The Washington times., 1901-09-02
ZINC FIELDS OF ARKANSAS
Much Valuable Ore Awaits the
Coming of Railroads.
Government Lands UnderIaid by
Vast Observation-Disclosures of Persons
Expecting to Become Suddenly
Rich When Development Begins.

long h-en a favoTtte saving among miner;
that the zinc market could easily be cor
nered, because there is no such thing a.
scrap metal to interfere with the com
plete control Of the mining output Bu
this notion must now be abandoned, fol
the discovery of millions of dollars worti
of the metal in Arkansas will render g
corner impossible. II would not even be
possible to buy up the mines and form q
combination. because nearly all the mines
are on Government land. of which any
one person may buy only go acres.
Several railroads are racing into the
district. which heretofore has been a
much despised region, and the day that
the first gets its feeders into the mines
thousan nds of people who car hardly grub
living on their land now will become
wealthy. And yet all the Governme Mt
land is not taken up, although the rush
into the district is tremendous.
Everyone in the region is dealing in
futures. Everyone is waiting for the
wealth to come One cannot buy ore
from these people now. why" they
say. ''the ore will be worth dollars where
II is now worth cents when the railroad
gets through The interest will warrant
a few years waiting
Near Jasper. Marion County. 1000 tons
of ore lies piled on the ground waiting
for the future market. 1t is at least 60
per cent ore, and the mine from which it
came seems to be inexhaustible The
l.O0O tons was blown right off the surface
of the ground. on the Buffalo River
there is a shaft which had been sunk
sixty-seven feet through zinc and the
ore seemed 10 be getting better in grade
the farther down they went Near Dodd
City is another shaft 125 feet deep. ninety
feet of which was pay ore. Between Har-
rson and Dodd City a Massachusetts
man, who had purchased eighty acres at
s. 50 per acre. refused $4,000 for his land
and stands pat for SlG0,oJ0 when the rail-
road gets through.
man was riding along a mountain road
one morning and stopped at a farm gate
for a drink of water The woman who
procured the water seemed to be better
educated than most of the people of the
neighborhood. During the conversation
she said she had come from Chicago. lie
husbands health had broken down and
with almost their last means they had
purchased a mountain farm in Arkansas
They paid onlv Sc an acre. They had lived
there three years. But in going there the
man had found not only his. lost health,
but riches as well. for their farm rests
gets through 0he inevitable preface to
all things In that region they expect to
settle down TO liIe of ease and comfort
somewhere in civilization. There are said
to be instances of this kind all through
the region.
Meantime. the railroads are racing to
bring the futures of these people nearer
to them The St Louis and San Francis
CO Railroad has already got as far as
Harrison on the way to Yellville, the CEN
tire of the zinc district One of the Gould
roads is constructing a connecting link
passing to the northwest near Harrison
into the Joplin district. Another road will
be built from Salem. Mo. to Fort Smith,
passing right through the zinc belt. Still
another road is being built from Harrison
to Wiunerva. the head of navigation on
the White River, where the Government
is putting in locks and dams to improve
the water transportation One Of the
roads is boring tunnel 1,o1e feet long
through the mountain near Eureka
Springs.
1t is all mountainous country and the
obstacles with which the roads have to
contend make the race exciting. The mine
owners watch the efforts put forth in their
behalf and take all things good naruredly.
knowing that the end of it means wealth
for them The roads will radiate like a
star from the centre of the zinc district
A curious feature is the attitude OF the
Joplin miners toward the new district
Zinc ore is locally known as Jack, and
Joplin, Mo, is the town that jack built
Judging the new finds by their own re-
gion, the Joplin miners do not believe so
much ore can exist in the direction of
Yellvifle. They say the dip should carry
II away from there. One of these men
full of theory came down TO Panther
Creek and explained to one OF the new
district owners. an old man. how impos-
sible II was that any ore could exist in
the region. All the laws of geology and
metaUurgy, he said, were against IT. Aft
er some arguing the old miner got angry
went TO his sfanty and returned present. |
iy with a drill He bored a hole put in |
charge Of powder and blew OUT a couple |
of tons of zinc ore from the very spot on
which the man of theory had been stand |
ing during the argument 1t converted
the Joplin man.
Jack is not the only good thing of which
ural curiosities around about. Near West
ern Grove there is cave which extends |
underground for eight miles. Explorers |
have rOwed on the underground river |
for that distance. and they did not see |
the end of il. They were afraid of run |
ming out of provisions and getting lost il |
they went farther At Jaspar there is |
another large cave. which has spectacular |
features. The columns within it, formed |
by the stalaecites and the stal. gmites |
which have become Joined. fifty feet |
nigh Some Of them are pure white. 9th |
ers are dlscolored by the earthly sub |
stances which drip from the limestone
roof OF the cave This is called the Dia- |
Inond Cave. because of the way hi which |
the crystals scintillate when the light is |
thrown on them.
In one OF the great chambers of the |
Diamond. Cave the columns give forth a |
musical note when struck sharply with |
stick Each is OF different pitca and |
If a musician could jump around quickly |
enough from column to column he might |
manage TO play tune. The place gives |
one the impression of d great pipe organ |
underground.
But the native has no tune for these na- |
tural wonders. which In a more accessible |
region would soon become world famous |
jack, resin jack, salmon jack pebble Jack. J
and all the other jacks and the !
fact that though the yield Of the |
Joplin field last year was worth $4,000 O01 |
yet II only those mines in the Arkansas |
field already opened are worked, there is |
already S7,oc0.000 worth of ore waiting for |
railroad transportation.
Curiously enough, the discovery of zinc |
ore IN TINS region was made in Arkansas |
and not in Missouri. The natives though
were looking for silver. and when they
found zinc they abandoned il in disgIst
Yet the very mine they abandoned has !
turned out the richest in the district
Two farmers girls made the discovery |
Driving home the cows one evening they |
picked up pieces OF j shining mineral |
thought they had found pieces OF silver.
ard a company was formed and prospect
Ing begun. They found a ledge where
the ore showed thick and they imported
Two German metallurgists. who built them
a smeher planned according to the old
SnaulSl naffern Is still