New-York tribune., 1911-11-29
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS.
STORY Of P0RCUP|NE
How Wonderful Gold Discoveries
Opened a New Region.


in Porcupine. Yes, there was. but no one
knew anything about Il To-day there are
nearly twenty thousand people scattered
over the region. and there is IN the making
a new country. which is bound 70 figure In
the affairs OF this continent, II not Of the
world for years TO come. The work &C
cornpllshed this year cannot be undone
There Is no question at all but that some
thing new and wonderful has happened In
pioneering. Even n the gold mines do not
become producers on the scale predicted
the country mas been opened for settlement
and mining viii not be the only industry.
Already, IN various portions OF the vast
tract Of territory. now called by the gov
ernment the Porcuplne Mining Division,
plots OF land are being cleared Of timber
and made into farms. II IS in what Is
called the clay belt, and the soil IS about
the richest on the continent Among the
other activities Of the paternal Ontario
government is the one Of helping along the
growth Of the district by laying out ex-
perimental farms. The amount OF work
accomplished in that region during the last
year Is almost beyond belief. Not much
has been said about It IN this country; the
i Ndllg press Ido dDptdltI iDaAN " NAlNN1-
age 6 mining boom. but the facts will not
down. and more and more people from this
country are daily going into the various
camps or towns which are In the Porcupine
district.
A Timbered Region.
/ Ontario Is a timber region. Along the
/ five hundred miles Of track from Toronto
north are a great many lumber camps and
mills Immediately after the forest fire IN
/ July the Porcupine mine owners bought
/ outright every stick of timber In these
lumber yards, and ordered II forwarded to
/ the district Sawmills have been dragged
. into tie camp. TIainlcads OF cement for
concrete work are required; food, forage,
clothing ard merchandise OF every con-
/ celvabe kind Is being rolled into the dis
/ trict and dragged to various points IN the
I timber The photograph OF South Porcu-
pine as il Is to-day affords striking evil
/ dence Of the monumental industry at that
point. Every building seen In this photo
.rsph and many outside the lines Of the
, picture have been constructed since July
( III. and AL material had 70 be purchased
and hauled In for a long distance since
that date This IS one Of three towns.
There are easily 1900 to 5000 men on the
payrolls Of the various mining companies
and they earn, according to the nature OF
the work they are doing, from 50 TO IS per
day
There are thousands Of prospects and
only a few mines Districts have been dis
covered before where gold appeared every
where on the surface, but never a mine
was found at depth. In Porcupine there
are nuggets and plasters OF gold visible on
the surface sufficient to sink a ship and
the mines that have so far been proved
are widely separated. but out Of hundreds
Of promotions. out Of something Ike two
hundred companies digging In the rock. IT
is only possible TO say now that twelve
are promised success. And Porcupine Is
not d poor mans camp There is no placer
gold. and every mine developed will only
be brought through by the expenditure on
the part Of the owners Of many thousands
Of dollars. Most companies try TO start
with a treasury fund OF between 100000
and $4,000 Furthermore. no man living
knows what Is IN the ground. All min
ing engineer can do IL to tell a company
how 10 sink a shaft and how TO cut for
nation. and nc can measure up, sample
and value the ore IN sight. geologist
can only give his theory Of what might
result from certain geological conditions.
Only God knows what Is in the ground.
Mining is a gamble.
The Government Helps.
The Ontario government has great deal
TO DO with this Porcupine business. Accord
ing to the government biologists. the prin-
cipal rnineralized zones are in Tsdale
Township. but there are ffty-seven town
ships In the district and more or less I'M
portant discoveries have been made In many
OF them.
The Dome and the Hollinger mines are. Of
course. the centre OF interest; they are four
or five miles apart. The Dome m ne Is gen
orally regarded as the premier proposition.
i, is owned by a syndicate Of nine men.
headed by Captain j. r De Lamar, the
ault-millionaire, by interests connected
nth the International Nickel Trust and by
,orne Of the prospectors who made the orig
nal discoveries This company now has n
Capitalization Of $50. 600 shares, par value
$40. A few odd lots Of the stock have been
sold on the market at $40 a share, but so
far the public has not been allowed to par
ticipate 10 any extent in the company. II
the stock is placed on the market eventually
a controversy will doubtless rage In the
mining world as 10 the intrinsic value OF
the shares. but this is something for the
future At the present time all mining men
coocAde II 10 be q million dollar pTopost-