The Washington herald., 1907-05-12


ed scientist as compared with the so
called practical man" who works by the
rule Of thumb.
Everybody In every copper center knows
the story. Copper was mined so many
Years ago in the northern peninsula Of
Michigan that only faint traces OF the
ancient miners. who belonged 10 the blot
ted out race which lived there before the
Indians, have ever been found. The In
dians themselves never mined copper
there. The whites did nothing with the
Superior copper deposits until 1874, and
not much then.
The late Louis Agassiz exa mined them
when on an exploration trip through the
region before he became famous. and
might have got rich from them. But he
preferred pure science TO the practical
sort, devoted most CT his life 10 the study
Of jeiiyfish and other things in search of
biological mysteries, and died poor. Had
he not begotten son there is no telling
when Calumet and Hecla would have
been developed.
Agassiz the elder wanted Agassiz the
younger TO be a scientist himself The
latter agreed, but announced that he
should set rich if ne could before follow
ing his fathers lead. His chance came In
1850. when certain Bostonians who had
stock in the Hecla copper claim asked
him to visit the Superior region and look
into the claim. Young Agassiz had
learned a lot about mines from his father
(who was a mineralogist befre he was
biologist, and undertook the job, his
FnsaH.r r4r..ra r--
panying him on his first expedition.
There was some scoAing among the
practical, but the young scientist didn't
mind the jeers. He was TO have a GER
tain percentage of the stock in the mine
If he found it good. and he was after the
percentage
II didn't take him long to get some Idea
OF the real nature OF the mine. and he
and his brother-in-law hastened to buy all
the stock they could raise the money TO
pay for at the going price of S a share.
besides advising all their friends TO do the
same When the price had reached $3.50.
Agassiz and Shaw were so rich it almost
frightened Them while the list of the
wealthy in Boston had been increased by
many names.
Every since then Calumet and HecIa-
the Calumet claim having been annexed
meanwhiie-has been producing a steady
stream Of the red metal, which has been
transformed into good yellow gold or its
equivalent for Boston consumption. max
ing that city the greatest copper center
financially in the country, if not in the
world
MANY other cor,ra, mine. t 49,.
opened since then in the Superior region.
some unproductive, some productive, but
none 70 approach Calumet and HecIa. the
greatest single source Of copper known.
II boasts to-day the deepest shafts and /
the most powerful mining machinery and 1
pumps in the world.
American Copper Production.
The United States now produces more
than half Of all the copper mined any
wherein 1904, S62. .759. ont OF a world total /
Of 6H,59i long tons. or Sc per cent; but 4
In 1850, fourteen years after Calumet and
Hecia had been started. only 27.0o) out
OF l55'e59 tons, or Il per cent. II was not
until a dozen years ago, in 1895. that our 1
production reached 50 per cent. the total /
for the United States then being 1897. /
the foreign I646lS. and the grand total /
324, ,565 long tons.
The greatest copper camp today is at |
Butte Mont, but Calumet and Hecla stiu
holds the record for a single mine its pro-
duction for 1904 being g5,1CO16O pounds
avoirdupois, just a shade over the Ana
eonda mine near Butte. It's figures for
1904 were 5,0000C0 pounds even. and for
the Boston and Montana mine In the
same district S9,o0o 900 pounds. OF the
forty-three copper mines producing 10
tte0oJ pounds or more a year Of COPPER
each twenty-seven are in the United
states, three in Mexico, and one ia British
Columbia, making thirty-one in North
The remaining twelve are dis
tributed as follows: Japan. five: Spain.
two Australia, two; Africa, one: Tas-
mania. one, and Germany. one. There
are some big mines IN South America.
nut none of them sizes up TO the level of
the worlds first two-score and three.
The Anaconda mine was not opened
until 1856. fourteen years after Agassiz
had proved that he was practical as well
as scientific. Silver, not copper. was the
metal sought and found in profitable
until depth of about $50 feet
had been reached. Then the silver ore
petered out but few feet lower down
the copper ores appeared. To-day. TWEEN
ty-seyen years after Anaconda's opening.
there is no sign Of ore exhaustion.
Butte, the wonderful Montana cftv. /
built on mile square foundation com
POSED mainly Of copper ore, has been the
scene of more and better known conner
than any other place on the I
crust OF the earth It vas at Butte that 7
w. A. Clark. more recently and after S
much tribulation a United States Senator J
began his career as a trader among the :
miners under the nickname of "RaIxine 1
Powder Billy 1t was at Butte that /,
Marcus Daiy, now dead, and ]. 3. Hag- / i
sln the Turk. still interested in COP
per- although his chief interests are now o
n Peru, formed their famous partnership e
With Hugh Tevis. DAILY bought Anaconda c
N behalf OF the firm, for sS0O0 and Z
efusing to be discouraged when the sill =
'er gave out, kept on till he struck con- a
'er, Here is one version Of the story. II,
Haggin and Tevis, who remained in Cal f
fornia while Davis was In Montana. sent
mother expert to watch DAILY. This ex- q
'ert said the mine was worthless. and =
taTted for San Francisco to report. DAILY Z
lad no money left, but ne had faith in s
anaconda. managed 10 inspire a few of v
ne miners with like confidence, and they Il
ept steadily at work. trusting the mine n
OF their wages Not long after the ex
erts departure they struck it rich.
Daiy was able 70 borrow quite pot
I money on the strength of this. He h