The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-24
A SUBURBAN COPPER MINE.
sYNDICATE TO REVIVE OLD WORK.
MOS IN ARLINGTON, NJ y.

INas IN ARLINGTON N j.
First Shaft sunk in 17is-Field Abandoned
From 1905 TIL Present Owners Took
Hoid-Big Fortunes Said to he In Sight
Relics over Century Old Taken Out.
Some people living In tho little town Of Airing
ton. N. j.. have recently been surprised 10 learn
that right under their very house lots has boon
lying untouched for years a bed Of copper which
q syndicate that has lately secured an option on
the property expects will yield fortune. For
many years the folks living over tho copper de-
posit have wondered about tho deserted workings
OF what has been known for generations as tho
Schuyler copper mine, but nearly ovcry one had
come 10 regard tho old shafts as q proof that the
place had boon worked out ~ far a. any orc Of
value was concerned. When . pumping station
was put up and workmon began hauling debris
out Of the principal shaft recently, tho wiseacros
Of the town shook their heads and said the fools
wcrc not all dead Jet In spite Of thor pro-
dictions tho bumpers have kept hight on and now
for week experts from New York and Boston
have been emerging every now and then from
tho old shafts hugging specimens Of grccnish-
colored rock which 70 tho townspeoplo they sp-
pear 10 cherish a. they would 90 many gold mug
gets.
Many Of those who have watched the progress
VI uhoub AZ tuo curIhCo 1.-Two oNoi
some Of tho old workings Of tho mino In fact
a part Of tho ground underneath tho hui al tho
northern end Of tho town has been found TO have
been fairly honcycombed by the miners who
worked in them nearly two hundred years ago
as the county records show. No ono has paid
much attention 70 these records until lately. not
even Mayor Bayliss who lives right over the
mine and who owns most Of tho property where
the deposit exists. He has been working quarry
for building stuff near tho mine and when he
came lot Of the green rocks no sold TO DO placed
on tho village roads In Aug ust when syndi-
cate looked over the ground and wanted an OBJ
ton on IL Mayor Bayliss gave IL although no
was informed Of the copper deposit appearing
about the old mine and some consideration was
made for II in the price. According 10 tho men
who have been coming up from the depths OF
the mino with tho green specimc Ms. Mayor Bayliss
has parted with piece Of property the true value
Of which has not been recognized since tho early
pat Of this century. The mine In those days,
and even at an earlier period. made fortunes for
Its owners, and was known throughout q large
part OF tho United States.
The discoveries which had been made recently
by tho workmen and experts are as interesting.
II what they say Ii true was the FIRST discovery
Of the copper deposit In l7l9 by tho owner Of the
land, Aren't Schuyler. Tho latter had royal
grant Of the property and his mansion WAS within
few hundred feet Of where the pumps arc work.
ing now. Schuyler had been living on his land
for ten years when day one Of his slaves while
ploughing turned mp pieco Of rock and showed
II TO his master. Tho latter sent IL TO Swansea,
Wales. and Il was found TO contain a large per
centage Of a superior quality Of copper. Schuyler
wanted 70 reward the negro. but all the latter
asked was to DO allowed TO live ON the plantation
alwaya have ns mi he
use and 20 wear a coat with big brass buttons
like his masters Schuyler put all his negroes
to work and according " history Of the country,
as early i7Sl $50 tons Of ore had been shipped
to England The orc was taken out by hand
power put on mules backs and carried 10 the
Hhckensack River. where IL was loaded into boats,
4 son Of this Schuyler sent TO England In 1888
for one OF the Newcomer engines used in the mines
in Waies He also got a lot Of Welshmen 10 como
over and work IN the mines The engine was tho
ar and Gss Pa wss assn our n
the oId shaft recently and iron pipes inch thick
were iound there only inc other day With ,hs
tune for himself out Of the mine. In 1850 work
was stopped but it was resumed again In l772.
the work ceased again. The value Of copper orc
had dsprssiaisd and fSI y snIs tho mino ~as left
The last time the mine WAS worked was from
lSS3 TO 1868, When company was formed and
copper did NO, bng much e ,Se presens
they were q old sehuyl-rs day. Ali Of The orc 70
fo"dea no one ,Roashs would pay ' to pump imp
gradually lsd up With debris Su, sSeq pressnes
In the neighborhood mas led TO all sorts Of schen rs
being suggested with the Idea that possibly somo
good ore had ben left when the various cham beIs
were abandoned.
Since 1875 no one had explored tho sub,cr-
rnnoan focesses until the men employed at PRES
rot down q the bottom az the m hagt "a
found themselves $40 feet below tho surface
When the water had been pumped out and they
Gus old picks still In the rocks Way down
on the lowest Level In what Is now being used
and bali old, as the place where u was found
has no. been worked since odd John Schuy.
| from Wales, as its pattern 10 unlike those used
here even In the early part Of the century. In
ou,, sppesIipS ss Il some mnsta Ia s . wn mole
The experts have been working gradually
including Prot. ToIrey, . Goy.rnment ss.sSisi
eIpl9Isd them yesterday Tho Old miners, ap-
OF hss ssds
ming only . per cont Of metal Much Of Tho Tho
ore which has been left In the tunnels. II is an:
serted, can DO taken OUT and made to yield
Besides The a!oiooi shaf, there Is another
sSn. sf aMS ss s dsss s % to tap n: vein
degrees Tho copper deposit Is about
| l.25O foot Wide and runs back from tho bluff
| IN. For some reason the nrst minsrs dug down
where tho vein was deepcst. but tho plan IL now
about twenty feet below the surface Ii is pro
posed 70 put up a b00-ton crushing plant al the
base Of tho hill and get the metal out BY tho eiec-
trolyuo process. Tho present workers say
that by means of this process they can make
orc from the old mine yield a net profit OF So a
OF orc In sight Even in 1888 the miners, ac-
cording 10 tho statements Of old Tsaidents took
out nothing that would not yield over 10 per cent
Tho ore was then raised by horses as Il was In
the first days OF the mne, Since II was Yeopenod.
tho mine has attracted a horde OF curious per.