work elsewhere in the district. The
mine managers deny that there is q
blacklist, and perhaps there is none, but
there seems to be a pretty thorough I'M
derstanding that the leaders of the strike
OF year ago, who became prominent III
the union and were advocating the eight
hour day, shall be given an opportunity
to do missionary work elsewhere Mean
While the men who have not been lead
ers are working steadily in most cases,
while a couple of hundred miners. prin-
clpally unmarried men, have gone else
where for work. Wages while not high.
are fair, and a miner in Ishpeming will
average as high wages as are earned by
times are prosperous, and have been so
during the entire panic. A good miner
will earn 500 to S10 per month-nOt
high wages when the skill required and
the risks run are considered, but suffi-
clent to support himself and family in
comfort, and perhaps to lay trihe aside
for a rainy day.
The Buffalo mines at Negaunee are
adding materially to their forces and are
getting out large quantities of ore I'm
like nearly all the other large mines of
the Marquette range, the Buffalo group
was idle for several months during the
winter, and as consequence begun the
shipping season with practically no ore il
stock, while all the other mines had large
stock piles to begin shipping from.
The weekly shipments. of ore from
the Marquette docks of the Duluth,
from 10000 to 10000 tons, or at the
rate of nearly 100000 tons for the en-
tire season. The South Shore is NOV
ing more ore than ever before in its his
! tory. Owing to a cut in the head-Of-the-
lake ore rate, the large amount of Co
gebic range ore which was to have been
shipped via Escanaba has not mate
rallied. The Chicago & North Western
system ships from the Gogebic mines by
way of both Escanaba and Ashland, and
the Ashland haul is now the more con-
ven:ent to the mines because of the
The Lake Superior q 1shpeming, the
new ore line being built by two of the
local mines, should be able to handle
some ore this fall, though it is not like
ly that it can be completed in time to
be a very important factor in this sea-
sons ore traffic.
Ore is going forward rapidly from all
Lake Superior and Lake Michigan ship
ping ports and is being rapidly absorbed
at the receiving ports. Notwithstanding
the rumOrs of heavy tonnage of unsold
ore at the opening of the season of navi-
cation, it was shown that nearly 100000
tons less of unsold ore was lying on
Lake Erie docks May 1, 1896, than a
year previous, the amount on hand at
the opening of navigation being the
smallest for a number of years, and,
taking into consideration the cOnsidera-
BILE quantity of undesirab BILE ore of low
and mixed grades, some of which has
| been on the docks for years, there was
but very little available ore on hand for
| furnace use when the new supply begun
moving. This cleaning up and cleaning
out of old stocks of ore is a decidedly
| promising sign for the producers, as it
forecasts a healthy demand for practi-
cally all The commercial grades of ore
during the season
The place of General Manager Frank
p Mills. who left the Cleyeland-C Cliffs
company at Ishpeming several months
ago to accept q position at Colorado
Springs with Western mining company,
is as yet untitled. though rumor gives tho
position TO Capt. John f. Armstrong,
formerly assistant superintendent of the
Cleveland mines. and lately in the en-
plOy of the Minnesota Iron company.
The Cleveland-Cliffs company is an enor-
nous concern, employing thousands of
men in its mines, forests, furnaces,
chemical plants and fleets. The company
was Incorporated under the laws of
West Virginia on account of it's large
holdings of lands. the amount being con-
siderably above the limit allowed by the
constitution of Michigan.