Bisbee daily review., 1918-01-20
The Lake Superior
 Copper Country
By HOMER eUck. In Mining and Scientific Press.

The development Of copper mining in the United States is as synonymous with the operation of the Calumet & Hecla as il is with the expansion Of electricity. How the great Calumet conglOmerate lode was discovered IS still a matter Of dispute. People in Michigan continue to believe that 5S years ago old man ROyale's boarding house pig stuck his shoot into the Indian pit in the back yard Of his road house and unearthed 8 cache of copper. That was the story as told by F. J. Hubert. the discOverer.
 The fact remains that the discovery of tha great ccnglOmerate was due to mere chance. Hubert was surveying a state road from Copper HarbOr. the most northern point in the state Of Michigan. 10 the southwest limit Of what is now HOughtOn county. Roy ale's boarding house was on the site Of the NiscOwaubik club It was a halt for the overland passengers from Houghton to Eagle River. then the two larger towns. Centuries before. the Indians. having dug their mass copper from Isle Royale. started south for the winter. Desiring to avoid He weenaw point, they went overland through the peninsula and were caught by an early winter. They dug a pit and buried their copper. Their pit happened to he right on the hang ing wall of the cOnglOmerate lode 0f the Calumet < Hecla and the present location of No. 1 shaft. Calumet mine. still in operation. The suTmise is that cf George Agassiz son of the late Alex ander Agassiz. for many years the president and directing head of the property. The Indians never returned for their copper.
 In the seventeenth century French explorers found copper on the Onto nagOn river. This district was a vir- gin forest 7S years ago w5en the Chippeway Indians ceded it tc the United States. Twenty years before the Civil war there was a copper boom. which sUbSided and left a few small mines in the forests then cover ing this part of Michigan. The search then was for mass and boulder cop per. It was in 1858 that Hubert made his discovery. At first he thought ne Hed an old lniisn mine. In exar-inins the surface he found the conEiOMa crate OutcrOp just south of the cache at what is now No. 1 Hecla shaft This big block Of conslOmerate was won derfully rich. Hubert was uusbie 10 buy the tract at Hecla. but. keeping ais discovery quiet. secured the Calu- met property. and in the middle or September. 1864 opened the c0ngiomsr ate. Later he associated himself with Quincy A. Shaw of Boston. That gen tieman furnished the funds hy which the property was secured from the St. Nary's Mineral Land oompS- Y.
 At the time of the Civil war the pro ductiOn of copper in the world was insignificant, the Rio Tinte mines 0f Spain producing the largest part of it. The metal sold as high as 52 cents per pound At that time Michigan was just coming into prominence. the out put being confined to so-called float" copper and masses found near the surface and handled directly in a shelter. The Quincy mine was then our largest producer. It got out 2.00O.- 900 pounds in one year. The Calumet & Hecls produces that much in three days now. By the way. the Quincy has paid dividends to its shareholders continuously from that time tO this missing just one year. during 0e Western Federation strike iu 1918.
 With the discovery Of the Calumet conslOmerate the whole system Of get ting out of copper changed Ia this district the eOEslomerGte carries the copper in its pure state in particles frcm as small as a pin-point Go the size OI a fist. The Calumet con giom- crate lode has paid at least Sl5.000,- 0oO in dividends to the shareholders of the Calumet d Hecla corporation. and over $500 000. .0e0 in wages tO thou sands of employees and indirectly for maintenance and operation. In the early days the Calumet 6 Hecla ore was very rich Each year it Is beCOm- ing leaner. Some idea of the indus trial problems this corporation has met and overcome may be gai0ei rom 9 brief explanation or the operation. First you sink your shaft. coup your plant, build your stamp miii and Smelters- All these things cost Eiii- lions. But forget theil. They are up and operating. Now to get copper out