The leader., 1898-01-12
DRINK RUINED A MINE.
ruy COAL BOAT CAPTAIN WENT ON A
spRIE AND FAILED TO RETURN.

A LAKE SUPERIOR steamboat cap
! n tain took several drinks too many.
Mile he was enjoying his intoxication
,;s boat was tied up. When he recov-
"a from il his boat was frozen in the
=. The managers of the richest sill
Sor mine in America waited patiently
tor the captain to come with the thou
aud tons of coal which the boat had on
,oord for the operation of the mines
.roiues. The engines ran out of fuel
and had to be shut down. The pumps
stopped. the mine filed with water,
several hundred workInen were
thrown out of employment, a village
WAS depopulated, and a scene OF life, ac-
t;vity and industry was turned into
desoate group of decaying houses and
rusting machinery. For 10 years the
water has stood in the shafts, the levels
and The wines of the mine. And all be-
cause boats captain would take TO
drink.
II is the story in nutshell of the
abandonment of the Silver Islet mine
off Thunder Cape, on the north shore
of Lake Superior, which in IA years
nroduced 5000, 900 ounces of silver, val
ued at S3,50O,000.
The history of the mine dates back
30 years, when Joseph Woods took out
location which included the site of
Silver iset, 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 1915, which in 1870 trans
ferred il to an American company
composed of many men of national
fame. They were f. b. Ward, of De-
troit, the famous millionaire whose
daughter has figured so sensationally
in European life; Edward Learned, of
Pittsfeld, Mass; Alexander H. Sibley,
of Detroit; Charles A. Trowbridge, of
New York; Peleg Hall, of New York;
William b. Frue, of Houghton, Mich;
George S. Coe, of New York, and Ed
ward Prentice, of Montreal.
The Americans had not bought a
mere prospect, either, for under the
direction of an agent named Thomas
Maefarlane, the Montreal company had
done enough work on the islet to show
that the vein was surprisingly rich. In
the summer of 1868 Macfarlane 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 Sill
yer iset. Macfariane examined it
himself, and set two men to work I'M
covering the lead. 1t was found to be
20 feet wide on the north side of the
Island, and on the south it divided into
two branches, each of which was seven
feet wide. a member of the party soon
discovered some silver nuggets in
the west branch of the vein. A single
blast was sufficient to detach all the
vein rock carrying ore above the sur
face of the water, but the ore was
tlaced some distance out into the lake,
where the scattered nuggets of silver
were replaced by large patches OF
limestone, rich in galena, intermixed
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 1886 pounds of
ore which was shipped to Montreal was
found to contain 2,0s7 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 situa-
uon and extent of the islet.
The American company was about to
begin operations at the islet in 1870,
when certain James Seymour, of To-
fonto' undertook to jump the mining
eialm and caused them much trouble
before he was quieted. Capt. Frue,
having been appointed superintendent
OF the mine by the American company,
leit Houghton, Mich, on August 80,
lo'o' with boat load of mining inn
PIGMENTS and machinery and "a men,
arriving at the islet on September /.
as soon as the supplies were unloaded
'ie 'slet and its surroundings were ex-
amihed' plans were laid, and the con-
s'ruction of cribs was begun. The
Island was so small that it was neces-
sary not only to build cribs to protect
'le SHAFT, but to get a foothold for the
various structures which the successful
operation of the mine entailed. As de-
scrioed by Frue, the islet was "a small
parfen rock, the greatest width OF
winch was 20 feet and length so feet
anu IN no place rising more than eight
,ee' above the water; its position be-
ing about three-quarterso Of mile from
'ne mainland and being exposed to a
sweep of 200 miles of Lake Superior"
A new breakwater was begun, fac
ing The southeast, which was the most
exposed part of the island. It had base
+ VI 20 feet, strongly framed, with five
separate bulkheads, and was given an
angie OF As degrees on the outer face
.ne highest point being is feet above
'ne water. Atlast structure had been
reared that defied the strength Of the
waves but it was not high enough te
prevent great volumes of water from
lolilng over into the enclosure. To pre-
vent this water from pouring into thu
aine' a system Of water-tight timber
.ng was constructed, and the space be-
tween the timber work and the Golfer
sam was filled with stone and by
uraulic cement.
n notwithstanding interruptions 4