The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-12-27
Story of Camp That Bore Fruit.

Like a modern Phoenix. Phoebe is
rising from her ashes. The material
uplift is being brought about through
the magic touch of modern means of
treating ore and the facilities of
transportation, both of which. or rather
the lack of them. were responsible for
the abandonment of one OF the richest
silver-lead mining districts the coun-
try has ever known And the new era
of development will surpass in rich
ness the greatest of the old days when
Phoebe was classed in the bonanza
fields with the ComstOck and the rich
Ely district.
The history of Phoebe reads like a
romance Of the Arabian Nights fam
tasy. It's Aladan-lamp wealth is one
of the rarest tales of the mining sto-
ries of the early days in the search for
the precious metals. 1t dates from
soon after the civil war to the days of
colossal failures of princes of the earth
in the troublesome times of 1874. Dur
ing that period more than $20,00O,OOO
was taken out of the famous Ray
ond-Ely and Meadow Valley mines.
Just at the crest Of the stupendous
success which had been attained in the
famous district came the excitement
over what was known as the mother
lode of the camp. the black" ledge
which was an iTslmense body OF rich
sulphide ore in a porphyry dixie carry
ing horn silver and galena and zinc
blende The porphyry dixie was more
than eighty feet wide and several miles
in length extending through the big
properties of the district such as the
old Silver. Currency. Yuba and indie
pendent mines. IT was proven 70 be
the main Ore-bearing channel through
which the other mines derived their
metallic contents.
Phoebe was the wonder OF the mining
world in those days, and development
work was carried on with gigantic
strides. Deep shafts were sunk and ore
bodies of immense dimensions blocked
out. Millions were in sight and for
tunes We're TO be made.
But. as II by magic. all this glamour
Of wealth changed TO naught. 1t was
not because OF the depreciation in the
value of the ore or because any false
hopes had been built up by those who
were in charge of the management Of
the mines. That same ore is there to-
day. and has the same intrinsic value
as IL always had. In fact. with the ad-
vance in the price of silver during the
past few years IT has appreciated in
value instead of diminishing. What
caused the slump In the activities of
the Phoebe camp was the snag which
the miners struci. in the treatment of
the ore which was taken out of these
great mines. Il was discovered that
these ores contained a high percentage
of zinc along with the lead, gold and
silver The old-time panning system
~ those days was unable TO solve this
problem in metallurgy. It was power
less 10 separate the zinc. then a base
metal from the precious ones, ana
thus the great slump in the develop
Inent Of the Phoebe district Added to
This then insurmOuntable obstacle to
the development of the mines was the
long wagon haul of $50 miles and the
cost Of mining the ere. which amounted
10 SIS a ton.
But science has waved Its magic
wand over this old bonanza district
during the last quarter OF a century
and the concentration process has
come 10 separate the zinc from the
lead. and the other wonderful improve
mentS in the mining world have re-
moved the old bars to the development
of the district The iron horse has
supplanted the other kind, and modern
engineering and geological research has
paved the way for the new era in this
fairyland Of wealth
Among the first 70 move in this mod
crniZed atmosphere Of the old camp
was W. s. Gcdbe. who put the mines in
the district On q paying basis during
the decade from 1850 70 1890 He was
again on the high road TO placing the
mines on the top OF the producing heap