The representative., 1901-05-30
LOST SILVER MINE
In LAKE SUPERIOR
ONE OF THE RICHEST LODEs IN THE
WORLD HELD BY WAVES
HAS PAID MILLIONS.
Located on = Little Reef Far Ont in
the Lake From Land-Costly Plant,
Stamp Mill, Houses and
. Churches Form De-
t,,-iF;, serted Village. ;


Churches Form De-
tsiMii.t serted Village. ia
= .sJ aZT
One of the greatest silver mines In the
world lies idle and deserted on reef about
q mile from the FAR north shore OF Lake
Superior. From this mine millions In ore
OF fabulous richness, have been taken and
millions yet remain In 1t. Yet its history
4 is one long record of reverses and Of Q
continued struggle Oh the part Of man
against the forces of nature. Sometimes
man was ahead and sometimes nature. To-
day, and for many years past. nature has
had no competition. The mine is now filled
with water.
The reef on which the mine is situated
faces a long row Of houses on the main
land, which extends in a semi circle along
the shore Of q beautiful bay, above which
rises . range Of low mountains. There are
houses enough for hundreds Of occupants; !;
fine home for the superintendent; while
Sout upon the tiny reef, now a man-made
island, are huge shafthouse, a power
house. Ave or six buildings for the miners
without families capable Of accommodating
at least 300 men. together with all the
other buildings necessary for the conduct
Of great mine. And there are on the
mainland a huge storehouse, hotel, large
and roomy, an enormous stamping mill, a
heavily barred Jail, and two churches.
1t Is an ideal little mining town, save
for one curious feature-there is not a
soul living in the place save the caretaker
and his family. For company there are the
cattle Of his herd and the birds that go in
and out Of the windows Of the houses and
build their nests high up on the walls near
the ceilings. II you go back into the bush, /"
as they call the forest places along the
narrow peninsula that juts out from the
mainland, miles distant from civilization,
you may see the silver sheen Of the trout
In their little streams tumbling in laughter
down from the mountain, or II you choose
to go back further, you may see in the
seasons many huge caribou, bears to whom
you would scarcely seek an Introduction,
while the wolves send the shivers down your
spine II you are unused to their saluta-
tions.
DISCOVERY OF THE MIME.
A Montreal mining company which had
bought up a large tract Of land on the north
shore of Lake Superior in the vicinity Of
Thunder bay, an enormous harbor with the
town Of Porth Arthur ON it's northern shore,
sent out a party to explore its properties.
In 1858 one of the surveyors was sent out
to plant a stake on reef. tiny piece of
rock just showing above the water. While
doing this he discovered the silver vein and
brought back little of the silver ore. One
or two blasts were made at the surface Of
the rock and about 81, 500 was taken from
the few pieces of rock secured.
AS soon as possible work was begun upon
the mine. It was extremely difficult, how
ever, to get material There was no railroad
within perhaps 200 miles Of the spot; all
supplies, including. the large amount of
material used in the construction and work.
ing of the plant had to be shipped in by
boat The mine was shut off from civiliza-
tion from November to Nav. The only way
that mail could reach the place was by
Indian runners with dog teams, skirting the
shore of the great lake from Duluth, then
a small town, and passing northward once
a month or so through an absolute wilder
ness of about 200 miles In the dead Of an
Arctic winter.
1t was apparent that an island must be
constructed of the tiny reef, and liberal
reward was offered to any man who would
discover within hailing distance stand of
Norway pine. One of the employees, after
much searching, found the pine where the
fires of the centuries had spared portion
of the ancient forest. With great difficulty
the timber was hauled to the reef, and
vast cribwork was constructed. The work
was especially difficult because there was
nothing but the solid rock on which to
build, and this rock a slanting and in some
places sheer subaqueous precipice, running
down In the bottom Of the lake.
STRUGGLES WITH THE WAvLS.
Again and again, in spite Of the most
ho
washed away One who has never become
Intimately acquainted with this great body
Of water, the largest body of fresh water
on the globe, can have no conception of the
enormous power Of the storms that some
times sweep up against these northern
shores. After working a month, 1S hours
out Of the "a, nearly 1900 feet Of cribbing
had been constructed, bolted together in
strong fashion and filled in with huge rocks
the cribbing being some 13 feet deep, and
of enormous weight. On Aug. 26 1870, 200
feet Of this cribwork was torn away like
bits of dolls house by a gale from the
southwest.
Mining was already in progress, however,
and over 100000 worth of silver was taken
out while the preliminary cribwork was be-
ing put in. A short time after the mining
operations stopped for the winter a huge
piece Of tho breakwater was torn away by
the waves, and 5000 tons Of rock tossed out
into the lake. When spring came the lake
resumed it's onslaughts. On March g. sea
after sea came rushing in, bearing great
cakes Of ice and hurling them upon the
cribwork. They battered down the great
timbers like as many reeds
During the month $4,000 feet of timber
and 5000 tons Of rock were torn away from
the reef, as though some mighty giant were
trying to see how much injury he could in
f1ict. The mine was left mass of ruins bv
these storms.
But still stronger breakwaters and cribs
were put in place, and. notwithstanding the
delays and storms and the incompleteness
of the mine, nearly 81, ,O0O. 900 in ore was
taken out during the summer. So rich was
the lode that not more than 20 miners were
at work at any one time. The next wear
$500, 900 worth Of ore was taken out and the
next year $426,0 900 worth came up the narrow
throat of the mine.
All this time the shaft was-being sunk
deeper and deeper under the waters of the
great lake. 1t ran in q somewhat slantin9
direction out under the water, and in late
October, 1873, the shaft was nearly 800 feet
deep. Here for the first time water was en-
countered, and 1t at once began to fight the
miners vein opened into crevice from
the lake, and the miners had to flee for
their lives. The shaft began to MI at the
rate Of about 10 feet per hour. To add to
the general misfortune heavy sou'wester
set in followed in few days later by an
other, doing SIC. 900 worth Of damage
RICHNESS OF THE ORE.
Notwithstanding all the disaster and dis
couragement, the mine was worked with
even greater zeal The ore for the first two
or three years was full of the s'packinrr
type. rich enough to be shipped away In
- A0n1r0 0HnA hovv 1Ie