The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-08-01

SPECIAL Correspondence Of InteIlIgeneer
5oPhIN, South West Missouri, July
2SNot many Of your readers I as
same, are famiiiar With the name Of the
locality whereat / date this letter And
vet TO ne b8vers and smelters Of two
very important metals in American
manufacture the name is scarcely less
familiar than a household word. The
Joplin zinc and lead dlst:Ict Of this
great state Of Missouri is one OF the
klondlke regions Of our great country
While Il Is not a gold producing re-
gi5ns lie that one up in Alaska. yet. all
the same. its products are Just as val
liable In their way, aud Just as readily
command spot cash In the markets. as
the yellow nuggets that come down to
u tron Dawson City, The people who
manufacture corrugated roofing in
Wheellng. As well as those who manu-
faetara galvanized Hantels and cor
nic-S and fenco wire. can tell TOu all
about the value Of the ''spelter" that
they get from here at first or second
hand, ana Of rs indispensable necessity
70 thalr bpsiness, ana OF the fact that
without 1t they would indeed have no
business at All. Likewise, the people
Who manufacture brass, Of which
''speIters & component part, would
tell you the same thing. And so, also,
would the rnanipulators Of many other
metals. Our friend Tracy, OF the West-
eFn Union Telegraph Company, could
ten you Of the part that zinc plays in
tie batteries Of his establishment, as
TIE positive quantity In the Induction OF
llia wires. without which your message
could not be transmitted.
So much for one OF the two ores that
Gre mined here in such large quantity.
Lead ore is the other metal, Just as val
liable to the world as zinc, but not quite
80 precious as It uced 70 be when It en-
tered so largely into the ammunition Of
war. In war Il now plays nc part
whatever. Iron and steel, especially
steel, have entirely supplahted Il Not
an ounce Of lead has been shot in the
Cuban war. In our preceding WaritWas
mined here In large quantities by both
BedeTals and ContedeEates, according as
they could hold this region, and was
shipped as fast as dug TO the Arsenals
north and south Now It is dug only
for the purposes Of peace, and yet the
s'plg lead" that Is AmeIted from this ore
Commands SIS per ton, as against SIS
for the sine spelteF.
But, before forget Il, let me explain
how come to be writing this letter
from this region at this particular time.
Yon are aware Of the existence In 81.
Louis OF q former Wheeling citizen,
whose name Is Jimmy Campbell. That
g the name C"Jimmy') that he went by
"a Wheeling. and the name that he still
goes by in business circles In ST, Louis.
Welt he 10 largely interested In the
production Of zinc and lead down here
at Joplin. Twenty-Five years ago he
made his first Investment in THIS Sec
ton. to which he has since added and
added, until he now has, as he himself
expresses It, quite little principally
Of ore lands. all in one big body imr1e-
dlateIV adjoining this town, In the
midst Of which principally he has
summer home surrounded by a grove
Of ane shade trees.
our friend has been telling me from
dime to time OF the buried treasures Of
this region, OF It's peculiar geology and
tninerNlogy, Of Its general attractions as
q farming, grazing and fruit growing
country, and 80 awakened in me the de-
sire to visit Il that I am now crafty
ing. It is distant $50 miles from 81.
louis, By the Frisco" line. over which
IRE came, and is on the western slope OF
the Ozark range OF mountains, through
which we passed, II corners In an an
Gle formed by the states Of Missouri.
Kansas and Arkansas. and as min
eral district Ia 100 miles long, east and
west, and thirty miles vide
Up at Conneilsvllle, Pa, as you Will
recall, the famous coke district IL about
thirty miles long and say five miles
wide, and you 20 down to the coal By
shafts, as you do here to the ores. and
drift from the bottom of the shaft Rc-
eording to the dissemination of the
vein. Here there Is really very little
dissemination. as the ores are mostly In
pockets. from I'VE 70 twenty feet thick,
at depth Of $50 to 200 feet. Water ia
struck f1 almost every Instance. at
about fifty feet. and there the modern
pump comes in and plays great part.
The shafts are four by ave feet, and
have to be timbered from top to bot
tom. and down in this shaft stands the
pump and the man who drills and dyn-
antics the rock. The wages paid Az
eraRe about one dollar and seventy-five
a. nl3A NhaRa Il . nVt1HnRRn nf
work IN the field and at the reduction
and refining works OF the town for all
the farm boys Of the district. In fact
this Is called poor mans country.
Work and money are plenty IL you
cant work for somebody else YOU can
lease q checker board spot of land. say
two hundred feet square, and chance
your luck" as they call Il. for a shall
low ind Of ore, on this side Ot the VA
ter, and thus make, pcrchHnce, instead
Of one dollar and seYenty-Ave cents per.
day, one or two hundred dollars per
week. So that everybody can be em-
ployed out here who cares to work. Tits
;ls the explanation OF the shallow holes
md sand piles you see all over this
country. From the centre all round
the horizon you see them, and they give
q very unique appearance 70 the far
spreading prairie.
The per capita Of money aHoat down
here IS said to far exceed that o. any
diatrIet Of Missouri outside the large
cities. The yield OF the mines Is az this
time AZ the rate OF six million dollars
Der year, which 10, as You can easily
iigure. whole lot of money in a rural