The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1934-04-06

| It is not generally known that the
Zenith iron mine on the Vermilion
range in Minnesota was originally
controlled and operated by stock COM
pany. This valuable property was for
a number of years at once the JOY and
despair of the stockholders. If the ores
of the Vermilion range are elusive,
which is tradition backed up by many
who have paid for their knowledge,
fortune was equally flirtatious in dis
tributing her favors in the case of the
Zenith mine. The mine is now
operated by Pickands, Mather & Co.
and several consuming interests own the
lease. The mine has produced and
shipped total of 9,413,766 gross tons
during the past AZ years. 1t is pro-
ducing this winter against shipments
for 1884. The Zenith mine is situated
at Ely, Minnesota.
Early Vicissitudes
The story of the Zenith mine involves
the names of some men of national
prominence. Some of the early day
promoters lost out, but time has de-
veloped that they were started right,
and if they had persisted they would
have made much money. AS it turned
out, the early promoters lost money.
The early history of the mine in
volved vicissitudes and disappointments
The late Franklin Rockefeller and
James Corrigan together had their fling
at the Zenith mine in its infancy.
They both lost money, refused to
throw good money after bad," and
that was that. The Zenith mine con-
sists of 80 acres. 1t adjoins the Pioneer
iron mine.
| Organize Stock Company
| In 1888 a company known as the
Zenith Iron Mining Co. was organized
by Simcoe Chapman and his associates
Development was begun that year and
the company, being composed mainly
of Duluth people, when this city was a
comparatively small place, attracted
much attention. The success of the
Chandler and Pioneer mines was estab-
hshed at the time, which lent added
interest to the new neighboring mine
In the course of few years another
Duluth crowd obtained control through
the purchase of stock of the Zenith
Iron Mining Co. 1t was capitalized at
81 ,000, 900, and divided into shares OF
par value of 500 each. The first
shipment of ore was made in 1891, with
prospects fairly bright, when in 1898
business was paralyzed by the panic
The company could not get a new dollar
for an old one by mining and shipping
its excellent iron ore. The property
was closed down, and the company was
thrown into the hands of receiver
as result of continued hard times over
period of several years. But the
lease was kept intact, payments being
made regularly on the minimum pro-
vided in the contract with the fee
owners.
Corrigan and Rockefeller
The Duluth members were in need
of new capital, and casting about in the
east for it induced James Corrigan of
Cleveland to join them, and he in turn
induced Franklin Rockefeller to come
in. In October, 1896, new company
was organized, known as the Zenith
Iron Co., which took over the affairs of
the old company and acquired the lease
of the Zenith mine. The capital of the
new company was 100000, divided into
1000 shares of a par value of 500.
Corigan and Rockefeller each took a
one-third interest in the 5000 shares of
stock, and the other one-third was
distributed pro rata among the stock
holders of the defunct Zenith Iron
Mining Co. The new company operated
the Zenith mine for two years but
times had not revived greatly, and at
the end of that period it had lost
$116, 900, and Messrs. Corrigan and
Rockefeller decided that they had had
enough. They desired to dispose of the
lease and he rid of what then was a
burden. The local stockholders tried
to persuade the Cleveland men to hang
on, pointing out that the mine was
proven, and that good times would come
again. When they could not persuade
them, the local stockholders tried to
delay the inevitable.
Henry w. Oliver Ready to Buy
Henry w. Oliver stood ready to buy