The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-08-06
The New Thirty-Fourth Regiment
Not to Be Sent Early.
MONTANA'S A PART OF IT
Some Interesting Facts That Have Been
Learned by the Government
,- ,-. About Iron Deposits in
~s, This State.
Washington Bureau of the Standard,
No. 1145 G Street n. w. I


pleased with the improved showing in
the recruiting of the new Saith United
States volunteer infantry. The work
of forming this regiment was delayed
somewhat and the first recruits seem I'd
to come slowly. But since that time
the reports from Fort Logan and the
various temporary recruiting stations
have been excellent, and the 34th now
stands well up in the lists of regi-
ments approaching completion. 1t will,
however, not be among the first to
leave the country, as there are two
other new regiments which have COM
pleted their enlistments. There was a
close race in this respect between the
29th, recruited at Camp Meade and
having several of the Eastern states
for its territory, and the 31st, which
was assembled at Camp Thomas, KY,
and was drawn from the states on the
Ohio river. The 31st completed it's
quota two days before the 18th, and
the 30th, formed at Fort Sheridan, Chi
cago, is now reported as certain to be
the next to be completed
The department expects to allow
about go days from the com ,olati1n of
each regiment for drill, tactics and ex-
perience in camp life. The completed
regiments before spoken of are expect
ed to start for Frisco by the first of
October. 1T is estimated at the war
department that the saith will reach the
Preside about month later than the
18th and 3lst. OF course this time may
be expedited by reports from the COM
handing officers as to the efficiency of
the regiment or by exigencies which
might arise in the Philippine war. 1t
hf hat ~ fr.A tod
to be the crack regiment of the new
volunteer service. All reports which
have been received here as to it's COM
position have been highly compliment
airy, and it is believed that the organ
ization will splendidly upheld the noble
record made by the mountain volun-
teers whom 1t succeeds in the Philip
pines.
1t appears that the Montana regiment
will be the last one of the mountain
volunteer regiments to leave the ISL
ands. This regiment has been among
the heaviest losers in the insular cam
paign and would seem to be entitled to
an early homecoming. But its depart
ure from the islands has been governed
by its time of arrival which. being later
than those from neighboring states, has
procras tinated its retirement from the
islands. One result of this circum-
stance will be to give the Montana regi-
ment much longer actual war service
than any of the other mountain volun-
teers, and presumably bring her list of
losses up close to the top in the list
of regiments from those states. 1t is
supposed that the Nebraska regiment
will be shown to have suffered the most
loss of any of them, and Montana will
not be far behind her. particularly if
her men remain through the entire
rainy season in the trenches. Inquiry
a he 1pn1rtrDpnt
tain that the Montana boys will not
leave Luzon before the 1st of Septem-
Der.
The report of the geological sur
vey on the production of iron
ore for the year 1898 has been
completed by Special Agent John
Birkinbine. The year recorded the
maximum iron ore production for the
United States, a total of 1928, 1863 long
tons. This was 1,760,323 long tons, or 10
per cent, in excess of the previous max
imum CT l7,51s,046 long tons produced
in 1897
This is also a greater amount than
has been mined by any other country
in one year, being over one and quar-
ter million tons above the total record
ed for Great Britain in 1880, when 49,
026,049 long tons were mined. The ores
of the British Isles average lower per-
centages of metal than those exploited
y,
sent a smaller pig metal product.
The variety of iron ores produced in
cludes red hematite, the output of which
was SO per cent of the total, and brown
hematite, which was 1913 per cent of
the aggregate product. Magnetic and
carbonate ores make up the remaining
81 per cent.
The total output in long tons of all
varieties by states was: Michigan, e.
346,S46; Minnesota, 1858, sos; Alabama,
2,401, 74S; Pennsylvania, 773,Os2; Ten
nessee, 593,227; Virginia, 557,713; Wis
consin, 5O9,645: Colorado. 3ls,4 So: New
Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah
and wyoming, 1895; Missouri, $4,000;
Ohio, 43,S6S: Kentucky, 1888; Con-
necticut and Massachusetts,, 20,251;
Texas. 9,705; Maryland 5,941.
In this report Walter Harvey Weed
has an interesting review of the iron
ores of Montana, from which the fol-
lowing extracts are presented: The
tenth census mentions the existence of
extensive deposits of iron ore in the
mountains of Montana, notable among
which is a mass of magnetic ore in
crystalline rocks on east Boulder creek,
Gallatin county, and deposit in low
err paleoZoic quartzites in Gable noun
tain, Deer Lodge county. The ore from
the outcrop of the latter locality ana
lyzed from 55 to 60 per cent metallic
iron low in PHOSPHORUS and sulphur
and practically free from titanium. As
soon as there is a sufficient demand for
iron ore in Montana it will doubtless
prove valuable.
Deposits of limonite and hematite
are found in the Little Belt mountains
and the development work which has
been done shows that they are of suf-
ficient purity and extent to be work.
able. and may some day be utilized in
Montana's furnaces. The material is
dense and hard, resisting erosion better
than any of the rocks in the region. so
that the float from the deposits is often
quite noticeable in the drifts and grav-
els.
In the Judith basin. at the south
western edge of the map, there occurs,
in addition to the stratified rocks al
ready metioned. narrow belt Of
granite, width undetermined, accom-
panied by band of magnetic iron ore
The ore is steel gray, strongly magnetic,
except where, in few instances, expos
posture to atmospheric influences has
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