The Farmington times. [volume] (Farmington, Mo.) 1874-1902, 1901-01-24

the importer and trust in him wholly,
for II Is accepted as q truth In the min-
ing district that even the most cxper.
fenced drillers know nothing about
diamonds. Tho stones are put to a
test in drilling that determines their
true worth They sell now for from
SG1 to 600 karat. Whom the first
drilling was done in the Flat River
country black diamonds could he pur-
chased for a. karat.
The great demand for ,hcm has re-
suited in a corner, aud the pricc has
increased almost ionfold In as many
years. The drilling now costs = 20
a foot. The drill shows core q the
earth rs far us 1t goes down, and II
there is lead ocluw the ore shows In
the core. Diamond drilling Is, in fact,
both the means Of discovering and the
means Of proving the extent Of the
ore bodies of this district. An orc
body having been located, a shaft Is
sunk, aud enough driving Is done to
give sufficient working face to produce
the tonnage ot ore required by the
mill, after which the system consists
In simply following the ore. The cN-
pcricnco OF the district Is that the drill
core Is reliable guide. The mining
Is done by blasting
The disseminated lead district is full
Of mills, The National Lead Co. hiss
just built at 81. Francois the finest lead
mill In the world. The structure aud
It's mechanical equipments are under.
stood to have cost bali n million dol
lars, When the company purchased
the Taylor tract II sought some one
Win could build the sort Of mill
needed. X, ID. O. Johnson WAS at
the time assistant superintendent Of the
Contra Lead Co = works. The Ma
tionnl lead people made him IN offer
They wanted him to design their works
Mr. johnson is young man Of scarcely
more than 80. but he is one Of the
men who can do things. lie designed
what, il the plans were accepted, would
have been the finest mill of its kind in
the world. In much Of bis designing
be was original. lie put in things no
lead mill had cveT h-.!. The National
Lead Co. is big concern. It con.
trolls the white lead Of the United
States. IL wanted a fine mill IN The
Missouri field, but its officers were
hardly prepared to uudcit Ike anything
so elaborate Is MIR. johnson designed.
They sent fot him. lie went 10 New
York and defended his plans. There
were some things which experts con.
demned as imprsc,icablc. Mr. John
son invited the company to trot It's cS-
perts out with a recital Of objections.
The invitation was accepted. The
Missourian defended everything 10 had
designed, and he did it 50 successfully
that he was sent back TO bnild his
works just as he had designed them.
lie Is now superintendent of these great
works, which extract the lead from
1000 tons Of rock day, and is the
highest salaricd man In the district.
lie gets $4,000 a year. Men who
eau do things are worth big money.
The mills which separate the lead
and the rock are equipped with crush
CTS, which brushes the iock ne It comes
from tho mine; with j'ggers, which
shake the lead aud rock In water,
throwing the lighter limestone to the
top. 1t Is a continuation OF this pro.
eess, through many intricate mechan.
isms, that finally Yields the lead as 1t
goes to the smeltcr. The cost Of dress.
ing Is between 30 and 80 cents ton.
The concentrate averages irom &c TO
80 per cent Of pure lead. The mining
conditions arc In general very favor
able. In all the mines the ground Is
solid and but little iimbering Is done.
Many Of the mines arc dry; otheB
have a litilo water and some rs much
as from 1900 to 1900 gallons min
ute. Miners receive from si.50 TO
sl.15 pea day; common labor Is paid
sl.25. Wood costs from el.5O To
Sl.15 per cord. Coal costs 95 cents
per ton at East St. Louis; the freight
rate to Flat River l. sl.05, making
the cost of coal delivered at the mines
from 90 TO 81 so per ton. Common
hnbcr costs from si5 to ELI per
thousand.
The deepest shaft In the district has
jns. been completed by the Columbia
Lead Co. 1t 10 sol feet deep.
Tho area 10 which the lead ore Is
found Il about IS miles long In a north
and sessh direction and about ~ miles
bEoad from east to west The surface
Of the country Ia billy but not noun
famous. The naturalization occurs
IN channcir Of great sixe. both long
isudinaiiy and lsaernIly. They lie very
fat, are sometimes rear the surface,
never very deep, and there are spots
barren Of ore. The orc bodies are
large aud easily worked. aud The conn.,
s,.eica s.sl.tsh ,..x..srs.4 shoxx, arn oxo