Marquette Co. MIGenWeb

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MINES AND MINERS.

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Source: History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan: containing a full account of its early settlement, its growth, development, and resources, an extended description of its iron and copper mines: also, accurate sketches of its counties, cities, towns, and villages ... biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers. Publication Info: Chicago : Western Historical Co., 1883. Pages 402-411.

The Laxey Mine, in the Cascade Range, is immediately east of the Grand Rapids, and is owned in leasehold by a company of that name recently organized, with J. Q. Adams, President; P. B. Kirkwood, Secretary and Treasurer, and H. M. Atkinson, General Manager.

A shaft has been sunk to a depth of seventy feet, from the bottom of which a drift has been driven over thirty feet all in ore of an excellent grade of hematite. A small plant of machinery has been put in place, and the mine is now in a working condition, and promises to be remunerative to its owners.

The Lowthian Mine, in the Winthrop Range, is also the property of the Lake Superior Company, and is situated on Section 20, same township and range. The ore is a good quality of soft hematite, and there appears to be enough of it to constitute a profitable mine. It was originally worked in a large open pit to a depth of 125 feet, over a length of 350 feet east and west, the ore dipping about thirty degrees to the north. From the bottom of this open cut a shaft has been sunk about three hundred and seventy-five feet into the deposit, along the slope of the foot-wall, from the bottom of which mining is being carried on in drifts and chambers. The ore deposit, which is about eighty feet wide, tapers down to a narrow point at the east end, but continues of a fair size so far as work has progressed to the westward. The width between the walls is about eighty feet, but the deposit is split near the center by about four feet of soapstone.

They are working from one shaft 400 feet below the surface, in four levels below the bottom of the open pit, on which drifts have been made 150 feet west. From these they are taking out about one hundred and thirty tons a day. Seventy-five men are employed in the mine and on the surface. It is on what was formerly known as the New England property, and has been worked under Capts. Tracy, William Oliver, J. Day and a Capt. Dunn. It is now in charge of Capt. Trevilcock, who has been working it for the company since 1880.

The Milwaukee Mine, in the Negaunee Range, attracted considerable attention in 1880, from the promising outlook it then presented, but, while it is an excellent hematite mine, it has not come up to all that was expected of it from the start. The leasehold was owned by Messrs. J. Q. Adams and James F. Foley, who sold their interest to the company now operating the mine.

The company have opened seven pits, some of which have been mined out, but the diamond drill has revealed large bodies of ore beneath, and as in the McComber, it is demonstrated that the most valuable bodies of ore lie deeper than they have yet penetrated.

It is located on the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 7, Town 47, Range 26.

Work was commenced in the fall of 1879, and the total product of that year and the two following reached 45,718 tons. R. S. Fay, President and Treasurer; A. Kidder, Agent; James F. Foley, Superintendent.

The Mitchell Mine is located on Sections 21 and 28, Town 47, Range 27, in the Winthrop Range, and embraces a tract of 200 acres leased from the Lake Angeline Iron Company by the Mitchell Mining Company, of which last the officers are as follows: President, Samuel Mitchell; Vice President, Ignatz Fredericks; Secretary and Treasurer, Charles Merryweather.

The first work at the Mitchell was done in 1872, in the fall of which year the Shenango Iron Company was organized and became the lessee, the mine being known as the Shenango until 1877, when it passed into the hands of the present owners. The ore is a rich, blue hematite, an analysis of which shows 67.62 of metallic iron, .60 of silica and .172 of phosphorus. The product for 1872 was 197 tons; for 1880, 13,297 tons; and for 1S81, 21,146 tons, making a total for the nine years of 75,731 tons.

The former workings have been entirely abandoned, and the pit which had "been formed has been filled up by the debris removed from the new opening further to the east, the old mine at the west end having been completely worked out.

The first shaft on the present working was sunk in March, 1879. The deposit was found by extending a drift east in the winter of 1878-79, which developed a deposit that bid fair to become a good mine. It was stripped the following year, but was found to make off flat under the hanging wall, and they bad to make an underground mine of it. This year they have been working under the wall of the open pit. and have taken out a quantity of fine ore. Six men have been working for five months, making good wages taking it out by the ton.

In 1880, the Superintendent, Capt. Thomas Walters, made a crosscut south ninety-three feet through soapstone to the east of the old shaft, and worked it from the old shaft till it ran so far east he was obliged to sink Shaft No. 2, where they are now working. No. 2 is down about two hundred feet, the first seventy-two feet at the top being in sand or drift. The shaft is vertical, and is being put down thirty feet for another stope. They are now stoping 600 feet east of the shaft, in a large body of very fine ore, on which another shaft will be sunk.

The mine gives employment to about ninety men, and is under the general management of Capt. Sam Mitchell, with Thomas Walters in charge of the mine work. No new machinery has been added the past year.

The Manganese, called locally the Schadt Mine, a most promising discovery, has been made by J. W. Schadt, on the middle "forty" of the Manganese Tract, just north of the high railway trestle of the Milwaukee Mine Branch, in the Negaunee Range. At this point, two shafts are down thirty-five and sixty-five feet respectively, one on the hanging and the other on the foot wall side, though not immediately opposite to each other. The deepest shaft is fifty-six feet in clean ore, and a drift from the bottom, across the formation, shows twenty-five feet of ore between the walls. The other shaft is twenty-six feet in ore, while a drift is now in progress. Five men are employed on the property.

Another new deposit of ore, carrying a large percentage of manganese, has been opened on the west "forty," on the line of the McComber.

The McCombev Mine, in the Negaunee Range, was opened in 1870 by W. C. McComber, who obtained a lease of the property from J. P. Pendill, Esq., the owner of the land. In 1872, Mr. McComber disposed of his lease to the McComber Iron Company, which was organized August 14, 1872; capital stock, $500,000, in 20,000 shares. The officers of the company are: S. L. Mather, Esq., Cleveland, Ohio, President and Treasurer; Fred A, Morse, of same city, Secretary; and J. C. Morse, Marquette, General Agent. The mine workings are located in the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 7, and the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 6, Township 47 and Range 26.

In 1870, the product was 4,866 tons; in 1880, it was 31,206; and, in 1881, 28,051 tons.

Like all the other hematite mines in the district, work at the McComber was for a number of years prosecuted in open cuts, of which there were at least a dozen, all of which have, however, with the exception of No. 5, been abandoned, either because of the exhaustion of the ore body, or because of the dangerous character of the walls.

They are working from two shafts—No. 8, down 160 feet, and No. 3, down 200 feet. They are also sinking a new shaft 125 feet west of No. 5 pit, which is designed to be the main hoisting-shaft of the mine. The work on this mine will hereafter be conducted on the underground plan, as, from the nature of the rock in this vicinity, deep open pits are found to be unsafe.

The mine is furnishing a yield of about one hundred and fifty tons. The ore varies from hematite to red oxide and manganese ores in different parts of the workings. The railroad facilities are ample. An average of 100 men are employed. Henry Merry, son of Capt. Henry Merry, is local agent, and Capt. Charles Fox, who has had fourteen years experience as foreman in the Jackson Mine, is Mining Superintendent.

The Mesnard Mine, in the North Range, a new property, in the first stages of development, is the property of the Mesnard Iron Company, and embraces the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 28, Town 48, Range 29, which is held under a lease from the Atlantic Iron Company. The company, the stock of which was taken by individual shareholders of the Atlantic Iron Company, starts out with a working capital of $20,000 in its treasury, and is now opening up what appears to be a very large deposit of hard hematite, similar to that of the Jim Pascoe. The shares are subject to additional assessments not exceeding $1.50 in all, but it is believed the amount already called in will be amply sufficient to place the mine in good condition to take care of itself and return at least a portion of the original assessment to the shareholders. The developments so far consist of a number of pits, two of which are near the west line, with a drift of thirty-five feet between them, pits and drifts being all in clean ore. About one hundred and fifty feet farther east there are two more pits, showing about the same width of clean ore, while 500 feet farther along, there is a shaft down, drifts in progress, and clean ore visible throughout. The officers are: A. M. Byers, President; W. H. McCurdy, Vice President; and J. H. Outhwaite, Secretary and Treasurer.

Mastodon Mine is in the Paint River District. The site of the Mastodon presents the appearance of a small island protruding above the level of a swamp, by which it is surrounded. The ore outcrops at this point, and was discovered by John N. Armstrong in 1879. The ore of this mine is a hard red hematite, and about three thousand tons have been mined.

The work thus far done warrants the belief that the deposit is a very large one, and the mine is fast developing into one of the more important ones of this locality. It is located in the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 13, Town 42, Range 33, and the fee belongs to the Canal Company, the Mastodon Iron Company holding a lease for a term of years.

The Manhattan Mine is in the Paint River District. This mine is the property in leasehold of the Manhattan Iron Company, the officers of which are as follows: President, Edward Breitung; Secretary and Treasurer, J. H. Outhwaite.

The tract, which is the northeast quarter of Section 13, Town 42, Range 33, is owned by S. L. Smith and T. B. Brooks. It adjoins the Mastodon Mine on the south, and, although nothing of particular value has yet been found, it gives good promise of developing into a paying mine.

The Metropolitan Mine is in the Felch Mountain District. The location comprises a portion of the estate of A. Campbell, and Dr. McKenzie and others, and is held under a lease by the Metropolitan Iron & Land Company, which covers a tract of land embracing 520 acres, in Sections 32 and 33, Town 42, Range 28.

The officers of the company are: President, S. P. Burt; Secretary and Treasurer, R. C. Hanna; Superintendent, Jefferson Day.

The original discovery was made on the north half of the northeast quarter of Section 32, and, although not enough work has been done to determine the extent of the deposit, sufficient exploration has been made to prove that a large and valuable deposit exists here, with a trend bearing very near east and west, in Section 33, and in a directly opposite direction, in what is called the New Find, on Section 32.

The ore in the main is a clear blue hematite, giving, on analysis, from 64 to 68 per cent of metallic iron, very low in phosphorus. The ledge has been exposed over an area or 50x100 feet, and the best shafts show that the deposit is of good depth.

The work at present is being to what is known as the New Find, in stoping and preparing to mine.

About eight thousand tons of ore are now in the stockpile, and shipments will commence as soon as the Chicago & North-Western Branch is completed to the mine.

The Marine Iron Mining Company is a new organization, formed in 1881-82, to work the property lying west from the Northampton. A skip road has been built, an engine house supplied with two internal friction drums, and engine, etc., supplied by the Marquette Iron Bay Foundry Works. The skip road is double; also the ore pocket, and an elevated track 300 feet in length extends to the northwest for a rock dump. The location is upon the hillside, northeast from Lake Michigamme, from which it is distant about one-half of a mile. Still nearer is the main track of the M., H. & O. R. R. Several other buildings besides the engine house have been constructed, ready for occupancy.

As in the case at Northampton, the skip road extends up the hillside at an angle greater than the slope, giving room for the cars below the ore pockets; but here the skip goes up to the north. At the foot of the skip track they are sinking a shaft, and are now down twenty feet. The drift has been removed from an area of 100 feet square, and some test pits made; one of a depth of thirty feet or more, to the south of where they are sinking, that shows more ore than is to be seen where the work is going on.

In the shaft they are digging up the bottom, which is a loose ledge and very wet; in this is a narrow vein of dark-colored, soft hematite ore, which is removed by itself and saved. The rest is discarded. As in the others, the hanging wall is a dark slate, but where the foot-wall is is not apparent; it is probably at considerable distance to the south. A large force of men are working, grading the railroad, which will extend through this and the Northampton, etc.

On this North Range, eight or ten miles to the west, are several mines or explored properties, which bid fair to develop into mines that shall rival in importance any of those to the east of the lake, in the range which we have just described.

The Michigamme Mine is in the range of that name. It was opened in 1872, on the south half of Section 19, Town 48, Range 30, and, up to July 1, 1882, has shipped 458,407 tons of good magnetic ore. The company are now operating two diamond drills in making explorations, one on the surface and the other below ground. The exploration south of the railroad track and west of the saw-mill was extended about eight hundred and thirty feet northward, under the swamp, at an angle of 55°, reaching a valuable deposit of ore twenty-three feet thick.

The latter part of August, 1882, they were drilling south of the mine, and between it and the railroad, at an angle of 75°. The rock penetrated by the drill is actinolite, schist, quartzite, green rock and hornblende, with Varying depth of magnetic ore, followed by jasper.

At the east end of the lake the company have sunk a shaft on a fine body of hematite, which promises to be an extensive deposit.

The shafts are numbered in regular order west from the lake, the one nearest to the east being No. 1, which is down 156 feet, with an average of about six feet of ore in the upper level, which has been worked east and west about one hundred feet. In the present level, there is twelve feet of clean ore, and the diamond drill showed twenty-seven feet of ore at another point, at about the same depth.

No. 2, when unwatered, will afford good stoping ground.

No. 3 is going down, and No. 4, from which the largest part of the product of 1881 was taken, is still improving,

and the shaft and winzes have been sunk to correspond with the working. Nos. 5 and 6 are not working. In connection with the regular mining the explorations are being pushed at the old mine and also at the east end of the lake by the agent, John C. Fowle, Esq., who is getting things in shape to increase the production in the future.

The total shipments up to July 1, 1882, are 458,407 tons.

The Nanaimo Mine is in the Iron River District, located in the west half of the southwest quarter of Section 26, Town 43, Range 35, about two miles northwest of the Iron River location. The fee is owned by D. C. McKinnon, and the mine is being opened by the Nanaimo Mining Company—John S. McDonald, President and Treasurer; John Spence, Secretary. Work has been actively commenced, that proves the deposit to be a very large one, and having a formation similar to that of the Iron River Mine. Four test pits now sunk show 140 feet of clean ore, the trend of the formation being from northeast to southwest. The company is making extensive preparations for shipping as soon as a branch road shall be completed to the mine, and hope to ship a daily product of 800 to 1,000 tons.

The National Mine is a part of the Lake Superior Iron Company's estate, in the Winthrop Range, worked under a lease for a term of years by Capt. Samuel Mitchell, of the Saginaw Mine, and A. G. Stone, Esq., of Cleveland, Ohio. The leasehold embraces 240 acres in Section 16, Town 47, Range 27, and is situated about one mile and a half south of the city of Ishpeming. Work was commenced the 1st of April, 1878, and 4,191 tons of ore were shipped that year. In 1879, 33,310 tons were shipped; in 1880, 29,351 tons; and in 1881, 24,833 tons, making a total in four years of 91,685 tons.

The ore is a hard granular, carrying a small percentage of limo and alumina, but yielding, by analysis, 65 per cent of metallic iron. It works unusually well in the blast, and for that reason commands a ready market as a first-class ore.

They experienced a heavy fall of rock some time ago which filled No. 5 Pit with debris, and put a most effectual stop to mining operations in that quarter. The pit is being re-opened by sinking a shaft through the arch at the west end, from which the miners will work under the old bottom, leaving a solid roof to support the walls and protect the mine against further accident. At No. 2 they are working in a newly discovered lens, which is from six to fifteen feet thick, and between 300 and 400 feet long. This was found by breaking through the fault or rock crossing at the south end of the old pit. Though not fairly opened, they are now raising about fifteen hundred tons a month from this new pit—a product which can be gradually increased as the work progresses.

Two shafts are now working—No. 2 and No. 5. No. 2 is being worked on an incline under the hanging wall, and is down 500 feet on the incline, where it has opened up a small body of good ore.

No. 5 is down 250 feet to the largest body of ore they have ever had. On this lens they are drifting, sinking and crosscutting east and west. One hundred and fifty men are employed, and the mine is being rapidly opened up. In. No. 5 they cut through 100 feet of dead rock to the second lens. The mining has been done under the charge of Capt. Joel Williams as Superintendent for over four years last passed, who is doing excellent work.

The New York Iron Mine, of the Ishpeming Group, is located on the southeast quarter of Section 3, Town 47, Range 27, the fee simple of which is held by A. R. Harlow, of Marquette, Mich. The land is hemmed in on the north and south by the Cleveland estate, and in an early day when the Cleveland Company commenced its mining operations, its officers were desirous of purchasing this property, lying in such close proximity to their workings, but Mr. Harlow, fortunately for himself, declined to sell, and subsequently, upon the discovery that it held a large deposit of ore adjoining the Cleveland Mine, a lease of the land was secured by Mr. Harlow for a term of years, in eluding a mining right, at 25 cents per ton royalty. A company was organized in 1865, the greater portion of the stock being held by Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, who afterward became the sole owner of the lease.

The estate comprises forty acres of land and the mine workings are comparatively limited in extent, yet from this small area has been taken upward of 1,000,000 tons of rich specular ore.

They are working four underground pits. No. 3 has been sunk on an incline of 32½ degrees to a depth of 432 feet; No. 2 is down to a depth of 352 feet, on an incline of 57½ degrees; No. 4 is down 320 feet, incline 37 degrees, and No. 5 is at a depth of 331 feet, with an incline of 37½ degrees.

Nos. 4 and 5 are yielding a soft slaty ore, while the other shafts are in steel ore. Two hundred and forty men are employed in the summer, and from 210 to 220 in the winter.

Officers: Samuel J. Tilden, President; George W. Smith, Secretary and Treasurer; Lawrence McCloskey, General Superintendent; August Berrling, Mining Captain.

The New York Hematite, of the Negaunee Range, was formerly known as the Grand Central, is now owned in leasehold by Adams & Foley. At one time it was supposed that the mine had been worked out, but ore has been found below the old diggings by sinking a short distance through the rock at the bottom of the old pit.

Work has been done on only one shaft, three men being employed. The shaft has been sunk fifty feet from the bottom of the pit, and a drift has been driven each way on the deposit. Seven or eight tons 'of ore are taken out daily.

Three exploring pits are going down on the east of the old pit. Hard ore has been struck in one. It is considered that depth only is required to open up a large body of fine ore.

The Northwestern Mine, in the Felch Mountain District, is in the north half of the northwest quarter of Section 32, and adjoins the Metropolitan on the west and north. The tract is owned in fee by the Beaver Iron Company, by whom it has been leased to the Northwestern Iron Company, of which last the officers are as follows: President, W. D. Rees; Vice President, Edward Breitung; Secretary and Treasurer, J. N. Glidden. In 1881, when work was inaugurated at this mine, it gave promise of developing into a rich and valuable deposit of blue hematite, but further developments did not carry out the expectations of its lessees. Explorations are still in progress, and the company are confident of finding a paying deposit of ore.

The Northampton Mine, in the North Range, is the property of the Champion Iron Company, and lies immediately west of the Dalliba. The product for 1881 has not been given, having been included with that of the Champion, though the ores of the two are not at all similar in quality or appearance, the Northampton being a hard hematite, lower in metallic iron and higher in silica and phosphorus than the Champion. The workings until lately consisted of the two open cuts described in our last annual review, the east one of which appears to have been abandoned, whether permanently or only for the time being we are not informed. The west pit looks well, and judging from the size and cleanly appearance of the stock pile, is being worked to good advantage. It is an open cut covering an area of about 30x100 feet, worked out to the depth of about forty feet, with a fine stope of ore standing in the east end, and plenty more of it in the bottom. The ore being of a character different from that of the Dalliba led to the belief that the deposit did not belong to the same belt, and recent explorations have proved such to be the fact. About twenty rods northwest of the open cut last referred to, a shaft is now being sunk in a deposit of ore fifty feet wide, and of the same quality as that of the Dalliba, with which belt it is probably continuous. Not enough work has been done in this quarter to determine the probable extent of the deposit, but the indications all favor the belief that it is a very large one.

The machinery is the same as last year, the drum formerly used for hoisting from No. 2 pit being applied to the operation of the new shaft.

The Northrop is located on the same belt as the Beaufort, on the southwest quarter of the same section, in the South Michigamme Range. It is impossible at the present time to give more than a general idea of the geology of this upper hematite formation.

At the west, the ore belt lies above the black clay slates marked in the Brooks Report (XV), and conformable with it. These slates are highly charged with iron pyrites, which decompose and form a hard cement or hard-pan wherever found in the drift. Between this slate and the ore often occurs a schist varying from a few inches to several feet in thickness, which is in places plumbaginous, carrying quartz and pyrites, and again a true actinolite schist. The ore is a limonite, either resulting from the decomposition of a hematite, or else associated largely with hematite. The whole surface of the vein or deposit is loose and decomposed, making it impossible to decide absolutely what the condition of the ore may be below the effects of this surface action. Where the vein is well defined we have on the foot-wall a compact black ore, with dull luster and yellow or brownish streak. This ore is extremely hard and brittle, and shows the same evidences of decomposition going on. A marked characteristic of this ore is the small amount of silica it carries, ranging from ¼ to 1¾ per cent. It varies in phosphorus from .2 to .4 per Cent, metallic iron about 60 and chemical water as high as 10 per cent. The expulsion of this water by heat leaves an ore carrying from 65 to 68 per cent metallic iron. On a hanging-wall side, the ore is a soft yellow and red hematite, higher in iron and silica than the black ore, and lower in phosphorus. Through this soft ore, either as detached fragments or as seams (the seams increasing in number and thickness with depth), is a bright specular ore which, analyzed separately, gives 07 to 68 per cent metallic iron, 2 per cent silica and from .060 to .065 of phosphorus. From the presence of such different ores in the same vein a marked change may be expected in sinking. A friable quartz rock, in places almost a true quartzite, and again a silicious limestone, forms the immediate hanging-wall, and constitutes the foreign material in the ore. This quartz, when it occurs in the ore, is distinct in seam and easily separated. Above this quartz occur certain decomposed schists and greenish slate. What relation the green and black slates have to each other has not yet been determined.

The Norwich, in the Teal Lake Range, corners on the Cleveland and Forest City, to wit.: The northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 3, Town 47, Range 27, is the Norwich, a new undertaking which promises to be a mine of some value. A shaft has been sunk on the south side of the highway, not far from the northeast corner of the forty, which is down thirty-eight feet. From the bottom of the shaft a drift has been made to the south sixty-seven feet, on a narrow cross course of soft ore. North of the road, 145 feet west of their boundary line, a shaft has been sunk twenty-five feet, and from the bottom of it is a drift leading thirty feet to the north, all in ore, with ore still in the end of the drift. The ore is a yellowish, soft hematite, similar to that of the Cleveland. The location of the shaft is in a cedar swamp, and they are likely to find much trouble with water. The local Superintendent is Capt. Frank Treblecock.

The Orleans Mine, in the South Michigamme Range, embraces the east half of Section 23, Town 48, Range 31, and was formerly known as the Stewart, from which 2,987 tons of ore were shipped previous to 1879. The tract is under lease to the Orleans Iron Company for a term of five years, with an option for purchase at a stated price within one year. The ore in the old workings pinched out at a depth of from fifty to seventy-five feet, and the new lessees are now testing the ground with one of Bullock's diamond drills, which will cut the formation at a depth of 100 feet under the old pit. It is hardly probable that the worked-out lens constituted all there was of value in the property, and we look for some valuable developments shortly.

Paint River Mine is located in the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 20, Town 43, Range 31, and adjoins the Fairbanks Mine on the west. The owner of the fee is Edward Breitung, and the property is under option or lease to the Paint River Iron Company, officered as follows: President, Max Wineman; Secretary and Treasurer, Joseph Austrian; Directors, Edward Breitung, Max Wineman, Joseph Austrian, John McKenna and Dr. Bond. This is one of the mines lately opened, near Crystal Falls, and is a property that gives large promise. It was discovered by two of its principal Directors, John McKenna and Dr. Bond, during the winter of 1880-81, who sunk the first test pits at this time. The existence of ore was fully proved about the 1st of June, 1882, through the development of the Fairbanks. C. Y. Roberts, Superintendent.

The Pendill Mine is situated but a few rods south of the Union Depot, in the city of Negaunee. The stock pile and ore pocket are close to the main track. The mine is also north of the McComber, the estate being the west half of the southwest quarter of Section 6, owned by Hon. J. P. Pendill, of Marquette, but held on a lease by the Union Iron Company. The mine was opened by William C. McComber, in 1877, who mined that year 4,000 tons of ore. During the succeeding time, until 1879, the mine remained idle, when it was worked for one year, until April, 1880, by the McComber Iron Company. In 1880, the company now working the mine became possessor of the lease, and has since held it. The mine was never worked in an open pit. A shaft was sunk from the surface and is now 195 feet deep, on an inclination of 80 degrees to the west. It has been worked in levels of about twenty-five feet apart. The bottom is now called the sixth level, and is looking poor. They have drifted east from the shaft about eighty feet, and are now drifting north in the fifth level, 175 feet down; to find the Jackson vein have gone sixty feet. No ore is now being hoisted. There are no stopes to mine, and no ore in sight to sink or to drift into; however, the mine is a very small, underground affair, and has before looked as unfavorably as it does now, and afterward recovered. The ore is a good quality of hematite. The officers are: John Burt, President; Detroit, Mich.; Hiram Burt, Secretary, Marquette, Mich.; Richard Bryant, Superintendent, Negaunee, Mich. The product for 1881 was 13,586 tons, and the total to date is 34,094 tons.

The Pittsburgh & Lake Superior is in the Cascade Range. The shipment from the mines of this company since the beginning of operations has been, for eleven years, a total of 263,129 tons, commencing with 4,171 tons in 1871, and, in 1881, yielding a production of 39,276 tons. They have been operating in four pits, and have sunk No. 1 to the 240 foot level, with the design to drift through a wall of jasper twenty feet to the ore bed, on the hanging-wall side. No. 4 is being worked on the 260-foot level, while the skip road is down to the 300 foot level. Explorations have been carried forward with the diamond drill, and furnish evidence of a continuous run of ore on the property for nearly one mile in extent. It is under the charge of Joseph Kirkpatrick, as General Agent and Manager; Ralph Bagley. President; Jeffrey Lippincott, Secretary and Treasurer. The estate comprises 26,244 acres, including many mining locations and the village of Palmer.

The Portland, in the South Michigamme Range, is on the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 22, Town 48, Range 31; they have a line of pits extending from foot wall to hanging, eighty feet. Of course, as the work has been done some time ago, the pits are, partially, now filled with water, so that it is impossible to see the ledge, and one can only judge from the materials thrown out and the statements that are made. These all show very nearly the same character of ore, an ocherous, yellow, or hard, light and dark brown hematite, very free from rock quartz or other rock. This find is called the Portland.

Republic Iron Company was organized October 20, 1870; capital stock, $500,000, in 20,000 shares; by S. P. Ely, Hon. Ed Breitung and E. D. Parsons.

The mine is located in Section 7, Town 46, Range 29, and is nine miles southwesterly from Humboldt, on what is known as the Republic Branch.

In our report of two years ago of this mine, we described its geological and topographical features as follows:

The ore stratum, as well as the associated overlying quartzite and underlying ferruginous schists and massive greenstone strata, originally horizontally bedded, have, by lateral pressure from the northeast and southwest, been sharply folded, while subsequent glacial actions and other agencies have worn away, above a certain horizon, the entire iron bearing series, leaving us the remaining strata, with their upturned edges, apparently bent in the form of a large oxbow, the arms of which have a northwesterly trend—the bend or bow being at the southeast side.

Possibly we can more clearly understand how this present structure was brought about if we will suppose the Huronian strata we are now considering, and the underlying granite. to have been bent upward by lateral pressure. It is plainly evident if a weak line existed in the granite stratum for any distance, that our arch would naturally bend sharply downward along this line, and, should this line of least resistance suddenly terminate, there would occur a trough like depression, which would become more apparent if the overlying strata were worn away down to the granite. This condition we have already assumed in the first example.

Returning to our oxbow, we find its northeast side or upturned edge dipping nearly vertical, except at the southeast end, where it dips about sixty degrees to the northwest; the prevailing dip or inclination of the strata is toward the center of the trough. The trough extends north-westerly about eight miles, where its sides rapidly diverge from each other; its average width for this distance is less than a mile from outside to outside. The Michigamme River follows along the basin of this trough, and, at the Republic Mine, widens out into a beautiful bay. The arms of the bow at this point are about one-half mile apart. The mine workings are located on the north arm and at the lower end of the oxbow, and extend altogether, on the course of the vein, about three-fourths of a mile.

The ore stratum has for its hanging wall proper a massive gray quartzite, similar to that of nearly all our hard ore. mines, while the foot-wall is banded jasper. The mine is divided into fourteen pits, numbered from one to ten; the remaining four are known as the Gibson, Ely, Morgan and Perkins.

The adit leading into No. 10 Pit is sixty-seven feet above the water in the bay, and the water level in the bay is 914 feet above Lake Superior. To the northeast, the ground rises rapidly, and within two hundred feet is the bold face of the Jasper Bluff, which, in the sunlight, sparkles with countless scales of specular ore. The range terminates abruptly to the northwest in a few hundred feet, but to the southeast it continues more than one thousand feet in a fairly straight line, embracing in its course Nos. 10 to 4 Pits inclusive. From No. 4 Pit the formation curves rapidly to the southwest, west, and even northwest, making the line of the oxbow irregular and crooked at its southeast end.

The hoisting-plant is in a building a little southeast of the Pascoe Pit, and has four six-foot drums. There are two engine houses on the property for pumping engines, which raise the water from the different pits.

A boiler-iron pipe, fifteen inches in diameter, painted red, is laid along the line of the pits, which conveys the compressed air from the compressors to the hoisting engines, pumping engines and power-drills. The compressors are located on the Michigamme River, below the bay, about one mile southwest from No. 5 Shaft. At this point is a fall, altogether, of sixteen feet in the river, which drives two of Swaim's sixty-six-inch turbines, which, in turn, operate four compressing cylinders, two feet in diameter by five-foot stroke. They are rated at 700-horse-power. This pneumatic plant cost $100,000, but has secured the company immense advantages. Mr. David Morgan, the President of the company, personally supervised the putting-in of the plant and its accessories, from first to last.

The company have been mining red ore from the Perkins Pit all summer, from which 1,673 tons had been taken out up to the 1st of August. The Morgan Shaft has been put down another level, and is now 300 feet deep, and they are driving a drift back toward the Perkins, which they will strike at the bottom in thirty-six feet. Nos. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 and 3, are all connected. The Pascoe, mined as an open pit seventy-five feet, has been sunk to the same level as the Morgan. The ore in these pits is irregular from faulting of the veins, which, in places, stand on end. No. 1 and No. 2 have been sunk one level deeper this summer. Old No. 3 is being worked on contract, stripping being carried down to the fifth level.

Nos. 4 and 5 have merged into one another, on account of shortening from coming in of foot-wall, by which No. 4 has been lost, changing to Nos. 5 and 6.

The black ore has crossed over on the seventh level and passed off entirely. A slate ore is now being mined on the eighth level.

A drift was driven out on the hanging wall end of the shaft through thirty feet of the slate ore, which struck jasper, which the diamond drill showed to be thirty-one feet wide, when it penetrated forty-seven feet of magnetic ore. The big lens on top either shortened or jumped forward, and this is either a new lens or a continuation of No. 2. Capt. Pascoe will open it up by driving a drift on the line of the diamond drill hale. The ore in this mine appears to be in sufficient quantity to hold out for generations.

The large body of ore in Nos. 5 and 6 is approaching No. 7, which is down one level more. In No. 8, another lens has been struck near the hanging wall. The old lens was perpendicular in jasper, and three or four feet wide; the new lens is six to eight feet, and close to the quartzite.

Between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000 have been expended in the plant and improvements. Four large twelve-foot drums are being put in, for Nos. 3, 5 and 6 Shafts to run down 2,000 feet, and a sixteen light electric machine has been added, to light the surface of the pits at night.

Capt. Peter Pascoe began work with a gang of men November 30, 1871, to clear off a windfall preparatory to opening the mine; which was done in the spring of 1872, under his supervision. Capt. Pascoe has personally supervised the entire working of the mine ever since that time, and a large share of its prosperity is due to his indefatigable energy and skill.

The Rolling Mill Mine, in the Negaunee Range, is at present closed down. It was one of the best hematite deposits discovered on this range; but the old mine worked out, and the pits were allowed to fill with water. An effort was made last season to pump it out, but the machinery proved inadequate and the attempt was abandoned. Some exploring is now being done to try and find a new deposit. The mine is owned by Mr. Luther Beecher, of Detroit.

The Saginaw Mine is situated on the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 19, Town 47, Range 27. Other contiguous lands are also embraced in the company's estate. The mine was opened by Messrs. Maas, Lonstorf and Mitchell, in 1871, who, in the following year, sold out their lease for $300.000, to parties who organized the Saginaw Mining Company, since which time the product has been in the aggregate 389,981 tons of ore.

The mine, that originally extended 1,000 feet, with four working shafts, has gradually become circumscribed to a single available pit at No. 2 Shaft, which is now being wrought on the 540-foot level, where there is from six to ten feet of ore remaining on the bottom. This pit, too, shows signs of exhaustion, and it is probable that another season's work will finish it. Scrammers are at work in some of the other pits, but these are considered by the management as practically exhausted, a thorough exploration with the diamond drill, by which the foot and hanging walls were perforated in every direction, having shown nothing but barren ground. The same state of affairs exists at the old Section 19 workings, leased by the Saginaw from the Lake Superior Iron Company, where only a few scrammers are at work clearing off the walls. The vein in these workings has pinched out to from three to five feet of ore, the mining of which will not pay for raising the water.

A recent new discovery on the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 20, which is a part of the tract leased from the Lake Superior Iron Company, promises to compensate the company, in part, at least, for the loss of the old workings. This discovery was made with the diamond drill on the east line of the tract mentioned, and not far from the old original hard ore pits of the mine once known as the New England. The first hole, 340 feet east of the line, penetrated twenty-five feet of very fine slate ore, so soft that the action of the drill reduced it to a powder, only a few small pieces of core being secured. These, together with analyses of the sludge, show the ore to be of a very superior quality in all respects. A second hole was drilled at a point 140 feet farther west, and shows twelve feet of the same kind of ore; another, 100 feet east of the first, cut nine and a half feet of ore. A working shaft is now well on its way down to the ore, which it will reach at a depth of about eighty-five feet, and from which it is intended to attack the lens on the underground plan. The borings show a lens varying from nine and a half to twenty-five feet in width, and, at the very least, 240 feet long, though it is by no means certain that further drilling will not show a much greater length. It is certainly a most promising show, and one that is likely to develop into a mine of more than ordinary proportions.

The Saginaw produced, in 1872, 18,503 tons; in 1880, the yield was 35,059; and in 1882 it was 30,793 tons, making the total production for ten years amount to 420,744 tons.

About one hundred men are employed. Upon the location are 110 dwellings, several stores, a saw-mill, etc. The officers are: Henry Chisholm, President; S. H. Chisholm, Secretary and Treasurer; Samuel Mitchell, Superintendent.

The Salisbury Mine, in the Winthrop Range, is owned and worked by the Iron Cliff Company, and is situated in the north half of Section 15, Town 47, Range 27. The location lies directly south from the Pittsburgh and Lake Angeline, from which it is separated by a high greenstone ridge that intervenes. The mine workings comprise two open pits and a few underground drifts. This has thus far been the most productive of any distinctively soft hematite mine in the Marquette Range. It was opened in 1872, and that year gave a yield of 515 tons; in 1880, the product was 21,457; in 1881, it was 43,690, making a total of 237,843 tons in ten years.

There is still a large body of ore standing in the south or hanging-wall side of No. 1 Pit, which, however, cannot be taken out until a large amount of rock facing it is removed. The drift from the perpendicular shaft at the southeast end of this pit has been extended all the way under the three pits to the extreme western limit of the deposit in No. 3, leaving seventy feet of ore overhead. From this drift the deposit in No. 1 is now being mined out in rooms or chambers, on the California or Nevada plan, all the ore at present being raised coming from this level, though very little mining has been done from the drift under No. 2, and none at all in No. 3. In No. 2, the ore body is about forty feet wide on this lower level, but in Nos. 2 and 3 the width has not yet been proved.

They are working one shaft 200 feet perpendicular; the pit is down 135 feet, and the shaft sunk sixty-five feet below the bottom of the pit. In driving a drift fifty feet south of the bottom of the shaft, after cutting through the diorite, a vein of fine hematite ore was cut, averaging thirty feet in width.

Capt. Bartle continues in charge of the work.

Section 19 Mine is now worked under a lease by the Saginaw Company. The description of the land which this mine embraces is the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 19, Town 47, Range 27. It was opened in 1871 by the Lake Superior Company, and continuously worked by that company until leased to the Saginaw in 1879. There are two working shafts—No. 1, near the Sag- inaw line, and No. 2, 480 feet to the east. The workings are now down about thee hundred feet on the lay of the vein, which dips to the north at an angle of about fifty de-°trees and has an average thickness of about fourteen feet.

The mine has all the appointments for successful working, and yields a rich, granular ore, containing a percentage of alumina, as can be readily seen with the unaided eye.

In the two mines the company employ about one hundred and seventy men. The location is three and a half miles south of Ishpeming, and ono and a half miles from the main line of the M., H. & O. R. R. It is also connected with the C. & N. W. R. R.

The Star Mine, in the Negaunee Range, in a new and promising property, the lease of which is owned by the Star Iron Company, of which J. B. Maas, of Negaunee, is President. The leasehold embraces the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 8, Town 47, Range 26, the tract adjoining the Chicago on the east, in the Cedar swamps between the bluffs. Explorations were commenced at a point about the center of the tract, where a shaft was sunk about sixty feet in mixed ore and diorite, from the bottom of which a drift was run north thirty feet through the same kind of ground, and twenty feet through soapstone, when ore was encountered, in which last the drift was continued seventy-two feet, that being the width between well-defined walls. A drift was then run sixty feet west on the foot-wall side of the deposit, and another twenty-five feet east, at which last point a shaft was "raised" to the surface, all the way in ore, except about nine feet of drift covering. Test pitting is now in progress farther east, the ore thus far having been traced 380 feet from the raised shaft. The ore is a very fine looking hematite, that going east from the shaft being very similar to the Milwaukee Mine, and that going west closely resembling the Chicago, with which the Star deposit is most probably continuous It is the intention to more fully test the extent and quality of the ore by sinking another lift, and drifting and cross-cutting at a depth of at least one hundred feet. The deposit lies in low ground, but a four and a half Knowles pump has been found amply sufficient to keep the shafts and drifts dry. A small engine and drum, of the Rochester make, does the hoisting. Transportation will be supplied by the Chicago & North- Western Railway, the Foster Mine Branch of which passes through the tract, and within a stone's throw of the workings. A force of miners, under Capt. John Bartle, are now at work. The agent is Edward Maas, of Negaunee.

The Swanzey, in the Republic Range, is a leasehold which covers the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 18, Town 45, Range 25, and of which J. J. Pierce and others are the lessees. It is given out that a corporation to be called the Swanzey Iron Company will shortly be organized, with the sole view to the more convenient handling of the mine and its business affairs.

The Swanzey workings are located about one-third of a mile northwest of the Cheshire, the trend of the formation being from northwest to southeast, and the dip about sixty degrees to the northeast. The workings consist of one large open pit, which has been worked out over a length of 200 feet and to a depth of forty feet, the bottom, which is all in ore, being sixty-seven feet wide at the widest part.

The ore body, as shown in the open pit, will average fifty feet in width, all seemingly in clean ore. It is inclosed between walls of chloritic slate, which forms the hanging, and a lean ore and jasper on the foot-wall side.

The ore in the southeast; half of the pit is a very hard, rich red specular, of a bluish color, while the balance is somewhat broken, and more or less mixed with limonite.

The mine is supplied with a double side track from the Cheshire Branch, which extends some four or five hundred feet past the pockets, under which one of the tracks passes, the other being on the outside; by this means, the very greatest facility in the handling of the ore after it is brought to the surface has been secured. This double side track is on the hanging wall side of the mine from which last a trestle work 250 feet long and twenty-five feet high supports the tramway 041 which the ore is trammed to the pockets. The hoisting is at present being done in buckets, the machinery consisting of a Rochester engine with a single four and a half foot drum and two derricks. The miners are sinking and stoping at the upper end of the pit, and the Superintendent says that when the new plant of machinery which has been ordered is in place, he will, be able to meet all the demands the owners may make upon him for ore the present season, within a limit of 40,000 tons.

The St. Lawrence, in the North Range, is a new mine, located in Section 5, Town 47, Range 27, and which is now in course of development by the St. Lawrence Iron Company, in which J. R. Wood, Esq., is the moving spirit. The leasehold covers a tract of eighty acres, the fee of which is, we believe, in the Lake Superior Iron Company. The ore is a rather lean hematite, but one which, it is believed, will work well in the furnace and command a ready sale. Work was commenced by stripping the drift off from what appeared to be a very large body of this ore, but, in sinking fifty feet, a horse of rock was encountered, and it was thought advisable to cross-cut and test the extent of the deposit before going farther. Accordingly, a drift was driven south twenty-two feet in ore to what is believed to be the hanging-wall, and another fifty feet north in quartzite, with occasional seams of ore, some of the latter being three feet thick. There should be ore beyond this quartzite, which, by rights, ought to form the hanging-wall of the main ore body, the greenstone being some distance farther north, and the dip of the formation to the south. A drift east from the bottom of the shaft is twenty-two feet in ore, which seems to be making around the horse of rock referred to, showing that the deposit widens out in that direction, while another west is ten feet in ore. These shafts and drifts having satisfied the management that the deposit is one of goodly proportions, though possibly not as large as first believed, a plant of machinery, consisting of a double engine and two five-foot Lane drums, has been ordered, and every preparation is being made for the commencement of actual mine work.

An extension of the Excelsior Branch of the Chicago & North Western Railway one mile will supply all necessary facilities for shipping all the ore that can be mined.

The Sterling Mine lies adjacent to the Boston on the west, in the North Range. The land is owned by Prof. R. Pumpelly and Maj. T. B. Brooks, from whom it is leased by the company, and comprises the west half of the southwest quarter of Section 32, Town 48, Range 28. The character of the ore is the same as that of the Boston, and the two mines, which are contiguous, are entirely similar, except that the Boston is the larger opening. At the east end of the Sterling Pit, next to the Boston, this ore in the bottom has a width of twelve feet. The mine, as now worked, is a small one; the hoisting is all done in a single bucket shaft, and the product of the mine for the last year was only 4,702 tons; but some explorations have been made to the west in the vein, with a diamond drill, which resulted in developments that greatly enhance the value of the property. No. 1 Drill-Hole, 490 feet to the west, was bored on an angle of 66° with the horizon. Its location is in the swamp, and fifty-seven feet of stand-pipe was first sunk, from below which the drill passed 145 feet of quartzite, and then penetrated five feet nine inches of No. 1 ore, and then, after penetrating eighteen feet of jasper and soapstone, sixteen feet ten inches of ore were struck, measured on the line of the hole, and fifteen feet of hematite. No. 2 Drill-Hole was located 500 feet still farther west, and was bored on an angle of 58°. Here eighty-eight feet of stand-pipe was first sunk through the drift to the ledge, and the drill penetrated first fifteen feet of quartzite, then five feet nine inches No. 1 ore; then thirty feet of jasper, then eight feet three inches of No. 1 ore, after which only mixed ore and jasper were found.

These borings substantially prove the vein for a distance of 1,000 feet, showing the existence of possibly two lenses of ore.

Analyses of the Sterling ore, from the stock pile and of the drill cases, show it to be of the same uniform high value as that indicated on the Boston, being very high in metallic iron and low in phosphorus and silica. In the mine a drift was run to the north, in the foot-wall, thirty-six feet, which crossed two feet only of ore. A drawback to sinking shafts to the west to mine the ore discovered by the diamond drill, arises from the wet character of the ground and the depth of the drift—difficulties, however, which can be met and overcome, A change in the management has resulted in putting G. W. Reed in charge of the mine as agent, and in making J. R. Reed Mining Captain.

The Teal Iron Company, so called, lies along the south shore of the lake of that name, and in it are embraced the Cambria, Bessemer, Foster, and what was until lately known as the Cleveland Hematite Mines, together with other properties now in progress of development, the three first being on lands leased from the Teal Lake Iron Company, which filed articles of association under the general mining law of the State, June 19, 1863, the original corporators being George A. Fellows, John Wheelright and Charles L. Wright, all of New York City. It does not appear that the company ever expended any money, or made any effort to develop its lands—in fact, the reports filed as required by law previous to 1875 show that it had no personal estate, neither any debts or credits. Its estate consists of something over a thousand acres, in Sections 14, 22, 24, 28, 34, 35 and 36, Town 48, Range 27, and in Section 18, Town 47, Range 26. The company does not mine any ore, and contented itself with the mere payment of taxes until the summer of 1874, when R. P. Harriman, having made some explorations on the line between Sections 35 and 36, near the southern line, secured a lease of the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 35, and the west fractional half of the southwest quarter of Section 36, together with Lot 8, Town 48, Range 27, embracing in all 140 acres, and at once began active mining operations.

In the spring of 1875, Mr. Harriman disposed of his leasehold to the Cambria Mining Company, of which himself, J. H. McDonald and John Q. Adams were corporators.

Union Mine, in the Paint River District, is located in the north half of the northwest quarter of Section 31, Town 43, Range 32, and operated under a lease by the Union Iron & Steel Company of Chicago. The property is owned by the representatives of the Ransom Shelden estate and J. F. Shafer.

Shafer discovered the mine in 1881, and explorations were commenced during the fall of this year. Active mining operations were commenced shortly after, in a lens of ore having an average width of twenty feet, which has been worked out to a depth of about fifty feet, and a total length of 150 feet.

The company expect to ship about twenty thousand tons of ore this season. The trend of this deposit is from northeast to southwest, depressing to the northeast. The ore is a hard hematite, assaying about 60 per cent.

Shipping facilities are afforded by a Spurr track to Crystal Falls, two miles in length. W. H. Waters is the agent of the company, and Capt. Bartle, Superintendent.

The Webster Mine is in the North Range. Its ores are identical with those found at the Farm. The company's estate consists of the north half of the northeast quarter and the southeast half of the northeast quarter, Section 26, Town 48, Range 31. The company was lately organized. The officers are: Dr. G. J. Northrop, President; E. B. Palmer, Secretary and Treasurer; A. H. McConnell, Superintendent. The land is held by the company on a lease. The mining work, recently begun, is in about the center of the eighty, and, as the trend is east and west, the company has a half-mile in length of the ore deposit. The dip is to the south about seventy degrees. On the location they have sunk on the vein, across it seventy-five feet, all in ore. The foot-wall is a black slate, and the hanging a quartzite, though the hanging-wall has not been reached in the test pits. A shaft fifty feet in depth has been sunk, all in ore, below the stripping. Two large pits are started, east and west of each other, about three hundred feet apart. In these the earth has been removed to the ledge to a width of 125 feet, and a length west and south of 150 feet. Shafts will be sunk in the center of each of these pits, and a level stoped away, and the ground between the pits also stripped to the ledge, and are stoped to the first level, thus making a pit 500 feet long and the full width of the vein, whatever that may prove to be-seventy-five feet and upward.

A railroad line is being surveyed to the location, and will be speedily followed by the construction of the road. Some buildings have been erected and machinery secured, which will be got ready to work as soon as may be.

The ore is a yellow, ocherous, and a hard, brown hematite, very similar, if not identical, with that of the Dalliba. The company's land is well covered with a fine growth of timber, and the mine is opening in high, dry ground, giving excellent drainage. It is certainly a very promising mine.

On the north half of the northwest quarter of Section 26, Town 48, Range 31, some explorations have been made by means of test pits, which, as in the locations previously described, have thus far resulted very favorably. The pits are bottomed in ore, and have been dug across the vein, showing it to have a great width. This property is held by Mr. Wetmore and Dr. Northrop on a lease.

The West Republic is the property of a corporation of the same name, in which the St. Clair brothers are the principal shareholders, and under whose direct management and control, as officers, the mine was opened and is now being wrought. The property embraces Lots 4 and 6 in Section 7, and Lots 2, 7 and 8 in Section 18, Town 47, Range 29, the tract lying in a compact body, and on both sides of the Michigamme River at the point where it leaves Smith's Bay. One-third of the fee is owned by the St. Clair brothers, and the other two-thirds by the Toledo Iron, Lumber & Water-Power Company. Work was commenced in November, 1880, at a point about one-quarter-of a mile northwest of the Perkins Pit of the Republic Mine, where a shaft was first put down through twenty-seven feet of drift and forty feet into ore mixed with jasper. This shaft is called No. 1, and through it very nearly all the ore thus far mined has been raised to the surface. From the bottom of this shaft, on the first level, a drift was run northwest some distance in a narrow run of clean ore to what appears to be the main lens, and which, on this level, is at least eighty feet long, and thirty feet wide on the average, the trend of the formation being from southeast to northwest, the dip being fifty degrees northeast and the pitch to the west.

One hundred and sixty-four feet west of No. 1, the second shaft is down 135 feet, being sunk on the south lens, and is connected with the other on the second level by a drift and wine, with the intention of making it the main hoisting-shaft.

The mine is on the same vein as the Republic, in the bend of the Oxbow. They are taking out from 25,000 to 30,000 tons of ore a year, with a force of about forty men.

The Wheat Mine, in the Cascade Range, formerly known as the Home, adjoins the Palmer on the east, and is now the property of the Wheat Iron Company, of which Daniel McGarry, of Cleveland, Ohio, is President; Thomas Ax-worthy, Secretary and Treasurer; and Amos H. Wheat, General Agent. In a later report, F. W. Judd is named as General Agent, and Thomas Trout, Mining Captain.

Work was commenced in 1873, during which and the following year just enough ore of an inferior quality was mined and shipped to condemn the property. After lying for some time, the gentlemen who comprise the Wheat Mining Company secured a lease of Dr. Wick, of Cleveland, who is the owner in fee, and work was resumed on a small scale in the old openings. In 1880, under the superintendence of Capt. Trout, 3,223 tons were shipped, and 9,040 tons in 1881.

The ore is in a pockety form, the vein pinching almost out in places, and then again growing wider—one day showing encouraging prospects, and the next day almost dispelling all hopes of a generous deposit.

The Wick Mine, in the Cascade Range, may be said to be operated by the same company who control the Wheat Mine. The Wick is located in Section 32, on a lot of forty acres, where soft hematite of fair quality is said to be abundant. The work at this mine is under the superintendence of Capt. John Brown, while the general management is the same as that of the Wheat.

The Winthrop Mine is in the southwest quarter of Section 21, Town 47, Range 27, and was first opened in the summer of 1870, by Messrs. A. B. Meeker, A. G. Clark and H. J. Colwell, who subsequently organized the Winthrop Iron Company. For several years subsequent to this, the mine was worked under a lease by Meeker & Colwell, to whom the St. Clair brothers became successors in August, 1877. The leasehold is now the property of the Winthrop Hematite Company, of which J. O. St. Clair is President; E. G. St. Clair, Secretary and Treasurer; and G. A. St. Clair, Superintendent.

The ore is a very rich brown hematite, yielding, by analysis, from 60 to 65 per cent of metallic iron, low enough in phosphorus for Bessemer purposes.

Last fall, this mine met with a serious disaster. After the long continued rains, the supports of rocks and timbers, which had been considered sufficient to hold up the roof, gave way, and the west end of the mine fell in. The removal of this rock has occupied most of the summer, and has greatly interfered with the usual work.

About the 1st of August, this work had been nearly completed, and it was estimated that from 5,000 to 6,000 tons of ore would be taken out monthly the balance of the season. A new shaft has been put down 550 feet from which the ore will be raised. From 175 to 200 men are employed. The vein varies from a few feet in width to 100 feet. The product for 1881 was 43,630 tons; the total yield to that date from the time of opening the mine was 256,300 tons.

Youngstown Mine is in the Paint River District. The original option of this mine was held by Messrs. Coon & Swift early in 1881. In the fall of 1881, the agent of the Briar Hill Iron and Coal Company took an option from them, and commenced explorations with a party of six miners under charge of Capt. Dan Bundy. Their labors disclosed a vein of ore fifty feet in width, and further explorations showed that the deposit extended over a length of 1,200 feet, with an average width of forty-five feet. During the spring of 1882, the work of stoping was inaugurated at the point where test pits showed the full width of the deposit, and the diamond drill has since revealed the fact that there are two separate and distinct veins of ore lying parallel with each other.

This deposit is thought to be one of the largest on the range, and promises to develop into a mine of immense proportions. With the advent of the Crystal Falls Branch of the Chicago & North-Western Railway, shipping facilities were furnished and operations are all now fully insured. Superintendent T. P. Mills, Jr., expects to ship fully 15,000 tons of ore during the present season.

This property embraces the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 19, Town 43, Range 32, the fee of which is owned by Guido Pfister, August Smith; and others, of Milwaukee, from whom the Briars Hill Iron and Coal Company hold their lease.

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