The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-01-11

| men visited this section for the purpos
Of prospecting. Among them was the lat
James A. Saxon, of Canton, father o
Mrs. William Mckinley. He opened wha
is known as the Empire mine In thi
county, north OF Golconda.
However. as the property is eight mile
from the Ohio river. and it was found
| impracticable to haul the spar and leas
ore over the mountain roads, the min'
was finally abandoned.
a peculiar incident connected with Thu
mine was that the operators at that time
continually encountered a brown, resinou:
looking rock, which they threw aside a:
| worthless. II is not known that this roch
is carbonite of zinc. and by far the mos'
valuable product of the mine.
| after the abandonment of this mine
nothing more was thought of the mineral
wealth in the Pope county hills until the
! railroad was assured in the fall of 1901
/ Mayor John Gilbert, of Golconda, and
the one banker of the town. told Of the
! which is now here.
He said that in the fall of 1901 a
! stranger of the name of O'Hara visited
Pope county. roamed over the hills and
quickly disappeared again.
| ma few weeks a party Of men from
Pittsburg came to Golconda and asked
Mr. Gilbert for mineral lease on some
property known as the clay diggings.
where MI Gilberts father. Captain John
Gilbert. mined kaolin clay thrty-five
years ago and shipped it to Trenton. n.
j., and Liverpool, England.
The lease was granted and shortly a
complete mining outfit-steam drill pump,
hoist and alI-was installed and the sink
in gof a shaft begun. 1t was then learned
that these men represented the Pittsburg
Fiuor Spar Mining and Manufacturing
Company, with a capital of $50, 900.
About the same time r. 3. Black, a
practical mining engineer and also a
member of the Compton Mining and
Smelling Company, started from Pitts
burg to Mexico on a prospecting tour for
his company.
On his way down the Ohio river he
CHANGED TO hear something of the mineral
outlook in this county. He stopped off
Eere and made ar investigation. AS a
result he soon leased 800 acres of mineral
land. and was preparing to sink a shaft
near Cave Spring. ten miles below Col
conda, on the Ohio river.
He is now at depth of $50 feet and
has located a true eight foot fissure vein
of lead and zinc ore and as soon es the
railroad is in readiness will begin ship
ping ore.
Men representing the Crystal F'luor
Spar Milling Company. of Cleveland. o.,
also visited the county and leased the
old Empire mining property installed
plant. and recently shipped the first car
load of zinc ever mined in Illinois. 1t
was hauled in wagons eight miles to Har-
risburg, ILL.,, and loaded on the car.
All Of this naturally excited the citizens.
and local capitalists became interested.
Leases were taken on every foot of land
in the county at all promising, and in
the region of the Empire property the Big
Joe and Long John mines Were opened up
by the Grand Pierre Lead and Zine Min
ing company, an organization of local
capitalists.
Mining experts from Joplin Mo, visited
the county and pronounced the section a
second Joplin district in richness. and as
evidence of their faith are securing all the
leases possible. or buying stock in all the
companies already operating.
The Wabash railroad sent a party OF Of
ficials into the country last summer, and
now a new route is being surveyed from
Effingham TO Golconda, which passes
through the heart of the mineral district.
At hac aRt-an 10
five hundred per cent. according to T. r.
Kerr of Pope county. and houses in Col
conda are at a premium. The farmers
who for years have struggled along try
ing to raise crops on the steep and rocky
hillsides are beginning TO realize that they
have something better than farming land.
One farm near the Hardin and Pope
County line recently sold for $1,000 Three
years ago it was offered for sale unsuc-
cessfully at $3.50.
In the northern part of Pope county
and in much of the Hardin county dis
trict there are great hills of iron ore
where the mineral stands out in lodges
and can be easily mined.
Within seven miles. in Saline county,
are fields of the finest of coking coal in
unlimited quantities. and in the same
territory with the iron ore are greatest
luor spar deposits in the world
Thus together are found. as in no other
spot on the globe. the iron. the coal for
smelling it, and the sna- for fluxing
PittSburg and Birmingham. Ala, have
the iron and coal. but send here for their
spar
Golconda the center of this region and
the coming metropolis of n rich mining
district. is pretty little country town.
situated between two big hills It is the
home of Illinois present secretary of
state, James 4. Rose. who owns fine
residence on the highest point of the
south hill
story which viii so straight TO the
hearts of shooting men is told by con-
temporary of clergyman who was in
ed so;,, II.