Bisbee daily review., 1906-03-18

i, plant Of the Victoria, while nc- asso hutely unique, is one of the very few
 of its sort. A canal leads from the
 West Branch of the ontonagon river
 10 three shafts, down which the water
 pours for more than 300 feet Hun.
 dreds of small air pipes lead into the three shafts, and the air entering the small pipes is sucked downward by the swiftly falling water. to rise under ground in an air chamber of solid
 rock. The water is drawn off from
 below and the compressed air from above to actuate the entire power plants of both mine and min. The Vie toria is the only Lake Superior mine that enjoys the advantage of natural power, and in consequence should ob- tain exceptionally cheap costs in both its inning and milling departments. All the other mines of the district use steam power generated by coal. the coal consumption of the Lake mines crowding one million tons yearly. The Calumet & Hecla is installing very large and complete central electric plant st Lake Linden, and eventually will actuate the bulk of its machinery by electricity. The Bigelow mines have given consideration to the install lation of a central electric plant aE some convenient point, presumably at Dollar Bay, for the operation of all four mines, and the plan will be taken up in earnest at some future date. The Quincy utilizes electric power ex- tensively for the purpose of under ground traction, and electricity is em- ployed for many minor uses at ma jority of the mines of the district.
 The Quincy is maintaining a good product, notwithstanding the under gCund troubles. The so-caIed air blasts al the Quincy are miniature earthquakes, and are serious matters, both for the mine and its employees. Lives have been lost through them. and the miners have become seriously
 lrmed-so much so that Q great many men have left the property, which is now working shorthanded. The newer Mesnard workings Of tbe mine will reach the point Of large production within the next two or three years, and will prove a great as- siStance to the property, in case the air-blasts interfere seriously with working the older shafts, either through crushing the openings or scar ing the men so that adequate forces cannot be employed
 The destruction of No. 3 shafthouse al the Wolverine will not materially reduce production by the mine, though II will mean some close figuring and hard work to keep the output up to normal while the structure is being rebuilt. IL is to be hoped that the burned shafthouse will be replaced in steel. The steeel shafthouses cost a trifle more at the start, and require a much longer time for erection. but once up are permanent.
 The plans of J. D. Hague and asSo- ciates have not been made public. IL is inferred that the 240 acres bought of the Sbelden-Douglas estate are sup posed to carry the "Tomahawk" lode, discovered by E. J. Hurlbut, the dis cOverer of the Calumet & Hecla. and the local impression is the MT. Huri- but, now living in retirement in Rome ,, is associated in some manner with MT. Hague in the new deal.
 The resumption of work at the One co, tentatively announced some weeks ago, has not arrived yet. It is plan ned, however, to do something in the way of exploratory work on the prop erty this season.
 The exploring shaft of the Arcadian remains in promising ground With a tract so large that its boundary line is l1 1-2 miles in length, it would be contrary to past experience if some thing of value were not found In time. The only weak point in the program is that nobody knows how much time will be required. It also would add to public confidence in the ATcadian were some sort of public statement to be made, and the patient share holders given some sort of an idea of how the company's finances stand. 2 Il de Ashbed mine has reached the second level on the new winze, and has begun drifting thereon The rumor that the Phoenix was to resume work on the Ashbed lode seems to have been premature.
 It is expected that the completion Of the Keweenaw Central railway will give the signal for resumption of work at a number of Keweenaw county en- teTpriscs at which something has be n done, from time to time du,ing 'Ee past ten years. in the way of explora- ton. The facility with which supplies and machinery can be landed on any of the Keweenaw county properties must tend to the increase of explora- tory and development work. The Ke- weenaw Copper Company has several drills at work, and the Calumet < Hecla company is working about 50 men at the N shaft on the Montreal river lode of the old Delaware mine The work on the railroad is now so well advanced that inc line uiIl he h