Sep 29, 2018 — GREENWOOD, BC (BG)

Although Paul Johnson was kept very busy supervising construction of the Greenwood smelter, he also had personal mining interests in the area. In the winter of 1899 he acquired a percentage share of the C.S.G. and Glenwood mines from town founder, Scott Galloway._[1]

Mr. Johnson's attention was occasionally diverted to community issues that intersected with his smelter project. For example, in November 1899, Greenwood's Health Officer informed city council about his discussions with Paul Johnson._[2] For the good of public health, Dr. Schon was interested in burning the city's solid sewage and refuse in one of the smelter's blast furnaces, and Paul Johnson thought the idea could be accommodated.

But aside from the periodic distractions, Paul Johnson was entirely focused on the smelter, which was unfolding at a furious pace. A Spokane reporter for the Spokesman-Review wrote:_[3]

"Today, in company with Superintendent Paul Johnson, the correspondent was shown over the site of the smelter and found 50 men hard at work grading the site, blasting out rock and building foundations. The site is barely 12 minutes walk, by trail, from the center of the city. It is on a fairly high elevation above Boundary creek and lies between the railroad spur running to Deadwood camp, which crosses the elevation at the highest point, and the main line of the Columbia & Western railway, at the lower end. From the Deadwood camp spur a branch will be run to take the Mother Lode ore directly to the smelter bins, and a branch from the same spur a little lower down will bring in custom ores, coke and supplies, and a third spur from the main line will take away the matte and copper bullion. The site is an ideal one for a smelter in every respect."

In December 1899, Johnson travelled to New York to meet with B.C. Copper Company executives and discuss the purchase of machinery for the smelter._[4] Before departing for the east coast, he also gave a Boundary Creek Times staffer a tour of the smelter site.

"The progress made in the last two weeks has been remarkable considering that the work had been carried out under the disadvantage of exceedingly wet weather. The solid stone retaining wall is being continued up to the stack at the summit of site. This wall when completed will be over 700 feet in length. The top of the stack will be 275 feet above the furnace. The stack itself will be 150 feet in height. Mr. Johnson states emphatically that the stack is of sufficiently high elevation to insure no inconvenience to the citizens of Greenwood from the fumes. Everything of this nature will pass high above the city."

"Old Smelter - Greenwood, B.C." — Robert E. Wood

In New York, Johnson negotiated with equipment manufacturers. Meanwhile, the B.C. Copper Co. put down a significant deposit with the Canadian Pacific railway, who would build three primary spur lines needed at the smelter site.

The press noted that among his other skills, superintendent Johnson was also an inventor, and helped to design the equipment that would make the plant operate at high efficiency. His inventive design for a mechanical smelter eliminated the need for laborious hand sampling of ores, which was typically done in order to keep high quality ores from being degraded by mixing with residue from lower quality samples that remained in the equipment.

While Paul Johnson traveled, workers back home in Greenwood continued work on the smelter site, building various shops, an assay office and a home for the Johnson family,_[5] and this was reported not only by the Times, but in the Rossland newspaper. In fact, newspapers throughout the Boundary gave periodic reports on the important work of Paul Johnson in Greenwood.

The Nelson Tribune praised Johnson's enthusiastic representation of the Greenwood project, ticking off the list of mines situated within 9 or 10 miles of the city,_[6] expected to bring their ores to the smelter for processing. On the list were the Mother Lode, Sunset, Buckhorn, Morrison, Greyhound, Last Chance, Old Ironsides, Knob Hill, Brooklyn, Stemwinder, Tamarac, Gold Rock, Ivanhoe, Golden Crown, Winnipeg, No. 7, City of Paris, B. C, Oro Donoro, Emma and Jewel.

Mr. Johnson's trip back east was well covered by the press, including this report from February 24th_[7] which announced that while in New York, Johnson had been appointed General Manager of the smelting works in British Columbia.

PAUL JOHNSON BACK
The General Manager of the Greenwood Smelter Discusses His Late Trip East

"Paul Johnson, general manager of the smelting department of the British Columbia Copper company, returned here on yesterday's train, after an absence of ten weeks. The purpose of Mr. Johnson's visit down east was ordering the machinery for the local smelter and to see the directors of the company in New York. When he first arrived in the east it was at a decidedly pannicky period in the money and stock markets. At that time the big copper boom collapsed, but the B. C. Copper company's shares were unaffected."

This is an interesting report on the copper markets, as there appear to be few references to a circa 1900 copper market bust. Of course, the history of Greenwood often refers to the big boom and bust period, the collapse of ore prices bringing the great Greenwood smelter project to its knees. But that was much later on the timeline.

Although the City of Greenwood and the smelter prospered together through the first decade of the century, copper prices were hit hard in 1907. During World War I (1914-1918) the industry struggled to stay alive. A shortage of ore and the uncertain price and demand for copper after the War finally brought operations at the smelter to an end in 1918. The city declined rapidly from that point.

Going back to the time of Paul Johnson's trip to New York in 1900, the copper market was at a relative high. At the start of the 1900s copper was very profitable, and mining expanded rapidly in response to a burst of growth in electrification across North America. Even so, there were big industry players manipulating the market, keeping prices artificially high. So the market panic referred to in the Johnson travelogue must have been a comparatively small bump in what was then a hot market.

It wasn't until the summer of 1907 that the copper market really took a dive. Stock prices all across the financial markets slid as copper collapsed. In the tumult, famed millionaire Otto Heinze attempted to corner the copper market, but even he failed. This period of market turmoil became known as the 'Banker's Panic of 1907'_[8], and the details are well documented in history books. J.P. Morgan was said to have "saved the street" after the Knickerbocker Trust tried a play like the failed one by Otto Heinze, losing a bid to corner copper and sparking a run on New York financial institutions._[9] The 'copper boom collapse' taking place in New York during Paul Johnson's visit was a minor downturn in comparison.

After leaving New York, Paul Johnson travelled to Milwaukee, where he met with representatives of the A. P. Allis Company._[10] They spent several days working on plans for the blast furnace, a central component of the Greenwood smelter. The A. P. Allis company later became a household name in North America, merging with other business interests in 1901 to become the industrial giant, Allis Chalmers.

Although A. P. Allis promised Paul Johnson that he would have his blast furnace by the end of May, they were unable to meet the deadline. At the September 1899 banquet in his honour, Paul Johnson had promised the citizens of Greenwood they would have a working smelter within six months:_[11]

"I have told you that you will have a smelter. That is true. It will be between Greenwood and Anaconda and it will be running next summer. Work your mines gentlemen. We will take all the ores you can send us. We will keep building as our business increases. We will do your work cheaply and we will treat you square."

Unfortunately, his March 1900 finish line was pushed well back by A. P. Allis' late delivery of the blast furnace. Due to labour difficulties, the Milwaukee plant delayed the promise of shipment until the 15th of October.

Leaving Milwaukee, Paul Johnson made a stop in Montreal before heading home. There he met with head officials of the C. P. R. railroad to lock-in good freight rates, which would ensure that Boundary miners would find it economically beneficial to send their ore to the Greenwood smelter.

Returning home to Greenwood from his east coast trip, Johnson stayed in the city for about six weeks before departing on another big trip, 'across the pond'. Although A. P. Allis told him to expect delivery of his blast furnace in late May, Johnson left for Europe that month, on what would become a several month holiday._[12] He had apparently arranged that his bosses at the B. C. Copper Company would call him home as soon as he was needed to install the blast furnace. He would then return to Greenwood with Mrs. Johnson and the children in tow. But thanks to the slip in delivery date, he was able to extend his holiday by a few months.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Boundary Creek Times — Nov 4, 1899, p. 8
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170568

[2] Boundary Creek Times — Nov 11, 1899, p. 2
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170567

[3] Boundary Creek Times — Nov 11, 1899, p. 3
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170567

[4] Boundary Creek Times — Dec 02, 1899, p. 1
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170222

[5] Greenwood Weekly Times — Jan 27, 1900, p. 3
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0172711

[6] Greenwood Weekly Times — Feb 24, 1900, p. 1
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0172708

[7] Greenwood Weekly Times — Feb 24, 1900, p. 4
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0172708

[8] The Forgotten Credit Crisis of 1907
https://tinyurl.com/yauv3zpm

[9] Otto Heinze and United Copper
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Copper

[10] Greenwood Weekly Times — Feb 24, 1900, p. 4
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0172708

[11] Boundary Creek Times — Sep 02, 1899, p. 7
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0170718

[12] Greenwood Weekly Times — Jul 13, 1900, p. 1
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcnewspapers/xboundarycr/items/1.0172803