Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1911-03-31
SHELTER PL mt BUILT
FOR TREATING TIN ORE

People interested in mining have
been watching with much interest
the experiments that are now being
made of mineral find that, If what
Is claimed for 1t be true, will make
Josephine county both rich and not
able as mining district For several
weeks past numerous mining men
have been working on samples of ore
that carry large per cent of what
is purported to be the finest grade
of tin. While the assertion that tin
does exist in ore found In certain To-
calities Is an old one and has been
much disputed by the several assay
ers Of this city, the fact that a thor
ough test was being made Of this
rock to definitely establish the fact
of It's being tin beyond a question OF
doubt has been known for several
weeks. As the mining bureau of the
Commercial club had promised to go
into the matter thoroughly, their de-
cision has been awaited. hoping that
established facts would be given
rather than claims. However, the
fact appears to be apparent that this
ore, which is Of granite formation.
carries to a remarkable degree a
metal which, to the casual observer,
nay we'll be styled tin.
A smelling plant for testing the ore
has been erected on street across
from the old brewery, where the rock
Is being reduced. The first fair-sized
sample Of the ore was taken out over
week ago and bar of metal Sc
cured inches long, one inch wide
and fully three-fourths Of an inch
in thickness, which is now on display
at the Josephine County bank In this
city. The ore came from the Three
Lode" and Pheasant" mines, owned
by o. H. Griswold, ]. r. Johnson and
Johnson Bros, assayers Of this city.
In talking with D. L. Johnson, one
OF the firm of Johnson Bros, the
gentleman who first discovered this
metal and who makes the unquali-
fled claim that It is tin Of the best
grade, had this to say:
"Yes, claim that It Is tim, and
this smelter was put here to demon
strate that II could be gotten ou In
paying commercial quantities. The
rock that It comes from is Of granite
formation and carries not only tin
but a small per cent Of copper, plat
mum and gold. The ore Is found In
the Galice and Williams districts. We
are going to demonstrate to those
who are not willing to take an assay
for 1t that this is tin
Mr.. Johnson stated that samples
had ben sent to various assayers over
the country and to one Of the most
prominent In England, and that many
of these had claimed that they found
no trace of tin. Notwithstanding
this fact, a metal that came out OF
the ore, a sample OF which he dis.
played, withstood all OF the tests o!
tin, and that there was no question
as to what IL was in his mind. He
. also stated that It was going to be
the biggest find that this district had
ever made. That tin was worth
from 45 to AZ cents per pound and
| that as nearly as could be estimated
this ore carried about $50 to the ton
Thus far the mining bureau has
not investigated the matter, but vii
| do so the early part OF next week
In speaking with o. s. Blanchard
: the president Of the bureau, he said
The commercial clubs mining bu
reau has not as yet Investigated thii
matter, but is going to do 80 In {
| cold-blooded manner, and will thrasl
the matter out as nearly as II cal
once and for all. I believe that thl
= should be done In thorough manner
, n IT'S tin We want TO know II, as 1
r is going to be the biggest thing yet
: II not, OF course, we want to know II
r All parties are entitled to a. fair in
vestigatlon OF the matter and that |
a Just what we propose TO give them
r While II sec ms strange some OF tn
. best assayers in the country have pro
: nounced the metal tin, others clair
(. that they find no trace OF II at al
o However, we are going to try and es
A tablish the facts, no matter what the
Z are"
= there is but one locality in IN
United States that produces TIN I
q paying quantities, and that Is |
: South Dakota. practically all the u
In use In this country coming fror
England. This fact alone Is enoug
TO give an idea Of the Importance ,
n the find II II proves 10 be the rel
, thing, which II IN hoped will be n