We recently came across a century-old set of volumes,
entitled Treatise on Metal Mining.
These volumes were published in 1899 by the Colliery
Engineer Company and were part of course of instruction at the International Correspondence
School of Scranton, PA.
The volumes cover such subjects as mathematics, mine
surveying, geology, blowpiping, prospecting, mine opening, in addition to
strength of materials, basic physics, and ore dressing and processing.
The volumes coverage in seven books is surprising similar to
the 4 year course of study at the Colorado School of Mines in 1973 that lead to
a degree in geophysical engineering. It was such a course of study that I first
entered college determined to become a mining engineer. With visions of
wielding a rockpick and taking my burro into the foothills, I was taken back
when I was told I needed to master the slide rule in a weekend before classes
start. No burros, no rockpicks, I was supposed to study chemistry, calculus, geology,
and very few electives for the next three years before I ever studied anything
remotely related to the romance of mining.
Had I been given access to these volumes, I might have stuck
with the course of study at Mines and graduated as a mining engineer. Without
such a perspective, I chose to leave Mines and eventually graduated with a
degree in history from California State University,
Fullerton, with
a specialty in oral history and the history of the mining frontier.
Mining engineering is a dying
art. Fewer than a dozen colleges still offer a course in it. Mining Engineers
in the western United States
were usually college or university trained, but many were self-taught.
Mining Companies needed practical experience in the men they
hired to supervise and manage their mining properties. The experience was
usually first gained in the assay office. Whether you were college trained, or
exhibited enough exuberance to be given a chance, you usually started out in
the assay office.
Volume 3 of the Treatise on Metal Mining series covered
assaying and mineralogy as well as prospecting.
In honor of all self-taught mining engineers and in an
effort to bring this specialized knowledge to a wider audience, we offer the
Treatise on Metal Mining as an online course. Whether you wish a better
understanding of the role mining played in the development of the American
West, as a historian, archaeologist, hobbyist or amateur enthusiast of living history, this course can help explain
many a lost art as it pertains to mining.
Successful completion of this online course will entitle the
student to a beautiful certificate of completion, in the form of a lithographed
mining certificate.
Enroll today!
Login as a student
Take a tour of the entire course of instruction
By 1880, there was a
growing desire among thousands of adults for further pursuit studies at the
college level but geography, age, or occupational factors frequently separated them
from college communities (Mackenzie and Christensen, 1971 p. 39). For this
reason, teachers and officers of the boards of education in England began to think about the founding of Correspondence University. Such programs were being
more systematically organized by 1890. In 1891, the correspondence department
of The Colliery Engineer decided to offer some correspondence instruction in
arithmetic, mine ventilation, geology of coal, methods of mining, mining
legislation, and mine surveying and mapping in England (see Mackenzie and
Christensen, 1971). Baylor University in Texas
opened a correspondence program in 1897 at about the same time as the state
normal school at Willimantic,
Connecticut, began a
correspondence operation (MacKenzie, Christensen, and Rigby, 1968, p. 29).
MACKENZIE, Ossian; Edward
L. CHRISTENSEN. (1971). The Changing World of Correspondence Study, The Pennsylvania State University
Press. University Park, London, UK.
Colliery
Engineer Co. v United Correspondence Schools Co. 94 F 152 (CC SDNY 1899)
Before describing the
exhibits of the Pacific slope, whence comes our main supply of the precious
metals, a few remarks may be of interest as to the relative yield of gold and
silver, and the conditions evolved thereby. Of the total output of the United States,
amounting for the century ending with 1892, to nearly $2,000,000,000 in gold
and $1,2000,000,000 in silver, less than one percent was produced between 1792
and 1847. Then came the discovery of Marshall, who was about to throw away as
iron pyrites a handful of what proved to be scales and nuggets of gold, picked
up near the historic saw-mill in Coloma valley. In the single year of 1849 more
gold was taken from the earth than during the half century which preceded it,
production gradually increasing until in 1853 it reached its maximum value of
$65,000,000, gradually diminishing to less than $40,000,000 in 1862.
Meanwhile the Comstock lode
had revealed its treasures, and from an average of less than 40,000 ounces for
many previous years, the total output of silver rose to 6,600,000 ounces in
1863, gaining in volume, though with many fluctuations, until for 1892 it was
estimated at 58,000,000 ounces, for the waning yield of Nevada mines had been
more than compensated by the product of Colorado, Arizona, Montana, Idaho,
Wyoming, and other Pacific slope states. This was attended with a corresponding
shrinkage in value, the price of silver in New York
and London
falling from $1.14 to 87 cents an ounce, or a decline of some 24 percent for
the decade ending with 1892, and with a still further depreciation in the
following year. Between 1849 and 1860 the production of gold in relation to
silver was in the ratio of more than fifty to one in actual weight. Thenceforth
these conditions were gradually changed, until, for the ten years ending with
1892, there were produced about twenty-five ounces of silver to one of gold,
while for the last of these years the proportion was thirty-six to one. Here is
the key-note to the silver question; for the precious metals are merely
commodities, and life all other commodities, are subject to the inexorable laws
of supply and demand. To place a fictitious value on silver is no more
practicable than to place a fictitious value on coal or iron, on wheat or pork,
and all such efforts can only result in making the United States the dumping ground
for the loose silver of the world. Such, at least, are the teachings of
political economy, a science the merest elements of which it would seem that
many of our law-makers have yet to learn.
Though with a vastly
diminished yield as compared with earlier years, California
still occupies the foremost rank as a gold-producing state, her output
averaging from $12,000,000 to $13,000,000, or more than one-third of the
present production of the United
States, while of the total yield, since
1848, more than two-thirds must be accredited to the golden state. Of silver
her annual product is less than $1,000,000, and has never exceeded that amount.
Of quicksilver a considerable amount is produced, the New Almaden mine alone
contributing since 1850 more than 70,000,000 pounds. Iron is widely
distributed; but can be imported at rates that almost prohibit local
development. It was not until 1880 that the first smelting works in California were erected
at Clipper gap in Placer county, with a capacity of 15,000 [480] tons a year.
Coal, though abundant, is for the most part in narrow seams, of inferior
quality, and in localities difficult of access, the only productive veins of
importance being near Mount Diablo, within a few miles of San Francisco bay. Of petroleum 8,000,000
gallons were obtained in 1884, and since that date a much larger quantity. The
largest works are in Ventura
county, whence the crude oil is conveyed in iron pipes to a shipping point on
the coast. Asphaltum, formed by the evaporation of the volatile portion of the
oil, is also plentiful in several of the southern counties.
Of copper there is enough
to supply the demands of the world, but with less than $100,000 worth annually
taken from its native gangue. Borax is largely produced in San Bernardino and Inyo counties, from a
tract 10,000 acres in extent. In Lake county
there are also valuable deposits together with a sulphur bank, on the eastern
shore of Clear lake, where sulphur was first manufactured in 1861. The first
bar of tin, fashioned in the United States
from native ore, came from a California
mine; but, as an industry, tin mining has thus far proved unprofitable. Mineral
soap, for which no better name has yet been adopted, was known to exist as
early as 1849, and mineral paint has become an article of commerce. Building
stone is abundant, a marble quarry in Tuolumne county being worked in 1857,
while, near Auburn,
in Placer county, is granite of excellent quality. Of mineral springs there are
fifty which serve as health resorts, with twice as many more unknown to fame.
Among metals and minerals but little utilized may be mentioned saltpetre,
asbestos, antimony, platinum, chromium, mica, bismuth, zinc, and iridium. Such
are the principal resources of California
as a mining region, here mentioned not with intent to give special prominence
to that state, but because, as elsewhere on the Pacific slope, these resources,
apart from the precious metals, are as yet but little appreciated.
To the Pacific states a
liberal space was allotted in the southeastern section of the hall of Mines and
Mining, flanked on one side by exhibits of mining machinery, and separated by
the central nave from those of foreign lands. In front of the group is the
pavilion of the golden state, in which are displayed to excellent advantage her
many varieties of building materials. The portal is constructed of various
kinds of stone, in the form of a triple arch, thirty-six feet in length, with
wings on either side, with base of dark granite and white marble columns from Colton and Inyo quarries.
The caps of the columns are richly carved, supporting a handsome entablature,
and behind them are pilasters of onyx, beautifully veined. The arches are of
grey sandstone, the panels and pediments of variegated marble, and the wings of
blue green-stone, nearly all the best of California’s building stones, some of
them highly polished, being represented in this pavilion.
The specimens gathered
during a series of years by the state mining bureau form the basis of the
exhibit, and to these were added contributions from private collections,
forming together a valuable assortment of economic minerals, some of them
almost a novelty to the scientific world. In double rows of show-cases are
choice samples of gold and silver ores, containing some $20,000 worth of metal,
and representing all the more prominent mines. Here also is the metal itself in
various forms; but the centre of interest in the California
section was the historical nugget which Marshall
picked up from the Coloma millrace on a January morning in 1848, the finding of
which revolutionized the commercial conditions of the world. This, however, was
a treasure presumably of too great value to be trusted by its owner, even under
the care of the Exposition authorities, and was removed not long after the
opening of the Fair.
Upon the walls and around
them are souvenirs and memorials of pioneer days, including a portrait [481]
of Marshall, photographs of hydraulic mining and mining processes and
districts, among them Sutter’s mill and mine, with the primitive rocker and
pan, the mining methods of those days being a cross between Mexican tradition
and Yankee ingenuity. In models is illustrated the science of mine timbering,
especially as applied on the Comstock lode, in Nevada, in what is known as the
crib system of timbering, invented by a German miner and scientist, Philip
Deidesheimer by name. When a depth of some 200 feet was reached in the Ophir
mine, the ore body was found to be 45 feet in width, thus rendering almost
useless the post and cap system before in use, for such would not uphold the roof
of the chamber. Then it was that this man came to the rescue, framing timbers
in square sets or cribs from four to six in size, piled one upon another, and
filled with waste rock, thus sustaining lateral as well as downward pressure.
The plan was widely adopted; and but for this or some similar appliance, the
deeper workings of the Comstock, which have added nearly $350,000,000 to the
stock of precious metals, would never have reached, as later they did, a depth
of more than 3,000 feet. In statistical and other forms much valuable
information is conveyed, and here not a few among the pilgrims of the Fair will
learn for the first time that of the total yield of gold, amounting since 1848
to $1,900,000,000 for all the United States, California has contributed
$1,310,000,000.
Oregon’s display, though unpretentious,
was somewhat of a surprise to the majority of exposition sightseers. Coal,
iron, and copper were known to exist in abundance; but few were prepared to see
in this collection such specimens of gold and silver ores as are here
exhibited. Among them are samples of gold quartz assaying several hundred
dollars to the ton, one of them from the surface croppings of a recently
discovered mine. Nearly all the mineral products of the state are represented, and
in a model is shown the process of hydraulic mining. In 1891 Oregon produced more than $1,600,000 worth
of gold, and some $300,000 in silver, the former the largest yield recorded up
to that date, the principal mines being in the southwestern districts where the
veins are small but rich. Sine, in 1855, the first cargo of coal was shipped to
San Francisco
from the Coos bay mines, these beds have been worked without intermission, the
maximum yield of 82,000 tons being reached in 1887, while the gradual decrease
to 35,000 tons in 1892 was due only to low prices and labor troubles; for the
deposits are practically inexhaustible. In few sections of the United States are iron ores more widely
distributed or more advantageously located, the Oswego
works furnishing this metal to Oregon and California foundries for
more than a score of years. Copper ores are plentiful and rich, though as yet
but little utilized. [482] Of nickel there
is in Douglas county one of the largest mines in the world, rivalling the
famous deposit in the Sudbury district, in the
Canadian province
of Ontario. Platinum and
iridium are found in connection with placer gold; cinnabar exists in several
districts, and with marble, granite, and other building stones, few of the
Pacific states are better supplied.
In Washington’s tasteful pavilion of terra
cotta are 150 tons of mineral samples, gathered from every mine at which
samples could be obtained. Among them are gold, silver, iron, lead, and copper
ores; with coal, granite, marble, and onyx; sands and clays; bricks, tiles, and
terra cotta; thus representing the principal mining resources and industries of
this young and ambitious commonwealth. Here also, or in the state pavilion, are
reproduced in models or in graphic art several of the more prominent mines,
with the mountains and ravines in which they were discovered, with assays,
statistics, and other information conveyed in attractive form. In the centre is
a monument composed of gold, silver, lead, and copper ores, the shaft entirely
of silver specimens, and around it groups of minerals in various designs. Near
by is an ornate structure of similar materials with a large mass of magnetic
ore. The entire display is a credit to the evergreen state, which, to add to
its attractions, purchases a number of gold nuggets, and even constructed roads
to remote districts where contributions had been promised.
In comparison with other
metals and minerals, Washington’s
yield of gold and silver is inconsiderable, the latter amounting for 1891 to
less than $600,000. During the regime of the Hudson Bay company coal was
discovered in the Cowlitz valley. In 1852
deposits were found on Bellingham
bay, and between 1860 and 1879 produced at the rate of 13,000 tons a year.
Meanwhile more valuable beds had been disclosed, and the total output gradually
increased to its maximum of 1,264,000 tons in 1890, the yield for 1892 being
estimated at 900,000 tons. The entire area of coal lands has been stated at 180,000
acres, most of it within 40 miles of tide water, a single company owning claims
on the Squak river two miles in length, with veins occurring at intervals from
five to twelve feet in thickness, and said to contain 10,000,000 tons of
merchantable coal. Bog iron ore is abundant, and in Iron mountain, near the
Snoqualmie pass, are veins of magnetite from 50 to 150 feet in thickness. On Kettle river are copper ores assaying from 50 to 75
percent, all these and other resources as yet almost untouched.
Turning to the adjacent
state of Idaho, we find that her yield of the precious metals was estimated for
1892 at 90,000 ounces of gold and 3,250,000 of silver, the latter the smallest
output in several years, due to extreme depression in prices, and to labor troubles
in Coeur d’Alene, the principal argentiferous district. From the low-grade
galena ores of this district, occuring in veins of considerable width, and with
no indications of failure as depth is attained, were extracted in 1891 nearly
2,000,000 ounces of silver, and [483] 66,000,000
pounds of lead, Idaho ranking next to Colorado in production of the latter.
Says one who has made a careful study of her mines: "Coeur d’ Alene is
most favorably situated for producing lead, the silver being almost a
by-product. The ore is cheaply worked, and numerous streams afford ample water
power. These mines can be operated at a profit with the price of white metal so
low that others are compelled to shut down."
Apart from the precious
metals, Idaho
has an abundance of coal, iron, copper, sulphur, and salt. From the
Narragansett mine in Owyhee county iron ores
have been taken so rich in metal as to be cast into dies for stamp-mills, and
elsewhere are veins which yield from 50 to 60 percent, while the copper ores of
the Bear lake district assay as high as 75 percent. Near Soda springs is an
immense deposit of sulphur, much of it containing 70 to 80 percent of mineral,
and at the Oneida
salt works a marketable quality of salt is produced by simply boiling the water
of springs in galvanized iron vessels. In northern Idaho there are mica, marble, granite, and
sandstone, and almost throughout the entire country metals and minerals of
economic value are widely distributed.
First among the hundreds of
exhibits contained in Idaho’s classic pavilion, colored in white and gold, may
be mentioned that of the state, including, among others, samples of gold,
silver, and copper ores, cinnabar, building stones and clays, quartz crystals,
sapphires, amethysts, and ruby sands. From nearly all the more prominent mines
contributions were secured, each county being thoroughly canvassed, and with
the result that nearly 2,000 samples were forwarded to Jackson Park in several
car-loads. Not a few of these are contained in the 2,500 cabinet specimens,
selected by an expert, who also states the name of the mine and its owner, the
assay value of the ores, the depth at which they were obtained, and other
information of interest to mining men.
Gold and silver are freely
displayed in the Idaho
section; the former in the shape of nuggets from private cabinets, some of them
found in the placers worked in pioneer days. Of wire silver there are beautiful
specimens, delicate threads of pure silver, resembling filigree work, clinging
tenaciously to bunches of galena ore. Among the exhibits are two rectangular
blocks of what appears to be lead bullion, but is in fact galena ore,
containing 75 percent of lead, 15 of sulphur, and 130 ounces of silver to the
ton. Of palladium ore there are samples from the Esmerelda mine in Lemhi
county, where it is found in bunches yielding two or three ounces to the ton,
in combination with free milling gold. This rare and valuable metal possesses
the hardness of the finest steel, and is used, among other purposes, for
astronomical, surveying, and electrical instruments, the main [485] supply coming
from South American countries.
Of pure aluminum there are
samples extracted from the clay banks of Kootenai county, said to contain more
than forty percent of the metal. Among valuable stones are the onyx and opal,
the latter found in a recently discovered mine on the banks of Snake river, and taken from matrices several inches in
width. From Lewiston
comes a specimen of rock almost unknown to scientists, of variegated tints
somewhat resembling jasper, and one that will cut glass more readily than a
diamond. Iron and copper ores are in liberal supply, and a large case is filled
with samples of lead and copper concentrates; of granite, marble, and alabaster
there are several exhibitors, and of asbestos there is a sample from Owyhee county, where a deposit was found in the autumn of
1892. Finally there is a large collection of mineral waters, in which, as in
other resources, Idaho
is especially rich, awaiting only the means of transportation for their fuller
development.
Except for Alaska, whose
yield of gold already exceeds $2,000,000 a year, and with one of the largest
gold quartz mines in the United States - the Treadwell lode on Douglas island -
with immense deposits of low grade but dividend paying ore, Nevada is the only
section of the Pacific slope that is not represented among the main exhibits of
the Mining department. And yet, not many years ago, Nevada was the largest silver producing
region in the world, the bullion product of the Comstock mines alone amounting
to $350,000,000, and for the single year of 1876, when the maximum was reached,
to more than $70,000,000.
Utah has some 300 exhibits of gold, silver, silver-lead,
copper, zinc, iron, and other ores, with building stones, coal, antimony,
quick-silver, sulphur, salt, asbestos, and other metals and minerals, all
neatly arranged and fairly representing the abundant mineral resources of the
territory. In iron Utah
is especially rich, with surface deposits in Iron county alone estimated at
50,000,000 tons, one of them a solid mass of magnetic ore, 1,000 feet long and
half that width, from which analyses show from 60 to 65 percent of metal.
Of the 163,000 tons of
copper obtained from domestic ores in 1892, more than one-half came from Montana, whose yield for that year was 82,150 tons,
against 53,700 tons for Michigan
mines. Of this enormous output, the largest thus far on record for a single
state, 50,000 tons came from the Anaconda company’s works, whose property
includes, besides the mine of that name, the St. Lawrence and the so-called
Chambers Syndicate mines. Of the precious metals Montana
is also on of the largest producers, her yield of silver exceeded only by that
of Colorado.
Of gold, silver, lead, and copper her total output for the decade ending with
1890 was estimated at $250,000,000, of which more than two-thirds consisted of
gold and silver. In that year was claimed for this state the largest gold mine,
the largest silver mine, and the largest copper mine in the country, and in the
following year the volume and value of mining products were the largest yet
recorded.
Of the several hundreds of
exhibits displayed in the Montana section, more than sixty consist of copper
and silver-copper ores, both metal and mineral being displayed in every phase
of production from sulphides [486] and matte to
sheet, tube, wire, and other manufactured forms. Of silver, gold, and
silver-lead ores thousands of specimens are exhibited by more than 400
contributors. There is also the largest collection of nuggets contained in the
Mining hall, one of them weighing nearly 48 ounces, and with 96 percent of pure
gold. Near it is a display of gold crystals, sapphires, and garnets from El Dorado bar on the Missouri,
and within a few mile of Helena,
and in another case are trays of gold-dust from the placers, each one holding
about $1,800 worth of metal. Of coal there are many samples, and the building
and other stones and minerals of economic value include granite, marble,
porphyry, limestone, clays, gypsum, sulphur, graphite, and asbestos.
The state has a large and
valuable collection, among which are silver, silver-lead and iron ores, and
surface copper; marble and other building stones; yellow and red ochre,
manganese, malachite, chrysolite, tourmaline, dendrites, stalactites, rhyolite,
rose and agatized quartz, garnets, jasper, and chalcedony. In a tin brick
weighing some thirteen pounds, made by the students of the college of Montana,
is represented the yield of that metal for 1892. Another curiosity is an old
wooden cam which did service in 1864 at a four-stamp mill on Grasshopper creek,
in the Bannack district, where two years before were discovered its placers and
quartz ledges.
But the centre of
attraction is Montana’s beautiful pavilion, at
the entrance of which stands a case of specimens from the Elkhorn district, is the statue of Justice,
fashioned of native silver, and with orthodox scales and sword. In this statue,
placed under a canopy of maroon velvet, in the centre of the pavilion, and
guarded by two bronze lions, was used nearly a ton of sterling silver, the
figure resting on a silver globe, beneath which is an eagle with outstretched
wings. The lower portion of the pedestal is of ebony, and upon this is a plinth
of pure gold, more than two feet square, and representing, as is said, a value
of $250,000. The model selected for this, the largest silver statue in the
world, was the actress Ada Rehan, whose stately and opulent form is cast in
heroic mold. Behind the statue is a structure fashioned of copper bars; on the
walls the more prominent mining centres are reproduced in photographs, and at
the back a painting, named A Good Strike, represents the scene which its title
indicates.
Colorado is well represented, as befits a
state which in 1892 produced $5,500,000 in gold and more than $30,000,000 in silver,
taking the lead of all other sections in her output of the preciuos metals. Of
coal the production increased from 4,500 tons in 1870 to 3,800,000 tons in
1892; of iron the yield for the latter year was 32,000 tons; of lead, 61,000,
and of copper 3,600 tons. Add to this her wealth of building and other valuable
stones, her carnelian, chalcedony, onyx, jasper, jet, and agate; her petroleum
deposits, almost rivalling those of Pennsylvania,
and already producing at the rate of several millions of gallons a year, and it
will be seen that Colorad is not wanting in mineral resources.
The section allotted the
centennial state, adjacent to the southern portal of the building, is faced
along the aisles with marble, and on either side of the main entrance are polished
granite pillars with capitals of red sandstone. Within is a circle of columns
fashioned of various building stones, and a pillar of granite surmounted by a
globe, and a massive coal trophy, eight feet square at the base and twenty-four
in height, dominate the entire display. Two side of the structure are lines
with cases filled with specimens of ore, and masses of gold and silver bearing
quartz are grouped along the aisles, while in the centre, wire, nugget, placer,
and other forms of gold from the Breckenridge district are freely displayed,
together with gold and silver roses from a Denver exhibitor.
Among the many thousands of
cabinet specimens contained in this collection, including those in the gallery,
a large proportion was furnished by the state school of mines at Golden, and
from the Colorado scientific society are samples of eruptive rocks and
meteorite, forming together a most valuable and comprehensive assortment. From
the more prominent mines there are also contributions, and from business,
manufacturing, and other firms and companies are exhibits of coal, coke, iron,
marble, building stone, slate, clay, asphaltum, petroleum, mineral waters, and
other products, together with smelting and refining processes. Above the
cabinets are photographs of the principal mining regions, and of buildings
fashioned of Colorado stone, while in map form are depictured the geological
and topographical features of the state.
[487] - From Aspen come
samples of silver ore that from 70 to as much as 20,000 ounces to the ton, the
latter rather an exhibit of metal than of metal bearing rock. From Leadville
are also some high grade specimens from the Chyrsolite mine, especially of
bromo-chlorides; Forest city sends carbonates that assay 2,500 ounces, and the
Lion mine carbonate ores almost as valuable. Of auriferous ores there is also a
large collection, including ore from the Elkton mine containing more than
$7,000 to the ton in free gold; from the Blue Bird mine telluride which yields
up to $1,200 a ton, and others whose average varies from $7 or $8 to $1,100. Of
turquoise there are beautiful specimens from the Blue Gem mine at Villa grove,
and in a word nearly all the minerals of economic value, contained in the
centennial state are here on exposition.
Arizona’s exhibits,
adjoining the Colorado section, are displayed to excellent advantage on a
raised platform, in the centre of which is a monument of copper ore, in rich
colors of blue and green, one of the specimens of which it is composed weighing
nearly 7,000 pounds, and the smallest exceeding 800 pounds. Around it are cases
of cuprite, azurite, malachite, and other minerals of brilliant hue, some of
the samples from the Holbrook mine, where is a cave of stalactite, being
covered with incrustations of silver. In blocks of ore assaying from 30 to 70
percent are represented all the more prominent copper mines of Arizona, whose total
yield for 1892 was estimated at 19,000 tons. The metal itself is shown in the
form of bricks, bars, sheets, rolls, plates, wires, and all other forms in
which it is manufactured, and from one of the exhibiting companies are models
of its mines and apparatus.
Of gold and silver ores of
silver and lead there are nearly 100 exhibitors, one piece of gold ore assaying
a dollar to the pound; and from Cochise county, which furnishes the bulk of the
collection, are a few gold nuggets, and a sample of onyx nearly eight feet long
by two in width; while Mohave county, which is also well represented, presents
specimens of agate and silver glance or sulphurets. Sandstone of finest grain
is shown in the form of slabs and pillars, and there are portions of petrified
trees, some of them beautifully polished.
Almost in the centre of New Mexico’s section is
a structure composed entirely of native ores in the form of a miner’s cabin,
and near it are relief models of several prominent mines. Beyond are pictures
of the typical miner in orthodox costume, and with his patient and
long-suffering burro. Here and in the western galleries is a large collection
of minerals, including all the varieties discovered since, in 1832, were
extracted from the so-called old placers a few thousand dollars worth of gold.
Nearly all the metals common to the Pacific slope are contained in these
sections, the greater number of the exhibits consisting of gold, silver,
silver-lead, and copper ores; while coat is represented in the form of a
pyramid, its materials furnished by the Madrid mines, the property of a railway
company.
[488] - Coal is the
feature in Wyoming’s
exhibit, representing an industry whose output for 1892 was 94,000 tons. Iron
and copper are widely distributed; but neither have been as yet extensively
worked, though in Albany
county is a mountain of ferruginous rock assaying as high as 80 percent of
metal. Petroleum is found near the surface in many localities; near Laramie is
a large deposit of mica; building stone is abundant; agates, amethysts, and
other valuable stones have been found in the valley of the Sweetwater river;
plumbago and graphite, soda, sulphur, asphaltum, and asbestos are among
Wyoming’s minerals, and the precious metals are found in many portions of the
state. All these are represented in her pavilion, in which the central point of
interest is a shaft of coal from the Black hills mines, most of the material
furnished by the Union Pacific Coal company’s work at Rock springs. The Wyoming Railway and Iron
company has a large collection of ores; asphaltum is freely displayed, and in
glass tubes are the various grades of petroleum manufactured by the Black Hills
Oil company.
In addition to those
already mentioned, California, New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado have exhibits
in the northwestern galleries, consisting principally of cabinet specimens,
covering the entire field of their mineral wealth. Nevada, to which no space was allotted on
the ground floor, occupies the largest area, the White Pine district making an
elaborate display. In quartz crystals and ornamental stones the collection is
especially rich. The Gunnison region of Colorado
sends many specimens; but the feature in this section is the heroic figure of
the Silver Queen of the World, seated in a triumphal car of silver, the canopy
overhead and the foundation upon which it rests being richly encrusted with
powdered crystals. This foundation serves as the entablature of several marble
pillars, those at the main entrance being arranged in pairs. Cupids precede the
chariot, scattering as they run disks of gold and silver, each piece as it
falls from their cornucopias displaying the watchword, Free Coinage. Beneath
their feet and upon the front of the structure are skillfully fashioned in
mineral substances the words, Aspen,
Colorado; and specimens and gems
are tastefully displayed.
In January 1898, Mr.
Harrington received a retainer from the Colliery
Engineer Company, now the International Textbooks Company, proprietors of
the International Correspondence Schools, and has been connected with that
great educational institution from that time to the present. In March,
1902, he removed from Philadelphia to Scranton and has had
charge of the
legal Department of the Corporation, a post for which he is eminently well
fitted. His duties take him not only to all parts of the United States, but
also to Canada.
David Chase Harrington is a 7th cousin 4 X removed to Russell D.
Hartill, and a
3rd cousin 2X removed to
Parley P. Pratt.
On May 16, 1910,
he was appointed principal of the School
of Law and now has
charge of that work in the instruction department, with seven assistants and
with eight assistants in his Legal Department, as General Counsel for the
International Textbook Company, which keeps him very busy. Although he
was
78 years old on the 8th of December, 1912, with his good health, he looks
for many more years of work.
http://www.webnests.com/Chase/chronicles/davidchaseharrington.htm