The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-01-19
NEW COMP ANY FOR LIBBY
Active Development Will Begin
in the Spring.
MINERAL LAND CONTEST
The Railroad Has Withdrawn - Libby
and Troy Districts Are in Out Of
the Wet-Sulerts Miracu-
1ous Escape.


incorporated at Butte will join in the
active development which is projected
for this district in 1899, This is the
Montana Kootenai company, which has
just been incorporated by James Hig
gins. H. r. Gallwey and Joseph H.
Riley, all of Butte, Mr.. Higgins being
foreman of the Bell. Diamond and High
Ore properties of the Anaconda COM
pany. The property which the new
company intends to work is the Way
Up, which is situated at the summit of
the Divide between Fisher and Libby,
about twenty-five miles south of town.
Mr.. Higgins examined this property
about four years ago and was pleased
with it, and he has been developing it
under the owners, George and Tom
Bryant, ever since. For the last two
seasons Mr.. Riley has personally con-
Quoted the development, and last fall
he took up the bond and paid for the
mine. The Way Up is a concentrating
property, the ore carrying gold, sill
yer and lead. The new company has
made no announcement Of it's plans. 1t
is certain that they contemplate consid-
cradle work this year. They have
probably expended between $4,000 and
$4,000 on the property already.
The publicity given to the proceedings
of the Northern Pacific in their pub
lshed contest Of all mineral lands in
the Libby and Troy and Sylvanite dis
tricts, has had the effect of calling
holt tI,o,. no
was set to be heard in Kalispell on the
18th inst, but a telegram was received
here on Thursday conveying the infor-
nation that it had been postponed to
the 23rd. In addition to this. represen-
tatiVes of the railroad company have
written tC the register of the Kalispell
land office stating that they would with
draw from the contest on all lands south
of the I<ootenai river. and west of
Libby. This takes the Libby and Troy
districts in out of the wet, but leaves
the Sylvanite district still in litigat ton
1t is probable that the testimony may
yet be taken in the vicinity of the land
in controversy, and the government
representative, Judge George D. Orner
has gone to Kalispell to endeavor to
bring this about. But for the publicity
given this case in the press of the state,
there is little doubt that the railroad
by default, as they have done in SO
many similar cases where the people in
tereSted have not been informed of
their rights. The law providing for the
work of the mineral land commission,
states definitely that protests against
their decisions must be made within 60
days after the filing of their reports
in the local land office. This provision
is evaded by the filing of blanket pro-
q oh al
the ground reported on by the commits
slOns as mineral. The contests are
then brought up in detail whenever the
railroad gets ready. In this case two
years has elapsed since the classical
ton was made
Charles Sufert, foreman of the Silver
Gable, met with an accident last week.
He was walking from the mine to his
boarding house, when he slipped and
fell on the icy trail. The side of the
mountain is at an angle of about 40
degrees. and covered with snow with a
hard crust on top. Sufert fell 1900 feet
on this snow and brought up against
tree, and never broke bone. His es-
cape without serious injury is little short
of miraculous.
Howard c. Walters, manager of the
SnoWshoe company, returned Wednes-
day from a three weeks visit to Spo-
kane and Republic. He is much i'm
pressed with the wonderful development
at the latter camp. He is putting in an
electric light plant at the SnOWshOe to
light the mine and mill. The compress
sor plant is now we'll under way The
new hoist for the Wine is about ready
to operate, and two Whitley cables are
being added to the concentrator
John L. Hartt, one of the principal
owners of the Silver Gable, is back from
kalispell where he has been spending
the holidays with his brother James r.
Hartt
Messrs. Hayward and PEBBLES of Bon
ner's Ferry have been in town for sew
eral days getting the machinery of the
old steamer Libby ready for shipment
to Idaho. The Libby was built here five
years ago by Tom Flowers, and was the
first boat to demonstrate that the Koo-
tenai river was navigable between here
and Jennings. The boat has not been
in use for several years. Hayward and
PEBBLES intend to use the machinery on
small boat on the Clearwater in Idaho
in hauling freight for the construction
of the Misoula- Pasco cut off line of the
Northern Pacific.
Doran Bros, who have the contract
for hauling the Snowshoe ore from the
mine to the railroad. have shipped their
outfit to Bonner's Ferry. They have taken
a contract for the construction of three
miles of the Nelson & Bedlington rail-
road, which is being built from Bon
ner's Ferry to the Kootenai lake Their
contract is fourteen miles below the
ferry The Snowshoe company will
hereafter have charge of its own haul
ing.
Ben NJ. Thomas, the pioneer Of the
Ralny creek district was in town yes
terday Mr.. Thomas and his nephew
are putting in the winter developing
the Morning and Evening Star claims.
Henry Held and his two partners are
also at work on the Flagstaff near by.
These leads are in great formation,
and the development work is quite ex-
pensiVe. The Rainy creek rock carries
principally copper values.
Ed Banner, who went to Alaska over
land last year, has written from Kitch-
akin, Alaska, to say that he has had
no luck so far and thinks of pushing
farther north in the spring. He says
the prospects around kitchakin are not
what they have been represented to be-
There is only one claim that has paid
and but $4,000 was taken out of that
He also went through the Omentca dis