The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-19
Drink RUINED A MINE.
THE COAL BOAT CAPTAIN WENT ON
a SPREE AND FAILED 10 RETURN.

The People Of silver IsIet, One of the
Richest Producers on Lake super
Tor, Watched in Vain - Engines
Abandoned, Water in the shafts,
ana the Place Deserted.
Minneapolis Letter in the Chicago Record
A Lake Superior steamboat captain took
several drinks too many. While he was
enjoying his intoxcation his boat was tied
up. When he recovered from It his boat
waa frozen in the ice. The managers Of
the richest silver mine in America waited
patiently 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 be shut down. The pumps stopped.
the mine filled with water, several hun
dred workmen were thrown out of employ
ment. a village was depopulated, and a
scene OF life, activity and industry was
turned into a desolate group of decaying
houses and rusting machinery For thir-
teen years the water has stood in the
shafts, The levels and the WINES OF the
mine And al because a boats captain
would take to drink.
Here Is am Illustration of the evils of the
cup that far surpasses anything that has
ever been told on the lecture platform. Il
Is the story i'm a nutshell of the abandon
ment Of the Silver Islet mine off Thunder
cape. on the north shore OF Lake Sn
perior. which in fourteen years produced
100000 ounces Of silver, valued at $500 p
COO
The history Of the mine dates back fifty
two years. when Joseph Woods took out
a location which included the site OF Sill
yer Islet. a barren little rock, which was
to become famous as the richest spot IN
the world. This location was transferred
to the Montreal Mining Company In 1916,
which In 1870 transferred II to an Ameri-
can company composed of many men OF
national fame. They were -. b. Ward
of Detroit the famous millionaire whos~
daughter has figured so sensationally IN
European life; Edward Learned of Pitts
field Mass: Alexander II. Sibley of De-
troit. Charles a. Trowbrdge of New York,
Pelca Hall Of New York, William b. Frue
of Houghton Mich; George s. Coe ns
New York and Edward Prentice OF Mon
trea
The Americans had not bought a mere
prospect either for under the direction
of an agent named Thomas Macfarlane,
the Montreal company had done enough
work on the lslet to show that the vein
was surprisingly rich. In the summer OF
1868 Nacfarlane had been exploring all the
locations Of the Montreal company. and
while at work on the Woods location a
surveyor named Brown found vein of
metal on the rock that has since been
called Silver Islet. Macfarlane examined
Il himself and set two men to work I'M
covering the lead. 1t was found to be
twenty feet wide on the north side of the
island, and on the south II divided into
two branches, each Of which was seven
feet wide member of the party soon
discovered some small silver nuggets in
the west branch of the vein. single
blast was sufficient to detach oil the vein
rock carrying ore above the surface OF
the water, but the ore was traced some
distance out into the lake. where the
scattered nuggets of silver were replaced
by large patches of Limestone, rich In
galena intermxed with small particles
and large nuggets of native silver. The
vein varied in its richest part from two
feet to a few inches. Some rich pieces OF
ore were broken Off with crowbars under
the water. A shipment Of 1895 pounds OF
ore which was shipped to Montreal was
found to contain 2OS7 ounces troy of silver
TO the ton.
No more work was done on the islet In
the season Of 1868, but the next year~saw
operations in earnest. though the workers
were hampered by the situation and ex-
tent Of the islet.
The American company was about tC
begin operations at the islet In 1870, wher
a certain James Seymour of Toronto un-
dertook to jump the mining claim and
caused them much trouble before he was
quoted. Capt. Frue having been appoint
ed superintendent of the mine by Tho
American company, left Houghton, Mich.
on Aug. 30, 1870 with a boat load Of mining
| implements and machinery and thirty-foul
men, arriving at the islet on Sept. /. Al
soon as the supplies were unloaded. tn,
islet and its surroundings We're examined
plans were laid, and the construction o.
cribs was begun. The island was so small
that 1t was necessary not only to builC
cribs TO protect the shaft but to get {
| foothod for the various structures which
| the successful operation of the mine en-
| tailed. As described by Frue the isle
/ was "a small barren rock, the creates
| width Of which was seventy feet an,
length eighty feet, and in no place ris
ing more than eight feet above the water
it's position being about three quarters o
| q mile from the mainland and being ex
! posed to a sweep of 200 miles of Lake Su
! perior."
new breakwater was begun, facIn
| the southeast, which was the most expos
| ed part OF the island. 1t had a base %
4 seventy-fve feet strongly framed, wit