The representative., 1901-05-30


waves, under conditions Of peculiar discour-
silver.
It was q strange mixture Of races among
the miners. Among them were many Corr
nishmen. who looked rather disdainfully
upon the other foreigners, and many we're
the battles between them. The Dominion
riot act was read by the superintendent on
three occasions. There was no place where
liquor could be bought within c5 miles. Some
venturesome peddlers. however. were SELL
ing wretched brand Of stuff to the miners
stealth on occasional boats. To do away
with this form Of traf1c the company decided
to open saloon itself. It was a-curfous
experiment.
Each man was allowed three drinks Of
whisky per day, no two at the same time.
library and reading room had been fitted
up In one OF the larger buildings, ana IN
one end of this room bar was set up
liquor and library, strange combination.
The bar was made 30 high and broad that
not even the most agile miner could scale
the battlements for the settlement Of any
real or fancied injury. Back of the bar was
a large blackboard, divided into small num-
bered squares. Each miner was given a
number. Whenever he wanted drink he
went to the bar, gave his number and got
his whisky. A chalk mark was made In his
square on the blackboard, and when three
was closed for the day.
OLD SCORES STILL STAND.
This identical board still stands back of
the dust-covered bar at the end of the ST.
-lient. dreary reading room, and the chalk
marks of over quarter OF century are
still upon it.
At the lower end Of the reef stands the
search house." a building through which all
the miners were compelled to pass on COM
ing from their work. So much of the silver
came out in the form of nuggets, it was an
easy matter for dishonest miner to carry
off far more than his wages, and all were
searched every day. Near the search house
were large buildings where such Of the min
ers boarded as did not care to live on the
mainland.
The power house and shaft house were at
the northern end Of the reef, equipped with
modern machinery, bought at great expense.
The ore was brought up the shaft in cars
running on steel tracks, each car holding
several tons. Then men went to their work
under the lake by means of ladder down
one side of the narrow shaft. This shaft,
which once led to great riches, is now a col
umn of water 1900 feet long, beneath the
ice-cold body Of the great lake.
Today the reef is the very picture of DESC
lation. No human being lives on it, ruin
and wreck are On every hand. Broken tim
bers, rusting machinery, lengths Of huge
planks, piles Of dismantled timbers thrown
up where the storms have torn the break
water loose-at every point the tooth of
time is gnawing
While there was no small amount Of
trouble among the men, when the mine was
in full blast. f1stcuffs in plenty, an dnow and
then something worse, yet there was much
good cheer. From the time the last ship
left in autumn, in the latter part of Octo-
ber, until the first ship came up from the
SOUTH about the 1st Of April, there was no
communication with the outside world So
the colony Of people who had not forgotten
the finer things Of life they had left in
made a little, world of their
own. Music and dancing and parties and
games had had their part, with reading and
study and the planning of many castles
in Spain when winter was white on noun
tain and lake. There was an abundance of
wild game-moose. deer, caribou, bear,
pheasants, partridges and ducks, ih their
season, splendid whitefsh and lake trout
for the asking, while the brown stream
that comes tumbling down the mountain
hard by the little cemetery where they
buried their dead, was populous with brook
trout.
FALL-OFF IN PRODUCTION.
When the mine had been in operation two
or three years the silver production sud-
denly fell off, though there was every in
dication still richer deposits might be reach
ed. Between the sixth and seventh levels
a corner near the shaft was broken OF.
From this were taken 65 tons of rock,
yilding $4,000. Experts estimated that in
the roof of one part of the mine $4O0, 900
to $5OOOOO worth of ore was in sight, but
the construction Of an artificial roof so
that this might be secured, was abandoned
because Of the richer prospects below.
In 1875 the company became discouraged
because only $150,0OO worth of silver was
toIy nut h 10 t1o w.ni,
pensive one to work: a deficit in the ac-
counts appeared, and, at last a new COM
pany was organized by American capitalists
under the laws of New York, called the
Silver Islet Consolidated Mining and Lands
company, with a capital of 81, 900. 900. After
the new company had pumped out the low
er levels over $500, 900 worth of ore was
taken out in 1873.
The next year, in a ft of obstinacy the
mine refused to yield WE'LL and in 1880 the
output was little less than $50, 900. Mat
ters went from bad to worse, and vet when
the winter of 188S-84 opened prospects were
again bright.
But strange fatality seemed to follow the
mine. It had been torn by the waves and
beaten by the Ice foes and attacked in eyery
possible way by the great lake. 1t was as
though the mighty body Of water was bound
to protect its riches from the invader. riches
perhaps greater than any yet disclosed. In
the late fall of 1883 a cargo Of coal was
shipped to the mine from Southern port.
The captain of the ship became intoxicated
to reach the islet before the rigors of win
ter The voyage was abandoned and the
winter closed down with only a small supply
of fuel on hand. Gloom settled down upon
the little colony so far away on the cheer
less, inhospitable coast. The possibilities of
this mine seemed limitless, but possibilities
would not make steam.
CLOSING OF THE NINE.
January came and the long winter was not
faif over. February opened dread and cold.
Work progressed but slowly. One day there
came an ominous stacking Of the engines
The last car of ore came slowly crawling up
the incline that ran down below the lev
lake. The mammoth pumps worked hesi-
tatingly and then stopped. The miners hur
riedly left their levels and turned their faces
toward the sky.
The water, steadfast foe from the begin
ming, fought its way inch by inch and then
foot by foot up the shaft. The last ton of
coal burned to ash beneath the faithful giant
boilers. The engines throbbed and were
still-the end had come to one Of the most
famous mines of the world.
1t would require much space to tell of the
wonderful finds Of this, mine. Two blasts
brought forth silver valued at $45, 900. Many
nuggets Of almost fabulous size were taken
out, some of them SO pure as hardly to need
smelling. So widely known was the mine
and so wonderful it's sensations that stock
at one time sold readily at 81, 500 above par
value. Critics Of the management maintain.
that had greater economy been observed,
and had not the marvellous finds dazzled the
eyes Of the managers and warped their jude-
ment, the mine, worked on a thrifty and
economical basis, would not only have kept
on paying good dividends but would now
have been one of the richest mines on the
continent. There are rumors from time to
time of reorganization and prospecting of