Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1931-01-08

sewers. (These sewers deserve a later
word to themselves.) Contracts had
been let for four sidewalks, requiring
5000 feet of lumber, and the side
walks built. Miners were not only
building homes, but bringing in their
families, and the following buildings
were already commenced: a general
store, livery stable, boarding house,
restaurant, blacksmith shop, barber
shop, and bunk houses. 1.-THE two
main streets are reserved for business"
he announces, land the rest for dwell
ings. The lots are 30X40 feet, all run
ming back to alleys 90 feet wide. Bust
ness streets are rs feet, residence
streets 60 feet wide"
On November II, Marcus DAILY, DOM
mating figure of the Amalgamated, lay
dead in New York City.
The work at Copperopolis went on,
nevertheless. So aggressive were the
tactics of it's promoters that MAJ
Waterman was soon complaining that
the main push at Copperopolis has
issued a general boycott against per-
sons doing business outside the COM
pany's own town." and asserting White
Sulphur Springs determination to hold
its own against any opposition.
1t was a wonderful period for the
copper industry. Tremendous improve
mentS were being made in technical
and mechanical processes Of handling
ore. During the ten years from 1890
to 1900, Montana's output Of copper
had more than doubled, and operators
we're selling in a world market. 1t
was a wonderful period, but the year
1900 marked the temporary crest Of
the wave.
In 1901 an economic crisis in Ger
many cut copper exports to hat coun-
try in half. The price could not be
stabilized, and stocks accumulated. The
price of copper dropped from is cents
to 1873 cents in December, then to ll.2
cents in 1902. That was nothing TO
the drop In Amalgamated stock. In
September, stock that had sold at 1870
in June dropped to 88, and continued
to drop to as low as 63 in December.
ITO the Wall street lambs, collar sales
men and elevator boys, who had bought
this stock on a margin expecting to
become second Rockefellers, this was a
dreary Christmas" says q commentator.
Besides this, the DAILY estate was in
litigation with the federal government
over timber rights; the Anaconda was
in a fight with Clark and Heinze, and
the Amalgamated wa on the verge
J of being "outlawed' by Judge Clancy's
famous Minnie Healy decision. With
these adverse prospects, operations at
Copperopolis we're restricted to clean
ing up the ore in sight. There were
three patented claims in the camp, the
Northern Pacific, the Darling Fraction,
and one other. The deepest shaft was
only $50 feet, at the Northern Pacific.
Much of the ore lay under the grass
roots" and some of it ran 80 per cent
copper. The superintendent of the
mines, a Mr.. Gallagher, ic authority for
the statement that the mines yielded
a quarter of a million dollars, gross,
during the first nine months of OPP
Grafton. A total Of approximately half
a million dollars was taken from the
mines.
With the closing of the mines in
1903, the miners scurried out of camp,
and the more foot-free residents fol-
lowed as 0 as they could adjust
their affairs. Families left as soon as
| places were provided for them else
where, and the camp WAS dead. Two
old men remained-to tramp the 49,
900 feet" Of deserted sideWalks-and
their story is c%uriously sad. They were
old George Dinsmore and Jack Norris,
who was so invariably referred to as
"Dog-eating Jack" that old-timers have
to stop and think to recall his real
name. Norris was not an educated
man, perhaps, but he had native wit.
He had been given his nickname from
an incident In his earlier life, when,
lost in the mountains without food, and
finding no game, he killed his dog to
provide himself with meat. Once, in
the course Of a lawsuit in which he
had been called as witness, an over
smart attorney tried to belittle and
confuse him by abiding 70 this familiar
name. Norris turned the tables on
him by the scathing retort that he had
done what the situation and his posi-
ton justified, which was more than
his questioner seemed capable Of doing.
These two men. Dinsn,ore and Nor