Fergus County argus., 1902-07-16
Mill Valued at Seventy Thousand Dol
lars Totally Destroyed Early
Friday Evening.
MAY HAVE BEEN LIGHTNING.
Plant More Than Twelve Years Old
But Lately Completed, Remod-
eled for Season Run.

on lne FAMOUS mine OF the same name,
was totally destroyed by flames last
Friday evening. July 1lth, between
eight and ten o'clock.
James Murphy mine foreman. was
passing from the hoist to the office
at about s o'clock and was not far dis
tant from the ore bin at the top of the
mill when he discovered the mill was
on fire. Giving a quick alarm an effort
was made to save the property, but as
few men could be promptly Sc
cured and water was scarce the at.
tempt proved fruitless and the men
could only direct their efforts to saw
ing other property of the company
which might have become ignited.
The cause OF the fire is a mystery
and. as In all such cases, a suggestion
Of incendiarism was promptly forth
coming. While the company has some
enemies in that immediate vicinity
and the fact that there had been no
fire in the mill. nigh partially give
color to such theory, 1t is hardly be.
lieved to be possible, as the fire was
first seen in broad daylight and by a
man constantly passing near the prop.
erty. Two more probable theories are
advanced. One that the cause was
spontaneous combustion. The mill had
recently been cleaned up and a guam.
tity Of greasy rags had quite pos
sibly been left. The other theory is
that while the men were in the hoist
the mill had been struck by lightning.
A severe storm had passed over short.
ly before. accompanied by violent
thunder and lightning, some bolts from
which were so loud that they must
have struck near IL not the mill
itself. Reports sent out from Lewis
town to the effect that the incendiary
theory has been accepted by the com.
pany and the authorities are investi.
eating with promise of sensational de-.
velopments, do not appear supported
by the truth.
The mill was valued at $4,000 and
the insurance carried thereon was
$35, 900.
AS nearly as can be learned the mill
was built in the fall of 1888 by the
Jay Gould Mining co., who had pur-
chased the property from P. w. Nc
Adow. This company operated the
mill successfully and from its net ear
nings paid Mr.. Meadow upwards CT
100000 on the purchase price. II is
probable that two millions worth of
ore have been run through the mill
and the last year the mill was run
with partial success for some time
Preparations for starting it up again
were about completed three weeks
since. Many improvements were add
ed last year, including concentrating
tables and a cyanide plant and this
spring new shoes had been fitted to
the 20 stamps, the machinery had all
been repaired and wi..lin a fortnight
Supt. Durell of the Central Montana
Mines Co., the owners. would have had
II in operation. Some weeks ago
plans were formulated for the hauling
of a portion of the ore to Whiskey
Gulch for treatment, but this had been
abandoned.
All this spring and summer three
shafts have been worked in the lower
levels and a winze has been sunk, ex-
posing some very fine bodies of the
ore for which the great mine is ia
nous.
Bad management and limited cap
ital have somewhat prejudiced the
property in the eyes of investors but
the present owners were about pre-
pared to demonstrate tnat the Spot
ted Horse could be once again placed
in the front rank OF Fergus county
producers. The loss is severe one
and will necessitate an entire change
Of plans.