The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1919-01-23
MINING OPERATIONS IN
C0EUR D'ALENES, 1918
District Maintained Production and
Responded to Calls
of War.

4 lie ANNUAL REVIEW HuIHDeT Oh VII
Engineering and Mining Journal con
tains the following contribution from
Stanly A. Easton, manager of the Bun
ker Hill & Sullivan company:
The beginning Of the year 1918 wa
f.arked by unprecedented floods. whicl
cut off for period of nearly tw,
weeks all railroad communication
serving the western part of the dis
trict, and did great damage to the new
and partly constructed Pine Creel
branch of the Oregon Washington r
& N. Co, which has since remained
unfinished and in a damaged condi
tiCn, and also washed out the recently
constructed branch up Beaver Creel
on the North fork OF the Occur d'Alent
river, serving portion of the Sunset
Peak country, so that no railroad SER
vice was possible for months. These
troubles. together with the scarcity OF
skilled labor and the shortage and ex-
pense of mining material practically
stopped production and development
operations in the Pine Creek and 9th.
ee outlying parts of the district.
Later In the year, the opera ton OF
the selective draft, volunteering for the
service in considerable numbers, and
the lure of other war industries, took
many worlomen, both single men and
men with families, from the district
Still later in the year the Spanish in
fluenza epidemic caused further seri-
GUS labor shortages In addition, the
kinds Of supplies added to the burdens
Of production. In spite of these diff
fIculties the mines of the Occur
d'Alenes produced with regularity
throughout 1918, and though the out
put of lead, silver and zinc. which
cannot at this time be even reason
ably estimated, will doubtless be low
er than In 1917, 1t surely will not fan
below the average maintained for the
last five years.
The Bunker Hill smeltery and re-
finery at Kellogg ran continuously
throughout 1918. A notable production
Of refined desilverized lead refined
silver, and gold and copper sulphate
was made from the ores of the Bun
ker Hill and affiliated mines and from
the ores of the Hecla Mining company.
The copper sulphate product is util-
lied in the flotation plants of the
district.
An additional bonus of 80 cents per
shift SO long as New York lead is
eight cents per pound or higher was
granted on July 10 by the various com.
panies to all employees Of the district,
The total bonus thus amounted to
Sits per shift.
Some copper production is made
from the National and Caledonia
mines but there is no immediate prom
Use of greater copper output Since
the early sos, when the placers OF the
North side, on Pritchard creek at
had made no considerable gold yield
until 1918 During 1918 the dredge
of the Yukon Gold company handled
1000 cubic yards per day of Pritchard
creek gravels. and gave a gold yield
the amount Of which is not available
but which is known to be substantial,
The war record of the Occur
d'Alene district. expressed in its finan-
clal responses to the needs of the gov
eminent and the army may well find
4 place in an account of it's activities.
The allotment and actual subscriptions
ia the government loans and to Red
Cross and like campaigns follow:
War Drives in the Occur d'Alene Dis
trict.
Allotment. first Liberty loan tho rec
ord available): second Liberty loan,
$4,000, subscription allotment, 81
$4,000; third Liberty loan, $S50,000,
allotment, sl,227,00
ourth Liberty loan, ss50,O00, subscrip-
ion allotment $1,4O5.OO0.
First Red Cross drive, allotment, !
$4,000, subscription, $4,000; second |
Red Cross drive, allotment. $4,000 |
$4,000; United War
Work drive, allotment, 100000, sub
oription, $4,000.
Miscellaneous subscriptions follow:
Z. NJ. c. A. $4,000; knights of Column
us $4,000, Salvation Army. $500, Y,
v. c. A.. $4,000: War Savings Stamps
to date) 100000
II is thus apparent that the citizens
$ we'll as the mines have stood the
EST of war times There was no
leak in production or shortage of
oducts from the Occur d'Alene mines
the entire period of the
reat war. y,