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 1 
 
 2 
 
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I"« 
 
 B 
 
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I"P 
 
 Ft 
 
 
 ri2 A LETTER 
 
 
 / ' 't 
 
 TO 
 
 HUGH ALLAN, Esa. PRESIDENT, 
 
 ON THE SUBJECT OP 
 
 THE REPORT 
 
 SUBMITTED BY HIM AT 
 
 THE MEETING OF STOCKHOLDEKS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MONTREAL MINING COMPANY, 
 
 On Wednesday, ISth June, 1852. 
 
 ••1 ', 
 
 MONTREAL: 
 
 PRir^TED BY JOHN C. bEcKET, OKEAT ST. MMES STREET. 
 
 1852. 
 
'^3'^'^^Ao 
 
 3 f ^"H 
 
 ■J UN IB 1935 
 
A LETTER 
 
 TO 
 
 HUGH ALLAN, Esq.. PRESIDENT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MONTREAL MINING COMPANY- 
 
 Hugh Allan, Esq., 
 
 President, 
 Sir, 
 
 I have received copy of a Report addressed by you to the 
 Directors of the Montreal Mining Company, and submitted 
 to the meeting of Stockholders on 18th June, and I regret 
 that it is of such a nature as to preclude the possibility of 
 passing over in silence some of the statements it contains. 
 It is true that you do not mention my name, but I was so 
 intimately connected with the Company for upwards of four 
 years, the greater part of which was spent at the Mines, 
 that I cannot but feel that a large share of the blame, which 
 it is your evident intention to throw upon the past manage- 
 ment, would, in the minds of most of the Stockholders, at- 
 tach itself to me. It is in this conviction that I feel obliged 
 to adopt the disagreeable task of replying to your report, 
 but I feel the less hesitation in defending myself, as the per- 
 fect readiness and frankness, with which I furnished you 
 with information and advice regarding the Mines, &c., 
 upon the various occasions when you applied to me for it, 
 since you became President, and even since your return 
 from the 
 
 Ji /t a %r\ ^^ f>a 
 rxxiix:a. 
 
 out uciore printing your report, luiFiy en- 
 
titled me to the courtesy of being informed of the charges 
 you intended to make, before you gave them to the public 
 in print. This, however, probably did not strike you. You 
 apparently considered it your duty to give to the Stockhold- 
 ers your own first impressions, without waiting to learn 
 whether you had come to correct conclusions, and the 
 courteous and agreeable manners of the man, so prominent 
 d'lrin^ the spring, were sacrificed on the altar of supposed 
 duty,~'and gave way to the stern diction of the President. 
 This is the only conclusion I can come to, as I cannot be- 
 lieve that you were unwilling to find that you were mistaken, 
 and that some of your conclusions, like most hasty ones, were 
 erroneous. On this supposition then, I shall endeavour, as far 
 as possible, to avoid the fault of which I now complain, and 
 while endeavouring to show that your statements, even 
 when true, are capable of being so far accounted for and 
 explained, as to deprive them of the sting which they are 
 intended to convey, shall do so without asperity, leaving it 
 to the Stockholders to draw their own inference from the 
 facts which shall be placed before them. 
 
 Before proceeding to the less pleasing pnrt of my subject, 
 I cannot but linger for a moment upon the opening para- 
 graph, which describes the outward appearance of the estab- 
 lishment, and is interesting as being the only sentence con- 
 taining the slightest token of satisfaction with any object as 
 it was, excepting one short line about the store. On read- 
 ing this sentence, I could not but indulge in the hope that 
 you had entered upon your duty with the intention, while 
 giving a faithful report of the establishment, of at the same 
 time making such allowances as a candid mind would na- 
 turally do under similar circumstances, and where disap- 
 probation was due, expressing it in a temperate manner 
 without exaggeration, and giving such explanations as were 
 possible. But my hopes were short-lived, for the very next 
 paragraph dispels the illusion, and 1 find the commencement 
 of that vein of disparagement which runs with so much 
 
5 
 
 charges 
 3 public 
 u. You 
 3ckliold- 
 to learn 
 and the 
 ominent 
 upDosed 
 resident, 
 nnot be- 
 listaken, 
 les, were 
 •ur, as far 
 lain, and 
 its, even 
 1 for and 
 they are 
 eaving it 
 from the 
 
 y subject, 
 ing para- 
 Lhe estab- 
 ence con- 
 object as 
 
 On read- 
 hope that 
 on, while 
 the same 
 ^vould na- 
 ere disap- 
 e manner 
 IS as were 
 very next 
 lencement 
 
 so much 
 
 strength and regularity throughout the entire rcmaindor of 
 the Report. After describing the appearance of the village, 
 and stating the number of houses to be between 60 and 70* 
 you continue— "On landing, however, it is at once evident 
 " that no idea of permanence has been entcrlained in placing 
 *' the houses : the first row is entirely too close to the Lake 
 " so much so indeed as to leave no room for a street in front' 
 " and in some places, at the period I was there, it was dif- 
 " ficult to pass on foo! between the Lake and the houses • 
 " the next row in rear is again too close to those in front' 
 " leaving not sufficient room for a street and the outhouses* 
 " &c." Now if the space occupied by these two rows of 
 houses be measured, it will be found to be very nearly equal 
 in extent to that part of Montreal enclosed between McGill 
 Street and the Place d'Armes, and between Great St. James 
 Street and St. Paul Street, with its hundreds of houses and 
 numerous streets— surely not too confined for sixty or seventy 
 small cottages ! nor are the houses clustered together in one 
 spot, but widely scattered over the space, as correctly shown 
 by the drawing in the Company's office. But you say that 
 " the first row is entirely too close to the Lake, so much so 
 " indeed as to leave no room for a street in from." Even 
 supposing that this is now the case, had you enquired into the 
 subject you would have found that when these houses were 
 built, they were placed at a suflicient distance from the Lake 
 to leave room for a street as broad as Great St. James Stree't 
 and that the extraordinary rise in the level of the Lake is the 
 sole cause of the inconvenience now felt. You are doubtless 
 aware, as you must have heard it on all hands, that the Lake 
 is now probably more than four feet higher than when these 
 and the other buildings alluded to were erected, but J look 
 in vain for any statement of that fact in the Report, and find 
 only your assertion that '*no idea of permanence has been 
 " entertamed in placing the houses." As well might it be 
 said that no idea of permanence was entertamed in building 
 Dalhousie Square or the Hays House because they did not 
 prove to be fire-proof. The fire raged and consumed the 
 
G 
 
 liouses ; the Lake rose and partly inundated the street. The 
 elements were, I freely admit, beyond my control ; doubt- 
 less things will be better managed for the future, and I hope 
 soon to hear that the waters have receded, and that it is no 
 longer difficult to pass on foot between the Lake and the 
 houses ; meantime, all I can say is, that the houses were 
 placed in what was considered the best position for effect, 
 for comfort, and for safety from fire, and that even now their 
 floors must be some five feet above the level of the Lake. 
 
 The above remarks apply equally to the warehouse, which 
 was built in 1847, and placed so that goods could be landed 
 from scows upon a small wharf in front, where there used to 
 be little over a foot of water, and where I suppose there is 
 now nearly five. The engine house and other works 
 were placed in their present position to avoid the delay of 
 another year in erecting the machinery, and which the re- 
 ports of the day fully and satisfactorily explained. 
 
 The account of the "beach from the wharf all the 
 way to beyond the smelting works" is intended, I suppose, 
 as a specimen of hyperbole. You state that this space, a dis- 
 tance be it remembered of nearly a sixth of a mi! is *' literal- 
 " ly covered partly in and partly out of the water with cast- 
 " ings of all description*, such as wheels, rollers, shafts, 
 " pumps, cranks, &c., of which none have ever been in use, 
 " and lie there as they were discharged from the vessels 
 " which took them up years ago. These again are mixed 
 " up with coals, firebricks, timber, spars, bar iron, lime, and 
 " all sorts of materials which doubtless cost the company 
 " large sums of money and are daily going to destruction." 
 Such is your statement, but what is the truth ? I believe I 
 am stating the simple fact when I say that the only castings 
 between the wharf and the Smelting House which *' were 
 discharged from the vessels which took them up years ago" 
 are two or three lengths of iron pipe belonging to the pumps. 
 These came out with the engine and have remained where 
 
eet. The 
 ; doiibt- 
 id I hope 
 ,t il is no 
 and the 
 ises wore 
 or effect, 
 now their 
 Lake. 
 
 se, which 
 )e landed 
 •e used to 
 J there is 
 er works 
 delay of 
 h the re- 
 
 f all the 
 suppose, 
 ice, a dis- 
 s 'Miteral- 
 vvilh cast- 
 rs, shafts, 
 en in use, 
 le vessels 
 re mixed 
 lime, and 
 company 
 itruction." 
 [ believe I 
 y castings 
 ch *' were 
 '^ears ago" 
 lie pumps, 
 fled where 
 
 ir, and without 
 
 cd for a whole 
 
 , arrived from 
 
 3 the Crusher 
 
 they were discliargcd ever since. They arc very heavy, are 
 not, and never may be required, but if ever wanted will 
 be found as fit for service as if they had been st^ -edin the 
 Warehouse all the time. Regarding the other items, (I 
 speak from recollection, but my memory is aided by a Da- 
 guerreotype view of the ground,) when I left the Mines in 
 November, and I suppose there has been little alteration 
 since, the " wheels" consisted of a set of waggon wheels 
 and axles at the warehouse door, with five cog wheels, not 
 scattered about, but standing up against the wall of the Boiler 
 House ready for use when required. Most of these came 
 up in the fall of 1850, and some lost -ui/'nier. Tiiey are 
 principally duplicate pieces of th' 
 which the dressing operations migl • . 
 winter. The " rollers," six or seven 
 Montreal last summer, were landed v. 
 House, and rolled up as far from the beach as could be done 
 without interfering with the Road. There they were placed 
 in a row close together, awaiting the time when they should 
 be required. When I mention that these rollers weigh from 
 twelve to fifteen cwt. each, that they are now in the 
 most convenient spot for removing when required, and that 
 had the Crusher been going constantly during the past win- 
 ter there would not have been above one pair remaining, if 
 even that, I think I have said enough on the subject. As 
 to " shafts" and " cranks" I know of none in the open air, 
 unless you allude to one shaft of about four feet length, a 
 duplicate of part of the Crusher, and which, if it was not 
 used last summer, is dcibtless standing beside its cog wheel 
 against the wall of the Boiler House. If so it could not be in 
 a better or safer place. ^' Cranks" I think I may safely say 
 there are none, at least I never saw any, and I think if the 
 ground had been literally covered with them for a sixth of a 
 mile, I must have stumbled upon some of them in my con- 
 stant passing and repassing the scene in question. In fact 
 I doni think there is a crank on the location not in use ex- 
 pect the Pump Crank in the Crusher House. The " &c.," 
 
8 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 whicli is appended to ilie above catalogue is a widely des- 
 criptive word, but in this case can only be applied to a 
 considerable quantity of old and scrap iron, broken picks, 
 shovels and barrow wheels, and other sucli articles, lying at 
 the end of the Boiler House, and where they were systema- 
 tically collected in order that if at any time it was possible 
 to make use of ihem, thev might be found without the delay 
 of a search, costing more than the value of the article. Be- 
 sides these, there are some broken and worn out rolls on the 
 east side of the Engine House, apart from the iCSt, with a 
 broken cog wheel, but all these are only valuable as old iron, 
 and their price would be almost if not entirely eaten up by 
 the freight down. All these, with the exception of the pipes 
 above mentioned, and which are near the Coal Pile, are on 
 the east side of the Ore Floors, and not near the Smelting 
 Works. Nor are they mixed up as stated with "coals, 
 " firebricks, timber, spars, bar iron, lime, and all sorts of 
 « materials," but are or were lying by themselves at the 
 Boiler and Engine Houses, whe/eas the coals are on the coal 
 floor at the Smelting House, the fire bricks carefully piled in 
 a Log House there also ; the few sticks of timber which remain 
 are on the beach,where they were landed,and whence it would 
 be folly to remove them till wanted,— spars I never saw on the 
 Location; the bar iron is arranged according to size 
 against the side cf the V< arehouse, except a few sizes too 
 heavy or too long, which are on the ground; the lime, if 
 there is any, is in the Lime House, while both the descrip- 
 tion and whereabouts of the " all sorts of materials" are to 
 me unknown, and I might truly quote (with a plight altera- 
 tion) from Thompson's Panegyric on Great Britain, and 
 say— 
 
 " Heavens ! what a pooJIy prospect spreads around, 
 «* Of Wheels, and Rolls, ond Pumps, and Shufts, and Cranks, 
 " Mixed up with coals and cosily spar? and lime, till all 
 " The ideal Landscape into smoke decays." 
 
 The above statements I have made, presuming (as I am 
 ^ entitled to do) that no material change has taken place on 
 
idcly des- 
 plied to a 
 ken picks, 
 s, lying at 
 g systema- 
 is possible 
 L the delay 
 ;icle. Be- 
 oUs on the 
 ?st, with a 
 LS old iron, 
 aten up by 
 f the pipes 
 •lie, are on 
 ; Smelting 
 ih " coals, 
 all sorts of 
 Ives at the 
 on the coal 
 lly piled in 
 lich remain 
 ce it would 
 ■ saw on the 
 ig to size 
 w sizes too 
 he lime, if 
 he descrip- 
 ials" are to 
 iaht altera- 
 ritain, and 
 
 1 Cranks, 
 I all 
 
 ig (as I am 
 n place on 
 
 9 
 
 the surface of the ground during the past winter, as other- 
 wise the sense of justice (which ought to pervade such re- 
 ports) would doubtless have induced tlie statement that 
 the extraordinary appearance of llie beach had arisen durin 
 the past six months. 
 
 cr 
 
 But bad as all this may be, ihero is still worse behind. 
 Your next sentence F^:itcs that " no care seems to have been 
 " taken to keep together the various parts connreied with 
 "any one piece of machinery," and as an insla , c y incite 
 a macliine for jigging, wiiicli came out from England widi 
 the Steam Engine, and which you were told "was on tiie 
 "most approved plan then in use in Enghind," but that on 
 examination for the purpose oi having it j)ui in o;)eration 
 you were farther informed that the pieces were scattered all 
 over the Location, some buried under the large pile of 
 skimpings, some used for other purposes, and that it was 
 impossible to put it up. I am sorry to be obliged to con- 
 tradict your informant. Cornish Miners, probably from 
 passing so much of their time under ground, are most de- 
 voted worshippers of the rising sun, and your informant was 
 doubtlesss delighted to have the opportunity of showing his 
 zeal for the Company's service, by giving you every informa- 
 tion, but he has overshot the mark. Led away, I fear, by a too 
 willing ear being lent to any statement disparaging to the past 
 management, he has greatly exceeded both his knowled<re 
 and the truth. He has stated a cool, deliberate, and uncalled 
 for falseliood, in saying that this Jigging Machine " was on 
 " the most approved plan then in use in England." The fact 
 being that this machine was an invention of Mr. Vivians 
 entirely new, had never been tried, and was, I should s~y' 
 a great deal too expensive and complicated ever to be used 
 in England. Mr. Vivian himself will, I doubt not, corroborate 
 this. He told me over and over again that it was on quite a 
 new principle and that no one but himself could put it up. 
 As i had great doubts whether even he could put it up to 
 v^ork satisfactorily, you cannot be surprisea that when de- 
 
10 
 
 prived of his most valuable services I should hesitate at- 
 tempting the job myself. Long before Mr. Vivian was dis- 
 charo-ed, I became convinced that, even if all the machinery 
 connected with the apparatus worked well, the amount of 
 ore which could be dressed by it would be infinitely less 
 than what could be cleaned by the large sieves now in use, 
 and that it would be far mote costly to work. I therefore, 
 when the time arrived, discarded this new fangled machine 
 (which was of the most complicated description, including 
 in its composition numerous drums, fast and loose pulleys, 
 spur geer, shafts, excentrics, levers, catches, slides, and a 
 host of other parts,) and used for erecting the jigging ma- 
 chinery such of the shafts, plummer blocks and pulleys as 
 could be turned to account. All the other pieces, with the 
 exception of the heavy castings which are up at the old 
 Engine House, where they were deposited on being landed, 
 and one or two shafts in the Warehouse, are, I believe, in 
 the loft oi the Boiler House. I am sorry to be obliged so 
 flatly to contradict your veracious infc/mant, but the parts 
 are not " scattered all over the Location," nor is there, to 
 the best of my belief, a single piece "buried under the 
 large pile of skimpings." I admit that part has been used, 
 and that it is impossible to put it up, but that ought to be 
 rather a source of satisfaction, as it will probably prevent the 
 costly experiment being tried of working with it. It is, I 
 think, highly probable that there are castings at the Mine, 
 the use of which are unknown to any of the men there ; but 
 you appear to forget that there is neither an Engineer nor a 
 Pitman now at the Mines, and it would have been matter 
 for greater surprise had any of those now there been able to 
 ffive you the desired information ; my only astonishment 
 (notwithstanding! have had a good deal to do with Cornish 
 Miners) is to learn that any of them actually had the conceit 
 to fancy that he knew anything about this Jigging Machine, 
 or indeed about machinery of any description whatever. 
 
 Th\< branch of vour Report winds up with a statement 
 that at the time you were there " an order had to be sent t^- 
 
11 
 
 sitate at- 
 vvas dis- 
 lachinery 
 mount of 
 itely less 
 w in use, 
 herefore, 
 machine 
 
 ncluding 
 pulleys, 
 es, and a 
 ging ma- 
 uUeys as 
 with the 
 it the old 
 g landed, 
 elieve, in 
 bliged so 
 the parts 
 there, to 
 mder the 
 ;en used, 
 ight to be 
 re vent the 
 , It is, I 
 he Mine, 
 lere ; but 
 eer nor a 
 m matter 
 n able to 
 nishment 
 h Cornish 
 le ponccit 
 Machine, 
 tever. 
 statement 
 je sent t'^' 
 
 "Detroit for a new shaft, to put up in the Jigging House, 
 " though there was said to be one which loould answer undci^ 
 '' the pile of skimpings, but it was thought cheaper to send 
 " to Detroit for a new one than to seek in the skimping for 
 " the 01 iier, as its exact situation was not known.'''' It is apity 
 that the authority upon which these statements are made is 
 kept in the back ground, that I might escape answering 
 them in a way personal to you ; but in this case so implicitly 
 do you appear to have taken for truth this ondit about the 
 shaft, that I cannot help saying it would have been better 
 had you enquired a little farther into the matter. Perhaps 
 you will also be of this opinion when I tell you that the 
 shaft under the Skimpings is but the offspring of your in- 
 formant's vivid imagination. The shafts intended for the 
 Jigging Machines were one in the Boiler House where 
 It still remained in April last, and the rest at the side 
 ot the Warehouse with the bar iron ; the first was the 
 only one that was turned, it being intended to cut and 
 turn the others at the Mines. This statement I make 
 upon the authority of the man who was sent by Mr. Tregon- 
 mg to Detroit, to order the machinery for the stamps, and 
 who brought the whole, including these shafts with him to. 
 the Mines, and I fully believe his report. A very striking 
 characteristic in a Cornish Miner (in addition to his devoted 
 adniiration of the rising sun), is that he is always supplied 
 with an answer to every question, and the pile of Skim^pin-s 
 was too ready a reply to every enquiry for goods lost, or sup- 
 posed to be lost, to be overlooked ; and I doubt not if you had 
 asked your informant what had become of the deficiency in 
 the copper two years ago he would hove answered that he be- 
 lieved there was a large quantity buried under the pile of 
 
 ^Zrf' ^^f' ^^^*^^««t« ^^hould always be taken cum 
 grano salts, and under circumstances similar to yours 1 
 mean after a change of Government, with a very large grain 
 
 . „, oa oi j,„ur liejion J shall ofter no farther re- 
 maiks, but while congralulating my Wend Mr. Davidson 
 

 12 
 
 upon the well merited commendation whicli you bestow on 
 him in the first line of your strictures on the Store and 
 Office, I cannot help regretting thai you have changed the 
 system of book-keeping hitherto pursued in the Office, and 
 adopted the cumbrous and mystifying one of " a regular set 
 of Books" — a system which I may say renders it impossible 
 in a business of the kind in question, to keep any efficient 
 check upon the accounts. By the old method, when the 
 Cash Book showed everything, the balance being the amount 
 in the chest, it w^as next to impossible for anything: to be 
 erroneously entered without being at once discovered. Now 
 all that I can say is, that 1 think the Company are most for- 
 tunate in having for their Book-keeper one on whose inte- 
 grity they may most implicitly rely. 
 
 9 
 
 Relative to the improper way in which the Mine has been 
 opened, your statements are perfectly true, but they are only 
 a repetition of all the reports which have been made on the 
 same subject for years. Every one who has been connected 
 with the management of the Mines, has regretted that under 
 the advice of the person on whose recommendation the Mine 
 was purchased, and vv^ho was first put in cliarge, the pro. 
 ceeding which hastiirned out so unfortunately was adopted. 
 It was, I think, on the 6th May, 1848, that Captain Roberts, 
 by letter, distinctly retracted his former favourable opinions, 
 and recommended open working, which was for a consider- 
 able period followed. Confidence in Captain Roberts' 
 judgment was entirely shaken by the result of Mr Logan's 
 survey, but the mischief had already been done, and all that 
 remained was, as far as possible, to modify the evil. This 
 was done not precisely as you state by these excavations 
 " being subsequently filled up with loose stones," but by 
 making regular stulls filled with stones and carefully clayed 
 over to a considerable depth, drains at the same time being 
 formed along the sides of the lode for carrying off the sur- 
 face water. Nearly the whole of this work I myself saw per- 
 formed, and so successful was it that, during the summers of 
 
cslow on 
 lore and 
 nged the 
 fice, and 
 gular set 
 apossible 
 efficient 
 A\en the 
 B amount 
 insc to be 
 d. Now 
 most for- 
 lose inte- 
 
 has been 
 '■ are only 
 de on the 
 ;onnecled 
 hat under 
 the Mine 
 , the pro. 
 adojjted. 
 I Roberts, 
 opinions, 
 consider- 
 Roberts' 
 Logan's 
 d all that 
 ril This 
 cavations 
 " but by 
 lly clayed 
 me being 
 T the sur- 
 f saw per- 
 immers of 
 
 13 
 
 1849 and 1850, the Miners could scarcely be said to be ever 
 hindered by water, but unfortunately in the winter of 1850, a 
 great deal of bad feeling existed between the then Manager 
 and Mining Captain ; work was to a certain degree eglected 
 the stulls were allowed to get out of repair, and the drains 
 to be filled up, et hinc illce lachrymos. 
 
 Relative to the number of shafts, it would take too long 
 to explain clearly, although it could easily be proved, that 
 in a Mine like the Bruce, where it is cheaper to stope under- 
 hand, it is less expensive to sink shafts at certain distances, 
 and take up stopes from them than for each parly of men to 
 take up their own stopes, besides the former method keeps 
 the bargains free from water, which would otherwise be a 
 great hindrance. I will merely refer you to the report of the 
 Geological Survey, in which calculation is made for shafts 
 at every twenty fathoms, whereas those now sunk on the 
 vein, are at a much greater distance from each other. You 
 need however be under no apprehension that the present 
 engine is not perfectly capable of keeping the Mme free 
 from water, if the pumps are properly put in. It was calcu- 
 lated, besides its present duty, to pump the Mine to a depth 
 of at least sixty fathoms, and at a distance of a mile from its 
 site. Ti.e ore is generally understood to be raised from such 
 shallow depths as yet attained more economically by horse 
 than by steam power, and that even in England, where coals 
 are cheap and oats are dear. The erection of steam ma- 
 chinery for raising the ore has been frequently urged during 
 the last two years, but as the reasons given for the outlay 
 were bad, I have always set my face against it as a useless 
 waste of money. 
 
 The 25 fathom level is certainly not 25 fathoms from the 
 surface of the ground, the measure being taken from the 
 collar of the old engine shaft, and which is raised about 
 twelve feet above the ground, in order to give a trip for the 
 siulT; and 1 do not see upon what grounds you so decidedly 
 
14 
 
 stale that, " doubtless the Company have paid for sinking 
 " the whole 25 fathoms." Before making such an assertion 
 as this, it had been well if you had enquired into how 
 ground wrought in shafts was paid for. Had you done this 
 you would have found that it wag impossible that the Com- 
 pany could have paid for more than was really wrought. 
 For instance, in Scott's shaft, which is, I presume, the one 
 you allude to, you would have found that the collar was not 
 put on the shaft until it was below the ten fathom level, and 
 that since then all the measur^^ments in sinking were taken 
 from that level. You would also have found that the 25 
 fathoms to the bottom of the level were measured from a 
 mark near the roof of the house over the shaft, and which 
 mark was horizontal with the collar of the old engine shaft. 
 If the levels were all struck at 25 fathoms Irom the mouth of 
 each shaft, any reasoning being must see that they would 
 nearly follow all the inequalities of the surface, and might 
 in one place be many feet higher than another. The only 
 practicable method of getting a level is, by taking a certain 
 fixed point higher than the mouth of any one shaft, and 
 making all measurements from an imaginary horizontal 
 line running through that point, allowing for the underlie of 
 the lode, if any exist. Such being the fact, your assertion 
 that the Company has over paid one eleventh part for the 
 shafts sunk to this level, not only falls to the ground as un- 
 substantiated, but proves how little dependence is to be 
 placed, upon your other statements regarding subjects, with 
 which you are naturally not conversant. 
 
 I am sorry to see that the levels driven last winder do not 
 meet correctly. This is the effect of carelessness, and the 
 natural tendency which men driving always have to rise, 
 but as far as the drainage of the Mine is concerned, I dont 
 think it is of so much consequence. It never was, I believe, 
 the intention of any Captain of the Mine to carry the water 
 on iViP (Trmind alonfi' the bottom of the level, as both Mr. 
 Borron and you appear to suppose, but to conduct it in 
 
15 
 
 r sinking 
 assertion 
 into how 
 done this 
 the Com- 
 wrought. 
 e, the one 
 ir was not 
 level, and 
 ^ere taken 
 iiat the 25 
 ed from a 
 ind which 
 ^ine shaft. 
 J mouth of 
 ley would 
 and might 
 The only 
 r a certain 
 shaft, and 
 horizontal 
 mderlie of 
 : assertion 
 art for the 
 iind as un- 
 3 is to be 
 ects, with 
 
 Ller do not 
 5s, and the 
 re to rise, 
 ed, I dont 
 , I believe, 
 ' the water 
 \ both Mr. 
 duct it in 
 
 launders or troughs along the sides at a sufficient height 
 from the bottom, to prevent injury, and which is the only 
 course by which it can be conveyed across any shafts that 
 may be sunk, and which it must otherwise fill before reach- 
 ing the pumping shaft. Besides, how is the bottom of the 
 level to be sloped out if it is to be used as a water course ? 
 
 There is only one more statement in this part of your Re- 
 port which I need notice. It is that, having endeavoured to 
 ascertain the number of fathoms of ground actually cut and 
 the number paid for, and having entirely failed in procuring 
 anything like a positive result, you " have reason to be- 
 " lieve, however, that the Company have paid for much 
 " more than has been cut." I cannot suppose that you 
 could make such a statement as this, which, if true, amounts 
 to a charge very like embezzlement, and if untrue, to a gross 
 calumny upon all who have held the office of Captain of the 
 Bruce Mines during the past five years, unless you had some 
 substantial and convincing proof of these alleged over-pay- 
 ments ; and having this, I am surprised that you did not 
 state the grounds upon which you appear to have formed so 
 decided an opinion. Were any of those implicated by the 
 statement still in Canada, I should leave to them to refute 
 what I believe to be an unjust aspersion on their character ; 
 but such not being the case, I feel obliged to state my belief 
 that the Company have not "paid for much more (ground) 
 " than has been cut," excepting so far C3 is unavoidable in 
 measuring, and when the benefit of fractions is gener- 
 ally, as a rule, given to the men. This, however, applies 
 only to slopes and not to shafts or levels. But perhaps 1 am 
 unnecessarily defending the absent ; indeed I almost think 
 the accusation itself is the strongest reason that can be ad- 
 duced for a verdict of not guilty. You state that you 
 had endeavoured to ascertain whether the number of fa- 
 thoms cut agreed with the number paid for, and you dis- 
 
 tinctlv ndrnit that vni-" ho^ «^^->a* =,' 1'— '' •! ■• • Lt 
 
 J — .„,. jfuu ncia iiiOSt Siguiuiy iuiiea m " procur- 
 ing anything like a positive result." fn order to have ar- 
 
16 
 
 rived at a positive result, a correct and lengthened survey of 
 the whole Mine would have been required, such as was 
 made in January 1850, and the preparation of which even 
 then occupied some weeks. Mr. Borron may bo the best 
 surveyor who ever lived, but neither he nor any other man 
 could walk through that Mine, and in the course of a few 
 hours make even an approximation to the quantity of ground 
 excavated. A few spots may have been measured and their 
 contents calculated, but with the stopes full of stuff, as you " 
 state some of them to have been, it is ridiculous to suppose 
 that even an opinion could be formed on the subject, and 
 I am surprised that any Miner or Captain who had a charac- 
 ter for veracity to sustain, would venture to express one ; 
 and yet without any other evidence you assert your belief 
 that the Company have been robbed by their servants. It 
 would be quite as just to convict without trial, a man of a 
 burglary, which had never been committed, because some 
 one believed that such a deed had been perpetrated, for 
 you here try, convict, and condemn without proof being ad- 
 duced on the one side or defence allowed on the other. It 
 is the part of a properly constituted mind to examine well 
 into the facts of a case before making statements which may 
 injure others, and if there is a doubt upon the subject to al- 
 low to the accused the benefit of that doubt — neither of these 
 proceedings do you appear to have followed. That you have 
 not examined the facts of the case is admitted, and that you 
 do not give the benefit of the doubt which could not but rest 
 on your mind, unless indeed your opinion be governed by 
 your will, instead of your will by your opinion, is too mani- 
 fest, when in the face of the want of all evidence of the fact, 
 and the most perfect ignorance on the subject, you declare to 
 the Stockholders your belief, " that the Company have paid 
 " for much more than has been cut." 
 
 It is not my intention to reply to Mr. Borron's Report, 
 
 1 wi- 
 
 thin ii 
 
 hat it 
 
 
 rrr\f\rl 
 
 rloql mnvf> nr\n. 
 
 ailliOU&^li I llUIiiV. tual It wiopiciji 
 
 fid jnce in his own judgment than perhaps is altogether pro- 
 
17 
 
 rvey of 
 as was 
 ;h even 
 le best 
 er man 
 ■ a few 
 ground 
 id their 
 as you 
 (Uppose 
 ct, and 
 charac- 
 is one ; 
 r belief 
 nts. It 
 lan of a 
 5e some 
 ted, for 
 jing ad- 
 her. It 
 ne well 
 Lch may 
 ct to al- 
 of these 
 ou have 
 ;hal you 
 but rest 
 rned by 
 )o mani- 
 the fact, 
 eclare to 
 ive paid 
 
 Report, 
 
 -'X. V ^-»»_'*« 
 
 her pro- 
 
 per in one, who by all accounts, (including his own) has 
 had no sort of experience whatever in judging the value of 
 copper ore, and much less the yield of a vein composed of 
 a large portion of foreign material besides the ore itself. I 
 cannot, however, help remarking on your own sweeping 
 condemnation of the general method in which the Mine has 
 hitherto been worked, because so far from the past system 
 having been *' erroneous throughout" this summer is the 
 first period at which the frequently contemplated tribute 
 system could have been introduced at the Mines. Owing to 
 the large quantities of stuff hitherto on the surface, it was 
 absolutely impossible to set Tribute Bargains with the 
 slightest hope of protecting the Company's property from 
 being plundered. Had I remained at the Mines last winter 
 I should have introduced the Tribute system this spring, 
 but certainly not in the method you speak of trying in your 
 Report. I should not, as you propose to do, have made the 
 interests of the different Tributers antagonistic to each other, 
 but endeavoured to identify them. 1 would not have made 
 it the interest of the Dresser to make bad work and to waste 
 ore in the Skimpings, or that of the Spaller to make rich 
 piles and throw away a great deal, as refuse which, with 
 care and attention, would pay well for dressing. Again I 
 would not have made it the Miner's interest, while saving 
 the ore, to deliver it on the floors at the lowest possible 
 standard, but by identifying their interests should have tried 
 to make the Miner save his ore, the Spaller do his work 
 properly, and the Dresser raise his pile to the highest pos- 
 sible standard and with the least waste. At present it will, 
 I think, be found that the piles dressed upon the present 
 mode will be sandy, slimy, and of low produce, while the 
 Halvans and the Skimpings will be richer than they ought to 
 be, thus causing loss to the Company in both ways. Even in 
 England, among low per centage ores, the proposed system 
 would not work profitably to the Company, far less will it here, 
 where the standard of ore, and the price of labour are so much 
 higher, while the laborers are so much more independent 
 
18 
 
 I have made these remarks not in any factious spirit, but 
 simply as a justification for the " erroneous" system which 
 you condemn, and to show you that Tribute Bargains 
 would have been sooner given had such been practicable. I 
 hope they will also have the efTect of proving to you the 
 danger of rushing too hastily into new paths, where those 
 formerly connected with tho management almost feared to 
 tread, but which the earnest attention they had for long be- 
 stowed on the subject, would probably have enabled them to 
 enter and pursue in safety. It was a change which required 
 considerable tact in introducing, as well as experience in or- 
 ganizing, and I have little doubt that the truth of the above 
 remarks will ere long be practically proved, by the impossi- 
 bility of getting Miners to break ground on Tribute, over the 
 ore produced from which, they have no subsequent control, 
 except at such prices as will leave no profit for the Company. 
 
 Before closing this letter I cannot refrain from expressing 
 some surprise that one of the most striking objects about 
 the Mines should have escaped remark. That the Engine 
 House and machinery contained in it should have passed 
 unnoticed, I do not at all wonder, as I flatter myself, al- 
 though the house was built and the machinery put together 
 in the face of many and great difficulties, yet that you would 
 look in vain for anything with which to find fault, but that 
 those picturesque Ruins on the Hill, where once stood or 
 rather fell the Old Engine House, were unvisited, or were 
 thought unworthy of even a passing remark, does indeed 
 call forth all my astonishment. 
 
 Of this interesting relic which cost over £3000, (a sum 
 quite insignificant, it appears by your silence regarding it, in 
 comparison with the value of a few broken castings and pick 
 moulds,) all that now remains to speak the Architec- 
 tural triumphs of its founder, is the Boiler House now 
 used as a Carpenter's Shop and a confused heap of 
 stones. 
 
19 
 
 This House was built under the sole supervision and di- 
 rection of Mr Virian, the Engineer, from England, and who 
 considered himself irresponsible, save to the Directors, for 
 his acts. I was at the Mines during that winter, and know 
 that he frequently refused to obey the wishes, or attend to 
 the advice of the Superintendent, but, as I had merely 
 been sent up for a special object, I had no real power over 
 him, and, I am happy to say, no responsibility in the 
 matter. 
 
 Having now finished my task, I will conclude by hoping that 
 you will excuse any of my expressions which may appear harsh 
 or uncourtcous, I am perfectly aware of all the diflficulties of 
 the position which you have assumed. I know well the many 
 obstacles you will have to overcome, which are now only be- 
 ginning to appear, and I also know the desire of every public 
 man to fill any position which he holds to the satisfaction of his 
 constituents, and the confident expectation, with which you took 
 office, thpt from a ruinous concern, you would convert the Bruce 
 into a paying Mine. This laudable desire and expectation have 
 unquestionably tended to make you zealous and energetic in 
 the discharge of your duty as President, and for this the thanks 
 of your brother Stockholders are clearly your due, but I cannot 
 think that it was either your duty to them, or the part of an 
 lion est heart and a straightforward man, to hold up in an exagge- 
 rated form every error, or mischance which had occurred, with 
 the apparent object of making a strong Report, against the past 
 management, and in order that the future might form a more 
 striking contrast, than it would have done, had the simple truth 
 en more strictly adhered to, and such explanations given as 
 were, or ought to have been, within your power to make. 
 
 I write this, not to deprive you of any credit which may be 
 your due, but I do most decidedly object to have my character 
 made the stepping stone, by which you are to reach the eminence 
 to which you aspire. I had no objection to give you every assist- 
 
20 
 
 ance to reach that pomt, anJ this I abundantly proved, and 1 cared 
 m\e for vour taking credit for tl,c possession of knowledge and 
 d a/wW h s I lad freely and unconditionally given them to 
 ou had certainly becon^c your property ; and alt ough I have 
 been requently amused at the admiration expressed by those to 
 when you hid commu.icated, as ortginal some plan or tm- 
 Ivemint which I had proposed to you, 1 d.d not thmktt wo.l 
 whUe to deprive you of the innocent pleasure o retathng, as the 
 ^si of your own wisdom, the information winch, out of good 
 feeSs for yourself and desire to benefit the Company, I had 
 S n you ; sttll I am not possessed of sufficient -agna.um.ty 
 fo give myself up a total atrd unresisting saertfice on tire altar of 
 vou poSarity. I cannot allow myself to be accused and con- 
 He3 that you may be glorified, without endeavouring to 
 SesLt^e juJtificatil, and give .uch ^^P^--^;°^; ^^^^ 
 Itions as I am able, trusting that in that spmt of candour 
 j,hich invariably is found in all '-f bodtes of men th 
 Stockholders will do ra. the justice to believe, tha tn no c a e 
 hl°5> their interests been wilfully neglected or disregarded. 
 I am, 
 
 <% 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Montreal, lOth August, 1852. 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 A. H. CAMPBELL ' 
 
d 1 cared 
 edge and 
 1 them to 
 ih I have 
 J those to 
 an or im- 
 k it worth 
 ng, as the 
 It of good 
 ny, I had 
 rnanimity, 
 he altar of 
 \ and con- 
 rouring to 
 s and cor- 
 candour, 
 men, the 
 in no case 
 regarded. 
 
 ant, 
 PBELL