THE RUINS OF THE MILL
Gather round and I’ll tell you of tales of not long ago
When Cobalt was a thriving town and many may know
The silver capital of Canada, it was a good place to be
As long as you were a miner and very tough and hardy.
I can imagine as at these ruins I stand and stare
All the hustle and bustle that went on in there.
The sweat dripping as they ground up the rock,
Seeing the amount of silver gave them a shock.
The amazement of being built on some rock face,
The standard of the concrete to us seems a disgrace,
But men toiled to bring forth silver, best from anywhere,
I can see them working hard for a wage that seemed fair.
Mckinley-Darragh mill built I know by design so ore could flow
Down by gravity to the waiting ball mills down below,
Imagine the noise as the ball mills crushed the pile of ore,
Grinding , crushing the rock with tumbling steel balls galore,
Did the workers sing a song or did they curse and swear
As the silver they rescued from the mass of ore found there?
By 1913, 225 tons of silver, quite a good haul it seems to me
Now just a shadow and amid ruins, the activity still runs free.
(Millicent) Ann Margetson 11 September 2005