Red Lodge picket. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1889-1907, 1898-06-25

+. l.. Preston of Troy, Mont. announces
that the Troy Sylvanite wagon road has
been completed and opened to the public.
This road has been under construction
since January, 1897. The cost, including
the ferry across the kootenay river at
Troy and fine bridge over the 1ahk
river, is. in round numbers, $1,000. 1t is
said TO be one of the best mountain roads
in the west The maximum grade in
either direction is only eight feet in 100
feet.
News From Kettle Falls.
George Maghaughey of Rossland is
ma king arrangements to start a half f-way
house between Kettle Falls and Republic.
The stage from Republic to Kettle Falls
has been already started and runs II
miles, where the transfer is made to sad
die horses for crossing the summit.
Some parties in Kettle Falls who have
claims, which they are anxious to get
upon, on the lower half of the reservation,
are keeping saddled horses ready to make
rush for them on the first notice Of the
ground being thrown open.
Reducing Size of Claims.
A movement is on foot in the house at
Washington, d. c., to reduce the present
legal dimensions of mining claim about
one half. 1t is asserted that if mining
claim is good, whether it be of gold OF
silver, 300 by $50 feet is large enough for
any one individual; if it is not good
claim, then it is more than any miner
wants. The greatest foe to mineral de
velopment in any state, it is asserted, is
the excessive number of claims held by Il
few persons. A bill has been prepared to
compel every mine owner to work out his
assessment and to allow no man to hold
more than one lode OF placer mine at
time, and reduce the size Of all claims to
300 by $50 feet
Doing Assessment Work.
The committee on mining affairs OF the
house of representatives has had its at
tention called to statements made by
prominent citizens of Whatcom county,
| Washington, whose names for obvious
reasons are withheld, that it would be
bad policy to set aside that provision re-
quiring assessment work to be done upon
mining claims. A movement was on foot
to suspend this work during the present
| year. but the statements which have been
made to the committee put a different
light upon the matter, and no action may
be taken. 1t is probable that such legis-
lation will result mainly to the advan-
tage Of bands OF spectators who have
tied up the principal mining claims in
each locality, and compel all those who
actually wish to work and develop a
mine to purchase it from them at high
difficult for the bona fide miner, who has
but one claim to do his assessment work
each year, and that in fact nearly all OF
these do more than the necessary amount
of assessment work every year. On the
other hand, it is obviously impossible for
spectators, without the expenditure of
large sums of money. to do the work upon
the large number of claims which they
are holding for the purpose of selling at
high prices to those who wish actually
to engage in mining. 1t is claimed, there
fore, that the law is clearly a good one
and should not be suspended, for the rea-
son that it compels these spectators to
let go the claims they are holding under
fictitious names, and thus permit actual
miners to file upon them.
Oldest Coal Mine In Europe.
Some time ago it was proposed to eel
ebrate this year the Tooth anniversary OF
the discovery Of coal in Europe, which,
it was claimed, was made near Liege, in
Belgium, in ll9S. DR.. f. Buttgenbach
has now published pamphlet to prove
that the first discovery was made 50
years earlier in lib, in the basin of the
River Worm, north of AiX-la- -Chapelle.
He brings forward much evidence to
prove that outcrops of coal We're worked
in that year, and long after by the monks
Of kerkrade, who first discovered its
qualities as fuel and utilized the mineral,
or black earth," as it was called. The
word "kuhl," an old German term mean
ing pit, was the origin, according to
this statement, of the German "kohl'
and the English Coal" The generally
accepted legend has been that coal was
first useda Liege by a blacksmith named
Hulos, from whose name comes the
French "houille"-coal, says the Engin
eering and Mining Journal. He found
that the ''bIack earth" which outcropped
near Liege could be used in the forge in
stead of charcoal. Coal, however, had
been used at Sheffield, in England, some
Is years earlier for the same purpose.
April Copper Production.
Copper production in the United States
in April, as reported by John Stanton,
for the chief producers, was very large,
reaching total Of 22, 900 long tons Of fine
copper, which exceeded by 1928 tons the
March report, and by 5455 tons the out
put for April, 1897. The reporting mines
have increased their production, and there
has also been notable gain in that given
in the reports as coming from outside
sources'-that is, from small mines not
in the producers list and from the smelt
ers Of lead gold and silver ores. For the
four months ending with April the in
crease in production this year has been
Sl63 long tons, or LII per cent, over Mr..
Stanton's reported production in 1897.
Must Use Posts at Corners.
Probably there is not section in the
mineral act of British Columbia that is so
often misinterpreted as is section l6. 1t
relates to the stalking of claims, and has
been generally interpreted as meaning
that, where there is no timber and posts
are hard to get, the locator may use stone
monuments to mark the boundary lines
Of his claim. Such is not the case, and
as this is most important point it might
be well to refer to the act itself. Section
l6 says: "a mineral claim shall be
marked by two legal posts.
The locator shall also place legal post
at the point where he has found rock in