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About The Sumpter miner. (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (July 23, 1902)
I " VOL III. SALE OF THE FAMOUS MAXWELL GROUP Neil J. Sorenscn & Co. CJosc a $150,000 Deal for Eastern Clients Of Vast Im portance to the District. Nell J. Sorensen fc Co. have just con summated ouu of tho big mining deal of tliu year hi eastern Oregon. For eastern clients of theirs, George I.. Huntington uuil W. J. Johnson, of St. l'nul, and C. I'. llerkey, of Mluncali, they thi viH)k Iwught thu Maxwell group, operated by llm Pierce Gold Mill ing company. Tliu control of this val uable proH3rty was held in eutcrn Oregon by Wultcr M. Piorcu and J. A. Howanl, of Pendleton; Charles M. Pierce, of Weston, J. It. Homing, of La Grande. J. Albert ChcuMt,of Virginia, also owned a large block of thu stock. Mr. SoreiiNun Iium Mrforined a din tinctivu Hurvicu for thu mining interest of eastern Oregon, in inducing men of hucIi standing in thu tiuaucial world to invent their money here. It 1h hucIi trunmictioiiH iih thi that will tend to dlssiinlnutu world widu knowledge of our mineral wealth, and inspire capital iHtH with L'oufiduncu in thu district lack of which bun heretofore been itH great est handicap. It ih understood that Neil J. Sorensen will be thu resident director and have thu general mauagenient of thu mine. Thu Maxwull mine in located in tliu Klkhoru range, on thu eunt fork of Rock creek, in linker county, and ubout twelve inileH from Haines, a Minall town on thu O. It. .t N. railroad. Thu famous Halsley F.lkhorn and thu itobbiiiH-Klkhoru mine adjoin tliu Maxwell group on thu wet, and it Ih on thu name well known date belt which traverse tliu country from thu Uaisley-F.lktiorn, on went through tliu Maxwell group, theme on through the now sensational producer, the North I'olu, the K. & K.. thu Colum bia and tliu (iolcondn milieu. The property consists of twenty-four claims, eight of which aru patented ; the other sixteen aru held by location K)sse sion ; two mill ltes, two water rightH, ditcheH, adequate boarding and bunk house, olliceH, and other improvement. The proierty in bIho equipped with a modern ten stamp mill and concentrat ing plant. Thu power Ih furnished both by water and Hteam. The development work consist of ten main tuuuelti all run on ore, they Mug (darted each at an elevation of 100 feet uliove one another, and the tuiinelti are uumWred from one to eighteen. The muiii work Iiuh leen done in tunnel Nod. 14 and 18. Tunnel No. 14 hat been SUMPTER, OREGON, JULY 2h 1902 driven u distance of 1K(H) lect on tliu ledge, excising two very extensive ore shoot, and a number of Hinallcr ouch. No. IH Iiuh leun driven a distance of 1760 feet and will tap thu ore bodio ex cised in No. 14, 400 feet lower. No. 15 tunnel Iiuh Ikhmi driven it diHtance of some 200 feet and Iium tapied thu Hrst ore sht excised in No. 14. From careful and coiiHurvativu etl- inaten thu development work up to the present time Iiuh exported over 10,000 tms of ore, which In immediately available for extraction and can Im run through thu mill. The ore Ih generally a hard quartz heavily impregnated with sulphide pyritu, zinc blende and galena being thu must common. Much heavy milphidu ore occur in thu Maxwell, and in purely concentrating and free milling ore. The ore will average from nuvun to ten kt cent concentrate ; however, much of the heavy HtilphidcH is often of a Mhipping grade, sometimes running upward of a couple of a hundred dollar ht ton, hut thu average value of all thu ore iih it iri uxscd in thu mine Ih alsiut llfteen dollar kt ton. There i in thu neighborhtMNl of 1000 ton of ore now ii the ore bin at thu mill and at the mouth of thu different tunnel, which ha been extracted from the tunnel and drift during thu con rue of development. Thi oru ha an average value of llfteen dol lar per ton. It miiHt Iks rumouihercd that the Pierce Gold Mining company, thu own er of thi profierty, weru only develop ing thu mine and blocking out ore, mo that when they tarted their mill they would be able to run for an indefinite IKTiod, and the Pierce company may practically be termed purely a develop ment company. Prior to the time thi company secured thi proierty, the owner mined and milled a great amount of oru from several of tliu surface tunnel, at a good profit, epeclally from the firt hoot, known a thu Ucckwith, encoun tered in tunnel No. 14, where there wa extracted something like 3000 ton of ore, huving an average value of ubout $16. The total value of thi uinouut of oru i Haiti to have Imjcii between $40,000 and 60,000 and their Htojie weru ex tended practically to the mirface. In a convention with the manager of one of the largest producers iu thi dis trict about the Maxwell, he said to a Mixkr man: "I have examined the proH'rty and have had iu mind thu He curing of it for myself and associates. 1 am satisfied that it i one of the big pmiiertie of the Northwest. The ex tent of thu development i uch a to HHHiire beyond all doubt tliu cruianciicy of the orti shoots, and thu value aru sulliricntly high to insure a inaguilicent prolit. I'nder the mauagemeiit of Mr. .Sorennen, it will only lie a question of a short time until the Maxwell will lie classed a one of the largest producers of this district." Owing to the absence of Mr. Sorennen from tliu city, Tiik Mi suit could not learn what Ids intentions aru as to thu future of this great mine, or thu detail of the transaction ; lint it is reliably rcorted that thu price was $150,000, witli a large cash payment. Propoud Mail Route Change. Several gentlemen who receive their mail at thu liouruu itollico have in formed Tiik Miskii that the Hstmnter there had received a communication from thu department intimating that the ulMiidoniueut of thu olllce wusuudtr contemplation. They weru, of course, indignant, and justlv so, for Itourne, with the exception of Suiupter, i the most iuiirtant mining camp in eastern Oregon, i thu center of thu ureal est, richest miiies on thu continent. The Histolllcu deliver mail to 000 or 7(H) people and dm' a big money order hunt ue. Therefore Tiik M in Kit i pleased to state that thu Pont a I department has no intention of discontinuing the olllce. Postmaster .lewett says that the plan is merely to discontinue the star route ! tween Suiupter and liouruu ami have thu Cahluvillo route include llourne. Thi will occasion no inconvenience whatever. Tom McF.won has the liouruu contract, which hu will probably Ioho. William Kitchen carries the mall to Cabluville and hu will take iu llourne, in ciihu the change is iniidu. Postmas ter at Granite, I .aw ton and Alamo have received letter from thu department, asking them a to the advisability of changing that star route from Suiupter to Whitney. This move originated with Austin Craig, the Nistmuster at Whit ney, and Joseph Burton, of thu Sumptcr Valley railway. Their motive in, trans parently, a selfish one. Thu change would inconvenience thu public general ly and will doubtless not I hi made. Eastern Capitalist! In Sumptcr. G, I. Lindsay and wife, Mis Isals-I Lindsay, Mackay Wells, of Milwaukee; I.. K. Lindsay and wife, of New York, arrived iu Suiupter yesterday. They are all more or less interested in Killen Warner A Stewart' mining proMsitlon in thi district. W. K. Lindsay I the New York representative of thu firm and he and G. I. I.imlsuy have taken an ac tive interest iu promoting the smelter enterprise. They are director of thu cnniany, which Is organized under the H's of Arizona, and are here to attend a meeting of the directors, to le held in a few days, when W. K. Lindsay will ho elected president. Who the other olll NO. 46. ce rn will he is not now generally known. The party is out iu the hills today, visit ing some of the bin mines. "Miner" Building Moved "Bcdlly." Last week Contractor K. Nordyko moved Tiik Minkii building, with tho entire printing plant, weighing over 15, 000 Miuuds, a distance of 225 feet, mak ing two half turns, without dislodging a brick froni the chimney, breaking a win dow light, or in any way wrenching the building. Alsiut twenty-eight working hour were consumed in uiTompllshlng the job, nine hour to get it on the roll er and seven to get it off and leveled on it new foundation. No capstan wan used, but in its stead double block and tackle. The work wa certainly well done, and quickly say those who aru Histed on such business. He is now erecting an addition to the building, making it uImmiI double it former size. Increasing business demand this addi tional room. Mr. Nordyke lias Ida hands full of work. W. E. Hurd Planning Extensive Work. W. K. Ilurd arrived yesterday from Portland, having returned recently from New York, lie will put iu a week or more looking over his several mining prorties, thu Chelan, the Potosi ami others, and lay out some additional ex tensive development work. Men huvu Im'cii at work on the llrst named for some time past, since its iucorHiratiou. Mr. Ilurd ha put quite a much money into the development of hi procrtlc, before realising any return, as any operator iu eastern Oregon. F. S. Mor rison, of Boston, arrived today and in company with Mr. Ilurd will visit hi prortie and some of the big pnsluc iug mine. Will Make a Mine ol the Diadem. General Charles S. Warren left Sun day for Butte, after H'iidlng several day iu Sumptur. Hu say the Diadem will now Is- developed into a mine. To arrange for thi wa the principal object of hi trip here at thi time. HuUa. Ilrm believer iu thu great wealth of thu eastern Oregon gold llelds, and say tho Cracker ('reek district will producu more gold than Cripple Creek ; that the North Pole is a more valuable mine than tliu Strattou. Hi information on thi last iiut i obtained from thu headquarter) of each, iu loudou. Owl and Elephant Tunnel Contract Let. Kugeiie Itiirtholf and William Ituin mery have taken thu contract to drivo tbe tunnel on the Owl and Klephant 100 feet further iu. It is now in alsiut 150 feet. Mr. Higglns, representing tliu Maryland syndicate that owns thi pro erly, let the contract last week, and work i now in progress. A lsly of excellent oru has Itcoii uncovered ami everything indicates tho making of a mine of this promising Cable Cove priqierty. The ore, so exiertH Hay, can. lie easily con centrated. T. U. Harrison, agent for Giant pow der company.