The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1915-11-11
NEXT YEAR MAY WITNESS MUCH RAILROAD
CONSTRUCTION COEUR D'ALENE DISTRICT
BRANCH CREEK NOW SEEMS cERrAlNry-p,NE
CREEK is PROMISING FELD-LITTLE NORTH FORK IS A
Poss6lLiTY-MiLWA AukEE MAY COME

Ah oCNSIdl odClIOUS Ol Tie Occur
d'Alene district in which there is great
and ever increasing mining activity and
in which actual tonnage for A railroad
is In sight is responsible for the be-
lief that next year will witness the
construction of at least one branch
railroad and possibly more, and there
are rumors that the Milwaukee also
Is preparing to enter this field for the
purpose of getting a share of the busi-
ness of the district and particularly
the ore haul from the mines to the
Northport smelter. That the O.-W. r.
4 N. would eventually build up Bea-
yer creek from its North Fork branch
has long been regarded as certain, the
company simply waiting until the
mines of that rich section had reached
a point of development that would In.
sure tonnage. The time has now ar
rived when such line Is necessity
and 1t Is believed that the O.-W. r. &
N. Is preparing to enter that field in
the spring The official announcement
following the meeting of the stock
holders of the Ray-Jefferson COM
nanv last Saturday evening that that
C rlpany would begin the erection ~
mil at the earliest possible date in the
spring and that much of the heavy
machinery and material would prob
ably be delivered during the winter
leaves no doubt whatever that some
arrangements have been made which
Will insure transportation facilities by
the time the company is prepared TO
make ore shipments, for 1t Is nlt be
levable that the company would con-
slider hauling its product 10 miles over
wagon road. or course the com
pany is abundantly able to construct
Its own railroad, and 1t would be re-
markably cheap one to build for
mountain country, but in view of the
large tonnage that will eventually
come from that section In addition to
that of the Ray-Jefferson, it Is be-
lieved that the O.-W. r. & N. will not
hesitate to occupy the field. The In
terstate- Callahan will undoubtedly in
time change its outlet to Beaver creek
and is supposed to have had that in
view when 1t secured a millsite on the
North Fork. The Tuscumbia is al
ready shipper, and also the Idora,
while the possibilities presented by
the Sunset, Portland Beebe and num-
erous other properties which promise
large tonnage at no distant date cer-
tainly present field for profitable
business that no railroad company can
afford to ignore With such a show
Ing 1t is safe prediction that next
summer will witness the construction
Of railroad from the North Fork up
Beaver creek to the base of Sunset
peak. That It will be the O.-W. r. &
N. Is probable but whether 1t is or
not the road will be built
Pine Creek Another Fruitful Field.
According to reports from Pine
creek, that section was visited last
week by a representative of a railroad
company presumably the O.-W. r. &
N, evidently for the purpose of gain
ing first-hand information regarding
the probable tonnage in sight. The
rapid strides now being made In the
development of the mines of that Sec
tion abundantly justify the attention
1t is receiving from the railroad com
panies. Already the ore shipments
from Pine creek have reached a point
Of considerable Importance, and one
mine, the Highland Surprise, is now
In position to make regular shipments
of concentrates. The plans for the
development Of the Constitution in
clude the erection of a mill in the
spring, and the same is true Of the
Amy and Matchess. The Little Pitts
burg Is preparing to make shipments
and numerous other properties are
rapidly approaching the productive
stage. The fact that Pine creek is
without transportation facilities has
been a serious drawback to it's devel-
opment. but in spite of this handicap
its enterprising operators have demon
strated that it is a profitable field for
at once give an impetus to mining that
would soon make the Pine creek
branch valuable addition to the
railroad system of the district Pine
creek should have a railroad next year.
The Little North Fork.
When Al Page and Andy Devlin
took over the Horst Powell copper
mine on the Little North Fork, or
ganized the Empire Mining company
and proceeded to carry out an exten-
sive plan of development, which in
cluded the construction of mill, II
was believed that they had some as
suranee that a railroad would be built
to the mine without much delay. When
the Empire company spent about $1O.-
900 building five miles of wagon road
on a railroad grade between the mine
and the North Fork branch of the o.
w. r. g. NJ, additional and even more
conclusive evidence was furnished