Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1907-01-17

supply sufficient for all building pur.
poses and for all packing and Grating
for at least 20 years to come
Within 20 miles of the marble beds
the enormous energy which lies in the
falls of the Kettle river Is being har-
messed with a view TO furnishing cheap
electric power for quarrying purposes.
The marble deposits are along the
right of way of the Spokane Falls &
Northern road, which is now owned
and operated by the Great Northern,
and James j. Hill is Offering special
inducements in the way of freight
rates to develop this wonderful coun-
try.
In the New York market Italian
Pavonazza never sells for less than
$12 per cubic foot 1t is badly shat
tered marble. The Stevens county
marble duplicates all of the Italian
markings, surpasses it in beauty, pre-
sents a perfect sol!dty, and can b.
quarried and sold In New York for Sc
$40 per cubic foot.
The beds from which this matchless
marble comes rise from the sandy fats
OF the river, appearing in some places
in long, unbroken slopes up which one
may climb to a height of 500 to 700
feet above the river level, travelling
on solid marble all the way. These
slopes are in many places smooth and
solid the pattern of the marble show
ing unbroken at the surface. In other
places the marble rises above the
river level In great bluffs, one above
another. In many places the marble is
found in smooth floors at the SUBMITS
and in broad slopes dropping to the
river banks. At the surface 1t Is re-
markedly solid, indicating that the
beds lie undisturbed to a great depth,
its broad, unbroken surface of white
displaying bold marking of blue and
jet black. Frequently the top OF the
mass can be found floors an acre in
eXpanse which are as smooth, hard
and even as a rolled and leveled as
phalt pavements.
A great deal Of the marble at the
surface Is cream tinted and is crossed
with. jet black veins resembling in
pattern the famous PavonaZza marble
of Italy, but much more solid and is
free from the pit holes which damage
the Italian product. 1t takes an ex-
tremely high polish and retains it, and
its texture is dense, uniform and very
fine crystalline, showing In many
places marked translucency. There is
one tract alone OF this marble destined
to rival the Pavonazza which contains
1910 acres and which is capable of
producing the finest marble for cen
turtles to come without eXhausting the
supply.
This Is not the only factor which has
given Stevens county the reputation in
the Northwest OF being one of the
most wonderful counties in the United
States. Stevens is the northeast cor
ner county of Washington and con-
tains 2,945 square miles of territory
and about $4,000 people. The Spokane
Falls & Northern road bisects it north
and south and provides it with mar
kets. 1t is semi-mountainous, and in
its mountains are gold and silver for
the treasure hunter, copper and lead
for the industries, lime and cement,
quarries OF onyx and jasper marble,
granite and slate for the builder, clays
for the potter and the brickmaker,
and in the foothills is timber in abund.
ance. In the Columbia, the Pen
fOreille and other yans~s which these
! rich mineral mountains inclose are
| thousands of acres Of the most fertile
land imaginable, land upon which all
| kinds of fruits and ce" Nils are being
raised in abundance, amid scenery
which is beautiful beyond description.
In speaking of the mineral deposits
a recent discovery of tungsten and
molybdanite must not be forgotten.
! There are only seventy tons of tung.
! stem produced in this country annual.
ly, and it sells for $4,000 ton. 1t is
also produced in Australia, $500 tons
annually, and in Sweden and Germany.
| but all OF this output Is absorbed by
the Krupp works, where it is used in
hardening steel. Large veins Of this
metal have been discovered in Stev.
ems county from which can be pro,
duced more than 1000 tons annually.
Molybdanite, which sells for $3.50 a
! ton, is produced from a mine In Maine
at the rate of 80 or GO tons year.
and Colorado produces about $50 tons.
The vein discovered in Stevens county
is six feet wide, 80 feet deep and more
than a mile long.