New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-01-14
A D1YGER T0 THE SILVER MiRKET


oTe"TD Up nr WORKS. ~ PROGRESS N PERU
rUPtHfR prPaFcrATIo. POSSIBLE.
The death Of Henry Mdces appears not to
lave interrupted uc prosecution Of the public works IN
Pu looking 10 Tho development o. the Cerro &c Pasco
sIygE Nine Work upon them continues AID Is already
to Doe ucng definite results in an increased Weld
q SILVER Tt- inc7 appear to be destined 10 attract
considerable. attention te future. Cor their possibilities
af, SAID g. great almost 90 beHilder the imagna-
ou II what IS said OF them IL true they may unscte
Tie value OF silver dHiug the next ten years, and the
facts concerning them VIII prove OF ntercst 10 tose VINO
3c arrive at conclusions about silver re-
za1a cspo clly about putting into the coined
dollar smaller amount OF metal than dollar viii buy.
Since Tho OF the s'lverproducng countries OF
H. continent hy spain. Peru and Mexico have been
iusiy mined Tor silver and quantity of the metal tatn
mt Which Is estimated AZ about $1,000 coo. single
mountain IN Peru PctOs yielded ~ 800 100000 OF this,
another Ccrro de PascO @G0O0OOCO0 as appears
from the records of The Jesuit missionaries and OF the
Of Peru since the independence. Tno greater
fWitfuncs OF PO0s due, not to the superiority OF
It's deposits but to the greater accessibility Of The noun
tlin and it, comparative freedom from water in the
mines Ccrro dc Psco is region lying 10 200 feet above
the level Of the where ro.s prevail six months Of
the year and SHOW ard rain other six surrounded by
of the most tremendous gorges in the world and
aIianabe only by and dangerous muepGths. II
has get at and the mines have been so
flooded with mat production has been at leusth
reached the richest metal in the mountain.
The C.rro De Pssco deposit forms mountain Of itsef
mile ana haf long and three quarters OF mile wide,
called hy the Pcuvids ST. stephen Of Laarlcocha. The
whole mountain is single rock, every lump Of which
contains silver II peculiar deposit and has long puz
lied the biologists 1t appears to be indnaed sand,
heavily charged with metallic silver The rock is easily
bro.cn with q hammer. The deposit Is called in an old
Spanish history "The Royal Mantle" The mine dis
covered i'll 1880 by rurast who was over
taken by night in that vicinity and bvouached on the
spot by the side Ola camp fire In tie morning, in the
ashes o TIE fire. he discovered melted silver, and his
decent from tie mountain called The attention Of various
people to his discovery great rush 10 the mountain
took place. and hundreds % OPENINGS made into the
bed metal. The mining very profitable for
hundred yeaf, and th too III spite Of the fact that no
heavy machinery coui be earned up the mountain
and all the labor performed either by hand or by he
slow and inefficient processes which were available Tor
employment N such re- OD Upon penetrating short
distance into The mountain, however, the miners encoun
tered a serious obstacle to their operations, and
which. in the OF time. ruined hundreds OF them
and their Successors. This the water By tie side
OF the mountain a little lake. which constantly send
ing down it's waters through the cracks in th rocks and
any shaft which reaches certain depth IL invariably
flooded The water caused the abandonment Of hundreds
Of claims by the miners In 17ss engineer conceived
the idea of tunnel into the mountain TO drain of the
mines. He executed hs idea, and found thar 1t drained
profitable and successful venture. Ohcr opcnngs were
subsequently made, the temptation to enterprise this
direction being the fact that the metal grew rclcr ~ the
miners went down. These works were necessary, lee
causc drains the orig resource OF the miners, ii be
ING utterly impossible bring to tho spot the heavy
pumps which have been employed IN other pats of the
world 70 keep mines clear, bring up the fuel to
operate them The tunnels all SUbservcd their purpose
wel opening being followed 10y an Increased
yield OF silver one tunnel drew OF much water tina,
the flowing has been used for mill power
aud when MI MeiCers contract was made Tor me WpIh-
now in progress, the power considered Of enough
consequence DC the subject OF special stipulation.
Uscfui as tunnels btvn, hV"''oi 'Loy iia'o
only been partial in their operation, considering The vast
ness of the body OF rich metal which Is believed 10 hc
contained in the lower part Of the mountain Gcolog-s
have long believed that the richest part OF the deposit
has never yet been reached. long and careful study o
the matter Vas made several years and the icsur
of was that 1859 the Government OF Peru decided
that the Cerro de Pasco deposit in every respect as
valuable that OF POt0si ana that IL sAoud DE- opeAtH
up 10 use. whatever the cost.
Th,plan was 10 build railroad 70 the rocky range on
which 81. Stephen Of Laurc0ca IS situated s" at AZ
proprate machinery for mining can he transported to
the spct and the same time 70 tunnel the mountain III
the most thorough manner so as TO drain oil not
only the mines the lake itself which has been The
cousc the trouble part Of the at least Tie
confidence Of the Government IN the profits OF the under
taking shown by the fact that il was Willing to spend
500 GOO 600 TO make the tunnel and TO build railroad
through 4 region which can give it no traffic whatever
OF next to nonc aud whose principal employment VIII be
the transportation Of passengers and freight bel Wetn the
silver mines ana the cities Of Lima and Chao near
the coast. A contract for that amount Of money
WAS given to Henry Meiegs in 1869. The railroad wnlc
is the celebrated OrOya line tulneng he Andes AZ me
height 1880 feet above the level OF the seq IN It's
march to DE- PsscO, undertaken at once Tie
tunnel undertaken afterwards i,oth chtIirlIcS
long and at report 20 miles OF were In running
order and 80 ready for the rail- Tine heavy guy
expected now that the road Will he complete Ill Two
years and half The tunnel has gone INTO inc noun
tain far enough TO the yield OF silver ALREADY ANA
when the railroad reaches the spot Will no dohbt nave
made change in the pr0ductvenes' OF tie miles
The estimates which been made of the amount of
metal which these works win open up to rapid develop
mcnt are very large but perhaps ought not to be con
sdered extlayagant in view OF tbs enormous produc-
vness Of PotOs and other American mines MI Charles
NJ Fletcher OF this city, the agent OF the late Me- Mcis
and of his executors whom many Of these facts
obtained saws that the tunnel will renlor available
of itch which cannot he estimated to contain
les 5000 100000 OF silver POtOsi yielded over
$500 600 ia the hrS ninety yeas after discovery
by tie aid the slow process and clumsy cOntvances
age. With the help Of the Remarkable MN
ace Within tic last ten years fact which performs
year what formerly took twenty what may BOT the pr"duo
ycucss of stephen o. LaUr!CUcla he III the II ten
years. Those concerned in The works ealclla" ti&j
upon capital Of s5eo000 900 invested IN the mines and
railroad it viii pay 30 per cent year IN soon as the
I tr1snnrt@I 10 me scene Of o2drati'as There
Is every expectation IL Peru that this one monntain MI
produce 500 100000 OF silver year, which : Gca
deal the combined annual guild AMI Give! pro-
dvct nf the United up The present such
q quantity OF metal thrown on the market wil have
material effect upGn the value 0l silver; and even 81 tc
product does moi rrach @io0CooOo0 year tc amount
win st De lar;e that II may Gcfccaie SILVER courage
H.. world over The value - silver, which Was compared
with gold - 1880 10 when America was disc9Ygrd.
has b.cn steadily cGug down ever since. H. 1876 e.
,lcu,G Il 10 /. Ten years from 10" II may be less than
Z 10 l.
RECAPTURE OF An EsCATLD BANK EOBBiR.
BOKprNTOWN, y. a., Jan. 1I.-GeOrgc Ed