The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-09-26
VAST TR[ADW[LL ORE
DEPOSITS
MlSSoULA MAN WRITES INTER
ESTtNGLY OF THE FAMOUS
ALASKA MINE.

DIR. w b. Parsons has written for
ing account Of the famous Treaawel
mine of Alaska. based upon his own
observations. made during his Alaskan
tour last summer.
Alaska was discovered by Russia In
114I and was owned by that country
until 1867. when il was sold to tho
United States for s7.eo0,000. To w
II. Seward much mere than anyone
else is due the credit of concentrating
this sale--one of the greatest, il not
the greatest, bargains in the history 81
the world II was not known then
however. and the opposition to the
trade was tremendous. The United
States had just gone through civil
war in comparison to which all others
sink into insignificance. was billions Of
dollars in debt, and decidedly unable
to put that much money into what
they almost scurrilousiy termed Sew
ards iceberg" But in spite of this
organized opposition the trade went
through. The halfway place between
the most castcrly point OF Maine and
most westerly point OF the Alaskan
possessions Is in the Pacific ocean 30
miles west of San Francisco. This
seems Incredible. but If you will Iook
over the map you'il sec that IT Is cor
rect.
Alaska liz rs large rs Washington
Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming cam-
bined. Not till 1896. when gold was
discovered In the klondikc. did thi
huge iceberg begin TO attract atten-
ton. and when, In 1899. more gold W..
discovered at Nome, the people begar
To stand up and take notice" Since
then, and more and more every day
but still IL has not vet been scratched
over There are many hundreds OF
square miles in II that are as little
or less known than Darkest Africa
Alaska has seven large strings to ircr
bow, besides many smaller ones. and
at the present time il is impossible
for anyone to name the most valuable
one. l venture a gress In the order
named: Coal. gold timber, furs, fish
water power and game.
Since the first discovery Of gold In
the klandike, in 1896. her mines have
produced sl25,000.0O0. The Treadweil
mine alone yielded about $4,000. 900.
We made an extensive examination of
this, the greatest mine of It's kind on
the globe. Ii was discovered BY IA
poor prospcctor and sold for $500 to
Mr.. Treadwell in 1852. who, after quite
N lot .,f m. IA
company controlled BY ,he Rothschil.is
for s1.5n0.00O. We werd told that MIR.
Trcadweil subsequently went broke"
This company put II in shape" after
spending immense sums of money and
1t became producer at once. Sixteen
hundred men are employed; they never
stop. day or night or Sunday, except
two days in the year-Christmas day
and July 4. The ore in low grade. a
little over 81 ton, and they handle
1000 tons day. Probably these en-
ployes are treated hetter-sureiy just
as well-as anywhere on earth The
lowest pay Is So per day and one OF
the managers said that all of them
could LAY up" $50 a month and not
go hungry or naked.
These men work in eight hot I
shifts. They have sarge building in
which there is lih AIRY and hundreds
of newspapers. also writing desks
toilet and bath rooms billiard tables
checker and chess boards. pin alley
and real stage for theatrical per-
formances of the home talent brand
In crowd of So many men from the
four corners of the earth there are
always To he found variable number
vi real geniuses If many kirds-mu-
sicians. singers and actors Indeed. IL
is astounding To watch these under
ground toilers bob up in elevators
from hundreds of feet down in the
bowels Of the earth covered with
mud and slime, 20 their way and
shortly afterwards show up ut thu
amusement house. snick and span
ready for a few hours of recreation
and relaxation
There are always opportunities for
promotion aud more pay. Dorylas
island Ii Of irregular shape. by 70
mites. There are some high noun
tains and streams on IL We were
told that the company had spent halt
million dollars in bringing water
from these streams To the mines. also
that the company Ind offered Uncle
Sam s90.nna.00n for the island, which
was declined. We were told that there
l. enough ore i'm sight To run for 100
years or more, while there is no bot
tom tn IL: IL can be traced for Il mile
and half on the island. and that il
extends under the water about a mile
Wide. and out into the mountains on
the Juneau side