New-York tribune., 1900-03-19
A MAZE OF LAWSUITS.
TANGLED STATUS OF THE GREAT cop.
PER MINES IN BUTTE. MONT

I see by a dispatch in to-day's papers that
Fritz Henze has refused an offer of s15 OOo Con 70
sell out his interests" said a prominent mining
man of Butte. Mont. last evening at the Waldorf
Astoria. and a short resume OF Butte mining
anairs may not be without interest at this time as
showing how such an offer came 10 pass This
offer, 1t must be understood comes 20 Henze from
the great Amagamated Copper Company. which
includes the Anaconda and its allied mines Marcus
Daily. William Rockefeller. H. H Rogers the Par
rott company and other great interests. Beyond
question. the greatest consolidation of copper or
any other mining interests ever attempted in
America is the Analgamated company. It's ram-
fcations reach everywhere. and are of interest to
a large and widely divergent class of people.
ITO go back. when. in 1895, Heinze purchased the
Rarus mine, he bought for 100000 what was then
regarded worked out property. but he we'll
knew what he about, and to-day under his
able management and development the Rarus is
valued at s150o00O and is one OF the great produc
ing properties of the Butte camp After this pur-
chase by Henze and when the Rarus had de-
veloped into a great paying property. the owners
of the Butte and Boston and Boston and Montana
mines awoke to the situation. and sought 70 en-
join further workings Of this property by claiming
that the Rarus possessed no extra lateral rights
In other words that at the depth the copper was
taken out on the dip of the vein, the ore bodies
became the property of the Boston companies.
The fight over this contention added many pages
TO Mortana's legal history and put tens Of thou
sands in the pockets OF the lawyers employed
Step by step It bitterly contested. and step oy
step Heirze won. First came the decision OF the
State District Court. of Butte. sustaining Heinze
and utterly wipng up the claims OF the Boston
people The case was then taken to the Federal
courts Helena, and there, after hearing last
ing months before a Montana jury, a sweeping
verdict was again rendered In favor Of Hetnze on
all matters in dispute. At present the Anal
gamated interests trying to secure new trial
on the ground that the jury tampered with
and charges and counter charges are flying as
thickly as did the snowfakes in the recent storm.
This is the great Rarus-Pe Pennsylvania case.
The Nipper case. which is referred TO in the
dispatches is distinct from the Rarus case but
through the ownership the two are allied
The Heinzes thirty-one thirty-sixths and
Marcus Daily five thirty-sixths of the Nipper mine.
which was originally purchased by the Heinzes
on basis Of $4,000. DAILY, 1T is alleged, agreed to
sell to Heinze the same basis the other CO.
owners but before the deeds were prepared it was
discovered that the Nipper was great mine and
DAILY refused to part with his stock. But. be that
as it may, the Nipper turned out 10 De a bonanza,
and the ownership to-day is given above At
that time under the Montana law, Daily, although
a minority stockhoIder, able TO shut the Nipper
down, which ne at once proceeded to do. Heinze.
as the law then read, could do nothing but at the
next session Of the Legislature a bill put
through repeating the law under which DAILY acted
This, however, after Daily had Joined forces
with the Amalgarated crowd Heinze at once re-
sumed work the Nipper. which Daily quickly
stopped by an injunction his claim being that the
apex Of the Nipper lode was claim owned by
the Washoe, which lay to the south Of the Nipper
Eeinze at out drifts to the west. and kept
on working the mine. At this time ne was taking
out four hundred day which because OF
the high price OF copper, his daily profit said
70 be So 600. Here the Washoe could not reach him.
but the Parrott company owned the Little mines
this point and the Parrott made claim
owning the apex OF the Nipper lode.
THE situation thus resolved itself into this: To
the south the Washoe claims 70 the apex Of
the Nipper lode. and the north the Parrott
claims 10 1t through the Little Mines. Both
the Parrott and the Washoe mines are owned
controlled and operated by Marcus Daily and the
Amalgamated, and in the two suits against the