The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1904-04-21
A NORTH CAROLINA MINE
WORTH 4 MILLION.

Richmond Tines- Dispatch.l
lMANY people arc not aware that
North Carolina is richer in min
erals than any other State in the Union
and that Moore county has one of the
most valuable gold mines this side OF
the Rocky mountains.
This mine is located at Ollie, on
Cane Patch run, tributary Of Deep
river, twenty miles from Southern
Pines, and has been incorporated under
the name of the p. II. Laufmsn Gold
Mining Company, with a capital Of
81 100000. Its president is P. III.
Laufman, a veteran iron and steel man.
ufacturer, an inventor Of note, and
Father of the Tin-plate Industry"
Coming from Pittsburg to Southern
Pines for his health three years ago,
with pick and hammer he began to
search out the secrets of the eand hills
on which the town is built, and pres
emily an old gold mine, closed eeyen-
teen years ago for lack of funds, came
under his notice.
An examination of the mine con-
vinced Mr. Laufman that it was i'm
mensely rich and after purchasing the
property, operations we're begun last
spring. Three shafts were opened, the
oId ohfI1icu ,~,;lI ~ .~van%.ax, x,acr rs - M
being used. But it did not crush the
ore sufficiently fine. Mr.. Lauiman soon
found that his gold was floating down
stream, and the mine was accordingly
closed until up-to-date machinery can
be put in.
The Hale mines, in South Carolina,
are being operated with profit, yet they
yield but $3.5 to the ton. The Lauf-
man mines will yield $3.50 OF pure
bullion to the tor, according to Mr..
These, one of the most expert mining
chemists of the country. Dirt and
rocks at the surface yield $40 ton,
and other assays from $50 to 1924 a
ton. According to Mr.. Hutchinson,
Mr.. Lauiman's mining engineer, ore
vein alone, worked to depth of sixty
feet, will yield a million and half dol
lars, and there are longer and richer
veins on the property. Taking into
account that the richness of the depos-
it increases with the depth. the capac-
ity of the mine seems practically limit
less.
Mr.. Laufman has had notable car
reer. Though not the Oldest manu-
tacturer in point of years, bis connec-
tion with iron and steel making has
been longer than that of any other
man in America.
In 1876 he bought the Apollo Roll
ing mills, at Apollo, Pa, and was the
first manufacturer to produce cold roll
ed and picked iron and steel sheets.
In 1878 he began the experimental
production of tin plate, and as all ac-
tual knowledge OF the industry was
iconfined at that time to Great Britain,
he met with inconceivable difficulties.
But his patience and energy triumph
ed and the Laufman tin plate was pro-
nounced the equal of and in some re.
spects superior to the British article.
From 1887 to 1891 Mr.. Lauiman
was laboring to compete with foreign
manufacturers, and so we'll did he sue
ceed that they were practically driven
from the market.
His latest invention is the high-class
electromagnetic steel sheets, used in
dynamos by the Edison and Westing-
house companies, which cannot be
made fast enough to meet the demand
from all parts of the civilized world.
At the age of Is Mr.. Laufman, in
compay with party OF New York cap
talists, inspected the mines OF Utah,
Wyoming, Colorado and Idaho, cross
ing tbs Bitter Root mountains and
other spurs of the Rockies on horse
back.
Three years ago he sold his interests
to the American Steel Sheet Company
and retired from the iron and steel bus
lness. The gold mine, to whose devel-
opment he will devote the closing
years of his life, will compare favorab-
ly with the gold mines of the Rockies,
while only one or two others this side
of that range are anything like so rich.
He has an attractive home at South
ern Pines, Berlin Place, so called in
honor of his wife, whose father, Philip
Berlin, invented the first sleeping car.
Mr.. Laufman, though 83 years old,
is remarkably we'll preserved and at
tends to ali the details of his business
with the energy and vigor Of far
younger man.
JULIA " 'RULLARD.