Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1900-01-12

/
you 20 to Washington, D. c., of course
you will visit the Smithsonian Institution,
where you may see a pebble of copper from
Ontanagon weighing 1000 pounds.
Conglomerate, in mineralogy, means
| several substances held together by agglu-
tination. For example: Fill kettle with
pebbles and small pieces of lime and slate
or other hard substances, then pour into
the kettle melted copper until the interstices
between the minerals are filed with the
LIQUID copper, and you have conglomerate
as the term is used in mining. | have seen
a scraggy specimen of copper weighing
more than 80 pounds, as it came up
the shaft at the Calumet q Hecla
mine, showing by the imbriated edges how
it enclosed small pebbles or other hard sub
stances before removal from the mine.
When copper is found in small beads
(amygdules) distributed through the basal
tic, porous lava, or in thin sheets in the
crevices it is called amygdaloid formation,
and these conditions obtain in nearly all the
mines now being exploited in Houghton
| country.
The total amount of copper produced by all
the Michigan mines from lS48 to 1860 was
% $50 net tons; and when we remember
there were 1l6 chartered companies in OPP
Grafton 16 years, one cannot wonder at the
immense losses sustained by the stock
holders.
In the year of 1865 an eccentric charsc.
ter by the name of William Royal kept a
"road house" about half way between
Houghton and Eagle River, his log shanty
standing on nearly the same land where
the Calumet hotel is now located. This
man served refreshments for man and
beast, though beast would probably not
partake of the variety served to his human
customers. Among his other possessions
was a small drove of hogs that we're allow
ed to forage in the woods for such nutri-
ment as they might find on or below the
surface of the ground. Not having seen
his pigs for several days he started out to
locate them and found them burrowed in a
| heap of fallen leaves under the shell
| ter of a peculiar mass of reddish rock,
notified with green spots. Telling his boon
companions of his find they all concluded
the first thing TO do was to load up on the
landlords whiskey; but before they had
gotten over the acute excitement of the
| celebration an interested party, having over
| heard the cause Of tue hilarity, proceeded
to file claim to all the lands within mile
of the exuberant William and his sleeping
pigs.
This is the history of the discovery Of
the great Calumet & Hecla copper mine
Moral: When you have the opportunity to
control the world with a speciality, keep
sober.
The Calumet 4 and Hecla mining
company stands prominently at the head
of the copper mining industry of the world
There are several factors in the premises
that conspire to produce this astonishing
result.
First. Good management on the part Of
the executive and scientific departments Of
the company, and readiness TO adopt such
modes of operation as tend TO decrease the
cost of mining
Second. This company has control of
nearly all of the conglomorate formation
that is now known on the mineral range of
Keweenaw.
Third. The richness of the lode in com
parison with all others now under develop
ment. The comparison is approximately
as follows:
Calumet 4 Hecla pure copper 2 Is per cent
Quincy i.50 "
These include nearly all the dividend
paying mines, and it will be seen that
Calumet & Hecls get nearly double the
amount of metal from a ton of stamped
rock that is obtained by their competitive
neighbors
Total production OF copper 1898, World 4sl, SGs
tons.
Total production of copper 1898, United States
Total production of copper 1898 Michigan, 20 $50
tons.
Total production of copper 1898, Calumet, $1,000
tons.
The United States produces IS per cent of worlds
copper.
Michigan produces q per cent OF United States
copper.
Calumet produces 60 per cent OF Michigan copper.
do not propose to tire the reader with
mass of statistics of the production of the
different mines, as | have been more
solicitous to give the profits of the industry
in the letters devoted to copper than the
gross production, for the latter is not
always a true index of the value of the
/ mine
There are nearly 100000 people in the
three counties under discussion who are in
directly supported by the copper industry
of northern Michigan. There are more
than 40 companies in these counties,
Ontanagon, Houghton and Keweenaw, that
paw all the money they receive from the
sales of copper, for salaries and incidentals
To state this matter simply and concisely,
the stockholders of nearly $50, 900, 900 stock,
par value, support one-third of the popula-
ton, with no apparent indication of ever
receiving one dollar for their share of the
amusement, and when the price of copper
falls to ~ cents per pound Calumet &
Hecla, Tamarack, Quincy and Osceola will
have the field to themselves, as they practi.
| cally do have at present. @. MS.