1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



189 



Those first hatched are now five days old, 

 and beautiful penciled wing-feathers as hand- 

 some as flowers are now visible. And this 

 reminds me that, right before the window 

 where I write, is a little cloth-covered Flori- 

 da greenhouse where I have potted plants 

 and cuttings. I am going to take some of the 

 plants in pots over to our Sunday-school to- 

 morrow, and show the children the wonder- 

 ful root-growth that is taking place, the mar- 

 velous activity that is going on under ground 

 out of sight* (as well as inside the eggs), and 

 then I want to point out that all this is God, 

 who is the very center of all life and activity 

 and power. Shall we not do well to pause 

 occasionally and look up in reverence while 

 we repeat the words of the psalmist, "Be 

 stiH, and know that I am God"? 



THE BLACK HILLS MINING INDUSTRY OF 

 SOUTH DAKOTA. 



From Belle Fourche I went to Deadwood. 

 Now, there are mountain streams gushing 

 out of the hills, and coming down the can- 

 yons all through the Black Hills, especially 

 in this mountain region. I have told you 

 before how it animates and inspires me to 

 see pure crystal running water, as I listen 

 to the music of "babbling brooks." But, oh 

 dear me ! there is not much to attract the eye 

 by the babbling brooks below Deadwood and 

 the city of Lead. You have the "babble" 

 all right, but the water looks more like tar 

 than any thing else, and a poor kind of tar 

 at that. It is more of a dirty red color. 

 Nobody told me, but I presume this is caused 

 by the water being impregnated with the 

 minerals and pulverized rock (from the 

 stamping-mills) that come down from the 

 mountain regions above. Deadwood and 

 Lead are about a mile apart. But, oh what 

 a mile that is! It was dark when I left 

 Deadwood; but as the train was climbing the 



* One day when I was busy with my plants Mrs. 

 McAuley asked me to come over to the Gulf if I want- 

 ed to see a real " school of fishes." I l^new expert 

 fishermen could tell at a glance where to plant their 

 nets, but I never understood it. In a little time I saw 

 a dark spot in the water, with fish darting up so there 

 were more or less in the air all the time; and as we 

 got n- arer, the water was really black with them, and 

 they were packed so densely that their fins were stick- 

 ing above the surface all the time. They were slowly 

 moving toward the Pass, or passage through the Keys, 

 into the shallow waters of the Bay. They circled 

 about, yet kept massed together, very much like a 

 swarm of bees, and moved forward at a pace less than 

 a slow walk. Mr. McAuley said there were, without 

 doubt, 10,000 lbs. in that school. How should this 

 great multitude know there was a " Pass," and where 

 it was, so they could come miles, almost in a straight 

 line for \\': 



mountain laboriously, and twisting contin- 

 ually to the right and then to the left, I kept 

 looking out at the rugged rocks. Pretty 

 soon I began to get puzzled and rattled. I 

 had expected to see only tvvo good-sized 

 cities; but every time we curved into the 

 mountain and came out of a cut a little be- 

 yond, I could see a good-sized town flashing 

 its electric lights, etc. Pretty soon I said to 

 a passenger, "My friend, will you please tell 

 me if these towns that come into view are 

 ditferent ones, or are we looking at the same 

 city all the time?" 



" Why, my dear sir, it is one and the same 

 city of Deadwood that you see as we twist in 

 and out among the hills. If you will notice, 

 it is a little lower down every time we get a 

 glimpse of it." 



And so it was all the way as we approach- 

 ed the city of Lead. Afterward in going 

 over the same scenery by daylight I saw 

 there was a steam railway and an electric 

 railway, and ever so many tram railways 

 for carrying ores from the mines. The com- 

 bination of railways there is really bewilder- 

 ing. In the outskirts of the ci'ty of Lead 

 three railways cross each other on the same 

 spot at different elevations. Away up in the 

 air, suspended on steel derricks, is the load- 

 ed train of the great Homestead mine; ex- 

 actly under it is the elevated train of the 

 Black Hills and Wyoming Railroad; and ex- 

 actly under that is the Deadwood Central 

 train. These ore-trains cross the valleys on 

 tall iron piers, and dump their contents into 

 the very top of or a little above the roof of 

 the great building used as a refinery. Then 

 the ores and refuse minerals go down b}' 

 gravity until they get to the bottom. 



The sound of the stamping-mills that keep 

 up their work day and night, week days and 

 Sunday, is sometimes almost deafening. The 

 ore is pulverized and stirred up with sufH- 

 cient water to reduce it to a liquid form: 

 then it is carried in pipes to the troughs of 

 mercury where the gold is absorbed or taken 

 up, and the waste black water I have spoken 

 of. or muii, is washed out of the way. 



The city of Lead has about 10,000 inhabi- 

 tants. It is located on the side of a mountain. 

 There are several streets running parallel, 

 pretty nearly level. There are no cross- 

 streets only what you might call a pair of 

 stairs that connect the other streets. For in- 

 stance, when you are walking on the si<le- 

 walk on one particular street you can lok 

 down the chimneys in the street below. By 

 driving clear out to the extreme end of the 

 street you can swing around so as to get in- 

 to the street above. 



I wanted to write up something about 

 gold-mining; but the great Homestead, said 

 to be the largest in the world, does not at 

 the present time admit visitors. An army of 

 something like 2000 men are employed here. 

 I could go around in the stamping mills and 

 see them crush the ores, but nobody is per- 

 mitted to go into the cyanide-plant. Let me 

 explain a little. When I was a jeweler, and 

 did silver plating, we used to dissolve these 

 met.als in a solution of cyanide of potassium. 



