Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1880-07-08

did steal anything in Colorado it
would be that chernb.faced gay little
Jimmy. There is a hue of health on
the cheeks of children ! have not
seen elsewhere. Charles Dixie in
his "Greater Britain" made like re-
mark in reference to the young men,
the mountaineers of Colorado. This
may be the result of the Darwinian
Theory, "none but the fittest can
survive" The rarifed Heaven re-
fined air has on some the effect Of
what used to be called "laughing
gas" but a man should have the
lungs Of mountain sheep to respire
it.
The capital of the United States
and of Europe has been rained down
on Colorado, but its greatest concen-
tration upon one point is the reduo-
ton works, nominally owned by Sem
stor Hill, two miles from the Denver
limits. l visited these with Mr.. elise.
There are say two acres of ground
Il cannot guess at distances or areas
here) enclosed with a wall like o
prison. There ia an open gateway
through which railroad cars are seen,
freighted with raw ore from far off
mines, carried in peculiar canvas
bags. The ore is piled within like
petete foot hills. Here is a quartz
mill for you here the power of
steam is crammed up to its utmost ca.
pacity. Here a huge iron mass in
the shape of mill stone has under
taken the task OF grinding into pow
der the hardest entrails of yon noun
tsins. The stubborn quartz is broken
FIRST into coarse gravel, then carried
up again by elevators, ground over
and over, and then what furnaces
wore there! thought of that Oh the
plains of Dura in Daniels day, of
Dantes Intervals. i was snffocated
with heat and vapors hot from the
lower regions. When the doors of
some of the furnaces were opened /
saw the hot flames rolling onward
like pillows and heard the fretting
and gurglng of the liquid metal as it
passed through its transformation; q
heat it had not experienced since the
globe was seething mass of fire.
Bedimmed by dust, the workmen
appeared at home in this lake of fire
and birthstone. 1t gave mo far
more vivid impression of the bottom
less pit than the Scotch poets de-
scription in his "Course of Time"
but it is relief to think that these
stalwart beings / saw here with
pokers and shovels in their hands
were not tne employees of his Satan.
ic Majesty, engaged in the fiery pur-
cation of delinquent souls. No, they
were engaged in the monetization OF
gold and silver. in supplying the
stimulus for all commercial activity /;
they were burning up the greenback
theory and its platform, they we're
consuming the national debt in these
fires, and the mountains of Colorado
tower grandly above this incubus
and with united voice proclaim, shat
debt shall be paid"
But the men engaged in this pro-
cess are short lived. The gentleman
who conducted us through the works
could scarcely speak in consequence
of disease that had fastened on his
throat and lungs. / saw the matrix
or bed in which they poured out the
liquid metal for it to cool. The me-
talic chunks resembled in size and
shape those gulf turtles which furnish
soup for epicures in Chicago. The
fires never go down there are two
or more shifts. The men who worked
out their hours were washing them
selves with towels. They SAID they
came from Swansea in Wales. They
occupy fine brick dwellings, around
the area on the outside their wives
and children are tidily dressed and
appear to be we'll educated and in
telligent. We did not see the final
processes in which the precious met
ais are run into bars, This takes
place twice week, $4,000 of gold
and silver are run into bars at one
time. The metal in the state we saw
it was dark, yet very bright like your
boots after they have got shine on.
| picked up piece and threw it
against another aud it had the genu-
inc ring. offered to pay for spsci.
men but our conductor told US he
had no authority for such dicker.
| was suffering with thirst and there
was no Lazarus to bring me water to
drink here on the tip OF his finger in
this place of torment. We left sad
to think that one portion of mankind
are doomed to suffer SO much for the
veal Of another. But the sun was
setting on the snow clad mountains
"a sight I can never forget-the
golden light rested on their SUBMITS
like glorious benedicton, and o
promise that there will be to.mor.
row. N.