Full Text of “The Black Hills Illustrated” - Part 4


	This file contains a full text transcription of pages 83-105 of “The 
	Black Hills Illustrated” edited and published under the Auspices of 
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STURGIS.

	One of the most progressive towns of the Black Hills country is Sturgis, 
which might be said to be about an hour from Dead-wood or from Rapid City. Its 
population at the last census numbered 1,150 souls, and to date has probably 
increased to 1,300. The town was platted in August, 1878, and was called Sturgis 
City. It was incorporated ten years later as Sturgis and as a city of the third 
class.

	The city government consists of a mayor and six aldermen. A board of 
education numbers seven members and has in charge a public school, with 450 
pupils, which takes children from the primary to the high school grades and 
graduates them into the normal. There are 13 grades, presided over by eight 
teachers.

	Churches are represented by the Episcopal, Methodist, Catholic and 
Presbyterian.

	Societies include the Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Eagles, 
Modern Woodmen, Redmen, A. O. U. W. and G. A. R. The ladies have Degree of 
Honor, Rebekahs and Royal Neighbors.

	The Sturgis Commercial Club of 50 members is a growing organization and is 
doing much good in promoting the interests of the city and country and in acting 
in the capacity of a board of trade.

	St. Martin's academy is an institution of note. It is a Catholic convent, 
having boarders of all denominations, from Nebraska, Wyoming and North and South 
Dakota. About 250 students are in attendance, and include boys and girls, the 
former as boarders up to 12 years of age, the latter of all ages. The site of 
the convent and its adjoining dormitories is just back of the court house on a 
hill, and the three buildings are a very great adornment to the city. The 
capacity is at all times being tested and new buildings will have to be added in 
the near future. The institution has been established about 14 years.

	Sturgis is lighted by electricity.  S. A. Oliver established the Sturgis 
electric-light plant, which is located on the main street and is furnished with 
a 100 K. W. Warren dynamo and a 14x36 Epallis Corliss engine. The building is 50 
feet square, with iron roof and sides, and the boiler and engine rooms are in an 
adjoining building. One hundred and forty-seven horsepower is furnished for 
lighting and two new high-pressure internally-fired boilers are about to be 
installed. These works light Fort Meade also, by contract with the government.

	The city has two excellent brickyards, one of them with a capacity of 
25,000 and the other 15,000 bricks per day.

	The city has two hotels, one of them, the Hotel Scollard, being owned by 
John Scollard, an April 1876 pioneer of the Black Hills, who built the Custer 
House in Deadwood in 1876 on the present site of the First National bank. Mr. 
Scollard has been in Sturgis 26 years, and owns not only the hotel of 30 rooms, 
but also a nearby lodging house of 30 rooms, which acts as an adjunct of his 
hotel.

	One of the greatest prides of Sturgis is the waterworks system, which was 
conceived and started by J. J. Davenport, after the granting of the franchise. 
The plant was received by the city in 1893. In the mountains four and one-half 
miles south of Sturgis three reservoirs have been made by damming the canyon.  
The water comes from the mountain springs, flowing through eruptive rock called 
trachite; thus it is perfectly pure. It is conveyed to the city in cast-iron 
pipes, but on leaving the reservoir and before entering the intake the water is 
aerated, thus giving it the most perfect purity possible. It has a natural fall 
of 712 feet from the reservoirs to the city. This would give it 306 pounds 
pressure to the square inch, but in order to reduce this pressure three 
automatic regulators are used in the conduit to the city. This pressure can be 
regulated in that way, and in case of fire a very heavy pressure can be given. 
Connections are made in the city with thirteen hydrants.

	It is probable that the waterworks will in time furnish water for the 
electric-light plant, mills, and a trolley line to Fort Mead, as well as 
furnishing Fort Meade with water. This splendid water plant has cost $150,000 
and is unexcelled in any part of the country.

	The Sturgis roller mills, owned by Van Winkle & Metzger, have a capacity 
of 100 barrels per day, running fourteen hours, and manufactures the Dewey, New 
Century and Eagle A brands of flour. The flour is of the finest quality, on 
account of the fact that the wheat in this section is unexcelled, and took the 
first prize at the Chicago exposition. It is shipped to all Black Hills points, 
as well as to Lincoln, Fremont, York, Thayer, Stockholm and Charlestown, 'Neb. 
The firm has also an excellent flour and feed business in Deadwood.

	On account of the quantity of cattle, sheep and horses received and raised 
and sold in the immediate neighborhood and the country tributary, large 
stockyards have been erected for facilitating receipt of shipments of cattle. 
Much wool is shipped from Sturgis. Farming is also very extensive. Wheat is the 
leading cereal, but excellent corn is also raised.

	It is interesting to note that most of the farmers were never farmers 
before they came here. Some were miners, some mechanics and some were business 
men, but almost to a man they have been successful, and in many cases are worth 
from $35,000 to $40,000 apiece.

	Fort Meade, which is located about a mile and a halt from Sturgis, is a 
permanent government post, with eight troops, consisting of over 500 men (all 
cavalry), and a band. This post cut a very prominent figure during the Indian 
troubles. The post is now being rebuilt, the old wooden barracks being replaced 
by stone and brick. The improvements will cover a number of years and thus 
enable the contractors of Sturgis to handle the proposition, rather than have it 
in the hands of outsiders, as would be necessary if it had to be completed in a 
very short period.

	Thirty-three thousand dollars is being spent in Fort Meade macadamizing 
roads and sidewalks.

	There is a volunteer fire department for Sturgis, with electric alarm 
system. There are four companies of 30 men each, and armed with four hose and a 
hook and ladder. Three of these companies are organized under state laws, by 
which they have a certain percentage of the insurance premiums.

	The Bare Butte Oil Company, with indications of oil five and one-half 
miles north of Sturgis, sunk a well 600 feet and encountered fine artesian 
water. This will be blasted at 600 feet to increase the flow and will be used 
for irrigation purposes. The company has found good indications of oil in 
Wyoming and has appropriated capital sufficient to sink wells there.

	The city has two excellent newspapers, both of them being weeklies, and 
two banks.

	The Meade County Bank was organized as a state institution in 1896 and 
bought out the First National Bank. Its capital is $20,000, with surplus and 
undivided profits on February 1, 1904, of $33,000. The deposits are very heavy, 
running about $300,000, a big portion of these deposits coming from farmers of 
Bare Butte valley and the stock-raising industries. Loans are made mainly on 
personal security, chattels, cattle and horses in small enclosures. The bank has 
been very successful, paying 15 per cent per annum in dividends and accumulating 
every year a large surplus. The officers are as follows: D. A. McPherson, 
president; H. O. Anderson, vice-president ; H. E. Perkins, cashier, and G. W. 
Huffman, assistant cashier. Mr. Perkins, the cashier, is mayor of Sturgis for a 
second term and state senator, has been president of the Meade County Republican 
Central Committee for six years, and is president of the Sturgis Commercial 
Club. He was at one time city treasurer of Sturgis, and previous to coming to 
this city was assistant postmaster at Deadwood.

	he Commercial National Bank is a late comer to Sturgis, having been opened 
October 1, 1903. Its capital is $25,000 and surplus $2,500. The deposits 
February 1, 1904, were about $30,000 and increasing at about $7,500 per month. 
H. C. Bostwick of Omaha is president, Edward Galvin, vice-president; M. M. 
Brown, cashier, and F. M. Shaw, assistant cashier. The other directors include 
some of the best known men of the Hills, including Thomas Sweeney, Charles J. 
Buell, I. M. Humphrey, O. J. Hansen and Henry Rodenhaus.

	The altitude of Sturgis is 3,200 feet.

TERRY.

	About the year 1891, flat formation ore bodies carrying gold of more than 
ordinary value were the means of bringing the present location of Terry into 
prominence. The town is located about four miles from Lead and seven from 
Deadwood by way of Lead. This town is the highest in altitude of any of the 
mining towns of the Black Hills, being 5,700 feet above the level of the sea. 
The first workings were at the Welcome mine, which is now a part of the 
Horseshoe group of mines. Later came the discovery of the Nevada gulch 
formation, which was afterward acquired by the Golden Reward. This latter 
formation runs under the present townsite of Terry, which property is owned by 
the Golden Reward company. The formation is something over 200 feet below the 
surface. The Golden Reward company added at various times to its claims, until 
it now covers a very large territory and has proven to be so far the second 
richest mine of the Black Hills in quantity of gold production. The Horseshoe 
company also acquired large properties and, notwithstanding its financial 
quandaries of late, which have been attributed by many to past financial 
mismanagement, is known to possess ore of good grade and in vast quantities, and 
the present management is working out the problems in a conservative rnanner 
which augurs well for the future. The first of these properties, belonging to 
the Horseshoe company, was acquired by Somers & Mackay of Montreal, Quebec. They 
in turn sold it to the present company. The Golden Reward and Horseshoe 
companies are the great mainstay of Terry, whose resources are purely those 
connected with the mines; but there are other properties, including that 
formerly owned by the Buxton company and now owned by Lundberg, Dorr & Wilson. 
This property is also a flat formation.

	The ores in this section have been mainly a series of sandstone formation, 
with quartzite below. The sinking of shafts and cross-cutting work of late have 
brought to light vertical veins below the quartzite, and it is believed these 
vertical veins will soon become a strong factor in the output of the companies. 
Lundberg, Dorr & Wilson are using the Chili mill process of crushing, after 
which the ores are cyanided. These flat formations are refractory ores and run 
from $2 to $200 per ton. An average of the bulk would probably be from $8 to 
$12. This particular class of ore cyanides very easily and extractions reach the 
highest percentage of value of any ores of the Black Hills. The Horseshoe 
company has a cyanide plant on a hill above the town. The Golden Reward mill is 
at Deadwood, where they also have a smelter.

	Terry is situated on the Spearfish line of the Burlington railway, and two 
narrow-gauge systems of the Northwestern and Burlington respectively make it 
their terminus in lines from Deadwood. These narrow-gauge lines are used for the 
transportation of ore. Terry's population is about 1,200 souls. Water supplying 
the town is drawn from wells and springs, while a 500-barrel tank above the hill 
is kept full of water by the Toronado hoist and a pipe is laid through the town, 
giving an excellent pressure for fire purposes. The fire department has a hose 
cart and is composed of some 50 volunteers. The town has a school board and two 
school buildings, one containing four rooms and the other one, the former having 
four teachers. The capacity of the two schools together is 300 pupils, and every 
year or two requires an addition to accommodations. There are three hotels, all 
of good capacity and very good houses. The churches number two, one of which is 
a Methodist and the other Catholic. In societies, Masons, A. O. U. W., Knights 
of Pythias, Improved Order of Red Men, Rebekahs and Court of Honor all have 
strong allegiance. The Western Federation of Miners, composed of 700 members, is 
the most prosperous branch of the Federation in the Black Hills; it is No. 5, 
and owns its own building, with a large hall on the second story. This building 
was erected when there were only 38 members. There is also an office for the 
financial secretary, Mr. George Hendy, some distance down the street. Connected 
with Mr. Hendy's office is an excellent reading room where the miners spend 
their leisure moments and have a well-stocked library and all the leading 
periodicals for their perusal. About $20,000 is at present in the treasury, and 
last year $3,000 was spent for benevolent purposes and nearly $700 for funerals.

	The future of Terry seems a very bright one. The flat formations are such 
as to guarantee an increasing prosperity for the merchants for many years to 
come, and, after the flat, the vertical formations will undoubtedly yield a 
practically inexhaustible supply of wealth. The site of Terry is one of the most 
beautiful in the Hills. Notwithstanding its high altitude, it is surrounded by 
peaks in every direction, including Terry Peak (within easy walking distance), 
some 1,500 feet higher than the town and from which one of the most beautiful 
panoramic views to be had in the Hills will be found in our pages.  This view 
covers Terry, Lead, Deadwood, White Rocks and even Bare Butte in the distance 26 
miles away, while from side to side 46 miles of territory are covered. This 
photograph, as also one of Spearfish falls and two others of Spearfish river and 
canyon, were executed by George M. Heggie, a resident of Terry, who, in his 
leisure moments, has, as an amateur with the camera, executed the finest 
panoramic views ever made in the Black Hills.

CUSTER.

	Mr. Shankland's graphic description of the early days of Custer county and 
Custer, when placer mining brought in the wildest element in the Black Hills, 
seems a dream of ages past when one views the beautiful plateau of an altitude 
of 5,550 feet, occupied by this dainty town of the southern Hills. We have given 
in our pages a series of views, both birdseye and panoramic, of Custer and its 
surroundings in order to show the geological formation of its surrounding 
country, which has shown on its surface some of the finest outcroppings of ore, 
not only of gold but of many other precious metals.

	Custer was taken up in July, 1885, as a town company called Stonewall, but 
a month later was reorganized and christened Custer City in honor of General 
Custer. December, 1875, a second organization, ignoring the previous platting, 
replatted the townsite. After the exodus to Deadwood, when only fourteen people 
were left in the original townsite, others began to dribble in during the year 
of 1877 from the expeditions to Deadwood; and previous to this, in 1876, after 
the Custer massacre, the camping on the town site of General Crook's army on its 
return gave a small impetus to population. Thus, in 1877, Custer numbered from 
500 to 600 souls. Since then it has grown by degrees, until now there are about 
1,000 inhabitants. Custer is the county seat of Custer county. The city has good 
waterworks, which were completed last year.  For lighting purposes, it is 
supplied by an acetylene gas plant of large capacity. It numbers two banks and 
two newspapers, the latter being weeklies. There are five general stores, 
carrying almost everything, and two very good hotels. The surrounding farming 
and stock-raising, which are of the best and confined mainly to the surrounding 
valleys, called parks, and the lumber industry furnish a very large trade for 
the merchants. The best example of a large park is to be found near Custer in 
what is called "Custer Park." This is a large area of gently sloping land, of 
which a photograph is found in our pages. It is used somewhat for farming and to 
a greater extent for the pasturing of cattle, and is surrounded on all sides by 
the mountain ranges. Much attention has been given to the raising of sheep of a 
fine grade; also to the improvement of the blood in horses and cattle, fine 
Herefords being among the latter.

	The city government is in the hands of trustees, consisting of five 
members, the chairman of which is ex-officio mayor. There are also a city clerk, 
city treasurer, city marshal and city justice of the peace. The volunteer fire 
department is well equipped, a reservoir above the city, having about 180 feet 
fall, being capable of throwing water over the highest buildings.

	Henry Robinson of Akron, O., built the mill of the Akron Mining and 
Milling Company in Custer about 1890, to grind mica and make grease. But finally 
began to make car and bridge paint from ochre. It is shipped dry to Aurora, 
111., and then mixed with oils and sold to railway companies. The combined 
company employs about 30 men. The Custer plant cost from $40,000 to $50,000.

	Sylvan lake, one of the most picturesque spots of the United States and a 
place which is becoming more popular every year, brings a large influx of summer 
visitors, many of whom live in the town, making daily excursions to the lake, 
while others live at the lake, which is only six miles distant, in a beautiful 
hotel erected for their accommodation.

	Churches are well represented and the schools are of the best. Societies 
are largely represented and well attended. The climate is exceptionally fine; 
the air is dry and pleasant, and Custer has finer atmospheric scenic effects 
than any place in the Black Hills, the sunsets being impossible of description.

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF CUSTER.

	This bank was founded in 1881 by Dennis Carrigan, being known as the Bank 
of Custer, and incorporated as a national bank in 1890. The capital is $25,000 
and surplus and undivided profits $5,000. Directors are D. Carrigan, president; 
F. A. Towner, vice-president; W. F. Hanley, cashier; James Halley (president of 
the First National of Rapid City) and Louisa Carrigan. Mr. Carrigan has lived in 
Custer since 1881, his residence just prior to that being Sidney, Neb., one of 
the nearest railroad stations to the Black Hills, and during a trip made to 
Custer in 1876 he became interested in property in the town, with the result 
that he made the place his home, as mentioned.  Mr. Hanley, the cashier, has 
been interested in the bank since 1891, having transacted a large business in 
general merchandise prior to his affiliation with the institution. Although he 
gives his time almost entirely to the bank, he still has a large interest in his 
former business.

THE CUSTER COUNTY BANK.

	This bank was incorporated in 1890 by Frank R. Davis, James M. Woods and 
George F. Schneider; commenced business April 17, 1890, with the following 
office is: S. H. Mills, president; J. E. Pilcher, vice-president; Frank R. 
Davis, cashier; T. W. Delicate, assistant cashier. At the death of Frank R. 
Davis in 1893, T. W. Delicate was elected cashier, which position he has held 
since.

	This bank has enjoyed a steady growth since its organization. The deposits 
at the present time average well over $100,000, while its surplus and undivided 
profits are more than they have been at any former time. The capital is $25,000.

	The present officers are S. H. Mills, president; D. W. Webster, vice-
president, and T. W. Delicate, cashier. The directors are S. H. Mills, president 
General Power Company, New York City; Benjamin W. Carll, ship and yacht builder, 
Northport, N. Y.; James Dayton, ship builder. Port Jefferson, N. Y.; George F. 
Schneider, cashier Pennington County Bank, Rapid City, S. D.; D. W. Webster, 
cashier Hill City Bank, Hill City, S. D., and T. W. Delicate, Custer, S. D.

	This bank is associated with the Pennington County Bank of Rapid City, S. 
D., and the Hill City Bank, of Hill City, S. D.

	T. W. Delicate, cashier, is a native of southern Illinois. When 18 years 
of age he moved to Nebraska City, Neb., in which place he held the position of 
bookkeeper in the Otoe County National Bank for five years, coming to Custer, S. 
D., in the spring of 1890 to assume the duties of assistant cashier and manager 
of the Custer County Bank, in which bank he now holds the position of cashier 
and director.

HILL CITY

	On the line of the Buriington, in practically the center of the Black 
Hills, at an altitude of 4,982 feet, surrounded by a great mineral belt, lies 
Hill City, which had its first inception in the spring of 1876, it being at that 
time practically the second log-cabin town of the Hills, coming directly as a 
placer camp after the rush to Custer. At that time two solid streets of cabins 
stretched north and south from bluff to bluff. The placering was mainly dry 
digging on side gulches. When the stampede went that fall to Deadwood the town 
was practically deserted, and there was little revival until the advent of the 
Harney Peak Tin Mining Company in 1887 and the Burlington Railway in the summer 
of 1890. At this time over 3,000 people poured in, and the town so remained 
until the closing down of the Harney Peak, in 1892. It may be well to say here 
that the business of this company was badly and extravagantly managed, and 
whatever its subsequent future, its failure must be laid at the door of the 
officers, for no excuse could reasonably be offered for the buying of 1.500 
claims and the working of them all, using every particle of ore instead of 
selecting that which could be worked to advantage. In this way, of course, they 
ran in a great deal of bare ore for treatment and their results were brought to 
a minimum, whereas there are quite a number of already discovered veins of large 
size in the Black Hills that will easily pay 3 per cent of tin per ton at a cost 
of not half that amount.

	The Harney Peak Company went into the hands of a receiver and closed down 
work, and this unquestionably was a great misfortune for Hill City; but at the 
present moment some very excellent gold mines are opening up in the immediate 
vicinity; copper has been found in good quantities, a tin mine yielding well 
will start its mill in the near future, and, while no boom exists at present, 
the town is advancing to a sure future. The population is now about 600. The 
townsite was located as a mining ground in 1878, and was then sold to the Harney 
Peak Mining Company, patented by them in 1888, and deeded or leased to the 
present property holders.

	The surrounding ranches of farming and cattle industries make considerable 
business for Hill City. The ranches in the mountain parks raise fine potatoes, 
oats, vegetables and hay. They are very productive and oats run as high as 50 
and 60 bushels to the acre. There are seldom any drouths, as the ranches are in 
valleys, and, therefore, self-irrigated. Experiments with small fruits have been 
very satisfactory, and fruits command good prices. The cattle industry is also 
very considerable, as most of the ranches have herds. Lumbering cuts quite a 
figure.

	T. W. March has a sawmill one mile from town and has a planer in town. In 
the last two years he has sawed 300,000 feet of local lumber annually, and has 
brought each year from Seattle, Wash., 50,000 feet of cedar and fir; also a 
great many red cedar shingles. All the lumber is consumed in the city and 
surrounding mines. There is another mill two and one-half miles from town, which 
sawed 400,000 feet last summer. There are four mills on the way to Keystone and 
another one five miles from Hill City. The native lumber is far superior for 
finishing than that imported, but as yet the proper kilns for drying have not 
been erected.

	R. J. Truax, a large mine owner, has a brick kiln on the edge of town, and 
manufactures an especially good brick, using the creek bottom clay, which is of 
the finest quality for such purposes.

	The school system is of the best. A large school building is on an 
elevation above the city, has four commodious schoolrooms, and is in charge of 
Professor L. W. Rooney. There are two assistant teachers, and pupils are taken 
from the first to the ninth grade, inclusive, or from the primary through the 
regular eight-year common school course, and with one year of high school work 
afterward. In the last three years military drill and tactics are taught, and 
the last year of high school embraces algebra, grammar and composition, 
bookkeeping, commercial and physical geography, civil government and geology.

	There are four churches-Baptist, Episcopal, Methodist and Roman Catholic-
one newspaper, an opera house, which is one of the best halls in the Hills, and 
two hotels, of which the Harney Peak Hotel is managed by Zachariah Taylor, who 
is well known as a hotel man, having had charge some years ago of the Paxton 
Hotel at Omaha. This hotel is commodious, has over twenty bedrooms and will be 
refurnished and refitted in the near future.

	Of societies, the Masonic, Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen, Miners' Union and 
Knights of Pythias are well represented. The old soldiers also have a post. The 
ladies of the town are represented by the Eastern Star, Royal Neighbors, Degree 
of Honor and Rebekahs.

	The Hill City Bank, which was opened for business January 31, 1903, has 
had a phenomenal record to date. Mr. D. W. Webster, the cashier, who has had 
previously a large experience for many years at New York City, Chicago, and 
later at Custer, S. D., saw the field at Hill City and availed himself of it. At 
the close of business December 31, 1903, after eleven months, a dividend of 5 
per cent was declared, besides which the bank showed a surplus of 10 per cent 
and 3 per cent of undivided profits, totalling a net profit for the eleven 
months of 18 per cent. Deposits at that time were $55,000, since which time they 
have been increasing at the rate of about $5,ooo per month. The bank is 
decorated in the empire style and has handsome offices and directors' rooms. The 
bank is a member of the American Bankers' Association, the South Dakota Bankers' 
Association, and carries burglar insurance. The officers are C. E. McEachron, 
president; George W. Bertschy, vice-president, and D. W. Webster, cashier. The 
capital is $10,000. This bank is one of the few buying placer gold to-day.

	It would surprise residents of many larger cities to know the enormous 
business done by some of the hardware and general merchandise establishments of 
Hill City, but, of course, the population of the town itself is practically only 
a supply department for a very large population.

DEADWOOD.

	Deadwood, the county seat of Lawrence county, possesses many of the 
elements of metropolitanism usually found in a city of 100,000 inhabitants. 
These are displayed in the large volume of business transacted by its banks and 
mercantile houses, the substantial and modern character of the buildings in the 
business center of the city, the improved facilities enjoyed for communication 
with the rest of the world and its ready accessibility from almost any 
direction. It has been termed "the biggest little city in the world," and there 
is warrant for the appellation. Its people are hospitable, generous and well 
informed; they live well, in costly, richly furnished homes, and are 
discriminating in the matter of dress and the selection of their amusements. 
They are generally well traveled and enlightened by personal observation 
regarding the best in art and literature. They are not too much engrossed with 
their business responsibilities and successes to take time to cultivate the 
higher gifts, and there are few of its leading citizens who do not pay frequent 
visits to the large cities of America or journey abroad. The city government is 
well organized and vigilant. The internal improvements are modern in character 
and efforts are made by the city administration to serve the best interests of 
the citizens. Law and order have ever been held, even since the first settlement 
of the city, in proper esteem, and no people are more fervent than those of 
Deadwood in their loyalty to the majesty of government.

[Photo - U. S. P0STOFFICE AND COURT HOUSE BUILDING, DEADWOOD.]

	Deadwood is located at the confluence of Whitewood and Dead-wood streams, 
but the narrow valleys formed by these waterways have proven inadequate to the 
growth of the city, so it has climbed the surrounding hillsides, many of the 
most handsome and costly residences being hundreds of feet above the business 
section, the houses rising in terraces, one above the other, half hidden by the 
growth of pines and spruce. Deadwood was originally located on April 26, 1876, 
but since that time its growth has extended far beyond the borders of the 
original town site; it has withstood two disastrous fires, the first of which 
destroyed the entire business section of the city and a large part of the 
residence portion. Refusing to accept the proffered assistance freely tendered 
by numerous western cities, the people of Deadwood, undismayed by their great 
loss, began the rebuilding of their places of business and homes. This great 
fire, which occurred September 26, 1879, was followed four years later, in May, 
1883, by a flood which washed away all that portion of the business part of the 
city lying to the east and south of Main street, and entailing an enormous loss 
of property. This did not discourage its people, for they again went at the task 
of rebuilding the city and again refused the offers made of outside assistance. 
March 5, 1894, the city was again visited by a fire which destroyed a large part 
of the business section of the city, but even these successions of disaster did 
not discourage the people, for in the places formerly occupied by wooden 
structures now rise buildings of stone and brick, modern in all of their 
appointments, and the city itself, no matter what may have been the individual 
losses, has benefited from every one of these visitations.

	Deadwood was first incorporated as a city in 1881, by an act of the 
legislature of the territory of Dakota. By this act Dead-wood, South Deadwood, 
Cleveland, Ingleside, Elizabethtown, Chinatown, Fountain City, Montana City and 
several other smaller hamlets were included in one corporation, the late Judge 
Daniel McLaughlin having been appointed the city's first mayor. Since passing 
under the control of a city government many public improvements have been made 
in the city. The streets have been macadamized, fire limits established, a 
system of city schools, equal in point of proficiency to that enjoyed by any 
city in the West, provided, waterworks built, a splendid fire department and 
police force organized, and other municipal needs satisfied.

	At no time in its history could Deadwood ever be classed as a "gross 
town." It has ever been singularly free from the bad element that has made other 
western and frontier towns notorious, although writers of blood and thunder 
stories have frequently laid the scenes of their fiction within her portals. The 
people of the city have ever held in veneration the teachings of the Master, and 
in such a community it has not been difficult to plant the seeds of religion. 
The first religious organization in Deadwood was formed by the Congregational 
Society in the fall of 1876, and its first church edifice was built early in 
1877. Since that date this society has grown to a wonderful extent, and is to-
day in a most prosperous and flourishing condition, owning its building and the 
ground upon which it stands, while its membership is large and growing.

	Closely following the Congregationalists came the Methodists, and they, in 
1877, through their missionaries, began the dissemination of the gospel. Their 
first church was destroyed by the flood of 1883, but the society secured another 
lot and has now erected upon it one of the handsomest church edifices in the 
state. The congregation is a large one and the society is one of the most 
prosperous in the Northwest.

	In 1877 the Catholics built their first church in Deadwood, a small frame 
structure, which has long since given way to a more pretentious edifice. This 
church, while its missionaries were among the very first to follow the gold 
seekers and the pioneers to the new Eldorado, has always been modest in its 
claims, but the good it has done will always remain a pleasant memory with the 
pioneers. It has a very large following in Deadwood, and is in a prosperous 
condition.

	It was not until 1878 that the first services held by an Episcopal 
minister were had in Deadwood, but since that time the church has grown and now 
owns one of the prettiest little churches in the West. Its services are well 
attended and it is highly successful.

	It was not until several years later that a society of Baptists was formed 
in the city, but to-day that denomination has a very large following in Deadwood 
and owns one of the best church edifices in the city.

	Trinity M. E. church, in the First ward of the city, is another 
organization which has a large membership and which is doing much good along the 
lines laid down by its founders.

	Church societies abound, and every congregation has its auxiliary corps of 
workers. Branches of the Young Men's Christian Association, the Young Women's 
Christian Association and the Epworth League have been established and every 
phase of church work is represented.

	The Lutherans hold religious services in the city at stated intervals, as 
do also the Seventh Day Adventists, but neither denomination has as yet a home 
of its own.

	The Jews hold services in the city hall.

	Deadwood's location makes it favorable for the establishment at this place 
of plants for the treatment of ores. Running into and through the great mining 
region of the northern Black Hills are branches of two of the greatest railroad 
systems in the United '" States, the Northwestern and the Burlington.  From 
Deadwood lines of narrow-gauge railroads owned by these companies reach every 
mine of prominence, and from them is brought to the city for treatment 1,500 
tons of ore daily.

	Here are located the mammoth 500-ton smelter of the Golden Reward Mining 
Company and its 250-ton cyanide plant; the 300-ton mill of the Hidden Fortune 
company; the 200-ton mill of the Dakota company; the aoo-ton mill of the 
Imperial Gold Mining Company; the Rossiter cyanide mill of loo tons daily 
capacity, and the Glass & Ogden cyanide plant of 35 tons daily capacity. When it 
is considered that all of the ore treated by these plants will give better 
returns than $6 per ton, the importance of Deadwood as a milling and smelting 
center can be justly appreciated.

	Wholesale and retail business houses, carrying stocks as large as many of 
the big establishments of larger cities, abound, and the volume of business 
transacted by each is heavy, for not only have the demands and wants of the city 
itself to be satisfied, but a populous country tributary to the city has to be 
supplied, and to do this businesses requiring large capital are necessary.

	Aside from the mining interests, other lines of manufacturing are 
represented. A foundry and machine shop, which gives employment to a number of 
men> has been established, and from this foundry most of the heavy pillars, 
beams and castings which have entered into the construction of Deadwood's most 
handsome buildings have come. A cigar factory supplies a part of the trade with 
goods; a creamery, the largest in the state, finds a ready market for all of its 
manufactured wares at prices which are reasonable and return a fair profit. Two 
plants for the manufacture of pressed and common brick, two planing and 
finishing mills, are kept busy supplying the demand for building materials, 
while every line of mechanical industry, including steam laundries, is 
represented, and those engaged in the business are never lacking for something 
to do, the employes receiving the highest going wages. Ever since the city 
graduated from the placer mining class it has enjoyed unparalleled prosperity 
along these lines and the wage earner has always been handsomely compensated for 
his toil.

	The Olympic Association is a social organization (organized in 1894) 
numbering about 200 of the best young men of the city, and contributes greatly 
to the pleasures of those socially inclined.  It occupies one of the best 
appointed halls in the city, the equipments for the use of its members including 
every known device for the training of athletes, while a well-stocked library 
appeals to those of its members who do not care for the strenuous in life. 
Several women's clubs and literary clubs, all with good memberships, hold weekly 
meetings and add to the social features of the city.

	Lodges of Masons, Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America, Woodmen of the 
World, Degree of Honor, Redmen, Knights of Pythias, Knights of Columbus, 
Daughters of the American Revolution, Grand Army of the Republic, Women's Relief 
Corps, Elks and Eagles have been organized in the city and have large and 
devoted followings. The Masonic fraternity but a few years ago completed a 
$60,000 temple, in which meet the different branches of that order, the Blue 
Lodge, Chapter, Knights Templars, the Consistory of Scottish Rites Masons for 
the western division of South Dakota and the Order of the Mystic Shrine.

	In the summer of 1903 the Hotel Franklin, conceded to be the handsomest 
and best appointed hotel in the state, was finished and thrown open to the 
public at a cost of nearly $150,000, and has added greatly to the popularity of 
Deadwood as a hotel town, for it is conducted in strictly metropolitan style.

	The stockholders of the hotel are mostly business men of the city and the 
hotel is a monument to their progressive ideas. They are fortunate in their 
selection of Mr. Harold Hamilton as manager. Mr. Hamilton has had large 
experience from a famous watering place near Cincinnati-the Lagoon-where he was 
formerly steward in charge; also at Chattanooga, Indianapolis and Danville, 
Ill., and later as manager of the Iler-Grand in Omaha, and his thorough 
knowledge of the hotel business enabled him to adopt the methods of a 
metropolitan hotel (instead of running such a handsome house in country style), 
and yet hold the expenses down to reasonable sums. The house has 80 rooms, of 
which more than half are furnished with private bath rooms, having both hot and 
cold water. It is lighted by electric bulbs; is steam-heated throughout, 
beautifully furnished, has a very handsome lobby, and every room in the house is 
an outside room.

THE BULLOCK.

	The Bullock, which before the advent of the Franklin was the first hotel 
in Deadwood, was closed at that time and has now been reopened under the 
proprietorship of John H. Fredinburg. The hotel has been thoroughly renovated 
and many improvements have been added. It is now furnished throughout with steam 
heat and electric lights, while hot and cold water baths are on each floor. The 
house has sixty sleeping rooms and a number of very fine sample rooms for 
traveling men. The sample rooms are particularly light and cheerful. The house 
is run on the European plan.

	Mr. Fredinburg, the proprietor, is an experienced hotel man. having 
formerly run the Harney Peak Hotel at Hill City, S. D., and a house at Hyanis, 
Neb. He is well acquainted among traveling men, to whom he especially caters and 
with whom he is very popular.

THE GILLMORE.

	The Gillmore is another excellent house and is well situated on the first 
terrace to the west of the city, commanding a beautiful view in all directions..

	Several other caravansaries cater to the traveling public. Deadwood is 
well supplied with hotels, and has many times demonstrated its ability to care 
for crowds of visitors.

NEWSPAPERS.

	In the newspaper field, the Daily Pioneer Times (owned by W. H. Bonham, 
who is also postmaster), occupies the distinctive position of being the most 
prosperous publication in western South Dakota. It prints daily telegraphic 
reports and all the local and mining news of the Hills. At present it is the 
only daily publication in the city. The Weekly Mining Review looks after the 
mining interests of the community in a first-class and conservative manner. 
These are the only publications now issuing from the city.

SCHOOLS.

	Deadwood's pride is its public school system. For the year ending June 30, 
1903, there were 1,473 children of school age in the city, and up to that date 
there were enrolled upon the rosters of the different schools a daily average of 
1,200. To accommodate these children the city has built, at great expense, six 
modern brick school buildings, and for their care and instruction employs a 
principal and twenty-three teachers and assistants. The high school is situated 
in the center of the city and the graded schools in the different wards. The 
direction of the school affairs is looked after by a board consisting of two 
members from each ward and one from the city at large. The school fund is a 
large one and carefully handled.

	In Deadwood is located the United States assay office, through which 
passes a large portion of the gold mined in the Black Hills. This year work will 
begin upon a government building, which will cost when completed $200,000. Other 
building enterprises by individuals and corporations will be inaugurated this 
year, and it is estimated that the improvements for 1904 will aggregate over 
$1,000,000. Deadwood is at the present time substantially built, the log cabins 
and frame shacks of the pioneer days having given way to the march of 
improvement, and in no city of its size in the West can more handsome business 
and dwelling houses be found.

CITY GOVERNMENT.

	The government of the city is in the hands of a mayor and board of 
aldermen. The mayor holds his office for two years and the aldermen for a like 
period. Four aldermen, one from each ward, are elected on alternate years. The 
present mayor, Edward McDonald, has proven a most enterprising officer, who has 
been untiring in his efforts to advance and improve the city, in which work he 
has been ably assisted by the aldermen, between whom and himself there is 
perfect concord. This spirit of municipal enterprise is giving the city well-
paved streets, an improved system of waterworks, perfect illumiration by 
electric light and gas of the city's thoroughfares, and has fostered the 
organization of the best volunteer fire department in the West, and has supplied 
it with every requisite for fighting fire. The fire department consists of eight 
hose companies, a chemical engine and two hook and ladder companies, which have 
a record that cannot be beaten.

	Two large electric power and light plants are located here, one furnishing 
the power to operate the Burlington system of electric railroads between 
Deadwood and Lead, and the other furnishing the light for the city and the power 
to move the machinery in many small factories and business houses.

	The Deadwood Gas Company has but recently completed a large plant for the 
manufacture of gas, and its pipe lines are laid through every street and alley 
of the city.

	Two branches from two of the largest railroad companies in the United 
States, the Northwestern and the Burlington, enter Dead-wood, and their depots, 
passenger and freight, are among the handsomest structures erected here.  From 
Deadwood branch narrow and broad gauge lines penetrating the mining districts in 
every direction, and the question of transportation, which in early days was a 
serious problem, has now been solved. In the matter of communication with Lead, 
there are 43 trains daily, while with other sections of the Hills there are 20 
more.

	The first system of telephones placed in the Black Hills was established 
in Deadwood in 1879, and from that date it has grown until there is not a mining 
camp or hamlet in the entire 100 miles square of the country but what is in 
direct communication with this metropolis. Some years ago another telephone 
company entered the field and now serves a vast number of patrons. In 1903 the 
old company began the work of placing its lines, where they crossed and occupied 
the main streets of the city, underground, and late in the winter completed the 
improvement, besides installing an up-to-date and complete station and exchange. 
The Western Union Telegraph Company's lines enter the city, so communication 
with the outside world can be readily had.

	The Deadwood District Telegraph Company has for the past three years had a 
good messenger service in vogue.

	St. Joseph's Hospital, under the charge of the Sisters of the Catholic 
church, is an institution in which the people of Deadwood take the greatest 
pride. It is equipped with every appliance for the care of the ill and injured, 
and no one, no matter how poor in worldly wealth, is ever turned from its doors. 
A large corps of physicians give their service to the hospital, and under them 
is an efficient corps of nurses.

	The Deadwood postoffice is the distributor for the surrounding cities of 
the Hills, and the following interesting figures (of 1903) were furnished by 
Postmaster W. H. Bonham:

Sale of stamps, etc., box rent and second-class postage ........... $ 16,743.81
Postal remittances received........................................    8,422.53
12,726 money orders issued (domestic and inter.)...................  100,852.34
Fees on above .....................................................      810.04
4,708 money orders paid (domestic and inter.) .....................   55,701.55
Money order remittances received from local postoffices............  474,652.21

DEADWOOD CREAMERY.

	This creamery (before referred to) which is owned by A. D. Sears, is 
worthy of special mention. It has a capacity of 2,000 pounds of butter per day. 
It is now making from 1,000 to 1,200 pounds per day, and is increasing fast.  
Five people are employed in the work and the cream is brought mainly from nine 
gathering stations in Nebraska, from 200 to 400 miles distant, and shipped in by 
express. There are also several other stations in the Black Hills.

	The butter is sold in every town in the Black Hills and shipment has been 
made as far east as New York City. The quality of this butter scored higher than 
any of Nebraska in the National Creamery Buttermen's Combination in Milwaukee in 
October, 1902. Out of 800 entries, only 32 scored as high in point of quality as 
that manufactured by this creamery, which is the largest one in the Black Hills.

	Mr. Sears also manufactures ice cream, with a rapidly increasing trade, 
and does a large poultry and egg business, the poultry being kept alive and 
utilized as trade demands. The principal jobbing business of the Hills in eggs 
is done by this creamery, which also conducts a wholesale trade in cream.

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

	Banking has always been a prosperous business in Deadwood, with liberal 
deposits and a good demand for loans. The following three institutions, in order 
of establishment, will give an idea of its extent:

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF DEADWOOD.

	This bank was established under another name in 1877, but it became a 
national bank in 1878. Its capital is $100,000, with a surplus of $85,000, and 
deposits of $900,000.  Harris Franklin, banker, mine operator and capitalist, is 
the president; T. J. Grier, superintendent of the Homestake mine, vice-
president, and D. A. McPherson, cashier.

	Mr. McPherson is a Canadian by birth, having been born at Lancaster, 
Ontario, a little west of Montreal. His first experience in banking was at 
Helena, Mont., in 1871, and later at Bozeman, where in 1872 he organized the 
First National Bank. He entered banking in Deadwood in 1877 and became cashier 
of the First National Bank in 1882. Mr. McPherson was a county commissioner for 
eight years, and was four years on the school board. He has for the past eight 
years been a member of the city council.

AMERICAN NATIONAL BANK OF DEADWOOD.

	This bank was established in 1895. Its capital is $50,000 and surplus 
$10,000; the undivided profits and contingency fund amount to $140,000. William 
E. Adams is president and N. E. Franklin cashier.  The directorate also includes 
John Treber, one of the wealthiest merchants of Deadwood; Benjamin Baer, a 
capitalist now living in St. Paul, who made his fortune in the Black Hills in 
conjunction with Harris Franklin; and Harris Franklin, who has been one of the 
most successful men of the Black Hills. Mr. Franklin, in company with New York 
capitalists, is heavily interested in the cattle industry. He is vice-president 
and general manager of the Golden Reward mine and Golden Reward smelter, of 
which Mr. E. H. Harriman of New York City is president, and was the first banker 
of Deadwood, with whose city affairs he has always been prominent. The Franklin 
Hotel was named in his honor.

BLACK HILLS TRUST AND SAVINGS BANK.

[Photo - BLACK HILLS TRUST AND SAVINGS BANK.]

	The organization of new banks is always an indicator of the prosperity of 
the community in which they are organized to transact 'business.  New banks 
indicate growing financial resources of the district. The Black Hills Trust and 
Savings Bank was organized last summer in Deadwood, and opened its doors 
September 8, 1903. It is chartered under the laws of the state of South Dakota, 
to transact a general banking business. Its capital is $50,000 and surplus 
$12,500, fully paid in. Prominent business men of Deadwood are stockholders and 
directors in the institution, and a large amount of the stock is held in 
different cities in Pennsylvania.

	Since the bank was organized it has enjoyed a liberal patronage from the 
business men of Deadwood, and the especial care given to savings accounts has 
made it popular with the laboring man as well. Deeds in escrow, issuing of 
drafts on all parts of the world, dealing in bills of exchange, promissory 
notes, buying and selling of exchange, loaning of money on real estate-in fact, 
a general banking business is transacted. The savings department is a feature of 
the institution deserving of especial mention. Deposits are received of $1 and 
upward, on which interest at the rate of 4 per cent per annum is paid on all 
accounts standing six months or more. Interest is compounded semi-annually.

	The institution is occupying temporary quarters in the Phoenix building on 
Main street, but has in course of construction an elegant building at the corner 
of Main and Shine streets-undoubtedly one of the best business locations in the 
city.

	The new building is constructed of brick and stone, with polished granite 
columns. It will contain a modern fire and burglar proof vault of chrome steel 
and has automatic doors, and will be equipped with safe deposit boxes.

	To show the growth of the institution in five months' business, the 
deposits February I, 1904, had grown to $81,000, and are increasing from $13,000 
to $20,000 per month.

	The bank has recently been made a depository for Lawrence county.

	The officers are: M. J. Galiup, president; R. S. Jamison, vice-president; 
P. M. Brooder, cashier. The directors comprise the following, all of whom 
excepting the last three mentioned are residents of Deadwood, they being 
Pennsylvania gentlemen: B. P. Dague, George M. Johnson, F. D. Smith, Burt 
Rogers, R. S. Jamison, F. M. Brooder, M. J. Galiup, M. Hirsch and Richard 
Coulter, Jr. Mr. Brooder, the cashier, was for several years prior to his coming 
to Deadwood the assistant cashier of the Kane Bank and Trust Company of Kane, 
Pa., and has since his arrival made many friends in the community, with whom he 
has had social and business intercourse. Although a young man, he has had 
considerable banking experience, having entered the employ of the Kane Bank and 
Trust Company as messenger 17 years ago and advanced to bookkeeper, head 
bookkeeper and assistant cashier. He has made his way up the ladder with a place 
at the top as his one ambition, and is a man in whom the confidence of the 
community is placed.

	Among the eastern stockholders are the following residents of 
Pennsylvania: J. M. Jamison, president; W. W. Jamison, general manager Jamison 
Coal and Coke Co., Greensburg, Pa.; Richard Coulter, Jr., vice-president First 
National bank, Greensburg, Pa.; H. F. Seanor, director Safe Deposit and Trust 
Co., Greensburg, Pa.; C. H. Loucks, cashier First National bank, Scottdale; S. 
F. Potter, director Barclay Trust Co., Greensburg; M. J. Galiup, president Mt. 
Jewett bank; J. B. Hirsch, director Kane Bank and Trust Co.; Fred Johnson, 
director Kane Trust and Savings Co.; A. D. Gould, president Home Gas Co., 
Eldred, Pa.

DEADWOOD BUSINESS CLUB.

	In the summer of 1901 the necessity of a Federal building in Deadwood 
became so apparent that its citizens decided to supplement the working of the 
South Dakota delegation in congress by something more substantial than the 
passing of resolutions. To this end a meeting was held, at which assembled the 
leading men of the city. This meeting was held in the office of Congressman E. 
W. Martin, and at the time the claims of Deadwood for this public improvement 
thoroughly discussed. At this meeting it was suggested by Congressman Martin 
that the gentlemen present could work in greater harmony and to a better purpose 
should they organize themselves into an association for not only carrying on the 
work on hand but also such other work as might arise looking to the furtherance 
of Deadwood's interests along other lines.

	This suggestion of Congressman Martin was well received, and a few days 
after another meeting was held, at which plans for the formation and 
organization of a business club or a board of trade were formulated. The plans 
of the projectors received the endorsement of the business men, professional men 
and citizens generally, and the result was that on the 5th day of December, 
1901, the Business Club of Deadwood came into a full existence, and since that 
time has labored hard to advance every interest of the city and has accomplished 
during that short period wonders.

	Organization was effected by the election of D. A. McPherson, cashier of 
the First National Bank; Harris Franklin, president of the American National 
Bank and manager of the Golden Reward Mining Company; S. W. Russell, general 
manager of the Clover Leaf Mining Company; George V. Ayres, a prominent 
merchant; James Munn, contractor and builder; B. P. Dague, a well-known man in 
insurance circles, and John R. Wilson, an attorney of prominence, as a board of 
directors.

	The board of directors at its first meeting chose as officers for the club 
John R. Wilson, president; S. W. Russell, vice-president; Charles A. Coe, 
secretary; R. N. Ogden, treasurer.

	With a membership of 150 of the best and most enterprising citizens of the 
city, a progressive corps of officers and a determination to succeed in all of 
its endeavors inspiring the membership, the club began its active life. Quarters 
for the new organization were secured in the Waite block on the corner of Main 
and Dead-wood streets. These quarters of the club have been handsomely furnished 
and every comfort provided for the benefit of the members and visitors. Reading 
rooms, billiard rooms, card rooms, private apartments for the officers and a 
cafe were provided. In these rooms are entertained the guests of the club and 
the distinguished visitors to the city, and here are prepared and discussed 
plans for the city's welfare.

	The very first work of importance to be taken up was the location of a 
Federal building in the city, and so well did the committees of the club perform 
their appointed tasks in compiling a mass of statistics and data regarding the 
business interests of Deadwood, the volume of trade passing through it, its 
importance as the business center of western South Dakota, its accessibility 
from all other sections of the Black Hills and its desirability as a place in 
which should be located the land office for this district, the weather bureau, 
and the proper city in this section in which to hold the regular terms of the 
Federal court, that it was a prime factor in securing an appropriation of 
$200,000 for the erection of a public building, and by its labors lightened the 
task of the congressional delegation in securing the desired appropriations.

	Its next important work was the building of the Franklin Hotel, the finest 
in the state, which was erected at a cost of over $100,000. To secure the 
erection of this building the club members pledged themselves to furnish the 
necessary money, Harris Franklin, one of the directors, being the largest 
subscriber to the fund, while the balance of the amount necessary to complete 
the building and furnish it was subscribed by the other members and citizens in 
varying sums.

	During the three years it has been in existence the club has spent a great 
deal of money in advertising the country, and through its efforts it has induced 
the location at Deadwood of a number of cyanide and other plants for the 
treatment of ores, besides being responsible for many other improvements and the 
location here of industrial works.

	The second year of its existence found the club with a membership of 170, 
and every individual composing it as enthusiastic in the work as were the 
original organizers. The same board of directors was chosen to serve the second 
year, but there was a change in the officers of the club, S. W. Russell having 
been elected president; Harris Franklin, vice-president; Otto P. Th. Grantz, 
treasurer; 0. U. Pryce, secretary. The new officers did not allow the work of 
the organization to flag, but took the keenest interest in that under way, and 
by a great deal of self-sacrifice and public spirit, carried to a successful 
conclusion many of the projects started by the club during the first year of its 
organization.

	In December, 1903, a new board of directors was elected to serve for the 
ensuing year, and this board elected as the club officials the following 
gentlemen: President, John R. Russell, an attorney of prominence, who was 
appointed to the office of city attorney under the administration of Mayor 
McDonald; Albe Holmes, a mining man of long experience and one of the most 
successful of the Black Hills, was elected vice-president; John Wilson, a 
successful hardware merchant of Deadwood, was elected treasurer.

	The other directors are H. S. Vincent, conceded to be a prominent railway 
and mining engineer; H. O. Allen, who is deputy clerk of the district court; 
George S. Jackson, a promoter of prominence in mining circles, and Edward 
McDonald, mayor of the city, who increased his already manifold and taxing 
duties to help solve with his long and technical experience the peculiar 
conditions constantly arising.

	The directorate appointed C. A. Coe as secretary, owing to his previous 
experience in that capacity and his abilities as an accountant.

	A house committee consisting of D. F. Kinney, W. A. Remer and Albe Holmes, 
of which Albe Holmes is chairman, looks after the interests of the club, 
provides reading matter, sees to the care of the rooms and performs the other 
duties necessary to keep the establishment to its highest standard. Committees 
on entertainment, transportation, membership and legislation, composed of the 
brightest members in the club, have duties to perform which they do gladly and 
with ability. The club meets in business session once every month, at which 
meetings plans are discussed and projects suggested for bringing trade to the 
city and for the profitable employment of its vast resources.

THE QUESTION OF COAL.

	In the conduct of its mining and industrial operations the Black Hills is 
not forced to rely on distant fields for the coal necessary to carry them on. At 
Cambria, Wyo.. but a short railroad haul distant, are located some of the most 
productive coal mines in the West, producing an article which meets all the 
requirements for coking and for domestic and industrial purposes. From Sheridan, 
Wyo., at a distance of 240 miles from the mining center, is mined an excellent 
grade of coal, for a very large part of which a good market is found in the 
Black Hills. From Cambria, at the present time, comes the largest part of the 
coke used in the Black Hills, while for steam and domestic purposes the Sheridan 
coal has the call.

	Sixty-five miles west from Deadwood are located the Sundance coal fields, 
which are as yet but in process of development, but with the work already done 
upon them give promise of equaling the Sheridan, Cambria or Newcastle coal in 
point of excellence and quantity. A syndicate of Eastern gentlemen, at the head 
of which is Colonel Twombly of Minneapolis, has secured possession of ten 
thousand acres of land on this belt of coal, and it is upon this property that 
most of the work of developing and exploring has been done. This work shows that 
there are now exposed three distinct veins of very good coal, that found at 
depth being of a better grade than that found nearer the surface. The coal is 
found on a level plateau, far enough removed from the Black Hills uplift to 
insure the continuity of the veins. The first of these veins is encountered at a 
depth of 150 feet, and is from four to four and one-half feet thick; the second 
was struck in a tunnel which had been driven into the slope of the plateau one 
hundred feet below the first vein; the work done upon this vein has proven it to 
be from five and a half feet to six feet in thickness, and of a most desirable 
quality for either steam or domestic purposes. At a depth of three hundred and 
ninety-four feet a third seam of bright, free hard coal has been struck. This is 
a workable vein of from seven to eight feet in thickness, and possesses many of 
the characteristics of anthracite, so a good description of it would be "semi-
anthracite." The heat value of this coal in British thermal units nearly equals 
that of Hocking valley coal. To assist in the development of this ground there 
is at hand an abundance of excellent timber, as well as an ample supply of water 
for all purposes.

	In order to bring the Sundance coal to the Black Hills market it will be 
necessary to build but a few miles of railroad, and this enterprise has already 
received a start, the Wyoming & Black Hills Railroad Company, which has already 
a part of jts roadbed graded, proposing to run its line from the coal fields, 
ten miles west from Sundance, to connections with both the Burlington and 
Northwestern systems. After these connections have been made this road will be 
continued east to Pierre, the capital of the state, thus giving the Black Hills 
direct connections with Minneapolis, St. Pain and other Northwestern points of 
importance. Colonel L. C. Twombly, who is the directing genius of the 
enterprise, has the pledge of all the capital necessary to carry the enterprise 
to a successful completion, and already has started the preliminary work, so it 
is believed that by 1906 the coal fields will not only be connected direct by 
rail with Deadwood and Lead, but that the Black Hills will have what it has 
needed for many years, an east and west line of road connecting the country 
direct with the great markets of the Northwest.

	At Aladdin, connected by rail with Belle Fourche, good coal has been mined 
and shipped for some time.


LEAD.

	Lead, pre-eminently a city of homes, is one of the must prosperous 
municipalities in the West and one of the best governed. Lead's history begins 
with the invasion of the northern Hills by the gold seekers, who had the year 
before prospected and mined along the creeks and gulches of the southern Hills. 
In February, 1876, Thomas E. Carey, an adventurous argonaut, who had located on 
Deadwood Gulch, crossed the divide separating that gulch from what is now known 
as Gold Run creek, in a search for placer gold. The Situation looked favorable 
on Gold Run, and the experienced eye of the old placer miner at once detected 
the indications which bespoke the richness of the virgin soil. Prospecting the 
gravels of the creek, he was not long in finding that his surmises were correct 
and that the gulch would pay to work.


[Photo - HOMES OF EMPLOYES OF THE HOMESTAKE MINING COMPANY AT LEAD. Erected 
within the exterior boundaries of the great mine and occupying their sites, by 
permission of the company, free of charge.]


	Mr. Carey lost no time is locating a claim, and that completed, he 
imparted to his friends on Deadwood Gulch the fact that he had discovered rich 
diggings across the divide. As Dead-wood Gulch was but a short distance from the 
new placer fields and thickly populated, it was not long before every foot of 
ground on Gold Run and its tributaries was located, and the usual mining camp 
sprang into existence. The gulch proved to be rich in placer gold, and a number 
of fortunes were washed from its gravels before they had been worked over, and 
even for many years afterward Gold Run proved to be a paying proposition to the 
old-time placer miner with his sluice boxes and his rocker.

	Shortly after the location of the gulch and its settlement a town site was 
laid out. This new city, in a wilderness of pines, which was to be but the 
beginning of the prosperous city of Lead, was given the name of Washington. For 
a time its growth was slow, and only the log cabins of the placer miners and one 
or two unpretentious frame buildings, dignified by the name of stores,
had been built during the first year of its existence. Quartz mining had not at 
this time received much attention in the Black Hills, the efforts of the miners 
being directed to the discovery and development of placer ground, so the first 
year of its existence left Washington still a struggling hamlet, hiding in the 
depths of a thickly wooded gulch, and its sources of revenue and opportunities 
for providing labor rapidly diminishing.  In the year following, 1877, when the 
first attempts at quartz mining were made, the town received a new lease of life 
and gradually began expanding, climbing up out of the dark depths of the gulch 
and spreading itself over the surrounding hillsides, until to-day, when it seems 
as though the mining industry in that section has reached the limit of its 
expansion, there stands the second largest city in the state of South Dakota and 
one of the most prosperous, providing the best of going wages, constant 
employment for an army of between 3,000 and 3,500 skilled mechanics, miners and 
laborers. a city of homes, under the watchful care of a municipal government 
which guards its every interest with a jealous care.

	In 1877 the first gold-bearing quartz mined within the present limits of 
Lead was treated, and the precious metal which it contained released from its 
enclosing rock. This consisted of 4,100 tons of rock, mined from the Homestake 
mine by the Manuel Brothers, who hauled it to Whitewood creek, two miles to the 
south, where they had built an arasta. In this crude treatment plant the quartz 
was ground, and so satisfactory was the result that the mine from which it had 
been taken at once came into prominence. This first attempt was followed by the 
erection of the Racine mill, a twenty-stamp mill on the south fork of Gold Run, 
on the Pierce mine, just above the present site of the residence of 
Superintendent Grier of the Homestake Mining Company. This plant, known as the 
Racine mill, contracted with the owners of the Golden Star, a promising prospect 
adjoining the Homestake, to treat the ore from that mine for $10 per ton.

	This was followed by the Enos mill, the Thompson, then the Given mill, 
Smith & Pringle, Marshman's mill, the Wambold, the White mill, the Costello and 
several others, all treating custom ore for the Homestake and Golden Star under 
original owners until the Homestake built its first mill. Although the tolls 
were high, for a time the ore shipped to these mills paid well despite the 
extravagant price charged for its treatment.

	This was the birth of Lead, and the infant has proven to be of that 
healthy kind which grows with years in strength.  The last census has given the 
city 8,000 inhabitants, but it is safe to say that the figures are much nearer 
10,000.

	Lead was incorporated as a city in 1890, its growth and its importance 
demanding that the change from a village to a municipality be made. During the 
fourteen years elapsing from its first settlement until the time of its 
incorporation so rapid has been its growth that another ward was added, and now 
besides the mayor eight councilmen care for the city's welfare.

	Since its incorporation as a city Lead has made rapid strides toward 
municipal greatness, and is as well equipped in this respect as is any city in 
the West.  Especially is this true with regard to educational advantages offered 
the children of its people.  In 1878 the first public school was opened to the 
children of Lead, and during that year there was an average attendance at the 
school of thirty-eight. In 1903, at the close of the school year, there were 
2,400 children of school age in the city, and of this number there had been a 
daily attendance of 2,100. To accommodate these pupils the city has built seven 
schools, modern in all of their appointments; and for the instruction of the 
children a superintendent, his assistants and forty teachers are employed. 
During the fall of 1903 the district completed at an expense of $31,000 an 
addition to the high school building, a handsome structure of brick and stone. 
Commodious school grounds afford ample opportunity for recreation and athletic 
sports, the board of education, a part of the city government, believing that a 
healthy mind is the necessary adjunct of a healthy body. Lead is fortunate, so 
far as its schools are concerned, for being situated in the center of the 
richest mining district in the West, its school fund is the largest in the state 
and, despite the heavy drain that is put upon it to care for the ever-increasing 
number of pupils that its schools must accommodate, it has always a handsome 
surplus and is never in want of money to carry out any improvement for the 
benefit of the pupils.

	In the spring of 1900, March 8th, Lead was visited by a disastrous fire 
which destroyed the business part of the city and much of the residence section. 
In any other city the loss would have discouraged the people, but not so with 
those of Lead. Although it crippled many business men temporarily, there was not 
heard a word of complaint and the started. Those who were able assisted their 
less fortunate brothers, and before the year had ended the burnt district had 
been rebuilt.   Substantial structures of stone and brick raised from the 
smoldering ashes of frame buildings. The credit of the merchants was unlimited; 
the stocks which had disappeared in smoke had been replenished; new firms had 
been added to the list of old ones, and in less than a year from the date of the 
fire, commercially, Lead again took the lead.   Several large department stores 
carrying stocks not to be found in cities of double the population, wholesale 
and retail houses and jobbing firms, cater to the trade with the surrounding 
country and the citizens of the city, which is increasing with every twelve 
months passed.

	Every year adds to the wealth and to the improvement of the city, and 
among its most advanced and enterprising citizens are the mayor, E. F. Irwin, 
and the present city council, who never hesitate to expend money if it will but 
add to the comfort of the citizens or the improvement of the city. A few years 
ago the necessity of a sewerage system was manifestly apparent. The money was 
appropriated and the improvement made. In 1903 a demand was made that the 
principal streets of the city be paved. This has been done, and to do it $80,000 
has been expended, Main and Mill streets being paved with the best quality of 
vitrified brick, while plans have been laid to extend this improvement to every 
thoroughfare of the city. Streets have been graded, parks laid out and the 
welfare of the citizens looked after in a manner paternal in its exactness.

CO-OPERATION OF THE HOMESTAKE.

	The efforts of the city government in preserving good order and deportment 
generally of the people have the hearty support of the Homestake Company, 
because the company insists that its employes shall not be out until all hours 
of the night dissipating in the various resorts of the town. Men who do that are 
incapacitated to a degree that the company thinks unfits them to fill 
satisfactorily to it or with safety to their coemployes any position that they 
chance to occupy in the service. There is more or less hazard in all the 
departments of a great mining company, and especially in and about its 
underground working and through the shafts it is necessary to pass and repass to 
get there. This is in justice to all. A good evidence of the value of this 
policy is in the beautiful residences occupied by employes and the large sums on 
deposit in the First National Bank, which, we are semi-officially assured, 
belongs largely to these men.

	In Lead are located the principal workings of the great Homestake Mining 
Company, its principal mills, cyanide works and hoists, as well as the mines 
from which have been produced during the last twenty-six years an aggregate of 
$100,000,000 in gold. Nine hundred and forty stamps, each with a crushing 
capacity of five tons of ore a day, free from the rock the gold which it 
contains. To keep this large number of stamps employed an average of 2,500 men 
are daily engaged, their wages ranging from $2.50 to $12 per day. This company 
alone has a monthly payroll of about $200,000, and improvements are new making 
which promise to further augment this monthly expenditure by many thousands of 
dollars. Improvements to the extent of many millions of dollars have been made 
by the company since it first became interested in Lead, and these include, 
aside from the immense sums spent in the development and working of its mines, 
the largest stamp mill in the world, the largest cyanide plant, the second 
largest hoisting works in the world, a perfect system of viaducts and 
underground railroads, waterworks, machine shops and foundry, supply houses and 
the necessary auxiliaries for the conduct of a business which adds to the 
world's store of gold over $4,000,000 worth of gold annually.

	Other mining enterprises which afford employment to a host of miners, 
mechanics and laborers have their location within or adjoining the corporate 
limits of the city, and their payrolls will aggregate at least $50,000 monthly.   
These mining enterprises, which are more fully described elsewhere, are not 
alone the sources of employment and revenue which the people of the city enjoy, 
for to supply this vast army of wage-earners with the necessities and luxuries 
of life another army caters to its wants.

	Two of Lead's greatest attractions, aside from its big mills and mines are 
the Hearst free library and the free kindergarten. Both were established through 
the bounty of Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, widow of the late Senator Hearst of 
California, and one of the principal stockholders in the Homestake Mining 
Company. The library is the most complete in South Dakota, and it is so well 
patronized that an experienced librarian is employed, together with a corps of 
competent assistants. The kindergarten is located in the most pleasant and 
attractive section of the city, and in the spring and summer time its 
surrounding grounds and park are beautiful, attractively appealing to the little 
people for whose benefit the school is conducted.

	Lead is lighted by electricity and gas, the mains for the latter system 
having been laid late in the fall of 1903. The electric light plant is the 
largest of its kind in the state, not only furnishing power and lights for the 
use of Lead citizens, but also furnishing the power for a number of mining 
companies in their mills and hoists, some of them being located several miles 
from the city.

	In the fall of 1903 the wires of the principal telephone system in the 
city were placed underground, new and up-to-date switchboards placed in 
operation, and the system so perfected that not a better one can be found in the 
West. It is said that the second company, the poles and wires of which occupy 
the alleys and side streets, will soon follow the example of the first and place 
its wires beneath the surface of the street. Beside the two systems of 
telephones, Lead is connected with the outside world with lines of telegraph, so 
communication with any part of the world can be had at a moment's notice.

	Two banks, a national and a state, are the mediums through which the 
greater part of the city's business is conducted. Both are prosperous, and both 
by their annual statements show that the business of the city is yearly 
increasing. As an index to the character of Lead's people and their prosperity 
the statements of these institutions will give the best possible idea.

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF LEAD.

	This bank was founded in 1879 under the name of S. N. Wood & Co.; later 
that of Thum, Lake & Co.; in 1883 it became a State bank under the name of The 
Lead City Bank, and in 1891 it became a national bank under the present name.  
The footings of this bank are the largest of any bank in the state and its 
business is enormous. The capital is $50,000, with a surplus of $10,000, and 
undivided profits of $75,000; the deposits are considerably over $1,000,000.

	Mr. R. H. Driscoll, cashier of the bank, is a Massachusetts man, having 
been born at Lowell; graduated from Harvard in 1881; was superintendent of 
schools at Lead from 1883 to 1886; auditor of Lawrence county from 1887 to 1889, 
and clerk of the courts from 1890 to 1894, since which time he has been 
associated with the bank. Mr. Driscoll has been one of the most prominent men of 
Lead and one of the most energetic props of the Mining Men's Association.

	Mr. T. J. Grier, superintendent of the great Homestake mine, is president 
of the bank, and Ernest May, a pioneer and capitalist, vice-president.  Among 
the other directors are William Bartlett, P. A. Gushurst and Dr. J. W. Freeman.

	The new bank building, just completed, will be seen in our pages.

	It is also interesting to know of the character and residences of the 
stockholders of this bank, for, with the exception of five of the following 
gentlemen, all are residents of Lead City; therefore we append the following 
list:

	William Bartlett, Ben Baer, Malcolm Campbell, Martin Chapman, Clark & 
Lyon, James W. Curran, W. R. Dickinson, R. H. Driscoll, Jno. Esterbrooks, Harris 
Franklin, Dr. J. W. Freeman; J. S. Graham, T. J. Grier, Peter A. Gushurst, Aug. 
Hage, Clayton H. Harwood, Nathan Admr. Jacobs, L. P. Jenkins, Nathaniel Lamb, 
Ernest May, Walter W. McKay, Alex. McKenzie, William S. O'Brien, Charles W. 
Rose, Jno. F. Sawyer, Walter A. Smead, Estate of Walter E. Smead, Oscar Silver, 
Bishop John N. Stariha, Estate of Thomas Uren and J. J. Walther.

THE MINERS & MERCHANTS SAVINGS BANK.

	This was the first savings bank that was launched in the Black Hills, and 
they did not start business until June, 1903, when it was organized as a state 
bank with a capital of $25,000. The bank does a general commercial business and 
has also a savings department which has been very satisfactory. The deposits on 
March 1st, 1904, were about $40,000, and were increasing at the rate of 20 per 
cent per month.

	The officers of the bank are H. E. Fletcher, president; George F. Porter, 
vice-president; George B. Thompson, vice-president, and J. J. Morrow, cashier. 
The other directors are S. R. Smith, a large merchant of Lead; T. D. Edwards, 
one of the city council and newspaper editor, and William Bartolero.  Messrs. 
Fletcher and Porter are Minneapolis capitalists. One of the heaviest 
stockholders is George W. Marquardt, president of the Marquardt Savings Bank of 
Des Moines, and also president of the Pluma Mining Company. Mr. Morrow, the 
cashier, is a Minneapolis man, and before coming to Lead had an extended 
experience in banking in Akeley.

NEWSPAPERS.

	Two daily papers are published in the city, the Call, owned and edited by 
I. R. Crow, one of the leading papers of the state, and the Tribune, a 
prosperous journal, owned and edited by T. D. Edwards. Both of these papers are 
enterprising and progressive and have done work for the city and its people 
which cannot be measured by money. The Call has for many years published a very 
valuable mining edition which has given, without exaggeration or a desire to 
boost unworthy properties, a weekly resume of every important item of mining 
news in the Black Hills.

	But a few years since Lead's water system was completed at a cost of 
$1,025,000. The city receives its water from Spearfish creek and tributaries, a 
swift running mountain stream, pure and uncontaminated. Water rent is 
reasonable, and the supply, while sufficient for a much larger population, also 
affords ample protection against fire.

	Lead's fire department is one of the best in the West and as a result of 
its proven efficiency insurance rates are very low in the city.

	A large and efficient police force guards the city, but it seems as though 
it is an unnecessary expense, for so few are the arrests made and so little is 
the desire of the city's people to violate the laws and ordinances that a 
position on the force is looked upon as a sinecure.

	The Homestake hospital, an institution primarily for the benefit of those 
employed by that great corporation, but to which anyone suffering or in need is 
admitted, is one of the best equipped in the West, and in constant attendance is 
a large corps of doctors and nurses.

ORGANIZATIONS.

	In 1877 the first miners' union in Lead was organized, but since that date 
it has been constantly growing, and now has an active membership of about 2,000. 
It owns its own hall, one of the finest buildings in the city, is out of debt, 
has a handsome surplus in its treasury, and since its organization has never 
found it necessary to call its members out on a strike. It is one of the model 
and one of the most conservative labor organizations in the world.

	Fraternal organizations abound in Lead, all have a good and active 
membership, and all appear to be in a prosperous condition. Masons, Odd Fellows, 
Knights of Pythias, Woodmen and various other secret and benefit societies have 
found material from which to build up prosperous and healthy lodges.

	In other pages a description of the Homestake Mining Company's policy 
toward its employes and the leasing to them, free of charge, of the surface 
rights on which to build homes, is worthy of very serious consideration; the 
only titles to the surface properties of Lead (outside of the Homestake) are 
those which were vested in owners of the original town site, which is a very 
small part of the city of to-day. The company has never sold the land of one of 
these homes; it pays land taxes and charges the lessee nothing for rent. Of 
course many of the men would like to acquire full title, land and all, and there 
are many prominent men who think the Homestake should sell these lands to the 
lessees. But the company has never dispossessed a single tenant, and the fact 
that 1,100 of its employes are members of the Western Federation of Labor and 
have never even considered the possibility of a strike is pretty conclusive 
evidence that the present policy will preserve peace, permanent work at good 
wages, and as a consequence the present content of the employes as seen on every 
hand.

	Lead is the only city in western South Dakota that can boast of a street 
railway system. In the fall of 1903 the Burlington Railroad Company extended its 
trolley line the entire length of Main street, and trains make regular half-
hourly trips. This improvement, together with an immense storage battery plant, 
cost the company in the neighborhood of $100,000. Besides the electric line both 
the Burlington and the Northwestern systems of narrow-gauge and broad-gauge 
lines enter the city, and both companies have expended thousands of dollars in 
an effort to bring their lines up to the highest standard and have succeeded 
admirably. In 1903 the Northwestern Company finished the building of the most 
elaborate, beautiful and commodious passenger depot to be found on its line 
between Lead and Omaha.

CHURCHES.

	Lead is a city of churches as well as a city of homes, nine different 
congregations worshiping in their own houses. The first church erected in Lead 
was built by the Catholic society in the spring of 1878. This church was 
followed by the Congregational society, which organized in August, 1878; then 
came the Methodist society, organized in November, 1880, its first building 
being destroyed by a heavy windstorm as it was nearing completion in 1881. That  
same year the society completed another and more pretentious church edifice, 
which was completed in August, 1881, and dedicated to the service of the Lord by 
Bishop Foss. Closely following these churches came the Episcopal and 
Presbyterian societies, the Baptist, Lutheran, Scandanavian and Finn. All of 
these church societies have large memberships and all of them are in the most 
prosperous condition.  Christ's Church (Episcopal) is probably one of the 
handsomest churches in the state and is the largest church edifice in the Black 
Hills. It is surrounded by handsome grounds, well cared for, and is one of the 
beauty spots of Lead.

	In 1902 there was a segregation of the Catholic diocese of Sioux Falls, 
and the new diocese of Lead was created, the city of Lead being designated as 
the home of the bishop, and Rt. Rev. John N. Stariha, who for several years had 
been vicar-general of the diocese of St. Paul, commissioned to the see. The 
formal establishment of the bishopric and the induction of the bishop occurred 
November 22, 1902, with elaborate ceremonies, participated in by the bishops 
from several of the adjoining sees, and attended by a vast majority of the 
citizens of Lead and the Black Hills. At that time the diocese contained less 
than 7,000 communicants of the Catholic Church, and of that number the city of 
Lead was the home of 3,500. Following the creation of the diocese and the 
installation of the bishop, valuable improvements were inaugurated in the church 
property. A fitting home was provided for the bishop, and before long steps will 
be taken toward the building of a cathedral and school, which, when completed, 
will be structures the city will be proud of, the present structure proving too 
small for the accommodation of the Catholics of Lead.

	The Christian Scientists hold regular meetings at Lead and they are well 
attended by Lead and Deadwood people.

	Lead's Business Men's Club, an organization composed of every public-
spirited citizen of the city, during its existence has accomplished a great deal 
of good and has been the means of bringing to Lead many improvements which 
otherwise would not have been made. Among other things this organization has 
been responsible for the building of the Smead hotel, one of the best-equipped 
in the West.

	The Golden Star Athletic Club is an organization composed of the best 
young men in the city and the main social organization. Its membership is a 
large one.

HOTEL SMEAD.

	The Smead Hotel, which was erected at a cost of $125,000, is owned by a 
stock company of loo stockholders, consisting mainly of the principal merchants 
and capitalists of the city and of the executive officers of the Homestake 
Mining Company. There are about 90 rooms and 27 baths. The hotel is maintained 
in a strictly first-class manner. This was the first hotel erected in the 
Northern Hills which would favorably compare with the finer hotels of the large 
eastern cities, and showed at the time the ambitious spirit of the people of 
Lead. The hotel is now self-supporting and profitable. 

	Mr. C. R. Wagner, the lessee and manager, deserves great credit for 
bringing the hotel to a paying basis; but he is a man of good hotel experience 
and has the moral support of practically every man in Lead, besides being well 
known by the traveling men. 

	The Homestake Hotel is spoken of in the description of the Homestake mine.

THE CAMPBELL HOUSE.

	This is another hotel at popular prices and is on the main street and well 
located. It is owned and managed by M. C. Campbell, and well patronized. There 
are plenty of good hotel accommodations in Lead, but on this point nobody need 
suffer in any town of the Hills.

THE BELT LIGHT & POWER COMPANY.

	The Belt Light & Power Company, with offices at Lead, has one of the most 
modern and complete plants to be found in the United States. The company was 
organized in August, 1893, and located its plant at Pluma, midway between Lead 
and Deadwood, in order that it might have plenty of room for building and good 
railroad sidetrack facilities. It is on the main line of the Burlington and is 
within one hundred feet of being in the exact geographical center between the 
two cities. This company supplies all the current for lighting and power that is 
used in Lead, Pluma, Central City and Terry; it is furnishing the power for the 
Lundberg, Dorr & Wilson cyanide plant, located near Terry, and has numerous 
other applications that will make this a very large power plant in the near 
future.

	The investment at the present time is about $250,000; the building is 
75x100 feet, of fireproof construction and modern in all parts; the capacity is 
1,500 horsepower, with room for increasing to three times this amount.

	The plant is equipped with steam turbines, high-pressure boilers with 
superheaters, condensers of the latest type, with every device known to give the 
very best service at a minimum of cost.

	There is a great future in this line of business, as a great portion of 
the mills which adjoin the mines are not within easy access to the railroads, 
but must haul their fuel in wagons at added cost. The operation of any 
industrial plant by motors in place of steam engines has many advantages and 
shows economies that will work a great change in the method of operating mills 
and mines in this part of the Hills.

	The officers of the company are Mr. J. D. C. Rumsey, president; Mr. V. T. 
Price, vice-president, and J. B. Baker, secretary-treasurer and manager.

PHILLIPS & BARTLETT'S BRICK PLANT.

	Phillips & Bartlett's brick plant is well worthy of special mention.   It 
is situated in Pluma and manufactures more brick than any other brickyard of the 
Black Hills. Good building brick, also a pressed brick, are made, the color is 
dark red. The clay is taken from the hillsides, it being a wash clay which was 
deposited in the canyons. The clay is drawn by trolley into machinery on the 
track. There are six tunnels in the dryhouse, each 120 feet long, and twenty 
coils of one-inch steampipe on each side of the house. From the dryhouse the 
bricks, which are still on the trolleys, are run into the kilns. The plant is 
run winter and summer and 30,000 bricks per day can be made. Every brick is a 
gold brick assaying $2.40 per ton. It is a stiff mud and the ore cannot be 
extracted from the clay.

THE LEAD COMMERCIAL CLUB.

	This organization, which combines social and business matters, is composed 
of about 150 members, including the most prominent business men and others of 
the city. It was organized in 1902, with the following purposes in view:

	To act as an entertainment committee for visitors to the city; to work for 
the interests of Lead and the Black Hills; to call the attention of investors to 
the mining and commercial interests of the Black Hills and disseminate 
literature and information covering any and all fields of usefulness for the 
city and country at large; also to suggest city and county improvements in an 
advisory capacity to the city council and county officers, these bodies being in 
thorough harmony with the Commercial Club and more or less swayed by these 
suggestions, thereby having a good expression of opinion of any new matters from 
the better element of the population. At the first meeting a board of directors 
was elected, consisting of eleven members, as follows :

	Walter E. Smead, P. A. Gushurst, George M. Nix, T. D. Edwards, J. B. 
Moore, R. H. Driscoll, George P.. Thompson, L. P. Jenkins, W. R. Dickinson, J. 
W. Curran and I. R. Crow. These directors elected Mr. Smead as president and Mr. 
Gushurst as vice-president and appointed R. H. Purcell as secretary.   On Mr. 
Smead's death Mr. Gushurst became president, and has remained in that office 
ever since. Mr. Gushurst is a pioneer and one of the most prominent merchants of 
Lead. The balance of the board is composed as follows: 

	Vice-president, J. W. Freeman, who is president of the Board of Education 
of Lead, director of the First National Bank of Lead, director of the Black 
Hills Mining Men's Association, member of the State Board of Medical Examiners 
and surgeon of the Homestake Mining Company; second vice-president is Hon. E. F. 
Irwin, mayor of Lead and timekeeper of tlie Homestake Mining Company; the 
treasurer is George B. Thompson, a prominent attorney of Lead and a member of 
the Black Hills Mining Men's Association; J. W. Curran, the first fire insurance 
agent of Lead; John A. Blatt, vice-president of the Black Hil's Mining Men's 
Association; R. H. Driscoll, cashier of the First National Bank of Lead and 
member of the Black Hills Mining Men's Association; William Bartlett, the most 
prominent building contractor of the Black Hills; Hon. Ernest May, capitalist 
and large mine owner and a member of the state legislature; Hon. L. P. Jenkins, 
state senator and assayer in charge of the United States Assay Office at 
Deadwood, and J. B. Baker, secretary and manager of the Belt Light and Power 
Company of Lead and a member of Price & Baker Company, who own large timber 
interests and one of the largest sawmills of the Black Hills, located at Black 
Hawk. Mr. Joseph Feeney, who has been secretary of the club since his 
appointment in 1903, has given much valuable time from his insurance and real 
estate business for the club's interests, and has done much to help along the 
various works of the club.

	The various members are organized into the following committees: 
Entertainment, trade extension, railroad, state and national legislation, 
municipal legislation, auditing, arbitration, mines and mining and roads and 
bridges.

	It might be well to enumerate some of the work done and doing by the 
Commercial Club. One of the most unique projects ever handled by a business club 
was undertaken last fall in the creation of the Lead Coliseum Company for the 
erection of a large building to serve primarily as a skating rink during the 
winter, and for such matters and meetings as should be arranged hereafter. Ten 
thousand dollars was raised among the citizens of the city and a lot on the main 
street was purchased, and on it erected a large building at a total cost, for 
building and lot, of $10,400. It was opened to the public as a skating rink 
December 12, with the Lead band dispensing music Wednesday and Saturday 
evenings. The revenue in the first sixty days was $2,400, and the project has 
proven an unqualified success.

	On March 10, 1903, steps were first taken by resolution introduced by Mr. 
R. H. Driscoll, for a permanent mineral exhibit, which later resulted in the 
Homestake company establishing a splendid technical as well as instructive 
exhibit in the Hearst free library.