The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1911-11-30
HOW FORTUNES IN
ORE WERE GRABBED
BY THE VERY RICH
Engineer Tells Some In
side of Me ssaba
History
JOHN D. is TRICKY
In Consolidation Put His
Holdings In at More
Than Their Value
JOHN D. is TRICKY

philadelphia, Pa.-Thc story o
how Andrew Carnegie got 100000,
geo out OF the Mesaba iron ore beds
and showed his gratitude by paying
u pension of $4,000 Il year to the
widow OF the man whose faithfulnes:
tuuc, is a chapter in the Mcsaba his
tory that has not been brought out by
the STANLEY congressional inves,,s sat-
Ing committee.
The story was related 10 Il re,
engineer OF this city. who also rc!at'
ed some unpublished details oil tho
sensational story OF how John ID
Rockefeller took priceless ore beds
now worth hundreds OF millions OF
dollars. from the men who discovered
the Mcsaba orc and uncovered il fol
the use of the world. leaving these
men pcnniless at the time.
The Merritt family, said he
''cnmc originally from New York
state Their new home in the north
west Was named Oncota. after 1hcil
old home in New York.
G,il TO, nations Hid Ore.
The Mcsaba mountains were
known TO contain iron, but. owing to
n unique geological formation, ii has
always been regarded us OF little
value.
The Mcsaba deposits lie almost
horizontal. The result is that these
strata cropping out on he hillside
show only Il very thin edge. The
outcroppinSs had been known iol
Wears. and had been bored and test
pltcd many a time. The report ha
always been that the ore was too shall
low for commercial value.
The Merits, while Oh taeir TIM
ber-scouting cXDedltiCns. got interest
cd in ore.
The .,lcrrits were OF an in4air.ns
mind, or they weren't good gcolosists.
SO. after the pits on the cage of the
deposit showed a few feet, ,he> went
back little further on TIL" toFn'a-
tion, bored another hole. ,o,na the
ore thicker. went back still further,
bored another hole, found it still
thicker. until they ascertained that
he Mcsaba deposits were thicker
than almost any known i'll the world:
"Thcy followed this process all
over the range until they had locat-
ed many ore beds. Then they pro-
rcc,cd to buy what they could But
~ great deal OF the land was owned
by the state. SO they got a law
,I,;, NC
ores In this way they got posses
sion OF beds which today are worth
hundreds OF millions OF dollars.
Enter John ID.
"Wcll the Merritts proceeded tc
build IL railroad TO carry the ore tc
Duluth for water shipment. They
got the road to the brow OF the hill
overlooking Duluth. This was th.
Duluth. Mcsab and Northern Rail
road. They were in sight of tho
lake. bui Gn0 feet above it.
They needed money to get the
road into Duluth and to build ter
minals They had just about eN
haustcd their resources building The
road. They needed a matter OF I
million dollars more to connect j
with the lake. That's when the,
went to John ID. Rockefeller. as ha:
been described by LcOnidas and Al
fred Merritt before the committee.
Something's, however, haven
been brought out in the testimony
The first plan made by John ID. tt
grab those ore beds was a consolida
ton. He had some Cuban and 9th
CT orc beds. So he proposed to poo
nj,
his holdings. and orfercs to turn
them in at 1900, 900 if remembe
lie figure. The Merritts were t.
turn their in at $19,00O,000. Tha
would give the Merritts Il CONTROL
ing interest. They felt perfectl
safe Ihen he wa: to advance TIL
n,i.cn needed. the Mcrritts putting
up their stock as security.
Il VA in he office OF the Mime
sGla Iron Company. the rival of TIL
Mcrritls. when the president OF til
company sent the Merritts a telc
gram Offering them Sl,0O0,O00 TO
their holdings. II they had accept
ed it. they could have paid Rockeie
lcr his million and retired with So
900, 900.
They sent back a telegram to th
effect that they we're in the hand
of a very lovely gentleman i'll Ne
York and that he was going to SC
them through. He certainly did
They would have been pennies
if it hadn't been for one thing. Th
hasn't been brought out yet. Afte
they had been euchred out of the
orc beds, they awoke to the fa'
that in the consolidation they ha
put up their priceless holding
against a lot OF comparatively wortl
less Cuban ore. Rockefeller's hole
ing's weren't worth $11.OOO,00
They brought suit against him on tt
ground OF misrepresentation.
this way they got about $4,000
for which he was very glad to Sc
tic.