The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-02-13
THE II FROZEN NORTH.
interesting Letter from a Wheel.
ing man in Ontario who
is DELYING INTO THE EARTH.
For Gold Which all men Would Seek.
Elizabeth Lake Which Sam. Hugh
Broclunier, Discovered, Described
by the Discovcrcr-.A Rush of Spec
ulators to Western Ontario Expect
cd this Spring.

cd this Spring.
The 1ntelllgencer Is favored with an.
other interesting letter from Mr.. san
Hugh Brockunier. general manager o!
the Virginia Mining Company, who is
spending the winter in western Ontario
experimenting operations on his com
pany's holdings. Elizabeth Lake, which
the writer describes, was discovered
and named by Mr.. Brockunlcr Nas
spring. This letter was sent by an In
dian courier to Rat Portage, dlstanc,
seventy miles, to be mailed to the Intel.
lIgcnccr.
Special Correspondence Of Intcllisenccr.
ELIZABETH LAKE, ONTARIO, Can.
ada. Feb. 3.-(Via Rat Portase.)-Ellza.
beth Lake lies northeast of Sturgeon
Lake, and is distant seventy long,
weary and cold miles from Rat Portage,
Ontario. The lake Itself Is one mile and
half long and quarter OF mile wide.
Nestled among hills of solid rock, clad
with green MOSES, aud the thin subso!l
heavily tmbered with pine, birch, pop
lar and tamarack, the lake presents a
beautiful appearance In summer. But
at this season the dark pines are sill
houctted against dreary field ofwhite.
and these, the Oldest rocks in the world.
are once more held fast in the grasp of
snow and Ice, as they were during the
glacial period.
a year ago this was an untrodden
wilderness; now it Is one of the princi-
pal mining camps OF this section. At
the point where we stable our horses we
sec. almost buried In snow and ice.
half dozen log cabins, forming the
quarters for the miners, laborers, cook,
etc. About two hundred yards further
up the hill TO the left. ore the office and
store-houseS OF the Virginia Mining
Company. a walk Of half mile across
the ridge brings us 10 the working shaft
near the upper end OF the lake.
Here we find men delving down into
the bowels OF the earth In search FOR the
metal which has brought so much joy
and so much pain TO the human race.
Gold Is indeed q royal metal and like
some Of our rulers, curse or a bless
Ing. Were You TO stand by q mine IN
active operation and see how much rock
Is handled and how insignificant Is the
yield OF gold in bulk and size, you
would wonder why there was so much
fuss and worry and danger over such a
small thing. You people know and rca-
lie its worth. but out here we do not
because we can neither cat, drink or
smoke it. and We are too far from c!vili-
Zation to convert 1t into its legitimate
uses.
According to Mr.. Dooley, IL we con-
tinue our operations. we will eventually
come out somewhere north OF Manila,
and may then be able to report an Ia
terview with Cousin George" and size
up the Eastern question.
The miners work ten hour shifts;
from seven in the morning until six In
the evening, with an hour of for din
aer. They are paid about half the
amount good. active miner gets in our
western states. Some of the American
companies are adopting three eight
hour shifts per day and slngle-handed
drilling. This seems to work very sue
cessfully where tried, and appears to be
the best method of utilizing hand labor
Like miners elsewhere, they enjoy
having their good time" and when
payday comes thet' will make break
for town and blow In" the money they
have received. In the course of 4
week they are again looking for job.
This state OF things is the bane of the
management's existence in summer, but
in winter We hold our men without any
trouble. Rude. rough and uncouth in
manners. childish and sensitive In tenn
permanent. yet royal good fellow is our
miner. Knowing that each mna's life Is
dependent upon the conduct of the 9th
ers. he is as rule, careful in his work,
but at times good man may get ner-
VOWS and have his Off days, then You
must look out for trouble.
While in Rat Portage, we had the
pleasure OF seeing some specimens from
the famous Mikado strife and were
simply astounded at their magnificence.
We have seen rich Specimens from all
parts of the world, but never anything
In quartz mining TO equal these. 1t is
said that the miners stole several thou
sand dollars worth Of ore before the
management was aware of the "pock-
ct" Conservative estimates place the
amount of gold taken from this strike as
$4,000. From a reliable source we
learn that the Sultana produced s9j. 900
IN gold during the current year. and the
Regina about the same. The total out
put reported for export at the custom
office last month was si1 900
People are talking of great rush OF
spectators and prospectors In the
spring. Until the Virginia and Mikado
strikes were made no news OF this coun-
try ever reached the outside world. and
the conservative English companies
here managed 10 keep things very quiet.
The thermometer registers from % 70
40 degrees below zero at breakfast time
-6 o'clock-and seldom gets up near
zero. even with the sun shining on 1t In
the middle OF the day. But it Is a clear,
DRY atmosphere and the frost only
makes you feel in fine fcttle for the
days work.
last Sunday several OF us took a
walk on snow shoes up 10 Deer Lake,
six miles northeast OF here. The walk
Ing was very fair. although soft in
places. At such times one was very
likely TO take header and have to be
fishcd out.
We started moose, but did not get n
sight OF him; we also crossed the fresh
trail OF some caribou and as for rabbits
they were thicker than cats in Wheel
ing.
Whiskey Jacks, Woodpcckers, Ravens,
Phcasants and Prairie Chickens are the
only fcathcrcd creatures remaining here
70: the winter; all the rest have gone
south. S. II. BROCKUEIER.