The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-03-24
Big ASBESTOS DEPOSIT
Lowell Mountain May Re the Scene Of
Large Operations II Present Indica.
tons Have Anything to Do With
the Outlook-One Mine Now Being

| thc UuuOOk-Uue wine NOW Being
Worked and Other Lies Idle.
If the whole of Lowell mountain is
composed Of such a deposit of asbes-
tos as has already been uncovered
there it would afford an inexhausti-
BILE supply of that valuable and desir-
able mineral. Two mines have been
opened in the mountain, one on the
| Lowell and one on the Eden side, but
only one of them is in operation to-
day.
Mr.. Gallagher, who came from Vir-
ginia few years ago, while working
on a comparatively small scale, is
producing a profitable amount of as
bestos and will probably increase his
output before long. He is now taking
out ton of ore day, and the
price for asbestos ranges anywhere
from $40 to 800 a ton, according to
quality. AS the asbestos lies in poe
kets rather than in permanent and
we'll defined vein, the quality varies
| from time TO time.
The investment in the Lowell mine
represents perhaps $4,000, but as an
individual and not a corporation op-
crates the mine, there are no reports
to give accurate information as to
the cost of equipment and operation
or the value of the output. The rough
ore is dug out from the side OF the
mountain, put through a crusher, and
the pure asbestos, ready for use, is
sent to market. All the product of the
mine has to be hauled to the railroad
station at Johnson, some II miles
away. The station at Barton Land
ing, or Orleans, is nearer, but the
road climbs over the mountain in IT.
asburgh, so that it would not pay to
haul over the shorter route.
Government experts, WHO have made
a careful examination of the deposits
opened up by the Gallagher opera
tons, state that if the mine were
worked to its capacity it might real
lie net profit of $500 a day.
Asbestos was first discovered in
what are known as the Belvidere and
Lowell belts by Judge E. NJ. Tucker
in 1899. One belt passes almost di-
rectly through Lowell village. These
were prospected through Lowell vii
lage These were prospected with
considerable care, but it was a few
years later before developing opera
: tons were commenced. Prominent mi
ners of asbestos in the Unite! States
and Canada visited the place The
amount of asbestos to be found in the
whole world is not large enough to
meet the demand and all miners as
well as consumers are interested in
any new discovery. Canadians are
especially interested because they
produce by far the larger part of the
asbestos used in this country.
The deposit on the Lowell side of
the mountain was the first discov-
cred, but in 1900 B. B. Blake discov-
cred an outcrop on the Eden side.
1t was there that operations were
first commenced. The New England
Mining, and Milling Company was
formed by outside capitalists and mi
ners in 1901 who erected an elaborate.
plant. No returns of the company's
operations are available, but it is es-
timated that the investment in mach
inery alone must have been more
than 100000 One boiler, used to
furnish compressed air for use in the
mine, was hauloi to the foot of the
mountain by % pairs of horses and
it required al these rorses with the
ai' Of subota ot'al tackle, to draw the
boiier 70 the place where it was to
be used No stock in this company
was sold to people in the vicinity, but
it was sold in the large cities of New
England, in New York and farther
in the West, and some of it was even
disposed of in Germany.
The company began operations in
May, 1902, but closed It's doors in Oc-
tober of the same year and the plant
has not been operated since. There
50 ~ p'NsN'' AiO iiiNhho VI hilOMlnS
whether or not the undertaking was
successful. No statement has ever
been given out, unless to the stock
holders, concerning the amount of the
character of the fiber produced. When
operations were suspended all the
holes from which the ore had been
taken out were filled in, so that gov
eminent inspectors who spent sever
al days looking over the property aft
er it was closed down were unable to
learn whether or not the property
was valuable or what its possibilities
might be.
Samples of the fiber which fell in
to the hands of Prof. G.. II. Perkins,
the State geologist, were too short
for purposes requiring tensile
strength but should, he says, Fill all
standard requirements in the manu-
facture of all classes of asbestos
goods in which non-conductivity of
heat is the only essential quality de-
| sired"
The large preparations and elabor-
ate equipment, the sudden cessation of