The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-06-08

Koreans, 600 Chinese and more than
100 japanese together with Is or
more Americans. and it can continue
to operate on its present basis Iuf
years to come. This company has a
plant which cost $1,250,OO0, and It
produces more than half OF ali the
gold that is exported from Korea to-
day.
How Lehigh Hunt and Company Made
Millions.
h men who got the concession for
this mine made practically nothing
out of it I believe It was first taken
up by James r. Morse and that Lehigh
Hunt was mad a member Of the
company. The region in which It
lies had been worked in a rude way by
the Koreans for centuries. Their
method of mining vas to build a fire
on a ledge and heat the rock. They
would then throw on water and thus
crack the quartz, digging it out with
rude picks. After that they crushed
ore by laying it on flat stones beneath
heavy, round granite bOulders which
they rocked Jack and forth by handles
tied to the boulders. They also ac-
quired q great deal Of gold by placer
mining.
When Morse and Hunt sent their
engineers to examine the property
they reported that it contained gold,
but that it was of a very low grade
and that it would not run more tina
s. to S8 per ton. They also said lat
it would take ten Korean miners to
do as much work as one average
American, n that they would have
to pay % cents per day at the start
with a probable rise Of so cents in
the near future; and that on the
whole the work would not pay. Upon
this report, I am told, Morse refused
to spend more money on the conces-
sion and that Leigh Hunt, upon a buy
or sell proposition, secured a full title
and right to the mine for less than
$50. 900. At that time Leigh Hunt
had no money to speak of, but he
went to America to make the arrange
ments. He persuaded the Union Iron
Works of San Francisco to sell him
a ~tWenty-stamp mill On tick and in
terested J. Sloat Fassett of New York,
and the CrOckers of San Francisco in
the undertaking. He got enough mon
ey to pay for the concession and to
start work in q moderate way. He
brought his little mill out here and
carried It into the country upon the
backs of bulls and porters and by
means Of bull carts. He set it up at
Chittabalbie on one part of his con-
cession and began to work. Rich
ore was almost Immediately develop
ed and in a short time enough gold
had been taken out to pay all ex-
penses and put the company on easy
street. As q result, all Of the partners
in the business have made millions
and they still own a concession of
Very rich territory, covering an area
which is twenty-five miles wide and
upon which they have the exclusive
rights to all minerals until 1854. At
ter opening the mine, Mr.. Hunt stayed
some time in Korea to operate it,
but it is now many years since he left
he,,n fn, JNpy-p4 Irnnrn 10 A,,,,- 900
plantation on the Nile not far from
Khartoum and is raising American
cotton.
Pays a Dollar a Minute.
As to the grade of the ore Of those
mines, it is low. It does not come
up on the average to the estimate OF
the engineers upon which Morse turn
ed the mine down. Its average value
IS not much more than So a ton, al
though in some places fi~fty-dollar ore
has been found. The Koreans, how
ever, AVE proved far less costly as
miners than was supposed and the
work of two of them is equal to that
of one Of our men. At the same time
they receive only 25 cents a day of
ten hours, which would equal a fifty
cent day for the American miner,
according to his work if the same
rates We're employed. The Japanese
woIkmen are paid 81 a day and the
COO Chinese receive 80 cents. The
10 Americans are paid about SIS q dav
each, with house rent and board. The
company now has five large mines on
its concession and over 200 stamps. II
mas a cyanide plant, and it is treat
ing altogether, on the average, about
1000 tons Of ore daily. The net profit
is $1.S5 a ton, so that the mines are
making from their qeuartz work
, alone $3.50 of clear money a dav
This means almost $50 an hour al
day and all night the year through
Think Of q property which brings ir
more thar a dollar every minute al
! the year round and you have some
| idea OF the profits Of this big Ameri.
: can property away out here on the
1 opposite side of the globe.