The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-09-21
PLENTY OF GOLD There
MINES OF ONTARIO WILL BEAR
THE INSPECTION OF
EXPERTS
OPINIONS OF TWO ENGINEERS
Ore-Bearing Property Easy of Acc
cess-SOme Money to Develop
the Fields All That Is
Needed.

Mr. A c. Armstrong and Mr.. ]. A.
Taylor, well known mining engineers,
passed through Winnipeg yesterday, hay
ing arrived by the Pacific express from
Rat Portage, and going south in the aft
ernoon, says the Winnipeg Free Press of
Sept. Is. Mr.. Armstrong goes to Bos-
ton, while Mr.. Taylor returns to Colo
rado where he is experimenting the in
stallation of a large mining plant, which
is owned wholly by Massachusetts CAPT
tai. While both these gentlemen are
Englishmen by BIRTH having graduated
at Cambridge in the same year in the
same profession, fifteen years ago, they
have only met twice since, once In Mon
tana, 1885, and the second time in Rat
Portage last week. Both have spent near
Iy all their professional lives in the Unit
ed States in Western mining camps
MI Taylor said he did not wish to give
a detailed account of his Impressions
found from his inspection of the Lake Of
the Woods until reporting to his princi-
pals; he had visited several of the lead
ing mines under operation, and all that
- had gone to any depth showed every pos
sibility of permanency, as the veins were
getting larger and stronger, and the val
ues becoming more uniform. M. Arm
strong said he had mined extensively in
Utah and Mexico, and had never seen
proposition in either of those states to
compare with the Mikado on the Lake Of
the Woods. The amount of work done In
the few years and the amount of ore III
sight would be justification in any min
ing camp in the United States for the
erection of a hundred-stamp mill He
was tod that this property Is returning
to its shareholders about $l00.G0c year
upon an investment Of about Sc 600. OF
course most of this product is going back
into the mine in the way of development
and new machinery, but any engineer
could see that
THE ASSETS ARE THERE
In the way of ore in sight machinery
and buildings. He knew that such prop
+. erty could sell readily in the United States
for $1,o0o,oOO cash. He investigated quite
number of claims upon which a con-
siderable amount of work has been done
in the Witch Bay district White Fish
Bay, Shoal Lake, Eagle Lake and in the
Manitoba Boundary districts. One of the
best appearing prospects he had seen was
in the province of Manitoba, and he be-
lieved belonged to a company of which
Premier Macdonald is vice president Mr.
Taylor continued: Il believe you have
reached a point where you can demon
strate to the world that you have a good
field that will bear most rigid examina-
ton by any mining experts. Mr.. Howard,
to whom l had a letter of introduction
from the Ramsay G. Bogy Investment
{ company, of Denver, O., tells me you
have been retarded very greatly in OBJ
tanning capital, owing to reports made
upon the country by mining experts, par
tieularly Englishmen. l can quite readily
understand that as the conditions hero
are so different from the gold fields that
most Eng lishmen have had experience
in but, while an EEglishman, my expert
ence has been obtained in America, where
the conditions are more in common. AL
though never having been in South Afri-
ca I am pretty well conversant with
their mines and the
CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.
I'm this country the quartz .odes are in
the primary rocks, had 1t not been for
glac al action of ages ago they would De
thousands Of feet below the surface
This gives the impression that the veins
IN this country are either bedded veins
or float rock and would have no per-
manency. Any engineer would be justi-
fed in giving that opinion who was not
acquainted with the geological condition
OF this Western American continent but
r even now these men must admit that
such mines as the Sultana and Mikado
have gone into the bowels of the earth
over 500 feet and find their veins larger
and stronger than upon the surface Re-
resents from 800 to $500 feet In South
Africa, as they have not had the violent
glacial erodation of prehistoric ages
which has taken place in this Northern
country. l would have liked to have met
Mr.. Malcolm, secretary of the chamber
mines. Mr.. Howard has shown me his
comparison between South Africa and
the Lake of the Woods gold fields and 7
fully agree with him
MINES EASY OF ACCESS.
'T found most of the active propositions
were In the hands of Americans and I
believe this is the result of American en-
gineers understanding the situation bet
ter, and another reason being that 80
many Of our mines are so difficult of
access that man cannot enjoy the COM
" forts OF civilization. I am a family man,
and in most Of our mining camps a prac-
teal mining man cannot bring his family
within a few hundred miles of him and
is fortunate in seeing them once in three
or six months, while In the Lake of the
Woods the beautiful town of Rat Port
age is within a few hours sail by steam
boat of~most Of the mines, and a man
could at least spend Sunday with his
family. Why at Rat Portage last Sum
day, I heard the clergyman of the Pres
byterian church announce that he would
dedicate a church at the Mikado mine
on the following Sunday. I certainly
think it would be a good stroke of bust
ness for the Ontario government, the
Manitoba government and the councils OF
Winnipeg and Rat Portage to make an
appropriation and bring representative
~ mining engineers from all the countries
of Europe to examine and report upon
the district. The district is so large 1t
cannot be overdone. I have heard of
your No. ! hard wheat in Manitoba, but
the city of Winnipeg will consider it a
secondary product when these gold fields
arc developed, and 1 believe money is all
that is wanted. You will no doubt notice
that America has become one of the
great money lenders of the world, and
several of the financial journals have
been pointing out that we do not have
to look to Europe for our investing cap
tai, and I think your development work
will largely be done by Americans.