The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1900-01-23
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: DRINK RUINED A NINE. :
: TIE COAL BOAT CAPTAIN WENT on A /:
: SPREE AND FAILED TO RETURN. (:
LAKE sUPERIOR Steamboat can

A LAKE SUPERIOR steamboat cap
n tain took several drinks too many.
nnile he was enjoying his intoXication
his boat was tied up. When he recov-
cred from it his boat was frozen in the
ice. The managers of the richest sill
yer mine in America waited patiently
for the captain to come with the thou
sand IN of coal which the beat had on
board for the operation of the mines
engines. The engines ran out of fuel
and had to be shut down. The pumps
stopped, the mine filed with water,
several hundred worklnen were
thrown out of employment, a village
vas depopulated, and scene of life, ac-
tivity, and industry was turned into n
dcsolate group of decaying houses and
rusting machinery. For 10 years the
water has stood in the shafts, the levels
and the wines of the mine. And all be-
cause a boats captain would take to
drink.
1t is the story in a nutshell of the
abandonment of the Silver Islet mine
off Thunder Cape, on the north shore
of Lake Superior, which in IA years
produced 100000 inc of silver, val
ned at $3.50o,000.
The history of the mine dates back
50 years, when Joseph Woods took out
a location which included the site of
Silver islet, a barren little rock, which
was to become famous as the richest
spot in the world. This location was
transferred to the Montreal Mining
company in 1s45, which in 1870 trans
ferred it to an American company
composed of many men of national
fame. They were f. b. Ward, of De
troit, the famous millionaire whose
daughter has figured so sensationally
in European life; Edward Learned, of
pittsfield, Mass; Alexander II. Sibley,
of Detroit; Charles A. Trowbridge, of
New York; Peleg Hall, of New York;
William B. Frue, Of Houghton, Mich;
George S. Coe, of New York, and Ed
ward Prentice, of Montreal.
The Americans had not bought n
mere prospect, either, for under the
direction of an agent named Thomas
Macfarlane, the Montreal company had
lone enough work on the islet to show
that the vein was surprisingly rich. IN
the summer of 1868 Macfarlane had
been exploring all the locations Of the
Montreal company, and while at work
on the Woods location a surveyor
named Brown found a vein of metal on
the rock that has since been called Sill
YER islet. Macfarlane examined ii
himself, and set two men to work un-
covering the lead. 1t was found to be
20 feet wide on the north side Of the
island, and on the south it divided into
two branches, each of which was seven
feet wide. A member of the party soon
discovered some silver nuggets in
the west branch of the vein. A single
blast was sufficient to detach all the
vein rock carrying ore above the sur
face of the water, but the ore was
II aced some distance out into the lake
where the scattered nuggets of silver
were replaced by large patches CT
limestone, rich in galena, intermiXe6
with small particles and large nugget:
of native silver. The vein varied in it.
richest part from two feet to a few
inches. Some rich pieces of ore were
broken off with crowbars under tn,
water. A shipment of 1896 pounds o
ore which was shipped to Montreal wa:
found to contain 2,0s7 ounces troy o.
silver to the ton.
No more work was done on the isle
in the season of 1868, but the next yea
saw operations i'll earnest, though TIL
workers were hampered by the situa
ton and extent of the islet.
The American company was about Il
begin operations at the islet in 1870
when a certain James Seymour, of To
ronto, undertook to jump the mining
claim and caused them much trouble
before he was quieted. Capt. Frue
having been appointed superintendent
of the mine by the American company
left H%oughton, Mich, on August sc
1870, with a boat load of mining i'm
Elements and machinery and "a MGR
arriving at the islet on September
AS soon as the supplies were unloade
the islet and its surroundings were eS
amined, plans were laid, and the cor
struction of cribs was begun. TIL
3 island was so small that it was nece:
sary not only to build cribs to protec
the shaft, but TO get a foothold for til
! various structures which the successfl
r operation of the mine entailed. AS q
scribed by Frue, the islet was ga sma
barren rock, the greatest width {
which was 20 feet and length so fee
and in no place rising nor than eigt
feet above the water; its position b.
ing about three-quarters of a mile froi
the mainland and being exposed TO
sweep of zoo miles of Lake Superior"