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Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmAs A des taux de reduction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grend pour Atre reproduit en un seul ciichA, il est film* A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants iliustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 m '}S^'-'^^ / ^ \ ^ N Uup I THE KOOTENAY MINES. A Sketch of Their Progress and Present Condition, With Letters From the Similkameen and Kettle River Camps from the Special Correspondent of "The Miner." The Kootenny country is that pnrt of BritiHh Culnmbin eniVimced by the Ilocky MountninB on the east, tl\e vnlley of the Colnmbin Kivpr on the north nnd west, and the Internntional IJoundnry on the south. We propose now to deal with the western half of this area. THE SIZE OF THE COUNTRY. Takinjr its shape ronjjrlily as a paralleh)>fram, it is about IGO miles long (from the Canadian Tacific Railway soutliward) and has a mean breadth of GO miles. It thus embraces au extent of about 10,001) sq^iare miles. THE FORMATION. The general contour of the country consists mainly of three parallel ranges' beiuR all spurs of the Selkirk Mountains, running nearly north and south with two main water basins between them, the Kootenay Lake to the east and the Arrow Lakes, which are parts of the Columbia River, to the west. The geography of these two main river systems is somewhat ditlicult to describe without a map. They rise close together unde the shadow of the Rockies, and then flow, the one to the north and the other to the south, putting many hundreds of miles between them and finally uniting in the Kootenay country a few miles below Nelson. They both form magnificent internal waterways. The Columbia is navigable from Revelstoke on the C.r.R. for '2(H) miles southward to Northport, a station on the Spokane Falls & Northern Railway, in the State of Washington. Tlie Kootenay is navigable from Bonner's Ferry, a station on the Oreat Northern Railway, in the State of Idaho, northward, by lake and river, for over 100 milta and westward another 20 miles to Nelson, which is situated on that part of the river Howing out of the lake. From Ncl-ion to its junction with the Columbia River at Robaon the Kootenay is not navigable, but a railway 8U[)plies the connection. The whole country is exceedingly mountainous and for a great part is covered with a dense forest of coniferous trees, of which the hemlock and larch (tamarack) grow to a great size. There are also the so-called cedar (Thuj!i giganteu) and the white pine and others of great economic value, but owing to the reckless waste, ll>li&78 2 chiefly tbroiiffh the oarelesfloesB of people leavins onmp fires burning, the available timber ia yearly becoming more scarce. There is at present sufBoient timber easily accepsible for mioiog purposes, but it is bard to say how long so satiafaotory a condition of aiTairs will last. The mountains are rugged and lofty, reaching an altitude of over 9,000 feet. The suow line w between 0,000 and 7,000 feet. The Kootenay Lake is 1,780 feet above sea level and the Columbia River at liobson 1,375, and at the head of the Upper Arrow Lake 1,400. The height of the Blocan Lake is given on Fletcher's map at 1,750 feet and so is that of Kootenay Lake, but the figures we have given are supplied us by the officers of the Provincial Survey Department. In the winter the thermometer soldon falls below zero and the summers are temperate, the heat rarely exceeding 80" in the shade. Snow usually comes in earnest about Christmas and covers the ground for three months. These figures relate to the valleys. On the ranges the cold is considerably more severe, COMMUNICATIONS. Probably no raining field in the world started under better circumstances than Kootenay. Most of the fields in Australia were remote from settlements, the South African fields required not only a long ocean and coasting voyage, but a tedious and expeoKive trip for several hundred miles up country. Kootenay has three main transcontinental lines running right into her heart, splendid internal water com- munications supplemented b^ railroad spurs, which are being energetically pushed on to reach the mines in the remoter valleys, and one or two good roads. The Canadian Pacific main line passes through the northern part of the district and a branch runs down the Columbia River from lievelstoke to within 14 miles of the head of the Arrow Lakes. A branch starts in eastwards from Nakusp on the upper lake and reaches New Denver and Three Forks in the heart of the great galena country. The same great company owns also the branch that connects Nelson on the Kootenay Lake with Kobson on the C'olumbia River. The main line of the Great Northern Railway between St. Paul and Spokane comes within toucli of the steumera plying on the Kootenay Lake and River at Bonner's Ferry. This route, however, freezes up in winter. A direct line runs between Nelson ond Spokane, connecting at the latter place with the Northern Pacific railway and nearly all other American roads. In addition to these lines a road ia l)eing built from Knslo, on Kootenay Lake, into the Sloean. It is to be Ijnished by the end of October. The C. P. R. is also proposing to extend its branch from Three Forks to the same spot, which is only about 8'^ miles further on and close to many of the chief mines. Two companies havo ^Mven official notice of their intention to construct tramways from the great Trail Creek mining camp to the Columbia River, while the Red Mountain Railway Company has also obtained a charter from the Dominion (iovemment to construct a line from the same group of mines to a spot on the International Boundary, where it will meet a spur from the Spokane Falls & Northern Railway. Further connections of existing lines are proposed, but we do not mention ^hem as there does not appear to be any pressing need or great likelihood of their immediate construction. A good wagon road connects Kaslo and Three Forks—a distance of 28 miles. On the lakes and ri^^ers there is in excellent service of steamers, most of them the property of the Columbia & Kootenay Navigation Company. Their boats, however, are not quite able to meet the requirements r)f the traffic, and two new boats are now nnder construction, one on the Columbia and the other on Kootenay Lake. "The Niikusp," on the Columbia, which was launched in July, is the finest boat on e available mber easily iafuotory a • 9,000 feet. 1,780 feet head of the I Fletcher's ) have Riven Q the winter ite, the heat it ChristmaB ays. On the istances than tB, the South i tedious and BIS three main il water oom- ically pushed 1 roads. The district and a .4 miles of the I on the upper f{reat galena ots Nelson on in line of the nthiii touch of s Ferry. This jn Nelson and railway end tootenny Lake, C. r. B. is also which is only Cwo companies from the great. untaiu Railway ent to construct .oundary, where her couneetious does not appear jonstruction. A f 28 miles. On ost of them the boats, however, ivo new boats are Kootenay Lake, lie finest boat on N the inland waters of British Columbia, and visitors to this new, rough ond wild country will be somewhat astonished at the luxury of board and lodging supplied by the steamers. HISTOKY. As long ago as the beginning of this century the Indians used to melt down the rook of what is now the Blue Bell mine to make their bullets. Tliey communi- cated their knowledge to the trappers and hunters of the Hudson's Hny Compiiuy. About the middle of the century, too, the wandering placer miners washed the rich gravels of many of our streams. Forty-Nine Greek bears in its name the date of its discovery. But the early miners were only able with their simple appliances to snporfioially work the rich beds which are now yielding up their treasures to the great monitors of modern hydraulic companies. The discovery of the Silver King Mine on Toad Mountain, just above Nelson ^ in the latter eighties commences the modern era of the development of the Kootenay. Following quickly on this came a rush of prospectors, whose picks disclosed the secrets of the Slooan, the treasures of Trail. But it was not until the last six months that the latter attracted any notice at all. It isone of Kootenay's advantages that she has a nation of born prospectors close bandy just across the border, but at the same time it is galling to a Britisher to see all the prizes of his country falling one by one into alien pockets, which is happening every day. For the last five years the history of the country has been the usual story of many prospects being found, a lesser number developed and of a very few becoming actual mines. There has been the usual difiiculty of attracting outside help in the way of capital and most of the work that has been done is the result of the efforts of the original owners, or their immediate successors. Now, however, a new era seems to have commenced. Sufficient work has been done to demunstrate the fact that the country contains ve: J rich mineral deposito. Many thousand tons of ore have been sent out to the smelters of the United States, a smelter of the most approved modern pattern has been built and at work for the lost six months, and the attention of mining men, almost exclusively Aniericaus, has been attracted to this small spot of British territory. The result is that no mining joiirunl in the States is complete to-day without some reference to one or other of the Kootenay camps, and many and stronge are the garbled reports that appear therein. Before beginning to describe the various loralities it may be necessary to state for the information of our leaders in other countries (hat th" word "camp" is the American synonyn for "field." Thus the Coolgaidie gold field would he culled a camp in American parlance. It seems a better word, too. NELSON. The capital of thi» Kootenay doubtless owes it origin to the disco very of the Silver King and Kootenay Bonanza on Toad Mountain in 188(1. The town was laid out and the first sale of lots took place in 1888. It is pleasantly situated where the valley of ('ottonwood Smith t'lcek broadens out and joins the Kootenay River. This latter is navigable for 20 miles up to the lake, which is over 70 miles long, and from thence again up the liver to Bonner's Ferry in Idaho. Below Nelson, the Kootenay Rapids commence. A railway runs direct between Nelson and Spokane, and another, a branch of the C'. P. R., ccmnects it with the navigable waters on the ('olumbia River at Robson, Steamers ply daily toBalf(uir, Pilot Bay, Kaslo and other points on the Lake. At Nelson tho (Jovernmont AgPiit nn«l (Solil (-(iinmiHHi )ner rcHidps and hns his offlcc. The Assizes are also lu'hl here, and there nr*> two hanks, hranches of the Unuk of liritish Cohinthia and of the itanii of Montreal. The town is well hullt, clean and tidy, and has many conifortahle and pictnreM<|nu residences. Nelson his niany natural advanta^^es as a niinin^ centre. Not only, as 'vill be seen, has it mineral in great ahundance and of various kinds in it!^ neighbor' bond, l)iit it is easily accehsil)le from all other parts of the Koolenay country' The nature of the ground is admirnhly suited for the hiiilding of smelters, there is ample water in the tVdtonwood and (irohman ('reeks for all piu-- poses. Holh these ('reeks have also falls of fron> (11» to l(K) feet in narrow canyons, and the falls of the Kootenay Hiver itself would give power enough to drive all the machinery in the country. THK HALL MINKS Were discovered in 1880 by a prospecting party from ("olville, composed chiefly of members of the Hall and Oakes families. The property, which consists of four claims, the Silver King, the Kootenay Honanza, the American Flag and the Koohinoor, and covers about iVI acres, was sold in IHtKttothe Hall Mines Company of London, Knglatid, for sonu'thing over one million dollars. The works consist chietly of a tunnel 02() feet long, running 8. (15 deg. E.. connected by winzes and inclines with two iipper timnels and with an upper drift about 2(K» feet long. There are numerous cross-cuts and also a lower drift approached by a winze from the main tunnel. The ore is not in the form of a Hssme vein but lies chiefly in two large bodies, which have now been very extensively proved by the workings. In tin- drift cut above the main tunnel the same ore bodies were striu-k, but were found to be not so rich as in the original workings. A winze was accordingly sunk and a drift excavated at a lower level. Here again the ore wiw struck, but this time it was licher instead «)f poorer. The ore varies very much in quality. Assays of specimens have run the ounces into four figures. The rock in the lower tunnel will average from iiO to 40 per cent, of shipping ore going l.'K) to l.V) ounces of silver, 12 to 15 per cent. of copper and a few dollars in gold to the ton. The minerals found in the mine are Hornite or Peacock copper ore, Tetra- hedrite or grey copper ore and ("halcopyrites or yellow copper ore with occasional iron pyrites and traces of galena. Up to the jm-sent time it has been the policy of the company rather to develop their property than to ship ore. But of late a change has been made. A new manager has been appointed, who in a few months has "proved" the 'mine further than ever it was before. The power drill has been freely used, with the lesult that the existence of ore atlconsiderable depths and of increasing richness has been discovered. Knglish companies move somewhat slower than similar institutions in the States, but at last the Hall Mines (Jompany, L'd, has made tt move. Their n)ine is situated nearly o.lXKl feet above Nelson, at a distance of \h miles in a straight Jme. The only nwans of coumiunication until the present time having beeti a wagon rond, necessarily steep and circuitous and l«mg. Hecegnizing that large bodies of ore coidd not he con- veniently handled in drays, a contract has been let to the California Wire Works Company of San Francisco and a wire tramway capable of deliveiing 1 N nrt hi»H his )raniht's of 'lu' town is )ictuii!» now it ahove the to he not so and a drift is time it was lave run the 'ge from !^0 to o 15 per cent. er oie, Tetra- per oie with any rather to is l)c»Mi made. s "proved" the n freely used, d of increasing It slower than ipiiny, L'd, has Nelson, at a oinmnnication uily steep and tiilil not be con- iilifornia Wire e of delivpiiiig 100 tona uf ore n day is now in coiuiie of erection. It Iuih to he in working order l»y th^ end ot Angiist und from then on for three months the contractors have to deliver KK) tons a day at its lower termimis in Nelson. Here huge hins are being constructed close to the line of the C P. II., and the company has ord-red machinery for a 1(10 ton Hmelter frmn Messrs. Fraser &, Chalmeis of London and Chicago. It is to be delivered by the end of the Hummer. In the immediate neighbonrhood of the Silver King are many other claiinR, Rome with a good di'al ()f development work done on them. Most of them contain galena, but those which are attracting attention at present are the gold bearing properties. Of these tlie Starlight and Athatiasca have recently been bonded at $yO,(KK) and .$"»0,(J()0 respectively, and gemiine work Ih being pushed aiiead on both of them, Mr. A. E. Humidireys, the representative of a Didutb syndicate, who hnlds many large properties in this district, has bonded t!ie Starlight. This claim hns a ledge which contains a quantity of free milling gold quart/.. Its owners had done suttlcient work upon it to prove tile ledge for ovj-r u()(l fe«'t, and since Mr. Humphreys has taken it the further work he has done has had such good results that he is about to put in a stamp mill to treat the ore on the spot. The Princess, a claim on the wagon load containing a copper- ore with gold, has also been recently homh'd to Mr. McVicar of the No. 1 mine at Ainsworth. The cr-eeks flowing down fr'om the mormtains are all more or loss auriferous. On the northwest Bide a local hydraulic company has established works on For ty-Nine (.'reek, whicli are now in full swiiig. After- the first 120 hours' work, which consisted largely of removing boulders and other' "dead" work. $5,000 was picked up olF the bed rock in front of the sluice l)oxe8 and out of the Hrst two or three boxes thems«'lves. The company has a practically unlimited head of water at a height of UflOfcet und sluice boxes 5'MJ feet in length. Close to Forty-Nine Creek is Eagle Cieek, on which is situated the Poor- man, a free milling (piaitz mine, whicli has been in operation for some time. It is privately held and has more than repaid its owners for- their outlay. They have a 10 stamp mill running and f(nrr vanr^er-s collecting the concentrates. Between these two creeks is situated the Royal Cauadinn. another claim with a ledge of free milling quartz, which has just been sold to Californian mining men. All this slope of the mountain is pla^^le.ed with claims, on many of which good specimens are obtained. Fuithei' down the river is Rover Creek on which the Whitewater claiiirs are sitirated. News is jirst to hand that these have been advantageously sold, but the rumour- requires confii'ination On the opposite side of the hill is Hall Cret'k, which runs into the Salmon River-. It is very rich in alluvial ore, but the huge boulders tender it dilllcult to work. There are claims on its banks with rich showings of free milling and other gold oi-es. The Salmon River, which rises in the Ymir Mountains to the south of Nelson and nms into the Pendd'Oreille, has long been known as a placer ground. Recently discoveries of mineral of similar character to the Trail Creek or-es have been made on the mountains ar-ound, particularly on a hill draining into Sheep Creek, one of its tributaries. Her-e a number of claims have been staked on what appcai-s to be a vein of ver-y considerable extent. Many of the holders are men of some little means and they intend to do RufHcient dRvoloptuont tn show thu real nature of tlieir property and not to Natisfy theiiiKelvea with complying only with the conditionu made hy the Uiivernuient, which call fur IjiKJU worth of work per annutu to •ecura the leane. DiscoveriPR of low grade free milling ore have lately heen made on alntoit all sideM of Nelson, but as they remain at preeont mere prospects we make no further mention of them. Before leaving Nelson, though it |a srarcely within the scope of this pamphlet we may mention that on the Kootenay Hiver helow Nelson some of the finest trout fishing in Canada Ih to be had. The Canadian Pacific Railway runs along the bank of the river the whole way and for the convenience of tourists the company has erected two or three cottages in the neighborhood of the best spots. The scenery is magnificent, as indec ' '' i-. throughout the Kootenay country. Leaving Nelson by steamer we proceed up the outlet or west arm of Kootenay Lake, passing many claims of which the Ilay of Hope, a free milling, low grade property, iwexpected to attract some little attention. After proceeding for 20 miles we reach the Lake. At the point of outlet is the little town of Balfour. There is not much mining in this immediate vicinity though there are plenty of claiioH laid off, but the fishing is excellent and there is a comfortable hotel with all conveniences of boats and steam launches, erected purposely to accommodate sportsmen. Right opposite, across the Lake, about three miles distant, the large, red brick buildings of the Pilot Bay Huieltet appear. The volumes of smoke pouring fmm the tall chimneys proclaim their nature. The works are the property of the Kootenay Mining and Hmelting Company, of which Mr. A. B. Hendryx is the General Manager and Treasurer. Including the Blue Bell min^*, also the property of the Company, the whole concern, first and last, has cost about $75(),(X)0. The works consist of a UK) ton concentrator; four roasting furnaces and a water jacket stack of the same capacity. The buildings ai-e designed a»:'1 large enough for two other stacks. The whole is very complete and well designed and each department is under t'on>pelent management. The smelter has turned out during the first Hvi' months of this year 7U() tons of bullion. We are not prepared to givt the exact value of this product, but if we say that a ton of it contains 8() ounces of silver we shall probably be not far from the mark. Tbeoie treated comes mainly from the Company's own mine the Blue Bell, a huge deposit of low gi ade galena on the shore of the Lake, 8 miles north of the smelter. From there over 20,C00 tons have been mined and hauled to the smelter on barges since January of this year. Ore is now being received also from Ainsworth, a rich mining camp immediately opposite the Blue Bell, across the I^ike. AINSWORTH. Is one of the oldest n^JnL^c; iu,i'ps in this region. It was originally known as the Hot Springs camp fi<>u) the chalybeate Springs, which issue from the side of the hill in lh< v-pp.: jiart of tht town and which supplied the In- habitants with tlie mcst }ux<. ''Ills hot baths. Owing to what is usiihUv fvUled the slump in silver, the lK)ttom nearly fell out of Ainsworth, but .>nir or five mines are working again now and property and lunH made by uin to MCiire ide on aliiioflt ta we make no scope of thl» 4(>l8on some of aclHc Railway convenience of neighborhood hroughout the west arm of Hope, a free t«nllon. After of outlet is the lediate Vicinity excellent and lats and steam Lant. the large, )luines of smoke works are the if which Mr. A. ng the Blue Bell n, Hrst and last, ng furnaces and )gs are designed mplete and well jnt. The smelter tons of bullion. ct, but if we say )ably be not far ipany's own mine ihore of the Lake, e been mined and Ore is now being ately opposite the •iginally known as ■h issue from the li supplied the in- lK)ttom nearly fell g again now and greater activity is looked forward to in the neat future. This revival is, of coume, largely the result of the establishment of the suielting works acrok" the Lake. The Ainsworth camp is fortunate in ixmsessing not only rid. galena ores, but also what are known as dry ores. These contain silver and iron, but no lead, and are especially valuable in the smelling process. The two chief mines at present working aie the No. I and the Skyline, both producing dry oie. The latter has only recently been reopened and has not. shippi') »ny ore in the period which the statistics at the end of this paper cover, h\ luring the last week or so it has sent small amounts across the Lake and it 4 twner proposes to ship about 25 tons a day of clean dry ore. The No. 1 la under lease to a party of Nova Scolian capitalists and forms vilh th>' (all Ivlities ami the Nelson Hydi.iulic Mining Company, one of the only thiee -nintK in the whole district that is owned and worked by British capital. The No. 1 has not been worked to the Itest advantage in the past rnd co.j.iequentl/ its output at present is not great. This will prolmbly be improved. At the No. 1 is ulsu a (iO ton concentrator, as the mine ccmtains, like nearly all others, a large quantity of ore until to ship straight au it is. The Black Diamond an ? Little Phil are tw(» adjacent mines which are being worked in a small way by tneir owners and produce a fairly good galena. The Highland mine is rapidly being developed and will shortly be among the list of shippers. There is not at present, however, any road to it, l)ut from its elevated position a wire tram could easily k.>e put in to reach the Lake. A trial shipment of 5 tons of ore from the King Solomon mine realized 10(> ounces in silver and 40 per cent, lend, KASLO. On the wpstshoreof the Lake,aboiit 10 miles norlhof Ainsworth, is situated the City of Energy, known on the map as Kaslo. In the country at the back of it, and roughly speaking, midway lietween the Koot4.'nay and Arrow liakes, lies the great Slcx*an Mining District whence comes the richest gale?ia in the worM. Its trade is a constant bone of contention between the two great waterways, and Kaslo has struggled nobly to hold up her end, in spite of terrible rcrcrsea under any one of which a town might have succunitted. Kaslo is a thoroughly American mining town, and consequently it is not altogether the peacefid and pn.sperous hamlet that might be met with in the farming districts of Ont.ario. It is a busy bustling place with more saloons than there appears at first sight to l)e any necessity for. The streets nre roughly graded, in many the stumps of trees and huge rocks are left stai: arrd tearing among the defenceless wooden h(urses. That night half the people in Kaslo were hoitteless, and their tr-oubles were not over-. While the waves on the Lake were dashing the houses to pieces, the hot br-ealh of the cyclone was tearing up the gr-eat snowdrifts that lay high up auiid the glaciers on the mountains whence the Kaslo River springs. Early on Monday morning the river began to rise as it had never risen before, and by 10 a. m. it had torn out near ly all that the fire and storm had left of Kaslo. And yet to-day Kaslo is nearly as bitsy as ever', her' people smile at you, confident in their town, confident in their future, cunfident in tli(>ir pluck. N«.r" is their confidence lilind. A railway is building and will Ix* in wcu king order in a mv)nth or two (aboitt October') which rims right to the doors of the diief mines of the Slocan. The other line, owned t>y tlie Canadian Pacific Railway, which served to haul out ore from th'se mines last year along till' rival route to the west, doi-s tmt go so near the mines jis the Kaslo r.'iiLvay does by about Jll luiles and there is a rise of Nomi-thing like 1,0(10 feet, which is a serious climb for' a railwav in that short distani Kasl( therefore expects to be the shipping point for all the S' can or-e. Only about 5,0!K) tons were seiu out last year, birt this amount will be largely increased this winter-, especially if greater facilities of transport are ;ivai'able. THE SLOCAN. Hefween the basiu of the Kootenay and that of the Columbia is a smaller' valley in which lies the Slocan Lake, a splendid sheet of water over 20 miles lure,' and suirounded l)y some of the finest mr)unlain scenery in theworl-I It drains itself by riieans of tin- .Slocan River*, which runs southwar'ds and j;)ins the Kootenay River about half way between Nelson and Robscn. This Lake gives its name to the great aigentifer'ous region lying betwee!i it and the Kof)tei)ay Luke Ti>desciii)e all the mines that are thi-icin situated would take up mo re r>)i )m than is at out di-po-al, whde to gi\e an /iccount uoiitrict furlhouxtuimion of (,bi»liiielo .Snndon has been lot: ntly leaves the 1 in protection WAV future, in the language g ().' 1801 came 1 th«' priiuipal e other s'de as lie conuuenccd (Is, anil things ;. is built upon formed by the le, 18J>1, thean- o\\ the Rockies known before. 3 visited by a 1 as makes all flc thunder and e, and when the J, 40 or ')() miles the defenceless e homeless, and le were dashing ing up the great ains whence the gau to lise as it : all that the fire ople smile at you, I, in their phuk. ill be in working hi to the doors )y the Canadian • uiiiies last year [lines as the Kaslo n. -thing like l.(KK) distance." Kaslo 1 ore. Only about largely increased ;ii'able. iimhia is a smaller ater over 20 miles •iiery in the wori<) s southwards and lid Rohs<>n. 1 lying between it mid take up more all the g«K)d pios ) Siii>iU)ii liin boon lot' pects, many of them largely developed, would require a volume. Our object is simply to give our readers an idea of the value of this country and an ac- count of what hius actually been done in it. In this we are nuuh aided by a well compiled supplement, which was issued by the Kiisla Prospector in March last and which the Editoi-of that paper has kindly placed at onr disposal. It may be also a fitting time here to express our thanks to the many mine owners who have lieen so good as to place figures and other information of a private character' at our service, by means of which we have been enabled to check the returns found in statistical form at the end of t hese pages. The best known and most largely developed of all the miues of this district is the Slocan Star-, situated on Saiidon Ci'eek. liitih up above the ci'eek the ledge outcrops and then dips into the mountain at an Hnticlinal to the surface. Four tunnels at diffcreut elevations tap and cut the vein. The upper tunnel is 70 feet in length and cuts the vein 70 feet from the outcrop. It thus forms the base of an isosceles triangle of which the vein itself and the surface are the two sides. No. 2 tunnel is 15 feet vertically beloiv No. 1, and No. 3 is 135 feet below No. 2, while No. 4 is 425 feet below No. 1. These tunnels are all connected by winzes and upraises and many feet of drifting along the vein has been cut. The vein at No. 8 is over 50 feet thick, of which the first 10 or 12 feet are first class ore requiring only to be biigged and shipped straight to the smelters. The assay value of this ore is 125 ounces of silver and 74 per cent, of Itad to the ton. The amount of ore in sight is enormous. For the 12 months ending May 31st last 2,800 tons from this mine were shipped, of which 2,5tK) tons went to the Omaha and Grant smelters and 300 tons to Tacoma. This ora had to be hauled down on sleighs to the terminus of the rail- >vay at Three Forks, a distance of some o or (5 miles This year the completion of the Kaslo Railway will bring the c.irs close under the mine itself and with such in- creased facilities the shipments will be much larger. Other Slucan mines which actually ship ore are the Alamo, the Idaho and Cumberland, owned by a Duluth syndicate, who have erected a concentrator near Three Forks conuected with tlieir mines by a gravity tramway; the Rueccau, Noble Five, Wonderful, Mountain Chief, (ioodenough. Alpha and several others . The araoinit they sert out in the period mentioned idiove was close (m 7,(M)0 tons. The value, as declared to H.M. Customs waa SUM a ton, making a total of viver $700,000, The agent for the Omaha iu)d Urant smelter, to which nearly 5,000 tons was sent, has favoured us with the actual returns from 2,114 tons of ore contributed from various mines. This amount gavo a net return, after deducting 5 per cent, silver and 10 jier cent, lead, of 241,336 ounces of silver and 1,224 tons of lead. The average product per ton is thus 114 ounces of silver and (nearly) 60 per cent, of lead. Takuig the p."ce of silver to-day [August ] at 0\ and of lead 320 p(>r cwt. the net value of that ore, after paying all expenses of freight and smelting, is $113.64 per ton. Most of these great galena properties lie on the. mountains round the South Fork of Carpenter Creek, which runs west-vaitls into the Si icau Lake. On the North Fork are severid claims with ledges of dry ore (silver and irou without the lead). From one of thesi claims in the same belt, the owner informs us that n small shipment of pickei ore sent to the Pilot Bay smelter went as high as 900 ouiic's of silver. The V( in, which is from 18 inches to two feet in width, averages 201) ounces. This dry ore belt extends ti-om Rosebery, a liitle hamlet at the muulh of Wilson Creek on Slocau Lake, eastward througu the couutiy drained l)y 10 . A the North Fork of Carpenter Creek nearly to the Kooteuay Lake, n clistance of some 12 or 15 miles. Quito reeeutly some pheuominal discoveries of dry ore with large mnsnes of nntive silver have been made on the creeks ilowin^f westward into the south end of Slocaii Lake. The discovery of the Fishermaiden last year in the same direction has lately attracted attention to this part. 'I'hi.s claim shipped 60 tons of ore to the < feet shafts ; 240 tons have been shipped. Averat^e a3.'on's Bny trail connecting Eastern Kooteuay with the rest of British Columbia, crossed the Columbia Kiver about 20 miles north of the International ix'undary and going westwards leil up to the divide by means of an easy canyon. The stream at its bottom became known as Trail Creek. The old trappers and hunters who frequented this route could n t hear in the murmur of the little brook the word irold, and for years their mocassins patiently trod ground that is almost ur)purchasable to-day. About seven miles up tlte creek is Red Mountain aiul here five or six years ago the first claims were staked. For one reason or an- other th y attracted no notice until the autumn of 18i)4. The ore is of a refractory nature and five yeais ago its treatment was a problem not quite removed from the exi)(>riineutal stage. While ore of various kinds, including both free milhng quartz and galena, is found in the mines of Trail, its typical product is a pyritio iron, carrying g'lld and copi er. Ahout November, 1801, mining matters in the AVestern States and througliout British Columbia being fiat the wave of public attention rolled towards Trail Creek. Its two chief properties, the Le Uoi and the War Eagle, were acquired by syndicates composed of keen Anieric.m mining men, the owners of the townsite of Rossland put their wares on the market, the journalist hungering for novelty sent the magic word "gold" from end to end of the Stiit's and in (5 months 2.000 p»ople swarm at Rossland and in its neighborhood. Ilundnds of claims are staked in every direction and many new finds of valuable mineral have been discovered. No sooner are specimens of ore from these exhibited than they are bonded. Not long ago a bond of §75.000 on a group of claims was regarded as a high figure. Recently we have heard of a group being held under the unprece- dented figure of 8200,000. For the information of our foreign readers we may mention that bonding 'i claim consists in nuilertaking to pay a certain sum for it at a future time or times, a sni! II amount in cash, rarely exceeding 5 per jent. of the whole, being paid down to bind tlie bargain. At present there are virtually only three shipping mines at the camp, but the tables at the end will show that they have sent away no iuconsidivable amount, and it has i>raclioally all been shijiped since January of this year. The whole of this ore has to be hauleil by wagons in Huninier and by sleighs in winter by road to the river. There are two roads. One to Trail Landing seven miles in length and the other fourteen miles to Northport on the Spokane Falls & Northern Railway in the 12 i i\ ■1 1 Stntpof WHshinjd'iti. Hoih tliis railway niid (lie C. P. R. are layiiiR tlieir plnriH bo that when tlic fiihirp iif tlipciinii' if* asHiireil and {)np or two more of tiie present properties have lit'coniC miiii-H 'm the full hchk.i of the word they will 1m< ready to construct railroad.-' ill for the transport of the ore. Under tlie title of the Ked Mountain Railway tlie S. F. k N. Railway has obtained a charter from the Dominion (.joveriuuent and hari aetnally coniineneed work in a mid kind of a way, butitiHai pretient Ihuik up on account of some difliculty with Iho U. S. (iovein- ment about au Indian Ue.-ierve thronKli which it pawsew on the other side. The C. I'. U. has a .-iir\i > parly m ihc liild an. I will pribably build, when it does, up the river t<.i connect uith ita line at Kxh.son. In January last the Special Correspondent of T«E Mixkb wrote as follows of Kossland antl the Trail Creek camp : "An easy pull of Hcveii miles from Trail Landinj; on the Columbia up a well Cnulecl road brint's U8 to Rosslaml. On the way we puss sleiuh aftiT slei),'h— '2(1 in all— briu^ii '^f down 3 'i tons t acli of ),'!itterinK ore from the iniiies. All that glitters is not ^ohl. In this instance, lhoiit;h there is |ilenty of Kold in the shining lumps of liard rock, the ),'li(ter ■' that of iron pyrites. P^ach of tlie sleiyh loads is worth in the neisiliborhootl of ()() feet above the town. Through its inmost recesses thread veins of gold. Already these are tapped by the Nickel Plate, the Le Roi and the War Eiigle. The clatter of the ore falling iiit(j the bins is audible all runs Slieep Creek, »lown which winds the roiid to Nortliport and up which will come the Red Mountain Railway, lu the vailt^v of Sheep Creek is the I.X L , from which very rich speciineiiH of free milling (piartz were brought. Further again to the west and almost south of Rossland aie the O. K., liillie .May and other claims. In fact the only side on which tliere are none is the southeast, in which the valley falls away to the Columbia. * * * * It is a little ditlicult to j/auge the |>opnlation as many of the men are in the .surrounding mines and it must l)(' lemeinbered that a census of to-day is no criterion of the population tomorrow. Every day people are coniii.g in. If we say that on this I'.tth day of January in the yeiir of our Lord IHilh there are 31M) people in the camp we are probably not f.-.r oil" the murk. Iu two, four or nix inoDllm it will be interestiug to note how this will be increased to possibly as many thousands." To-day there considerably ovei 'i.lKlt), probably nearer .'$,000. "The only two mines at pieseiit shipping r re the Ee Roi and the War Eagle, but others will "luickiv follow suit, notably the .Nickel Plate. This lafter has a shaft down some 70 feet and o rhe day of our visit had alioiit 12 tons of the richest ore in camp on the bank. Tlie !,(■ IJoi and the War I'Mtiie are just above the Nickel Plate. • ♦ * Ttie tuiiuel in llie War Eagle cuts the vein at tight iiR tlieir plnnR so )r(' of thp prPHent y will Im< rt!iuly to C! title of the ltc>d c'larter from the ill kiiul of » wny, the U. S. (iovt'in- ther Bide. The C BU it does, np the wrote as follows of Columbia up a well lifter j.lei«h— '20 in e iiiiiieH. All that Koia ill theKhiiiiiig the pleifh loads m Ions out. The hills e bniadest nf these tuate.l. Tlie drama il stane, imt in the he Ked Mountain, nost receHses thread the Le Roi and the ilible all day lonj;. ■e the St. Elmo, ClilT I the treasures it has I. divii'.ed from it by Mountain, Already e miner is busy there the west ..houlder of the two runs Sheep h will come the Ked L, from which very (>r awain to the west ther claims. In fact wh'.ch the valley falls H II little ditlieult to \^\^^ inines and it must [.opulation tomorrow, ihiy of January in the probably not fr.r off 1 uotehowthi» will be ,i mid the War EaRle, te. This latter has a t 12 tons of the riehest V just above the Niekel . cuts the vein at riRht I 18 ' RQKles and driftn proceed from it on either hand and stopinf;r is in fall operaton. The lode here lies between well defined walls and is fully four and a halt feet in thickness. Another tunnel 112 feet below the first is beiu^ rapidly driven in and it has already cut another vein even richer than the one it was designed to meet. On the surface cross stripping has disclosed the main lode over a distance of 500 feet, and here it widens in some places to 20 feet and maintains an average breadth of 7 feet. The ore, like that of most ofthecamn, is a pyritic iron carrying gold and copper. It lies imbedded in walls of syenite, of which the "country rock" is com- posed. Ita value naturally varies. There are large deposits of low grade stuff" which will not pay for shipment, but which will yield handsome returns if reduction facilities can be obtained near at hand. And there is ore that gives returns of nearly 6'2iK) in gold per ton. The War Eagle ore, of which from 40 to 50 tons are now being shipped daily, is worth about $46 per ton. The expenses at present of shipping are as follows per ton : Mining, 33; freight to Trail Landing by sleigh, $2.25 ; Trail to smelter and smelling, 812.50; total, S17.7o. The profit is evident." Since these lines were written not only has the population become thousands instead of hundreds, but many new discoveries of mineral have been made and the development of previous discoveries has shown that they contain valuable ledges. Particularly is this thecase with the Kootenay, the Commander and the Iron Horse. The second of these three is an instance of a prospector's cuteness, not unmixed with luck. Two men had been at work for months examining the ground now occu- pied by the Commander. They felt certain from outside indications that a vein of mineral existed in that direction, but they could not find it. A prospector, well known for his ability and luck, by the name of "Billy" Lynch was called in. He directed his attention after a preliminary sea'ch to a swamp, then barely uncovered by the snow, and there sure enough he found a piece of rock outcropping that looked like the expected ledge. To drain the swamp and expose the vein was a simple matter, and there it was. In addition to new discoveries and new developments the ore in such mines as the War Eagle has been found to increase in value as depth is gained. 8o much is this the case that rightly or wrongly it is now an accepted characteristic of the Trail Creek mines. The contents of the War Eagle ore as declared for Customs puriioses is : Oold, 2.2H ounces ; silver, 4 ounces; copper, 5 per cent. This mine has paid $1:^2,500 in dividends since it was bought by its present owners in December last. Of this amount 882,500 was siiflicieut to pay off' the purchase money of the mine and all preliminary expenses, the remaining 81lK),000 being pure profit. Not only is all the country adjacent to Rossland covered with claims, but rich finds have been made to the northward. The conntryin thatdirection is exceedingly difficult and the new fimls remain at present mere prospects. The following are some of the transactions in mining property ihnt have taken place during the year : I'oorman, Novelty and California- Purchased for 820,000 and since converted into a stock company. Pilgrim, Monita and Surprise— Bonded for 800,000. Mountain View -Bonded for 825,000. St. Patrick, Mount Hood and Only One Bonded for 830,000. Monte Cristo, Enterprise and Iron Horse—Bonded for 805,000. Maid of Erin and llobert E. Lee -Bonded for $40,000. OetirgiH -Bonded for 820,000. , - 14 Lily May— Bondwi for $25,(KK). Kootenny and Columbia Bonded for 875,000. Paria Belle- Bonded amount not stated. Good Hope-Sold for «1,100. Nickel Plate -Bonded for 820,000 oaah and 20 per oeut oapital stock iu n com- pany to be formed. Mabel -Bonded for $6,000. ClifTand Consolidated 8t Elmo— Bonded amount reported to be $105,000. White Elephant Group -Bonded for $30,000. Ottawa-Sold for $4,500 8t Mary and St. Juan— Bonded for $20,000. Crown Point, White Swan and Hidden Treasure— Bonded for $7.'>,000. Abe Lincoln No. 1— Bonded for $'25,000. Homestake (recorded June 6, IWK))— Bonded for $35,000. Gem , Uncle Sam and Tiger— Reported to be bonded for $200,000. Spotteil Tail p.nd Ida— Sold for $;],000 cash. To Ko into details of all the hundreds of claims iu and around Trail Creek and to Kive the assays of ore that have been obtained from them would be beyond the Hcope of this pamphlet. The 6(;ure« we have ffiven nltove coupled with (hose which will be found in the tables appended hereto will ihow the actual amount of work being done iu the camp. With regard to the ore sbipmeuts. it may be as well to point out that these have been made almost entirely within the tirst six month of this ytar. Of the total amount reported only 1,282 tons had l)een sent out prior to January 1. 18U5. The export is continually on the increase and it8 value during the month of June alone was $135,000. NEW CAMPS. This t'^rm is not strictly accurate, as thongu they are only being thoroughly prospected this year the localities have been known for Bome time to contain mineral. As these are still oeily prospcctH we shall merely mention their names and general characteristics, commencing with WHITE GROUSE MOUNTAIN. Which lios to the east and south of Piict Hay. Here many claims Hhowing copper and gold ore have been found. The camp is some 15 miles in from the Lake and is reached by a trail made by the enterprise of the owners from a little townuite known as Davie. Another route is up La France Creek, on which also there are claimii witL good showing. GOAT RIVER AND DUCK CREEK Are Htill further south and run into the east bank of the Kootenay River before it empties into the Lake. Many of the claims in this cump are something more tlinii prospects, a good deal of tuunelUog having been done. Assays of ore runs high in lK)tb copper and gold, The camp i» easily accessible from the river, whence there is good water carriage everywhere. CRAWFORD CREEK Is the name of a stream running into a bay of the same name at the back "f Pilot Bay. The discoveries here consisting of both gold and silver, are morv stuck iu a oom- )e 8105,000. J75,000. 000. i Trail Creek and irould be beyonJ }opled with tlM>8e ibow the actual HbipmeutH. it may itirely within the y 1,282 tons bad Jly on tho increase beint; thoronghly e time to contain on their names and ny cliiims whowinR 8 in from the Lake wuers from a little sk, on which also Mjtenay Uiver before ure HomethiuK more AsKays of ore runs om the river, whence ( recent and nnmliers of men are now Koiuif. The proximiuity of this camp to the I'ilot Hay ttmelter will render it valuable if its ledges ure found to be continuous. TEN MILE, TWELVE MILE AND Sl'IUNGER CHEEKS All run into the south eastern end of the Slocaa Luke. Within the last few weeks discoveries of silver ore of almost fabulous value have been made. Many of the Bpe<:imeus are so thoroughly veined with silver that when the rook is shattered under the hammer the pieces still hang together by the plates and slabs of the white metal. A vein of this stuCT is reported of over a foot in width, itself being part of an eight foot ledge which runs very high. Free milling gold going over SlOO to the ton is also found on some of the claims. The properties in this cump are at present the merest prospects. They have been discovered only a few weeks and no development work has yet been done. THE SALMON UIVER Runs southward into the Pend d'Oreille. Many claims are located on its brandies nnd in its bed placer work on a small suule has been carried on for years. Lately some discoveries on Hheep Creek have attracted attention, the ore being said to closely resemble that of Trail Creek. The line of the Nelson & Spokane Railway follows tho Salmon River for a considerable distance. CARIBOO CREEK Runs into the Arrow Lake about 10 miles below Nakusp. Reports of finds of gold quartz come iu from this camp but nothing definite is known about it. From all over the district comes news of fresh finds backed by specimens of ore and the local assayers are kept busy. There are indications everywhere of extensive and valuable mineral deposits. In the Silver King, Slocan Star and Blue Bell these have been proved to be of enormous extent. There are very considerable veins of gold bearing rock at Trail Creek and elsewhere. There is excellent water commuuioation throughout the district and such railway facilities as no other new mining field ever had. The mines are sufficiently developed to warrant still further ex()enditure, which can in many cases be recouped from the ore put out iu the prooeBs A few ix)unds or dollars down will secure a bond for a siitticient length of time to enable a mining man to make np his mind whether or not to pay down his second installment. Tho fl'^ld is almost entirely in the hands of the Americans, many o' whom are reiipiug rich profits out of the business. The main object of this pamphlet is to show to British and other investors in mining prope-ty an exact picture of Koo^enny as it is to-day in the hope that they may benefit in the riches that are even now being drawn from her rugged mountains. ame at the back -^f ind silver, are mora Ifl OUTPUT OF Ti'IK MINES. Taiu^R sliowinx tile atudiint of on« uclually Hhippeil during the year ending June '.H), IHKS : M1NK8. From Nkuon— Silver KinK Mine. From Ainswohth— NiiiiibcT One Mine (ConfontrHleB). " " (CurlionHlUH) . . I.iltlc I'hll KIm'k Diiiuiond , . HlKhlnml KIdk Holoinon From tiik Si.ocan- MiiinvHiiln Silver Coiiipuny [C'oncentroteH]. Alpliii Mine t-'locun Star — Kueccuii Alamo Idiiho Knlerprlwj Mountain Chief (Jold Hiil Kinlier Malilun Nolile Five Cuinbrliind Ij1.1l Chiinru I'ayiie (Iroup ()u(mI KnouKii Itutli Surprise , Uuby Silver SovereiKn .... DnnliuielleH Ului- Binl Northern Belle L>i!i«linan ... ("iirilKJo Mollie HuKhes Wonder fill Vakiiiia A iitoino From Tk.\il Crkrk— Lo Uol War Kngle JoHle Nh'kel I'lute Cliff MinoH Hon^ asking foi- information, hut many were not replied to. The greatest possible care hiis bi .-n taken in com|)ilitig this table and the Kditor can confidently assert that it i^ not over the mark. Sir.VKit Kisci Mine. Valued for Customs Pantry : Silver, $(H,5(ll ; copper, $1S,({HS; lolal, $7.'>,180. The Manager writes : "In some cases tho value realized exceeded the estimated values, in (;tliers it was below." Laht (Nuance Mine. Amount shipped, 80 tons; on hand, 30 tons ; total Ihf year Ton It. 84(>i 867 17 110 tons valued at $H,m); Iohh cost of rnininK, freiKht and duty, $l,2()r) ; net value, $6,800. G(K)i) Knojmiii Mink, The ownor writes : "Shipped .'« tons to (iioat Falls. Returnr. amounted to $8,(KI7.M2, leaving a profit over all expenHes of a little over $5,500." Alphan Mink. The l,0tJO tons of ore shipped contained K)5 ounces of silver and (U per cent, of itsad to the ton, and netted to the owners about $5."j per ton, RiTTH Mink. Assays on samples from shipments give fror«) 13() ounces to 374 ounces of silverand 20 per cent. lead. Prr-ioiis shipments run from 115 ounces to i:iOou.ices in silver and 73 to 70 per cent, in lead. Pilot Bay Smri-tku Kktj'knh. The ore stack was put to blast on March 16, and, with occasional stoppages, has produced up to the end of June, 1,810 tcus of silver lead bullion. 7.782 »,(>441 20 2.''5 39.4 ISi Tablk of Ore Exported as declaied to II. M. Customs for year ending June 30, Hm : STATION. Tons. Value. NVlBon 2,115 6.4.iO 1,245 4,013 4,215 18.033 tl8(t..'02 «,37.744 178,340 ISO 770 Kevi'lHtoke Kiislo liOHsluild Wiuicta . . . . 308,025 91.401, SI 1 Tot«l8 MININ(J RECORDS From Junk 1, 1«M, to Mav 31, 1805: Place. Claims Rbcokokd. A88E>-:dMKNT8. Crown Grants Issued. NclBon 110 312 335 064 3D U66 102 361 410 74 52 089 4 6 New ItenviT 12 Trnil Oejk 8 Goat Hiver .' Totals 30 iianifests corrected PS, Circulars were Kevf not replied to. ible and the Editor er, $t»l,50l ; copper, jsthe value realized and, 30 tons ; total ^ tl Q c SOUTHERN MINERAL BELT OF B. 0. 03 9 B S9 i Being a Series of Letters From the Special Correspondent of "The Miner." Written in July, 1895. ROSSLANI). In Heptember of IS94 a few people iutereated in mininK had heard of Kossland, and under the name of Trail Creek the camp in which the town is situated had for some time attracted the attention of wide awake men in West Kootenay ; but in Hepteml)er, when a friend of ours arrived there were only four houses in the place. To-day li(.HHland has an estimated population of from 1,200 to 1,500 inhabitants; it is not easy to rent hotel space for your blankets, the hotels send away they say nearly 1(K) would be customers a day, and enoiiKb new hotels and boarding houses are K^ing up to make it wor»»' the while of a first class furnishinff firm to ro in, take up their contracts and ett.ablish a place of business in the town. ^Such a firm is DOW makiuK arrangements for a house to be pu^ up within a fortnight. This all results from the development of the mineral belt in which Rossland is situated and not (men claim) from town site liooming. The fact that about 50 four-horse teams are at work daily upon the road between liopsland and Trail, and that the recorder records from 18 io 20 claims per diem, show that the activity at llossland is very trenuine. Since September, 1894, '240,(K)0 acres have been taken up and the War Eagle mine alone has put out 4,'210 tons of ore and paid 884,000 in dividends to her lucky purchasers. This is a very pretty return so far from a mine which is said to have cost about $23,000 and upon which up to date less than another 8tj0,000 has been expended, especially when it is remembered that the owne s of the War Eagle are not '"guUing" thoir property, but are doing a lot of dead work ull the time, in order to keep a re-turvo of gold ore always in sight. It is said upon gooi authority that the mine has 1'^ millions of ore in sight at the present moment and the last report current when we left liosaland was that a new strike had been made in the west shaft of the War Eagle, consisting of a foot of arsenical vein, nearly as white and as heavy as iron carrying 81,400 in gold to the ton, and running through a 19 f(M>t vein of ordinary War Eagle ore. The report was very general and may be true, but it is fair to say that we could not get any authority for publishing it as a fact and, therefore, only give it for what it is worth. Another report circulating through the camp, which we hrtve every reason to believe was well founded, was to the eflect ^hat Mr. Drumheller had struck 12 feet ot 20 rich ore upon bin claim, the Allwrta on Colnmbiu MouDtnin, fi>r wliioh be in Hnid to bave pni'l 81,e do doubt that even Itss capital so far has been expended in development than energy in prospecting. Slocan bi.i t>eeu lucky in suouriug a large portion of the capital so far spent. Uossland is having the next turn, and, like her predfoessor, she is proving daily how she can repay all the energy and money which has l>eea spent upon her, but neither she nor the Slocau has a tithe of the capital rci^uired to do justice to their mineral de|K>sit8 or to enable men to reap tbe harveh.i which tbey ofTer. It is still tbe day of small things in lK>th camps and there is still an enormous amoi^nt to be done in each of them. Tbe big nien are really hardly in yet. Too many of tbe buyers aie still middlemen: gentlemen come in who with a blast of trumpets b«md properties in the hope of selling them again to real capitalists who can work tbem. If they sell and sell to men who mean mining it is all right. Too often tbey only tie up properties and retard tbe growth of tbe country. It is not then to \as wondered at that at present there are oidy four mines really ■hipping from Rossland ; tbe War Eagle, tbe Le Roi, the Josie and the North Htar. The wonder in any other country would be that placed as they are there should be so mauy mines, so far proH|)ccted and doing so much shipping as they are now doing, for it must be remembered that though the llomestake was found in May, 18iK), tbe Lillie May on the 27lb of the same month, tbe War Eagle, Le Itoi and Josie in July, 1890, tbe camp was left dormant until tbe fall of last year. Speaking broadly, the Kossland or Trail Creek camp is a camp of smelting oies, tbe gangue is quartz, the capping, which varies in thickness from inches to 12 and 14 feet, is an iron capping, and the mineral pyritic iron carrying from $30 in gold and a percentage of copper. There are two or three free milling properties within the limits of tbe camp; one of which, tbe O. K., has a five stamp mill at work upon it, and there are properties, like the Commander, i*i miles east of Rossland, which carry a large percentage of oopi)er, but these are not typical of tbe camp- To speak more particularly of tbe camp, it may be divided into tbe Red Mountain division, northwest of tbe town, in which are tbe principal mines at present -War Eagle, Le Boi, Josie and ClifT (all shipping mines); tbe Nickel Plate, which has shipped, but is I fancy now shut down, the owners having trouble with their water and beiug at tbe momeat engaged in a transfer of their property ; the Ger- trude, Surprise, Centre Star, Iron Mask and a number of other claims which are being converted from mere prospects into more oi less developed prupertiei*. North of the camp is Monte Cbristo Mountain, upon which tbe principal properties are tbe Monte Cbristo claim, in which over lU feet of solid ore baa 21 already Jxecn nnoovered witliout rtritliiiK foot wall : the KnterpriHe ami tb« Iron IIorHe (nlw) MlmwiiiK law bodicN of on'tanil the (icorKin. My inforiDHuUi njiiee tliiit tin- ort) ini thJH nuiiiDtnin whm Himilar to that ii|Mm Ufd Moiintaiu, but of mime- wliat lower Krmlit, but liku all the oro in thix camp, iiiipioved in ({Uality uh it went down. Clolumbin Mountain is uortheaHt of the town. rpr>n >t are located the Columbia, from which it takeH itH nainf; the Kocjtenay, with a 40 UxA letlKe of iron pyiites, carrying, they claim, from" to '.)\ (lunccH in jfold and H'^j per cent, copper to the ton ; the Tip Top ; the North Htur which has jiiHt l>eKun to nhip ; Belle and tlip Alberta, which Iww already In-en mentioned above. In the hollow at the foot of ih« Columbia Mountain Mr. \V. Lynch rec;'iitly located the Commander, the ledtfe of which he found Hhowiii^; a few inclu'H al)ove water in a owamp. Haviag drained the Hwamp he uncovered a property rthowiin; a hiKli Itercentajfe of copper, which he hau bonded fur S.'Vj.iMK). Lynch is probat)ly one of the luckie«t (or l)ehl?) proHpect<,rH in t'd country, haviiit; already located »cveral valuable mines, amouKHt others the aHhini;ton in the Slucan country. Peerpark Mountain licH to the Houthwest and it* remarkable for carrying some galena, but ua yet, though good rock luw tje'jn brt)ught from it, very little develop- ment has been done upon it West of the town liea S|K)kane Mountain, round the base of which lie the free milliug properties, the O. K. and IXL. Very little has been done ou the mouutuiu itself. So much for the mouutniuH. Ah to the nuMi who are developing them, it must l)e admitted that they am nearly all .Vmericans. Possibly the leading spirit in camp at present iw .Mr. John .M. Hiirke, who once ran for the governorship of Idaho and who is now suid to own the (ireat Western, the (iolden Chariot, the Ottawa, Key West, Le |{oi, etc. The War Kagle is the property of a Spokane com- pany, the 1^ Uoi is also owned by a Spokane company, and I was informed that men from liutte were buying or had bought other im()<>rtant claims. Is it not time that some British capital should be invested in what seems likely to turn out one of the best paying districts in Hrilish Columbia ? CAMP MoKI.VNEY. McKinuey is at the top of d mountain 2H miles from Fairview and is an old camp revived, in which at present everything seems to depend upon the success of the one great mine, the Cariboo, now being operated and likely to be sold by its present owners, the Cariboo Milliug, Mining and .'^meltiug Company, to a Hutte company represented by Colonel Doyle. That is, I think, a fairly accurate if rough summary of the position at McKinlev. That there is a very large quantity of valuable mining projierty in the immediate vicinity of the Cariboo there is uo doubt, and this will probably be bought and developed as soon as one big company gets in and shows the way. lUit at present the only mine doing any- thing is the Cariboo, a free milling proposition, upon which a lUstamp mill has l)een at work for about a year and in which Colonel Doyle is now employing about l>5 men in sinking. The Cariboo is iMJuded to the people whom Colonel Doyle rep - leuts and will be bought if the ore maintains its character to the depth of 2(K) feet. The shaft is down Hfi feci and the colonel himself said that it seemed to improve as it went down. The mill is going night and day, the men working in eight hour shifts, and the ore which they mill returns $18 to the ton in gold. A good deal of work has been done outside of the Carilxjo. In the Alice and -1 Emma there is a shaft 67 feet deep and mauy other claims have holes in them over 20 feet deep. The Auarchiat monntaiD, near Camp McKinney, is a district full of promises, any work done upon it resulting in excellent showinRS, but at present, with the exception of the Butte company, represented by Colonel Doyle, and a representative of the Standard Oil Company, there are as far as we could learn no buyers in camp yet. The character of the ore (free milling and the practic!\l results of the development of the Cariboo mine should do much to attract capitalists to the district, and no doubt will do so as soon as the results of Colonel Doyle's experiment are published. It is creditably reported that Mr. Monahan and his colleagues have made in one year out of the Cariboo its working expenses, original cost, the price of their 10-stamp mill and its freight to McKioney (no slight sum that last) and a very comfortable cheque for pocket money besides, and that the mine is now bonded for $175,000; but this is only hearsay evidence. What we know of our own knowledge is that this one mine is very busy and that, as usual in British Columbia, there are prnctically no English or Canadians in it. The Americans are not only conquering Koutenay but acquiring British Columbia. It is rather fanny to see the facts on the mountain and hear the fancies ou the coast. FAIRVIEW. This camp is an extraordinary instance of miners luck— bar' luck, unfortunately, at present, though it would only take a very little to make everything at Fair- view as rosy as men could wish. They have the ore, they have the men, they have not the money too. It is the capital to develope which is wanted, for which they have been waiting now for seven or eight years. At present there are only from 35 to 40 men in camp, and yet the d'jcovery of Messrs. Sheehan and Gwatkin's claim dates back to 1888 and there is one devel- oped mine now showing enough free milling ore to keep a 30-stamp mill goin^? for 4 or 5 years treating 50 tons a day, This is McEaohran and Mangott's property , known as the Moining Star. It is the old Biitish Columbian story at Fairview. The men who have found and are trying to develope the claims are poor men, who have no means of getting capital in. A strange feature in our country is this, whereas an American, no matter what his reputation is or how stone broke he may be, cau invariubly go back east and get all the capital he wants, a Britisher cannot do . o. Local capital does not exist, except in the hands cf one or two men, whose uamos are almost unknown off Vancouver Island, who owe everything to the Province and to whom the Province is never likely to owe anything, and English capital will not come into a country which men fresh from home assert is lookedupon with the greatest possible distrust. How !» this state of things to be mended? It is no good to sit upon our beam en Is and wait for our minerals to develope themselves. It is a miserably weak thing to depend on our neighbours to develope them and hand over our country to their keeping. There is only one chance for British Columbia. Let our moneyed men take the trouble to visit our mining districts and if there is an opportunity for making money by developing prospects let them show their cocfidence in B. C. by investing in a business which will remuneratt^ them and help the country, and let our politicians squander no more money upon empty show, but spend every penny they can scrape together in trails for the prospector, roads for the miner, and an energetic attempt through well chosen channels will make British Columbia known in London, Birmiugham, Manchester, (lliisgow and such places as these. It is, we believe, the truth which miipugmeu of the greatest li 'i 3 '23 !( '« 3 ex.irience have spoken over and over again: "There never was a mining country on the whole of God's earth so rich as B. C. and a terrible boom must come here some day," but we cannot live upon hope and we have had enough of borrowing. The presence of men like Col. Baker and Mr. Eberts iu the country is a hopeful sign. If we only get men like them and get them often enough and keep them working, we can well afford to be content. But the mining fleld of B. C. is so wide that it will keep them on the move from one end of the year to the other if they would leave no place like Fairview unvisited. The principal properties in and around Fairview are the properties of the Stratheyre Mining Company (Brown Bear Etc.); the Morning Star, owned by G. McEachran and Mangott ; the Stemwinder, owned by Sheehan and Gwatkins; the Sunny Glen, owned by Elliott, and the Sunflower, owned (we think) by Gwatkin. The Stratheyre Company has a lO-stamp mill and some very fine buildings (rather too fine for smelting to my mind) on their property and have run for a considerable time but have now closed down. There are plenty of men ready to tell you why, but it is better to hear as I did that the owners have recently visited their property and announced their intention of reopening at once. The Morning Star, found 6 years ago by the present owners, is a fine body of free milling quartz, milling from $15 to 820 to the ton. By steady work the owners have made a mine of their prospect, on which they have now tv;o parallel ledges uncovered, a shaft 85 feet deep and another 75 deep. The ledges are on oppotite sides of the gully and the owners intend, when they have gone deep enough, to connect the two shafts by a cross cul. The width of the ore body is from 10 to 12 feet and it is sati^sfactory to loam that though the owners had to pay $50 per month for the use of the company's mill they have made quite a bit of money for themselves. The Stemwinder, higher up the gully, is similar in character to the Morning Star and like the Star has had a good deal of work done on it by the men who have held on to it so long. There is a shaft now in the lead 50 feet deep and a tunnel 110 feet. The ledgo is about 5 foet wide and runs about 86.50 in gold. The Smuggler, some little distance from Fairview, is a smelting property, the rock averaging over 8100. It was not easy to obtain very full partijulars as to this claim as we had not time to visit it, but it has been worked steadily since I came and Mr. Elliott informed us that he had been guaranteed 885 per ton free of smelting charges by the smelters at Tacoma and Everett. Of the Sunflower, we only saw the assays of Mr. S. A. Guest, from which it would appear that there is good rock in the claim (one mile east of Fairview.) The assays showed 835.14 iu gold and 851.0t! in silver. If we might venture to do so we should suggest that an early visit be paid to Fairview by auy of those who are politiciilly interested in the camp. It is worth seeing and its support worth having and it is not only rich in ore but in discontent with political friends just now. Would not a mining commission, to visit and report upon every camp in the country, be almost worth the money spent upon it. KOCK CREEK. Rock Creek is a place of Chinamen and old memories. It wae quite a place at one time, and now and again some one finds diggings which pay returned in faith but have Ixjught largely as a proof of that faith. To get down at once to detai's. The can^p itself is divided into hall a dozen camps or more, lying within a radius of (say) 10 miles from Boundary Falls, and consists of large deposits of red oxide of copper, copper glance and native copper, in what is known as Copper camp; high grade galena, carrying gold, at Skylark camp; copper sulphides carrying gold at Deadwood ; sulphides carrying gold, copper and iron, at Green- wood; free milling ore, and refrnctory ores, carrying gold, silver and copper at White AUwoods and Douglas camps and free milling ere at the Gold Drop camp. A great deal of the ore o* the districts so closely resembles Trail Creek ore that even experts cannot tell them apart, and like the Trail Creek mines the character of the deposits found at Boundary is that th(;y improve with depth. But the feature of Boundary Creek ledges is their enormous size. Even the local boomers, if there are such people, have to be content with the bulk, nay more, they diminish instead ot increasing the width of their veins. They dare not tell etrangers what they have ; they would rather that strangers went in ;ind looked for themselves. We were persuaded to visit the Snowshoe claim, the property of a Mr. Detizler and others, and to take a tape with us. It must be clearly under- 4 i t i on t •* 4 i stood that the ioformation collected in this article, though collected with the greatest care from the most reliable sourcea available, had to be obtiined in many instauces at second hand. Our authorities were Mr. W. Gibbs, the gold assayer; Mr. Suydam, Mr. Keudell, Mr. Copper camp. These men all agreed in estimate given by any of them as the that meT le a pergonal inspection of the Denzler and one of the owner., of the the main and we have taken the lowest basis of our report, and in addition to Greenwood camij. As no one knew which camp we meant to visit and as the report concerning this camp was proved to be accurate and as assays shown ns further bore out statements made to us, it seems fair to conclude that the other sublivisionf of the camp not actually seen by us were fairly and honestly reported by our mformants. The Green- wood camp lies in a deposit of >efractory concentrating ore, easily treated and con- ceutrating 7 to 1. It is stated that Prof. Courtis gets from concentrates in this camp $620 per ton. The capping in the camp is iron, the mineral resembles that found at Rossland, containing lime, iron, silica, sulphur, copper, silver and gold though there is so lillle silver in most of the claims that no assays are made for it, the ore is generally oxidized on the surface and in some places to a depth of 7 feet; the gaugue is principally quartz and the assays of fair average rock run from $3 to $32 per ton in gold and from a t-^ 10 per cent, in copper on the top, but here as elsewhere in the belt it is an almost invariable rule that the ore improves as you go down. The Greenwood claims lie iu a narrow, timbered valley to the west of which lie the Nob Hill, Ironsides, Brooklyn, Phcenix and Stem- winder; on the east, the Monarch, Rawhide and Suowshoe. There are, of course, a lot of others, but these are the principal ckims at present. The Stem- winder, whi(;h was the first we visited, has been bfjught, together with its neighbour the Phoenix, by the Parrot Miuing and Smelting Company of Butte, Montana. In the shaft, at a depth of 28 feet, the ore assays from $5 to $50 in gold (assays have been obtained showing as much as $139, but uo one pretends that this was fair sample rock) and from 2 to 23 per cent, copper. On the Suow- shoe, we were told that ditches or crosscuts had been cut 70 or 80 feet long, all in solid ore. The writer himself measured one over 110 feet in which ore or croppings of ore could be traced for the entire length, honest measurement. There are on this claim, which I take as a type of the field, three ledges certaiu and one suspected, all running S. S. W., as do the ledges generally in this country. Tho assays, according to the ownei, Mr. Denzler, run from $3 to $32 in gold and 6 per cent, in copper on the top, and I should like to say for Mr. Denzler that I never saw a man more anxious to give a conservative estimato of everything con- nected with his own claim to which he has stuck and upon which he has worked through good and bad times alike since 1891. It seems to me that if British Columbia ever becomes a prosperous country, with a small debt and light taxes, she will owe it to men liko Mr. Denzler at Greenwood, and McEachran and Mangott at Fairview, and a score of men of their kind who first find their prize in earth's wildest corners and then stick to it and put the best years of their life and bone and muscle not easily matched into a hole in the ground- waiting year after year with magnificent patience for the reward of their labours. Of the other camps I have not room to speak iu detail. In Summit camp the ore does not run so high as in Cireeuwood, but is of the same general cl aracter. The Parrot Miuing Company of Butte owns five claims here and is developing them. Iu one of them a shaft has been sunk 8C feet with a cross cut of .SO feet, showing ore all the way. White's camp has a lot of work done upon it. In the City of Paris there is a 16 foot body of ore showing, and a shaft sunk 67 feet 20 proves the old rule that the lower they go the better the ore becoires. Eighteen dollars in gold, 7 or 8 pf cen:. in copper and 20 ounces of silver is the record of this camp. On the Skv!r.,V they claim 70 foot of ore. going 200 ounces in silver aud 1 ounce in gold. Seventy tons have been shipped from here to Tacoma. The Copper camp is a huge deposit of red oxide of copper, m which they have a body 70 feet wide showing in one place This ore assays 5 to 53 per cent, copper and 14 ounces in silver, aud reliable witnesses assert that there are hundreds of tons lying on the dump which will go 30 per cent, in copper. Aud so the story goes, but the trouble is that though the ore is rich ana in those enormous bodies which most tempt the big capitalists, nothing can be done with it by the present owners until a railway comes along. Marcus is the nearest railway point and that is 65 miles away; there are no mills or coucentratorw or capital to build any. The ore is there and magnificent water power and just enough big mining men are buying in the country to give the plucky prospectors hope, but prospects are still cheap at Boundary Falls, cheaper probably by 50 per cent, than at llossland. There is only one favo- .r which Boundary Falls asks of the monied men and that is to come in themselves with the best experts they c^n find and decide for themselves whether anv part of the world oflTers better opportanities for the profitable investment of capital than their own camp. The principal free milling propositions near Boundary Fallsare either in White's camp, in which several runs of rich, free milling ore occur, or in the Gold Drop camp. In Whit«-, camp the free ore veins average about 1 foot in width and run all the way from 85 to $100 a ton in gold. In Gold Drop the ore ranges from $20 to $80 per ton, but comparatively little is yet known of this camp, in which fresh strikes are being made daily. One word in conclusion. Boundary and Boundary Falls are not the same thing; they are four miles apart. One is a town site, the other a camp. Boundary, or Midway, is the town site. < 1bu66on'0 :Ba^ Co., NELSON, e. 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