impossibility for it to have reached him in a direct line from the shaft. Two men were immediately dispatched in a canoe to Gold Rock to bring Dr. Denmark, who arrived at 7.30 a.m. the following day. The doctor set Carlson's leg and had him removed to Gold Rock, where a vacant log house was rented for his accommodation and a man employed

to take charge of him. Complications, however, set in and it was deemed advisable to remove Carlson to the hospital at Rat Portage, whither he was taken on 3rd December. On 14th December and again two weeks later Carlson was reported as doing as well as could be looked for.

I

Introduction.

BEG to submit the following report upon the results of a tour of inspection of the mines of Ontario, made during the summer and autumn of 1898. Visits were made to all the larger mines in actual operation throughout the entire Province, both east and west. Incidentally a number of smaller mines and prospect workings were visited, but no effort was made to inspect all such properties, the limited time at my disposal precluding any attempt to do so.

After having visited the principal mines in Ontario I have been impressed with the very general desire on the part of

The status of Mining

mine managers to conform not only in Ontario. to the letter but to the spirit of the laws and the regulations of the Bureau of Mines, relating to matters affecting the health and safety of the miners. In seeking these desiderata the more progressive mine managers perceive that they are also achieving economy, which will make a favorable showing on their annual balance sheet. At a number of the larger and more progressive mines it was not uncommon to find local rules enforced which were far in excess of the legal requirements for safety, and it is evident that more stringent regulations in many matters would be welcomed, at least by a large portion of the mining community, since it would tend to the development of a larger body of skilled miners in the Province, which would inure to the benefit of all concerned. The lack of such a body of well-trained miners is a serious drawback to the mining industry in Ontario, and it so happens that the value of such skill is rather discredited among many local mine owners from the circumstance that inefficient stragglers from the camps of the

Explosives.

mite, and their false setting of shots. The use of I have rarely seen a hole drilled in any mine in the Province in such a position as to give the highest efficiency to the blast, and by inquiry I find that the consumption of dynamite per ton of ore extracted is excessive. In many cases powerful explosives are being employed where weaker, slower acting explosives would be far more effective in the practical work of winning ore.

There is a very general tendency at the smaller properties to carelessness in regard to the storage, inspection and handling of dyna-, mite, to thawing dynamite, and to the keeping of fulminates separate from blasting materials. The regulations of the Bureau of Mines might advantageously be revised in so far as they relate to explosives.

chiefly depends. Whatever will tend to cheapen this kind of effort will lead to wider operations for the development of outcropping veins discovered by prospectors. Hence the training of miners in the proper use of blasting materials, and the setting of holes, and in the work of single-hand drilling, will render it possible to do far more, I think I might say 50 per cent more, development work than is now done with the same money. I am not aware of more than one mining camp in Ontario where single-hand drilling has been carried on to any extent, and there the interest of the miners has been awakened to such a degree that single-hand drilling matches constitute part of the amusements of the men.

There is still a noticeable tendency on the part of development companies to introduce steam hoists and air compressors, Machinery v. Hand Work. and their accompaniments, before the possibilities of handwork within limits of economy have been exhausted. This is to be deplored, for many a development company uses all its resources on a single vein without learning more than judiciously directed handwork would have revealed at far less cost, and so it ceases to operate, leaving a group of men who might have contributed strength to the mining industry more or less discouraged and disaffected, and consequently unwilling to venture anything again

The work of development is necessarily experimental in large part up to a certain limit, but the work of the mining company after proper exploratory work has been done should be upon a sound basis, with the element of chance virtually eliminated. It is unfortunate that too many companies in Ontario are still inclined to start upon mere development work on a scale which indicates that they expect to continue mining permanently.

The use of kibbles sliding on skidways in inclined shafts is unfortunately very common, the practice apparently being due Hoisting Plant. to false notions of economy. To shallow depths this procedure is not unwise, but in a large number of mines it is persisted in even after it has become the most costly form of hoisting that could be adopted. The

danger of hoisting thus from considerable depths is sufficient to warrant its condemnation.

Fortunately the great majority of the mines of Ontario are in rock so sound that Timbering little timbering is required. Where of Mines. it is used, however, a quite general misunderstanding of the methods of setting it to obtain the full strength of the material seems to prevail, in consequence of which frequent breakages and dislocations of timbers result, with their attendant evil effects upon the progress of mining operations.

In a few of the better conducted mines, on the other hand, the engineering is of an order not excelled in any mining camps in the world.

Iron Mines.

There was considerable activity in the production of iron ores, hematites and magnetites, during the year, occasioned by the demands of the Hamilton blast furnace. The localities where these ores were being mined were confined to the east, along the line of the Kingston and Pembroke Railway, and to the north of Madoc, between that town and El Dorado.

Bedford Iron Mine.

Bedford Mine.

The Bedford iron mine lies near Zanesville P. O., about four miles east from Bedford station on the K. and P. Railway. A branch railroad extends up to the mines, the ore being hoisted at one operation from the mine to the cars in which it is shipped. The property belongs to the Kingston and Pembroke Mining Co., with offices in Kingston, but was being worked on contract by William Edgar of Sharbot Lake. The mine is situated on lot 3, second concession of Bedford, Frontenac county. Fifteen workmen were employed, with John Bragg as foreman in charge. The mine itself consisted of an open pit 27 by 25 feet, and 20 feet deep at the time of my visit on November 2, 1898. Hoisting was being done by a derrick and bucket, but a steam hoist and steam pump were just being installed. The ore is magnetite, and apparently of high grade, so far as iron content is concerned, and the results

of analyses were reported to be excellent. The dip of the deposit was very slight, being towards the s. S. E. The footwall was amphibole rock, and a thin layer of the same existed on the hanging wall side, which soon gave way to a highly metamorphosed limestone. Bunches of amphibole and some calcite occur also disseminated through the body of the ore. The vein is a continuation in a southwesterly direction of that which was once mined on a somewhat large scale at the Zanesville (formerly Glendower) mine. Other promising exposures of ore along the strike of the vein have been made for a distance of nearly half a mile southwest.

It

The workings were confined to an open pit, which had once been the first level of the old mine, and had considerable underlie. measured 85 feet by 24 feet, and was down 125 feet on the incline. Twelve feet above the bottom a drift extends west 67 feet, 11 by 7 feet in cross section, which is used for storage of timbers. There are two old drifts higher up, which are now abandoned. The old second level stopes of the mine were filled with water, but preparations were being made to pump them out. By means of a raft I was able to inspect the roof of the old stopes, which in part was unsound. Orders were given to break down the loose portions of the roof before undertaking to mine beneath it. The first level pit is kept unwatered by a Williams steam pump, 4-inch suction and 3-inch discharge. Hoisting is done on a skipway, using a 2-inch steel cable, wound on a

4-foot drum. The hoisting engine is duplex, with 8 by 18-inch cylinders.

Drilling in the mine was done with two Ingersoll-Sargeant drills, and one "Mac" drill, made by A. R. Williams & Co., all using steam. Attention was called to the danger of ice forming on the wall overhanging the pit, from condensing steam and from seepage, and suitable provision for safety to workmen was ordered to be made.

Six hundred feet east of the mine were located two powder magazines in close proximity to each other, one for the storage of quantities of dynamite up to 500 lb., and one for a single box for daily use, the latter being heated by a stove. It was ordered that the larger magazine be removed to a greater distance, and that thawing by direct radiated heat from the stove be discontinued.

The ore is magnetite, in many respects similar in occurrence to that in the Bedford mine. The dip of the vein is about 35° s.s.w. Other outcrops are abundant in the vicinity, and some mining had been done on the Sheriff pit, a half mile E.N.E. of the Lizzie. My visit to these properties was made on November 4 and 5, 1898.

Cook Iron Mine.

Cook Mine.

The location of the Cook mine is on lot 15, fifth concession of Madoc, 1 mile south of El Dorado. The owners are A. W. Coe, of Madoc, Thomas Barnes, et al. The mine was being operated under contract by W. J. Comerford, George Duff and James Fox. At the time of my visit, July 28, the contractors were shipping 30 tons of ore per diem, and were employing 22 men in all capacities. The mine was an open pit, 30 feet deep and 25 feet in diameter. Hoisting was being done by a derrick and horse whim. Three pumps were being operated by power derived from a 45 h.p. boiler, two pumps having 3-inch discharge, and one having 2inch discharge. Drilling was done by hand, charges being fired partly by fuse and partly by battery. Dynamite was properly stored in a magazine far removed from the mine. This mine has since been abandoned owing to the excessive influx of water. The ore is hematite, with a little magnetite and much calcite.