The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1901-12-06
A ROMANCE.
'Tne History of the shland Mine Strange
~ Reproduced in the History of the
Savoy and Sibley.

|
The annual report of State Mineral
Statistician Russell, of Michigan,
contains an interesting chapter upon
| the Ashland mine, the history OF
! which property reads like Il romance
and while the stated facts are known
| 10 many of our readers the story will
bear repetition as reproduced from
NE. Russel's pen. as follows:
1.-The history of the Ashland mine
| reads like romance aud We're The |
plain facts of the mines past aud
| present to be set forth under the |
garb OF fiction, the story would be
condemned by the critics as TOO inn
probable. The Ashland lies just east
of the Montreal river and was first
opened by j. D. and E. Hayes the
owners of the fee. The property was
secured on Il lease by the Penokee n
GOgebic Development company 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 pro-
perry thrown back Oh their hands, L
thoroughly diScredited mine, which
had been Abandoned by a strong cor
peratiOn as worthless, owing TO the
complete exhaustion OF its ore bodies.
| The mother of the MesSrs. Hayes is
gifted with peculiar powers, accord
| Ing TO tile 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 business men, have i'm
| ptlcit confidence in their mothers
| Demonstrations. and in justice to-
| her and to them, it, should be said
| tnat her advice has proven uniformly
good, even when apparently unwar-
| ranted 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 infinitely
described by her. and she also indi-
cat ed the exist ence of large ore bodies
remaining, untouched, and located
| them with such exact itude that any
one acquainted with the mine would
know just where to crosscut or To
drift i'm order to reach them, if they
existed. AS soon as the SHOWS melt
ed in the spring of 1899 the Messrs.
Hayes were on the ground. and began
act ual mining work in June of that
year. The mine was freed from water
and temporary shafth0uses rugged.
the old ones having been allowed to
fall into the pit when 1.-The ground
c;lyed. 1t was known when the Hayes
7 nrslthers resumed work .st the Ash
land that they were acting under the
supposedly inspired instructions OF
their mother, and there was no little
sniCkering on the part of the incredul-
Gus. who were in the. great majority.
This did not bother the MeSsrs. Hayes
and from the first it. was known that
they were not merely exploring for
ore, but were arranging to reopen the
mine on Il large scale, their plans
having been perfected before the first
hammer was struck on drill. or the
4 first gallon of water forked from the
mine. Smiling ihcredulity was
Il changed to mild surprise when the
first ore body indicated by Madam
4 Hayes was actually opened by the
miners. but as strike aft ter strike was
4 recorded, and the Ashland was chang
ed from an abandoned Scram into Il
big mine with millions of tons of ore
i i'm sight, within Il few months. the
scOfferS became mum. In every case
the ore was found where the mother
Of the owners had told them to seek
i it. This is a strange tale to he given
+ the public for fact, and StrangeSt of
all to appear in an official report upon
mines prepared and published for one
Of the greatest mining states in the
| union. hut the facts are known to
Hundreds of people and can be readily
verified by the skeptical."
/ Whether John G.. Brown and A, M.
Miller had the same gift, we are at
loss to say, but the history of the
Savoy mine. now owned by the Oliver
company and one Of the best mines on
1.-The VermiliOn, is strangely similar.
1.-The Minnesota Iron company under
1.-The management of d. II. Bacon. Sc
Icured an option on the Savoy pro-
perty and thoroughly explored the
same with diamond drills, finally con-
demning it as worthless. John G.
Brown and associates did not believe
| in this and as soon as possible began
work on their own hook to verify the
statement. But. strange as it may
seem. only few months had pro-
crossed when they opened up the
mine and the same has been shipper
ever since. The better part Of tine
story goes that in the work of OPEN
ing the mine. the drill holes put down
| bY the Minnesota were found in ore
of the best quality and in large de-
posits. The same is also true of the
land west of the Savoy known as the
| Sibley where immense bodies of ore
have been proven and which property
is also literally perforated with dia-
mond drill holes put in by the Mime
sofa company. The natural deduc-
tion arrived at by those who have
thought the matter over was that the
Minnesota management condemned
the property to later send some agent
around to the owners to buy the same
for song. But, "the best laid plans
of mice and men, ETC." as was also
tho case with the Ashland,