LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. GIFT OF .,...Q^^^ Class ' REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE SIXTH ANNUAL SESSION THE AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS IRWIN MAHON, SECRETARY, CARLISLE, PENNSYLVANIA DEADWOOD AND LEAD, SOUTH DAKOTA SEPTEMBER 7, 8, 9, 10 n, AND 12, 1903 1904: UNION PRINTING COMPANY, PORTLAND, ORE. REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE SIXTH ANNUAL SESSION THE AMERICAN MINING * CONGRESS IRWIN MAHON, SECRETARY, CARLISLE, PENNSYLVANIA DEADWOOD AND LEAD, SOUTH DAKOTA, SEPTEMBER 7, 8, 9, 10, u AND 12, 1903 1904: UNION PRINTING COMPANY, POBTLAND, ORK. \"\ -, SESSIONS OF THE, CONGRESS HAVE BEEN HE,LD AS FOLLOWS: DATE CITY PRESIDENT ADDRESS REMAKKS 1st July 1897 Denver, Colo. Hon. Alva Adams Pueblo, Colo. Temporary 1st July 1897 Denver, Colo. Hon.L. Bradford Prince Santa Fe, N. M. 2nd July 1898 Salt Lake, Utah Hon. L. Bradford Prince Santa Fe, N. M. 3rd July 1899 Milwaukee Col. M. B. Montgomery Cripple Creek, Colo. ) Passed to 3rd June 1900 Milwaukee Col. M. B. Montgomery Cripple Creek, Colo. ) June 1900 4th July 1901 Boise, Idaho Hon. L. Bradford Prince Santa Fe, N. M. 5th Sept. 1902 Butte, Mont. E. L. Schafner Cleveland, Ohio. 6th Sept. 1903 Deadwood and \ Lead S. D. j Hon. J. H. Richards Boise, Idaho. OF THE (I UNIVERSITY OF OFFICAl ROSTER OF THE OFFICERS OF THE American Mining Congress SEVENTH ANNUAL SESSION MEETS AT PORTLAND, OREGON, AUGUST 22 - 27, 1904. OFFICERS Hon. J. H. Richards, President , Boise, Idaho Col. Thos. Ewing, 1st Vice-President. .Los Angeles, California R. C. Patterson, 2nd Vice-President Omaha, Nebraska J. Frank Watson, 3d Vice-President Portland, Oregon Merchants National Bank, Treasurer Portland, Oregon Irwin Mahon, Secretary Carlisle, Pennsylvania BOARD OF DIRECTORS. Hon. J. H. Richards, Idaho; Col. Thomas Ewing, California; R. C. Patterson, Nebraska; J. Frank Watson, Oregon; Col. E. F. Brown, Colorado; Dr. J. A. Holmes. North Carolina; John Gray, South Dakota; Hon. James H. Lynch, Montana; John Dern, Utah. LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE. Hon. J. H. Mitchell, United States Senator, Chairman, Oregon; Hon. J. H. Richards, Idaho; Col. Thomas Ewing, California. PROGRAM COMMITTEE. R. C. Patterson, A. M., Chairman, Nebraska; J. Frank Watson, Ore- gon; John Gray, South Dakota. TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE. Irwin Mahon, Chairman, Pennsylvania; Hon. J. H. Lynch, Mon- tana; Capt. Thos K. Muir, Oregon. BUILDING COMMITTEE. Col. Thos. Ewing, Chairman, California; David H. Moffatt, Den- ver, Colorado; J. R. Leonard, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 203314 OFFICERS OF THE SIXTH ANNUAL SESSION American Mining Congress WHICH MET AT DEADWOOD AND LEAD, SOUTH, DAKOTA, SEPTEMBER 7 TO 12 INCLUSIVE, 1903. OFFICERS Hon. J. H. Richards, President Boise, Idaho S. W. Russell, 1st Vice-President Deadwood, South Dakota E. R. Buckley, 2d Vice-President Rolla, Missouri Thomas Ewing, 3d Vice-President. .. .Los Angeles, California C. W. Goodale, Treasurer Butte, Montana Irwin Mahon, Secretary Carlisle, Pennsylvania EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Hon. J. H. Richards, Boise, Idaho; E. R. Buckley, Rolla, Missouri; Irwin Mahon, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Col. John T. Grayson, Portland, Oregon; S. W. Russell, Deadwood, South Dakota; Col. Thos. Ewing, Los Angeles, California; Charles W. Goodale, Butte, Montana; W. L. Kendall, Cleveland, Ohio; L. K. Armstrong, Spokane, Washington. LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE Hon. E. W. Martin, Chairman, Deadwood, South Dakota; Hon. H. B. Heyburn, United States Senator, Wallace, Idaho; Hon. A. B. Kittredge, United States Senator, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Col. Thomas Ewing, Los Angeles, California; Maj. E. L. Shafner, Cleveland, Ohio. PROGRAM COMMITTEE W. S. Elder, Chairman, Deadwood, South Dakota; J. W. Neill, Salt Lake City, Utah; Walter H. Weed, United States Geological Survey, Washington, D. C.; Dr. R. L. Slagle, Dean School of Mines, Rapid City, South Dakota; R. H. Driscoll, Cashier First National Bank, Lead, South Dakota. TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE S. W. Russell, Chairman, Deadwood, South Dakota; John Francis, G. P. A., B. & M. R. R., Omaha, Nebraska; J. A. Kuhn, Asst. G. P. & F. A., C. & NL W. R. R. Co., Omaha, Nebraska; Pro.f E. M. Shepard, Springfield, Missouri; Ernest May, Lead, South Dakota. REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE SIXTH ANNUAL SESSION THE AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS DEADWOOD AND LEAD, SOUTH DAKOTA, SEPTEMBER 7, 8, 9, 10, n AND 12, 1903. Deadwood, S. D., September 8, 1903, 10 A. M. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The Congress will now be in order. During this forenoon session we will pay no attention to the cards representing the states. We will be pleased to have you all come forward and these seats will be arranged for the afternoon. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We will now have the invocation by The Right Reverend John Stahra, Bishop of Lead. BISHOP STAHRA: In the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost amen: O, Holy Father, Almighty and Eternal God, we at all times and on all occasions praise and adore Thee for the many bene- fits Thou hast bestowed upon this great republic. Today, therefore, we raise our hearts and our voices beseeching Thee to bear forth Thy graces on these assembled. We pray Thee in Thy bounty to share Thy blessings on all the members of this American Mining Congress, and especially ask thy blessings on all those who are to take part in the deliberations of this Congress, that the officers and delegates may be strengthened by Thy grace and may discharge their duties honestly and conscientiously and for the well being of the people. May the deliberations of this Mining Congress be guided by the light of Thy divine wisdom, may its deliberations tend to promote the mining industry, the prosperity of our nation and the spiritual and temporal benefit of the people. We pray Thee on this great auspicious day, O God of Nations and of Battles, to direct in Thy wisdom OUT National Congress to frame laws for the development of the mining industry, and we pray Thee that it may become a separate department of our national government. We commend to Thy infinite bounty all our fellow citizens throughout the United States and the officers and delegates of this Mining Congress that they may live in union and brotherly love and, after enjoying all the blessings of this life they may by Thy divine grace be permitted to enjoy eternal life with Thee forever in Heaven. Amen. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You will now listen to the address of welcome on behalf of South Dakota by the governor of this state, Hon. Charles N. Herreid. (Applause.) Mr. President and Members of the American Mining Congress: Today South Dakota enjoys the proud distinction of having as her guests the representative men of one of the most important indus- tries, and it gives me great pleasure to welcome to our state this large and illustrious gathering of the most distinguished mining men of the United States. In the presence of so many evidences of good will it is almost needless for me to extend to you formal greetings of 6 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS welcome. Half a million South Dakotans would greet you and welcome you and will follow your deliberations with great interest and enthu- siasm. The problems which you will consider are problems of tre- mendous importance to this young state. While South Dakota is best known as one of the great agricultural states, our vast mineral resources challenge our most careful consideration. We have within our state not only the largest gold mine in the world, but what is believed to be the richest one hundred square miles upon the globe, our mining experts will tell you we have mountains of precious metals; our regents of education will say to you we have the best School of Mines evolving the best methods for securing these metals; and I know we have men with the best mind and muscle to do the work. Since the 26th day of July 1874, when H. N. Rose washed the first gold from French Creek, about one hundred and twenty-five mil- lion dollars of gold have been taken from South Dakota mines. While we are contributing our full share towards the world's supply of the precious metals our immense mining enterprises are in their infancy, with hundreds of mines awaiting development. The industry which you represent is most intimately connected with the business life of the country. The output of the mines sup- plies the vital spark the energy of commerce. Close every mine and you would shake to its foundations every industry in the country. We all rejoice over the prevailing universal prosperity. I am proud of the fact that I can welcome you to a people who are super- latively prosperous, contented and happy; where the spirit of success dominates the commercial and industrial atmosphere; where every- body has surrendered to the magnificent energy which is building a new and splendid empire. I welcome you to a people who for six years have produced more wealth per capita than any other state in the Union; to a state famous for the large number according to population, of newspapers, churches, colleges and school houses; to a state absolutely free from conflict between labor and capital; to a state settled largely by the children of the pioneers who were the empire builders of the Great West children who from infancy were taught the lessons of vigorous manhood; a people who adopted as their state motto: "Under God the People Rule," and who, as, individuals and communities, with reverence for all law, human and 'divine, are living up to their high standards of right. I have no apologies to make for this young commonwealth. A few years ago, in the midst of universal distress, when financial ruin was prancing up and down Wall Street, when civilization seemed to have entered upon an epoch of unrest, our people were fearlessly facing serious problems and thinking and struggling perhaps not always wisely but always with the conviction of honest, men. Triumphantly the people shook off the burden of despair. Ten years ago the real value of all property within the state was less than one hundred million dollars; today it is one thousand million! Today every South Dakotan is proud of his state and with joy and devotion ready to join the grand chorus of thanksgiving and praise: "I love ev'ry inch of her prairie land, Every stone on her mountain side, I love every drop of her water clear That flows in her rivers wide. I love ev'ry tree, ev'ry blade of grass Within Columbia's gates. The queen of the earth is the land of my birth, My own United States." Members of the American Mining Congress! I welcome you to a state that feels honored by your presence. I sincerely hope and believe that your deliberations will be profitable and pleasant and that when AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 7 you leave our state, it will be with the most pleasant recollections and delightful impression that South Dakota has not only the natural resources and the people but the foundations firmly established for honorable membership in the splendid galaxy of the great common- wealths of our country. (Applause.) PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You will now listen to a selection of music by the band. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: An address of welcome on behalf of the city of Deadwood by its mayor, Mr. E. MteDonald. (Applause.) MAYOR M'DONJALD: It gives me great pleasure to welcome the American Mining Congress to Deadwood in the name of its citizens. It is the first time your association has turned its face in the direction of the richest one hundred miles square on earth and we feel confident that you will be given the heartiest welcomes and a grand acquisition to your membership. I hope that your stay among us will be so pleasant that on your return to your homes you may at least be able to say that you have had a pleasant time, if not the pleasantest among your six annual meetings. Deadwood has invited you to this city and you have ac- cepted the invitation in the same spirit in which it was offered and I do assure you of our pleasure in having you with us and again say that we shall feel amply rewarded if your visit will prove a profit and pleasure to you. We regret exceedingly the absence of President Roosevelt, whom we had supposed would have been able to have accepted the very cordial invitation that was extended to him by the Black Hills Mining Men's Association. Still, we are gratified to be favored by the pres- ence of such a distinguished representative in the person of Hon. Leslie M. Shaw. (Applause.) You are here to exchange greetings and to renew your acquaint- ances one with the other, to have as much pleasure as you can and do what you can to bind the members of the American Mining Congress closer and closer in the bond of union which is growing stronger with each passing year. You can and are by these gatherings getting nearer and nearer together, thus enabling you to harmonize opinions and unite on general principles, although differing on details. It is impossible for us all to agree upon everything. We will have our differences and should have. If not, all advancement and progress would cease and the world would retrograde. We grow wiser and better by the exchange of opinions. Twenty-five years ago no one would have supposed it would have been possible to bring so large a number of mining men together in one grand body like the American Mining Congress, hence we have reason to rejoice over what has been accomplished so far and have reason to believe that the future is bright with possibilities. At the last meeting of the Mining Congress, Mayor Davey was desirous of turning over the keys of the city to your president, saying his inability to do so was caused by the neglect of M'ayor McDonald to return them. (Laughter.) The insistence of Mr. Elliott of Montana that we refrain from transacting any business of any kind or charac- ter prevented my making any explanation at that time and I think it is due you to know why I failed to give the keys to the mayor for the benefit of the Congress. The night before our delegation was invited to dinner by Col. James Lynch (Cheers) and those of you who know him can form some idea of the time we were permitted to leave his hospitable home. It was late, yes, very late in the morning, and on nearing the Thornton we were accosted by a large body who inquired if we were the South Dakota delegation. Being informed that we were they asked if the mayor of Deadwood was with them. I replied that I was the mayor of Deadwood and was proud of it. They wanted the key to the hospital. At the mention of the word hospital we all became alarmed and we all volunteered our services, 8 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS saying that every man from Deadwood was a Good Samaritan. They said they were in quest of trained nurses, they wanted seclusion and rest; that although they had preceded us a week they found that the South Dakota delegation was in the forefront of popularity. What could a man do, representing the generous citizens of Dead- wood, but to hand over the bunch of keys? Now I am not going to give the keys of the city of Deadwood to President Richards; not because he is not a good man; his reputation has preceded him. He has paid us a number of visits during the past year to consult with his invaluable co-worker, Mr. Mahon. (Cheers.) We had an opportunity of learning something of Judge Richards, modest and unassuming way, and any organization should be proud to be the possessor of such an able and dignified president. (Cheers.) Now you will observe that I have no personal reasons I love the judge; to know him is to love him; he is a man among men; a prince among gentlemen, but I cannot give him the keys to the city of Deadwood. I have conceived the idea that on this occasion an open door policy without the Russian bear in the doorway would be prefer- able to the American Mining Congress. OUT homes and hearts are open to you and if you should find any- thing under lock and key report it and I will ascertain the reason why. (Laughter.) Now, to the city of Deadwood, I join with our people in welcoming you and I trust that your visit will prove an era in the life of the American Mining Congress. (Applause.) PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I take this occasion to call upon our secretary to read a letter recently received by your congressman, Hon. E. W. Martin, from the president of the United States. SECRETARY MAHON: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: "White House. Washington. Oyster Bay, N. Y., August 28, 1903. My Dear Mr. Martin: I am very sorry to find that it will be out of the question for me to attend the session of the American Mining Congress next month. I take a particular interest in this meeting, because many of your members I have myself the honor of personally knowing. I not only believe with all my heart in the work, but in the men who are doing it. Please convey to the delegates assembled my hearty good wishes for the complete success of the meeting. Sincerely yours, THEODORE ROOSEVELT, Hon. Eben W. Martin, M. C., Deadwood, S. D." (Great applause.) PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Your committee on program has designated myself to respond on behalf of the American Mining Congress to the addresses of welcome that have been extended this congress. I was notified by the mayor of Deadwood on yesterday that he would have the best of me today and I see that he has because he still holds the keys to this city. I thought when I heard the name McDonald, that he probably came from bonnie Scotland, but upon hearing the smoothness of his tongue I think he has received the inspiration of the Blarney stone of Ireland. (Applause.) It gives me especial pleasure to respond to these addresses of welcome on behalf of this Congress for many reasons, a few of which 1 will mention. When this Congress was in a state of possible dis- organization the people of these Black Hills had an active part in reorganizing it. When it was in a state of poverty they gave it money. When it wanted a home they took it in, and today when it AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 9 stands forth here in this city filled with hope they rejoice with its prosperity, and whatever of good it may accomplish in the future the people of the Black Hills will have a large share in whatever that good may be. (Cheers.) I know from experience that, although you may have here the richest one hundred square miles on earth in gold and material wealth I say I know from exp-erience that you have also a greater wealth than that in the sturdy manhood of the Black Hills. It is ereater because it means more to this commonwealth than all the gold and silver hidden in these great mountains, because in the end it means higher citizenship and from the generosity, good will and strength of manhood that I have met here, you have a greater wealth in your manhood and womanhood than all the wealth of these hills otherwise. (Applause.) This Congress and its officers have received an inspiration from the Black Hills Mining Men's Association the model Mining Men's Association of the entire West and that inspiration will go out through the influence of this congress into every mining camp in the country. They will pattern by your model and by your inspiration and so this work will go on. So I say it gives me particular pleasure to respond to these addresses of welcome giving this Congress an opportunity to testify to the worth of the manhood of the Black Hills. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We will now listen to a further response from Mrs. Dignowity. MRS. DIGNOWITY: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: This is rather a low grade proposition I have to offer this morning. We hope though, with proper treatment, to extract some little value from it. I have entitled this little doggerel which I have to offer, "America's Mining Man." AMERICA'S MINING MAN. [By Ella Purkiss Dignowity] To "The Congress of Mining Men" assembled here within these templed hills, A message of welcome is given which should banish all your ills. For thoughts are potent forces, that have ruled the world for aye, And the best of them is offered to the Mining Man today. Hearty cheer, good will, kind greetings gracious hosts extent to you. Old bonds, new ties, and hopes awaking making life begin anew. Here the Mining Man God speed him will be recognized this week, As the King we all must bow to, and whose throne we proudly seek. He has been our brave crusader searching for the hidden grail, His dauntless courage and sturdy heart an invincible coat of mail. Full of the vigor of manhood, keen-eyed and alert of brain, Strong in hope that never deserts him and faith that leads on to the "vein." Who dares to limit his power? For intellect reaches the gold, The same spirit within that urges him on, filled these hills with treasures untold. But the treasures are wondrously precious, and not to be lightly won, So our knights must struggle to conquer, and valiantly battle on. Even though "faults" are encountered and "dead work" he cannot pass by, His courage and grit light the tunnel ahead more than his candle on high. For he knows that life's valued possessions are ever hard to win, And the best, in both man and mountain, is jealously guarded within. 10 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS And only a brave, noble spirit is fitted to penetrate The shrine of the Holy of Holies from whence glories radiate. And who is more worthy to seek there and wear the metals won Than the Pioneer of the Mining Camp, the man who followed the sun? He knows hardships but never shirks them, he seeks what is hidden from view, For the soul is not found on the surface, nor the heart of anything true. But now he has caught the gleam and glitter of God's treasures hidden so deep, Which lay waiting like all of His blessings for Knowledge to rouse them from sleep. And lo! cometh forth priceless metals unloosed by the Master hand; The Mind that created has power to give His secrets to all the land. And who is more zealously seeking to solve problems earth holds today Than the Mining Man working and delving through the darkness that baffles his way? So here's to the Mining Congress, Metallurgist, Investor, all hail! The Miner, Promoter and Engineer, too, united they must be or fail. And here's to our hosts, and their cities the keys to you have been tendered. But the world is yours, and its richest gifts when "credentials" are properly rendered. With intelligence, purpose, courage and strength, willing hands and stout heart brave and true, Your minds and bodies ever alert, no limit encompasses you. For deep in these mountains and here in your breasts dwells He who conceived the whole plan. Prove your metal and find after all the tests, the best values God put in man. (Applause.) PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The Congress will now take pleasure in listening to responses from members and delegates. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Hon. John L. Webster, of Omaha, will address you for a few moments. M(R. WEBSTER: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: Rather unexpectedly some of my friends upon the platform have thought that I ought to say a word as a member of this Congress in response to the welcome which the governor of this state and the mayor of this city have so well tendered you. I come here with a high appreciation of the wealth that is stored in these mountains and of the generosity and nobleness of the citi- zens, not only of Deadwood, but of the entire state of South Dakota. We have all heard of the wealth that lies buried in the Black Hills; this 'range of mountains underneath which God seems to have stored u Hlions upon millions of wealth and then have raised them up above the vast plains so that man could not miss them and, in his search for wealth, should take from them the gold that is to enrich the world. But there is more in South Dakota, I should undertake to say, than simply the gold that comes from under these mountains. Your president has spoken of the noble manhood of her citizenship but if we speak of her wealth no one has stopped to count the wealth that comes from her harvest fields that are grown from her soil and that which, when added to the wealth that comes from her moun- tains, bespeaks for the state of South Dakota a very bright future. If you ever look over its area of territory, its opportunities and its possibilities and measure it by like extent of territory in any state, AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 11 there is here an opportunity of boundless wealth and prosperity. Some of our oldest states we can count wealthy simply because they have been in existence and members of the great Union for horhaps near a century, but when this state shall have become peopled, as they are, when wealth shall have come here in all its villages, towns and cities as it is in such older states, the state of South Dakota, by proper development, may come to rank in wealth and population as one of the older states and I doubt not in the great future it may rival the rich old state of Pennsylvania. Mark you, ladies and gentlemen, the tide of civilization seems driven westward and with the tide goes emigration and with ic goes wealth and in- dustry and when all these are combined with noble manhood the pos- sibilities of the state of South Dakota to take great and high rank among the states of the American Union is one of the things not only hoped for but within the range of possibilities and I sincerely believe it. (Applause.) PRESIDENT RICHARDS: There being no further responses I will call upon the chairman of the program committee to make any announcement that he may have to make at this time for this after- noon. Mr. Elder, chairman of the program committee announced at this time the program for the afternoon. (Calls for Martin, of South Dakota.) PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Mr. Martin needs no introduction. Everyone knows him. (Applause.) MR. MARTIN: Mr. President, it is not announced in what capacity I am expected to speak a few minutes before you break away for dinner, but surely I cannot speak in the capacity of a guest and cannot make a -response. I am, therefore, limited to speak in the capacity of host. You have been most eloquently and cordially welcomed on behalf of the state by our esteemed governor and on behalf of the city of Deadwood by the gentleman from Cork, our honored mayor. (Cheers.) Nothing is left to me but the broad nation as a whole, which welcomes you, and this unique little section of the Black Hills by itself, which welcomes you also. The American Mining Congress, of course, represents the mining industry in all of its broad relations and the mining industry in- tsluding, as it does, coal, iron, copper indeed, all of the metals, base and precious, stands in point of importance among the great industries of this country only second to the primary industry of agriculture. Agriculture, of course, is absolutely essential to the feeding of our population, to the sustaining of life; but at the basis of all OUT in- dustries beyond that comes this industry of mining. Coal must be had to furnish fuel to warm the human family, then metals must be had the basis from which all the industries must be carved, whether they pertain to the broader utilitarian industries or to the fine arts, and so the nation realizes that in this association it is indeed interested and it welcomes this meeting and welcomes it at this place at this time and takes great interest in its deliberations. But on behalf of this little section of the Black Hills, which has been my home for nearly a quarter of a century, I desire to offer a few words of additional welcome to the welcome of the city of Deadwood and of the state of South Dakota and it extends to you a generous and cordial greeting. It is indeed the real thing in hos- pitality, as you will discover before you finish your deliberations and your social amenities of the week. The Black Hills people say to you: "If you see anything you want take it. If you want anything you don't see simply ask for it, and if you should chance to see any- thing you don't want don't mention it." (Cheers.) Nature seems in these Black Hills to have reached her super- lative act in creation. Some one at some time has said that the Black Hills was made by Nature throwing in here all of the leavings 12 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS after all the rest of the world had been made. Now that suggestion was made, of course, because of the wonderful variety of our resources here. There is practically nothing in mineralogy that cannot be found in the Black Hills, not only precious metals, gold and silver, but here we have copper, we have iron, we have asbestos, indeed at the close of this meeting or at some time call upon Col. George and he will furnish you a list of Black Hills metals which I know he had printed some years ago, which is entirely too long to be mentioned here. I think because of the multiplicity of our resources that remark was .made of us but the facts are reversed. Nature first selected the choicest of everything she possessed and placed it here and what she had left she passed around to Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Idaho, and the other proud states of this nation. (Laughter.) And so here, whether you come from the standpoint of the mineralogist seeking to study the metals of the earth or whether you come as a geologist to see the marvelous illustrations of geology, you will find here we have much to invite your attention to. I do not know whether it can be said of any other section or not I do not know of any other but it can be said of the Black Hills that in many places the geologist can start from the surrounding foothills and by traveling three miles into te interior of the mountains he can find uplifted and exposed for his investigation that represents one mile in actual depth of the earth's crust. It is the geologist's paradise. If you are a geologist we welcome you to all of this and above all we welcome you to the hospitality of our homes in theso twin cities, Lead and Deadwood. You will have an opportunity upon Thursday of seeing what has not been given to the public generally and indeed to a very few to see in the period of twenty years. You are permitted to visit t'.ie lower levels of the Homestake mine, wnich has been probably told you to be the greatest gold mine in the world, and I understand that Mr. Grier does not pretend to be at all particular or exclusive as to who may visit that mine upon this occasion. If I am correctly in- formed not alone these delegates but all visitors generally who are attracted here will have an opportunity to visit the mine. You will there see what is typical of Black Hills gold mining. Gold mining in the Black Hills is not a speculation; it is a manufacturing industry, and I undertake to say there is no industry as stable or certain in manufacturing as making gold in the Black Hills. Our ore bodies^ while comparatively low grade, are of vast extent and as a -rule their richness is comparatively uniform so that it may be told from day to day with almost absolute certainty how much four thousand tons of ore, for instance at the Homestake mine, produces in precious metals and the production is practically the same every twenty-four hours. The product when made the yellow product of gold, is the most stable and fluctuates less in value than any other, and so you could not cite an industry of manufacture anywhere that is so stable or so certain as gold mining in the Black Hills when it is followed with intelligence, with capital and with courage. I was not called out here, I apprehend, to pose as a promoter for the great mines of this country, but I have such great confidence in it t"hat I would not have announced these important facts to you at the beginning of this Congress, knowing you have an opportunity to corroborate them, did I not know them to be true. So we say again you are welcome to the Black Hills and may this indeed be a red letter meeting in the history of the meetings of the American Mining Congress. (Applause.) PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I desire to call the attention of the delegates to the advisability of leaving your credentials with the secretary at the Franklin hotel. A committee on credentials will be appointed at the noon hour to pass on credentials. Please leave them with the secretary so that they may be properly accredited this afternoon. AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 13 MR. RUSSELL, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: I have a motion to make, but before doing so I desire to state to the delegates and the visiting members here that the Deadwood Business Club extends all courtesy to you; that you need not wait an invitation, that you need not wait for a card, but you will make use of the rooms of the Dead- wood Business Club as though they were your own. (Cheers.) I also desire to call you attention to the fact that the city of Deadwood, through its committee, has gathered a collection repre- senting the mineral wealth of the Black Hills, and which is displayed on the ground floor of the Bullock hotel. We trust that you will all visit it and study it carefully. There will be a committee in attend- ance at all times to give you such information as you may desire. RUSSELL OF SOUTH DAKOTA: Mr. President, I desire to move you that a committee on credentials of three be appointed by the chair to act on the credentials presented to the secretary. The motion was stated by the president, duly seconded and carried. RUSSELL, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: Mr. President, I would move you sir that a committee on resolutions of twenty be appointed, to which committee all resolutions shall be first referred before report- ing to the convention, and I would also add to that motion that the chairman of the committee be the Hon. E. W. Martin. The motion was stated by the p-resident, duly seconded and carried. MR. DAVIS, OF MICHIGAN: I move we adjourn until two o'clock this afternoon. The motion was stated by the president, duly seconded and carried. The American Mining Congress adjourned to September 8, 1903, 2 P. M. September 8, 1903, 2 o'clock P. M. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Congress will be in order. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Owing to the fact that Mr. Darton has been unexpectedly called away the program committee has found it necessary to make a slight modification of the program for this afternoon. Therefore at this time you will have the pleasure of listening to Mr. Nelson H. Darton, superintendent in the work of the United States Geological survey in the Black Hills. NELSON H. DARTON: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: One of the principal features of the work of the United States Geological Survey is the study of the mineral resources of the country. Many of its most detailed surveys are directed to the important mineral districts. Accordingly the Black Hills have received much consideration. For several years surveys have been in progress and they are now being continued from time to time with a view of obtaining all available data regarding the mineral resources of the Black Hills and the light which they throw on the philosophy of mineral bearing for- mations and on the occurrence of ores and ''their extensions to any other portions of the Black Hills district than those which are now known to contain ores. The purpose of the survey is to make a com- plete investigation of Black Hills mineral resources. Various men are employed in the work and have been from time to time. Some study the stratified rocks, the sandstones, shales and other formations surrounding the Hills; others study the crystalline rocks in the cen- tral nucleus area of the Hills, so the work is in the hands of spe- cialists, men who have made a particular study of the different branches of geology. The science is so highly specialized that almost any section requires the attention of a number of special students and the Geological Survey has provided that sort of service in the study of the geology of the Black Hills. 14 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS The first work that was done was the preparation of the topo- graphical maps. It is altogether important in working out geological relations and understanding the distribution of formations and their significance to have an accurate map and one of the principal functions of the Geological Survey is to prepare very accurate maps. They are surveyed by civil engineers and on a suitable scale for the representation of the topographical features. The ups and downs of the land are shown very accurately by contour lines and the water courses and the lines along which drainage would thus flow in time of rain are all shown very accurately, so that the map forms means of locating all geological data. Besides, they are of great service to persons who reside in the region and who travel through it. Ac- cordingly, the Survey has projected a very accurate system of maps for the Black Hills and they are nearly completed. Men are now in the field extending the work and finishing some of the portions of the outlying area, but the greater part of the Black Hills region has been accurately mapped. This has required a great deal of time but the result is one that I know will be a source of great satisfaction to those who live in the Hills and interested in its mineral resources and geology. The study of the mineral resources Has not "been completed by any means. Several of our geologists have been in the Northern Hills in seasons past studying the wonderful resources of mineral deposits here, deposits that are very diverse and present many unique and unusual features. Their study is certain to throw a great deal of light on the philosophy of mineral vein formation. We learn that the Black Hills show many obscure conditions under which ore occurs and which are most interesting, and if studied intelligently will explain the existence and extension of similar ore in other places. Then the formation that will be put on record is very extensive. We have now in preparation a standard publication of the survey, a folio as it is called, that covers the entire region about Lead and Deadwood showing the different geological formations, and has the different contacts and different rocks precisely located. These maps are made, as I spoke of before, showing all the topographical features and a person who can locate himself on a map of that sort can follow the different geographical features and know just what they signify. This folio is now being prepared for engraving and in the course of a few months will be published and will be published in the usual method of survey publications for distribution at the cost of printing and engraving, twenty-five or fifty cents apiece, which is, of course, a very cheap thing and puts it within the reach of anyone. Then there will be published a special report besides that on the mineral region of the northern half of the Black Hills. We have already published a report on the geology of the southern half of the Black Hills, especially the sedimentary formations and all informa- tion available that throws light on the prospects for obtaining under- ground waters on the flanking of the Hills and regions to the 'east and south. One special branch of our Survey is investigating the piospects for obtaining underground waters. Artesian wells will probably be a success in a wide area east of the Black Hills. The district now is very sparsely settled and there is much difficulty in obtaining water for domestic use, irrigation or other purposes. We are obtaining evidence from the study of the geological structure that shows that such waters are available for wells of reasonable depth. Also, under the Reclamation Act we will be able to sink wells to determine whether those waters are really there and as to how high the water will rise, so that they can be fully determined and some definite encouragement for sinking wells be held out. That work is also being extended into the northern Black Hills. Mr. O'Hara, and some others, are studying the geological structure very carefully so that we may ascertain how far the Belle Fourche artesian basis extends. There is really more need for water in some of the country immediately adjoining the Black Hills than for information AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 15 regarding the minteral resources because it affects the interests of a large number of people, so that the Survey is devoting a great deal of attention to this question of underground waterflow. These Hills are due to the upheaval as Professors O'Hara and Todd will tell you, of the earth's crust, that brings to view a great many of the rocks that underlie the plains to the east and north. We can study the up- turned edges of these rocks about the Black Hills in a very definite way indeed and learn what the conditions are likely to be in the adjoining plains under which the rock are known to dip. Another feature of our geological studies of the Black Hills will be a model that is to be prepared, or is now being prepared, for the St. Louis Exposition. It is provided for by funds appropriated by the state, and, as I understand it, the Black Hills people in part, and is to represent the relief of the entire Black Hills district, to show in a model about 8 feet long the shape of the country, the topographical features of the country with the ups and downs in miniature and on that will be represented the geology of the entire district. Also in another model of a portion of the region on somewhat larger scale, the principal features relating to the .mineral resources of the northern hills will be represented. That will be ready in the course of a month or two and will be exhibited at the Exposition as I said before. The survey will publish from time to time folios covering portions of the Black Hills to the south and east. One soon to come out will relate to the Newcastle and Cambria coal fields and discuss the relations of oil in the region about Newcastle. This has excited a good deal of attention and the country has been exploited for oil to a considerable extent. There will be folios describing the geology, mineral resources, various mines, prospects for underground water and setting forth all information available on those subjects on a large scale, so that we have in all half a dozen or more productions to prepare in the course of the next two or three years that will throw light on the geology and mineral resources of the Black Hills. (Applause.) PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I have appointed the committee on Credentials and Resolutions and I will now ask. the Secretary to read the appointments. Secretary Mahon read the names of the Committees as follows: COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS. 1. E. W. Martin, chairman South Dakota 2. J. H. Lynch Montana 3. George W. Dorsey Nebraska 4. Ed. F. Brown Colorado 5. L. M. Davis , Michigan 6. W. S. Mears .Missouri 7. O. E. Jackson Idaho 8. Lyman A. Sisley Illinois 9. E. B. Spaulding Connecticut 10. E. V. Drake '. .Oregon 11. Ivan E. Goodner Wisconsin 12. George M. Bennett Minnesota 13. Asa L. Ricker Maine 14. Henry Earle New York 15. Col. Thos. Ewing California 16. Lewis G. Wright Ohio 17. C. F. Heckler Pennsylvania 18. T. A. Harding , Iowa 1 9. C. B. Simmons Indiana 20. L. Bradford Prince Mexico COMMITTEE ON CREDENTIALS. Richard C. Patterson, Chairman Nebraska W. S. Tarbell Colorado C. A. Hutchinson.. ..Illinois 16 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS SECRETARY MIAHON: I will state for the benefit of the chair- man of the Committee on Credentials that I have the papers here ready to turn over to him whenever he desires. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The Program Committee has set aside this time for what they term the "President's Annual Address". It was thought best by the Executive Committee that as the American Mining Congress is now in process of permanent organization that it would be best for the president to present to you some of the reasons why or claim that it has to a right to exist, and as that must become official, it would be better to prepare it in the form of a paper that it might be more accurately stated than it could be done by an off hand statement. Therefore, with your permission, I will present to you these thoughts for your consideration. PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL ADDRESS. It seems to me a cause for special congratulation that The Amer- ican Mining Congress should be privileged to hold its first annual session at this place, amid surroundings for which nature has done so much, in a locality so justly famous as a center of mining industry, in a region so distinguished as the Black Hills for the strength of character and progressive spirit of its mining men. For many of you this is perhaps a first visit, and judging from .my own experience, I am able to assure you that you cannot sojourn here for any length of time, without feeling the inspiration of good fellowship, without being conscious of the intellectual stimulus which always comes to men from associating with those in the front rank of their business or profession. You cannot be men of observation and fail to recognize the wonderful advantages with which this mining district has been endowed, the sagacity and foresight with which those advantages have been utilized. And from a social point of view, I am sure that no one could come within range of the generous welcome which has been accorded us in Deadwood and Lead, without being reminded anew of the sturdy individuality and simple courage of mining men as a class, not easily spoiled by success, or daunted by apparent failure. At our last session you were constantly confronted with the con- tingency that this Congress was destined to be a failure, and that, at the best, its continued life and usefulness hung in the balance. But at thisi hour you are buoyed up with the conviction that The American Mining Congress is and must be a success. The former apprehension was depressing, the latter conviction is inspiring. The anticipation of failure paralyzes action; the realization of success nourishes hope, inspires endeavor, achieves what it wills to achieve. Therefore, I particularly congratulate you that this session is to be held amid influences so in harmony with the hopes of your organization. The American Mining Congress stands before the world today as a legal entity. Its aims and purposes are briefly set forth in its Articles of Incorporation, now on file in the office of the Secretary of Colorado, the state of its nativity. In compliance with instructions received at your last session, our Executive Committee has incor- porated this body under the name of "The American Mining Con- gress". Colorado and Denver were selected as the home of this Con- gress, first, because the laws of that state permit of the elasticity necessary for an organization of this character; second, because Col- orado is a great mining state in almost all departments of mining industry, and can give valuable support locally to such an organiza- tion; third, because Denver is the largest city in the intermountain region, most centrally located with reference to the great bulk of our mineral production, and accessible from all directions. In this connection I may also say that a body of by-laws, designed to regulate and foster the development of the Congress, will be pre- sented for your consideration. One other quite important matter has to some extent demanded the attention of your executive officers since you last met. At Wash- ington last winter, when the bill for the organization of the Depart- AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 17 ment of Commerce and Labor had been introduced and was under con- sideration, representatives of our body made strenuous efforts to have that bill modified so as to provide for a separate Department of Mines and Mining. We would have preferred to have this agitation post- poned, until we were in a stronger position to assert our claims for recognition, but the issue was precipitated by the determination of the advocates of the Commerce and Labor bill to carry that measure through. During the pendency of that bill a circular was issued by your Executive Committee, embodying in concise form the arguments in favor of the immediate creation of a Department of Mines and Mining. This circular was sent to the members of the House and Senate, and to the President. Although a number of our congressional representatives from western states stood manfully by us in our fight to secure this recognition, I am free to admit that there was no wide- spread popular sentiment in evidence at that time, such as would have justified Congress in granting the mining industry recognition of this character. So far as direct results were concerned, our endeavors in this direction were no doubt doomed to failure on that occasion, but we felt called upon to do something under the circumstances, the agitation was forced upon us, and we did what we could. The exper- ience, however, has not been without its value. It shows that official recognition of the mining industry, on the lines that agriculture has been recognized, is a question of time and education education not only of the politicians, but of the people; for the politicians will quickly enough respond to the popular demand when it comes. In the second place, this experience proves that the results desired in this direction can only be achieved by a powerful central organization, backed by numerous affiliated local organizations, having its ramifica- tions in every mining camp, presided over by men of prominence, ability and known interest. I therefore particularly wish to impress upon all my fellow dele- gates here, the importance of doing everything in our power between this and the next session of our Congress, to build up and develop local mining associations in our respective localities. And when these organizations have been formed, keep them alive don't let interest flag. Base the membership in each instance upon your practical mining men; and if any one who wishes to aid in the establishment of such an organization, desires information as to the ways and means of organizing, the results to be aimed at, the best method to make such an organization a permanent success and a benefit to all con- cerned, I cannot do better than direct such inquiries to that splendid working model, the Black Hills Mining Men's Association, which we find in such active and beneficent operation here. (Applause.) So much for the record of the past year. Now in regard to the present and in regard to the future, it is most natural to ask, and every thoughtful delegate will be apt to formulate the inquiry, in his own mind at least; What is the aim of this Congress, and what good is there to be derived from it? What are we here for? Is it to have a good time merely, to meet friends and acquaintances in the same line of business, to form pleasant or profitable business or social relations, to sell mining properties and float stock? I presume that any of these subjects may properly be incidental to our presence here, but still it seems to .me that if The American Mining Congress is to attain the highest measure of success and permanence as an institution, there are greater things than these in store for it. The exchange of views upon current subjects, and the acquisition of information, is certainly an important part of our business here; but the ultimate aim of our organization must be to place the mining industry as a whole upon a plane commensurate with its importance. The affairs of the Congress must be conducted in a business manner, and on a business basis, such as will commend it to the best business thought of the day. Our annual sessions must be of a character that will attract the best talent, whether it be in mining pure and simple, or in the great busi- ness enterprises connected with and springing from mining, or in the 18 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS scientific and technical departments of mining. I think we are mak- ing progress in this respect, and there is of course always room for improvement. In short, this Congress must arouse so much interest throughout the whole country, must be the means of giving the public so much valuable information about mining, that the people will at last realize the importance and dignity of everything connected with the proper development and utilization of this great source of raw material; it must be the means of finally opening the eyes of our law- makers to the necessity of a Department of Mines and Mining, according in rank with the Department of Agriculture and the recently created Department of Commerce and Labor. (Applause.) Now we have no quarrel with the Department of Agriculture or the Department of Commerce and Labor. The establishment of these departments and their extremely useful activities, illustrate and em- phasize what was said by your Executive Committee in its memorial to Congress last winter, with reference to the importance of purely industrial departments in modern administration, and perhaps I can- not do better in this connection than to quote a few paragraphs from that memorial: "The hour has arrived in the destiny of nations when the ability to produce abundance of raw material is of more importance than the ability to place armies in the field, when national power and influence is extended, not so much by means of guns and ships, as by being prepared to sell most cheaply. "The warfare of the future is to be an industrial warfare. The rivalry of the future between nations will be less a rivalry of brute force, but more a contest to produce at the lowest cost. "In the past governments have collected and spent taxes for mil- itary armaments. In the future, if they are to survive in the race for supremacy, they must spend the money of the people in equipping the people to fight their industrial battles. "This is the secret of a growing tendency among civilized nations, the institution of industrial departments of administration, which in practical influence and importance are co-ordinate with their political departments. "It was upon this theory that fourteen years ago, Congress passed a law creating the Department of Agriculture, in order to give govern- mental direction and supervision to one of the great primary sources of raw material. "It is upon the same theory of rapidly increasing importance of the purely industrial functions of modern government, that we now ask for the enactment of a law creating a Department of Mines and Mining, the other great source of raw material for our manufactures and of profit for our lines of transportation." As I say, we have no quarrel with the Department of Commerce and Labor. I am sure that mining ,men everywhere will gladly co-operate with the officials of this department in any line of action that promises better things for the mining industry, whether it be in the direction of proper governmental regulation and inspection, scien- tific research by government experts, or the gathering of more accur- ate and detailed information in regard to the mining of ores and production of metals by government statisticians. This new Depart- ment was bound to come, and we hail its coming as a healthy mani- festation of the tendency referred to, because to that extent it strengthens a weak point in our system of administrative government. But we still say, nevertheless, that Mines and Mining should have had precedence; that the raw materials which are the first condition and indispensable prerequisite of all manufacture, all commerce, all prosperity and all civilization, ought by right to have prior considera- tion at the hands of our law-givers in the establishment of these industrial departments. The proper beginning was made with the Department of Agriculture, and, logically, the next to follow would have been a Department of Mines and Mining, the other great leading source of raw material. These industrial departments of administra- AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 19 tion should begin where production begins. Raw material, in its primitive form, is the working capital with which the God of Nature has endowed the human race, and, according to the dictates of natural justice, the fish in the sea, the timber in the forest, the iron ore under the surface and the fertile soil above it, constitute a natural bounty, in which each of the children of men has an indefeasible inheritance. On abstract grounds possibly there is even more justification for governmental supervision and protection of mining than there is for governmental supervision and protection of agriculture, because those disposed to greed and armed with power can monopolize the produc- tion of coal or copper, but they cannot monopolize the produc- tion of corn. Again, there is only a fixed and limited quantity of the ore in existence from which the useful metals are produced. Scientists already look forward to the time when the veins of coal will be ex- haustd, but the earth still contains and constantly renews the fertility required for countless future harvests of wheat. I make these remarks in no querulous spirit, for our time will come, and we can afford to wait. The logic of events, the irresistible force of a controlling tendency in human progress, must ultimately compel the proper recognition of the mining industry at the hands of this government, as one of the necessities of governmental organiza- tion. The leading European nations already have their departments of Mines and Mining, by which their governments are placed in close touch with this great and important source of production, and thereby enabled to intelligently carry out plans for its development and pro- tection. Now the industrial rivalry between Europe and the United States is becoming so keen that it partakes of the nature of an armed strife, in which every nerve is strained, every expedient resorted to, and in which, on their side, governmental power and influence is openly enlisted. We have not gone so far as Europe in the direction of governmental aid to industry, partly because the mechanical genius of our workmen and the executive ability of our captains of industry, coupled with our vast stores of cheap raw material, have thus far made OUT economic preeminence comparatively easy of maintenance. But let us not make the .mistake of over confidence. Foreign capital- ists are already imitating American methods, and they have the advantage of much cheaper labor. The centralized governments of Europe are marvels of bureaucratic organization, and when they definitely turn this organization from the field of military rivalry to the field of industrial rivalry, the results will be startling. They have already entered upon that path, and they consider it as much the bus- iness of government to give the producer, in every field, an advantage over his foreign rival, as they do to keep a fortress equipped for defense or a regiment ready to march. It is these powerful and efficient governmental organizations, whose energies are being already directed into industrial channels, that the United States .must cope with in its future striving for the world's trade, so that it must become more and more the business of this government, to equip its people to fight their industrial battles. One of the things that makes America distinctly American, is the individuality of the citizens, and hence it is that we instinctively seek individual opportunity and national growth on a basis consistent with the highest individual development. This principle has always been a watchword of the great republic. But now thoughtful men are com- ing to see that the principle must have a new application in order to maintain its old efficiency. "We say now, as we always have said; give the individual a chance, give him industrial freedom and oppor- tunity. But formerly in this country, the opportunity came from the vast tracts of fertile land to be had for the taking in the virgin forests, the undispoiled fisheries, the placer gold on the surface of the ground. These industrial opportunities for the individual, are in a great measure passing away; some of them have already disappeared for- ever. On the other hand, the industrial competition of Europe is con- stantly growing keener. How then shall the state of industrial free- 20 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS dom, the good chance in life for the common, ordinary man, which has been such a source of inspiration to our progress in the past, be insured and perpetuated for the future? Again, I say, there is only one answer to this question; our government must help its people fight their industrial battles. This is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, and I firmly believe the time is coming, when that sentiment will be true industrially just as much as it is true politically. The proper application of this principle to our industrial interests will mean something entirely different from the bureaucratic surveillance if I may use the term, which the paternal governments of Europe exercise in the industrial field; for there government is looked upon as something separated from the governed and above them, while here it is but the expression of their sovereign will. Now it is common knowledge what the Department of Agriculture has done for the farmer, how it has broadened his markets by the systematic work of its agents in foreign countries, how it has diffused and popularized much needed information concerning crops, soils, and tillage, how effectively it has assisted the cultivator in fighting the pests that destroy his crops. It has invested agriculture with a new dignity and helped to make it a scientific occupation. We say that the mining prospector has just as good a right to scientific information from the government concerning mineral formations, the character of various ores and their proper treatment, for he too is a producer of the raw material that is a condition of all resultant production, and this cooperation on the part of the government may give him just the industrial chance that he needs. (Applause.) The farmer can get a bulletin from the agricultural department that will tell him how to supply lacking ingredients in his soil, and we assert that the average working miner, the man who is trying to make the most of his indus- trial chances, the intelligent producer and good citizen that we all know has an equally just claim to a bulletin from a Department of Mines and Mining supplying him with the technical information in his industrial field that may be vital to his success. (Applause.) Through the agricultural department the government makes elab- orate experiments in the cultivation of tea, in order, if possible, to open up a new possibility for American agriculture. It ransacks the globe to find a remedy for the San Jose scale in fruit trees, so as to insure the orchardist against the risk of diminished profits. Now, bearing in mind this principle, the development of our supplies of raw material as a public use, we affirm that it is just as much a public service to prosecute the exhaustive geological researches in each mining district which will make the work of the prospector and prac- tical miner easier, more certain, and therefore more remunerative. (Applause.) No doubt if a private individual had discovered a remedy for the San Jose scale, his first step would have been to take out a patent, if possible, so as to be enabled to levy tribute for years to come upon all who desired to use it. But the government experts are authorized to devote the time and money necessary for this investiga- tion, the remedy is found, and it is free to all. No one thinks of ques- tioning this exercise of governmental power; no one doubts its beneficence. Moreover, Congress has recently enacted very important legisla- tion looking to the reclamation of our arid lands through governmental cooperation. This means a great deal to us in the far West, and some of our eastern friends were at first very much opposed to it, but it is now generally admitted to be a proper subject of governmental concern, since it is for the best interest of the whole nation that these immense tracts of desert but fertile land should be reclaimed and inhabited. Now turn again to the mining industry. It is stated upon scien- tific authority, that even with all the improved processes lately invented and successfully applied, not more than one-fourth of the known valuable gold-bearing material in this country can as yet be AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 21 utilized. Many extensive mining districts are still undeveloped, because the ore is too low grade or too refractory to be worked with profit. These problems will, of course, be solved, the necessary pro- cesses and treatment will be discovered, and in all probability this will be done by scientific experts in the employ of private capitalists, who will thereby be enabled to tax such mining districts almost at will for years to come. I do not decry the enterprise of private capi- tal; it is worthy of its reward, but I simply ask: why should not these researches and investigations in the field of mining, as well as in agriculture and horticulture, be prosecuted at the public expense, by the people and for the people, and the results achieved be made free to the people forever? (Applause.) Therefore, once more, I repeat; the people must be educated up to a better understanding of the im- portance of properly developing all our raw material as a public use : and the profound effect which such a policy may have on the com- mercial and political fortunes of the nation. It is and will be one of the most important functions of The American Mining Congress to take the lead in this campaign of education. Our government owes it to the people whom it serves, to be in such close touch with industrial conditions, through its industrial departments, that it may be thoroughly informed as to those condi- tions, that its political policies, based on this information, may be both stable and farsighted, that its laws affecting commerce and industry may constitute one harmonious whole, and that no industry may be built up by governmental favoritism at the expense of another oqually entitled to consideration. We want to see the same farsightedness in the political world, based on a profound knowledge of economic conditions, as has been exhibited by Mr. James J. Hill in the industrial world, in anticipating the rise of a new commercial empire in our Northwest, in foreseeing and providing for that colossal trade with the Orient through our Pacific ports, which is ours almost for the taking. When that is achieved, we can well afford to practice a diplomacy, based, as Secre- tary Hay says; "On the Golden Rule," and we will be so big that we won't much need rapid firing guns or armored cruisers. There is another idea which it seems to me would be a worthy object of the efforts of this Congress, and which I trust you will not regard as wholly impracticable. Our Congress should have a perma- nent home, just as it already has a permanent organization. It should have a permanent working staff of men of ability, who are paid to carry on its work between sessions, and whose business it is never to allow that work to flag. Its field of labor is becoming too immense to be covered by the labors of any one man, even a man of such her- culean capacity as our honored secretary. (Applause.) At this home it should, and easily could, through the cooperation of all interested, gradually build up the first collection of ores and minerals in the world. In connection with this permanent home, and under the auspices of The American Mining Congress, a great mining university should be established, endowed with millions, which should be par- excellence the mining school of this country. (Applause.) We have many universities and many technical schools which give valuable instruction in mining and metallurgy, but none that satisfactorily covers this vast field from a national point of view. I confidently com- mend this idea to those of our mining capitalists who have amassed gigantic fortunes, the joint product of their good fortune and their good judgment. In no other way can they acquire a wider and more deserving fame; in no other way can they confer upon the mining fraternity, with which they have been so closely identified, a greater measure of benefit. Surely we do not lack mining Carnegies and Van- derbilts, nor have our wealthy mining men ever been called deficient in public spirit. Here is a use worthy of their millions, a project which would be an enduring testimonial to their sagacity and gener- 22 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS osity, an institution which would be a perpetual reminder to the people of the United States of the importance of rightly developing and con- serving this mighty source of national prosperity. Of course I merely suggest these things at this time. It is not to be expected that they can be accomplished all together or all at once. But a beginning can be made, we can work to the ideal in our thought, and Ave can approximate nearer and nearer to that ideal as the years pass by. In closing this address, I have only to say, that I hope and believe the results of this session will be worthy of the representation of the mining interests of the country which I see here today. I hope and believe that in all our deliberations, and in any action which we may take, the standard of our talking and the standard of our doing, will be that which is designed to advance the interests of our organization as a whole, of our field of industry as a whole, of our country as a whole, putting out of sight for the moment, as far as we consistently can, the benefits to be deriyed by our own little section, or our own city, or our own special branch of work, by merely selfish striving along narrow local lines. Your committees have prepared an intellectual feast for you, and I think that on their menu each one here will find courses which will specially appeal to him individually. We want you all to have a thoroughly good time, to feel that you are paid for coming, and then to go back home and work for this Congress till the next session comes around. If we all take off our coats, working steadily, disinterestedly and on broad lines, the success of The American Mining Congress is assured, and the benefit to the mining industry from our leaders will be incalculable. I thank you, gentlemen, for your attention. (Applause.) MR. RICHARDS: We are most fortunate today in having with us a member of the President's Cabinet. He needs no other introduc- tion to you than to say that you will now listen to an address from Honorable Leslie M. Shaw, Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. (Applause.) HON. LESLIE M. SHAW: Mr. President, Members of the National Mining Congress, Ladies and Gentlemen: Some years ago I read a poem which, with slight paraphrasing, will express the situation of the hour: "As landsmen sitting in luxurious ease, Talk of the dangers of the stormy seas; As fireside travellers with portentous mien, Tell tales of countries they have never seen; As parlor soldiers graced with fancied scars, Rehearse their bravery in imagined wars; Arrant dunces have been known to sit, In grave discourse of wisdom and of wit; As paupe-rs gathered in congenial flocks, Babble of banks, insurance and stocks; As each is oftenest eloquent o'er what He hatches or covets, but possesses not; As cowards talk of pluck, misers of waste, Scoundrels of honor, country clowns of taste," I talk of mining. The only study I ever gave the subject was to commit Eli Perkin's definition of a mining claim: "A mining claim, my son, is a hole in the ground, the owner of which is a liar." (Cheers.) I can readily distinguish by the applause those who have no mining stock for sale. For what purpose I am here I do not know. Your chairman has stated that I am to deliver an address, but that is a mistake. The newspaper boys, before I left Washington, learned that I was coming AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 23 here, and they wanted to know the occasion. I said to them: "A Mining Congress." They wanted to know what I was going to talk about. I said: "The Ravages of the Boll Weevil." I have been greatly interested in the chairman's address. It is quite probable that the people generally do not fully understand the measure and full importance of the mining industry of the United States. I think most of us are apt to overestimate the relative importance of the business in which we are personally en- gaged, and to underestimate the importance of every other business and calling. I remember when a boy on the farm we used to con- sider farming about the only respectable calling in which a man could engage. We thought it bad citizenship for man to embark in any other enterprise. That was a mistake. If we learn nothing else today than that the diversity of American interests is the real occasion of this country's wealth, this gathering will not have been in vain. Do not misunderstand me. I would not for the world detract from or minimize the importance of the mining industry. Let us therefore illustrate. I was talking with Phil Armour one day. and he said: "I got rich when a young man by watching the coal and iron miners. When they were employed I packed every ham I could get my hands on. My partner, Mr. Plankington, would say: 'Phil, you will break us up.' I would answer: 'No, they are working.' When they quit working I sold everything I could dispose of." In ether words, the success of the mining industry made Phil Armour wealthy. The success of the farmer .makes the manufacturer wealthy. I think we make a mistake in estimating the importance of our several industries by their apparent productiveness. From crude iron ore a manufacturer produces pig iron as his finished produce; then from pig iron steel is produced and so on. Thus manufactures, without countless duplications, produce $8,000,000 000 per annum; ag- riculture, without duplications, produces $4,000,000,000; and mining, $1,000,000,000, about equally divided between metallic and non-metallic products. Does it follow that manufacturing is eight times as im- portant as mining? I think not. Without the product of the mine, manufacture would dwindle into insignificance. I repeat, that the importance of an industry is not to be determined by its apparent productiveness. Then again, all our industries agricultural, manufacturing, mining are dependent upon our markets. We have the greatest and the best home market in the world. I would not trade our home market for the market of the balance of the world. We produced thirty-five million tons of iron ore last year one-third of the world's product; we produced fifteen million tons of steel, and the most marvelous aggregation of manufactured products the world has ever seen, exceeding that of any other two countries on the map by more than two thousand million. And what did we do with it? We consumed it largely ourselves. Thus it is our consumptive ca- pacity, as well as our productive capacity, that has .made us wealthy. They make a mistake who think all we need to do is to produce. It is equally important that our people consume. Coming up on the train I was telling some friends that one day I had examined some high-priced china plates just to see what other people could have that I could not. I asked them to guess the price. They staggered when I told them they were valued at $6,000 a dozen $500 a plate. Then one member of the company suggested that it was an outrage that men should eat from plates like that, that it was a waste of money. For my part I am glad that people who have a superabundance of money will buy that class of plates, and I will tell you why. The man who produces those plates sends to this country and buys meat and bread. We get his money. Then the farmer who sells his meat and bread buys some manufactured products, and the manufacturer buys of those who dig the iron and coal and the iron and coal miner again buys food of the farmer. What we sometimes term the extravagance 24 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS of the wealthy works to the advantage of the humblest toiler. I can remember when cut flowers were a drug on the market. I do not know what the cut flower industry is now worth, but it is certainly worth many millions. And what are cut flowers? Simply God's sunshine plus labor. And what does the laborer do with the pro- ceeds of cut flowers? He becomes a consumer of food products and manufactured products, and again the miner is benefited by those who buy cut flowers. You will observe that the burden of my talk is to show that our various industries and occupations are inter- dependent. We have the advantage over the balance of the world in our mining industries. It can scarcely be said that we mine coal; we simply dig coal. We do not mine iron; we scoop it up. I visited what was called an iron mine not long ago, where the train passed along the side of a mountain range, and I could see iron ore extending twenty feet above the tracks, and they told me it was ore for twenty feet below the tracks. It was several miles wide and a hundred miles long. All they had to do was to get a car on the track, fix a chute, loosen the ore and let it slide into the car. Right over across the way was a great bed of coal. A man standing at the blast furnace with a modern gun would have within his range the men at the iron mine, the men at the coal mine, and the men at the limestone quarry in the valley between. This is bringing the essential elements very close together. There is nothing in the world to compare with it. And now I want to speak for a moment of the necessity for additional markets. I consider myself a young man yet, but I can remember very well when this government undertook to develop the markets of the western half of this country. To this end it granted aid to transcontinental -railways. For the purpose of develop- ing the markets of this country, the government makes large appro- pjriations for the improvement of rivers and harbors. For the purpose of increasing our markets, quite as much as for the purpose of in- creasing our products, the government has granted aid in irrigating the semi-arid belt. To the south of us are markets worth a billion dollars, and we secure ten per cent of them. For instance, we buy from Brazil forty per cent of all she has to sell, and we sell her ten per cent of what she buys. In my judgment, if we keep our mines running, if we keep our factories running, if we keep our labor employed, we must have a care for the markets that legit- mately and logically belong to us. If we secure our share of the trade of South America, South Africa, and the Islands of the Pacific Ocean, we will need direct communication. We will never have this direct communication until we have an American merchant marine and we will never have an American merchant marine until the government in some form in some way, gives some encouragement to the enter- prise. It is the only industry that has not been and it not in some manner fostered by the government. I would not like to have you go away under the impression that in order for the government to be of any assistance to the mining industry of the country, congress must create a Department of Mining with representation in the cabinet. Congress created a Fish Commission, and it has recently become a bureau in the Depart- ment of Commerce and Labor. Congress created an Interstate Com- merce Commission, which is not connected with any regular depart- ment. It has no representation, directly or indirectly, in the presi- dent's cabinet. Formerly there was in the Treasury Department a bureau in charge of steamships, known as the Steamboat Inspection Service. It has since passed to the Department of Commerce and Labor. Under that bureau the government inspects every piece of material that goes into the construction of steamships, and every vessel is annually inspected and its safety approved. The Geodetic Survey, in the interest of commerce, surveys all our coasts and marks every rock and every reef. But none of these bureaus are AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 25 directly represented in the president's cabinet. Without expressing an opinion as to whether congress should create a Department of Mining, with representation in the cabinet, I want to assure you that a bureau of mining in the Department of Commerce and Labor v/ould be able to do very much, and perhaps all that it is possible to do for the great interest here represented. MR. MARTIN, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: I am sure that this gath- ering would esteem it a privilege to express to some extent the pleasure we have had in the visit of the secretary among us. He has turned aside from the busy work of a cabinet officer to come a long way to take part in our deliberations and exercises and upon his arrival and several times since, the secretary has stated to me, with some regret, that he had nothing to talk about upon this occasion. In passing I would like to express a wish that we may all have an opportunity to hear him at some time when he has something to talk about (Applause) and so, as he must depart this afternoon, I move to extend him a -rising vote of thinks for the honor he has paid us. The motion was stated by the president, duly seconded and a rising vote of thanks and three cheers were unanimously extended Secretary Shaw. MR. SELBIE, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: Mr. Shaw stated he was not a member of this association. He has shown so much knowledge of mining and has stuck so closely to the subject that I think we ought to elect him an honorary member of this association. The motion was duly seconded. The motion was stated by the president and unanimously carried. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You will now have the pleasure of listening to a short address from Mr. Brown of Colorado on "Govern- mental Statistics." COL. ED. F BROWN: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: From the program that was published this morning I feel that you may think that I was to present a lot of statistics. I do not intend to do so, but have taken this opportunity of presenting a question to the Honorable Secretary of the Treasury, and hope that he will consider our greetings. This country in the first hundred years of its existence grew great, powerful and rich through the great natural 'resources we had in agriculture. That century has passed. As he has explained to you, the foundation of manufacturing prosperity rests on mining, which is a fact; but it appears that at Washington, through some reason or other, they have continued in error all through the line of statistics that has been published in regard to the mining industry and \ve want to call attention to that error and, if possible, have it corrected. As I say, the first hundred years of our prosperity have come from agriculture. If we expect to maintain this great progress that we are now carrying on, it is necessary for us to become a greater manufac- turing nation and meet all the world in that line. To to so, the mining industry is essential to our success. We have grown very great in this way. I can see from what the secretary has said that very few people understand and a great many people do not under- stand the extent that mining now has attained in this country, but let me call your attention to the report of the Interstate Commerce Commission of 1901, the last that was published. There are 521,337,833 tons of freight given to the railroads of this country by that report and the products of agriculture amounted to 56,102,838 tons; the products of animals. 15,145,297 tons; the products of the mines, 269,372,556 tons; the products of the forests, 60,844,933 tons; products of manufactures 71,681,178 tons; mer- chandise, 21,697,693 tons, and miscellaneous, 26,493,338 tons. The product of mines furnished 51.67 per cent of all the business fur- 26 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS nished the railroads in the United States. (Applause.) The products of agriculture but 10.76 per cent; the products of animals, 2.91 per cent; forests, 11.6 per cent; manufactures, 13.75 per cent; merchan- dise, 4.16 per cent, and miscellaneous, 5.08 per cent. Now when you take into consideration all those figures with the statistics published by the Treasury Department in regard to our exports you will find a most remarkable difference. Last year was the most prosperous year in the United States in the way of exports. The Treasury Department reports $1,392,201,637 as being the gross exports for the year ending June 30,1903. Of this vast amount of exports $873,285,142 was credited to agriculture, $408,- 187,207 to manufactures; $38,814,759 to mining; $57,830,773 to forests; $7,755,232 to fisheries and $6,328.579 to miscellaneous. Agriculture is credited with 62.72 per cent of all exports. Mining only is given credit for 2.79 per cent. Now that is not a fact. It is a mistake that has been carried for twenty years in the department at Washington. I have had correspondence with statisticians there in regard to it and they practically told me it had been going on so long that they could not change it. There were exported in copper ingots and bars $37,354,061 worth; coal, $21,206,498; mineral oil, $6,329,899, and min- eral oil refined, $60,357,519, and other mining products making an aggregate of $141,241,602 that should be credited to mining, and in- stead of the exports being 2.79 per cent really is 10.15 per cent. Now how does this thing come about? Through an error that was commenced years ago, refined mining products, copper ingots, etc., was classed as manufactured products exported. Now what is a copper ingot? It is nothing more or less than the concentration of the copper into form for future use. A barrel of flour is nothing more or less than ground up wheat and is as much a manufactured product as agricultural product, but the ingot of copper certainly is not a manufactured product. There is as much sense in putting refined oil and copper in manufactures as there would be to call a gold bar a product of manufacture instead of mining. You can all see that this error has been continued and we want to have it attended to because it changes the averages that would appear from year to year and increase the showing of mining exports. If a mistake has occurred let us correct it so that mining will get the credit of what it does. I have taken the pains to figure out those things in agriculture that are just as much a manufactured product as these two items I have mentioned and there are many others here which I have on the statement, and in case that rule is applied to agricultural exports it would eat up $274,637,475 from agricultural exports. In such matters as this we, as miners, only want the credit that really belongs to us. We have no objection to sawed lumber going in as forest products, although it is as much manufactured as an ingot of copper would be, or a bar of lead. We have no ob- jection to canned salmon going in as fishery products, although it certainly is as much a manufactured article as an ingot of copper or bar of lead. We have no objection to any of these other industries getting the benefit of what they produce, but is it right to pick out the mining industry alone and report that of all our vast exports there are 2.79 per cent derived from the product of mines, when the face of their own report shows $141,000,000 instead of $38,000,000? I feel that this is a matter that this association should take cognizance of. I thought it was proper that this was the place we should present the protest and in consideration of that fact I have prepared a resolution which I will hand to the secretary. It has not been my intention to make a speech. It has only been my intention to make this kick that I have made for at least five oV six years and I would like the association to support me in the position I have taken. (Cheers.) The following is a detailed statement of Col. Ed. F. Brown, of Colorado, referred to by him in the preceding speech: AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 27 Statement showing the proportion of business furnished the rail- roads of the United States by the different industries. Extract from Interstate Commerce Commission report for 1901. See page 66. Tons. Per Cent. Products of Agriculture 56,102,838 10.76 Products of Animals 15,145,297 2.91 Product of Mines 269,372,556 51.67 Product of Forest .... 60,844,933 11.67 Product of Manufactures 71,681,178 13.75 Merchandise 21,697,693 4.16 Miscellaneous 26,493,338 5.08 521,337,833 100.60 The following articles were credited to agriculture although manufactured more or less: Bread and Biscuit 589,536 Oat Meal 1,839,106 Rye Flour 12,818 Wheat Flour . 73,756,404 Table Food' 2,667,409 Bran, Middlings, etc. 945,053 Dried Grains and Shorts 1,320,065 Other Manufactures 661,131 Roasted or Prepared Coffee 2,381,469 Dried Apples ... . .......'.......... 2,31,469 Dried Apricots 713,887 Pressed Fruits 1,806.328 Prunes 3,512.507 Malt 252,801 Oil Cake and Meal 12,732,497 Beef Products ...... 7,916,928 Beef Products 25,013,323 Salted Pickled Beef ,.. 3,916,855 Tallow 1,623.852 Hog Products 22,178,525 Hog Products 25,712,633 Hog Products 1,369,687 Hog Products 11,995,253 Lard .50,854,504 Lard Compounds 3,607,542 Mutton . ......' 532,746 Oleomargarine and Oleo 12,780,161 Butter .............:... . ." 1,604,327 Cheese 2,250,229 274,637,475 If agricultural and other exports would be reported same way that Mining is returned, the following would be the result: Agriculture $598,647,667 43.00 per cent. Manufactures 742,838,254 53.36 per cent. Mining ; , 38,814,759 2.79 per cent. Forest '. . 4,506,728 .32 per cent. Fishing 1,065,71 .07 per cent. Miscellaneous 6,328,519 .46 per cent. $1,392,201,637 100.00 per cent. Report of Treasury Department giving the classification of exports for 1902-1903. Agriculture $873,285,142 62.72 per cent. Manufactures 408,187,207 29.32 per cent. Mining 38,814,759 2.79 per cent. Forest 57,830,778 4.15 per cent. Fishery 7,755,232 .56 per cent. Miscellaneous 6,328,579 .46 per cent. $1,392,201,637 100.00 per cent. 28 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS In the same report the following articles are specified as having been exported: EXPORTS OF MINING PRODUCT. Brick $ 429,908 Cement 419,361 Coal 21,206,498 Coke 1,912,459 Copper ore 927,417 Copper ingots and bars . .. 37,354,061 Phosphates 6,344,224 Iron ore 266,982 Pig iron 362,068 Ingots and blooms 68,064 Lead pizo and bars 15,527 Lime 32,694 Marble, stone and slate 1,565,244 Nickle and matte 864,221 Mineral oil 6,329,899 Mineral oil refined 60,357,519 Mineral risidium 566,115 Quicksilver 762,201 Salt 70,446 Zinc 1,386,694 $141,241,602 If corrected the statement should read: Agriculture $873,285,142 62.72 per cent. Manufactures 305,760,364 21.96 per cent. Mining 141,241,602 10.15 per cent. Forest 57,850,778 4.15 per cent. Fishery , 7,755,232 .56 per cent. Miscellaneous 6,328,519 .46 per cent. $1,392,201,637 100.00 per cent. Memorandum showing value of mining products that swelled the balance of trade : Excess of gold $ 2,108,568 Excess of silver 20,068,768 Exports above 141,241,602 $163,436.938 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The Secretary will read the reso- lution offered by Col. Ed. F. Brown. Secretary Mahon read the resolution. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Under the rule it will be referred to the committee on resolutions through the secretary. GEORGE, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: I desire to introduce a reso- lution asking the United States Congress to enact a law to establish mining stations, to aid in the development of the mineral resources of the United States, and for other purposes. PRESIDENT RICHARDS : The secretary will read the resolution. Secretary Mahon read the resolution. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The resolution will be referred to the committee on resolutions. GEORGE, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: I wish to state to everyone in the convention that there are copies of the resolution in the form of a bill on the platform and anyone who desires may read it. AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 29 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The chairman of the finance com- mittee has a report to make relative to the finances of the American Mining Congress. RUSSELL, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: This report is presented in pursuance of resolutions of the executive board. I will say that it has been examined and audited by the executive board and found correct. However, all vouchers and all accounts are, in pursuance of that resolution, open to the scrutiny and examination of any mem- ber of the association, and if it is desired that a committee shall be appointed to examine and audit the account further, the executive committee would be pleased to have it done; and at this time and in this connection I would desire to say to the Congress on behalf of the executive committee that we feel that at this time and in this session some steps should be taken in order to place the Congress on a more substantial basis than it is. The plan as proposed, which will come up under the proposed by-laws, provides for a membership from which we have hopefully looked for a large income. I regret to say that so far delegates and visitors to the Congress have not to any large degree taken out the membership that we expected. I will say, further, that the Black Hills men have taken just about half of the membership of the Congress so far. It is earnestly desired that the delegates, if they feel interested enough to continue as members of the Congress, should take out their mmberships at this time, and further, it is hoped that the Congress will devise means that will place the Congress on a more firm and substantial basis. The report was read and is as follows: Cash received and deposited with Treasurer Goodale from Septem- ber, 1902, to September 1, 1903: Received account of members $1,349.00 Butte Business Men's Association 355.00 Black Hills Mining Men's Association 3,000.00 Ex. Treasurer Camp 101.05 Total $4,805.05 DISBURSEMENTS Sec. Mahon on account of salary $ 625.00 Bond of Treasurer Goodale 25.00 Butte Miner for publishing proceedings 355.00 Lead Daily Call for publishing proceedings 448.00 Miscellaneous expenses 2,934.36 Total $4,387.36 Balance $ 417.69 MR. BUCKLEY, OF MISSOURI: Mr. President, I wish to move you that the proceedings of this Congress be governed by "Roberts' Rules of Order" until the proposed constitution and by-laws be adopted by this Congress. MR. PATTERSON, OF NEBRASKA: I second the motion. Which motion was stated by President Richards and duly carried. PATTERSON, OF NEBRASKA: The chairman of the committee on credentials will be pleased to meet the other two members at seven o'clock at the Franklin hotel, and will also be pleased to receive any credentials that are not yet turned in before that time. TARBELL OF COLORADO: As a member of that committee on credentials would it please. the chairman to meet directly after this session? 30 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS PATTERSON, OF NEBRASKA.: Yes, sir. Then the credential committee will meet at the Franklin hotel immediately after the ad- journment of this session so that you can find your committee there to present your credentials to. LYNCH OF MONTANA I move we now adjourn until eight o'clock this evening. JACKSON, OF IDAHO: I think the gentleman will withhold his motion after what I am about to suggest. There is a matter overlooked, it seems to me, surely not from intent but simply a matter of oversight. It seems to me we have failed in doing our duty by failing to vote a vote of thanks to the president of the United States for recognizing this Congress and the mining industry by send- ing a member of his cabinet here. LYNjCH, OF MONTANA: The motion to adjourn is withdrawn. JACKSON, OF IDAHO: Then, Mr. Chairman, inasmuch as the great lamented immortal president during the time of the rebellion, Abraham Lincoln, sent his congratulations to the miners of the West who were digging the gold to pay the debts and to carry on the commerce of this country at that time, "Boys, go and mine and we will help you the best we can," and as President Roosevelt has said, though not in so many words perhaps, but by acts when he sent his representative of the cabinet to this Congress in recognition of it and the mining industry Gentlemen, when he said, though not in so many words: "Advance your mining industry; boys, go on and push your mining industry; advance your Mining Congress; the president of the United States recognizes your effort; the govern- ment of the United States recognizes your efforts, and the govern- ment will assist you in all worthy purposes in this connection" Therefore I move you, Mr. Chairman, that a committee of three be appointed, of which the secretary of the Congress shall be the chair- man, to prepare a resolution voting the thanks of this Congress to the president of the United States for his recognition of the mining industry and of this Congress in sending his representative here, the secretary of the treasury, at this time. Let the resolutions be en- grossed and mailed to President Roosevelt so that he may never forget the gratitude of this Congress, as this Congress will probably never forget that it was recognized and the mining industry was recognized as in this case. SECRETARY MAHON: I thank the gentleman from Idaho for the compliment that he has so gracefully paid to me here today in mentioning my name as the chairman of that committee. I would be glad and proud to serve upon it did I think it the proper thing for me to do. That duty belongs to the gentleman who has offered that motion and I hope Mr. Chairman, that you will insist upon his taking his proper place. (Cheers.) DIGNOWITY, OF PENNSYLVANIA: I second the gentleman's motion. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It has been moved and seconded that a committee of three be appointed by the chair, of which our secretary shall be the chairman of that committee, to express by resolution by appreciation of the president's act in sending his sec- retary of the treasury to meet with us on this occasion. Are you ready for the question? JONES, OF CALIFORNIA: I desire to move an amendment that instead of the secretary being the chairman of that committee it be the gentleman from Idaho who made the motion. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: If there is no objection we will consider it so amended. AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 31 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The question is now shall the chair appoint a committee of three, of which Mr. Jackson, of Idaho, be chairman, to express by resolution our appreciation of the presi- dent's act in sending his secretary of the treasury to meet with us on this occasion? Which motion was unanimously carried. SECRETARY MAHON: There has been no motion carried to adjourn and we have some litle time to spare this afternoon. There is a genlteman here from North Dakota who is very familiar with the early history of this country and who is willing to give us a little talk of about five or ten minutes if agreeable to the Congress. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We will listen to a few remarks by Mr. Russell at this time. MR. RUSSELL, OF NORTH DAKOTA: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentleman: It was very foreign indeed to my expectation when coming here to be asked to address you, but as I sat here this after- noon memory has gone back thirty years. In 1873 it was my privilege to go across the territory of Dakota. The Northern Pacific railroad had constructed their road to the Missouri river in the early part of 1873. The secretary of the interior, a member of the cabinet of President Grant, was very anxious to see Dakota as it was known then. The Northern Pacific road gave him a special train for himself and his friends and I was requested, living as I was then at the head of Lake Superior, to be his escort to Bismarck on the Missouri river. I sat here this afternoon and memory has gone back thirty years. We slept at Fargo that night; we crossed the territory of Dakota from the Red river to the Missouri by daylight. The census of 1870, two years and a half or nearly three years before we made the trip, which was in July, 1873, of the territory of Dakota showed 14,181 people. I have got those figures correct for I have been called upon to verify them once before, 14,181 people. Of that we knew thoroughly that that part which is now North Dakota did not contain over 1,000; we did not know how many, but the territory was undivided of course. The larger portion of the 14,000 was in South Dakota. As we drew near the Missouri river that afternoon the secretary said these words: "I am exceedingly glad to see Dakota. I have looked forward to it with a great deal of interest for a number of years. Now," says he, "we have traveled today over a territory that is capable of and going to sustain a very large population to the square mile in the distant future," and he expressed it with very strong words. "We have not seen a particle of soil culti- vated for we don't know there is a hundred acres cultivated between the Red river and the Missouri. We have not seen any farms but we have seen a soil here that is deposited that is capable of sus- taining a very large population to the square mile." Says I: "That population unquestionably as you say may be sustained here, but what will they do for fuel? What will they do for lots?" His reply was this: "It is not consistent with the wisdom of the Almighty God to place such a soil as we have seen here today the proof of which we have by the grasses that we have seen and the depth of the soil through the cuts which we have passed show; it is not consistent with His wisdom to leave that population without supply- ing them with everything that is necessary for their sustenance, and you will no doubt find under the prairies here bodies of fuel and most unquestionably oil that will furnish both fuel and light." And when the lignite fields of North and South Dakota were dis- covered that prophesy of Delauney came forcibly to my mind. We did not know anything at that time except vaguely of the Black Hills. The twenty-fifth year has been passed by me as a resident of North Dakota. In 1870 the population of the territory was 14,181 Thirty years afterwards, in 1900, the population of North and South Dakota was 723,000 and over. It it more since that time, as you 32 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS will all bear witness. It is safe to say that it is now 800,000. How that English speaking race has gone forward and possessed the soil that Mr. Delauney, of Ohio, said was capable of containing a large population to the square mile! We went from Bismarck to Fort Lincoln the next day. The officers of the fort gave the mem- ber of the cabinet a beautiful reception. They showed us the sand banks thrown up there to protect them from an attack of 300 warriors of the Sioux Indians only sixty days before. Where is the Sioux Indian? Where is the buffalo that fed the Indian? What has taken the place of the Buffalo and Indian? The English speaking -races, carrying their churches and their schools with them, their manu- factures and obtaining the wealth of the soil of North and South Dakota, South Dakota here in the Black Hills digging it from the bowels of the earth and North Dakota raising it from the surface, and now producing a very large part of the wheat of the world. Ladies and Gentlemen, there is only one expression that I can satisfy ,my own mind with as I look upon what has been done in the last thirty years. What has God wrought! May God in His infinite sympathy continue all blessings to the people of North and South Dakota to the end of time, and may all our efforts be spent in developing the resources of these states. LYNCH, OF MONTANA: Mr. Chairman, I will renew my motion that we now adjourn until eight o'clock. TARBELL, OF COLORADO: I second that motion. The motion was carried and Congress adjourned until September 8, 1903, at eight o'clock P. M. Deadwood, S. D., September 8, 1903, 8 P. M. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Let the Congress be in order. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The first thing on the program for this evening is an address by Dr. J. W. Abbott of Denver, Colorado; subject, "Good Roads for Mines." (Applause.) GOOD ROADS FOR MINES. DR. J. W. ABBOTT: Mr. President, Delegates to the American Mining Congress, Ladies and Gentlemen: The opportunity to ad- dress the American Mining Congress on this important subject I count as the greatest privilege of my official career. (Applause.) I represent that division of our national government which deals with problems of highway improvement. It has been in operation only ten years, and has had to work with ridiculously meagre appro- priations, hesitatingly made. That section of our constitution which imposes upon congress the duty of "providing for the general wel- fare" has always seemed much clearer of comprehension when money could be appropriated for the direct benefit of specific localities, where watchful and discerning constituents can exercise the right of suffrage in behalf oi zealous and successful representatives. The .material development of our country has produced both anomalies and paradoxes. It is indeed an anomaly that while in every other phase of civilization in the home, the office, the city, on rail and water, we lead the world's progress, the general standard of maintenance and construction for our common roads has remained stationary during the past hundred years. The lumberman hauls his logs, the farmer his cotton, wheat and corn, and the miner his machinery, supplies, coal and ore over roads no better than those used by his forefathers a century ago. It is a no less striking paradox that the old world countries have splendid roads because they cannot afford poor ones, while our material resources have been so abundant that we have been bearing year after year the appalling loss from bad roads without realizing the drain. From abundant data gathered in all portions of the United States by the office of public road inquiries, it was demon- AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 33 strated years ago, and has been signally confirmed by my own investi- gations, that the cost of wagon freighting under average existing conditions is, approximately, 25 cents per ton per mile. It is also interesting in this connection to note that the contract price (deter- mined by very earnest competition) paid in 1901 by the government for hauling supplies in Yellowstone National Park, where the moun- tain road system is of a very high standard, was 25 cents per ton per mile. In gathering statistics of the cost of freighting to and from mines by wagon roads, I have found several instances where the roads were the best in which this average cost figured exactly 2 cents per ton mile. I have found none in which the rate was even a fraction lower. Climate, the price of labor, hay and grain, volume of material to be handled and the newness, or otherwise, of the mining region, are all, of course, factors in determining this cost of wagon freight. But the one factor which always controls, and which over-shadows in importance every other, is the character of the road. I have in mind a mining camp situated far below timber line, distant eighteen miles from a populous, thriving agricultural center and important railroad point, where the established freight rate each way is $12.00 per ton; 662-3 cents per mile. At no place along the line is the rise exceedingly rapid, but the grade in places is so very steep that 3,000 pounds is an average load up for a six- horse team. At the request 6f the Department of Agriculture, on November 20, 1895, a circular letter was addressed to many consuls in European countries, requesting information similar to that already elicited in this country on the cost of hauling farm products. A very large number of reports in answer to this circular were received and pub- lished. They show costs ranging from 6 to 13 cents per ton-mile for hauling different products under different conditions. While no certain general average cost per ton-mile can be adduced from these figures, anyone who studies them will conclude that it lies between 10 and 12 cents. With reference to the question whether this light cost in Europe is not partially due to lower prevailing standards of wages, it may be said that while wages there are somewhat lower than with us, the cost of feed averages considerably higher; that very much of the hauling in Europe is done with one horse or mule, while all the data from which the American average was adduced assumed one driver for not less than two horses. Assuming the cost of hauling at 25 cents per ton-mile and taking figures for production from census returns, the director of the office of public road inquiries in April, 1896, estimated the grand total cost, of hauling on the public roads of the United States at about $950,- 000,000. Had these roads been constructed on European standards, this cost would have been reduced more than one-half. For the same year covered by this estimate, the gross freight receipts of all the railroads in the United States was less than 730 millions of dollars. It is only by some such comparison that the mind can grasp the significance of these figures of annual waste, which, although they equal the entire amount expended since its beginning by the govern- ment on improvements to rivers and harbors, does not fully measure the appalling loss to this country from its defective highway system. We must add a great many millions for perishable products spoiled because they could not reach market in time, the restriction or con- gestion of railroad freight, due to closed roads and their subsequent opening (because of climatic conditions), the failure to reach market when prices are good, the enforced idleness of vast numbers of men and animals, the limitation to the area of profitable cultivation of the soil or exploitation of the ground, and many other adverse results due to prevailing highway conditions. But it is particularly to the effect upon the mining industry that I desire to call special attention. The tonnage involved in mining operations in always very great. The machinery required for mine 34 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS and mill equipment runs into tonnage alarmingly fast in the very large majority of cases. All material of all kinds which enters into this equipment must be transported a greater or less distance over a common road. In the beginnings of most mining enterprises the product, as well as all needed supplies, including fuel, must be hauled in wagons. Whatever this wagon haul costs mere than it would cost over properly constructed roads is a tax to be deducted from possible profits. Take a mining enterprise that requires an average wagon haul of twenty tons a day for 300 days in the year; supposing that im- proving the road would result in a saving of but 25 cents on each of these tons; this means $5.00 a day or $1,500 for the year, which is 10 per cent on $15,000. Twenty tons a day for supplies and product does not mean a large business, while $15,000 will, if intelligently applied, work a vast change in almost any road which serves mining needs. All of us who are familiar with mining methods as they actually are in the United States will recall instances without number where an awful drain upon the net output has been suffered year after year without apparent effort for relief, and in many cases even without protest. The annual product from the mines of the United States has a money value of more than one billion dollars. The amount which is expended annually to cheapen the transportation of these products by rail and water, and for mechanical devices of all kinds by which they may be placed upon car or boat or removed therefrom, is prodigious. Isn't it an anomaly that with almost insignificant ex- ception, no effective study is given to this waste in wagon freighting? Compare existing practice in this respect with what the railroads are doing. Grades are being cut down, curves lightened, tunnels bored, heavy steel rails substituted for the lighter ones, more capacious cars and more powerful engines purchased, and every method prac- ticed to reduce the cost of transportation. In the 1901 report of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company will be found some very interesting pages bearing upon what has been accomplished along this line. In 1865 the average cost of hauling each ton of freight one mile was practically 2 1-3 cents, and the average profit 3-8 of a cent. In 1901 the average cost of the haul had been reduced to 3-8 of a cent, and the average profit had fallen to 1-5 of a cent. You see that by the improvements effected the cost of the haul had been reduced to one-sixteenth of what it formerly was. As demonstrating the critical need for this economy, appears the profit on the transaction which has decreased to a less figure than it was when the cost was so much greater. Mr. James J. Hill, the most far-sighted practical economist who has ever studied transportation problems, is now equipping the largest ocean freight carrier ever built upon this con- tinent. It will require the contents of more than one thousand freight cars of average capacity to furnish a load for each. In order to operate these monsters of the sea in successful competition with the subsidized steamships of other countries and the subsidized rail- ways of Canada, this enormous tonnage must be hauled in both direc- tions at rates so low that the returns per ton-mile will be even less than the figures given above for the actual cost of freight trans- portion on the Pennsylvania railroad. The steamers must run fully loaded each way, and to command this huge bulk of freight, a smaller fraction of a mill per ton-mile must be accepted than ever before for a similar service. When we consider that it has been during the life of one generation that the cost of rail transportation has been reduced to less than one-sixth of what it was, and the cost of steamship transportation probably fully as much, does it not seem strange indeed that we are contented to go on in the same old way when hauling the same products over the common road? But the loss resulting to the mining industry from unsuitable roads is by no means confined to regions where there are actually developed mines. The wealth still hidden in the almost impenetrable fastnesses of our Western mountains probably far exceeds all that AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 85 has ever yet been disclosed. The intrepid prospector and his faithful burro outline the primitive trail into each new Golconaa. These trails in turn give way to pathways which it is generally euphemism to dignify as roads. These roads gradually develop into great arteries and money is often poured out with spontaneous and unreasoning recklessness to open a new mining camp. A tithe of what is thus squandered, with results as evanescent as a passing dream, would build roads, with whose coming would vanish the main terrors and hardships which mark the early history of nearly every new mining camp. Prospects which, if accessible by good roads, would tempt capital and be developed quickly into new mines, lie idle year after year and decade after decade, solely because there is no way by which they can be economically equipped and operated. What piti- fully short-sighted ecomony, counties, hoping to make such pros- pects accessible, build roads leading to them, located with such steep grades and in such improper places that the cost of hauling over them soon becomes manifestly impracticable. They actually defeat the very purpose for which they were built because the fact that some kind of a road is already built makes it ten times more difficult to raise the means to construct another along correct lines. The man who exerts his influence against the building of a road which must inevitably prove unsuitable, confers a greater benefit upon a mining region than he who subscribes himself and induces his neighbors to do likewise for a kind of road which effectually dis- appoints the very hopes which it at first encouraged. M'any a mining enterprise of real potential merit has been irretrievably wrecked because an expensive and appropriate equipment has failed to pro- duce a paying mine where wagon transportation has been so excessive as to consume the profits, until hope, too long deferred, has yielded to disgust and a fatal discouragement. It is only through economy and by the most careful methods that a very large percentage of mines have been made commercially successful. Is it not just as important to look carefully after that portion of the expense which goes into wagon transportation as it is to hoist cheaply, to drill effectively, to ventilate properly or to save the ultimate nickel by elaborate metallurgical methods? It is not my purpose, nor do I conceive that it would be appro- priate for me in this paper, to go deeply into the technical principals of correct road building for mines. In the issues of the Engineering and Mining Journal, of New York, for May 16-23, last, appears a paper which I prepared with much care, deaung with this phase of the subject. In the year book of the United States Department of Agriculture for 1900 there appears a paper upon mountain roads, written by myself, which, while it does not contain some things which I conceive to be valuable for the engineer who is constructing mining roads, does touch upon certain features of .mountain roads not so fully elucidated in the paper first mentioned. This latter paper on "Mountain Roads" has been re-published by the department in pamphlet form and is furnished gratuitously to anyone upon ap- plication. The fundamentals of any mountain road construction are grade and drainage. Prom quite an extended observation and experience in mountain road construction and in mountain freighting, I have reached the very positive conclusion that under no circumstances, on any road designed for general freighting, should there be a grade exceeding 12 per cent. I further believe that no distinct economy is secured by reducing mountain grades, at much cost, below 8 per cent. This latter conclusion, reached by myself solely from experience and observation, has been confirmed by traction experiments made by the government and by individual engineers. Of course, the most difficult places upon any road where trail wagons are not used, determines the load which can be hauled. The 36 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS engineer who is locating a mountain road should determine in his own mind, from'all the circumstances in the case, what his maximum shall be, and when he has once determined it, should adhere to it inflexibly in making his location. Grades should always be eased and the road bed widened on curves and the approaches to every sharp curve should be level. It is much easier to drain a road on a side hill than one located along the bottom of a gulch. Roads facing the east and south dry out more quickly after wet than those which face the north and west. A side hill road should always slope towards the inside bank and never towards the outside; otherwise the tendency will be for the outside of the grade to get lower and the inside higher, until it be- comes dangerously sidling. The essential principles of mountain road construction are few and simple. The main need is common sense and the power to reason clearly. Technical training is valuable, but not a sine qua non. If every mining man would get these principals firmly fixed in his mind and whenever he rides over a road would mentally in- quire "Is the road here rightly built? How could it be made better?" The beneficial results to the industry would be quickly apparent. Out of such habit would come discussions and a general influence for better methods and higher standards. The need for improved highways is the great question today which concerns every locality, every interest and every person through- out the entire length and breadth of this nation. The other stones in the principal march of our material progress are in place. The keystone which is to complete it into a symmetrical structure of strength and beauty is being rapidly shaped in the quarry of public sentiment. Day by day its outlines become more clearly defined. The powerful machinery of selfish interest and promise of immediate pecuniary return to the individual worker, which has rendered such effective aid in fashioning and lifting into place the other stones in this edifice is lacking. This must be wrought to completion and raised into position by the willing hands of all the people. Each interest must contribute its equitable share of aid. The Good Roads Propaganda has been successful in awaken- ing the people generally to the overshadowing importance of the sub- ject. The apathy of ten years ago has almost entirely vanished. "We must have better roads," is the universal cry. Everywhere now people are earnestly studying ways and means. In nearly every state, at each recurring session of the legislature, bills are considered and many passed, appropriating state funds for roads and establishing methods for securing more effective results. In the older and more populous states) highway commissions have been created to supervise the expenditure of state funds. In every state which has such commission the law provides that the state funds shall cover only some portion of the entire expense of the roads to be built. In New York the state pays one-half, the county 35 per cent, and the road district 15 per cent; in New Jersey the state pays one-third, etc. These laws mark the greatest advance yet c-ttained in solving this question of ways and means. They give recognition to the very im- portant principle that the cost of building a new road should not be bourne solely by the immediate district through which it passes. Every new road built gives an added impulse to the state's prosperity. It increases the price of land, induces men to build better homes, invites home-seekers, adds to the profits of every industry, brings in new enterprises, enlarges bank deposits and promotes activity in all lines. The general industrial life blood pulsates more vigorously. City, county and state treasuries, each get a share of the increment and can well afford to contribute to that which produces it. As these results get to be better understood and appreciated the equity of dividing the burden is more cheerfully recognized. Extending this principle of co-operation to its logical limit the advocates of road reform insist that the general government should AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 37 come in and assume its equitable portion of this burden of cost. The nation is a community of states. Whatever contributes to their pros- perity helps to make it strong and great. The funds in its treasury come from the pockets of all the people. What else would more su-rely or more effectively "provide for the general welfare" than a policy of expenditure tending to improve highway conditions throughout the entire country? The proposition in itself is incontrovertible. The problem is to satisfactorily determine s'uch policy. Wherever in the United States today highway reform is being seriously and earnestly discussed "National Aid" is accepted as being the logical method of securing it. But what would be a suitable policy, fair to all sections, logical and effective and safeguarded against waste and theft? Some plans advanced contemplate the building by the government alone of certain roads in selected localities, should be main arteries and by their superior excellence should serve as object lessons of cor- rect methods. These plans are opposed on many grounds. The millions upon millions of dollars worse than wasted under some (not all) river and harbor bills, are pointed to in proof of the error of any plan which opens the United States Treasury to log rolling deals. Next winter there will be introduced into both houses of Congress bills designed to bring in the government as a co-operating factor with states, counties and localities. These bills will provide for the appro- priation of a definite sum to be apportioned equitably among the states, the amounts thus apportioned to be expended in conjunction with equal amounts contributed by the states. These bills will provide for apportionment directly according to population. Some favor apportioning half the amount according to population and the other half equally to each state, on the same basis as the states get representation in Congress. The states must provide by law how their quota shall be raised; that is whether the state shall furnish it all, or the state a part and the county a part, and perhaps the locality another part. All bills will provide that the money shall be expended under the direct supervision and control of expert road-builders in government employ, and the effort will be made to thoroughly safeguard the funds from waste, or speculation. No industry could have greater interest in the solution of this question than mining. I appeal to every man within the sound of my voice to give his earnest attention and careful thought to this matter. We must have government aid in some form. We are entitled to it. We shall get it when the people demand it. This is a movement that grows as its benefits become apparent. One good road brings another. We don't expect the government to help build all the roads, but we do expect it to help start us. In the Western Mountain States spaces are great; population and money very limited. Good roads will help open our mines, increase our profits, extend the area of profitable agriculture and put us into position to better afford the outlay for roads. All sections need them, but these new regions relatively need them most. As illustrating the awakening on this subject in the older states it may be mentioned that the legislature of the State of New York at its last session passed a law for submitting to popular vote the question whether the state should issue fifty millions of long time bonds, the proceeds to be used for building improved roads. We expect New York to stand at the front in Congress in demanding government aid. Let us not forget that we are not asking this as a favor nor as a function of paternalism, but because it is right. We must have the money to build them and we must call on all interests to contribute their share just as each man has to pay his individual tax. The Gov- ernment is an interested party and we ask for it to do its proper share and to show how it ought to be done, just as it shows us how to raise grass on desert sands and to get best results from each particular soil. 38 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS It is a case of "United we stand" and that is what Government is for. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The next on the program is a paper by Dr. J. D. Irving, of Washington, D. C. Subject, "Ore Deposits of the Northern Black Hills." In the absence of Dr. Irving, Mr. E. R. Buckley, of Missouri, will read the paper. MR. E. R. BUCKLEY: Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: It gives me very great pleasure to have an opportunity to read this very excellent paper by Dr. Irving, of the United States Geological Survey. I only regret that Dr. Irving is not here himself to read the paper for I am sure it will be impossible for me to do justice to the subject which he has so ably treated: ORE DEPOSITS OF THE NORTHERN BLACK HILLS. The Black Hills have been from the earliest time a region of singular economic intere&t. From the dates when Indian hunting par- ties visited them to obtain provisions for future use, they have grad- ually increased in importance as a source of wealth, until their produc- tion has seen its culmination in the thriving mining industries of today. To the Indians the hills were merely a hunting ground, and the wealth which they derived from them was only in the form of provisions. The gradual inroads of the hardy prospector to this Indian hunt- ing ground first attracted attention to the region as a source of a different type of wealth. Rumors of the discovery of gold there, growing as they traveled further from their source, spread the impres<- sion that this was a land of great mineral wealth. The increase in the number of men visiting the Hills soon alarmed the Indians and brought about hostilities which eventually attracted the > ttention of the Federal Government. The story of how military expeditions were sent here, of how a party was finally sent out to investigate the truth of these rumors, of how gold was found there, of the final opening up of the country to settlement, and the gradual inception, rise and growth of the mining industry, is well known to all who are familiar with the history of the region. In the several steps of its growth, mining in the Black Hills has followed quite closely the lines of its development in other regions. First, the attention of the early prospectors and those who followed them there, was given to the more easily accessible deposits, the placers. As the value of these became evident, search was made for the source from which the gold in the placers was derived. The old gravel deposits which lie at the bas'e of the Cambrian formation were then found, and for a number of years yielded almost fabulous sums to those who had located upon them. The impregnated lodes in the schistose rocks were discovered, and the mines which have now become the famous Homestake belt were gradually opened up. The lead-silver ores of Carbonate then became productive, and still further search revealed the beds of refractory siliceous ores which have of late years become of such very great importance; then the Ragged Top ores were found, and finally a variety of smaller deposits was discov- ered. Regions where ore bodies were easily accessible at the surface were those first prospected, then those more remote and more deeply buried beneath the covering of barren rocks in turn yielded their con- tents to the efforts of the miner. The members of the Mining Congress are spending a short time in this region. In presenting this paper to them it is the purpose of the writer to take up successively the different types of deposit occur- ring in the Northern Black Hills, and to make as clear as possible their character, their value, the geological association in which they are found, and to s:et forth in so far as possible, what evidence there may be as to the manner in which they have originated. AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 39 To make this discussion a little clearer, the general geological character of the Black Hills will be briefly described and then the dif- ferent types of ore bodies which occur in the region will be severally discussed. GEOLOGY. As a problem in geology, the Black Hills differs in some respects from almost any other to be found in this country. Surrounded on all sides by a flat and rather barren country whose general character is monotonous and without special interest, the Black Hills rise as an island, presenting within their borders geologic problems of great variety and interest, diverse types of ore deposits, and studies in land drainage, which, from their very isolation and circumscribed character, are easily grasped and understood, and are without the usual compli- cated connections with the surrounding country that make most geo- logical questions so difficult to comprehend. In his classic work upon this region, Henry Newton has described the general geological character of the Black Hills as an elevated area, roughly elliptical in outline, comprising a central core of metamorphic crystalline rocks, about which are grouped in rudely concretic belts, strata of later geologic age, dipping away in all directions from what is termed by Newton the elevatory axis or region of the Hills. Where the strata which originally covered the core of scists which forms the center of the hills still present, we would have an eelvated dome of very great height, rising far above the level of the surrounding country. The gradual erosion, or wearing away, however, of these uplifted rocks has gone on together with their upheavel, so that we have now remaining a country only slightly higher than the surround- ing plains. In the center is the uncovered area of schists, and at the sides the stratified rocks dipping outward beneath the flat prairie land beyond. The general trend of this central core of old crystalline rocks is in a due north and south direction, but at its northern extremity it turns quite abruptly towards the northwest, forming a sort of geolog- ical cul-de-sac shut in on three sides by upturned strata, but separated from the main portion of the core to the south by a narrow belt of Cambrian rocks 1 and their included masses of porphyry. Throughout this northern area erosion has not cut so deeply into the crystalline schists as further south, so that besides the rude belt of enclosing strata, isolated patches of the old covering lie upon the higher hills within the area of schists. If we examine the rocks which compose the different geological formations which are found in the northern hills, we shall see that there are four different groups of importance which can be readily distinguished from one another. The first is the lowest, or series of metamorphic schists. It consists of a series of crystalline mica-schists, mica-slates or phyllitesi, and laminated quartzites. Together with these are found, in the southern portion of the Black Hills, and in the region known as Nigger Hill, large intruded masses of granite, very coarse in its texture and sometimes containing deposits of tin. In the northern portion of the hills there isi no granite present in the series, but its place is taken by numerous dikes and great irregular patches of a dark greenish hornblende rock, termed amphibolite. Bodies of this rock are particularly noticeable in the vicinity of Lead City, and extend as far south as Custer Peak. It is possible that they may have had some connection with the occurrence of gold in the Homestake mine, but there is no definite evidence in favor of this theory- The rocks of this series are strongly laminated and are everywhere tilted at a high angle. The lamination crosses the planes of original sedi- mentary banding, as can be still seen in many places. Numerous! closely spaced folds are also seen to exist in the series, but the high degree of alteration that the rocks have undergone has now almost completely obliterated their original structure. The next series of rocks is that belonging to the Cambrian period, and comprises those rocks which lie upon the eroded surface of the 40 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS coarse bed of hardened gravel, a thick layer of quartzite, and a series of alternating limestones and shalest with some quartzite, in all a thick- ness of about 400 feet. Above these and still further out from the center of the hills there is a yellowish limestone showing purple spots and belonging to the Salurian age. This is about 80 feet thick. Above it comes a series of very heavily bedded gray limestones, pinkish at the base and averaging about 600 feet in thickness. It covers the other rocks throughout the entire western portion of the uplift. There are present, besides these sedimentary rocks, eruptive rocks of several different varieties. The most abundant of these are rhyolite, either fine-grained and white as in the vicinity of the Home- stake mine, or coarse-grained and darker colored as at other localities; syenite porphyries which occur chiefly in the vicinity of Deadwood and Two Bit Gulch; and phonolite. The latter is generally a dark greenish or bluish rock, sometimes quite coarse but usually exceedingly dense and fine-grained. Other intermediate varieties of eruptive rock are also present in different places. The eruptive rocks when found in the schist series are usually either in dikes which are parallel to the lamination of the schists, or in large and more irregular masses which have no definite form. When in the Cambrian rocks, they are gener- ally sills or sheets which have spread out laterally to great distances along the planes of sedimentation; when found in the Carboniferous, are of more irregular form, sometimes occurring in short, thick sheets, again in dikes, and still more frequently in very irregular masses. Much discussion has taken place as to the probability of the phonolites which are present in the Black Hills indicating a recur- rence of the typesi of ore deposits found in Cripple Creek. While there are certain cases in which tellurides of gold have been found asso- ciated with phonolites in the Black Hills, bearing some resemblance to Cripple Creek ores, the existence of phonolites themselves in this region does not indicate that there isi likely to be found a second Cripple Creek. Phonolites occur in many localities in the world, in Europe, Mexico, and elsewhere, and are in most cases not associated with ore bodies. That they may indicate future mineral wealth in the Black Hills is possible, but not in any sense essential. ORE DEPOSITS. If the placer workings, which are distributed widely over the entire hills be excluded, the productive mining region of the Northern Black Hills comprises a limited area of about 100 square miles. It extends from the town of Perry on Elk Creek, where the Clover Leaf mine is situated, northwestward to the town of Carbonate, on the east branch of Spearfish Canyon, while its widest as well R,S most productive por- tion lies between Terry Peak on the southwest and Garden City on the northeast. Within this rather restricted region are closely grouped together as many as nine distinct typesi of ore deposits. They occur in each case in a particular geological series, and are, with one exception, not found in the rocks belonging to any other formation. Considering them in accordance with the rocks in which they are found, we may distin- guish the following five divisions: (1) Ore deposits in Algonkian rocks. (2) Ore deposits in Cambrian rocks. (3) Ore deposits in Carboniferous rocks. . . (4) Ore deposits in eruptive rocks. (5) Ore deposits in rocks of recent formation. In the crystalline schists and metamorphic rocks of the Algonkian age are found the free milling gold ores, some small deposits of tin, and a few trifling prospects of copper which have not yet assumed any great importance. In addition to these there are certain deposits of graphite which have lately attracted some interest. AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 41 In the Cambrian rocks there are gold-bearing gravels which lie at the base of the formation, the refractory siliceous ores which have of late years become of great importance, the lead-silver ores of Galena and vicinity, and some deposits of wolframite which have from time to time produced considerable quantities of this mineral. In the heavy gray limestones of the Carboniferous there have been found in the vicinity of Ragged Top Mountain, high grade siliceous ores, and at the town of Carbonate the same recks have yielded large amounts of lead-silver ores/ closely resembling those of Leadville, Colorado. A few deposits also occur in eruptive rocks. In the latest rocks of all, the gravels which fill the beds of modern streams, have been found the placer deposits, and while they are chiefly of historic interest as representing the earlier development of mining in the hills, they have in peast years produced heavily. ORE DEPOSITS IN METAMORPHIC ALGONKIAN SCHISTS. Since the attention of miners has been transferred from the gold- bearing gravels, which are always the first producers of a mining region, the free milling lodes which occur in the Algonkian schists have assumed greater and greater importance in the production of this region, until now they are the heaviest producer and constitute by far the most prominent factor in the gold production of the region. There are in general two areas where ores of this character have been discovered. The first is the great Homestake belt; the second, the Clover Leaf or Uncle Sam mine, at some distance to the southeast, and quite widely separated from the first. As a report will soon appear by Mrs. S. F. Emmbns, discussing in detail the geologic structure of the Homestake mine, the writer will give only a brief summary of this important ore zone, gathered in large part from previously published reports and personal observations. The Homestake belt is a term which has been applied to a series of mines opened on a great gold-bearing zone in the metamorphic schists, which is located in the vicinity of Lead City. It comprises a group of mines which are known severally as the Homestake, Deadwood-Terra, Father De Smet and Caledonia, but as the Homestake Company has exercised an increasingly important influence in the management, the name has become gradually applied to the entire belt. The surface workings or open cuts from which the ore was first extracted in the early days of the history of this belt, indicate in a broad, general way the location and trend of the ore body. The Cale- donia ore body is distinct from that operated in the other mines, and lies to the east of it. The Homestake ore body is not a true fissure vein, but is a broad impregnated zone in the schists, which strikes approximately north 34 degrees west, and is slightly at variance with the general direction of the lamination or the schists. There seems to be a rough dip to the east, but the ore is so irregularly related to the rocks in which it occurs that the general inclination cannot be given with any degree of accuracy. The ore body pitches quite noticeably toward the south, so that at the southern-most portion yet opened up, it is much more deeply buried than in a northerly direction. Alternat- ing with the lenses of ore, and also to the eastern side of them, are many dikes of white, fine-grained rhyolite, which have passed upward between the lamination planes of the schists and spread out in broad flat masses in the remnants of flat-lying Cambrian strata which cap the hills to the west, north and east of the ore zone. In places most of the stratified rock in which these porphyry masses have intruded is now eroded, and on the summits of the divides which separate the open cuts, little is left but the thick sheets of rhyolite. As these porphyry bodies were followed downward they became gradually smaller and fewer in number, the eruptive rock having apparently spread out as It came nearer to the surface and formed branching masses of a lenticu- lar form. The first ore which was mined in the early days formed irregular lenticular masses included almost wholly within these dykes of porphyry, but as it was followed downward it seemed to diverge 42 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS from the porphyry bodies, and in the deeper levels of the mine is seemingly entirely independent of them. It is, however, an interesting fact that in the lower levels a mass of phonolite of a dark greenish color has been found, quite closely associated with the wider portions of the ore zone. No exact foot-wall or hanging-wall to the ore can be detected, because it is in many cases difficult to distinguish the miner- alized material from the barren country rock. It seems probable that the Homestake lode, owing to its mineral- ized character, was a harder and more resistant ledge than the sur- rounding schists of the Algonkian, and that for this reason it consti- tuted a reef in the old Cambrian seas before the sedimentary rocks above were deposited. That it was then mineralized and gold-bearing is proved by the presence of gold in the basal or lowest rocks of the sedimentary series which lie in the isolated patches about the outcrop of the ore body. The ores of the Homestake belt taken as i whole cannot be said to present any constant features which serve to distinguish them from the characteristic but barren rocks of the Algonkian series. Pyrite is by far the most invariable indication of mineralization, but it is notably absent from much of the ore. Quartz also occurs in a great number of cases. Perhaps the most usual type of ore would be that consisting quite largely of quartz and pyrite. Other minerals are dolomite, calcite and arsenopyrite; these are also of very frequent occurrence, but no decrease in the values of the ore can be noted when they are absent. Again, garnet and tremolite appear in some portions of the ore in such abundance as to constitute a larger part of the gangue minerals, but the ore here found is of no difference in value from that having a wholly different appearance. It would seem that when the ordinary type of schists is mineralized the ore more closely resembles a 'schist, but when the amphibolite is mineralized it more closely re- sembles an amphibolite. Thus it will appear that although we find pyrite, quartz, dolomite, calcite, arenopyrite, tremolite and garnet frequently constituting, either separately or in combination, the gangue of the ore, no one of these minerals can be considered an in- dication of the presence of gold. In general, however, it may be said that the ores occupy a zone in the Algonkian rocks which present a greater number of secondary minerals, a more constant occurrence of sulphides, quartz, dolomite, calcite and arsenopyrite, and finally a more advanced degree of distortion and irregularity of structure than do the barren areas of the same formation. From a careful study of the ores and the general structure of the Homestake belt, it appears that, first, there have been several different periods of mineralization, one at least of which has preceded the depo- sition of the Cambrian rocks. This is distinctly shown by the presence of placer gold in the lowermost gravel beds of the Cambrian series. Second, there have been periods of mineralization, which followed the entire deposition of the sedimentary rocks later than the intrusion of the dikes of bodies of rhyolite. It is probable that this belt has been the seat of many fracturings and dynamic movements from the earliest geologic time until the present, and has constituted a line of weakness along which mineralizing waters were permitted to cir- culate more freely than elsewhere. Impregnation of the country rocks at successive periods with vein minerals and small amounts of gold has thus given rise to a workable zone of gold-bearing rock. In the earlier days of the mine the ore was completely free milling and of higher grade than that now mined. It was highly oxidized and contained little or no sulphurets. As the workings penetrated deeper beneath the surface oxidized material gave place gradually to sulphides, and more and more of the values of the ores failed to yield to amalgamation. For a time the concentrates from the mine were sold to smelting companies, but experimentation on their treat- ment gradually led to the construction of a cyanide plant with a view to treating the more refractory portions of the ore. AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 43 It has been assumed by many who have written upon the geology cf these ore bodies that the rhyolite porphyries which occur in in- timate association with them have enriched the ore, but there is no evidence to support this theory. The Homestake mine has, since its inception, been an illustration of the manner in which a large body of low grade ore handled on a large scale, could be made to yield great profit, and its successful operation has been due chiefly to the careful nature of the manage- ment and the great business ability of those who have handled it. CLOVER LEAF MINE. The other mine which has been operated on Algonkian ores is known as the Clover Leaf mine (formerly the Uncle Sam) not far from the station of Perry, on the Black Hills & Fort Pierre railroad. Compared with the Homestake belt its production is comparatively small, but it is of singular geologic interest. The ore body is a large saddle-shaped mass of quartz, enclosed in the metamorphic schists, with its apex striking north 64 degress west and pitching to the southeast at an angle of 40 degrees. The horizontal section of the quartz body as exposed on the 25-foot level has the appearance of the letter U with slightly flaring arms. The northern arm strikes north 40 degrees west, and the southern, south 75 degrees west. This quartz body is thickest at the crest, and the lamination of the en- closing schist is parallel to its surface, curving around it so as to give to the mass the appearance of a folded lens at the crest of a southeastwardly pitching anticlinal fold in the Algonkian schist. Both of the arms of this quartz mass when followed out from the apex become much narrower than the main body. The northwesterly has an average width of 20 feet, the southwesterly, of about 10 to 12 feet. The gold is contained chiefly in the quartz, in which it often appears free and generally associated with small particles of galena. The quartz and the encompassing schist are heavily impregnated with pyrite which at the surface is completely oxidized. The ore is treated in a stamp mill and amalgamates readily. Besides these gold-bearing lodes, there occur also in rocks of Algonkian age, deposits of tin, notably in the southern portion of the hills and in the region to the west of Spearfish Canyon, known as Nigger Hill. The country rock in which these deposits occur is a coarse muscovite granite, and the cessiterite or tin oxide is scattered through this rock in irregular patches increasing and decreasing in amount with little or no regularity. In the earlier days of mining in the Black Hills, it attracted, as is well known, considerable interest, but the unfortunate character of the enterprises which were con- nected with its exploitation have much retarded its development. The cessiterite occurs also in placers as stream gravels which have been derived from the disintegration of the country rock containing the tin. The cessiterite in these gravels is but little rounded, and differs in its black color from the usual reddish brown type of stream tin so commonly found in the vicinity of tin-bearing lodes. While it is possible that these deposits may again be worked, it is hardly probable that they will ever constitute the basis of a large mining enterprise. A few small prospects of copper have been found at different places in the schist areas of the Northern Hills, but they have not yet been of sufficient size or regularity to attract serious attention. MISCELLANEOUS DEPOSITS IN THE ALGONKIAN ROCKS. At several localities within the productive mining region, ores have been found which may be properly described with the Algonkian lodes. They are partially in eruptive rocks and partially in brec- ciated material composed of schist and porphyry, while at times they form veins which pass from one rock into the others; at other points they pass from porphyry into Cambrian rocks. While none of these have yet attained any great importance, there are two that 44 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS deserve special mention. The first is in Strawberry Gulch, where quite a number of small mines have been intermittently worked. Much of the ore occurs in a decomposed porphyry in the form of thin auriferous limonite filling the small fractures, or of impregnations in the country rock. In general, these pass downward into unoxidized pyrite, while in a few cases sphalerite and galena have been re- ported. The porphyry mass in which these ores are found is ex- tremely large and so irregularly intruded into- the schists that its relation to them cannot be readily made out. Some of the ore ob- tained from the mines is reported to have been quite rich but it has so far been too irregular in its occurrene to form the basis of ex- tensive mining. The second locality where ore has been found, which is chiefly in porphyry, is the Old Ironsides mine, near the mouth of Squaw Creek. Here, there is exposed in the side of the creek a sheet of mica-diorite-porphyry about 40 feet thick with beds of Cambrian rock both above and below. Through these rocks runs a series of vertical fractures striking about north 85 degrees east, along which silicification has occurred and from which telluride gold has been introduced into the adjacent rock, often to considerable distances from a fracture. Some of the crystals of telluride presumably sylvanite are quite large. The deposition has occurred chiefly in the diorite-porphyry, but also to a minor degree in the Cambrian rocks. At the surface, where the rocks are highly oxidized, gold may be seen along the fractures in a free condition. There are other places in which ore has been found in eruptives, either as fillings or fissures, or as impregnations, but they are not of any economic value. The eruptive rocks as a whole have not been the loci of considerable deposits. ORE DEPOSITS IN CAMBRIAN ROCKS. As a producer of gold the Cambrian is second in importance only to the Algonkian series. In the rocks belonging to this age or those which lie immediately above the metamorphic schists, there are four varieties of ore: First, the gold-bearing conglomerates or gravels, generally known as the cement deposits; second, the re- fractory siliceous ores; third, the pyritic ores; and fourth, the lead- silver ores. THE GOLD-BEARING CONGLOMERATES. At the base of the series of Cambrian strata, immediately above the upturned schists there is generally a bed of gravel. It varies in thickness from a few inches to more than SO feet. Throughout a large number of areas where the Cambrian strata yet remain uneroded, this conglomerate is generally about three or four feet thick and passes upward into a hard, dense quartzite, which has a vertical range of from 15 to 30 feet. The quartzite is almost uni- versally present at the base of the Cambrian series; the gravel is generally quite thin, but attains a notable thickness in a few localities. One of these is in the vicinity of Lead City. Here the gravel is gold- bearing and has produced very heavily in the past. The productive areas of this gold-bearing gravel are closely grouped about the Home- stake belt. They are five in number. One, comprising the Durango and Harrison mines, is west of the Homestake lode, near the southern extremity of the present outcrop. The other four east and north of it, include the Hawkeye, Monitor, and Gentle Annie. One of these lies just east of the Caledonia open cut; another on the divide be- tween Bobtail and Dead wood Gulches; the third on that between Bobtail and Deadwood Gulches, and the fourth on the north side or Bobtail Gulch beneath a heavy capping of rhyolite which forms the high ridge beyond. The gold-bearing conglomerate oc- cupies irregular depressions in the old schist surface, and was prob- ably not uniformly distributed along an old shore line. It thins out to nothing along the strike of the Homestake lode and allows the AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 45 higher measures of the Cambrian series to lap over onto the miner- alized rock of the Algonkian. A general downward inclination of the schist surface toward the northeast may also be observed. It is not possible to give exact boundaries to the original extent of these gold-bearing gravels on account of the dissected nature of the areas which now remain. The gravel is composed of rounded, water-worn pebbles of quartz schist and a few fragments of softer schist which seem to decrease in abundance as one proceeds further from the Homestake lode, that is, from the old pre-Cambrian shore line. The gold-bearing portions of the gravel may be at once dis- tinguished from those which are barren by the character of mineral which cements the pebbles. In the gold-bearing portions this is chiefly oxide of iron when weathered, or pyrite when it has not suffered alteration. The non-gold-bearing portions, on the other hand, have also a rather sandy, quartzose matrix, or are in some instances slightly calcareous. The gold in the richest portions of the con- glomerate those first mined is chiefly placer gold, for it is rounded and worn by attrition and is concentrated near the bed-rock. It was undoubtedly derived from the erosion of gold-bearing lodes in the Algonkian rocks, and mechanically deposited in depressions along the old shore line. Some of it has been dissolved by ferric sulphate which has resulted from the oxidation of the pyrite and has been redeposited from this solution in thin films in the laminae of the underlying schists. This has also produced an enrichment of the lowermost layers of conglomerate. Besides these two types of gold which occur in these gravels, it is also possible that gold was intro- duced with the pyrite which either cements or once cemented the pebbles. The introduction of pyrite was subsequent to the deposition of the conglomerates, since it penetrates fractures in the quartz pebbles. It is probably a replacement of the original quartzose cementing material. Intrusion of rhyolite cut the conglomerate in many places, and are often quite heavily impregnated with pyrite. The close relation between these gravel deposits and the Homestake lode, together with their absence along its line of outcrop, seems to indicate that the Homestake zone projected above the level of the surrounding rocks and formed in the old Cambrian sea a reef about which these gravels were deposited. The greater portion of their gold was thus, with little question, derived from the disintegration of the old Homestake lode. They are not to be compared exactly with the gold-bearing sands which are found in the Nome district of Alaska, but are somewhat exceptional, not only because they are the only representatives of what may be termed fossil placers, but because they are not uniformly deposited along the shore but were confined to the vicinity of an outcrop of a large gold lode, and the detrital material from that lode was held in irregular depressions in the sub-marine surface in its vicinity. REFRACTORY SILICEOUS ORES. Of all the ores occurring in rocks of later age than the Algonkian, the refractory siliceous ores have thus been far the most important factors in the gold production of the Northern Black Hills. They are widely distributed over a large area extending from Yellow Creek on the Southeast to Squaw Creek on the northwest in a broad irregular belt. This belt includes five productive areas which will be later discussed. The country rock in which the ore occurs is a dolo- mitic limestone of fine-grained crystalline texture and varying like the ore in its degree of oxidation. It is termed "sand rock" by the miners. In its fresh condition it is a dense, gray crystalline rock, showing innumerable small cleavage faces of dolomite and generally interrupted by bands of greenish-black shale of varying width. When oxidized it has a deep red color but presents the same crystalline texture, while with very advanced alteration it passes into a red, earthy material termed "gouge." Chemical analysis of this rock shows it to be a dolomite of nearly normal composition, while the microscope 46 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS shows that it is composed of irregular masses of dolomite with some scattered grains of quartz or clearly bounded rhombic crystals of dolomite. When the rock has been mineralized these are altered to silica and often beautifully preserved. The dolomite beds of this character which have so far been most extensively prospected occur at two positions in the Cambrian series. The first is immediately above the basal quartzite from 15 to 25 feet above the schists of the Algon- kian, and known as the "lower contact;" the second, from 18 to 30 feet below the scolithus, or so-called "worm-eaten" sandstone that forms the top of the Cambrian series and termed the "upper contact." Many other beds of dolomite occur at intervening levels and some of them have produced a little ore. There has as yet been but little sys- tematic prospecting upon these beds and it is very probable that they may become important ore horizons in future. The ore is an extremely hard, brittle rock, composed largely of secondary silica and carrying, when unoxidized, pyrite, fluorite, and, at times, barite, wolframite, stibonite and jarosite. It shows many cavities which are lined with druses of quartz crystals or contain clusters composed of cubes of fluorite. Some of the cavities show large crystals of barite. In some localities the siliceous ore is heavily charged with wolframite, so that in many instances it grades from beds of siliceous ore into flat bodies of almost pure wolframite. Oc- currences of this kind are found in the Yellow Creek and Lead City areas. When carrying large quantites of wolframite the ore usually contains great quantities of barite. The ore occurs in flat, banded masses in which the banding is continuous with the bedding planes of the adjoining strata. These .masses possess a quite regular channel- like form and follow zones of fracture that vary for the separate districts in their general direction but exhibit a very uniform trend within the limits of any single productive area. These channel-like ore bodies are known as shoots and have a width of from a few inches to, in rare instances, 300 feet. The average width is perhaps about 30 feet, although all widths between five and 100 feet are of frequent occurrence. The length is in all cases many times in excess of the breadth, and in the case of the Tornado-Mogul shoot is about three-fourths of a mile. The vertical dimensions vary from a few inches to a maximum of 18 feet. The average thickness is about six feet. The shoots generally follow either single fractures which are parallel to their longer diameter, or broad areas of parallel or intersecting fractures. The beds of rock that lie above the ore are generally shale of a more or less impervious character, but sills of eruptive rock not infrequently play the same role. On the lower contact the floor is sometimes of basal Cambrian quartzite, but in many cases varying thicknesses of dolomite intervene between it and the ore. In such cases the widest portion of the shoot is directly beneath the impervious rock of the roof, for the solutions have spread out and replaced dolomite to the greatest distance along the under- surface of the impervious rock. The shoots have thus a wedge- shaped form in many cases, the broadest portion of the wedge being at the top. THE FRACTURES. When the ore that forms the body of a shoot has been removed the fractures by which the mineralizers have gained access to the rock replaced may be traced in the overlying, and where they are uncovered, in the underlying beds. These fractures have been ren- dered prominent by a slight silicification of the adjoining rock which has often caused them to project from the softer shaly material; they are often iron-stained, also. These silicified iron-stained frac- tures are commonly known as "verticals." They may be observed in greater or less numbers in all of the shoots of the refractory siliceous ore. The fractures are generally slightly warped surfaces along which slight movement has occurred, or they may be composite zones of fracture caused by the intersection of many small irregular AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 47 fissures. The displacement along such planes of movement is gen- erally very small, not more than two or three inches, but it some- times reaches six or seven feet. They are usually without apprec- iable open space, for the walls have not generally been removed from one another for distances greater than one-sixty-fourth of an inch. Some notable exceptions occur. They are generally vertical or nearly so. They frequently extend into the beds that form the roof of the ore bodies and sometimes terminate in the ore-bearing beds them- selves. They have also been traced through the lower quartzite into the Algonkian below, but in entering that formation their traces are lost in the vertical laminae of the schists. PRODUCTIVE AREAS. The productive areas of refractory siliceous ore are five in num- ber and have been severally designated Bald Mountain area, Yellow Creek area, Lead City area, Garden City area, and Squaw Creek area. The last-named area was at the time of survey litte more than a prospect, but has since become an important producer. The Bald Mountain area is the most extensive and important. It is a northwest-southeast belt of about one mile in width and four and one- half miles in length, and the width is limited by the annular exposure of Cambrian rocks that surrounds the Algonkian nucleus of the region. The ore-bearing strata dip to the southwest and pass be- neath the Silurian and Carboniferous limestone, while they have been eroded from the Algonkian hills to the northeast with one or two exceptions. Hence, on the north the ore bodies are exposed at the surface, but to the south shafts are necessary to reach them. At the southeast end this area is cut off from the Yellow Creek area by Whitewood Creek. At the northern end the Cambrian rocks are present in nearly their full thickness. With relation to the ore bodies, the area may be divided into two portions; the Ruby Basin district, and the Portland district. In the former the shoots are larger on the lower ore-bearing beds; in the latter, larger in the upper. The Garden City area is situated at the head of Blacktail and Sheeptail Gulches and an east tributary of False Bottom Creek. It is located on the northern, as the Bald Mountain area is on the southern, rim of the Cambrian outcrop. The beds dip to the north- east and the shoots so far mined have been on the lower contact. A rhyolite cap of great thickness and extent covers the country to the north and the Cambrian beds pass beneath it. The average trend of the ore bodies here is about north 55 degrees east, much more nearly east and west than in any of the other areas. The Lead City area is located on one of the Cambrian outlyers that caps the hills north of Deadwood, and the ore bodies extend over the gold lode of the Homestake mine. A heavy sill of fine-grained rhyolite lies above the Cambrian on the tops of the hills. The ore bodies are exposed at the surface on the westermost edge of this area, but lie beneath the shales in an easterly direction. The ore from this district was richer than that elsewhere mined and contained great quantities of barite, wolframite, and in several instances, large amounts of free gold. The Hidden Fortune mine is an instance of this kind. The Yellow Creek area is situated a little more than two miles slightly east of south from the city of Lead. The ore shoots are in a thin capping of Cambrian strata on the divide between Whitewood Creek on the west and Yellow Creek on the east. The shoots lie on the basal quartzite about 15 to 26 feet above the Algonkian. Much wolframite and barite were also found in the ore from this area. The Squaw Creek area lies near the mouth of Squaw Creek. Workings have been run upon some ore-bearing beds which pass rapidly beneath the Carboniferous limestones that cover the country 48 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS to the north. The horizon is just beneath the scolithus or "worm- eaten" sandstone. Ore bodies of considerable size have recently been opened here and the district has become a productive one. VALUE OF THE ORES. The gold contents of the ores in the Bald Mountain area run from $3.00 to $4.00 per ton to, in rare instances, $100.00. The general average for the ores in this district is about $17.00, and those contain- ing from $10 to $20 are of the most common occurrence. Ore carry- ing $35 per ton is considered high grade. Seme of the ore mined from the Ben Hur mine yielded upwards of $60 per ton in gold. As compared with the ores of the lower beds those from the upper contact are slightly lower in grade so that much of the ore is often left in the mines. They have also been reported to carry a higher relative proportion of silver, but although this is true in individual instances, in general silver ores are as frequent in the lower as in the upper beds. The three smaller areas of siliceous ore, Yellow Creek, Lead City and Garden City, lying over or to the west of the Homestake ore- body or its continuation produce ore of uniformly higher grade than those from the Bald Mountain country. The mineralization is prob- ably later than the igneous activity, for the verticals which supplied the ores often cut all va-rietes of eruptive rocks. As igneous rocks cut strata of the Fort Benton Cretaceous and pebbles of the same rock have been found in the basal conglomerates cf the Neocene, it would seem then that the mineralization occurred somewhere between Fort Benton and the Neocene and it probably represents the final phase of vulcanism that was concomitant with the elevation of the Black Hills. This occurred while the Cambrian was still deeply buried beneath its covering of later formation. ORIGIN OF THE ORES. The refractory siliceous ores have been formed by a process which involved the gradual removal of the original rock substances and the simultaneous substitution of the ore minerals. This is commonly known as replacement or metasomatic alteration and has often proceeded with so little disturbance of the original rock material that both stratigraphic character and microscopic structure are pre- served in the ore, although the original rock was carbonate and the ore chiefly silica. The mineral which has been altered to form ore seems to have been exclusively dolomite, for where verticals pass through rocks of varying composition it is found that dolomite also has been appreciably affected. The ore minerals substituted are chiefly silica and pyrite with which there are minute amounts of gold and silver. Smaller quantities of fluorite, barite, gypsum and several other accessory minerals are also of frequent occurrence. To the dolomite, whether present as comparatively pure beds or as cementing material of sandy and shaly rocks, the ore minerals have been transported by circulating waters. Such waters have found in the fractures, trunk channels by means of which they have been enabled to penetrate the encompassing and comparatively insoluble rocks and reach the more readily replaced material The mass of evidence seems to show that these waters have ascended. LEAD-SILVER ORE OF GALENA AND VICINITY. The* ores belonging to the fourth division of Cambrian ore deposits ate similar in form and mode of occurrence to the refractory siliceous ores. They occur in the vicinity of the town of Galena. At one time these ores filled an important place in the mineral production of the Black Hills. About twenty years ago a smelter was in operation and several mines were producing quite heavily, the Richmond or Sitting Bull mine especially having figured quite prominently in the silver production. After a brief period of activity, however, operations were rather abruptly discontinued and the district was idle until the year 1886, when operations were -resumed, although AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 49 upon a somewhat smaller scale. Work is now being conducted in a rather desultory manner. Mines that produced this character of ore are situated in and about the town of Galena. Most, if not all, of the ore bodies are in strata of Cambrian age. Some of the prin- cipal producing mines are the Richmond, Florence, Hester A, Coletta, Merritt No. 2, Cora, Carpenter, Alexander, Romea, and El Refugio. The ore is of a more basic character than that found in the more westerly ore deposits heretofore described. When unoxidized it con- sists chiefly of pyrite, which is either massive or disseminated more or less thickly through the body of the country rock. With the pyrite is associated argeniferous galena, and not infrequently small quantities of sphalerite. In many cases the galena occurs in seams in the pyrite, or as druses of minute crystals lining the interior of cavities. In all cases where they had not been oxidized these two materials have been found associated in this manner. The galena is, therefore, of later origin than the pyrite; occasionally the latter carries low values in gold but these are unimportant. The values that render the mines workable are contained in the argentiferous galena. In most cases there is but little silica associated with the ores, but in the Florence and Richmond, very considerable amounts of secondary silica are found in intimate association with the deposits. ORES IN CARBONIFEROUS ROCKS. In the heavy gray limestones of the Carboniferous are found two distinct varieties of ore: (1) Gold and silver ores of a refractory siliceous type; (2) Lead-silver ores. In general the Carboniferous rocks have not figured largely in the mineral production of the region. The refractory siliceous ores are in bodies of compartively small size and are of less importance than those which occur in other formations. Two districts have been important as producers the Ragged Top district, and the Carbonate district. The Ragged Top district comprises the country which lies to the northwest of the large mountain of phonolite known as Ragged Top. There is here a series of seven nearly equally spaced vertical fissures or veins, which have been termed the Ragged Top Verticals. These are fractures or crevices in the heavy massive limestone which show at the face a maximum depth of about 10 feet. From this they range, as they pass downward, to extremely minute crevices. In the lower portions where the surface alteration has not been extensive, the ore can be observed to pass laterally into the limestone walls with- out disturbance of the structure of the latter rock. It is a light uni- form buff tint, which is so near the color of the surrounding lime- stone that it is difficult to distinguish it from the unmineralized rock. It differs in its superior hardness and slight yellow color. Much of the ore is composed of angular brecciated fragments of what was once limestone but now is completely altered to silica. Traces of tellurim have been detected in these ores. At some points in the limestone area about Ragged Top Mountain flat blanket-like beds of ore are found. These are either without distinct connection with the verticals or seem to have spread out from them. Some of the ore from these verticals was quite rich, and in general it carried higher values than the siliceous ores found in the Cambrian rocks. These Carboniferous siliceous ores have not at any time been very heavy producers but have yielded small amounts of ore for some years. The cyanide process has been used in their treatment with much success. LEAD-SILVER ORES. Lead-silver ores were in the earlier days of mining in the Black Hills a very important factor in the production of precious metals. They were found in the vicinity of the town of Carbonate. In 1886 this 50 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS was a flourishing camp and produced considerable silver and lead. The product was almost exclusively that of the Iron Hill mine, but other mines in the neighborhood added a little to the total. The country rock that carries the ore is the gray Carboniferous limestone in which sills, dikes and irregular masses of porphyry have been intruded. The ore bodies are of two kinds, large irregular bodies of lead carbonate, which pass in places into more or less feet on the east side of a thick dike of fine-grained white porphyry, masses; and partially filled crevices which resemble in a general way the verticals of Ragged Top. The first type of deposit is that which has formed the chief source of silver in the district, and this, as shown above, was largely obtained from the Iron Hill mine. In this mine the ore was a large mass of argentiferous lead carbonate which extended down for 300 feet on the east side of a thick dike of fine-grained white porphyry. Much galena, also, was found, together with the carbonates, and after the ore was worked out a seam or vertical was detected extending downward from the main mass. Other pockets of ore were also found at different points, and in one place a pocket of vanadinite containing some four or five tons was encountered. Mr. Fowler re- ports the occurrence of the following minerals: galena, cerrusite, cerargyrite, matlockite, wulfenite, pyromorphite, platternerite, ataca- mite, and vanadinite. This type of ore resembles in its general character and in its association with porphyry bodies the deposits described by Mrs. S. F. Emmons, of Leadville, Colorado. Too little is known, however, regarding the details of the ore occurrence to afford any more definite idea of the manner in which it originated than the simple fact that it is probably a replacement of the limestone. Of the second type of occurrence the most important case is that at the Seabury mine. This consisted of an irregular crevice striking pouth 85 degrees west and running through the Seabury, Iron Hill, Segregated Iron Hill and Adelphia mines with a possible continuation in the Spanish R, a mine in which some ore was obtained, but at too great distance for its relation to the others to be clearly made out. The crevice varies from one to twenty feet in width. The sides consist of a ferruginous jasperiod material which replaces the lime- stone, often for two or three feet from the crevice, and contains at times galena, lead carbonates and horn silver In sufficient amount to be profitably worked. The latter mineral most frequently occurs as a thin film covering druses of fine quartz crystals which form linings to cavities. The center of the crevice was loosely filled by a soft, ferru- ginous, gouge-like matter of a pinkish red color and containing gold. A large quantity of this ore is reported to have been mined from the Seabury, and also from the west side of the porphyry dike in the Iron Hill. Since 1891 there seems to have been but little work done in this district, no output being recorded for that period. Within the last year, however, a small 35-ton cyanide plant has been erected to treat the tailings from the old smelter. In concluding this brief review of the ore deposits of the Northern Black Hills, a subject which it is difficult to treat satisfactorily in the space allowed, one seems warranted in dwelling a little on the future prospects of the region. Mining communities are, from the limited nature of the deposits upon which their activity is based, generally short-lived. That this is true, one needs only to glace at the history of many western mining camps. A few, it is true, have, like Leadville, been productive for many years, and will probably continue to be so in the future, but there are few, if any, which, if based wholly upon mineral pro- duction, will not in time cease to thrive as their economic resources become exhausted. If the production of the region be prolonged sufficiently for the community's activities to be directed along other lines, what was AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 51 once a mining camp may become a permanent settlement. In the Black Hills there are perhaps two features which may operate to give to the region a greater permanency than that which is generally seen in communities which are held together by mining interests. The first is the unusual size and the presumably long life of the mines of the Homestake belt. The second is the gradual decrease in the cost of treatment of other grades of ore and the consequent opening of the market to material previously known but hitherto unworkable. The introduction of the cyanide process and the quan- tities of ore which may be treated by its use have done much to ex- tend the life of the Black Hills mining. It is not improbable that these two factors working to gether may so prolong the mineral production of the region that the population may never be less than it is. The other interests which grow side by side with the mining industry may then have become so important and so little dependent on the mineral wealth of the country that their existence alone will be sufficient to support the cities which have grown up in this mining country. J. D. IRVING, U. S. Geological Survey. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We will now listen to an address by Dr. J. E. Todd, state geologist of South Dakota; subject, "Skecth of South Dakota." DR. J. E. TODD: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: With your permission I shall endeavor to abridge the paper that I had planned and instead of reading what I had prepared. (Dr. Todd maps and steropticon views to illustrate his lecture.) SKETCH OF SOUTH DAKOTA GEOLOGY. Introductory. The task asked of me is to give, so far as is prac- ticable in the time allowed, a sketch of the geology of our state, par- ticularly of that portion outside of the Black Hills. The Hills being more complicated and not perfectly explored, I cheerfully leave to others who have more time to devote to its elaboration and pre- sentation. Moreover, as you can readily understand, we have only time to select some of the more salient features of the vast amount of details necessarily connected with such a theme. It will be my aim to present in order the various geological formations, giving their leading characteristics, their extent, and note their more important economic relations. As few of them have to do with mining enterprises directly, I shall assume some freedom to go beyond the strict aim of the Congress and shall venture to bring in a few facts directly connected with mining. After a discussion of the geological map I will present illustrations of different formations by the help of the steropticon. GENERAL STRUCTURE OF THE STATE. For the benefit of those unfamiliar .with our state I make a few general statements which may seem trite to those already well ac- quainted with it. South Dakota presents greater range of altitude and greater variety of topography than any other state east of the Rocky Moun- tains. Its lowest point, Big Stone Lake, is 967 feet above the sea and Harney Peak, its highest, 7,215 feet. It has extensive plains rivaling a floor in smoothness, rugged mountains surpassing anything in the Appalachains, buttes rising like giant pyramids above the plains, and weird bad lands, the veritable work of goblins. South Dakota has also a greater variety of geological formations than any other state east of the Rocky Mountains, presenting a nearly complete series from the oldest to the youngest rocks. I has two centers of ancient crystalline rocks at opposite ends of the state. Around one nearly all of the Paleozoic formations circle, and against the other most of the Mesozoic rest, while the Tertiary 52 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS rocks lie between and the Quaternary deposits are developed in won- derful profusion both of aqueous and glacial origin. Late estimates of the thickness of sedimentary or stratified rocks in the state reach a maximum of 10,500 feet, of which 1,300 are Paleozoic, 8,000 Mesozoic, and 1,200 Cenozoic. If we make the bottom of the Cretaceous strata or the crest of the "hog-back" sur- rounding the Black Hills, the dividing line, there will be about 8,000 feet of sedimentary rock outside of that limit and about 2,000 inside. In this, of course, it will be understood, we neither include the schists, granites or porphyries of the Black Hills nor the granites and quartzite of the eastern end of the state, which together are com- monly estimated to have a thickness two or three times as great. The stratified rocks outside of the Hills consist mostly of soft shales, clays and sands, though extensive deposits of sandstone and limestone appear in some localities. The general softness of the strata is attested by two inch holes being drilled 2,000 feet in depth and a hole over 1,000 feet drilled and well finished in four days. We have said that the stratified rocks were arranged around two centers of crystalline rocks, viz., the Black Hills, which may be compared to the horn of a saddle and the other Sioux Falls granite area, which runs westward from the wider granite area of Minnesota, which may be conceived to form the back and ridge of the saddle. This ridge, which may be looked upon as a buried moun- tain range, disappears under the later strata near Mitchell, but is traceable in wells to the vicinity of Chamberlain and will doubtless eventually be found existing nearly to the Black Hills. Upon this saddle-like sub-stratum of granite rocks the Cambrian, Silurian, Carboniferous, Jura-Trias, and Creteceous rocks have been laid like blankets, declining to the north and the south. Those pre- ceding the Cretaceous have been formed around the "horn," but have not reached more than half way to the east end of the state. They are exposed only around the Hills, and, as before stated, are to be described by another. GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS AND THEIR PRODUCTS. Crystalline or Algonkian. Before taking up the sedimentary rocks we spend a few words upon the granites of the eastern part of the state. Near Big Stone Lake, in Minnesota, extensive quarries of granite are worked. The stone has been pronounced equal and even superior to New England granite for ornamental and building purposes. The granite extends across the line at Big Stone City and there is an outcrop five to eight miles southwest of that place. The rock rises several feet above the general surface and there is no reason why it should not be quarried, except its greater distance from a railroad. A plant is already in operation at Aberdeen for working and polishing the Minnesota rock. The Sioux Falls granite t>r quartzite, named after its prominent occurrence at that point, is a younger, but, if possible, a more durable rock. The outcrops of this rock are scattered over a rudely triangular area extending to the northwest corner of Iowa, to the altitude of Dell Rapids on the east line of the state, and westward to a point a few miles soutwest of Mitchell. In this area there are probably three or four miles of naturally exposed surface, mostly in the valleys or streams. Such exposures have been quite generally worked for local use, but nowhere for exportation except at Sioux Falls, at East Sioux Falls, where one of the largest quarries is located, at Jasper, Dell Rapids, and Spencer. The rock is very hard, strong and of a light, cheerful color, sometimes of a mottled gray, but usually of different shades of pink and light purple. It is commonly fine- grained, breaks quite evenly, not only with the plane of stratification, but also in other directions. It is susceptible of fine polish and is much sought for ornamental and building purposes. AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 53 Recent reports announce that an extensive outcrop of another crystalline rock has been found near Sioux Falls. It is a very hand- some diorite of medium grain, black and white. It is susceptible of fine and durable polish and promises to become a valuable stone. Cretaceous Rocks. These cover nearly the whole state. S6me would say that at one time they covered the Black Hills completely, and all agree that they at one time covered the whole of the eastern end of the state. At present they cover about nine-tenths of the state, though they are in turn more than half covered with the Tertiary and Quaternary formations. In their thickest development they may attain 5,000 feet ore more, near the Black Hills. Beginning with the oldest or lowest formation, the Cretaceous includes (1) the Dakota, (2) Colorado, (3) Montana, and (4) Laramie. Dakota Cretaceous. This group is named not from our state, but from Dakota City, where it was first studied, which was then a pioneer town of Missouri Territory. The Dakota includes, begin- ning at the bottom, (1) 200 to 350 feet of bluff and gray sandstone, prominent at the west end of the state (Lakota), (2) a gray limestone, 30 feet thick, locally developed near Hot Springs (Minnewasta), (3) a formation consisting mostly of shales of various colors, 30 to 100 feet, (Fuson), (4) a massive bluff sandstone which usually forms the crest of the "hog-back" around the Hills, 35 to 100 feet thick, (Dakota proper). Of the valuable quarries and deposits of fire clay in this formation I leave for others to speak. It is more in order for me to dwell on a natural product furnished by this formation, which easily outranks in utility if not in nominal money value, any other natural resource of the state. Though its development is not .called mining it employs much machinery, involves much engineering, nnd employs some hun- dreds of men most of the time. Unlike most mining the product does not have to be brought laboriously to the surface but comes without effort when once set free. No, it is not petroleum or gas, but a much more beneficial element, water. Notice the position and relations of this Dakota formation. It underlies four-fifths of the state and has similar relations to the great plains generally from Canada to Texas. It is overlaid by thick, impervious clays of succeeding formations. Its western edge lies from 3,500 to 6,000 feet high on the eastern flank of the crest of the continent and around all the mountains lying east of that range, like the Black Hills. There the water enters from the rainfall directly, from the seepage of streams which traverse its edge, and from the other porous formations which communicate with it below the surface either by faults or contact planes. The eastern edge, which lies only 1,000 to 1,200 feet above the sea, is comparatively closely sealed up by the deep covering of Cretaceous clays and glacial clays, although there are notable springs which show themselves at several points along the James and Missouri rivers, which are doubtless outlets from this deposit. Moreover, the erosion of the glacial period and of more recent streams have so lowered the surface that one-fourth to one-third of our state may obtain flowing wells from this source and still other portions may obtain inexhaustible pump wells with the water near the surface. It also no doubt has large quantities of water stored within it, much of it possible at altitudes so high that it might keep up the supply for some time even if rain and river should cease. More than 2,000 wells are now flowing in the state and are being increased by about 300 a year. They may be very roughly estimated to furnish over 70,000 gallons a minute, which would probably be about ten times the springtime size of the Cheyenne River at Edge- mont. Most of these wells are small, many an inch and a quarter in diameter, and it is now generally recognized that such wells are not only cheaper but more convenient, more serviceable and longer-lived than the large wells, such as were made several years ago. Most of 54 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS the large wells have shown a steady decline, due probably to the fact that they deliver the water more rapidly than it can gather to them from the water-bearing rocks. In some places they have fallen off in flows and pressure one-quarter to one-third. In some nar- row areas wells have ceased to flow, apparently from local exhaus- tion of water. But on the other hand wells have been flowing nearly twenty years and still have pressures of 60 to 80 pounds to the square inch. Wells have been used for nearly that length of time for power, running electric lights, flouring mills, etc., and are still in use. In several of the wells natural gas forms an important ingredient. This is true particularly along the Missouri River from Lyman County to the north line of the state. The city of Pierre, from one or two wells is abundantly supplied for lighting, and for power for city purposes, and to a considerable degree for heating. Three wells in Sullivan County, one in Walworth and one in Campbell, in fact all which have been opened along this line, furnish gas in similar quantities. It seems not unlikely that these wells lie in the eastern border of a gas region extending possibly as far west as Meade County. The gas seems to be derived mainly from the same strata whioh furnish the water. It may possibly enter the Dakota formation from the Carboniferous underneath, and may be originally derived from extensive beds of carbonaceous matter deposited in the eastren margin of the sea of Carboniferous times. Lignite is found frequently in drilling wells in thin strata, but so flooded with water that no attempt has been made to obtain the product. Thin layers, 12 to 36 inches in thickness, have been found locally developed near Ponco, Nebraska, and Sioux City, and also around the Black Hills. Petrified wood, though not of a quality suit- able for ornamental purposes, is found in considerable quantities around the Black Hills. Colorado Cretaceous. This is named from its prominence in Eastern Colorado and includes a series of shales with local develop- ment of sandstone and limestone, estimated by Mr. Darton to be from 1,450 to 1,700 feet thick around the Black Hills, and it is from 200 to 400 feet thick in the eastern end of the state. This series is commonly spoken of as the Benton from its srreat development near Fort Benton on the Upper Missouri. The Colorado also includes about 200 feet of chalk and calcareous shale, which Dr. Hayden called the Niobrara. It is conspicuous along the Missouri River from St. Helena, Nebraska, to the great bend above Chamberlain, because of its whiteness when washed. It is. however, often overlooked when un- weathered because of its grayish tint resembling the shales above and below it. The Colorado formation contains two or three minor hori- zons carrying water and supplying artesian wells in the eastern part of the state, but they need not be especially distinguished from those of the Dakota. The chalk has a very small economic value as a building stone, for which it may be profitably used if carefully selected. Its much more important use is for the manufacture of Portland cement. Its fine grain, porous structure, homogeneous character and easy grinding make it admirably adapted for mixing with clay for making a superior .grade of cement. This is being extentively used for buildings and sidewalks throughout the str.te. Its chief factory is at Yankton. but scores of such plants might be advantageously placed along the Missouri River and around the Black Hills if there were sufficient demand. Montana Cretaceous. This is composed mainly of the Pierre shales named from Fort Pierre, which are dark-colored and often be- coming plastic clay when wet. They are about 1,200 feet thick near the Black Hills, 300 to 400 in the eastern part of the state. They constitute the most extensive stratum of the Cretaceous, covering at least nine-tenths of the state. This is the "gumbo" of the trans Missouri region and constitutes probably nine-tenths of the substances of the glacial clays east of the Missouri. Hence it is a dominant element AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 55 in the formation of soils over much of the state. It is rich in mineral salts favorable for grains and grasses. The prairie grasses growing upon it are noted for their nutritive and fattening qualities. More- over, its impermiable character holds the limited rainfall near the surface and promotes rapid growth in the rainy season. Afterwards it dries quickly and completely and preserves the grass as a natural hay, nutritious as grain. Its plastic character when wet promotes its rapid erosion and the frequent occurrence of land slides which have an important effect on the topography wherever it is found. It carries little or no water, and if present of poor quality. The Montana also includes the Fox Hills formation, 150 to 300 feet of shales and sandstone overlying the Pierre. It may possibly be a local development in the later Pierre. It caps the eastern part of the dividing plateau between the Cheyenne and Moreau Rivers and also between the latter and the Grand. Its sandy character forms a natural mulching for the regions where it extends. Growth of grasses and crops extends over a longer period, and they are not subject to such extreme drouths as upon the 'gumbo." Springs are not infrequent. Because of its attractive fossils it is often a rich field for the collector. Laramie Cretaceous. This, in our state, is represented by perhaps 2,500 feet of sandstone, shales, loams and clays, interstratified. It is a fresh-water formation unlike all preceding, which were marine. It was formed by streams, marshes and lakes. It is probably thickest in the northwest corner of the state, thins rapidly to the south and more slowly to the east. Its ragged edge extends nearly to the Black Hills on the south and across the Missouri River along the northern line of the state, where it appears in conspicuous buttes. For soil making it combines the qualities of preceding formations. It frequently exhibits fine springs. It contains, especially in its upper portions, thick deposits of sandstone which in time will be very valuable for local buildings. Undoubtedly the most valuable product of the Laramie is lignite. It has already attained prominence as a commercial product in North Dakota. There it is found in thicker beds and nearer lines of trans- portation, but beds 5 to 15 feet thick are not uncommon in the vicinity of Short Pine Hills, Cave Hills, and Slim Buttes, and workable beds may be found north of a line extending from near the south end of Slim Buttes to the head of Fire Steel Creek, in northwestern Dewey County, and thence northeast to where Oak Creek crosses the north line of the state. This includes an area within our borders of about 5000 square miles. Lignite differs from coal in containing a large amount of water, which, by evaporating, causes it to slack. This interferes with its convenient use as a fuel. In Germany it is extensively formed into briquettes or small blocks which form a superior domestic fuel. We look upon the Pierre and Laramie as the most hopeful source of petroleum, if such be found in our borders. We are led to this by the deposits in the neighboring state of Wyoming and by the fact that little or no trace of oil has been found in the drilling of the numerous wells in the eastern portion of our state, several of which have gone down to crystalline rock. It must not be assumed, however, that we have sufficient evidence to arrive at any conclusion in this matter. The Cretaceous was a time when reptiles ruled the world. Gigan- tic and strange forms swarmed upon the sea and land, and some were even given wings to navigate the air. During Colorado and Montana times the forms of life were largely marine. In the Laramie huge land forms became numerous. In our views we exhibit some of them. TERTIARY FORMATIONS. These include light colored marls, sandstones, and clays which are so conspicuous in the White River Bad Lands. They are divided into the so-called White River beds, 800 to 900 feet thick in the higher 56 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS points around Pine Ridge and thinning out in all directions more slowly to the east. There is also a patch in the vicinity of Short Pine Hills and Slim Buttes. Over these lie generally, and thicker toward the east, 300 to 400 feet of loams and marls with mortar-like sandstones. These extend east of the Missouri River in the southern portion of the state in the more elevated points, like Bijou Hills and Wessing- ton Hills. The peculiar erosion of these beds cause the noted White River Bad Lands, of which we show characteristic views. The deposits are all of fresh water origin, the work of rivers and lakes by which the weathering of the mountains on the west were spread out in extensive sheets upon the plains on the east. in the Tertiary times reptiles had passed and mammels began to have their day. Nature at that time made some strange types which seem to have proved unfitting to continue, but others have by trans- formation lived on to the present and are now the esteemed and useful servants of man the horse here deserves most prominent mention. Of economic effects of these formations, we may briefly mention natural shelters for stock, frequent springs, and contributions to curiosity shops in the way of fossils, some ornamental stones are found in coniderable quantities satin spar, moss agate, and ume chalcedony or sapphire. Fuller's earth and volcanic ash abound, and will in time be counted valuable. QUATERNARY FORMATIONS. These comprise the unconsolidated deposits which lie upon the surface of other formations like a blanket and which are frequently spoken of as drift. The eastern half of the state, east of the Missouri River, is almost completely covered with a blanket of till or boulder clay, 10 to 200 feet in thickness, lying upon highlands and lowlands alike. Associated with it are belts of stony hills or moraines, lake beds and ancient channels are frequent features. Here are included also the numerous terraces, some of them 300 or 400 feet above the present stream, and sometimes several miles in width, covered with sand and loam which come in to modify the effects of the formations hitherto discussed. These terraces are particularly prominent along the western tributaries of the Missouri, but are also conspicuous on that stream and along channels now vacated, but occupied during the glacial period. The marked effects of the Glacial Period upon the geography of our state we need not dwell upon, but turn our attention more to the economic results which many may overlook. We sometimes become impressed by the great expense necessary to prepare the natural surface for the proper location of manufacturing plants, irrigation projects, or the building of cities. The work of the glacial period, especially in the eastern half of the state, can scarcely be over-estimated from an economic standpoint. By it the surface was smoothed and beautifully graded for agricultural purposes, natural basins were formed for the retention of rainfall, thus giving an object lesson to man for the further improvement of the region, extensive deposits of sand and gravel were formed, the components of various formations were intermingled and ground together to form a rich sub-soil, picturesque lakes and pleasing elevations were formed for pleasure resorts, and extensive terraces conveniently located along prominent streams seem naturally prepared for suitable locations of cities and towns. It scarcely need be stated that no traces of precious metals have been found outside of the Hills. While in California and other local- ities gold has been found in Mesozoic and Tertiary strata, it should be remembered that it has always been in connection with marked dis- turbance of the earth's crust with the formation of veins and the out- flow of igneous rocks. No such disturbance has yet been noted in our borders. Strata have been somewhat tilted in the Slim Buttes and profound crevices have been formed in the Tertiary of the Bad Lands AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 57 and filled with sand, gypsum and quartz, but these have evidently failed to reach to the deep-seated waters which are the usual vehicles of precious metals. The finding of gold has been reported from several localities, but it has invariably been found to rest upon very superficial or mistaken evidence. At a few points in the eastern part of the state very minute quantities have been found in the glacial drift, which may be reason- ably referred to the region of the Lake of the Woods as their probable origin. The most clear case of this sort was at Gary several years ago. This is the story of the rocks of our state outside the Hills, so far as has yet been interpreted. It is full of promise. Nature has done her part, probably better than has been sometimes thought. Wherein our circumstances are novel or peculiar a hint is given us of the pecul- iar testimony to which a kind Providence has called us. The secret of commercial and social success in our commonwealth is to learn the truth concerning our resources and the best methods of utilizing them. Let us go on in an honest, generous spirit to make the most of them patiently and hopefully, and to welcome and encourage all who may cast in their lot with us. J. E. TODD, State University, Vermillion, South Dakota. State Geologist. Upon motion duly seconded Congress adjourned to meet at Lead, South Dakota, September 9, 1903, at 9:30 A. M. Lead, South Dakota, September 9, 1903, 9:30 A. M. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Congress will be in session. Owing to the fact that there was a misunderstanding as to the time and place of meeting it has been decided by the Committee on Program that we will transact whatever business you have to transact this morning and simply adjourn the program until 1:30 this afternoon. What is your pleasure, gentlemen, this morning? MR. RUSSELL, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: The Transportation Committee desire to announce to the Congress that from the 10th to the 15th of the month both railroads, the Northwestern and Burling- ton, have put on a one fare rate to all points in the Black Hills north of Custer and north of Hermosa, and one fare for the round trip in and out from Lead to Deadwood, so the visitors at the Congress who are able to remain over after the Congress will have the advantage of a one fare rate for the round trip in and out from Deadwood to any point practically in the mining section of the Hills. MR. ELDER, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: I -lesire to announce that the program arranged for this morning will be continued until this afternoon. Attention of Congress was called to the mineral exhibit at Lead, and all were cordially invited to visit the same. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I am requested to announce that there will be a meeting of the resolution committee at eleven o'clock at the Golden Star club rooms: all having resolutions can present them there. MR. BROWN, OF COLORADO: From Beading the by-laws I would infer that all resolutions are to be read by the secretary and then referred to the Resolution Committee. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: They are read in session and then referred to the Committee. MR. BROWN, OF COLORADO: I would suggest that persons having resolutions will present them now and allow the Secretary to read them. MR. BROWN, OF COLORADO: I desire to have this resolution relating to requesting the statisticians at Washington to credit to the 58 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS mining industry all products which are directly the result of mining, read by the Secretary. Secretary Mahon read the resolution. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The resolution will be referred to the Committee on Resolutions. MR. RUSSELL, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: Mr. President, I would move you that the proposed constitution and by-laws, as adopted by the Executive Committee be read at least and presented to the Con- gress at this time. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: If there is no objection the Secretary will read the by-laws that are to be submitted for your consideration. MR. GEORGE, OF DEADWOOD: Mr. President, in considering these by-laws are they to be considered as a whole or considered seriatim? PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It is entirely at the disposition of the Congress. MR. GEORGE, OF DEADWOOD: What is the motion now? PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Simply that the Secretary read the by-laws. . MR. GEORGE, OF DEADWOOD: I reserve the right to move they be taken up seriatim and considered by sections. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: As soon as they are read they will be taken up for disposition. MR. LYNCH, OF MONTANA: Do I understand we are to adopt these by-laws as an entirety or adopt them section by section. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: At this time they are simply present- ed to the Congress for disposition simply to call your attention to it as a whole, then it is before you for consideration and disposition. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: If you will permit of a suggestion, in accordance with the instructions of the last session, the Executive Cammitt.ee executed and filed in the office of the Secretary of State of Colorado articles of incorporation under the laws of Colorado. These by-laws which you are now about to act upon became the by-laws of that corporation. The question may arise in your mind under the laws of Colorado as to who would be entitled to vote on the question of adopting these by-laws. You might consider that question with the others as it is purely a legal one and you will probably want a report of the Committee on Credentials before any vote is taken, so I submit that suggestion for your consideration. Secretary Mahon read the proposed by-laws. MR. ELDER, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: I move you that the matter of acting upon these by-laws be left over until Friday morning. There have been a great many of them published and distributed and this is the first opportunity that any one has had to hear or read them, and it seems to me we ought to have at least a day or two to consider before we act upon them. That would give us the time. The motion was seconded. MR. GEORGE, OF DEADWOOD: I have an amendment to the motion, that it be made a special order for 9:30 Friday forenoon and that each section be considered by itself and adopted by itself and then when through that we adopt them as a whole. MR. BUCKLEY, OF MISSOURI: I will second the motion. AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 59 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It has been moved and seconded that the motion just made be amended by making the consideration of the by-laws a special order Friday morning at 9:30 o'clock, with the proviso that we shall consider these by-laws section by section and when these sections are adopted that the by-laws then be adopted as a whole. The motion was carried. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Are you ready for the motion as amended? The motion as amended was stated by the President and carried. MR. PATTERSON, OF NEBRASKA: As Chairman of the Com- mittee on Credentials, I would like to report this morning that we have not received all of the credentials of those who seem to be pres- ent and we do not like to report until we have them all in. If there are members who have been appointed by their governors or mayors, or Chambers of Commerce in their respective localities notify the Chairman of the Credentials Committee and he will be pleased to record the name and address. The Credentials Committee would like to report as soon as possible to this convention the number of dele- gates here at present. MR. ABBOTT, OF COLORADO: Are not these credentials on file v/ith the Secretary? MR. PATTERSON, OF NEBRASKA: There are some, but I am informed there are a great many not in the hands of the secretary. MR. LONG, OF WASHINGTON: I am seeking for information for myself. I intend to announce to the honorable members of the Congress that I am here as a member of the Congress and have with me a copy of a monetary measure I hope to have introduced at the next session of Congress, being a solution of the monetary interests of our government, and it would be a pleasure to me if I might have the privilege of stating the provisions of it, and I have here a resolu- tion which I should like to present to this Congress for its approval. MR. GEORGE, OF DEADWOOD: Mr. President, I notice we have a good many delegates here, and I believe it is an oversight that we have not a page or messenger here so that when a gentleman has a resolution it may be taken to the secretary, so therefore I will make a motion that a messenger or page be appointed to act on the floor for the convention. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I am authorized to state that the mayor will provide a page for the rest of the session. MR. GARLEY, OF WASHINGTON: Mr. President, I move that the resolution of Mr. Long, if it be in order, be referred to the Com- mittee on Resolutions. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It will be so referred. MR. GEORGE, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: I move we adjourn. MR. PATTERSON, OF NEBRASKA: It seems to me inasmuch us we have an hour to spare before 12 o'clock and there are so many present that we should not adjourn. MR. GEORGE, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: I withdraw the motion to adjourn. MR. PATTERSON, OF NEBRASKA: We have come here a long distance to attend this Congress, and here we would waste an hour, from 11 to 12 o'clock, when there are so many present, in not using the time for discussion along the lines of mining. I have not anything 60 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS particular to suggest, .but I presume there are others who have, and we would like to hear from them, those who are delegates. I merely make the suggestion. Tomorrow we will not be in session. We are invited to visit the Homestake mine tomorrow and there will be no session. The next day is Friday and there will be a great many, probably, thinking about going home. There are also many thinking of taking little short trips through the Hills to see the Black Hills while they are here, which is well worthy of a trip. I have been all over them and I want to say to those who can make the trip, that you cannot make any trip in any direction here but what will be edifying, instructive and entertaining and I would like to see every one, who has the inclination and the time to take a trip, for instance, to Spear- fish, and to other points of interest, mining interests, in this section. For that reason, as well as other reasons, I think we had best devote this hour until the noon time, in discussion, general miscellaneous discussion in the interests of our Congress. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The suggestion is certainly a good one, and we would be glad to hear from any one at this time. MR. ELDER, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: It was announced just a mo*ment ago that the program that was arranged for this forenoon would be continued until this afternoon. I do not know whether many have left the hall who desired to hear a paper or not, but if they have not I would say we have the paper set down for this forenoon by Mr. John Blatchford, of Terry, South Dakota, read at this time. I know we could not put the forenoon in in any way that would be more profitable than by listening to his paper, and it. will occupy about 30 minutes, as I understand it, and fill in the balance of the session and also give opportunity for discussion and question on this subject. He has consented to read this paper this morning if the Congress so desires. (Applause.) PRESIDENT RICHARDS: If there is no objection then we will be pleased to hear from Mr. John Blatchford, of Terry, S. D., at this time. (Applause.) Mr. John Blatchford, of Terry, South Dakota, read the following paper: THE POTTSDAM OR FLAT FORMATION OF THE BALD MOUN- TAIN DISTRICT. In describing a portion of this formation I shall only touch on the geological part of it because that has been gone into so extensively by such men as Newton, Devereaux, Headden, Blake, Jenney, Carpenter, Hoffman, Farrish, Dr. McGillicuddy, Rickard, Smith, Fulton, O'Hara, and a number of other noted men who have written some very good papers showing the geological features of this part of the country. I merely intend to say a few words on the occurrences of the ore bodies as we find them in this formation. These ores were first discovered in 1877, uut there was very little done on them until 1890 and 1891, because, up to this time, all of the ore had to be hauled by teams and shipped out of the country to be treated. In the latter part of the summer of 1891 the Burlington and the Elkhorn Railroad Companies placed a number of spurs into the dif- ferent mines, after this the work really began in earnest. At this time it was not known how extensive these ore bodies would prove to be, but after continuous work for over twelve years, now, we find that they are almost unlimited. Ores that we could not look at years ago, on account of their low grade, can be handled today, with our new reducing or cyanide process, at a profit. Since it has been discovered what these ores can be treated for with this process, we find that we have to work over the whole section, which we have been working on since we began. There is no doubt AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 61 but that this will be a great advantage to us, in the future, because we will be able to take out our low grade ore, as well as the better grade, as we advance in our work. The ore bodies or chutes are numerous. The largest bodies so far discovered, of the better grade ore, east of Bald Mountain and Terry's Peak, lie on the quartzites, and these lie on the Archean schists and slates; this is what is known as the vertical formation. Some "places in our mines, the flat ore body is known to lie and to be intermixed with a vertical ore body, which comes from below, not showing any division by quartzites. It is one of the occurrences which causes me to believe that there are a number of these vertical ore bodies or quartz ledges, that are covered up by this sedimentary formation, for instance, quite a portion of the Homestake ore bodies have been more or less covered by this flat formation, but in other places the flat portion being more or less eroded, left the vertical portion to be more easily prospected than it is in this district. The eastern boundary of the flat formation begins at the original Golden Reward and Buxton and almost at the base of Bald Mountain on the north, and to the west of Sugar Loaf Mountain on the south. It starts with a thin layer of quartzite, lying on the schist, covered with standstone and shales; it gradually thickens toward the west, not so much because the hill rises but because the quartzite and schist drop. It drops at various distances at a time until it gets several hundred feet below the surface; making a number of layers of different material above it, and on and between some of these layers is where we find what is called top contacts. As we get nearer Terry's Peak the flat formation thickens more by the rise of the surface than by the fall of the quartzite and west of the Peak it seems to keep this thickness for a number of miles. Towards this rise or thickening of the formation is where the top layers of ore become more numerous. How many layers or so called contracts there are has not yet been determined. There* is something new-continually cropping out. In these upper layers we usually find a vertical or crack filled with ore extending downward for hundreds of feet, with a number of lense like shaped bodies of ore, branching out at different intervals, some places connecting with bodies from nearby verticals. At present most of the workings west of the Peak are on the upper contacts. In the Ragged Top district the ore bodies are up in the lime and they are proving to be very extensive and profitable. Around Portland they are all in the shales, scarcely any work in that neighborhood being done on the quartzite as yet. There is no doubt in my mind when they commence to look for the lower ore bodies west of the Peak but that they will find them large and valuable on the quartzite just the same as they occur east of the Peak. The gulches on the surface on the east side of the mountain all trend toward the east and on the west side of the mountain toward the west, but underground we find this different; from Bald Mountain south it appears that the original channels all flowed to the south and from the north of Bald Mountain to the north. The water courses and the dip of the quartzite show this to be the case. Present conditions are exactly the opposite of the original conditions. The original dikes all have a north and south course, while a few of the later dikes near the base of Bald Mountain have an east and west course and the ore bodies or nine per cent, of them have a north and south course. These ore bodies vary in width and thickness; we find some of them over four hundred feet in width and various thicknesses, from six to twenty feet, and of various values, ranging from five to fifty dollars. The general average of what we call smelter ores are about twenty dollars per ton and a general average for cyanite ores in the nighborhood of eight to ten dollars per ton. To describe the conditions of the quartzite we may compare them with the waves of the ocean. Some places we might imagine there was not much wind making the quartzite smooth, and then a big wind 62 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS lifts the wave up from two to three hundred feet, the quartzite raises the same, some places we have one hundred feet from that to two hundred feet or more across the top of it, going down again some places almost at a vertical, or some places with a gradual slope, others with steps. We find these ore bodies at the base, on the steps and slopes most, times on the top of these large uplifts, but very seldom find any ore bodies in the channel proper. And it appears that the most of the level places in the quartzites seem to be capped with large sheets of porphyry, but at every fault and in close proximity to a fault. The capping is most all composed of shales and sandrocks. No doubt this has a good deal to do with the occurrences of the ore along the breaks, those being in themselves an altered condition of these same shales and sandrocks. There is no question but that this flat ore formation follows the lime stone ridge from between fifty and sixty miles on the south and about twenty-five miles on the west, and to Spearfish on the north. This does not include all of the flat formation of the Black Hills. The Galena district Eas a very extensive area of this formation. The present developments there are very encouraging, although there has not been enough done to determine how large the ore bodies are, but they are numerous and the prospects obtained from most of them are good. There is still a very large area in those two districts unde- veloped. There is room for a good many mines such as ours, which is the Golden Reward Mining Company's property, consisting of over fifty miles of underground workings. About two-thirds of this mileage being on ore channels while the other third is cross cutting. After following some of these ore bodies close onto three miles we find them still continuous. That in itself should be very encouraging to the people who wish to try to make their fortunes in this district. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Any of these matters are now open for discussion. MR. LYNCH, OF MONTANA: My understanding in the early proceedings this morning was that the Committee on Resolutions would meet at 11 o'clock. As it is now past that time, I move you that we now adjourn so that this Committee may go to work. They have important matters to consider to be afterwards presented to this body for its consideration, and I move that we now adjourn until two o'clock this afternoon. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The Program Committee have ar- ranged that we be here at 1:30 so I make the suggestion at this time that we ought to meet at 1:30 if it is agreeable to you. M!R. LYNCH, OF MONTANA: I accept the suggestion and make that amendment to my motion. The motion was duly seconded and carried and Congress adjourned to September 9, 1903, at 1:30 P. M., at Lead, South Dakota. Lead, South Dakota, September 9, 1903, 1:30 P. M. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Congress will be in order. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The first on the program is an address of welcome by the mayor of Lead, Hon. E. F. Irwin: HON. E. F. IRWIN: Mr. President, Members of the American Mining Congress, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is a rare privilege for the city of Lead to welcome such an assemblage of mining represent- atives to our city, and I am sorry that I have not the gift of eloquence to tell you so in words, as we feel it in our hearts. AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 63 Yesterday we were welcomed into our commonweilth by our honorable governor, Charles N. Herreid. You were also welcomed into the gate city of the Black Hills by our genial and esteemed neighbor, Mayor McDonald, of Deadwood, both welcomes being clothed in beautiful language. Here you are welcomed as the weary and foot sore prospector, entering a new Eldorado, is received at the hands of the miner at the door of his hospitable cabin, when he says: "Shake, pardner; come in and help yourself, everything is yours as long as you stay here." We are outside of the general line of travel across the continent. We are a little world all by ourselves up here. Every man is at peace with his neighbor and all work for the common good. We recognize the value to us here as mining men of such a gathering as this and we know that while you are learning and exchanging knowledge among yourselves the pleasure is ours and we are glad to greet you here. We know that every citizen in Lead joins in this greeting. When I tell you that we have over 2,000 men on our pay rolls here that does not mean just the mere figures. It means a large city of contented workingmen men drawing the best wages anywhere in the United States; men who are just as much interested in seeing continued success and welfare of the Homestake as if they were stockholders of the same. Men who own the homes in which thy live; men who have grown gray and old in the service of this company and who are not only building for the present generation, but for that to come. They can point with pride to over $1,000,000 depos- ited in the local banks here in personal deposits and also to one of the best school systems in the state of South Dakota. Governor Herreid said yesterday in his speech that the great Homestake mine was in South Dakota. I suppose every man in Deadwood has told you tha,t the great Homestake mine is near Deadwood. Now you are right over that mine. You are surrounded by the buildings of this great company's great plant. You are the guests of the workingmen of that company represented by one that never missed a pay day. (Applause.) The Homestake, as you know, is the greatest gold mine in the world. It has been quarrying out the rocks which make these Hills since 1877 continuously and never missing a monthly dividend in the twenty six years of its existence, so you know why we are contented and prosperous and why we are satisfied with our places and why we are all working and not talking. The relation we bear to Deadwood, our sister city down the gulch, is somewhat the same as the patient Irishman working on the section bears to his talkative wife at home we do the work; she does the talking. Together we get out a pretty good living for our Black Hills families. (Laughter.) One is just as necessary as the other for our existence here in the Hills and woe be to the outsider that ever makes any criticism on either side. This Mining Congress has been called together for your mutual good, but we expect to get a good deal of good out of it ourselves. We enjoy having you here. We feel that this meeting will be a benefit, not only to Lead and Deadwood, but to the whole Black Hills, and I anticipate that tomorrow we will have an influx of visitors here from local camps and local cities around here that will astonish you. They will all come up to enjoy a time with the delegates and to see the great Homestake mine and to know what the American Mining Con- gress is doing for the country. I might present you, Mr. President, with the Golden keys to a golden city, but with true western hospitality, our doors are never locked. The latch string is always on the outside and you have only to lift the latch and walk in always assured of a miner's hearty welcome. (Applause.) PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The program committee has again selected me to respond to this address of welcome. It is a peculiar privilege to respond at this time and in this par- ticular place for the reason that I see here that this city is in the 64 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS lead in establishing the homes for miners, a thing that is not done in all the camps of this great west. Here you find that the miner seems to be contented. He has a home and he will defend that home and he will make and see that the laws are enforced that protect that home. Therefore, it has had much to do in the state of South Dakota in establishing good citizenship because it provides that home life which adds stability and permanency to that citizenship. Also for another reason, I see the influences of this great Homestake in the little kindergarten the most beautiful picture that I saw in this beautiful city on my visit here in May maintained by a stockholder of that great corporation, influencing those little children to a higher citizenship and to a conception of what life's duties mean. I feel this influence again in the free library, again awakening and stimulat- ing the youth to a higher citizenship. You cannot tell how far the influence of the Homestake in those particulars may radiate out into this great country. Again, I see for another reason, that this great mine has estab- lished a permanency and a stability in mining of low grade ores that has not been equaled anywhere in our nation. It has given the miner confidence in the future of these great mountains. It has given capital confidence in the permanency and in the stability of mining and it has been the cause of investment of millions of dollars in mining, and by reason of its permanency and stability the .mining world and investing world today are seeking for similar bodies of permanent ores in this great Rocky Mountain region. It has been the means of stimulating the great development of the great west and I hope that this Mining Congress will add its influence to the Homestake influence in helping the west to develop along western lines. (Applause.) We have no quarrel with the east; we would do nothing for them but good, but we have dissimilar conditions out here and we have a right to insist that our home life, our business life and industrial development shall be in harmony with the conditions that surround us here. That is what we want and that is the great influence this Mining Congress must add to the influence of this Homestake. We scarcely know what the mighty development of this great Pacific means to this Northwest. When you see what influence this development may have out beyond the Golden Gate, on the bosom of the Great Pacific, in the islands of the sea, the Orient and Alaska with its gold, coal and oil and its development, you will find the influence of the Homestake reaches out in stability and permanency and it will result in bringing from these great mountains giants of men and women that will add a true and lasting wealth to this nation and will be its highest glory. (Applause.) We know that it will not be long and you and I have no idea of the development that will take place between here and the Orient in the next fifty years, but it must have men coming up able to meet that development and guide it along the paths of wisdom. You will find these men will come up from this western coast; they will spring up from these little cities of Deadwood and Lead and other cities of this great west. They are assisting in the development of its mighty water powers bringing light and comfort to every home. We can scarcely tell what the mighty development will be, but underlying all this material development is but a step and means to an end. We want this Mining Congress to extend the influence on the youth as the Homestake is doing through its kindergarten and its library and have this Congress filled with men that stand for something in this nation. They are the true and lasting wealth that comes out of this material development and I say that this great Homestake, over which you rest at this moment, has had an influence in this development that is going to reach out farther and farther and we have nothing to express higher than our gratitude at this hour that we have the permission to respond to this generous welcome. (Applause.) PRESIDENT RICHARDS : The next on the program is an address by Hon. George P. Rogers, Director of the Mint, on the subject of "The Supply of Gold." AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 65 HON. GEORGE P. ROGERS: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentle- men: I have deeply appreciated this invitation from the representa- tives of one of the great productive industries of the country, but I have not expected to occupy your time very long. I had some feeling of alarm wh'en I discovered how short the program was this morning but a corresponding feeling of relief when it was consolidated with this afternoon. I know just about enough of mining to know that if 1 should undertake to talk very long about it the tailings would run pretty poor. (Laughter.) I am here, as the Secretary of the Treasury was here yesterday, in recognition of the importance of the mining industry and of the character of the men who compose this organization. As I came through my own state of Iowa on my way out here I found everybody in a state of suspense about the corn crop, and it occurred to me then that it was a good thing we did not have all our eggs in one basket, even though it was as good and generous a basket as the grand old state of Iowa. It is a good thing to have one crop that cannot be cut short by frost or eaten by bugs. I am interested in your proceedings and especially interested in everything that pertains to the production of the King of Metals, to which all the mints of the world are still open and upon which the commerce and currency and finance of the world depend gold. I am here as a customer for all you can produce and, fortunately, we can take all you can produce without impoverishing the treasury, and there is no magic about it either. (Applause.) There is no magic about it, for while the form of the transaction is that of a purchase, the govern- ment really acquires no metal and makes no investment. It receives the bullion, converts it into convenient form for use in the business world and, in effect if not directly, returns it to the producer. What you really get for your bullion is its exchange value in the commodi- ties of the world. It is a very fascinating subject, this quest for the precious metals that has been going on since the beginning of recorded history; the development of commerce and of a common medium of exchange; the evolution, or if you please, the tattle of the standards and the influence of the money supply upon the commerce, industry and civilization of the world. I suppose one could find as many varieties of opinion here upon that subject as he could get in a theo- logical conference by introducing the subject of eternal punishment. We have threshed the subject pretty well over in this country in recent years. We ought to know more about it than c.ny other people in the world. I suppose we know more about the seigniorage and the per capita than any other people on earth. It is not to be denied that the American people have always taken a very lively interest in the sub- ject of money. We begin at an early age. Down in Philadelphia they tell the story of a school teacher who put this question to his class: "What grand old building is there in this city, the very sight of which is enough to quicken the pulse and stir the blood of every patriotic American?" And there was a pause, and then in a moment a boy's hand went up and the answer came back, "The Mint." (Laughter and applause.) This much may be said now in justice to the sincerity and the intelligence of the disputants in the great debate over bimetalism, now apparently brought to a close; that the lapse of time has simplified and made things that thirty years ago were fairly subjects of doubt. Thirty years ago the production of gold in the world was on a declining scale and twenty years ago it was at a low ebb. The output of gold in the world in the ten years from 1850 to 1860 aver- aged about $132.000,000 a year. In the ten years from 1860 to 1870, about $125,000,000 a year; in the ten years from 1870 to 1880, about $115.000,000 a year, and in the five years from 1880 to 1885 it dropped to about $100,000,000 a year. This steady decline in the output of gold caused many intelligent observers, statesmen and economists to doubt the wisdom of the movement for the demonetization of silver. The movement of the principal commercial countries of (56 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS the world to a common standard of value was an evolutionary one, it was as natural as the tendencies of the people who have intimate trade relations and intercourse with each other to use a common language. It was the natural result of the improved facilities of communication, of the invention of the steamship, the 'railway and the electric cable, but this decline in the output of gold covering a period of years presented a very serious problem. About that time some of the most eminent geologists in the world presented exhaus- tive arguments to prove that no reliance could be placed upon future gold supplies. They argued that gold had always been found near the surface, that there had been no considerable production up to that time from deep mines, that the great bulk of the output was from placers. They argued that the world had been pretty thoroughly explored and that no extensive discoveries were probable in the future. That was the basis of the argument for international bimettalism. I was a believer in it then and I believe today that if it had been necessary it would eventually have been accomplished. The subject got into politics and overstayed its time. While the world was debating whether or not there was gold enough for a universal standard of value, somebody went out and dug up enough to put an end to the discussion. So late as 1890 the production of gold in the United States was only about $33,000,000 a year; last year it was $80,000,000. In 1890 the output in Australia was about $33.- 000,000; last year it was $82,000,000. In 1890 in Canada it was $1,600,000; last year it was $20,000,000. In 1890 in South Africa the output was $8,000,000; at outbreak of the Boer war it was at the rate of $100,000,000. In 1890 the production of gold in the world was only about $118,000,000. Next year with South Africa back to her old output the production of the world will probably reach $350,000,000. Prof. Shaler of Harvard has been quoted as saying that gold would eventually become so cheap that the world would have to demonetize it. I am not anticipating, however, that the responsibility of recommending it will fall upon me. The idea that the world may suffer from a flood of money is not one calculated to excite any very general or intense state of alarm. Most of us have never been over our knees in that kind of a flood and the average man, I fancy, would want it about chin deep before he cried enough. (Laughter and Applause.) There is, however, no more interesting subject of inquiry and speculation than the probable effect of this new golden stream upon the markets, upon wages and upon the varied relations of in- dividuals and classes and upon the social life of the people. In so far as an increased money supply and the expansion of credits that always accompanies it goes to support growing industries and to promote the orderly and natural development of the world's re- sources it is a good thing. Whatever stimulates enterprise helps to take up the industrial slack. But of course there is a point, if you conceive of its ever being reached, when every man is at work, when all the productive forces of society are already in full action, when you cannot .make the world richer by pouring money into it. If the point is reached where every addition simply means dilution, where the new supplies only find employment by increasing the value of the old stock, then you have a condition where all the relations based upon terms of money are disturbed, where specu- lation instead of industry is promoted, where adventure and eco- nomic waste run rife and it all ends in a general disaster. There have never been but two periods in the history of money metals that afford any comparison with the, present. One of them is the period following the discovery of gold in America, and that is so far back and the conditions of society were so radically dif- ferent from those existing today that any conclusions drawn there- from must be of the most general character. The other is the period following the discovery of gold in California and Australia. At the AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 67 time of the discovery of gold in America the supply of the precious metals in the world was exceedingly scanty. Whatever the civilized countries held at the downfall of the Roman Empire was appar- ently scattered and dissipated by the barbarians and utterly lost. In the long centuries of disorder that followed the downfall of Rome the working of the mines was practically abandoned, commerce was dead, the feudal lords received tribute in kind and the common method of exchange was barter. It has been estimated that at the time of the discovery of America the output of both metals, gold and silver, in the world did not exceed $500,000 a year. During the first thirty years after the discovery of America the receipts of bul- lion in Europe from both Americas averaged about $250,000 a year. For the next twenty-five years, from about 1520 to 1545, the receipts averaged about $3,000,000 a year, and in 1546 the rich discoveries of silver in Peru raised the output to about $10,000,000 a year and it never afterwards felt below that. Now that was an output that in its relation to the old supply could fairly be called a flood. Its first effect was demoralizing upon society. The organization of industry at that time was not elastic enough to permit of its being absorbed. In fact, the countries of Europe at that time were not organized for industry; they were organized for war; the common occupation of mankind was war, ambition and fanaticism kept Europe embroiled in constant strife and the treasures that America poured into Spain simply went to fill the war chests of Philip II for his campaign in the Netherlands and to build the great Armada. It has been said by an eminent economist that it took the people of Europe 300 years to learn that the ture use far the precious metals was to support industry rather than war. It has been estimated that in the 150 years from 1500 to 1650 the average depreciation of the precious metals was about two-thirds of their value. That is, that in 1650 a given amount of gold or silver would buy only about one- third as .much as in 1500. Naturally, extreme confusion was the result. There was great suffering among people who worked for wages or whose income was a fixed one. There is no doubt that the quarrel between Charles I and his parliament was promoted by the declining value of the money in which the revenues were paid and some historians have held that it was the deadly money question, the bane of politicians in all ages, that cost him his head. In the 200 years from about 1600 to the beginning of the nine- teenth century the output of the precious metals, principally silver from the Americas, gradually increased until at the beginning of the nineteenth century it averaged about $40,000,000 a year. This was principally silver, and the monetary systems of Europe all became established at that time upon silver. In 1820 gold was discovered in the Russian possessions in the Ural mountains and in Siberia and in 1848 that empire was producing about $20,000,000 a year. In 1848 came the discovery of gold in California and in 1853 in Australia and the output of those two countries immediately jumped to about $100,000,000 a year, and then began one of the most extra- ordinary periods in the history of the world's development. The first sign of the new influx was seen in the holdings of the Bank of England, which went up from about $40,000,000 in 1847 to $118,000,000 in 1853. The bank put down the rate of interest, in order to get the money into use, to 2 per cent and for a considerable time to 1% per cent and so general was the opinion that the new supplies had permanently reduced the rate of interest that Mr. Gladstone, who was then chancellor of the exchequer, offered a measure reducing the rate or providing for the refunding of the consols at 2y 2 ' per cent and the rate of exchequer bills was fixed at 1^ per cent. But the idea that the rate of interest is permanently reduced by an additional supply of money is an error. Interest is a pay- ment in kind. It is a percentage of the thing borrowed, and if the principal suffers depreciation in comparison with other com- modities the interest payment suffers the same depreciation with- 68 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS out any reduction in rent. The interest rate depends upon the supply of cash capital compared with the demand lor it; it depends in large measure upon the opportunities for investment and in a large degree upon the confidence, courage and enterprise prevailing in the community. Secretary Shaw coined a new phrase and a very happy one in Chicago the other day when speaking of our present period of prosperity. He said that if there was any reason for its cession or interruption it was a sociological and not a logical reason, and so some of the influences that effect the rate of interest are sociolo- gical as well as logical. The first effect of an increase in the money supply is to reduce the rate of interest. The supply piles up in banks and the banks are eager to get it into use and reduce the interest rate but a permanent reduction of the rate of interest iias a tendency to enhance the value of all property that brings a fixed Teturn. If store buildings in Lead will bring 15 per cent on the investment and the rate of interest is only 6 per cent or 8 per cent the store buildings will go up in value or there will be more of them built. If Chicago & Northwestern railway stock pays regu- larly 8 per cent when the going rate of interest is only 4 per cent, Chicago & Northwestern stock will raise in value, or there would be more railroads built or something will occur to bring down the rate of dividends. A permanent reduction in the rate of interest creates a boom in property, stimulates enterprise and construction and the creation of new securities until the new supply of securities bears down the price of property and raises the rate of interest. We have witnessed a demonstration of all that in this country in the last five years. I remember when the rare of interest on the farm mortgages in Iowa was reduced to 5 per cent in 1897. The effect was to enhance the value of farm lands and incidentally to start a new movement of immigration toward the cheaper lands of Minnesota and the Dakotas and even over into Canada, and about ihe same time a very general movement started for refunding the obligations of railroad companies at 3y 2 per cent to 4 per cent that previously had been drawing 5 per cent to 7 per cent and the result of that was an extraordinary period of construction largely of re- construction until nearly all the railway lines of the country have been reconstructed. When these trunk lines were first 'built the main consideration was to get them built cheaply. With the ac- cumulation of capital and a reduction in the rate of interest the main consideration is to operate them cheaply and the result is the general reconstruction that has been going on in the last few years. The extraordinary movement of capital however, into fixed invest- ments has gone on until it has had the effect of increasing the amount of indebtedness in proportion to cash resources until it has again raised the rate of interest and reduced the value of railway stocks and other fixed investments. The people however who fancy that there must be a long period of depression to follow this period of expansion are very likely not to give sufficient importance to the annual additions to the money supply. With some $350,000,000 a year added to the monetary stock of the world it is going to be pretty difficult to depress prices very long or suppress enterprise very long, particularly when we remember that with the modern banking conditions every dollar of cash capital is good for about four dollars of credit. The period following 1850 in Europe witnessed a good deal such a boom as we have seen in this country in the last five years and there was a very general discussion as to the ultimate effect of the new supplies of gold. An eminent French economist named Chevalier wrote a very exhaustive book on the subject in which he argued that if the output continued it would be necessary to demone- tize gold. Holland and Belgium actually took action to that end. Two influences, however, appeared to minimize the effect of the new supply. The first was the war in the Crimea, between Russia on one side and England, France and Turkey on the other. France AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 69 and Great Britain were obliged to finance the war, pay the expenses not only of their own troops to Turkey and Russia but they were obliged to ship large sums of specie to the eastern part of Europe and that money was scattered there and never came back. The other influence was the outflow of silver from Europe to India. Prior to 1855 the annual exports of silver from Europe to India averaged about $] 0,000. 000 a year. About 1855 began the construction of the railway system of India and immense sums of British capital were transported in the form of silver to India for that purpose. Then the construction of the railway systems assisted the transportation of grain to the sea coast and so increased the exports of India that it built up a large balance of trade that had to be settled in silver. Prior to 1855 the average exports of silver to India had been about $10,000,000 a year and in 1857 it jumped to $100,000,000 and that continued for the next ten years. It has been estimated by some statisticians that in those ten years exports of silver to India amounted to 75 per cent of the new production of gold and silver, the silver taken out of circulation and gold substituted for it. This sluiceway for silver for the east made room in Europe for the new supplies of gold. So. Mr. Chevalier had an opportunity to say that what he had predicted would have come true if something had not happened, and you may have noticed that the value of predictions is greatly impaired by the fact that something generally does happen. But precisely what happened then is certain to happen in the future. The times were never so favorable for the development of the hitherto backward countries as they are today. In all the advanced coun- tries, equipped with labor saving machinery, the production and accumulation of wealth is going on at a rate that is almost incal- oulable. Everywhere in all these countries it is difficult to find em- ployment or investment, for the savings of the people. This fact is the impulse behind the latter day effort of all European countries to obtain colonies. It is to find new and profitable fields for the investment of the savings of the people. Some of the richest por- tions of the earth up to this time have remained comparatively un- touched and are ready today by the investment of capital to pour their treasures upon the world. South America, Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe are all promising fields for tho investment of capital. Right at our own doors we have an example in the case of Cuba. Cube has remained for four hundred years an object lesson of human misery and industrial waste. By the intervention of the United States the scene is changed. With security for capital, with employment for labor, with education and justice for her people, Cuba is to become one of the garden spots of the world. Over in Egypt we have just had an illustration of what the investment of capital can do for a backward people in the con- struction of the great dam in the upper Nile at an expenditure of millions of dollars. It is expected to add 25 per cent to the agricul- tural products of Egypt. In India there is a further example of what the investment of capital has done for that country. No native government in India ever did anything for the development of the country or for the amelioration of the people. No prince in India ever built even a mile of wagon road. The present government has built some 25,000 miles of railway, over 35,000 miles of irrigating canals and only recently it has been announced that the govern- ment is prepared to expend $150,000,000 in further irrigation projects. The exports of India since the construction of its railway system began have risen from about $80,000,000 a year to $360,000,000 a year. And so in Japan, in China and in the Philippines the quick- ening influence of modern enterprises are to be found. In these days of swift and easy communication when commerce has brought the most distant people into touch with civilization, it is simply impossible that great, areas of fertile land and great stores of natural wealth should go on unproductive. This continent of North America could not always remain a hunting ground and battlefield for savages. The 70 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS development of these new countries will be facilitated by a plentitude of money and the development of the new supplies of the precious metals. It is not only true as to gold but there is hope and prospects for silver. The fact that the world has generally adopted the gold standard does not mean that it has discarded silver as a money metal. There is a natural division between the fields and the functions of the two metals in the monetary world. Gold is the natural money for the international trade, for large transactions, but silver is the natural money everywhere for the retail trade. If I could have my way there never would be a gold coin under ten dollars. I paid out a five dollar piece for a newspaper in California last year and I have been against the five dollar piece ever since. (Laughter.) The development of all these backward countries to which I have referred will involve a larger market for silver. A country where the wages of the people are small, where they do not get over three or four dollars a month, has little use for gold as a common medium of exchange. We began buying silver for the Philippine Islands in April at 49 cents an ounce. We paid last week 58^ cents an ounce. I would not advise anybody to go and buy a silver mine on the strength of my opinion upon it but I do believe that silver has seen its worst days and that it may be expected to have a fairly stable value in the future. (Applause.) The United States as you know is one of the three great gold producing countries in the world and yet in the last five years it has attracted and held a good deal more than its own output. The entire output of Canada, of M/exico and a large share of Aus- tralia comes to the mints of the United States. It has llowed into the treasury until we can hardly shut the vault doors. The treasury of the United States holds today the greatest hoard of gol.l that ever was gathered together on the face of the earth. It has but- tressed our monetary system with the strength of Gibralter. It is the guaranty of the parity of every dollar of our money, of the dis- charge of every obligation that the government may have. Before I close I want to express my thanks to the mining fra- ternity generally for the courtesy and the ready response that they have always given to the bureau over which I have the honor to preside in its inquiry as to the annual production of the precious metals. I might say further that I am awaro that there has been more or less criticism from time to time upon the estimates that are made by the bureau. We are never quite able to get up to the enthusiastic estimates that the mining fraternity put upon their own districts. We figure that all the gold that is produced in this counrty must go to three uses. It either goes to the mints for coinage, or it enters into industrial uses or it is exported from the country. You cannot fool us very much on what comes to the mints. We are in touch with all the refineries, smelters and reduction works of the country and they very kindly furnish us with a statement of what they furnish for the industrial arts, lad not relying wholly upon that we conduct an inquiry by means of some 20,000 circular letters every year, addressed to the manufacturing jewelers and other people in the country who use gold and biiver in the industrial lines. We get the exports of gold and silver from the custom houses and have reason to rely upon them. In compiling our estimates of the output of gold in the several districts in the whole country we figure that we must hold the total down to the actual disposition as we find it, and we distribute it among the states according to the information we get from the various reduction works, smelters, refineries, etc. If the criticisms that our estimates were too low came from only one district we might think something of it but when the criticism comes from all districts and we cannot find out where the product has gone to we come to the conclusion that our figures are probably about right. It is of the highest importance, of course, AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 71 that the statistics should be as nearly accurate as they can be made and while it is Impossible to get them absolutely so, we believe that they are approximately correct. Now, gentlemen, I desire to thank you again for your invitation, for your courtesy in listening and to express the pleasure I have felt in coming into this great mining district of the West, in being a witness to the amount of labor, of patience, of scientific skill and cf capital that, has combined to furnish us the output that comes from these Hills. Gentlemen, again I thank you. (Prolonged applause.) MR. CONZETTE, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: Mr. Chairman, in har- mony with Director Roberts' remarks and also in harmony with the declaration of the constitution of our organization which is said to be organized for the purpose of advancing the .mining industries of this country, I desire to offer a short resolution. The resolution referred to was read by Secretary Mahon and by the president referred to the committee on resolutions. MR. GUSHURST, OF LEAD: I am sure I express the sen- timent of every person within this hall when I say that we were delighted at the very able and interesting speech which we have just heard by Mr. Roberts and therefore I move you, Mr. President, that a rising vote of thanks be tendered to Mr. Roberts, not only for his presence with us here today, but also for the very interesting speech that he has given us. The motion was duly seconded and unanimously carried. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The next on our program is a paper by Dr. F. R. Carpenter, of Denver, Colorado, on pyritic smelting. As Dr. Carpenter is not present to read the paper, it will be submitted to the secretary for printing. PYRITIC SMELTING. A paper prepared by Dr. Carpenter for the American Mining Congress. This is a process of smelting applicable to any raw ores not carrying lead, but more especially to sulphide ores carrying copper. From time immemorial man has roasted off the sulphur in pyrite ores and burned his iron to oxide in the open air, thus wasting what pyritic smelters consider good fuel. If it is admitted that a heat unit derived from the oxidation of iron or sulphur will do as much work as one derived from oxidation of coke, the folly of this pro- ceeding becomes apparent, provided this heat can be utilized. If it can, one might just as well waste his coke in a similar manner. American engineers derived from Europe two raw smelting pro- cesses, which, unfortunately, are often confused. One was the Kongsberg process of pyritic smelting, where raw pyrite was added to the charge simply to produce a carrier, or matte, for the precious metals. This was all I had in view when I advocated pyritic smelting for the siliceous ores of South Dakota. By its means the small amounts of gold and silver in many tons of rock were concentrated into a few tons of matte. This process, broadly, is very ancient so ancient that we know not when it was i;rst employed. It will be observed later that it is the very opposite of the other class of pyritic smelting, in that the ores treated are silicious, and pyrite is added for a carrier only. The other sort of pyr'te smelting is the outgrowth of principles discovered by Sir Henry Bessemer in steel making, who found that cast iron might be purified by the oxidation, or burning, of its own contained impurities. The principles of Bessemer, much modified, are now everywhere applied to the refining of copper matte, where again the oxidation of the iron and sulphur furnish the heat to burn and slag off impurities, giving us a very pure blister copper at one 72 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS direct cheap operation, and without additional fuel. This is the beautiful operation of Mahnes, first employed in America by our Butte friends. After the establishment of Bessemer's process in England, Holl- way sought to smelt the Rio Tinto copper sulphide ores by means of the heat generated in the oxidation of their sulphur and iron. A short calculation will show that his conclusions were well founded. Without going into the investigation very fully, we may admit that one pound of iron pyrite burned in the furnace is equal to 2.026 B. T. U., and that this, roughly, is equal to 40 per cent of the value of a pound of carbon burned to CO; but as our furnaces probably burn perhaps a third of the carbon to CO2, we may conclude that this value is too nigh, hence figure it as equal to only 26 per cent, or one-fourth of the value of one pound of coke, which is certainly a safe deduction. Those who are interested in the subject are referred to the forthcoming volume of the Mineral Industry, where Mr. E. C. Rey- bold, Jr. : a young man employed at our Golden Works and formerly with me at Deadwood, has fully investigated the subject. For every four pounds of pyrite, therefore, burned in the open air, we have lost the equivalent of one pound of good coke. Stated in another way, four pounds of pyrite will do as much smelting as one pound of coke, and in so doing, it is smelted and fluxed itself. Our blast furnaces, in ordinary matte smelting, are running with 16 per cent coke, but a charge containing 64 per cent of -raw pyrite should smelt itself; and if this is assisted with a hot air stove, which can be fired with a cheap low-grade fuel, even this percentage of pyrite may be much reduced. The fullest application of these Drinciples has been made by Dr. Robert Steicht, of Mount Lyell in Tasmania, where the first smelting is done absolutely without carbonaceous fuel of any sort. Let us now consider for a moment what they do. Their ores are pyritic, and of two classes. The Mount Lyell pyrite is so mined as to maintain a general average as follows: Fe 40.30 per cent. Si O2 4.42 per cent. Ba SO4 1.48 per cent. Cu 2.36 per cent. Al 2O3 2.04 per cent. S 46.01 per cent. Ag 2 oz. per ton. Au 0.0725 oz. per ton. The second class is a silicious bornite ore purchased from other mines, and quartz is employed as a flux. This is the direct opposite of the case first considered, calling for additions to silica in the place of additions of pyrite. The Mount Lyell company operates eleven blast furnaces which are arranged in two smelting plants. Those employed in the first smelting are five in number, and are 42 by 210 inches at the tuyeres. The height of the ore column above the tuyeres is maintained at 9 feet 6 inches. The other plant consists of six furnaces, five of which are 40 by 168 inches at the tuyeres. The tuyeres are all three inches in diameter, and the larger furnaces have 32 each. In the first set of furnaces all the ore delivered at the plant is smelted without roasting and without fuel, to a first matte carrying 15 per cent copper. Formerly a hot blast, 528 degrees, and 3 per cent coke was used. But for a year past the coke has been abandoned and the blast only warmed. No difference was noticed in this change save a greatly increased capacity three furnaces now doing the work of four under the old method. The matte from this first smelting is re-smelted in the second set of furnaces to a 45 to 50 per cent copper matte, which goes directly to the converters. AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 73 The process is, therefore, divided into three stages, all of which are oxidizing, and which may be said to be almost continuous Bes- semerizing from beginning to end. Disregarding the time for cooling and transportation from one department to another, the time con- sumed from ore to copper is noly six hours, and this is accomplished almost without extraneous fuel. In the first smelting no limestone or coke is used, and but a slightly warmed blast. In the second smelting a small percentage of coke and limestone is used, and a cold blast. The third stage is simply Bessemerizing or converter work. These results having been attained at Mount Lyell by the ap- plication of principles long advocated by pritic smelters, there is no longer any reason, in my opinion, why the same or similar re- sults cannot be had at Sudbury, Ontario; Ducktown, Tenn.; Kes- wick, Cal., and in Arizona and New Mexico in fact at any place where the ores carry sufficient pyrite, or pyrite can be had from outside sources. It will be observed that the smelting proper at Mount Lyell is accomplished in two steps. A low-grade matte is made in the first smelting, which is enriched by a second smelting to a grade 1 :uch as Mr. Fowler proposes, in which one set of directors, if not one man, may dictate the entire currency issue of a nation, and then enter into competition with the banking interest of any other nation who may permit us a franchise and charter, a condition which would permit the banking interests of the whole world to unite in the interest of a monopoly, when and whereas the only security to any people of accom- modation at reasonable compensation is that of competition. My bill provides a banking system which will forever insure every national bank against the possibility of a depositor's panic, for it pro- vides a condition which will induce every one to bring out of hiding and out of private keeping to the bank every dollar that can be spared from their pockets and their tills, and then to let them forever stay subject to the use of the bank, unless absolutely needed, for under my bill the national bank is to be the only safe place on eartfi to the individual, corporation or association, for monetary credit consequently no one will ever take a dollar from the bank until com- pelled to use it, and then it will be brought back just as soon as one gets it who does not need it in the pocket or in the till, and conse- quently there can never be another financial panic caused by the depositor's withdrawal of his deposit through fear of the bank's failure. My bill will unite the entire banking interests of the nation in a common cause to defend themselves against all kinds of reckless- ness, mismanagement and rascality, and which ought to result in so uniform, rigid and comprehensive a regulation that, instead of bank's failing every month, we shall not have a, bank failure in months, and intelligently managed there need never be another. My bill enacted will relieve the j7overnment from repeated or endless redemption, which in the past has cost us many millions; It AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 145 will relieve us from all expense of circulation, which now costs us be- tween a third and a half million dollars a year; it will also relieve us from all unnecessary expense of coinage, which now costs us thou- sands of dollars annually. My bill is applicable to the whole world and provides a condition in which every nation from the least to the greatest may unite and adopt the highest possible standard of money, provide a coin" and cur- rency of identical parity and enjoy the free and unlimited use of everything entitled to use as a money. Our present monetary act and system does not provide for a single condition of the twenty-five herein enumerated, but Mr. Fowl- er's proposed bill would provide for two of them, viz.: a definite stand- ard and relief from endless redemption. His bill would also provide for an issue of permanent currency upon a bank capital, which may be squandered at any time, but he would deny the miner the privilege of exchanging his indestructible money metal for a currency. My bill would say to all alike, that if any one, corporation or association, wants to increase the coin or currency of our United States you must bring to the credit of the government gold or some other valuable entitled to the credit of money before you can have it. And which of the two conditions do you believe will be best? Which would you rather have, a currency of your nation, the representative of a val- uable, in the care and keeping of your nation, and which you or any one else might get at any time if needed, and when not needed be a perpetual credit to your government, and always available for the protection and promotion of your public welfare, without waiting to borrow or having to pay interest, and the only limit of our volume of such credit to be the value of the money metals we may mine?/ Or would you prefer a currency issued upon the credit of a bank, which would be a constant liability and fruitful source of panics and then be denied the privilege of credit for the production of our mines, and be- sides have our nation a helpless one, dependent upon and subject at every emergency to the dictation of a set of bankers? 1 would choose the currency of our nation, issued for gold, or the gold value of some other valuable, which fire cannot burn, nor frost blight, nor hot winds parch, nor rascality squander, but which may endure as a monetary credit and source of financial independence to our nation forever; and now let all understand that it is up to the American people to decide at our next congress which of the two policies and conditions we shall have, and let all understand that if we permit a parent banking trust to be fastened upon us that we shall subject ourselves to a trust that will fleece every locality for the benefit of the parent, and to which our nation may be as helpless a dupe as is England to the Bank of England. To provide a banking system which shall permit the government to insure them against the possibility of a depositor's panic will provide a stability to banking and to business and a security to invest- ment hitherto unknown. My bill will relieve every national bank from tKe obligation of holding or maintaining a gold reserve. My bill would forever place our government above having to borrow, while our present act, or that which Mr. Fowler proposes, would forever subject us to the necessity of borrowing at every emer- gency exceeding current receipts. Would it not be a pleasure to see our nation out of interest debt and with more than a billion dollars in gold and with half as many gold dollars' worth of other money metals to our public credit, or would you rather see our nation with only one hundred and fifty million dollars to our public credit and subject to an interest-bearing debt of practically one billion dol- lars, drawing an annual interest of at least twenty million dollars? I would like to see Uncle Sam free from ever having to pay another cent of interest, and. out on the highway of possibility with billions of dollars to his credit, and I would like to see our people enjoying the privilege of increasing the volume of their public credit to the value 146 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS of all the money metals our energy and enterprise may inspire us to produce, for if permitted the privilege of unlimited use of all .money metals we would increase our monetary credit by at least fifty million gold dollars' worth annually above what we will do, or can do, under the present act, or under the bill which Mr. Fowler proposes, so that as I see it, my bill enacted at the time of our present act would have saved to our public credit the interest on our present debt, amounting to about twenty million dollars annually, and which for thirty years would have amounted to more than $500,000,000, and besides would have saved the expense of circulation, which now amounts to more than a million dollars, and all of which I offered to show Secretary Gage of what and how to do, if he would only agree to recommend that congress allow me something for the suggestion; but he replied that it was impractical to offer any compensation for a suggestion on .the improvement of our monetary or currency interests, and which I understood to mean that he thought y>e certainly knew as well as I possibly could, and I judge that I might, as far as his reason con- ceived, just as well have said, "Here, secretary, I will ehow you how to make Niagara run straight up," as to have offered any plan for the liquidation of our bonds instead of refunding them. It was so far ahead of any conception of his, and the offer of providing for the free and unlimited use of silver, under a gold standard, was, I 3udge, to him, little or no less absurd. But I believe that even a casual glance at my bill will convince any expert that it will provide every claim enumerated, and if so, it solves the monetary interests of the world forever. There is but one question involved, it seems to me, which any financier would stumble over and fail to comprehend, and that is, if great quantities of silver should be received at, say one dollar an ounce, and then eventually it should ever decline to fifty cents an ounce, would not the government lose the decline? It seems so, but I answer no; for under the conditions provided the government can never lose a cent, and for several reasons, among them which are, first, that we do not give anything for it, we only receipt for it in currency, so that before we could ever lose in the deal the currency must come back and the silver be all withdrawn from the government, so as to compel the government to buy to make up the deficiency, and, secondly, we have provided a condition in which it would be as impossible to return the currency so as to take the silver away from the government as it would to invert the law of gravity and compel the rivers to flow to the summit of the mountains, for the rivers are no less subject to the law of gravity than our currency, under my bill, is subject to the law of necessity. I believe that it will be plain to every student of currency that under my "bill to ever take a monetary credit from the government, the one taking it must retire his currency, and consequently forego and give up the business opportunity his currency would afford him, for my bill will make of the government an ocean into which all money metals must be placed before they can be made available as a monetary or currency credit, and consequently when placed to the credit of the government it will be for the sake of a currency^ and so before they can ever be taken from the government the people must decide to give up their currency and abandon business absolutely, and to abandon business absolutely would mean death to all at once, for the world cannot live without the transaction of business; and under my bill the only way to get a currency at all with which to do business is to place some money metal to the credit of the government, and then the only way to keep a currency with which to transact business is to let the money metals stay to the credit of the government, and, as has been said, the trans- action of business is an absolute necessity of life itself, not to mention any of the comforts 01 conveniences of civilized life, or means of in- formation, or education, each and all of which" are absolutely depend- ent upon the use and employment of a currency, for without a cur- AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 147 rency it is utterly impossible to have a book, a paper, or any other means of education, or in fact anything else beyond the natural pro- visions of nature, for without a currency it would be impossible to have an implement, or shop of manufacture, or any vehicle of con- veyance, or ship of commerce; so it seems to me that the impossibility of ever taking the money metals from our government, under the operation of my bill, will be plain to all students of the question, and if my bill is an improvement on what the world has ever had so far, its enactment does not involve, like most improvements, an outlay or investment of great capital in its provision, for the only expense ne- cessary to its enactment is merely its writing, and then its operations will be cheaper by many thousand dollars annually than what we now have, and best of all it is in the interest of every person and against no one; while to do anything less in a monetary measure in this age of reason than to provide for the very best money the Author of Being has provided for us, and then at least to provide for every con- dition of its enjoyment, enumerated in my bill, would be to disgrace ourselves, expose our ignorance to the world and unnecessarily de- fraud and deprive ourselves of what the Author of Being haa pro- vided for us. Very Respectfully submitted, CHAS. ALBERT LONG. Pomeroy. Wash. PRESIDENT RIOHARDS: Mr. Drake, of Oregon, desires to make a few remarks at this time. MR. DRAKE, OP OREGON: Mr. President, Gentlemen of the Convention and Delegates: I appreciate the necessity for those who have anything to say to be brief and to the point. The 100th anni- versary of the acquisition of the Oregon territory originally by the United States, which was acquired by Captains Lewis and Clark, appointed by President Jefferson, will soon be here. It was a great event. I have no time now or inclination to discuss fb or to deliver a lecture to you. Some eighteen months ago the people of Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Montana in a general way began to discuss the 100th anniversary and some appropriations were made to celebrate that glorious event. At the last session of this congress this question came up and it was one of the first organizations to take cognizance of the propriety of the observance of that anniversary and by reso- lutions adopted at Butte, declared itself in favor of the observation of that anniversary by the people of the Northwest. Since that time an organization has 'been perfected in Oregon by an incorporation to which private subscriptions have been made in large sums of money for the purpose of celebrating that event at Portland, its chief city. The state of Oregon has appropriated $500,000 in furtherance of this object. Every one of the mining states through its legislature has appropriated moneys and funds for the purpose of mineral exhibits and for the exploitation of this industry at St. Louis and Portland. All this has been done since the first recommendation on the part of congress and I desire now, if you will kindly permit me, to read a little review of this action in the form of pamphlets and a further declara- tion on behalf of this Congress on the propriety of the furtherance of the objects of that organization, and ask you to adopt them. The resolution was referred to the committee on resolutions. MR. MUIR, OF OREGON: As one of the delegates from Oregon, I wish to read a telegram from the representative of the State Mining Congress that is now in session at Portland. "Portland, Ore., Sept. 7th, '03. Oregon Delegation A. M. Congress, Deadwood, S. D., Franklin Hotel: State Miners' Association perfected today with large representa- tion from all parts of state sends greeting to American Mining Con- gress and desires that Portland be its next meeting point. A cordial reception will be given. A. L. MORRIS, Secretary." 148 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS We come here from Oregon to attend this Congress for the benefit of the mining interests of this territory. We do not come here to represent any* exposition that may come in 1905 or any other year. It is to the advantage of the state of Oregon or any other state to get this Congress to meet at the very first opportunity and we desire the Congress to be held at Portland in 1904. We desire that *he American Mining Congress will receive the entire attention that can be given it when the city is at itself and not when other matters require its attention as it will be in 1905. Nineteen hundred and four is the year we want it. (Cheers.) MR. BENNETT, OF MINNESOTA: I have a short resolution I would like to offer if it is in order. I would like to state what prompted that resolution by stating the circumstances. There came to our city a few years ago from Washington and I am going to divide the honors of this case between Washington and South Dakota, the statutes under which the organizatin was made, and Idaho. The gentleman came to Minneapolis and of my knowledge he did not have enough to pay a month's rent for rooms. In a year, and a half he had organized four corporations, wheels within wheels, with nothing under heaven but options on property. The last corporation he organized was for a half billion dollars, then our attorney general aroused himself and the public examiner cleaned him out of town; but in the meantime he had cleaned out the servant girls, stenographers and clerks and some of the old ladies and widows and a few preachers, and took away about $250,000. They couldn't find he had any money; it was gone. Those things do not tend to create confidence of the general public in mining enterprises. It creates quite the reverse. The miner gets the benefit of it by having to sacrifice at least half of his property before he gets in a position where he can realize anything, so it oc- curs to me that the Congress ask the various legislatures to protect their own people and at the same time protect the miner by such legislation as they may pass to check this evil, for it is a general evil, not confined by any means to any one place. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The resolution will be referred to the committee. MR. PATTERSON, OF NEBRASKA: Apropos to that resolution I would like to suggest this, that corporations organized for the pur- pose of selling mining stocks are not the only ones that are over- capitalized and largely inflated. You need only to go down to New York and New Jersey to find organizations capitalized for millions and billions, as the gentleman has suggested, many, many times more than their intrinsic value, so that I would suggest that resolution be for all organizations. MR. CONZETTE, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: The principle involved in this resolution is all right, there is no question about that, but it strikes me that our organization cannot constitute itself the guardian of the people and if we attempt to constitute ourself the guardian of the people we couldn't do it. The suckers will bite, no matter what sort of protection, legal or otherwise, you .might throw around them, and another thing, I don't like to advertise in a resolution of this kind that the mining countries are full of those things. If you will amend the resolution to simply state that this Mining Congress pro- tests against over-capitalization or anything of that kind, I am with it. But to go on in that resolution and specify that the mining coun- tries are overrun with that sort of thing, you are conveying an idea to the people outside that may give them a wrong impression. A short recess was taken. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: In order that the committee on nomi- nations may have an opportunity to work over the evening, I have appointed on that committee Mr. Patterson of Nebraska; Mr. Grayson, AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 149 of Oregon ; Mr. Rinehart, of Colorado, Mr. Jackson, of Idaho, and Mr. George, of South Dakota, to- make recommendations to this body. MR. PATTERSON, OF NEBRASKA: I would like to have that committee meet at their convenience at the Franklin Hotel at 8 o'clock this evening. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We will now listen to an address from Dr. Stephen de Zombory on "Aerial Tramways as an Economic Means of Transportation." .Ladies and Gentlemen: In addressing you upon the subject of aerial tramways as an economic means of transportation, it is not my object to enter into a technical discussion of the subject but rather to discuss the conditions which warrant the construction of such aids to mining enterprises and those types which will give 'the most satis- factory results from the mine operator's point of view, as well as some Df the many advantages of this system of transporting ores from the mine to the reducing plant. The time is too short to enter into an extended discussion of tramways and their development. As a curious fact we could mention that wire ropes served for transportation methods many centuries past and research among the ruins of Pompeii have brought to light wire rope, specimens of which are to be seen in museums in Naples at this day. Or I could mention, too, that there are woo-i cuts in some of the medieval German books which show perfectly developed tram- ways. The early sciences of this method of transportation passed into oblivion, however, and it was not brought again into extended use until the 40s of the lust century. Almost from the origin of trams we find that two distinct types were known the single and the double rope trams. The home of the former was in England, while the double rope system is extensively used in Germany and the whole world. So widely spread is the use of rope tramways that it is also interesting to note that in Germany there is a single manufacturing concern which during the quarter of s century it has been in existence has turned out over 1,800 tramways. The experience of the past two or three decades have shown marked advantages of this type of transportation. Discussing the merits of both the single and double rope types the advantages might be expressed thus: Undulated profile is of little importance, since these tramways are equally effective on plains or in a very mountainous country: Expensive understructures, viaducts or trestle work is absolutely un- necessary, the ropes being suspended on wooden towers which are of simple construction, erected at intervals of two or three hundred feet. If the formation of the ground does not permit these distances, it is possible to construct spans of even as many thousand feet. Deep gulches and ravines, which are effectual barriers to transportation means of other types, offer no obstruction to a rope tramway 'and some of the finest tramways in the country have solved just such problems for mine operators. Climatic conditions in no manner inter- fere with the action of a tramway, permitting the continuous oper- ation in most inclement weather. Thus the heavy expense of keep- ing mountain roads open during the winter are avoided. Being eco- nomical both of construction and maintenance, it proves to be the real friend of mine operators who are operating on even a moderate capital. Another marked advantage is the fact that the ti^ie occupied in construction is much less than for the construction of other systems of transportation, specially is this true in mountainous country. The adaptability of the tramway is so great that it will meet v the most urgent demands made upon it and, unlike rail or wagon roads, should occasion demand, the plant can be wrecked and installed in a new lo- cation at moderate cost and with a surprisingly short loss in oper- ating time. 150 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS In the main these advantages apply to both the single and double rope types. I do not feel myself entitled to condemn^ either type. Both have their advantages. I only will compare. Th~e single rope type being much simpler in its construction, having less parts, has the advantage in being cheap in primary cost and erection. Its prin- cipal drawback is that it can convey only a limited amount of ma- terial. There are tramways of this system with an hourly capacity of 35 tons, yet these particular tramways did not get beyond the experimental stage and it is not advisable to deliver more than 20 tons an hour. The practical mine operator wbose hope and ambition is to vastly increase the output of his mine would hardly consent to install a system which in itself was so limited in capacity. Yet its main advantage, as stated, is its cheapness of construction, a fact which always must be taken into consideration. Another disadvantage of this system is the fact thaf the strain upon the parts is heavy, with consequent expense of repairs and loss of time in operation, itself no small item in working costs. The double rope system, which is of far more extensive use, is more costly in installation but is always advantageous on account of its capability of increased capacity as occasion demands in the future development and output of a mine. Speaking of capacity, I could mention that there are lines which deliver 250 tons of ore per hour, which is really a tremendous output. This special line has been in almost continuous operation since the fall of 1898 and since its in- stallation, Its repairs have been of such trifling cost that eveff its builders have been surprised. (Vivero span), English syndicate. Oper- ating costs are low. Ore Colorado tramway, which traverses a very rought, mountainous country, approximately 10.000 feet in lenglh, is handling ore at a cost of 17.6 cents per ton, with the cost of mainte- nance 1.5 cents per ton. These admirably low figures are due to the fact that the systems now being perfected require the services of very few men on the entire line. The addition of automatic devices which perform the work of loading and dumping have gradually decreased the labor costs until now only one or two men are required to watch the loading of the buckets. As is generally understood, most of the double rope tramways which are in operation through the mining districts of the country require no power, being operated by gravity entirely. Even then the power which is nroduced bv the weierht of the buckets can be turned in a source of profit, being sufficient to meet demands for ventilating purposes, for the operation of dynamos for lighting plants and operating mine pumps, as can be seen in some of the larger Western mines. The division of the strain upon the ropes of thi* double rope sys- tem reduces the repair bills and at the same time renders the stop- pages less frequent. Returning for a moment to the matter of automatic systems: There is today a tendency to render these tramways more and more automatic in their operation. It is a question in the mind of the trained engineer just what is the limit. What is of more concern to the prospective or actual owner of a tramway? How far can we go in making the tram entirely independent of human control but then take the risk of the eventualities which are connected with all such machinery? Reduction of labor costs is always an object in considering oper- ating costs, but yet, in the opinion of many engineers, it will not be advisable to entirely dispense with it. The aim of the constructing engineer should be to plan a tramway which would be as nearly auto- matic as consistent, with due regard for the safe conveyance of its traffic. In all the double rope systems which are in general use, tSe principle of construction is the same. That is, the ropes, pullevs and sheaves, as well as the other machinery in use, perform their duties in the same general fashion, differing only in design. The AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 151 difference between the systems is chiefly in the manner of attaching buckets to the rope. Therefore, double rope tramways might be divided into three general types: First, that system in which a clip or lug-nut is permanently at- tached to the running rope which drags the bucket suspended on a standing or immovatle rope. Second, that system in which a clutch fastened to a bucket seizes the running rope and remains attached thereto by means of friction. This latter system might be further subdivided into two classes: One in which the friction is created by an eccentrically operating lever locked and released automatically, securing a constant friction, that is, independent olf the angle which the traction rope forms with the horizontal; second, one in which the clutch exerts friction on the traction rope by a lever on which the weight of the bucket is transmitted. This friction varies with the cosinus of the angle the line forms with the Horizontal. The third and latest development is that system in which the buckets are fastened permanently at certain distances to the traction rope. On this system the buckets are loaded with a walking bin which runs simultaneously on parallel rails above the buckets in the station, loading the same. It is here impossible to enter again into extended discussion of the merits of these three systems of double rope tnmways. As my time is drawing to a close, I will cnly mention some of the most marked differences. The clip system enables us to handle the buckets at exactly the same intervals. This prevents accidents which might result from the failure of laborers to keep the bucKets loaded and moving at the proper distances. One marked disadvantage of this type is the fact that the weai on the traction rope is constantly in the same place, thereby weakening the strength of the rope at these points. Shifting the clips from time to time is icsorted to in an effort to overcome this difficulty but with a more or less extended loss of time. In the second class this difficulty is not encountered because the grip seldom ever clutches the same spot on the traction ropes twice in succession. Slight alterations, also, in the relative positions of the buckets on the rope work no disadvantage in the operation of the second type. To secure an even distribution of the buckets along the line, signals are easily arranged by which the workman is enabled to estimate the proper intervals. Witfi the as- sistance of the eccentrically working frictional grip arrangement, as well as with the clip, all grades can be overcome, because the fric- tion on the rope is constant and uniform. In the type in which the* weight of the bucket is transferred by means of a lever on the clutch and is transformed to friction, the limitation of grades which can be overcome is confined to those not in excess of 4 degrees. The third system, that in which the buckets are attached perma- nently to the traction rope, is probably the most promising one, as here the loading as well as the unloading of the buckets is auto- matic, with corresponding saving in operating expenses. The more or less complicated clip catchers and grips are done away with. It requires buckets of less expensive construction and overcomes any grade that any other system of rope tramways can traverse. This last type of construction is of such recent development that com- paratively few plants are in operation in this country. As far as is known it renders most successful service. And now a word as to the costs of installation of rope tramways. Naturally, the single rope tramway is the cheaper type of construc- tion but popular opinion is more favorable towards the double rope tramway, as evidenced by the number of that type which have been and are being installed by mine managers. The heavier the traffic to be handled, the heavier and more substantial parts must be used in the construction work. Many other considerations, based upon the peculiar conditions which attend the installation of tramways at different mines, muse be considered in the individual case. Generally 152 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS speaking, we are within limits when we say that including all the machinery parts the average price per foot of a line constructed may be regarded as ranging from $1.80 to $2.00 per foot. These figures include the necessary wire cables, towers, sheaves and buckets. To these figures must be added the construction cost, which vary ac- cording to freight rates, prices of timber, labor and delivery to the point of construction. Very naturally this affords a wide variation in costs but as an example it might be cited that in Colorado the construction costs would probably be from $1 to $1.15 per foot. There- fore, it is safe to estimate the entire cost of a tramway per foot in this region, where the conditions are approximately the same as in Colo- rado, at from $3 to $3.10 per running foot. The rope tramways and their application to mining and manu- facturing industries the world over is a subject upon which any engi- neer might talk for hours. The economics which are effected in all industries in which their use is possible are so generally recognized that no argument in their behalf is necessary. Every mining man of the West can probably cite examples of mines whose profitable operation without the aid of tramways would not be possible. The time which has been allotted me is now drawing to a close and there- fore, in conclusion, let me repeat a poetic tribute to the tramway, the work of a fellow engineer unknown to me, whose beautiful allegory is more expressive th~an language of my own : "Nestled silently in the clouds, away up above the timber line, nature has hidden almost unaccepsibly its treasures. Deep down in a valley stands a reduction plant which day by day with the aid of human genius converts ore into wealth. Reluctant to give up her treasures, nature wages a constant warfare with man, calling to her aid the snows and ice of winter, altitude, precipice and ravine. But man won the fight. Two slender wire cables, puny in appearance despite their strength, span ravine, rise over precipice and scale the heights, disappearing among the clouds. With their aid man has encompassed the defeat of nature. Silently, unpretentiously, dis- dainfully ignoring the grumbling of nature over her defeat and her efforts to overthrow the work of man, the buckets modestly move for- ward; they are the connecting links between mountain and valley; real private soldiers of the miring industry, always alert, always per- forming their duty, always obeying their commands and rendering invaluable service in adding to the wealth of the nation." Ladies and gentleman, I thank you for your courteous attention. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We will now listen to a fifteen min- utes address by A. H. Elftman, Ph. P., of Colorado, on "The Gold Ores of San Juan County." THE GOLDEN SAN JUAN. By A. H. Elftman, Ph. D. Upon the arrival of our delegation from Colorado we were in- formed that we had landed in the richest one hundred square miles on earth. This area we are told is one hundred miles square and in addition the Black Hills include a large slice of the state of Wyoming. Coming from Colorado, where all that glitters is not gold, we were somewhat skeptical in believing such statements, and decided to make good use of the generous offer of the mine managers of this section and inspect the mineral resources so far as the time would allow. After examining a large number of prospects in the southern Black Hills in Custer and Pennington counties and seeing the de- posits of the northern Hills on the surface and in the deep workings of the Clover Leaf, Galena District, Golden Crest, Columbus. Hidden Fortune, Homestake, Bald Mountain, Spearfish and others and then looking at the large probable mineral areas, scarcely prospected, AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 153 we cannot be other than strongly impressed with the fact that the Black Hills people do not seem to realize the enormous possibilities of the future for their section. Year by year additional gold fac- tories will be erected and the Black Hills section is bound to become cne of the most important manufacturing centers of the world. Its product will never be a drug on the market and its value will continue at $20.67 an ounce for several generations at least. In Colorado, gold is mined and not manufactured. The state is so far developed tbat the arithmetic taught in our schools neglects imagination and multiplication but emphasizes dividends and extrac- tion. When we hear of one hundred square miles, instead of squaring it we prefer to extract the square root and then compare the size with a district which in an area of fifteen square miles in less than one half the time has produced more gold than the Black Hills and which is now annually producing nearly double the annual output of the Black Hills. I do not know whether this area is on earth but it is sometimes called Cripple Creek. Let us take our genial host, the Black Hills mining man, to the top of Pike's Peak. Looking to the north and west we see three other massive peaks rising over 14,000 feet above the sea. Mt. Prince- ton, Mount of the Holy Cross, and Long's Peak. These form the "bear- ing trees" for the corner stakes of Colorado's mining claim, "one hundred miles square No. 1." On this claim several discovery cuts Eave been dug: among them we see Cripple Creek, Clear Creek, Gil- pin, Boulder, Leadvil?e, Aspen and others, which during 1902 pro- duced $22,000,000 in gold and $13,000,000 in silver, lead, copper, zinc and other mineral products. During the last thirty years this claim has produced about $600,000,000 in mineral values, or six times as much as the Black HHls. What Colorado's claim No. 1 will do when developed is beyond fhe imagination even of the mining promoter. Turning to the south and west as the rays of the morning sun climb the Sangre de Oristos and dance from the silver lined clouds to summits of Uncompahgre, Sneffles, Wilson anc 1 the Needles, we have before us in rega! splendor Colorado's claim "one hundred miles square No. 2," the Golden San Juan, home of the tunnel, the aerial tramway and the concentrator. Taking red mountain as a center, a circle with a ten mile radius will include most of the producing mines of Ouray, San Miguel and San Juan counties. Prominent among the mines are the Camp Bird, Virginus, Revenue, Smuggler-Union, Tomboy, Ears'ow, Yankee Girl, Guston, Silver Ledge, Hennrietta, Gold King, Sunny Side, Esmeraldo, Silver Lake, Highland Mary, North Star and others. Between these are numerous prospects, the development of which was begun during the last three years and many of which are now nearing completion of the dead work and will soon enter the list of producers. This prospect work has been especially active in San Juan county. The San Juan district, embracing the southwest portion of the state, produced in 1902. 22 per cent of the output of Colorado This area produced $5,490,000 in gold and about the same value in other metals. During thirty years this area has produced $200,000.000. One half of all the copper produced in Colorado came frolm this district. Its gold vr.lue was three times the value of its silver. It paid 26 per cent of its production as dividends. The ores of the San Juan country occur principally in fissure veins which traverse the country in well defined systems traceable often for distances of five miles or more. The veins are well mineral- ized and at frequent intervals form large ore shoots. The veins vary in width from one foot to two hundred feet. Ore bodies twenty-five to fifty feet wide are of common occurrance. The ore shoots are fre- quently 1,000 to 1,500 feet long. Generally speaking the ores of the San Juan country are milling ores. The ores which are or have been worked vary in value from a probable minimum of $6 to several thousand dollars per ton. A few illustrations will not prove out of place. The ore from the Camp Bird 154 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS is all milled and runs from $40 to $200 per ton. The Tom Boy ore runs from $7 to $20 per ton. The Gold King ore averaged over $25.00 per ton in 1902 and this will be materially increased during the present year. The Sunny Side ore last j'ear averaged $35 per ton. Silver Lake ore varies from $8 to $70 per ton. The cost of mining and milling the ore varies from $4 to $7 per ton. The mining is principally carried on by tapping the ore bodies at depths of 1,000 feet or more by tunnels. The ore is then trans- ported to the concentrators by aerial tramways. In milling, the ore is crushed by drop stamps or rolls, then passed over copper plates to the concentrators. About one-third of the values are saved by amalgamation, the balances being saved as con- centrates which are shipped to the smelters. The tailings run from $2 to $5 per ton. The cyanide process is being applied to these tailings with satisfactory results. I have only attempted to call your attention to the existence of the San Juan country. In many ways the size of the ore bodies and the original mineralization are the same as those found in the Black Hills. While the San Juan country has always been looked upon as a silver camp it is, however, a unique fact that the deeper the mines go, the proportion of the gold value increasing and free gold becomes more abundant. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We will now listen to an address by Mr. C. O. Bartlett, of Cleveland, Ohio, on the subject "Mechanical Drying of Minerals." While the mountains of cur country are rich in deposits of gold, silver and other precious minerals, while zinc ^nd lead are found in many of our rich prairie sections, as well as in the mountains, and coal and oil in nearly every section, all of which have been and are now being searched lor in every nook and crook, by an army of the ablest men on the face of God's green earth, yet these very places in many instances, rich in deposits of the finest kinds of clays, suit- able for the very best quality of fire brick and sewer pipe, crockery ware, paints, and Portland cement. Beds of the finest quality of fuller's earth, marl chalk, travertin, graphite, and mica; and miles of peat in nearly every state from Maine to California, waiting to be made into the very finest kind of fuel for almost any purpose, yet very little attention has been given these so called common stuffs by these energetic and capable engineers. All of these minerals are rapidly coming into general use, and will very soon command the best brains of our country, in fact the time is right here now. Ten years ago the manufacture of Portland cement in this country was almost unknown, and we were paying exhorbitant prices for Eng- lish and German brands. Then our engineers began to investigate, to dig and bore, and almost immediately found the finest quality of clays, marls, limestones and chalk, just suited for making Portland cement. In Ohio, in Indiana, and in the swamps of Michigan, in the Lehigh Valley, Pa., in New York, on the Hudson River, within tide water, in Illinois, and Missouri, within a few miles of Chicago and St. Louis, in Arkansas, Colorado, Montana, California, and in many other places, were found plenty of the finest kind of material for making Portland cement. Capitalists were ready to put dollars into the business, and the result has been that last year more than fifteen millions of barrels of the finest qualitv of Portland cement were manufactured in our country, and of a better quality than could be produced in England or Germany, in fact this might almost be called the Cement Age. Whole buildings are being made of it, at three-fourths the cost of brick, and many railroads are using it in their culverts and bridge work, and foundations are using $1.50 com- mon labor, instead of $4 and $5 expert labor. To work these clays, limestones, etc. into cement it was found necessary to dry them; it would not do to guess at the amount of AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 155 moisture in limestone or in clay, the mixture must be exact, no guess- ing could be allowed. One per cent too much or too little of this or that product would spoil the cement. Clay varies in moisutre from 10 to 25 per cent, limestone from 6 to 12 per cent, hence the actual ne- cessity for some kind of mechanical dryers. As it is with clays for Portland cement, so it is with clays for paints. I know of a certain so called clay near Bedford, W. Va., so rich in iron and aluminum that by simply drying and calcining, in other words, burning out the vegetable matter, leaving iron, aluminum and sileca, and afterwards mixing in oil, it makes the finest kind of paint, and so rich alumi- num is this particular product that a pine board painted with one coat will stand an excessive heat for some time without burning the wood, in fact it seems to be better than the purest kind of graphite. I have seen so called clay paint, in Madison county, Montana, so rich in aluminum and iron that by simply drying, pulverizing and mixing with oil, that it has stood a severe weather test for years, in fact it seemed to be as good as the metallic paint, made from the best Lake Superior iron ore. There are three ways to mechanically dry minerals: 1st. By direct heat; by this is generally meant the use of the Rotary Dryer, or a horizontal cylinder, set in brick-work, with front and grates, similar to a horizontal boiler. The cylinder is set on an incline, and revolves very slowly, from five to eight revolutions a min- ute. The material to be dried is fed into the cylinder at the front end and at each revolution of the cylinder is carried forward toward the discharge end of the dryer, being continually picked up by the inter elevators, and cascaded while passing through the cylinder. 2nd. By heated air, which has first been heated, either by direct heat or by steam pipes, and afterwards passed through, the material to be dried. 3rd. By steam hf.at direct; by bringing the material to be dried in direct contact with the steam cylinder pipes. The first method is by far the cheapest, for the reason that by using direct heat a temperature of 2500 to 3000 degrees can be had, while by using heated air the temperature is very much less, and by using direct steam heat, the temperature is only from 230 to 330 de- grees, according to the amount of steam pressure, and this tempera- ture is on the inside of the pipes or cylinder, which means consider- able less temperature on the outside, where the material is. By first superheating the steam the temperature can be made much higher, but the cost of superheating the steam will nearly or quite counter- balance all gain in temperature. Great care should be taken in the construction and erection of all direct heat dryers, otherwise no end of trouble will be had; all iron parts should be so constructed as to allow for contraction and ex- pansion, otherwise they will soon break. All settings and bearings for the dryer should be extremely substantial, on iccount of the liabilitv to get out of place by the settling of the brick-work and by the ex- treme heat. The steel sheets of the cylinder should be of the entire length, and all seams should run to the longitudinal way of the cylinder. There should be no cross seams at all, for they ?re liable to break. In building steam dryers great care must be taken with every joint or rivet, otherwise the contraction and expansion will soon cause the joints and rivets to leak. In drying any and all kinds of minerals they should first be broken or crushed into two inch cubes or less, as it does not pay to dry large pieces of anything so let it be understood that all ma- terial is supposed to have been crushed before entering the dryer. It is difficult to dry anything in a body; it is necessary to have as large heating surface as possible, and to keep the material being 156 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS dried constantly in motion, cascading through ^e heat and dropping on other hot surfaces, so that the heat can easily penetrate through a thin body of material, carrying off the moisture. The cost of drying minerals depends, first, upon the amount of water or moisture contained therein. In other words, concentrates, ores, or silica substances will not carry more than 10 to 12 per cent moisture, while clays and -marls will carry two or thfee times as much, and peat will sometimes have as much as 80 per cent moisture. It is generally safe to estimate on evaporating 10 pounds of water for one pound of coal used, or its equivalent, when drying concentrates, ores, limestones and other similar products, where the products of the fire can pass through the material to be dried: therefore, it will be readily seen that it will not pay to dry any kind of material con- taining 80 per cent moisture, unless it be very valuable. It can be dried, but the cost of doing it will be more than the finished product is worth. To illustrate: We wish to dry peat we start with 100 tons of peat, containing 80 per cent moisture, and reduce to 5 per cent, which .means to evaporate 75 tons of water, leaving 25 tons of dried peat. It will take one pound of coal, or its equivalent for fuel, to evaporate 10 pounds of moisture, which means no less than 15,000 pounds of coal for fuel to dry the 100 tons of peat, and it is difficult in drying peat to evaporate 10 pounds of moisture with one pound of coal, or its equivalent used, for the reason that after it is nearly dry it becomes somewhat combustible and is liable to burn, consequently it requires slow firing, otherwise you will burn it up. I wish to speak particularly about peat, for the reason that there are a lot of learned fellows who honestly believe that it is an easy matter to dry two or three hundred tons of peat a day, that by some peculiar system and manner it can be dried very cheaply, and I wish to say to all such that they had better go slow, for it is much easier to say than to do. You might far better store the peat in large sheds, or even out of doors, where it will drain and dry by the winds and sun down to 40 per cent moisture, after which it can be profitably dried on mechanical dryers. It is quite a different matter to dry 100 tons pf concentrates, ores, or silica substances, lor here we have only from 8 to 12 per cent moisture, which we wish to reduce to 2 per cent or which means about six or seven tons of moisture, requiring about 1500 pound? of coal, or its equivalent, to dry it, which is really a very small factor, find as the freight rates are frequently very high, especially in the mountain regions, it v ill pay to dry out the moisture before shipping. In other words, it does not pay to ship water in ores and concentrates if the cost of drying them is less than the cost of freight. The second important matter as to the cost of drying minerals is whether the minerals to be dried will admit of passing the products of the fire through the minerals or not without injury. In other words, it will be readiJy seen that better results can be obtained from the same amount of fuel by first passing the heat around the out- side of the drying cylinders, then through the material. By this means, the temperature of the gases passing off, the dryer can be brought down to 125 degrees Fahrenheit, which of course means that nearly the entire heat of the coal, or its equivalent it utilized, but if used on the outside of the drying cylinder only, not quite so gocd results can be obtained. Most minerals, such as concentrates, ores, and clays, are not injured, by passing the products of combustion through them. Some fine clays and even some kinds of sand, used for glassware, will not admit of it, on account of the danger of coloration by the fire products. In all such cases it is necessary to use oil or gas for fuel, or to keep the products of combustion on the outside only. The third important feature is, whether the material to be dried is of silica or clay nature. If it is of a silica nature, the moisture is easily given off, if of a clay nature, it will be more difficult to evapor- AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 157 ate the moisture, besides the sticky material is liable to adhere to the parts of the dryer, causing trouble, and consequently is more expensive to dry. It is seldom, however, that anything will stick to a heated surface. The next, or fourth feature as to the cost of drying, is whether the material is of an explosive nature, or whether there is danger of burning, such as coal, peat and similar materials. If so, the heat must be of a low degree. There is no danger of burning anything, when it contains a considerable amount of moisture, and finishing on another dryer with light firing. The fifth feature, regarding cost of drying, is whether it be neces- sary to dry down to a very low degree of moisture, in other words ft is much harder and more expensive, to dry down to one-half per cent, than to two per cent. Generally speaking, however, it is not necessary to go below from two to five per cent, on most materials. DRYING COAL. Coal is one of the most peculiar and interesting of all the mater- ials that we have to dry. With some materials, it is simply to drfve off the moisture, in others, to drive off the moisture and not injure the color, while with coal, the object is to drive off the moisture, and preserve the gases, also the fine particles, which are the most val- uable parts of the coal. The use of the Rotary Kilns, for roasting ores and far burning Portland cement, has of late years increased very rapidly, and the use cf powdered coal in annealing furnaces, and also the use of coal, in a pulverized state, under boilers has caused a rapidly increased demand for pulverized coal. From observations taken during the last year, I fully believe that in all large and medium sized plants, the power will be supplied with coal dust, burned similar to gas. I feel sure that this is the only way to get perfect combustion, and that a very large saving can be made by using coal dust. This branch of the subject, however, it distinct by itself and cannot be treated in this paper. Coal, to be satisfactorily and economically pulverized, should first be thoroughly dry. To get the best results from grinding machinery, there should not be more than one per cent moisture in the coal. The grinding capacity of mills is nearly double on coal of one per cent, moisture to what it is with .moisture of two per cent. There can be no set rule to be followed in drying coal, as it is rarely that we find two lots of coal which will dry alike. Some coal will give up its moisture easily and freely, and other grades will apparently grow wetter as they grow hotter. Within the past six months we have been called upon to dry in one dryer, coal from which we could remove eight per cent, moisture at the rate of 15 tons per hour, and other coal from which it was impossible to remove mare than six per cent, at the rate of 8 tons per hour. We have seen coal which has lain under cover for two months, develop from six per cent, to eight per cent, moisture on being heated, and put into the storage bins, and have seen water run in a stream from the hopper. From the best determinations we have been able to make, it seems that coal in which the ash is composed largely of silica, will give up its moisture easily and thoroughly, while that in which the asfc is high in lime or clay, is very difficult to dry, and the moisture really has to be sweated out. It is very important that coal be handled in such a way, that warm air in large quantities, can be brought in contact with every particle of it, and can be made to absorb the moisture, and carry it off as fast as it is released. This is best accomplished by passing the currents of air from the dried material, through that which is wet. Further- more, the currents of air should be subject to regulation, in order that the heat will not become so intense as to release any of the volatile matter. 158 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS There is no question, but what there is always a certain amount of risk in handling coal, both in drying and pulverizing, but this can be reduced to a minimum by using the proper precautions. The first and greatest precaution, is not to get the idea that "Any Old Thing" is good enough to dry coal. One notable experiment of this kind, in the east, during the last year, cost the lives of seven men, besides a large loss of property. Another point: Do not use a dryer in which particles can get caught, for they are liable to ignite, if held in con- tact with a heated surface for any length of time. Do not use a dryer, whose rated capacity is just enough to supply your needs. Better with this, as with all other machinery, to have it large enough to be able to do a little more, than to be obliged to force things on regular work. Still another point: It is never safe to pass the products of com- bustion through the drying coal. With some coal it might be done, and in fact has been done with coal of 54 degrees volatility. It is best, however, to stay on the safe side, and not sacrifice safety for efficiency. It is generally safe to estimate on evaporating from six to eight pounds of moisture to one pound of coal, or its equivalent used for fuel. I have heard of evaporating as high as 12 pounds of moisture with one pound of coal, but I have the best of reasons to doubt it. It is difficult to tell at just what temperature, coal will begin to give off gas, and indeed_this point varies with different coal, but it is generally safe to say th~at it can be delivered from the dryer at about 150 degrees Fahrenheit without losa of gas. We have been asked to discharge at 225 degrees and have found that this can be done but not without loss of a small percentage of gas, and this cannot be recom- mended as good practice. It is necessary to use a Ian-blast to get sufficient air, to carry off the moisture, and this will carry the dust produced by crushing with it. This dust amounts to from 3 to 5 per cent of the total amount, and is worth saving. This is accomplished by placing the fan-blast above the receiving hopper, using suction on the cylinder and forcing the dust and moisture into a settling chamber, made of non-conduct- ing material, preferably brick. The wall of this chamber will retain sufficient heat to prevent the .moisture from condensing, and should be large enough to allow thQ dust to settle. The bottom of the set- tling chamber should slant at least 45 degrees to the center, which will cause the dust to slide to the middle, where it can be carried off, either by screw or chain conveyor. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I will state at this moment that Mr. Holmes, who was to address you this evening, said that he would not occupy more than ten or fifteen minutes and suggested he would do that in the morning. I told him I thought that would be agreeable to the Congress and there being; no other papers to be read, there will be no need of further business tonight. MR. MARTIN, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: Would it not be better to have Mr. Dignowity's paper or whatever it is at some time tomor- row, in the hope that we might have more suitable weather and a chance for a better gathering? PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Would it please you, Mr. Dignowity, to do it that way? MR. D1GNDWITY: It will make no difference to me. MR. MARTIN, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: The Committee on Res- olutions has further reports it can make at this time or some other time at the pleasure of the Congress. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We will listen to the report. AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 159 MR. MARTIN, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: The resolution introduced by MT. Drake, of Oregon, upon the subject of the acquisition of the Oregon territory and the exposition in Portland in 1905 has been adopted by the committee and recommended to the Congress with the exception of the reference in that resolution to the holding of the American Mining Congress in Portland or in the vicinity in 1905, that we have eliminated, deeming it best to leave the whole subject to this Congress to be determined at the proper time. It was moved by Mr. Drake, of Oregon, and seconded by Colonel George, of South Dakota, that the resolution, as amended, be adopted which motion was carried. MR. MARTIN, OF SOUTH DAKOTA: The resolution of Mr. Bennett, which was read a short time ago, upon the subject of the exploitation of valueless mining stocks, has been under consideration by the committee, and the committee recommends a substitute for the resolution offered. It is as follows: MR. BENNETT: The substitute is perfectly satisfactory to me and I move its adoption. The adoption was duly seconded and the substitute resolution was adopted. MR. DONALDSON, OF COLORADO: I move you that by rising vote we extend our thanks to those who have given us papers this afternoon. The motion was seconded and unanimously carried by rising vote. PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Senator Morgan, of Alabama, in an- swer to the invitation of the Secretary, wrote a letter which perhaps you would like to hear, in answer to the invitation and the Secretary will read that portion of it which pertains to the Congress, with your permission for a moment. The letter is as follows: Warm Springs, Virginia, August 15, 1903. Mr. Irwin Mahon, Secretary of the American Mining Congress; Dear Sir: The invitation, extended through you as Secretary, to attend the sixth annual meeting of the American Mining Congress, on the 7th of September, is very highly appreciated and would be glad- ly accepted if I could be present. Other public duties will, however, deprive me of the opportunity to witness the proceedings of an assemblage, that is second to none of the movements of our people, in their efforts to promote and secure the general welfare. I deeply regret that I must forego so excellent an opportunity to gain the knowledge that will be placed in reach of, even, a casual ob- server on that occasion, relating to mines, metals and metallurgy which, today, are far more important to our country than they have ever been. The subjects that are included in the field of research and the other work of the American Mining Congress, are at the foundation of every important industry, and are at the beginning of all real progress in civilization. The minerals and metals are the actual, elementary predicate of all useful labors in all the economic arts and they are the indispen- sable agents, instruments and facilities of all practical science. No effort, that is sincere and thoughtful, in the study and manip- ulation of minerals and metals, can ever fail to benefit mankind; because each failure to realize their best uses and the best method of treatment, is a guide that points the inquirer to a more certain course of investigation, until the best results are finally reached. Failure, in one direction, is only proof that success lies in a different direction. It is the purpose of such scientific inquiry to develop the laws that will save the prospector, the miner and the metallurgist, the 160 OFFICIAL. PROCEEDINGS heavy cost and the disappointments of wasted time, labor and capital, which are so frequently met; and the wastage of minerals that, once they are lost, are seldom recovered. For, the store of minerals in land and water, when it is lessened, from any cause, is not capable of being replaced by all the art and wisdom of men. In this vast field, in which the American Mining Congress has assumed a work that is so important, its interests and its present duty are more conspicuous, than it was ever before, in making min- ing pursuits of permanent value to all who are engaged in such indus- tries and to all who are employed in all other industrial enterprises. This Congress, in our free and very great country, has the power to perform this duty, effectually, through the guidance it can give fo scientific research, to practical demonstration, and to the government- al action of those who, as representatives of the people, are charged with the duties of legislation in the Congress of the United States', with reference to gold and silver in their capacity, as money. As I view this subject, in connection with the industrial, financial and social conditions in American and, more particularly, in the United States, the American Mining Congress is now in the position to secure permanent and supreme advantages and blessings to all classes of industrial people, in all the vast diversity of their pursuits. The power to which I refer, is that imperial and autocratic sway, and social conditions in America, and, more particularly, in the future by gold and silver in controlling men and nations. They are the magnets that guide the voyages of all the ships of state, and will, forever mark their courses. The "drill" and the "pick" of the miner resurrect his power from the deep and hidden recesses where it has been buried by the hand of the Creator, for the use of man, and set apart by Divine Wisdom as an essential factor in his dominion over all other creatures. These carefully stored reserves of power are the true, vital fac- tors in all the social, governmental, moral and industrial progress, that is included in true civilization; whose march would come to a dead halt, in the absence of the compelling power of gold and silver money. There are no potentates so powerful in their sovereignty, as money coined from these metals and none who caif wear this dual crown of supremacy, by "divine right," or by any other means than the drill and the pick of the miner. No civilized state can exist; no army or navy can be formed or moved; no civil or penal code can be enforced; no interchange of commerce, among men, or nations, can be conducted; no trade con- tract can be legally enforced; no schools, or churches can be sup- ported without the use of one or both of these metals. The miners toil is, therefore, the supremest form of labor. These two metals, that are almost barren of practical usefulness, for the supply of our physical wants, are placed above all other things in estimated value, by the universal consent of men and nations. It was so in the beginning. It has 'continued through all time, and it will so continue to the end. The unwritten law that governs all the world, has made them the supreme ruling powers in the affairs of actual^ life, and in all gov- ernment, with a sovereign power that no autocrat can deny or success- fully resist. Whether these unchanging conditions are fixed and proclaimed in the revealed will of God, or whether they are the contrivances of men it is, perhaps, needless to enquire; but it is certain that they cannot be changed by the power of man, so as to destroy the precious quality of gold and silver as money metals. It is their quality, as money metals, that is indestructible and precious. They possess no other quality that is even important to mankind. AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 161 No nation has openly attempted to destroy this precious quality, of either of these metals, and none will ever do so, effectually. They will outlive all opposition and 'defy destruction, while they scorn the neglect of nations. With these facts, established in the judgment and with the con- sent of all civilized mankind, in all ages, it seems to be a heresy against the order of nature, to attempt to deprive either gold or silver, of its precious quality as a money metal. It is equally disparaging to the law of equal personal rights ancl privileges, accorded to all men, the right to exist, and the right to the pursuit of happiness, that we should so legislate, and so discrimi- nate, as to make silver the cheaper money of labor, and gold the money of those who live on the labor of others, instead of living by the labor of their own hands. This is done, when the coinage laws and the legal-tender laws dis- criminate against silver, as a money metal, or as a legal-tender for debts. Our laws make these discriminations, by refusing equal privi- leges to silver, in the coinage of money, and by limiting the legaT- tender power of silver coins. Whatever privileges of coinage are given to one metal, should be given to the other; and the rule should be the same and not different as to the legal-tender power of gold and silver coins. It is the constitutional right of Congress to provide for the coinage of money, and to regulate its value, as between these metals, but it is not within the constitutional authority to destroy the value of either, by its legislation. Congress can fix the relative value of the coins of either metal, according to weight and fineness, but when the coins are struck, Congress cannot change the value of a gold dollar, or a silver dollar, by discriminating between them, as to their purchasing power, or debt paying power, or by legal-tender laws that lessen either coin below the value stamped on its face. We make these discriminations against silver, both in our coin- age regulations and in our legal-tender laws and we, thereby, discrim- inate against silver and destroy its precious quality as a money metal. We do, by indirection, what no nation dares to do by open and repressive legislation, at the peril of the safety of its government. A law to punish the use of silver money in trade, as a crime, would wreck the most powerful nation in the world, because it would starve the poorer classes; and a law that gives to gold a purchasing and debt-paying power, that it refuses to silver, would destroy any government, but for the fact that in order to prevent the resentment of the people, in all countries where such discrimination exists, the full legal-tender power of silver coin is conceded to them as to the smaller transactions that are necessary to supply the poor with bread, raiment and shelter. Their daily necessities do not mount up to the forbidden line, above which, gold is a legal-tender, and silver is not. Having no hope of rising into the upper atmosphere where the holders of accumulated wealth enjoy dominion, they prefer humility and peace. The people are thus classified by law, according to wealth. They do not rebel because they despair of becoming rich, and are content to live on a moderate share of food, raiment and shelter, which they have no real power to increase. These conditions are inimical to silver, as a money metal, and they violate the natural and economical laws, that have always assist- ed, most effectively, in the civilization of the world. For the justification of such a policy, we must impeach the Divine Wisdom that created two precious money metals for the use of man- kind, when one of them would have answered all the uses of botfi, according to our feeble conceptions of omniscience. With equal presumption, we could, as well impeach the wisdom of creating many cereals to provide bread for mankind such as wheat, 162 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS corn and rice when either of them could have been made to supply necessary food for man and beast. A short supply of either precious metal, at once increases the value of the other, to meet the deficiency; and a full supply of both, is never excessive, but only adds to the volume of the world's trade, the discovery and production of new and desirable articles of com- merce, which absorb the apparent -redundance of money and add to the comfort and elevation of mankind, by providing additional methods of replenishing the earth, so as to multiply its population. The miner's "pick" and "drill," which are the real producers of gold and silver, in the hands of the laborer, are too slow and toilsome to be resorted to for the purpose of inflating the supply of gold and silver coin and they cannot cause such inflation, even in countries that are as thinly populated as the Transvaal or Australia or Alaska, where the production of gold is so disproportionate to the local demand. The danger of the inflation of gold and silver is an argument that has no support in the experience of mankind. There is as much danger of piling up the waters of the oceans, in permanent mountain ridges, as there is of making gold and silver accumulate in any country where they are not needed to supply the wants of trade and civilization. The highest wisdom of men and of nations is to leave the laws of nature undisturbed, and to make the best use of things that are provided by the Creator to promote and secure man's dominion of tire earth; and the worst folly, is to destroy or cast aside what has been given us for any useful purpose. In the American sense, this sort of folly is not only suicidal, but it is craven, when it disparages silver as a money metal, because, while the Eastern Hemisphere has, possibly, the lead of the Western Hemisphere, in gold producing areas; the Western Hemisphere is, in fact, almost the exclusive depository of silver ores. The rights of silver as a money metal are, therefore, the especial care and charge of the American Mining Congress, within the purview of their noble task. If legislative favoritism should be shown to any class, fn respect of gold or silver, the miner should have the preference; because he produces the precious metals that drive the machinery and strengthen the arms of all industry. When the miner puts a dollar in circulation its work never ceases, and the good it accomplishes is limited to no class or condition of people; while the covetous hoarder of wealth, who demands the assistance of unjust laws .to satisfy his greed, produces nothing but discord and oppression, through the unnatural war between gold and silver, which he provokes. He cares not whether gold or silver wins, so that he has a share in looting the camp of the defeated combatant. Such unjust contentions necessarily establish lines of clearage between the richer and the poorer classes, or between the wise and the ignorant, in "business methods," (as is sometimes contended) that divide the people into warring classes, such as are now demarking the line of a social gulf, that is as deep and as wide as the gulf whicTK separated Dives from Lazarus. These laws should be changed and the peace and friendship between gold and silver should be restored to the condition that existed during the first half century of our national life. As our system of finance is now regulated by law. if a laborer does a days work, to be paid in coin; when his wage is due, he must accept it in silver coin, because the coinage of gold dollars is abolished. If he thus accumulates fifty dollars, to pay a debt, or to support a family beyond the seas, he must change the money into gold coin, or he must purchase exchange. In either case he is at the mercy of the bankers or brokers who deal in money as a commodity of commerce. AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 163 The losses and disadvantages that are imposed upon the poorer classes, by our laws that discriminate against silver as to coinage and as to legal-tender power, appear in almost every transaction tfi which they engage. They are too numerous for recital, and far too obvious for denial We cannot change, by our laws, the money systems of foreign countries and, while we could do much in that direction, to give strength to silver the American metal we have no higher duty than to take care of our people, in their home work, by securing to them all the benefits of the silver and gold that are so richly stored in OUT mines. To do this, we must change the basis of our present system oT finance and national banking, so that our capital shall consist of gold and silver, actually accumulated; instead of resting it solely upon our national credit, based on the power of taxation, with pledges of na- tional faith to provide the gold, or the gold and silver, to redeem our obligations, on demand, or when they shall fall due. We must change our currency system from a credit basis to a specie basis of national banking, if we would make it just to all classes and independent of the power of monopolistic combines. Our system of banking is constitutional, and it is convenient and secure, in that it provides for a reliable currency, but its foundation is not money, or bullion, but credit, wherein it is greatly defective This credit depends upon our power to redeem our promises in coin, to be hereafter borrowed, or collected under laws of taxation. This system is false and unjust to the living, and is still more unjust to our posterity. It is not our own credit that we pledge to meet these engagements so much as it is the credit of our posterity. If the system Is to be per- petual, we fasten upon our posterity a burden from whlcn they can- not escape. This burden is simply the perpetual and exclusive right to measure out to all coming generations the volume of paper money they shall be permitted to use in their business and, unavoidably, the power to inflate or contract that currency as the bankers may choose. This power to create first money is thus assumed by con- gress, in violation of the constitution. Our national banking system was instituted to build up the na- tional credit, by the employment of the credit of private persons at a time when our national obligations were nearly 50 per cent below par, in consequence of civil war. The national credit, we have thus seen, is liable to very heavy depression under political troubles. It is not safe to assume that financial depression can never again occur. If sucn depression should occur, they will bankrupt the people, by dragging down the whole volume of national bank circulation to the extent that the national credit is depressed. We want a currency that will withstand all such emergencies, and such currency can only be had by founding it upon a specie basis and keeping that basis secure. All our actual currency, which is handled by our people in their daily business, is in paper promises, except silver coins, and an in- considerable quantity of gold coins, and it will never be otherwise. Bank issues and checks against deposits in the banks comprise nearly the entire volume of our money in circulation. There is no prospect of an entire change of our actual currency from paper money to coins, because there is no good reason for the suppression of such paper issues. The inconvenience of using gold coins in our daily trade can only be avoided by the use of paper money, or silver coins, and paper money has become a necessity in our country. Paper issues, to circulate as money, must, therefore, be provided as an essential part of our financial system and the basis of such issues should be gold and silver, instead of national bonds or de- bentures, which ultimately require coins of the precious metals for their redemption. 164 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS It is not only safer to deposit coins as the basis of banking, in advance of the paper issues they must redeem, but there is no na- tional power that is so permanent, and no national attitude that is more commanding, than that of possessing an abundant store of gold and silver coins, in banks, that are under the control of the gov- ernment. A government is not deserving of confidence if its failure, by revolution, or conquest, must be attended with the bankruptcy of its people. Our national banking system on a permanent specie basis, would be a stronger system than that of Great Britain, in connection with the Bank of England, because our deposit of coin would be held in the treasury, or subject to the control of the government, for the re- demption of the issues of the national bank, and our pledge of re- demption would make every legal tender coin, of either metal, equal to the best, whether the test is gold or silver. As the situation is at present we exclude silver from all par- ticipation in the redemption of our national promises, except those made in silver certificates, and, thereby we demonetize silver. We refuse to accept its support of the public credit, while we compel our own people to accept it as legal tender for small de- mands and tax them to borrow gold for the payment of our large debts, for bonds and currency, in favor of wealthy creditors here and in foreign countries. We borrow gold and lock it in the treasury, paying interest on it in order to prepare to meet demands for the redemption of treasury notes and national bank notes, wherever they may, hereafter, be pre- sented for payment. We create an insurance fund for the benefit of creditors, on which we pay interest. We also lock up the gold we get from our revenue laws, for these purposes; thus depleting the currency that ought to be in circulation; while waiting the pleasure of our bond holders to demand payment so as to release it from confinement. We put a golden break on th13 endless chain that empties the treasury into the lap of Europe, and re- fuse all assistance from silver, because it is only the poorer people of Europe who want silver. We produce the silver in America that the world needs for coinage, and refuse to use it as money, because it is for the advantage of Eurepean capitalists that money should be scarce, that bonds should be abundant, even at low rates of interest, and should be payable in gold because such payment is impossible, and their investment in the tax paying power of the people will, thereby, become permanent. We conform our financial system to that of Europe because our capitalists prefer it, for like reasons. While doing this, we take silver dollars on deposit, from our own people, issue silver certificates to them to circulate as money, to supply nearly all their needs and we pay nearly all the expenses of the government in these certificates. That they have so frequently saved the government from default in its current expenses, is a conclusive reason for the use of silver coins, in the vaults of the national banks, or in the treasury vaults, to fortify the basis of redemption of bank issues, which it would do, as perfectly, as if it were gold. All of our paper obligations, in all their varied forms, except silver certificates, are now sustained by the pledge of the United States to pay them in gold coin. Yet silver coin, with an emascu- lated legal tender power, as compared with gold, has a much wider circulation, dollar for dollar, among our people, and is sustained in its purchasing power, among all our industrial classes, by the im- perative demand of all forms of domestic trade for silver coins, to meet the requirements of their business, and to purchase the ne- cessities of life. They get silver coins and use them, despite the effort of the holders of gold to destroy their value. If they could not get the silver coin of the United States, they would use the Mex- ican coins, as is done by the Chinese and Filipinos. AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 165 No man in this country is so rich that he can dispense with the use of silver coin in providing his supplies and, to the poor, it is the equivalent of their daily bread, raiment and shelter. But our laws discredit both gold and silver, as the basis of all banking, by prohibiting issues of paper money by private and state banks, and by refusing charters to national banks on any basis except that of national bonds. This is a revolution and new departure in finance, that no other great nation has ventured upon. No other great nation has seemed willing to inflict almost universal bankruptcy on its people, if the exigencies to which they are exposed should cause their credit to sink below par. This has been attempted by some of our states, with the result of a discredited currency, followed by bankruptcy and repudiation, with enormous losses to the people and, in the end, by "asset" bank- ing, on private credits and worthless promises, culminating in the financial degeneracy of issuing certificates of indebtedness by private persons, known as "shin plasters," to circulate as money. It is only the present growth, prosperity, prestige and power of the United States that gives to its credit the strength to prevent a similar lapse in the value of our national bank issues. If we were financially as weak as Colombia, or as the confederate states became towards the close of the civil war, our bank issues would drop to a low standard of value as our credit had dropped, at the same period. No nation has a sufficient assurance of continued power to give a moral justification to laws that substitute its credit for the precious metals, as the basis of industry, trade and commerce. We adopted this false system of national finance, to meet the necessities of a ter- rible civil war, and we continued it, to meet the demands of a coali- tion between the brigands of finance in our country with those of p]urope. They have used the national debts of European states, enor- mously swollen by the results of great wars that were fought to destroy the old feudal system of land tenures and villieriage, and they have transferred its powers and its arrogant supremacy to the holders of consols and rents, and have turned over the authority of its overseers to opepors and collectors of taxes, to gather the sub- stance of the toiling, industrial classes, who are doomed to subordin- ation and poverty. The same interests, moved by the same purpose of subordinating industry to the demands of hoarded wealth and employing the tax laws as the instruments to enforce their requisitions, have planned to keep our laboring classes in perpetual subordination, by increasing the national debt of the United States, and by making their burdens perpetual. Gold and silver alike stand up to resist this power to oppress. that is given to credit, in the form of bonds, which is also converted into current money; and the friends of sound money protest, and will forever decry this unnatural perversion of the chiefest temporal blessing that God has given to man. If we would prosper we must restore to the precious metals their supremacy as money. The joint resistance of the precious metals, to the usurpation of those who are powerful enough to own the public debt, is rendered futile by the plan of the monopolists (which is so far successful) to divide gold and silver into competitive antagonists, and to place it beyond the power of a single metal ever to pay the public debt. The plan to increase and perpetuate the public debt, payable in gold, is backed by organized capital, including the national banks throughout the country. Gold, representing the power of the organized few, against silver, representing the power of the unorganized masses, is easily em- ployed and controlled in the work of destroying the equal power of silver as a money metal, and silver is thereby made useless in the 166 OFFICIAL, PROCEEDINGS struggle of the people to pay the national debts, and to escape taxa- tion. This is simply the old burden of feudal servitude, in a new form. Gold, in such conditions, is also made, by our laws, the sole arbiter of the price, or value, of all the leading fruits of Industry, and the laborer earning money with limited purchasing power, is deprived of all hope of becoming independent of his master th3 gilded capitalist. Of course, it is now an established fact that all the gold and silver in the Eastern Hemisphere is not equal to the payment of the debts of those nations, if it was applied to their discharge. This means the salvery of industry to capital, which is to be perpetual. In America the conditions are not so desperate, as yet, because the balances of trade in our favor have enabled us to reduce the sum of our national debt and, until recently, the imperialists, who make gold their scepter-power, have not been bold enough to declare that its sway shall be perpetual. Now the monometalists feel strong enough to propose the increase of the power of our national debt, as the capital of national banking, by permitting such banks to issue more than dollar for dollar, in paper money, upon the face of the bonds held by them. This can only mean the perpetuity of our bonded debt, as a principle of gov- ernment, and its conversion into a substitute for gold and silver money, thereby adding 50 per cent to the burden of our debt, and creat- ing a permanent necessity for the taxation of the people to pay in- terest on it. This tempting fallacy of banking on the "oasis of credit, instead of gold and silver in the bank vaults, drives others of the monopolistic class into "asset banking," which opens the door to the wildest pro- jects that have ever found practical and disastrous illustration in the frauds, bankruptcies and ruin inflicted upon the people by the licentious abuse of their confidence, and the grind of their necessi- ties, in the issue of "wild cat" and "pigeon roost" currency to cir- culate as money. It would require a long and very disgraceful chapter in our history to record these desperate banking operations. The citation of the specific facts of history is not needed to re- mind our people of these sad years of ruin, that involved states and people in the trouble and disgrace of a system of banking that was based on credit, instead of gold and silver. Our system of national banking based exclusively on the na- tional credit, being unsound, dangerous and oppressive to tax payers, the simple and effective remedy is found in the payment of the na- tional debt, and tlie substitution of gold and silver, in place of the debt, as the basis of national banking. The exclusive legislative control of all banks of issue and r