With Big Bertha in the news on a regular basis we got to thinking about boring machines in general. Or rather, interesting boring machines.  One in particular comes to mind, from the historic coal mining community of Roslyn, Washington:

From Roslyn local historian, Sue Litchfield:

Steep-pitched mines predominated the Roslyn-Cle Elum Coal Field, making it more expensive to extract coal than the relatively flat coal seams in the east and Midwest. In an effort to cut costs Tom Murphy the mine’s general manager designed and built the N.W.I. Company’s coal boring machine. The boring machine was able to drill crosscuts and air tunnels in a third of the time required by conventional means. “Murphy earned recognition from engineers throughout America and other countries for his genius in coping with the problems of steep-pitch mining in the Roslyn Cle Elum Field,” wrote Cle Elum’s Miner Echo. “A boring machine, first put on paper about 1940 and finally constructed in the Roslyn shops about 2 years ago, was one of his pet projects. Employed at the No. 3 Mine, the machine has eliminated the expensive upkeep of ordinary main airways by boring them 42 inches in diameter through the coal.

These photos of the Northwest Improvement Company’s coal boring machine, as well as other mining machinery and equipment photos were digitized by the Roslyn Public Library with grant assistance from the Washington State Library. They are part of the Washington Rural Heritage Collection and come from the family photo collection of a descendant of Frank Badda, who worked for decades in the Roslyn mines, working his way up to the position of Superintendent until the last mine was closed in 1963.

Oh and back to Big Bertha, she does have one thing that the Roslyn boring machine lacked… a Twitter page.

Bonanzas & Borrascas. By Richard E. Lingenfelter. (Norman, Okla. : Arthur H. Clark Co., 2012. 2 vols., 1056pp.)

Recommendation submitted by Gordon Russ, Volunteer, Washington State Library, Tumwater, WA

Bonanzas & Borrascas is a well written two-volume set on mining and mineral investing in the West. The first book is “Gold Lust and Silver Sharks, 1848-1884”, the second book is “Copper Kings and Stock Frenzies, 1885-1918”.  Mining is a very expensive operation requiring large amounts of cash with little or no certainly of making money or even getting your investment back.  To raise the cash mine owners sold stocks or shares offset expenses.  In its simplest form, you’re buying a share in the mine you were eligible to share in its profits.  To develop a mine thousands even millions of dollars were and still is required to place it into operation.  Even then there is a high risk the mine would never have any value.  All these factors played into the hands of disreputable people selling stocks and greedy people buying stocks.  Mr. Lingenfelter does an excellent job of weaving the story of these miners and stock manipulators together. Some are humors, some are heart rendering and most are fools having a good time.  He starts with the 49ers moving into California during the 1849 gold rush and the development of gold and silver mines throughout the west.  The second book is about the corporate movement into the mining business developing names like ASARCO, Kennecott, Phillips Dodge and others developing copper mines.

The Author presents an interesting tightly written story of the people and circumstances that developed the mining industry of the west. He is aided along the way with the audacity of mine owners, and stock brokers and willing buyers participating in any schemes or scams that looked to make unbelievable wealth.  In the world of big money and a few successful players the attraction of money and possible wealth is uncontrollable.  As one Idaho mine owner stated when ask how could he lose a newly made $100,000 so quickly.   He replied,

“A man with good sound judgment and reasonable-sized head does not lose it”, but “A man who begins to feel poor when he gets his first $50,000, a man who constantly and willfully…getting in over his head in the confusing water of speculation, who belittles the size of his pile as he associates with millionaires, joins their schemes, and buys their stock…he it is who loses a hundred thousand dollars”.

At first you start think the sharks are the miners and brokers feeding on the unassuming public then as the stories develop I began to feel the sharks are the public on a feeding frenzy of the tidbits of possibilities provide by the stock brokers.  These people are not ignorant of what they are doing, but guided by the greed of desire for wealth.  As one unscrupulous scoundrel said, “Never appeal to the intelligence of fools….., turn your batteries on the thinking ones and convince them…the unthinking ones will follow.”  This was the case time after time.  In some cases, the craze for mining stocks is so high that stock brokers just registered a mines name and printed stock certificates then sold them in hours without buyers questioning its backing.  The old adage “Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me” the “me” people were in the great majority.

Much legislation was proposed and put into law trying to protect people from themselves not everyone was in agreement it should be done.  Future U.S. President Herbert Hoover, who was a mining engineer, said, “if a mine should fail…” it “is in and of itself not an economic loss.  It simply means …national wealth was transferred from one individual into another…”and “often invested to more reproductive purpose than if it had remained in the hands of the idiots who parted with it.”  In many ways, he is right.  Much wealth that built America in to the country it is today came from these mines and the people who owned or invested in their future wealth.  I would encourage you to give the books a try.  It is very entertaining on many levels from the humors stock broker “Corduroy Bill”  in Baker City, Oregon selling stock on a worthless mine to acquaintances in his home town of Des Moines, Iowa to the  fortunes made by the Guggenheim family and many others.

ISBN: 978-0870629501

Available at the Washington State Library, NW 338.2097 LINGENF 2012
Not available as an eBook, talking book, or Braille edition.

Washington Rural Heritage is excited to introduce North Pend Oreille Heritage, coinciding with the town of Metaline Falls’ centennial.  This brand new collection from the Metalines Community Library contains stunning images of one of the most picturesque parts of the state and tells the story of the adventurous settlers that made this rugged land their home.

Rock formation blasted in 1936

The library houses several albums that were collected and organized decades ago in order to preserve the community’s history. The albums contain over a thousand early images of the area’s waterfalls, canyons and river views – many scenes have eroded or dammed and are no longer there – and photos depicting daily activities of everyone from the town barber to the founder of the town’s cement plant.

Meet Brownie, an amateur photographer and bartender at Pend Oreille Tavern, and his buddy Black Beauty, a bag-punching dog that slept in a human bed. Fall in love with George Marr and Marie Beach, a couple whose romance on the back of a motorcycle would one day lead to their marriage. And tag along with Art and Gertrude Baker, proprietors of Baker’s Saloon. They picnic at Sullivan Lake, go on hiking expeditions, and use canyon walls for target practice.

Hotel Washington in winter

When locals weren’t playing, they were working hard. Many came to the area for jobs in the mining industry, a huge part of this mineral and metal-rich area’s economy. The Pend Oreille Mines and Metals album contains 81 images, dating from the 1920s up to the 1970s, depicting the company’s longstanding presence in the area. It also holds a few photos of Diamond Match employees – during the 1920s, eighty percent of the county’s timber was used in match production.