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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1886)
206 THE WEST SHORE. ojwration, all of thorn yielding a satisfactory amount of gold A fifty-stamp mill, with mines sufficiently devel oped to supply it, is in process of construction by the " Idaho," another Louisville company, and will soon be in operation, tho result of nn expenditure of '200,000. The "Golden King," another Louisville company, has its mines open and a mill erected, and will soon be fur nished with machinery for crushing ore. A group of claims adjoining the " Idaho" company's mines has been secured for a Cleveland company, and interests in other promising gold claims have been taken by Louisville capitalists who, as soon as the " Idaho" and " Golden King" pay their first dividend, will bo ready with the money to orgaui.o companies for their development These capitalists have already got control of the " Gold smith," a large gold mine on the South Fork, near Evo lution, and havo decided to put up a large mill upon it While in the vicinity of Murray and Delta the mines are chiefly gold, placer and free-milling quart., there are a nuiuW of proiecU rich in silver and load On the old Belknap trail one of tho richest silver mines in the region is now leing opened. At Carbon Center, ubout five miles up Heaver creek from Delta, an Ohio com pany is oening largo and rich galena mines, and at tho foot of Ituld mountain some rich silver mines have at tracted the attention of Louisville men who are hasten ing to secure them. The gold quart, is moBtly free milling, and some of it very rich. With tho opeuing of tho hill placers other hidden veins will doubtless be un oovorod, so that from tho start this district is now re ceiving there are abundant reasons to Ixilieve that it will oontiuuo to increase in business for many years, and Imwoiiio one of tho largest and most productive gold districts in the country. The silvor regie r rather tho silver-bearing galona district, is in tho valley of tho South Fork, a stream which runs iu a generally western oourso parallel with Pritchard creek and almut twenty miles south of it from tho Hitter Boot mountains into the Cour d'Aleuo river. It is a largor and much longor stream than Pritchard crook, being not less than thirty miles long, while rritchard is about fif teen. It unites with the main river about six miles above Tho Mission. In the hills on either side of the South Fork, all the way from The Mission to the foot of the mountain at Nigger Prairie, or Mullan City, as the new town at that place is now called, district aliout forty miles long by fifteen wido, a great number of veins of galena and some carbonates and chlorides havo been discovered within the past year, beside a few veins of gold. There are also some placer claims iu tho district Properly shaking it is a great galena Udt, tho largest and undoubtedly tho richest that has loen discovered on the Pacifio coast Tho bulk of its wealth, so far as is now apparent, is its oonceutrat ing ore. although it is already known that much of its ore is almost pure galena carrying silver. Two of the mines in this Mt, the Hunker Hill and Sullivan, have been shipping ore to tho reduction works at Wiekes since last winter, and for the t two month hare U-eii kipp ing a fifty-ton concentrator running at Wardner on their low grade ores. These two mines alone have already built up the town of Wardner in Milo gulch, two miles south of the South Fork, attraoted the local railroad above referred to, and induced the erection of a Harts field smelter at Milo, two miles below them. But on Canyon creek and on Nine Mile mines are already open which are equal to them in extent and richness of ore, while on Deadwood and Government gulches, on Big creek and Moon creek and around Mullan City sufficient work has been done to show that the Wardner mines are only a sample of the bodies of ore in this district All that it now requires for its rapid and prosperous devel opment are concentrating works and railway transporta tion. The building of the little road from The Mission to Wardner, which will give the country steam tranapor tation during the navigation season to the Coour d'Alene post, twelve miles from Bathdrum, will greatly stimu late work upon these various claims from this time for ward, and make an all-rail route, which will be available throughout the year, a necessity to the country, as it will be a source of wealth to its owners. Mines enough hnve already been discovered and proved to make this region a field of prosperous industry for many years, but, as in all mining camps, a large number of prospec tors, with the western hunger for the horizon, are ex tending their prospecting trips, and the limits of both the districts described will undoubtedly be widened. It is believed that the galena belt on the South Fork ex tends across the divide to the St Joe, and prospectors are already following the loads in that direotion. The soarch for gold in this country is rapidly increasing, and at the prosont time nothing is more attractive to eastern capital than a gold mine. In the Cieur d'Alene region thoro is still room for prospectors to use their picks and pans, while with the building of reduction works and the opening of transportation, they will have an oppor tunity to make their discoveries quickly available. S. B. Pettenqill. THB NIAGARA SUSPENSION BRIDGE. The stone composing the four towers of the Niagara railroad suspension bridge, having been found to be slowly disintegrating, it has been decided to replace them by iron supports. Although a difficult,' and possi bly dangerous, undertaking, the work is being carried on without much interference with the use of tho bridge. Lvery precaution has been takon to prevent accident Ihe workmen are now engaged in removing stone from the sides of the towers, in order to make room for the preliminary ironwork. The upper caps are being drilled so that when the time comes, the hydraulic jacks may be readily flipped into place and the great cables trans rerml from the stone supports to the strong iron towers winch are to replace them. Those are being manufac tured in Detroit and will ehortly be shipped to Niagara. 1 heir cost will U tlO.IXHUK).
