The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1899-04-08

ply of mining timber, food, blasting
powder and tools, with forty miners.
It was realized that - ,.. 49, 49,, \
THE ISLET MUST BE ANCHORED
il miners were ever to work safely un-.
der it, and work was begun and push
ed diligently on the armor plating of
the reef. To the southeast the lake
rolled for full two hundred miles with
out break, and the force of the
waves can be comprehended only by
those who have seen the power Of the
ocean when lashed to fury by. the
Storm The first work was for the
carpenters, not miners, and every man
in the force was impressed as a build
er, after the cargo. had been unloaded
in safety, though with a narrow escape
from a gale which rendered the island
dangerous for both vessel and crew.
Heavy cribs of hewed timber bolted to-
gether with iron rods and filed with
rock, were sunk on the more exposed
faces Of the island. 1t was necessary
to make more ground than the islet
afforded for mine buildings, and the
cribs were sunk several rods off shore,
and Golfer dam constructed inside
them, inclosing the outcrop of the vein
for the full length of the island. When
the dam was rendered water tight the
water was pumped out and mining be-
gun. All went we'll until late in Oc-
tober, when storm carried away all
the crtbbing exposed to it, and the cof-
fer dam was ruined, thus%h hooding the
workings, and rendering it imperative
that the work be done all over, and
rapidly, else winter would set in be-
fore the mine was secured. The ef-
forts of F'rue and his brave workmen
were redoubled, and within less than
a month the broken cribs were not on
ly replaced, but built of twice their
former strength. A week later the
vessel was sent away with the rock
mined during the few weeks the men
had been engaged with hand to hand
struggle with the lake. Short as the
time had been, the reward was a rich
one, the cargo netting more than
100000 above the smelling charges,
and visions of wealth incalculable rose
before the eyes of the Detroit capital
lists W no owned the mine.
A few days after the vessel sailed,
and about the time when the bays and
landlocked harbors were freezing over,
a terrible storm arose. Again was the
work Of Frue and his men swept away,
and when the storm abated the scene
of desolation would have dishearteaed
less courageous men. Not only was
the new cribbing destroyed, but the
Sislet was covered Wi Wi Til i IA nantle ST ice.
Cut off from all communication with
their base of supplies at Houghton and
facing the numbing blasts blowing
over two hundred miles of icy lake,
Frue and his pioneers took up their
task for the third time The work
could scarcely have been resumed un-
der more trying conditions Without
further supplies of timber for their
cribs and threatened by the waters of
the lake, the men cut timber from the
mainland and RATED it across the half
frozen strait separating the islet from
Thunder cape, whose crest locmed a
quarter of mile above them from the
shore. Working on the unsheltered
island the heroic treasure hunters
framed new cribs, sunk them.
The work was again made much
stronger than before, and it was hoped
the savage lake had been safely chain
ed. Mining was resumed in mid-win-
ter and rapid progress made for sev-
eral weeks, but, alas for their hopes.
Early in March a bowling wind from
the east piled the billows higher and
higher for two days, and on the sec
ond day the cribs gave way for the
third time. Great blocks of ice were
brought from bays far to the eastward
and hurled against the cribs in a can
nonade which they could not with
stand. Huge ice blocks were thrown
upon all parts of the islet, invading the
buildings and endangering lie and
limb. For three days the storm last
ed, and during it's height all attempts
to protect property were useless, and
the men counted themselves fortunate
that life remained.
Undaunted, the brave captain and his
brave followers began the work anew
when the waves abated It was appar-
ent that all previous Notifications
against the elements had been mere
child's play. The new work was of the
most massive character, and required
many months to complete and a for
tune to build. A framed breakwater of
square and hewed timber was con-
structed of five-fold strength, there be-
ing five separate bulkheads, ,calked with
hydraulic cement, bound with three
inch iron rods, and filled with fully
10000 tons Of rock. With it's base 20
feet below the water, the cribbing rose
an equal distance above the surface Of
the lake, and the work stood. It stood.
but the first storm threw the waters
against it with such violence that mill
lions of gallons passed over the crib
bing and partially flooded the mine.
once more. Another Golfer dam was
built and the mine shaft protected with.
cribbing made Watertight with hy-5
draulic cement. The work was costly
~