Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1905-06-02
GRANTS PASS SMELTtR
Smelter Assured and Power Plant
and Electric Road Projected.

The past week has added more
proof that Grants Pass is TO have a
smelter, and that the company under
taking this venture means business
and is not a stock jobbiDg combina-
tion. The business like mauner in |
which the men, interested in the |
smelter and subsiderary undertakings,
have taken up the matter has con-
vino local mining men that there
is every reason to expect that within
a few months, they can have their
ore treated here instead of shipping
it, at heavy expense, to San Francisco
or Tacoma, TO the smelters there and
which are in the smelter trust and
consequently have high rates.
Permanent organization Of the
company has been made since the
articles Incorporating the Rogue
River Mining, Smelling & Power
Company. were filed last week, and
officers have been elected as follows
President, d. G. Westlake, Grants
Pass; Secretary, DR.. w. Z. Williams,
Wilmington, Ohio; Treasurer, First
National Bank, Grants Pass The
directors are D. &. Westlnke, DR.. W.
T.. Williams, H A. Corliss. W. l.
Fleck. b. A. Williams, Carl N. Jones
and d. V. Snowgoose. Carl N. Jones,
of Portland. an experienced man in
smelter construction, will have charge
Of the building OF the smelter. W. J.
Fleck, OF Grants Pasr, will be con
Ia s....
enigneer for the Golden Drift Com
pany in the construction Of their dam
in Rogue river above this city, and
he is consulting engineer for several
mining companies of this district
H. A. Corliss will be SUPERINTENDENT
and will have charge Of the work on
the smelter building and the dam.
Mr.. Corliss was foreman for the
Golden Drift Company and had
charge OF the work on the Company's
dam, which was completed last fall
Mr.. Corliss has bad previous ex.
perience Of 30 years in dam building
and has constructed dams, some OF
them quite large, on streams in
Northern Oregon. and in Washington
and also back in Maine, his native
state. Chester l.. Proebstel will be
assayer and chemist for the smelter.
Mr.. Proebstel is from Portland, and
is graduate Of the Oregon Agricul
tural College and Of the State Univer-
sity of California, he finishing the
course in chemistry and metallurgy in
both Institutions
The site for the smelter has been
selected at Savage Rapids, on Rogue
river, five miles east of Grants Pass
Over $G0C0 has already been expen-
ded in the purchase of land, the
Company buying 100 acres of Clark
| Savage, 1853 acres of Mrs. s Randle,
2S acres of ]. G. Baird, and IS acres
of Reuben Pierce. The deal is
practically closed for some additional
land that will give the Company ex.
elusive control of full mile Gu each
bank Of Rogue river President
Westlake is now in San Francis ar.
ranging for siding facilities and
freight rates.
Smelling is not the only business
to be undertaken by the Company for
dam il to be- put in Rogue river aud
water will be supplied for power and
for irrigation purposes. The river at
tho smelter site is in rockbound
canyon, and dam can he readily
put in that will give head Of GO feet
aud develop fully 40, 600 II. p. 1t is
the plan of the Company's engineer,
W. l. Fleck, and Of II. A. Corliss, the
superintendent. both of whom are ex.
perienoed dam builders, to construct
the dam of the Stag from the smelter.
Sectional bulkheads will be put in to
dry the river bed and the melted Stag
will be run in, making dam AZ
though of solid rock and winch will
endure rs long as the granite led Of
the river shall stand. The cost of
building the dam of Stag will only be
for bulkheads and will not equal 90
per cent of the cost of dam CON
struCted of cement or stone The
proposed dam would give slack water
in Rogue river to fully as far as
Woodville, and make vast storage
reservoir for power aud irrigation
purposes, and also make IL possible tC
operate soows to bring ore and timber
from the mines and forests near
Woodville. This great lake would
afford perfect place to boom logs,
should mills be put up on the river
and logging railroads built NJ
Evans and Foots creek to the timber
tracts in each of those valleys,
Really the greatest gain that will
come TO Rogue River Valley by rea.
son Of the building of this great
smolter and power plant will be the
system of electric railroads that II
will call into being and the develop,
mont of the vast mineral wealth OF
this district, OF the electric lines
that are certain to be eventually
built will be one from the smeltor by
way of Grants Pass to the Takilma
copper district and on to Crescent
CITY At the point where this road
would cross Applegato branch line
would be run to the Blue Ledge cop,
per district, aud another branch
would be run down Rogue river to
the big Galice mining district \
fourth line would be from the smelter
up Rogue river on the south side
skiIting the foothills to Jacksonville,
while u tifth line would branch of at
Woodville, from the Jacksonville
line, and up Evans creek TO open NJ
the coal and gold deposits on that
valley aud the timber aud gold of
| Upper Jump.on.Jue.
Work Begins on the Buckeye