Beard's directory and history of Marquette County with sketches of the early history of Lake Superior, its mines, furnaces, etc., etc, Part 12

Author: Walker, Charles I. (Charles Irish), 1814-1895
Publication date: 1873
Publisher: Detroit : Hadger & Bryce
Number of Pages: 264


USA > Michigan > Marquette County > Beard's directory and history of Marquette County with sketches of the early history of Lake Superior, its mines, furnaces, etc., etc > Part 12


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15


Some distance east of where the vein dips toward the east, a shaft has been sunk to tap the ore, and if possible get a good working face upon which to go back over the area worked down to the present level. This shaft is forty feet deep, but has not yet struck the ore. Drifting back under the old level, from this shalt, will probably next be done, to determine the prospects of the plan in hand.


Neither of these mines are seriously troubled with water, and the machinery and fixtures for working them are very complete.


A little distance north of these openings, and running nearly parallel with them, another vein of slate and hematite is being worked. It seems to extend a distance of nearly one thousand feet, and is from ten to twenty feet wide. This is on the north side of, and running parallel with, the Chicago and North west- ern railroad. Its depth we did not ascertain, as it was filled with water at the time of our visit, and workmen were engaged preparing for the erection of an engine and pump, to enable the miners to renew their operations.


The following is the statement of the New York product for the nine years since the commencement of mining operations :


217


MINES AND FURNACES OF LAKE SUPERIOR.


Year.


Gross tons.


Year.


Gross tons.


1864


8,000


1870


94,809


1S65


12,214


1871


76.381


1866


33,761


1872


68,950


1867


43,302


1868


45,665


Total


450,775


1869


67,698


W. L. Wetmore, of Marquette, still has charge of the business interests of the mine.


THE WASHINGTON IRON COMPANY


Own an estate of 1,000 acres of valuable iron lands in Town- ship 47, Range 20. The company was organized in 1864, and mining operations commenced the same year. The officers of the company are :


President-EDWIN PARSONS, N. Y.


Vice President and Superintendent-EDWARD BREITUNG.


Secretary and Treasurer-S. P. ELY, Marquette.


Mining Captain-GEO. ST. CLAIR.


Agents at Cleveland, A. B. Tuttle & Co .; at Chicago, A. B. Meeker.


The first shipments from the Washington were made in 1865, since which time the figures have been steadily increased, as will be seen by the following table, showing the amount of production for each year up to and including 1872 :


Year.


Gross tons.


Year.


Gross tons.


1865


4,782


1870


79,762


1866


15,150


1871


48,725


1867


25,440


1872


38,841


1868


35,757


1869


58 462


Total,


316,919


In 1869, the openings were embraced within a space of about 2,000 feet on what was then considered the principal, if not the only vein, which averages about 80 feet in width. Since then a number of new discoveries have been made, all adding largely to the previously acknowledged value of the property.


The company now have on the location about 100 buildings of all classes. A new railroad depot, hotel, and a drug store, are among the new improvements. The company has also a general store, the sales of which amounted to $100,000 the past year.


The system adopted for the operation of the Washington mine, at the commencement of 1872, is being carried out, so far very satisfactory. The geology of the mine is very peculiar, and it has hitherto been quite difficult to determine where or how the most effective blows could be struck. The deposit is very heavy, with an incline to the north and west, but is pocket- ed in such irregular form, with heavy walls of talcose slate be- tween, that until the openings were sufficiently extensive to de-


218


MINES AND FURNACES OF LAKE SUPERIOR.


signate the prominence of the deposits, there seemed to be no means of determining how the work could be carried on to ad-' vantage.


It will be remembered that this mine is worked by a tunnel, which was driven in from the base of the elevation in which the mine is located, about 500 feet from the first shaft put down, the surface of the hill varying from 50 to 150 feet above the tunnel level.


Commencing on the east of the main deposit, we find added to the work of previous years, the skip shaft, known as No. 1, down 100 feet below the third or tunnel level. A winze was put down on the third level near this shaft and a 40 foot stope opened, which is to be worked back 70 feet west to shaft No. 2, the extremes being now connected by a drift.


At No. 2 shaft a Burleigh drill is at work driving the drift 150 feet to connect with shaft No. 4. This drift is also to be carried to No. 5 shaft, 120 feet further west. No. 4 shaft is down to within 22 feet of the drift level. At this point the de- posit of ore is from 20 to 60 feet wide, intervened by a horse of mixed ore and rock. When the shaft has reached the drift lev- el this deposit can be worked on a 40-foot face over a distance of 100 feet.


The extent of the deposit at No. 5 shaft cannot be stated to a certainty. The drill was put down into 17 feet of good black and slate ores. The shaft at its present depth is in ore, but its bottom is yet 60 feet above the drift level, following the dip of the ore.


This drift level is to be extended still further west to investi- gate the deposits which are thought to lie there.


Considerable work was done during the past season on stopes above the tunnel level, where considerable ore is obtained and in bridging and strengthening the bridges which span the open- ings below this level for the extension of the tunnel westward.


A drift started some weeks since in what was supposed to be the hanging wall of the main deposit, has shown, after passing through 8 feet of rock, parallel veins of magnetic and slate ores, 3 and 6 feet thick respectively, and continues to show a good slate ore, with fair indications of a body of ore lying beyond. It is intended to work this discovery vigorously.


The work at Nos. 9 and 10, on the west, is being pursued as fast as prudence will allow. At No. 10 from four to five hund- red tons of ore per month can be taken out. Explorations on the south of the old work on the hill, have shown good deposits of magnetic and slate ores, of the same grade taken from the old mine, which can be worked to good advantage whenever it may seem practical.


The working improvements for the season have been sub- stantial and permanent. They consist principally of hoisting machinery applied to the principal skip shaft, and a skip road,


+


219


MINES AND FURNACES OF LAKE SUPERIOR.


which supplies the tunnel, from below, with more than half the product the tunnel takes out, an engine for the same, and a Bur- leigh rock drill.


A new store and some new dwellings have been erected. Ev- erything about the mine, and in all the departments of its busi- ness, seem to be in the best working order, under the general supervision of Mr. St. Clair.


The following is the product of the mine up to the end of the year 1872 :


Year.


Gross tons.


Year.


Gross tons.


1865


4,782


1870


79,762


1866


15,150


1871


48,725


1867


25,440


1872


38,841


1868


35,757


1869


58,462


Total,


216,924


THE CHAMPION MINE


Is in the south half of section 31, Town 48 North, Range 29, West. It is a deposit of magnetic and slate ore of remarkable extent, uniformity and purity, and seems likely to become one of the great mines of the country. Operations were begun in November, 1867, though very little was done, except in the way of preparation, until the following spring, when, just as the first shipments were about to be made, the destruction of the docks at Marquette occurred, and operations were almost entirely sus- pended until October, 1868. In that year, owing to the destruc- tion of the docks, it was impossible to furnish shipping facilities to all the older mines, and the Champion was, therefore, obliged to wait until the docks could be rebuilt. The first shipments were made in October, 1868, the product for that year being 6,255 tons.


At this time the property belonged to the M. & O. R. R. company, but in September, 1869, the Champion Iron company was organized, and is now a corporation independent of the rail- way company. The officers of the company are as follows :


President-JOSEPH S. FAY, Boston.


Secretary and Treasurer-S. P. ELY, Marquette.


Directors-Joseph S. Fay, Edwin Parsons, Peter White, Frances S. Foster, S. P. Ely.


Mining Superintendent-J. W. Wilson.


It is now but little over five years since the first shipments were made from the Champion, as its history can scarcely be said to have commenced until the fall of 1868. The newest mine in the district, it presents, however, a record that has no parallel in the history of the Lake Superior Iron district. A difficulty is always experienced in the introduction and sale of a new ore, however good it may be. It is equally true that the obstinacy of iron masters in adhering to an ore with which they


220


MINES AND FURNACES OF LAKE SUPERIOR.


are familiar often works to their disadvantage by delaying the introduction of new ores which may be as good or better. The Champion has been fully tested, however, as is shown by the yield of nearly 65 per cent. at the Champion furnace, with a mixture of two-fifths of leaner ore. An analysis made at the iron masters' laboratory, of Philadelphia, from specimens picked up at random, gave 69.92 per cent. of metallic iron.


It was determined in the beginning to adopt the underground system of mining, instead of the quarrying process in vogue at nearly all the other mines. This system of mining, of course, required elaborate machinery, without which comparatively little could be accomplished. The necessary machinery was not ordered till some time in February, 1869, and was not received and put into operation till the latter part of the following summer. So it will be seen that the mine was not fully prepared for suc- cessful operation until it was too late to make much of a showing in the shipping list of 1869.


That the great bulk of the ore at the Champion mine is mag- netic, there is no room to doubt; but about 75 feet west of No. 2 shaft on the first, and 125 feet on the second level, the drift strikes a deposit of very heavy slate ore, apparently the purest in the district. This ore, which appears to be of great extent, is easily mined, and requires very little breaking after being thrown down by the blast. There is no division walls-only a seam- between this and the magnetic. From the time the visitor enters the first shaft until he again ascends the ladder, he is not able to discover a single particle of rock or foreign matter-nothing but ore of the purest quality on all sides so far as the work has progressed, with a single unimportant exception. The vein (the deposit presents all the characteristics of a vein) has been traced over a mile in length, and it is at least 80 feet in width.


No other mine in this region has been opened with less expense, or attained in so short a time a larger capacity of pro- duction. Its distinguishing feature is the continuousness and uniformity of the ore, which thus far, in all the drifts and shafts, with the single exception referred to, proves to be entirely free from rock, or any deleterious admixture.


The working force at present numbers about 275 men, nearly all of whom are employed underground. Capt. John Wilson, the mining superintendent, is an old and experienced miner, and will, we firmly believe, demonstrate the superior advantages to be derived from the adoption of the underground system in the beginning. The mine is situated a little over half a milefrom the Champion furnace and postoffice, and is regarded as one of the best, if not the best working mine in the district. The belt of ore which was commenced upon in 1867, has not been found to vary from its nearly direct east and west course, and it lies in such mass, without being interrupted by rock divisions or bands,


221


MINES AND FURNACES OF LAKE SUPERIOR.


or material contractions, that the supply of ore seems inexhaust- ible. The only point in question is how to take out the ore most economically and in sufficient quantity to meet the demand in market for it.


All the workings of this mine continue in pure ore, as has been the case from the beginning, in a succession of shafts and drifts extending over a distance of a half mile in length, by from 50 to 100 feet in width, the slate ore in the west end and the magnetic in the east, the only case of foreign matter being a light seam of rock running across the formation between the two classes of ore.


The mining has been done by taking out the ore in drifts and breasts, on different levels, leaving from twenty to thirty or more feet of the formation between the levels, and elevating the ore in skips through shafts, of which there are four in opera tion, the hoisting cable for all of which is driven by the same en- gine, simultaneously or separately, as occasion requires, the ca- ble being transmitted over sheeves from the engine house to the skips.


This system is to be continued, and is now being considera- bly extended by the sinking of a shaft 360 feet from or east of No. 1, and an other 700 east of the first. Some 700 feet further east is the oldest, or first opening made in the mine, but which has not been worked since 1868, owing to the more favorable ad - vantages presented for work by the ground on the west.


The first of these shafts, adjoining No. 1, is down thirty-five feet, and the second one has but lately been commenced. It is intended to sink them deep enough this winter to connect by means of a drift with the 100 foot level of No. 1, and the drift- ing from No. 1 toward the new shafts has already been carried forward 140 feet. Of course, they will eventually be carried lower, and be put in communication with the deeper levels of the series of shafts on the west.


Shaft No. 2 is going down to the fourth level, which will make it 240 feet deep. The foot wall in this shaft assumes a more vertical position as it is followed deeper, while the hanging wall maintains the same angle as was found above, thus gradually giv- ing greater width to the vein as the miners get deeper into it. On the third level of No: 2, and 55 feet west of the shaft, a winze is being sunk to the fourth level, and this winze and the shaft will be connected. On the second level and 60 feet east a winze is being sunk which is to be connected with the third level.


Shaft No. 3 is going down to the fourth level, with a winze on each side of the third level to connect with the fourth.


Shaft No. 4 is going down to the second level, which, owing to a falling off of the ground going west, will bring this second level of No. 4 on a line with the third level of No. 3. Winzes are going down on each side of the first level of No. 4, which will connect with the second.


222


MINES AND FURNACES OF LAKE SUPERIOR.


There have have been no further underground improvements during this year, nor no new discoveries of ore, the work pro- gressing favorably and satisfactorily ; but Capt. Wilson has rea- son to believe that a large body of slate ore will be found be- tween the new shafts on the east.


Above ground a hoisting engine has been procured to work the first new shaft and No. 1, and the services of the engine at present in use will be confined to Nos. 2, 3 and 4. Another en- gine will have to be put up to operate the new shaft on the ex- treme east. A new shaft house has been erected at No. 4. The company have put up a new, large warehouse and barn for their own use, and a new hall, which seats {200 people, for the use of the people of the village. Four new pockets have been erected at the shipping docks.


One hundred thousand tons is the figure set as the amount of ore to be taken out of this mine next year. The product so far is as follows :


Year.


Gross tons.


Year.


Gross tons.


1868


6,255


1872


70,568


1869


19,458


1870


73,161


Total,


237,030


1871


67,588


The improvements during the year 1873 consist of 2 engine houses, 5 shaft houses, 1 carpenter and 1 blackshith shop, 1 pow- der magazine, 1 barn, 1 store and office, and 43 dwelling houses. Besides the company's buildings, there is a hall, 1 school house, 1 church and 30 small houses. The population numbers nearly 1,000 inhabitants.


THE NEW ENGLAND MINE


Is situated on section 29, township 47, range 27, and was first opened in the spring of 1864, in which year a number of test pits were sunk by Capt. H. G. Williams.


UNDEVELOPED IRON LANDS.


During the year 1870, several new and important discoveries of ore were made, all of which will undoubtedly lead to the de- velopment of valuable mining properties, and add largely to the production of the district. Indeed. it seems to be a fixed fact that the future increase in the supply of Lake Superior ores must come from the Michigammi district. Mines that are now yield- ing over a hundred thousand tons annually, cannot be expected to increase their product to any considerable extent. Nor is it probable that any considerable number of new mines will be de- veloped east of the Washington or Edwards, although there un- doubtedly yet remain some valuable properties within the Ne- gaunee district that can be developed. To the Michigammi district, therefore, the attention of iron men, particularly those looking for investments, is mainly directed, and everything


223


MINES AND FURNACES OF LAKE SUPERIOR.


points unerringly to the rapid development of the immense de- posits which are there known to exist.


MICHIGAMMI DISTRICT,


From Maj. T. B. Brooks' geological report :


" In the fall of 1868 attention was directed to this range, and what is now known as the Spurr Mountain was discovered, or rather, I should say, rediscovered, ou the north half of the south- west quarter of section twenty-four, town forty-eight, north of range thirty-one west. There is a large outcrop of pure mag- netic ore (the largest I ever saw of this kind of ore) occurring in an east and west ridge one hundred and eighteen feet above the surface of Michigammi Lake. The direction of the bed is due east and west, dipping to the south at a high angle. It pre- sents a thickness of thirty feet of first quality of merchantable ore, add facilities for commencing to mine which I have never seen surpassed. The exposure along the range is short, owing to the covering of earth, but, the magnetic attractions, which are very strong, continue east and west for a long distance, de- termining the position of the range with great precision. This ore is of the same character as the magnetic ore of the Champion and Washington mines, differing only in being softer from the effects of the weather. A specimen collected for analysis in Oc- tober, 1868, by breaking indiscriminately numerous fragments from all parts of the outcrop and from the loose masses, with the view of obtaining a safe average, afforded Dr. C. F. Chandler, of the School of Mines, New York, the following constituents :


Per cent.


Oxide of iron


89.21


Pure metallic iron


64.60


Oxygen with the iron


24.61


Oxide of manganese, a trace


Alumina


2.67


Lime


0.67


Magnesia


0.19


Silica


6.28


Phosphoric acid, a trace.


Sulphur


.35


99.37


M'COMBER MINE.


The latest and most important developments of the year 1870, however, have been at Negaunee. Half a dozen new mines have been opened in that vicinity, all promising the most valua- ble results. Late in the summer of 1870, Wm. C. McComber leased the Pendill farm, adjoining the village on the south, and proceeded to open a deposit of hematite, from which he has already mined and shipped over 5,000 tons of ore. Edward Breitung, Esq., followed suit, by leasing of C. T. Harvey, about 1,300 acres in the same locality. The existence of good ore


224


MINES AND FURNACES OF LAKE SUPERIOR.


. upon the Harvey property had been known to Mr. Breitung for a number of years, from explorations made by him in 1867, and it appears that he had been keeping the tact quiet until such time as he could secure to himself the benefits to be derived from the knowledge thus obtained. Since obtaining a lease of the lands, extensive explorations have been made, revealing the presence of immense beds of a peculiar but at the same time most valua- ble soft hematite, and, when it became known that Mr. Breitung would sub-let the property in small tracts, a very great desire was manifested on the part of citizens to secure leases. Rough maps of the property were made and armed with pick and shovel, scores of excited individuals thronged the hills and valleys until the thirteen hundred acres presented more the appearance of an exaggerated pepper-box, than anything else we can think of. Mr. Breitung was besieged day and night by eager and excited prospectors, for this "forty" and that, "eighty," until the whole was taken by at least a dozen different individuals or firms, all of whom appeared certain of having secured an immense fortune. That some of them will succeed in developing good mines, we have very little doubt-that all will realize their expectations is scarcely probable.


The McComber mine is the best representative of the nature of the Negaunee Hematite Range. It is the oldes mine of the group and has been worked the most extensively. It was opened in 1870 by Mr. Wm. C. McComber, and quite a quantity of ore taken out and shipped that year. In 1871 he took out and shipped over 17,000 tons. This ore reached two or three furnaces in the Marquette district, the Allen furnace, at Sharps- ville, Pa., and the Cleveland Iron Co.'s works, at Cleveland, and seemed to meet their requirements exactly for mixing with the specular ores, causing a yield of from 56 to 60 per cent. of an excellent quality of clean No. 1 iron from the mixture. This season, in order to secure a continuance of this supply a few gentlemen interested in the Cleveland Company, in mining ore and manufacturing iron, secured the property and formed a com- pany with the following officers : Samuel L. Mather, Cleveland" President and Treasurer, and Fred. A. Morse, Cleveland, Secre- tary. The lease was made to this company in July last, and the work of taking out ore has been pushed with much vigor since that time. The shipments so far this season amount to 25,000 tons, leaving some 2,000 tons in stock. Many important improvements are in contemplation, for the purpose of supply- ing every facility possible for the economical and thorough working of the mine.


Buildings for the accommodation of an engine and hoisting machinery are to be erected, and four hoisting shafts are to be located at different points in the mine, to be conveniently oper- ated from the engine house. Cable drums with friction gear will be used for hoisting, and each shaft will be supplied with


225


MINES AND FURNACES OF LAKE SUPERIOR.


sufficient pocket receiving capacity to obviate the necessity of waiting for cars or dumps when there may be any delay. A central drain shaft will be sunk to the depth of 150 feet, and supplied with the best pumping machinery. Additional side tracks, cars, &c., will be provided, and everything necessary to work the mine to its full capacity put in order for all the bus- iness which can be done next season.


THE REPUBLIC IRON CO.


The mine of this company is the famous Smith mountain, located on section 7, town 46, range 29, being a part of 1,327 acres of land owned by the company in the neighborhood of the mine.


The deposit of ore lies behind a quartzite rock which seems to form the bed of a small lake which lies on the north of Smith mountain. The quartzite is the basin and margin of the lake, making a curve from north-east and south-west to the north, forming a crescent around the south base of the water-bed. The quartzite has a dip varying from ten to forty-five degrees, toward the north and west, or basin of the lake. Behind and beneath it lies the ore veins-first the black magnetic, and then a slate ore, with sometimes an intermediate seam of slate or soap rock. Back of the ore is a diarite, a silicious schist, and a white gran- ite, in regular order. This formation will be better understood as we describe the different openings which have been made in the ore beds.


The ore outcrops on the side of the hill, near its summit, like a composition which has been poured into a basin, and adhering to the side of the basin, another composition had been poured in and cooled upon the top of it, leaving the first not quite cov- ered. This outcrop is at sufficient elevation to afford from 20 to 40 feet working face, and yet leave a working level sufficient- ly high to be used for the head of inclined tram roads to carry ore to the pockets, docks and stock piles at the point where it is loaded upon cars for shipment, near the margin of the lake.


HISTORY OF THE PROPERTY.


The discovery of this ore vein is accorded to Silas C. Smith, and by him entered in the land office. Subsequently Edward Breitung, and others, became interested with him in its devel- opment, and in 1871 a company, composed principally of the following persons, was formed to operate it :


Jonathan Warner, Mineral Ridge, Ohio, President ; Edward Breitung, Negaunee, Vice President; S. P. Ely, Marquette, Sec- retary and Treasurer; Peter Pascoe, Superintendent.


The whole space now occupied by seven openings is 2,000 feet in length, every foot of which seems to be a part of the ledge or veins which have so far been struck when looked for.




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.