Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1903-11-18
HOW THE FIGHT
WAS STARTED
Something Of the Career Of One OF the
Parties to the Great Mining
Litigation.
FROM A PARTISAN VIEWPOINT
The Denver Post Gives a Readable
But overdrawn Sketch Of Mr..
Heinze's Rise to Power.

The following article, taken from
the Denver Post, a Heinze organ,
may be OF interest to the people OF
Fergus county, who are watching the
death-like struggle between the Anal
gamated Copper company and F. Au.
gustus Heinze for the control Of GER
tain large copper interests In this
state:
With bitterness unspeukable the 81
gantic Amalgamated Copper company
has struck at F. Augustus Heinze
through the people of Montana.
Bringing its mines and shelters to
a standstill is an overwhelming blow
upon a population which, enjoying
generous prosperity, has spent its
money as fast as II WAS earned. OF
course, the Amalgamated company's
shutdown can not be permanent, for
capital hates to lose profits far more
than a married man with several chill
dren hates to lose his job. But II the
Standard Oil millionaires al endure
their self-infiicted shutdown for three
months 1t means paralysis Of business
and the departure of labor from Mon
tana. II they can stand it for six
months it will mean ruin. II they a
stick to their determination for a year
1t will reduce Montana to one-half
what It was.
This thing is a result OF the most
extraordinary political condition, and
of the most amazing struggle between
bewilderingly rich men, and one Of
the most extraordinary careers yer
known-that of the young Napoleon
of Copper, F. Augustus Heinze.
viii Heinze go down and out In
this final death grapple? Can Rookie
Teller by goading the people of Mon
tana into the fury of impending ruin,
cause them to turn on Heinze and
crush him? Observe the career Of
Heinze.
He is only IS years old. He is a
New Yorker; a college man, who, for
vagrant reason perhaps, studied min
ing. At % he came to Butte. then In
the first rosy dawn of its blazing day
of copper. He worked as a surveyor
by day and was a hail fellow we'll met
by night. All the well known rules
of sober living and stunning gay COM
p~anions were neglected by Heinze.
Tie biographers can trace no halo for
his youthful head. Then he went
back to New York and became repor-
ter for a mining journal. In due time
he inherited 10000. His brothers In
herited like amounts. With his own
money and that Of his brothers, and
by persuading some Of the men he
had met as a reporter. Heinze incor.
pprated a company with $250,OOO cash
capital and erected a modest smelter
In Montana.
II earned money honestly and there
was no suspicion of what Heinze had
planned.
Nobody realized that the gay sur
veyor Heize had collected Information
about copper veins and copper claims,
and that the clever reporter Heinze
had sized up the mining magnates in
a way that only awaited the right
moment to wrest millions from Rookie
Teller himself.
Heinze bought the worthless Glen
gary mine. It was flooded below the
lOO-foot level. The owners felt guilt
lily glad that they had unloaded. But
Heinze put his mel to work on the
supposedly exhausted 100-foot level
and found ore there that made the
briefly happy salers have brain nau-
sea.
Heinze's property earned $4OO,O 600
In q year. He bought other sterile
mines that changed to riches under
his touch. Heinze was graduated
from the Columbia School OF Mines
in 1889. In 1898 he was turning into
mining life the white K~ootenay noun
tains of British Columbia. The Cana
dian Pacific railway thought he was
poaching on its preserves. The Cana
dian Pacific railway had no kind feel.
ing for a daring young American OF
strong body, above the average height
and of Napoleonic physi0gnomy. And
while the Canadian Pacific was trying
to crush him out his enemies In Mon.
tana seized the goodly opportunity to
attack him in the rear. The Standard
OIL people had awakened to the fact
that Heinze had ripped them right
and left by his magic knowledge OF
veins and claims and mining law. A
treacherous engineer disclosed Helm
!e's plans to them. He accused the
young Napoleon of Copper Of being a
pirate Of copper. President Bigelow,
of the big Boston & Montana com
pany, threatened to u Heinze.
"If you do" said Mr.. Heinze. "Ill
involve every mine In Butte In It'll
cation.
Bigelow sued and Heinze kept his
word. Seventy-two suits enriched the
Montana courts. Then came to as
founding crisis a political battle the
like of which has never been known
perhaps In the history of the world
II was a combat for possession OF q
state; for possession Of all the ma
chinery Of government and elections
and all the elements thereof and for
the crucial possession Of the courts
and the machinery of the law.
The ~Amalgamated had absorbed the
DAILY properties; with the backing oil
Rockefeller and the City Bank Of New
York 1t had swelled to the tremendu'
GUS bulk Of seventy-hve millions cap
ital; then It absorbed the Boston &
Montana and became swollen with
eighty millions more; and by pur
chase 1t got on its hands all Of the
Bigelow suits.
This litigation was terrific: Heinze
had to furnish 1926. 900 bonds In the
Davitt mine suit. With Senator Clarl
on his side he did It easily. Their