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lows: “I found ledges of excellent iron ore running from fif teen to fifty feet wide, and the croppings extending three thou sand feet in length, I secured samples of this ore and reduced it, and find they run from forty to seventy per cent. metallic iron. The ledges are situated on the mountain and dip toward the river, affording every facility for cheap mining. The coun try is well timbered with pine and fir sufficient for all mining purposes. I found magnetic, hematite and carbonate ores. They are situated in a schist, and are properly a chloride. They are all below the coal measures, of which I found several of excellent quality, some being a very good coking coal carry ing seventy per cent of fixed carbon. Both coal and iron dip well for the most economical mining, some of the ledges crop ping out within a stone's throw of the river, with a slope that would ran it down to the very water. The transportation would thus be at a minimum of cost. I can see nothing to in terfere with the cheap manufacture of good coke and merchant able pig iron. The LaConner mine is a tremendous body of coal, and the LaConner iron mine is also a fine property. I know of no country that affords such a fine feld for the pros mheter on the Skagit. In every gulch I entered I found strong indications from the sandstone and state of underlying miner al. Specimens of copper found on every hand, and as for quarts, I traveled over miles of it.” Tun Banana Tune.— Visitors to the Mechanics’ Fair have much admired two handsome young banana trees on exhibition in the botanical gardens. Bananas are a common sight in Portland at all reasons of the year, coming from Central Ameri ca and the Sandwich islands, but the tree itself is something the great masa of people never saw. The engraving on page 07 gives a splendid idea of the appearance of a large tree with a bunch of bananas depending from it. The banana is a vari ety of the plantain family, and is a native of the tropics. It is largely used for food, as well as for exportation. With the ex ception of two or three palms, it would not be easy to name in the whole vegetable kingdom any plant which is applied to a greater number of uses than the plantain. The stem of the plantain, or banana, is from fifteen to twenty feet high, though there are variation having a stem of only six feet. The leaves are very large, the blade being sometimes ten feet long and three feet broad, undivided, of a beautiful shining green. The plant is propagated by suckers, and a sucker attains maturity in about eight months of a year after being planted. The stem is cut down after fruiting, but the plantation does not require renewal for fifteen or twenty years. It has been cultivated suc cessfully in hot houses. More than a hundred bananas often grow on a single stem, and so closely do they grow together that often tarantulas, the deadly insect of the tropica, are brought to the north concealed among them, and are found by the dealers when unpacking the fruit. The writer has seen several of these in the offices of Wortland commission mer chants. The banana grows more in favor each year, and no place is too remote for its exportation. Tacoma’s New Horgt,—Accompanying this number of Tux Weer Lane is a large engraving of Hotel Fife, the elegant hostelrie recently completed in Tacoma. The hotel was erect ed by W. H. Fife, one of the leading businessmen of the city, and cost $125,000.00. The ground upon which it lands is worth $125,000.00 more, and the entire property could be sold for $300,000.00. Realising the demand for such an enterprise, Mr. Fife began the construction of this immense and elegant building in August, 1887, and completed it in July, 188%. The structure has a frontage of one hundred and fifteen feet on Pa cific avenue, one hundred and fifteen feet on Railroad and one hundred feet on Ninth street. It is solid and substan tial, consisting of heavy brick walls, upon a foundation a granite, the walls of the first two stories being twenty-one inch es thick, and of the last three seventeen inches. The frst cop on the Pacific avenue side is occupied by a bank and four stores. Besides these and the lobby, dining room and barber shop, the building contains one hundred and twenty-six elegantly furnished, and supplied with all the modern conven iences of gas, water, electric bells, etc., etc. A large elevator and two broad stairways give easy access to the upper floors and ample means of egress in case of fire. Fire hose is kept on every floor. The entire building is heated by steam. Hotel Fife is conducted on the European plan, a first-class restaurant being kept in the hotel. With its five massive stories up above the surrounding buildings, it presents an imposing appearance, and is the largest building yet erected in Washing ton Territory. (want on Texapa Island.—Valuable ledges of silver, cop per and iron ore are reported as having been discovered on Texada island, lying in the Gulf of Georgia, between Vancop ver island and the mainland of British Columbia. Rich ipo ore has been mined there for many years, and is used by the Irondale smelter to nix with the local ore of Puget sound, but this is the first reported discovery of other metals. The ledges are located on the side of the island opposite Nanaimo. Sev eral ledges were discovered and prospected for a distanced over a mile, with every indication of extending for miles fur ther ; in fact, the discoverers are of the opinion that the upper end of the island is one mass of minerals. The ledges will pay from the surface, and they are but a few yards from deep water, where large vessels can lie and take in cargoes of ore at the lowest possible expense. The discoverers have already re corded ten claims of the size allowed by law. Specimens of this ore have been sent to San Francisco for assay, and the re turns are of the most favorable character. Some of the om was also sent to the government assay office, but no returns have yet been received. Local experts pronounce the samples rich, one large piece being almost pure copper. Borax Move in Onzcoy,—One of the most important dis coveries yet made in Oregon is that of immense borax depos its in Curry county. This deposit is on the Bay of Lamar ranch. It is of volcanic origin, and occurs in boulders of all sizes up to a ton in weight, imbedded in volcanic mud. Th area of the deposit is half a mile in length and two hundred yards in width, with a depth of thirty feet. The bay formes portion of a ranch of twelve hundred acres, and is half a mile wide, with good anchorage, and is protected from storms of both the northwest and southwest. The first shipment we made to San Francisco in September, by the steamer Newsla A town site will be laid out, a wharf built, and active mining operations at once begun. Chemists pronounce this to any borate of lime previously known, and as it lies within a stone's throw of the shore, where water three fathoms deep only three hundred yards distant, the expense of getting its market is reduced to the minimum.The borax deposit California, Nevada, Chili, Thibet, Asia Minor and Italy, at severely handicapped by their position in the interior, and the expense of getting their product to market. A valuable indaie try ought to be speedily developed here. Rocky Mountai Scenery.—One of the peculiarities of Rocky mountain scenery is the tall cliffs and spires of bam
Newspaper Details
Portland West Shore
Portland, Oregon, US
Mon, Oct 01, 1888
Page 44
Full Page
Clipped by
Kellan R.
USA 26 Jun 2026
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