GRANITE-BTMETALLIC    AND    CABLE    MINES,   MONTANA.  37 
and  on  level  No.  6  an  11-foot  face  running  150  ounces  in  silver- 
was  left  untouched  for  a  considerable  period,  the  mills  being  occu- 
pied with  higher  grade  ore.  From  1885  to  1892  the  company  was 
extremely  prosperous,  taking  out  about  $20,000,000  in  silver  and 
gold,  and  paying  dividends  amounting  to  over  $11,000,000.  A  third 
mill,  with  100  stamps,  was  built  at  Rumsey,  1J  miles  south  of  the 
mine,  and  connected  with  it  by  a  wire  tramway,  and  the  Philipsburg 
and  Drummond  Railway  was  extended  from  Philipsburg  to  the  mill, 
a  distance  of  7.7  miles.  For  a  portion  of  this  period  the  Granite1 
Mountain  was  the  most  productive  silver  mine  in  the  United  States. 
The  property  has  been  skillfully  managed  since  the  beginning  of 
development.  Specialists  of  broad  training  were  employed  in  every 
department  and  the  thorough  organization  enabled  a  high  percent- 
age of  the  output  to  be  paid  as  dividends  to  the  stockholders.  Among 
the  larger  owners  were  Messrs.  McLure,  Rumsey,  Fusz,  Clark,  Ewing, 
Filley,  Lionberger,  Shapleigh,  and  Taussig,  all  of  St.  Louis,  and  thus 
through  this  mine  the  foundations  were  laid  for  many  of  the  larger 
fortunes  of  the  Middle  West. 
The  Bimetallic  Mining  Company  was  organized  in  1882,  Charles  D. 
McLure,  Charles  Clark,  and  J.  M.  Merrell  owning  practically  all  the 
stock.  Its  plant  was  almost  a  duplicate  of  that  of  the  Granite.  A 
100-stamp  chloridizing  mill  was  built  at  Bimetallic,  on  Douglas 
Creek  about  1^  miles  above  Philipsburg.  This  was  connected  by 
rail  with  the  Philipsburg  and  Drummond  Railway  and  by  a  wire 
tram  with  the  hoist  house.  The  mine  had  a  large  part  of  the  same 
ore  shoot  that  was  exploited  through  the  Granite,  though  the  ore 
was  hardly  so  rich.  The  production  of  the  mine  from  1883  to  1893 
aggregated  about  $6,000,000,  from  which  nearly  $2,000,000  was  paid 
as  dividends.  Owing  to  the  fall  in  the  price  of  silver  the  mine  was 
shut  down  in  1893.  A  consolidation  with  the  Granite  was  effected 
in  1898  under  the  name  of  the  Granite-Bimetallic  Consolidated 
Mining  Company,  with  a  capitalization  of  1,000,000  shares.  At 
this  time  the  reserves  of  the  Bimetallic  mine  exceeded  those  of  the 
Granite,  and  accordingly  the  200,000  Bimetallic  shares  were  trans- 
ferred for  600,000  shares  of  the  new  company,  the  400,000  shares  of 
Granite  Mountain  stock  being  traded  share  for  share. 
After  the  consolidation  extensive  improvements  were  made  with 
a  view  to  working  the  lower  grade  ores,  of  which  there  was  still  a 
large  tonnage.  An  8,850-foot  tunnel  from  the  canyon  of  Douglas 
Creek  to  the  mine  was  completed,  draining  the  Bimetallic  mine  at  a 
depth  of  1,000  feet  and  the  Granite  at  a  depth  of  1,450  feet,  thus 
greatly  reducing  the  cost  of  pumping.  A  subsidiary  organization, 
the  Montana  Water,  Electric  Power  and  Mining  Company,  built  a 
reservoir  covering  several  square  miles  on  Georgetown  Flat,  near  the 
head  of  Flint  Creek,  and  installed  an  electric  plant  which  supplied 
