The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-03-31
GREAT FALLS A-OEHVER
And Neihart Will Become q
Lsadville.
MR.. ABBOTT'S PROPHECY
He Reads IN Able Paper on the Mines
. ana Mining Of Nsfhart 1t the
=. Farmers' Institute The
Days P~roceedinga

Great Falls, March 30.-This morn
.lng's session OF the farmers institute
showed a better attendance with a
-slight sprinkIing Of ladies in the audi
ence. In front Of the chairman's desk
was a table heaped high with agricul-
tural documents and books for free dis
tribution, and nearly everyone pres
ent awaited himself OF the privilege.
The first paper to be req was on the
mines and mining of Neihart," pre-
pared by e. X. Abbott, editor OF the
Neihart Herald. AS the paper was not
only very able. coming as 1t did from
one who IA been on the ground for
many years. and>who has had unusual
opportunities and cause to watch the
progress of the camp. but possesses
particular interest for Great Falls PEG
pie, who have much money invested in
that camp; 1t Is given in full:
Since being requested to talk to this
institute upon the mines of Neihart and
Barker, l a been at a loss to know
what TO say upon a subject with which
! ought to be as well acquainted as the
average man of hose camps. / had
previously resolved to be present at the
interesting sessions Of this institute,
but only al a silent listener and learner,
but the committee has ruled 1t other
Wise, vi So Il COnlc W dttcIlpt Tic uf-
scription of wealth and of
that Interesting territory SO recently
made n part of Cascade county.
when the legislature one year &
voted the segregation of the Belt
Mountain mining district from Meagh-
er to Cascade county. n / believe our
president is in part responsible for the
transaction, there was in parts of this
county an u~ndercurrent of disappro-
Nv0 For thA xvArC xrA1 E.,oxr that
the current expenses of public improve
ment increase in a county proper
~tionately to the extent of its mountain
u districts. And it may be questioned
whether the revenue from taxation in a
camp Is commensurate with
the cost of it's roads and bridges.
But segregation is now a g~eograph-
ical fact. Neihart and Barker are a
part of Cascade county, and my bust
ness here, IL j have any at all, Is to
describe the new economic conditions
as seen from those places. We of those
camps feel that we have a better home
than we ever had before, and that our
political boundaries are in the place
where the Lord of heaven intended
them to be. And we are setting out to
convince the remainder OF the county
that we are not bad neighbors, and
that the spirit of living enterprise from
h southland may yet inspire other
districts to greater effort and and
achievement.
Barring Sur River. Barker is the
oldest town of Cascade county. with
Neihart less than two years
Before there was any Belt or Sand
Coulee. before Great Falls existed i'm
iridescent dream. the mines of the
Little Belts were Welding precious
metals, shipping ore to Omaha and
other Eastern points. And in the face
of conditions able to quail the stoutest
heart, every succeeding year has seen
it's quota of wealth extracted from the
earth. until the aggregate product and
also the amount distributed for wages
and supplies has reached many millions
of dollars.
And now let us see what was gained
by segregation of this strip to Cascade
county. By the change of southern
boundary the county has couire oys,
400 square miles of giving her
the grand total of 3OO2 square miles, a
tract of land almost as large as the
combined area of the states of Rhode
Island and Delaware.
by segregation this county acquired
ten times as much rood merchantable
timber as she formerly possessed. 1t
il perfectly safe to estimate that of
pine and fir and spruce timber of mer-
charitable quality the district acquired
contains more than 100 square miles. or
more than 100, 900 acres. This timber
supply is valuable for use i'm the mines
OF Belt and Sand Coulee. where IL is
already being used. But the children's
children of children living to-day will
not see the supply exhausted.
TN order of their importance the
mines of Neihart and Barker yield sill
yer, lead. gold and copper. The annual
product of ore, which may be hard to
ascertain with accuracy, may safely
be estimated at 100. 900 tons. This for
the most part is treated by the United
Smelling and Refining company at
Great Falls. The yield has somewhat
varied by reason of the rise and fall of
silver. and the vicissitudes incident to
quartz mining, but old mines are being
developed and new ones being discov-
cred, until is removed the last vestiee
OF doubt as to the stability of both
Barker and Neihart as