The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1901-11-29
Il FAIRY TALE.

lie annual report OF State M1ner-
al Statistician Russell, of Michigan,
contains an interesting chapter up
on the Ashland mine, the history
of which property reads like a ro-
nance and while the stated facts
are known to many of our readers
the story will bear repetition as re-
produced from Mr.. Russells pen,
as follows:
"The history of the Ashland mine
reads like romance and were the
plain facts of the mines past and
present to be set forth under the
garb of fiction, the story would be
condemned by the critics as too i'm
probable. The Ashland lies Just
east of the Montreal river and was
first opened by J. o. and E. A. Hayes
the owners of the fee. The property
was secured on a lease by the Pc
mckee & Gogebic Development com
pany and worked until 1898, when
the mine was abandoned as worked
out. The Hayes brothers, who had
removed to San Jose, California
thus had the property thrown back
on their hands, thoroughly dis.
credited mine, which had been
abandoned by a strong corporation
as worthless, owing to the complete
, exhaustion of it's ore bodies.
: The mother of the Messrs. HAYES
! is gifted with peculiar powers,' ac-
cording to the belief of her sons
and many other sober persons who
. have had evidence of her occult
abilities. The Hayes brothers, who
| were shrewd and successful busi-
ness men, have implicit confidence
in their mothers prognostications
and in justice to her and to them,
! it should be said that her advice
has proven uniformly good, even
when apparently unwarranted by
existing conditions. Madame HAYES,
from her home in California, turned
her spiritual eyes upon the Ashland
mine, more than two thousand
miles distant. The underground
workings were minutely described
by her, and she also indicated the
existence of large ore bodies re-
naming untouched, and located
them with such exactitude that
anyone acquainted with the mine
would know just where to crosscut
or to drift in order to reach them,
if they existed. AS soon as the
SHOWS melted in the spring of 1899
the Messrs. Hayes were on the
ground, and began actual mining
work in June of that year. The
mine was freed from water and tenn
porary shafthouses rugged, the old
ones having been allowed to fall
into the pit when the ground caved.
1t was known when the HAYES
brothers resumed work at the Ash
land that they we're acting under
the supposedly inspired instruc-
tons of their mother, and there was
no little snickering on the part of
the incredulous, who were in the
great majority. This did not BOTH
er the Messrs. Hayes and from the
first it was known that thev were
not merely exploring for ore, but
were arranging to reopen the mine
on large scale, their plans having
been perfected before the first ham
mer was struck on a drill, or the
first gallon of water forked from
the mine. Smiling incredulity was
changed to mild surprise when the
first ore body indicated by Madam
Hayes was actually opened by the
miners, but as strike after strike
was recorded, and the Ashland was
changed from an abandoned scram
into big mine with millions of
tons of ore in sight, within a few
months, the scoffers became mum.