Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-01-30

deep, nineteen over 500 feet and thirty
over 400, all of which are working. Con-
siderable mining is done by tunnels as
the hill side is very steep. One company,
the Anaconda, has a tunnel over 1000
feet, and there are ten other tunnels over
1000 feet. The first gold found in the
district was found about twelve years ago
when two prOSpectOrs discovered some
rich gold ore near Mount Pisgot, about
two miles from where the city of Cripple
Creek now stands. The men that made
the discovery told of what they had
found and caused a stampede. but the
discovery did not amount to anything so
the Infatuated gold seekers held a meet
ing and decided to hang the two men that
caused the rush, but the two men, much
to their own satisfaction, escaped with
their lives.
About five years afterwards, in 1891.
gold was found in the Gold King, which
is now almost inside the city of Cripple
Creek. This mine has paid big dividends
ever since and now employs about $50
men.
Taking the electric car at Cripple Creek
you start over the hill to Victor, a dis
lance of five miles, and the summit of the
hill is over a thousand feet above either
of these cities. The city of Altmore, which
is claimed to be the highest incorporated
city in the world, is at the summit and
has an altitude of 10, 700 feet, while
Cripple Creek and Victor are about 9,10o.
In going up the hill you see shaft houses
in every direction and pass the small
cities of Anaconda and Elkton to the
right and can look down at them almost
900 feet below you. The great large
electric car climbs the hill like a snake,
curve after curve until you finally reach
the summit, and from here you can see
Pixies Peak. about IL miles to the left,
but it does not look very high from the
fact that you are already up nearly IL 900
feet and the summit of the Peak is only
about 5000 feet higher.
The richest and best mines in the camp
are between Altmore and Victor, namely,
the Portland, Gold Coin, American Eagle,
J. A. Logan, Vindicator, Modoc, Last
Dollar, Lucky Guss, Lille, Specimen and
Legal Tender, while the principal mines
near Cripple Creek are the Moon-Anchor,
Northumberland, Half Moon, Gold King
and c.. O. D. The Portland mine at Vic
tor is down LOO feet and employs about
300 men. This company is Incorporated
and divided into three million shares at
a par value of 81. These shares are now
worth $1.S5 and pay dividends of 2 per
cent per month. The Gold Coin shaft
house is right in the center Of the bust
ness part of Victor and is the finest L
have ever seen. 1t has a nice library n
reading room and several nice bath
rooms for the use of men. This company
is now erecting a club house for the men
at a cost of $40, 900. The mines here all
work three shifts of eight hours each
and the miners receive So per day.
The ores in the camp are tellurium or
commonly called "sylvanite," and carry
little or no silver, and copper is almost
unheard of. This is strictly a gold camp
and unlike most gold camps, the richest
and best ore is being taken from the bot
tom levels of the deepest mines. The
output Of the camp in 1898 was 81, 500, 600,
and in 1898 was over SIG, 900, 900, or more
than the whole state of California, n
O~ne-eighteenth of the output of the whole
world. Some very rich shipments of ore
have been made. One car Of twenty tons
shipped from The Doctor Melted the
owners $50. 900, and cars of ore running
over $40, 600 lave been common. A great
many of the hosting plants are operated
by electricity, the power being brought
from Canyon City, about thirty miles
away. This is certainly a poor mans
camp as water is seldom found before the
200 foot level is reached. The veins are
not large but there are lots of them and
they run in every direction.
The most of the high grade ores are
shipped to the smelters at Denver, while
all the low grades are treated mere by
milling or cyanide process. f. II. G.
Denver, Col.