Bisbee daily review., 1920-03-28

the Higgins mine from the time il was located by Thomas Higgins. one of the early prospectors in the War ren district, to the present valuable and productive property, from which the highest grade ore ever found here has been taken. forms one of the in- teresting chapters of Bisbee mining history.
 The first work done on the property still stands as a monument to the pa tience and untiring energy of the old pioneer, Thomas Higgins, who drove . tunnel alone and by hand for 650 feet into the face of the hill. No ore was encountered in the tunnel up to this point.
 The Twilight company was the first formed 10 develop the property. Tue organizers drove a 250 foot tunnel in- to the hill above the shaft. They had scme ore from the very beginning or the tunnel and endeavored to develop ir by raising from the Higgins shaft below but eventually ran out of cap ital and were forced to give the prop esition up.
 NarrOWly MISS FOrtunc
 The Higgins Development company was next formed and took the prop erty under a bond and lease. This company probably was the most re- markedly unfortunate that ever un- dertook to finance the development of a mine. The Higgins Development company advanced the main tunnel hA rnirf yrhnrn Mir Higgins left off. They found no ore The tunnel. however. passed within 90 feet of an extraordinary body of high grade ore that was later opened up by Stolz and Leedy. At the end of the tunnel which they had driven they sank wing 65 feet and found no ore. M. F. Ryan, super intendent for the leasing company that took the property over next, put this wing down S5 feet further and into a big body of good ore. Within 90 feet from the end of the tunnel is a stope 600 feet long and one-third as wide, from which a big tonnage of sulphide ore was taken later and which was also missed by the devel- opment company. .~
 After failing in tue tunnel the Hig- gins Development company put a shaft down BOG feet and drove q drift 1900 feet from the bottom of the shaft under the hill Fate again play ed heartless trick with them. With in 200 feet of the place where they stopped there was a rich body of ore that was later opened up under the direction of MT. Higgins.
 Was Purely Bad Luck
 In the tunnel the Higgins Develop ment company did not prospect quite far enough and in the shaft they went too far Most of the ore that has been taken from the property via the shaft has been from the 100-foot level, while the 30O-foot level. from which the development company worked, has hardly been explored, although ore has been developed on both the 300 and 20O-foot levels. It is gener- ally conceded that the company failed largely through very bad luck. rather than through lack of proper direction tn carrying on operations. Many people in the district had stock in the company and it's failure caused a considerable loss in money and in faith in the property.
 In no case had the Higgins Devel- opment company been able to find any ore, but before giving up the property they did some diamond drill work at the end of the drift from the 300-foot level of the shaft. Rumor hot IafI was later developed by the Higgins Leasing company. ] It is said that some of the diamond drillers reported in town that copper had actually been found in the core and the Higgins Leasing company was formed and took lease on what is known as the Backbone claim of the Higgins group. James Letson, l associated with Harry Jennings. Jack McGregor and others, acquired the lease. By cross-cuttine from the Hig- gins tunnel a body of ore was opened l lIp where the diamond drillers were l supposed to have discovered it. This | was a sulphide ore of good grade. MT. | Higgins extended the lease from time 10 time which enabled the lessees to | retire finally with a profit in Febru- ary. 1916. All of the work of the | Higgins Leasing company was done through the main tunnel. From this time on Mir Higgins took | up the development of the property l himself. He continued on the ore | discovered by the Higgins Leasing ; company and found a continuation of this ore body 200 feet in depth. This necessitated driving the old drift on