HISTORY OF TIN MINING IN THE CAROLINA*. 33 
The writer has endeavored to give here a plain statement of such facts as are available 
and to abstain from passing judgment on the question. 
The news of the discovery of tin soon spread in Kings Mountain and throughout the coun- 
try. Everyone in the town, men, women, and children, began to hunt for tin. All over 
the eastern part of the town they found crystals of cassiterite, which they sold as curios at 
5 or 10 cents each. Early in 1885 a development company was formed by several promi- 
nent men of Kings Mountain and prospecting was begun. They read that tourmaline 
commonly accompanies tin, so they directed their attention to masses of tourmaline and 
black hornblende, which they encountered near the place where the float tin was found. 
Several pits were sunk and a 100-foot tunnel was driven south of the town, but no tin was 
found in place. The company disbanded and excitement subsided; but cassiterite crys- 
tals were still found in the streets of Kings Mountain. 
In 1886 John H. Furman, a miner from Georgia, came to Kings Mountain to prospect for 
gold. He found bands of rock which he called "greisen," containing a black mineral sup- 
posed to be cassiterite. He took specimens of the material to Dr. A. R. Ledoux, of New 
York, who verified this supposition. Returning later under the direction of Ledoux, and 
with the assurance that the tin-bearing rock had at last been located, Furman began quietly 
to bond all the land which he considered promising. Prospecting was renewed on a broader 
scale; pits, trenches, shafts, and tunnels were started, and a considerable amount of ore 
was taken out for testing. At first small lots were sent to Ledoux's laboratories in New 
York, but it was found that samples of this kind were unreliable. Ledoux and Dr. James 
Douglass then came to the tin region, presumably in the interest of Phelps, Dodge & Co., 
of New York City. A stamp-mill test of 100 tons and returns from two carload lots of 
hand-picked ore shipped to England were fairly encouraging. In 1890 Furman sailed for 
England with specimens of ore and options on a large acreage in the hope of interesting 
capital there. The result of this mission is not known, but it was probably unsuccessful. 
An effort was next made by the Ledoux party to ascertain the extent of the ore bodies. 
The shafts were deepened and considerable diamond drilling was done. By these operations 
it was learned that the tin-bearing rocks were very irregular in extent and in their content 
of cassiterite, but the results were considered to justify the erection of a plant for treating 
the ore on the spot. A 10-stamp mill was erected about a mile and a half south of Kings 
Mountain station. After crushing, the ore passed through slatted sluices over burlap. 
Several tons of ore were tested at this plant, but the results were not gratifying, and work 
was stopped in the early nineties. It is said that clogging of the stamp mortars by the 
abundant mica of the tin-bearing rock and excessive loss of fine tin had more to do with the 
cessation of operations than a conclusive demonstration that the deposits were too small 
or of too low a grade to be profitable. 
The work of this company had been directed mainly to the territory just south of the 
town of Kings Mountain. In the meantime other parties had been prospecting north of 
the town. Pits and shafts had been sunk and some machinery installed, but little or no 
success attended these efforts. By 1892 interest had abated, and very little work was being 
done. 
About 1894 another company was formed, called the Kings Mountain Mineral and Devel- 
opment Company (Incorporated) . The sum of §5,000 was raised by subscription and work 
was begun on Chestnut Ridge, a short distance northeast of the village of Kings Moun- 
tain. It was the intention to sink a shaft 150 feet deep and thus reach below the zone of decom- 
position. At a depth of 40 feet a crosscut from this shaft showed a decomposed "vein," 
holding considerable cassiterite, but it received no attention, since fresh rock only was 
being sought. 'Water was encountered in considerable amount, and the cost of pumping 
rapidly depleted the available funds, so that at a depth of 130 feet the capital was exhausted 
and work was stopped. 
After this new failure an interval of several years witnessed only casual prospecting by 
M. M. Carpenter and A. R. Rudisill, of Kings Mountain, who had been connected with the 
Bull. 293—06 3 
