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About The Sumpter miner. (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 24, 1902)
.ffifr' J- re2ffigf'jjggji2!jj22?sffififi VOL IV. SUMPTER. OREGON, DECEMBER 24, 190. NO. 16. BOSTON-OREGON MINING COMPANY Baker City Syndicate Has Acquired Control of 2200 Feet on the Great Mother Lode The Alleghany Group Twenty-two hundred feet of the grout Cracker Creek Mother Ixsle in worth anywhere from f 2,000,000 to .'00,000,000. The holdings, therefore, of the Boston Oregon Hold Mining company, tlio newest corH)ratlon to outer thu lint of Mother 'Iode bonanzas, are wurth.aoiue where between seven ami eight figures, because the Boston-Oregon company's group of six claims on the Itnlnloy Klkhorn inotintnin end of -the North Pole's ledge, traversed for L'lIM) feet by thin giant ledge, which iH eertuiidy the biggest, widest , deepest and longest gold lode that ever laid tint of doors. The Boston-Oregon company in com posed of li.iker City men, headed by Charles 1'. Soderling, president and treasurer of the Oregon Ore Ueduction company, president and general man ager of the lllue Mountain Iron Works, and one of the most euergetie and sue cessful young business men in the Queen City. It was through Mr. Soderllng, and his brother, II. W. Soderling, who is metallurgist In ehargoof the Oregon Ore Beduction eompany's linker City plant, and also through Hon. V. II. Gilbert, formerly owner of the Hluu Mountain Iron Works, that the Boston Oregon company was incorporated. This little trio bought from C. II. Hall his Alleghany group of claims on the high divide between Cracker anil Itoek Creoks, located on thu direct north extension of thu North Pole mine, and incororatcd the Boston-Oregon com pany with the following staff of olllcers : President, C. K. Sterling; Vice-President, lion. W. II. (iilberl; Treasurer, lion. W. K. tirace, representative for Baker county in the .State legislature and president of thu Citizens Hank of Baker City: Treasurer, Col. F.mmctt Callahan. Directors C. F. Soderling, W. II. Gilbert, W. K. Grace, P. Ilusche, of the liasche Hardware company, of Uaker City and Suinpter, and Harvey W. Soderling. Personally the Boston-Oregon com pany is the strongest corvoration ever organized in Oregon. In the matter of mineral holdings it ranks with the North Pole, the greatest gold mine in the world; which U every day producing ore worth from 15 to $00,000 per ton ; with thu Columbia, which produces ! $80,IHM) to 1100,000 every month ; with the (iolconda, thu famous mine which from a HO-lmur mill run in the fall of 181H) cleaned up 112,000 in gold; with the K. & K., the Mother Ixxlo pioneer, .which duringthree yearn milled a total of ftioo.ooo worth ol ore. For seven years the Alleghany group was controlled by C. 1). Hall, a oor prosK'ctor, who labored in town In summer uiiu suiik iiih earnings in inn mine during winters, until ho succeeded in expending $10,000 in driving two tunnels, in making a series of open cuts on the ledgu and in building cabins. Ho drove, with much labor, a 100 foot adit on the main ledge of the group and from the face of the tunnel ho secured assays ranging from fft.-IO up to $100. He iiiailo no effort to determine thu width of the main ledge further than to run a Cl-foot crosscut which found no sign of a second wall; but contented himself with tracing its trend up over the high summit of the Buislcy-F.lkhoru range into that long string of producers on thu Mother I.odo which have added lustru to thu fame of Oregon as an un paralleled mining Held. Then hediovu a 00-foot tunnel an a II-foot parallel ledge, which showed high values the entire length of the adit ; and then ho became discouraged. A r man can not conveniently handle a big Mother lode group. It requires money to erect a mill, drive deep tunnels and block out enough ore to feed a couple of do.eu of hungry stamps. So Hull bolted his cabin door and came down from thu skyline hills in search of a buyer. He met C. F. Soderling, and thu latters little syndicate of associates, who snap Kd up the Alleghany group on a short time option, employed two eminent Suinpter mining exjierls Prof. Smith and A. It. Browne, to examine the prop erty, and then waited for a ruxirt. Within twenty-four hours after this rejiort was submitted, Soderling and his friends paid Hall the full figure of his price, organized the Boston-Oregon company, and is now in thulisUi to rival thu balance of the bonanzas on the Mother Lode. This quick action was occasioned by the report of thu two expert, who determined that the big North Pole ledge runs through three of the six claims in the Alleghany group for a total distance of approximately 2'MO feet. Untold millions in gold lie bcuc.ith the ground on the Boston-Oiegon's group. The lowest (and richest) wink ings of the Columbia mine on the same ledge are over 'JOOO feet lower than the Alleghany outcrop. This menus that there is reason for the In-lit f that the thirteen feet of expired oie in the I1H foot Alleghany tunnel runs L1HMI feet tleep for a distance of L'lUK) feet in Bos ton-Oregon territory. There are conse quently in round uumbcis L',('iO0,HHt cubic yards of ore in place within the limits of the Boston-Oregon company's holdings. Beckoning two tons per yard, and even assuming an average ore assay as low us $1J r ton, the value of this ore Is found to Im $7N0,- 000,000. Deducting anywhere from $'.'00,000,000 to $1100,000,000 for errors in calculation, thu value of thu Boston Oregon's ground is conservatively placed at a aum utUcleut to reullxo thu dream of a Midas. The altitude of the Mother I .ode within thu limits of thu Boston-Oregon group is placed by United States geolo gical survey mapH at 8200 feet. The slopes on either side, into Cracker Creek on the south and into Bock Creek on the north, are exceptionally iibiupt, lcrmilting of operation to great depth by means of tunnels, the most econom ical and satisfactory way in the world to mine. It is the announced intention of the new company to liegiu driving lower down the mountain on the Bock Creek side, and when proKr connec tions are made, to begin the work of blocking out ore for the big stump mill to be erected in the spring. This will add another producer to the aheady long list of eastern Oregon bonanza mines. Shipment of Ore from Magnolia. Saturday the Suinpter Transiorlallou company hauled in 10,000 xmiiils of ore from the Magnolia, which was shipped tot'. F. and II. W. Soderling, at Baker City. These gentlemen have some now met hod of treating refractory ores, in cluding thu roasting process, which they wished to test on Magnolia rock. They have offered to erect another plant on thu proHrty, if this test run proves suc cessful. Thu new eoiupauy now oMr uting thu Magnolia, has, however, solved thu problem of extracting values with some slight additions to the present mill. This live tons of ore was hauled down by two four-horse teams. The company will ship several hundred tons of concentrates as soon as the smelter here is read) to receive the consignment. Took Over Old Company The Oregon Trading company is the titlu of u new cororation formed to take over the business of the Suinpter For warding company. J. T. Donnelly, of thu First National bunk of Baker City, Belu Kadish, Clark Snyde and II. C. Bowers are among the persons who are at the head of this enterprise. AT THE GOLCONDA. What Is Being Done at One of the Great Mines. The great (iolconda mine may be a surprise to many, but not to the present niuimgf incut, who had an intuitive knowledge if what was liefore them when they assumed control of the prop erty. In the language of one of the priucip.il owners, something new in the way of iiutortaut strikes is Impelling every day or two. Yesteiduy news was telephoned down from the mine that they were sacking ore in the 100-foot level which assays from $120 to $:ill5 Nr ton. They have crosscut twelve feet through this Ixnly ami have not yet reached thu other wall. Thin same ahnot has been cut on the 300-loot level but up to thin writing the width has not been determined. ' , , , The main tunnel is being driven toi. wanl the big outcrop following a vein from seven to twelve feet wide of clean quartz which is line milling ore. Heretofore ocratioiiH on this mine have lieun greatly hampered hy adverse circumstance, every thing under ground Is'ing coujested on account of the hoist ing capacity not being siillicieut. A new hoist, capable of sinking to it depth of 1200 feel is in transit ami it is exHcted to arrive here any iray, when it will ho immediately set up, thus re lieving the crowded condition as it now I'Nists. Notwithstanding the hick of facilities, greut improvements have Ihh'ii ami are constantly Isiing made. On Monday last connection hy upraise was complet ed between levels two and one. Con nections were made a week or more ago between levels three and two, and quite a while since from the first level to the Mil face, (.udders have been placed in all these upraises so that in case of acci dent the mini on any level have an in dependent means of reaching the sur luce unit safety without having to de pend on the main shaft us u means of exit. There can be no question but that the (iolconda will rank among the biggest of gold mines when the new hoist is in oteratiou and the mine can lie worked una scale commeiisurute with its ex tent. tn Pint National Bank.' The First Bunk of Suinpter has re ceived notice of its charter umnts-r, ui h national institution, which is IUM7. Soon after the first of the year, thosu fortunate enough to handle money, may sort out of their roll, notes Isaring the signatures of J. II. Bobbins and B. II. Miller, president ami cashier r'cHiectivo ly, of the First National Bank of Simili ter. , . Giant Powder is thu .best by -test in the world. T. O. Harrison agent. JMl m .'