The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1914-10-02
SOLD ORE AT
A CENT A TON
A. E. Humphreys Had 100000
600 Tons of 1t In Early
Days of Range.

ZULU III, OCI. Ito OWN lUU,UUU,-
900 tons Of ore, to sell some of it in
the ground for cent ton to avoid
bankruptcy, to found city of $4,000
people, and to be one of the chief fig
ures in the development of the great
est iron deposits in the world; are
some Of the experiences Of A. E. Hum
phreys of Denver, who is the guest Of
Thomas A. Merritt.
In the early days in Duluth Mr..
Humphreys was one Of the dominant
figures, perhaps the leader, of the
sturdy little band Of fighters who de-
veloped the Mesaba range. Conditions
in Duluth at that time were not de-
signed for mollycoddles. Fortunes
were made overnight, and later with
the panic men were forced to sit idle
and watch their property gradually
slip away, while they were being
bounded for debts or taxes.
Mr.. Humphreys went through that,
and probably saw both extremes of it.
He came through it, and saved few
little tracts of land which later
brought him good returns, but the
big bulk of the ore lands he controlled
was swept away. In spite of this
rather bitter experience, Mr.. Hum
phreys still looks on Duluth as his
roo1 ho,,oo ct fool rooro OF bo,oo horo
than in any other city," he said yes
terday. 81 always liked the city and
the people here. Perhaps some day L
will come back here to spend the rest
of my days. I'd like to do it,"
Came Here in 1891.
Mr.. Humphreys first came to Du-
luth in 1891. By an accident he heard
of mining property, which he &C
quired and which made him fortune
within a few weeks This was but the
beginning and during the next year or
two he rapidly acquired ore lands on
all parts Of the Mesaba range. Among
The mines which he at one time owned
are the Moose, the Commodore, Wyo-
ming, Iron King, Iron Chief and
Franklin. In 1892 he founded the city
of Virginia. He owned the TOWNSHIP
and named the city after his native
state. 0. D. Kinney and Joseph Sell
wood later became interested with him
in the TOWNSHIP.
In 1898 came the panic, and for
many years Mr.. Humphreys was fight
ing to save his properties. One by
one they were lost. The Moose mine
was sold on a basis Of cents ton
Cor the fee to the ore in the ground,
and other iron lands were sold on a
basis of l cent a ton. In 1897 Mr..
Humphreys finally left Duluth, after
having lost all the properties he
thought were Of any great value. He
went to his old home in West Vir-
ginia and later to Denver. In 1900
he returned and succeeded in develop
ing one or two small mines on the
property he had retained, and they
brought him good returns. He is still
in the mining business, but his inter-
ests are now in gold, silver, oil and
coal.
. Mr.. Humphreys was always an op-
timist in the early days, and he re-
tains that optimism in spite of the
hard business knocks he has received.
''The business of this country was
never sounder," he said this morning.
'You pour water into the source of all
the little streams and sooner or later
it is going to affect the rivers. That
is the condition in America. The farms
are the source. The farmers have
been getting big crops and big prices
and sooner or later this prosperity
will flow down through the business
channels. I do not look for any big
boom until the war ends, but industry
will receive big impetus then"