The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1911-07-28
4 DAY AT REPUBLIC.


seven years. In former days the near
est point to the railroad was by way
of Republic, 60 miles from LOOMS.
and one of the longest hardest days
stage riding in the state. Then our
visits were not so long apart. So far
as observable there have been no great
changes in the appearance of the town
since the last time we were there, but
residents stated that in business and
industrial way quite a noticeable i'm
provement has taken place. OF course,
Sunday was no day to judge of condi-
tons, as the business houses were
closed, and few people were on the
street.
Republic, the shire town of Ferry
county, is very picturesquely situated
on a side hill in the wooded mountains.
A single business street follows the
contour of the hills for long dis
lance, we'll built up on both sides, with
deep gulch on one hand, and sloping
ground rising gradually to the crown
of the ridge on the other. Residences
and few public buildings are nestled
around the adjacent territory wher-
ever the topography permits of build
ing. The country is very broken. 1t
is not natural townsite, but nature
has contributed attractive surround
ings, and the place is pretty to look
upon.
Republic owes it's existence to the
deposits of mineral discovered in the
neighborhood a dozen or more years
ago, and took its name from the Re-
public mine, property that yielded
a rich store of gold in the early days
of its first working, and is still yield
ing precious metal through process
of saving values from the loss sustain
ed in the original workings. Indeed,
it Is confidently believed that the rich
ore so far from being worked out from
under ground, and great things are
expected from the property in the flu
ture when deep mining is inaugurated.
1t was the discovery of the Republic
leage that attracted attention to the
district, and other discoveries, no less
valuable, rapidly followed. Patsy
Clark, the old and we'll known Spo-
kane mine operator, was behind the
enterprise, and in the early workings,
as hereinbefore stated, much gold was
extracted. An English syndicate was
daZed by the remarkable showing and
the mine was unloaded at enormous
figures. The new owners put up an
immense mill, that failed to extract
the values from the ore, still standing
and going rapidly to wreck and ruin,
a monument to poor judgment and
equally poor management The Eng
lishmen never took dollar out Of the
mine and at last threw it up in dis
gust. 1t is not necessary, even If pre-
pared to do so, to ramble through the
subsequent history of the property.
The foreign buyers paid dearly for
their experience and are out of it.
Some time ago company conceived
the idea, and demonstrated it's FEAST
bility by experiment, that the values
lost in the tailings could be extracted
and saved by the cyanide process.
They paid a good round sum for the
dump, put up mill and are taking
out gold in paying quantities. Reports
place the savings at from $14 to $21
per ton, showing what waste there
was in running the ore through the
old mill. 1t Is evident that the VEN
ture pays, and pays we'll, as the mill
is working steadily.
When the Republic mine collapsed,
which it did shortly after the closing
down of the big mill, and was followed
by suspension of operation at about
all the claims, Republic, the city, Ian
guished, and business dragged. 1t
looked as though the bottom had fallen
out for good and all. Then that man
Harper doomed on the horizon, and
change suddenly took place, a change
for the better He had confidence,
and back of that confidence he had
vim and push, and faculty of inter-
esting others, and inducing them to
see things as he saw them. He aroused
interest among men of means, induced
them to advance the sinews, got hold
of claims that were abandoned, or idle,
unearthed rich ore on several that
have since paid, and are still paying,
dividends, and injected new life in the
camp. There never was such a come
back of a dead one as in the case of
Republic camp. Investigation and de-
velOpment have exposed fine ore in the
Mob Hill, Surprise, the Quilp and other
claims that one time shared honors
with the Republic as producers of
rich ore, but which had been practical
ly unworked for years. The right kind
of mining has been applied to open up
leads, and the man who started the
ball rolling, and those who were in
with MIN in the shove, are being re-
warded.
1t is said that $50 miners are now
working steadily in the camp, and as
new properties are opened, as they
will be, this number will be largely
augmented. There are two lines of
railroad TO Republic, a branch of the
great Northern, that leaves the main
line at Curlew, and what is known as
the Hot Air road, running in from
Grand Forks, history Of which would
make interesting reading, but hardly
so to those who capitalized the under
taking. Daily trains run over the
Great Northern, and combination
trains run over the Hot Air route
three times a week. Ore shipments
are being made to the British Column
bia and Tacoma smelters regularly
from several mines in process of de-
velopment, and the ore bodies are
showing no signs of giving out. A
company organized by Mr.. Harper is
putting up very large mill across the
gulch from town, where ore will be
treated by the cyanide process. This
is to be an Independent custom mill
handling all ores delivered for treat
ment. The process can not be said
to be an experiment, as the ores are
all of the one general character, and
the cyanide mill working the old Re-
public tailings is demonstrating be-