Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-12-15

operation. The two principal producing
mines of Broadwater county, the East
Pacific and the Stray Horse, have, to a
great extent. exhausted the ore bodies in
the upper workings. New tunnels are
now in course of driving for the attain
Nent Of greater depth on the veins.
Leasers are taking out considerable gold
ore from the properties of the Custer
County and from Iron Age gulch, in the
vicinity Of Winston. A system of leasing
is also extensively practiced by the own
ers of mining property in the Hassel and
Radersburg districts.
GOOD PLACE TO PROSPECT.
Since the Iron Mountain mine closed
down, mining has been carried on in Mis-
soula county in a desultory manner 1t
is hardly conceivable that a territory so
marked in it's mineral characteristics as
that situated between Missoula and the
Idaho state line can produce but one
time to remind that class of mining men
who are on the lookout for some prospec-
tor to strike a good thing II then buy
in cheap, that there are more mines made
than discovered.
The only think to speak of going on in
Meagher county is that being carried or
in the Castle Inc Copperopolis districts.
From the former shipments of lead-silver
are are being constantly made and in the
latter work OF developing the copper
veins found there has been steadily pur-
sued.
Because of the constantly increasing
consumption OF copper and the inability
of the present producers to meet such in
crcasing de1nand. copper lodes are much
sought after. Within the year two dis
tricts rich In promise have been brought
to the notice of the mining public, and
are at present being vigorously exploited,
viz: The coded strip of the Blackfoot in
the st. Mary's district, Teton county, and
in the Stonewall range of the Little
Blackfoot, in Lewis and Clarke county.
THE COAL INDUSTRY.
1T is a recognized fact that the condi-
ton of the coal industry denotes the con-
dition of nearly all other enterprises. This
is as true of Montana as of any other
state, but with this difference: That in
Montana's case the usual relation of the
one to the other is reversed. In most
states the presence of coal invites other
industries. In his state the necessity of
cheap fuel in the development and reduce
ton of her we'll known resources has en-
c%ouraged and builded up her present coal
industry. With the exception OF the Belt
mines. which, on account of a strike, have
been idle a part of the year, the produce
ton of all other coal mines was limited
only by their capacity. At present sew
eral of the big producers have in contem-
plation the installation of new equipment
of much greater capacity, while at others,
notably the mines Of Carbon county, in
anticipation of the increasing demand,
begun early the construction of complete
mining plants of modern design, the plal.s
of which contemplate the doubling of the
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provements are already reaching COM
pletion.
ABOUT MINE CAGES.
"After innumerable delays covering a
period of two years. the cause of the
state against the Anaconda Copper Min
ing company for noncompliance with the
law providing for the enclosing of hoist
ing was brought to trial May rs Of
the present year in the district court Of
Silver Bow county. and a verdict was
rendered for the state. Appeal was taken
by the defendant company and the case is
now in the hands of the supreme court for
final adjudication. The reason for the
dilatOry manner in which the case was
prosecuted by the Silver Bow county at
torney's office, as pointed out in my last
report, was made apparent in the at
tclirpleu appear VI inc law HI the asst
session of the legislature. To the senate
belongs the credit of defeating the in
human purpose of those that carried the
repeal of the measure in the house. Dur
ing the tendency of the bill for repeal be-
fore the house, and contrary to fact, rep
reservations were made, even from the
floor of the house, that the device as pro-
vided for in the law had been given a
fair and impartial trial and was found
inpracticable. and that the great major
ity Of the employees were afraid to trust
their lives on the 81 thus equipped
with a device designed to prevent them
from falling off or being crowded of,
being crushed to death, or from stepping
from the cage at stations where the en-
gineer only slows up in passing.
This action on the part of the last leg
islative assembly is, indeed, discOuraging.
for instead of e~ndeavoring to enact much
concerted effort was made to repeal a
salutary law that could hardly fair to
reduce to a minimum a certain and fire.
quently-occurring class of accidents, and
one of the two laws on the statute books
made mandatory by reason Of a suitable
penalty being provided for its violation.
Until we have more enactments along
this line the best efforts of this depart
ment will be of little avail, for SO long
as the only penalty prescribed for non-
compliance with the recommendations
emanating from this Office is a possible
rendered a claimant in an action for
damages for death or injury on the
ground of criminal carelessness on the
part of the management, so long will the
recommendations be complied
with or ignored just as far as they find
favor or meet the approval of the man.
agement.
MANY LIVES SACRIFICED.
"Forty-nfne fatal accidents occurred
within the year. While this is an increase
Of one over 1898, a small decrease in per-
centage is shown owing to the increase
in the number of men employed. While
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