Year: 1873




dollars per ton. Samples Of II were sent
Ito the worlds fair at New York in 1858
as eleclioneering specimens, to turn atten'
tion perhaps, TO this region. But 1t was
years afterwards before New York 'capl.
taIlsts invested here to any great extent.
A few oil them like Samuel j. Tilden, got
in early and have made pile Of money.
He owns three fourths Of the New York
mine located at IshpemIng, and his In
come this year will probably be at least a
hundred thousand dollars. Probably his
whole investment up to this time has not
exceeded one fourth ol this sum, and his
income for years has no doubt been large
All the mines, whatever their original or
ground floor cost, are stocked at five hun
dred thousand dollars, divided into co. 900
shares at twenty-five dollars per share,
This is done under the corporation laws oI
Michigan for some reason or other not ap'
parent The modus Opersndi is this
Some body finds mine. Probably he is
not quite certain as TO It's quality or guam
tity. So he sells It out at five thousand
or fifty thousand dollars, rs the case may
be, to some party who has satisfied him
self that there is money in il, When this
fact has been abundsntly shown by sink
ing test pits, II is easy to place the mine
In New York, or somewhere else, at one
or two hundred thousand dollars and then
stock II at FIVE hundred thousand. The Re-
public mine was sold a few years ago by
the man who entered it at the Land Office
for three hundred dollars. To-day it would
sell lor two millions. Twas introduced to
the man who sold it for three hundred
dollars, and was pleased to find him so
cheerful and happy. Few people have
had such narrow escape from being i'm.
mensely rich, and it is easier, you know,
for camel to go through the eye Of an
needle than for q rich man to enter the
kingdom OF heaven. The company that
now owns it expect TO realize profit OF
six hundred thousand dollars this year.
How is that for a paying business? This
Is its first shipping season, too. The rail-
road has just reached it and lis shipments
lust commenced. went out on an en-
CINE the other day to see II. And 1t is q
sight worth seeing. 1t is an immense
ledge, high above the shores Of a little
lake, and can be mined and run down into
the cars at q very slight expense as com.
pared with many Of the mines that have
10 be shaftcd. The orois notonly abun-
dant but OF a superior quality, and the
company expect to ship at least hundred
thousand tons of It this season.. The
difficulty is to get cars enough at this
or any other mine. Four ore trains q
day leave this mine, each train with
twenty TO thirty cars, and each car with
eight tons Of ore. These cars are loaded
In an hour or two from the pockets into
which the company's cars from the mines
have deposited their contents. And In
this same way the railroad compaDy's
cars are unloaded into the pockets on the
dock at Marquette and LAnse. And
these pockets in their turn are discharged
by chutes into the holds Of the vessels
alongside OF the docks. So that vessel
can come into port and load up and leave
the same day with five hundred tons Of
ore.


OF course you will not infer from any.
thing have said that at any oI the mines
they dig out only pure ore. They blast a
vast amount Of underlying and overlYing
rock and strip of great deal Of drift In
most cases TO get to the ore. They take
out three or four tons Of waste matter on
an average to every ton Of ore. The ore
lies in qualifications, originally hori-
zontal, but now dipping at various angles,
and above and below it there are q Varie-
ty Of parallel qualifications Of greensboro,
quarlzlte, soap stone and the like that
must be got rid or To get rid Of this and
get out the ore to the best advantage con-
stitutes the science Of mining. To oversee
this operation each companyha mining
captain. He has perhaps two or three
hundred men under him, mostly Swedish
and Cornish miners, who drill and blast
the rock and ore on contract. The sound
Of their drills Is like the ancient Jingle Of
metal ramrods inside muskets that l used
10 hear on muster days when boy. In
every pit Of the mine this jingling goes on
from morning until night and from night
until morning, for they work double
turn. The only stop Is at meal times and
at blasting times. When the holes are all
ready for filling with glycerine or powder
the gong Is sounded or the whistle is
blown, which Is the first signal for every
body to seek shelter. Five minutes af-
terwards another signal follows and
all the fuses are fred. In a moment more
explosion follows explosion and the
"bombs bursting mid'Air" are seen flying
in every direction like so many fragments
OF she'll from the mortars. In moment
more all is quiet, and the signal Is given to
return to the pits. And thus the work Of
mining goes on through the twentY-Eou
hours.


All told there arc perhaps thirty mines
In Lake Superior that are shipping ore.
These ores are for the most part divided
into three kinds, viz: specular, Magnetic
and Hematile, and arc valuable in the
order named. A specular ore Is fbrous
and longitudinal In It's formation, q Mag
netic is granular, and the HemStite Is
earthly. The two former yield from 05