The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-12
DRINK RUINED A MINE.
TIE COAL BOAT CAPTAIN WENT ON
spREE N FAILED TO RETURN.
The People or silver uuict. ono OF the hiohess
Proascers on Lake superior. watched N
Abandoned. water -
,he Shafts, ana the Place pesertees
Nro7n the chicago Record

proaucers on Lake superior. watched ~
vstn-EnEines Abandoned. water -
the shafts, ana the Place Desertees
From the ontcaoo Record.
MrNYrAPoIIs, Minr., Nov. 3o.-A Lake Sue
erior steamboat Captain took several drinks too
many. While he was enjoying his intoxication
his boat was tied up. When he recovered from
Il his boat was frozen In tho ice. Tho managers
Of tho richest silver mine in America waited
p~atiently for the Captain to come with the
thousand tons Of coal which the boat had on
board for the operation of the mines engines.
The engines ran out of fuel and had to DO SINUS
down. The pumps stopped, tho mine hllod with
water. several hundred workmen were thrown
out Of employment, q village was depopulatod.
and n scono Of life, activity, and industry was
turned into a desolate group OF decaying houses
and ruetinF machinery. For thirteen years the
water has stood in the shafts, the levels, ana
the winzos of the mine. And all because a boat0
Captain would take to drink.
Hore is an illustration Of the evils OF the cup
that far SURPRISES anything that has ever been
told on the lecture platform. 1t is tho story In
nutshell of the Abandonment OF the Silver lsieu
mine Off Thunder Cape, on the north shore on
Lake Superior, which in fourteen years pro.
duced 5000 600 ounces of silver, valued az
pa. $780, 1000.
The history Of the mine dates back hfty.two
years, when Joseph Woods took out a location
which included the site Of Silver Islet, a barren
little rock, which was to become famous as the
richest spot in the world. This location was
transferred to tho Montreal Mining Company
In 1S45, which In 1870 transferred 1t to an
American company composed Of many mon OF
national fame. Thoy were E. b. Ward OF De-
troit, the famous millionaire whose daughteH
has figured 30 sensationally in European life;
edward Learned of Pittsneld, Mass.; Alexander
| H.. Sibley Of Detroit, Charles A. Trowbridge OF y
New York, Pclcg Hall Of New York, William
b. Frue of Houghton, Mich; George 8. Coe OF
New York, and Edward Prentice of Montreal
The Americans had not bought a moro pros
poet, either. for under the direction Of an agent
named Thomas Macfarlane, the Montreal COM
pany had done enough work on tho islet 10 snow
that the vein was surprisingly rich. IN the
all the locations of the Montreal company, and
while at work on the Woods location q sur
the rock that has since been called Silver Islet.
Macfarlanc anime 1t himself, ana st two
found to be twenty feet Wide on the north side
Of tho island, and on a the s,s south 1t divided into into
wide. a member of the party soon discovered
some small silver nuggets in the west branch
tach all the vein rock carrying ore above tho sur.
face of the water, but tho ore was traced some
nuggets Of silver were replaced by large patches
OF limestone, rich in galena. intermixcd with
s Ser. Far Sein e varied taff IN fi tss Tiehc st p part from
t eTs T feet to Srasa FEW of iPc Mitb a sSms rish u Pidssest 6 Ss
SEe Wefe a 'f s%ipme nj Of 1856 POUNDS Of ore
which was shipped to Montreal was found to
'o No more n,oe work 4Ine was 't done e on the is Sc 4 in the
season Of 1s8s, but the next year saw operations
tH i the Situation saiont and de-" extcnt Of the isiet.
The American company was about to begin
james Seymour OF Toronto undertook to jump
the mining, claim and caused them much trou-
been appointed suTperintendent Of the nine By
the h An. Amc I'd MS so% wgtb : h ieft , a0dHG q min;n Mifi m:
pie neanst:ss "a and machinery and t6irty.four men.
ar IRWIN at ssatInse h islet On SEPT ISc i is,e As o so91 "a as s ane
the construction Of cribs was begun. The island
S Eif 50 e s%s'l to that prd II S's the n's ssaft' but nGt to Sa est 70 q
foothoId for the various structures which the
s sssss.sa%' by SpfFE Tas the Of isi tae w %in "a es amali barr As
rock, the greatest width Of which was seventy
i fes' m nn% l1 thsn e siifShtyf feet esst sb sna Il the no T R, { IT'S is
position being about thhaT ee.auartsrs Of a mile
s sweep t of 2 %Si miios Of fn lake se! supe sfPeS"sa 10
A new breakwater was begun, facing the
s sSS isIsnd. which h ba %"s 8 t bs,a most Of se sHpSsefi ps fds Of
strongly framed, with five separate bulkheads.
snS was iscs given tRe an Sis ans'e p of Il S SsE1se sis on sss
feet above the water: At last a struGture had
@ Sssn re Snf it THAT %ss d not S,s ihs en st1shF To p @e ehs
great volumes Of water from rolling over into
the Enclosure; To- prevent this 81, water r. from rom
tween this timber work and the cOftef-daln wa
filled with stone and hydraulic cement.
Notwithstanding Interruptions to mining
nearly 81 600. 200 t Tort hor Of ore re- WAS Dnyi taken oH 10
1872 nearly 100000 worth Of ore was shipped.
In 1879 the shipments declined ,r to Sd36,Goo;
$50 feet Of submerged cribs. 10000 feet OF TIM;
r SePti l'' TSe bRls UaRads Or sh DS1t %a a"e eo 2;SG9 tGSs d g!
molished. great stones were hurled around the
h Island IKE Ike beans cans and an b an %eG ID nj to %t the P W"tgr'
But after a continuous fight with the water in
ana out of the mine the crib work wns restored
and the pumps put in shape.
Besides the great expense entailed by the
S panS Ssd f TO b%iId G Souse ssS on aif tns mSin sRS d" for
It's men. contsruct docks and wharvcs. harbor
ffsretUfoTs ali int the lay on ls 'a ntiiiz ssGr wa 81 .5 padkins
ore'-that is. the very richest ore to he found
en- tas SG a stamp m mi mil AND AND began asaa the the r eSdmRaioS
of the poorer ores. Though the stamp mill was
nSf so prs saSsssyt saa s. 10 I w dari SxPs the ia Sc S Ss,lf fe os
1879; This vaRnsrs introduced into this mill
world over and bear his name.
The output of silver from the mine in 1878
fell TO 115,9O2 ounces and the total product, OF
ounces Of fine silver. The continued decline in
expenses Of operation resulted in a oieit In
1875, and a consequent examination OF tne mine
i RS 'P Which was reached by y"a' Wine in ids s foas
south Of the shaft and directly under the lake.
%eo@R nit tS found 1siU that ane ali Ipy the 81 silver i've w Bearing T n.
d fdTaMaG h kept mp up as A. f q fv as the the vein ena had been
lent in the vein as it had been. But as the
mine had been decidedly ''pOckety'' from the
start, 1t was felt that the poor quality OF the ore
at that time was no reason for encouragement.
A rich pocket of fabulous extent might he
struck, at any time. Between tho sixth and,
seventh levels a corner near the shaft had
yielded siXty-hvc tons of ore valued at Sll3. OoO-
This report resulted in the Representation Of the
company under the name of the Silver isieS
This was effected in April, 1877.
The new company soon had its faith re-,
warded. 1t had just been decided to unders
take the work of re moying tho roof OF the mine.
where It was known there was about S4OO. GOD
worth of ore, when the work OF further exnior.
ing the different levels and pushing them In the
direction indicated by drift holes resulted IN
the discovery. Of immensely rich deposits. IN
this year. with a production Of ,72l eos OUNCE