Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1903-08-29
FOUND A MINE OF MICA.
Experience OF Boy of Eighteen from
New England in the Colorado
Mountains.

NO, II isn't every 1S-year-old boy that
goes into Colorado and bumps into S13.-
100000, and then knows enough to hold
to 1t, but that is wat my son did" says
Mrs. Minona S. Fits of Chicagol H.,
who is stopping ar the Massasoit, accord
ing to writer in the Springfield Union.
Ihe story of my plucky and lucky
Roys find is as good as a Rider uaggard
romance. 1t is getting to be somewhat
commonplace with me now, but / know
how wonderful and impossible it seemed
to me at first.
But it is really simple thing after
all. Two of his chums were going west
10 their fathers gold mines, which are
located at Guffey, Col, near Grippe
Creek, and as Roy was little fellow |
thought he might grow in Il place like
that, and so l let him go, too.
.Boylike, a Winchester rifle and Colo
rauo were almost SynonymeS for him, and
a gun was the first purchase he made. 1t
was not long before the 'renderfoot Kid
as the goOd-hearted miners called dim,
got to be first rate shot, and one morn-
ing he started Il large black-tail deer
from a bunch of oak about seven miles
from home. Roy fired at it, but missed.
Yet that shot made his fortune, and will
bring happiness to many others.
The bullet struck a sandy dune behind
the deer. and at the point of impact
silvery jet of sand spurted into the air.
glittered in the early morning sun and
blew away. Astonished, Roy FASTENED
forward to investigate, and found the
ground all around full of unended hedges
OF what afterward proved to be the finest
kind of mica.
When the boy found this out he wise
~ proceeded to stake out 100 acres and
hired some man to do the assessment
work necessary to have q clear claim.
He was boss of the camp, doing all the
directing and cooking while the men
worked. At last his money gave out.
anu not until that time did he appeal to
me. and from that moment l have been
putting every effort to make the boys
really great find worth the estimated
S13,000,000.
The products of the mine were exam
ined by the finest mineral experts in the
country and pronounced absolutely pure
mica. 1t is this quality of purity that
makes the Fits mine the king of all
mica mines. The reason is this: Besides
the demand for mica as freproof ma
terial in stoves, lamp shades. freproof
paint, where any variety of it can be
used, 1t is now needed in immense GUAM
titles as a nen-conductor in every kind of
electrical machines and goods But the
mica used for this work must be abso-
lutely free from magnetic iron, and so far
the Fits mine is the only one that has
been found to contain this variety in the
country. Up to this time all mica for
electrical work has been imported from
canada and India at a total tariff Of
$500 Il ton.
When | say that our mine can pro-
duce mica at $50 ton, it doesn't take u
Jay could intellect to see that my son
stumbled upon a fortune. There are 100
acres acre of solid hedges, we have gone down
lou feet IN many places and found no
pannine out indications, and the prop
erty is within Il few miles of q first-class
railroad.
Here ;s not a BIT of the mica wasted.
The sheet mica is sold at $1,000 a ton.
and Is used as tireproof material in
many familiar ways. The SCRAP mica is
ground at the mine, and it is this fine
and powdered product that is to be so
useful in electrical goods. Mixed with
shellac 1t makes plates, which are placed
IN All motors where complete insulation
Is necessary. Every trolley car has from
80 to 100 pounds of these plates of
micanite' as it is called. r. w. Williams
of Milwaukee has recently perfected a
process for us. after all the best cleo
trical people in the country had failed. by
which this powdered mica can be made
into a flexible substance like rubber. ey-
cept that it is absolutely fire and wafer
proof. As an insulation for wires this is
bound to be great success as it can be
produced very cheaply.
IF You will glance at the market
quotations of mica you will find this
makes the price of sheet mica by the ton
$4,000 to $4,000 Think of n nubIic
necessity that can be produced for $50
ton selling at such figures and Won can
readily understand why almost all own
ers of mica mines are wealthy. The de-
mand for it is steady and constant. The
United States uses half the entire pro-
duction of the world and would take
more If she could get il. The reason for
this is that mica is unrivaled in every
field in which it is used, and the fields Of
its usefulness are constantly broadening
A fortune awaits anybody who can fem
per aluminium. Mica is temnered
aluminium. tempered in the great work
shop of the creation, AID with an added
quality or being clear as crystal, as well
as having the heat resistance of asbestos
With such qualities ii is ne wonder this
mineral has become public necessity, a
staple commodity of commerce. with a
market value as fixed and solid as any
of the other precious metals. Mica is
the only mineral that comes ont of the
ground absolutely ready for market. No
melting or chemical process is required
TO make ii salable. Another advantage
lies in the fact that no part of that which
is mined is wasted. The ragged pieces
trimmed off are ground or faxed. The
fakes are mixed with shellac and nodded
into tubes or conduits for high power
electric wires. In that form the product
is worth $4,000 ton. Before its use
in electrical construction increased the
demand and price for it. The Scientific
American figures that North Carolina
mica mines had paid $S93 for every dol
lar invested.