Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1896-03-20
FLORENCE QUARTZ BELT

N W3U Make SMre- Enough
Home Market f;or the Products
of Cam0s Praific Farms.
The shrewd business men of
Camas prairie will do well to keep
an eye on Florence and reap the
result of the boom in that camp.
Whether you realize it or not it is
a sure-enough fact that Florence is
bound to make q good high-grade
gold quartz camp, for awhile any
how. The development work
which will be done on the mines
this summer will determine
whether the veins go down and
whether they hold their value. The
indications thus far are very en-
couraging. At least two shafts are
now SO feet deep, showing good
strong lodges with the same val
liable mineral contents as the crop
pings which made all the excite
ment. There is no good reason
why these veins should not con-
tinue on down into the bowels of
the mountains as they do in other
camps. The distribution of mines
throughout Idaho is governed by
the age of the rocks exposed at the
surface. Mineral veins of all de-
scriptions are found in the ont
crops of the ancient GRANTEES, and
they will be found nearly every
where either mineralized or fssur-
ed. In the Florence zone the for.
nation appears to have been both
mineralized and fissured to a pro-
found extent. The formation is
Archean granite, which outcropf
in various parts of the state and
everywhere contains its richest
mines.
With these fundamental facts Il
90 on there need be no fear of thu
result Of development work OF
the Florence quartz mines. Som
of the lodges will doubtless pincl
out with depth, and others ma.
} lose their values; but this is tn
regular thing in quartz mining
There are good, bad and indiffer
ent lodges in Florence as elsewhere
and doubtless much good none,
will be spent in opening wildca
lodges and other schemes whic
always accompany the develop
ment of q good mining camp. Fo
these people we have no sympath!
"Fools and their money are 500
parted.' Investment in minin
property calls for the same exc
else of knowledge, good judgmer
and business sense which yO
would put into any 9TH
business enterprise. Unfortunat
|, ly the country is full Of fools wi
go into quartz on the "fOOl f
luck theory"
But what we started out to 81
was this: Present indication
point to the fact that Florence W
for some years to come have
population of 500 souls, sure, wi
a likelihood of ], 900 souls or moi
- Now this addition to the pOpul
ali. ton of Idaho county means sui
Re =. enough cash home market for t
en; products of Camas prairie farm
ter ter 1t has been estimated that 1O
atil ,al miners consume as much beef
5000 dwellers in a city. That
probably true, and it is also tt
was that miners are the best patrons
snS ent the farmers for all kind of ft
ave ave products. The best the farm
Tin. have ia none too good for mine
1% red and a mining community alwi
..s q makes a large cash market for
has farmers of the vicinity. Five hi
lin dred men working in the prod
L. tive gold mines Of Florence '
make a market for Camas pra
farmers that would be far m
valuable than any other they co
secure. 1t remains for our fal
ing population to demonstr
X whether they will supply this I
~ demand and reap the reward th'
selves, or whether all these I
ducts will have to be impor
from other localities.