The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1915-12-30
OLD UNION MINE HAS
INTERESTING HISTORY
HOME OF FIRST sTRlkEBREAk
ERS BROUGHT TO DISTRICT
SOLD THE MILL.

A report was current yesterday that
a fine body of galena had been struck
on the Union, near Burke the proper
ty having just been taken over un-
der lease and bond by Axel Swan, of
Burke, Efforts to confirm the report
were unsuccessful. It is not improb-
able that 1t is true, as considerable
ore was opened on the property many
| years ago and its location on a direct
line between the Tiger -Poorman and
the Custer Is very favorable for val
liable ore shoot. The lessee of the
Union under the terms of his lease has
until April to begin work and it was
understood that he would not begin
operations until after the first of the
year. The property is owned by the
Coeur d'Alene Mining & Concentrat-
ing company, Of which the estates of
the late John A. Finch and A. B.
| Campbell are the principal owners
The leasing of this old property after
SO many years of idleness recalls some
interesting facts in it's history and the
conspicuous part 1t played in the first
| labor disturbance in 1892
The First Strikebreakers.
After the trouble between the min
ers and operators had reached point
where it was apparent that no basis
| of hr
the mining companies began casting
about for men in other states to take
the places of the men on strike. In the
copper mines of Michigan they found
men who We're willing to come to the
Occur d'Alenes under the inducement
of all travelling expenses paid and
higher wages than they were recelN,
ing. The first contingent consisted of
two or three passenger coaches COM
fortably filed most of the imported
miners being Finlanders Trouble was
anticipated upon their arrival and in
order to be prepared for it, the train
was accompanied by armed guards
under command of Joe Warren, who
had formerly been chief of police of
Spokane. For obvious reasons no In.
formation had been given out as to
what mine the strikebreakers would
be taken, and every precaution had
been taken to land them at their des-
tination without trouble After leav-
ing Missoula the progress of the train
IA
made the trip in safety When the
train approached Wallace the switches
at the east and north points of the Y
were opened in advance and the train
glided up the canyon without stopping
and landed the Michigan miners at
the foot of the long gravity tramway
leading to the Union mine just below
Burke.
Worked Under Guard.
Having made the climb to the mine
in safety, guards were stationed all
around the mine and the company
buildings, and under these conditions
work was resumed in the Union mine
What is now the Green Hill Cleveland
mill was originally built by the Coeur
d'Alene Mining e. Concentrating COM
pany for the treatment of ore from
the Union mine, and the only ore that
was ever produced and milled by the
company was mined by these F'innisr
Michiganders. The ore was low grado
being mixed with much iron and yield
ed no profit.
In the meantime, Finch & Campbell
had taken a bond on the Standard and
crosscut to the vein was started
Along about Christmas time in 1892
they struck the great ore shoot which
made a bonanza mine of the Standard
BY the following spring the explora-
tion of the Standard had demonstrat.
ed the great value of the property and
made available large amount Of ore,
making mill a necessity. Where
upon the Union mill, which had prov
ed a white elephant on the hands Of
the Union company was sold to the
Standard, being subsequently, enlarged
and remodeled to meet the require
ments of that great mine which was
afterwards sold to the Federal COM
pany and consolidated with the Nam
roth. Upon the exhaustion of the
Gle bodies of the consolidated prop
erty, the Green Hill Cleveland was its
successor and is now using the old
| Union Standard Mammoth mill. As
the word has gone out from the man
ager Of the Green Hill Cleveland that
its days are numbered, we might make
ICon4ipuad ao Tas+ IoaoaN