The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1881-08-15

,R%oLLlHsvlLLE, CoLoRADo, August 8.
Next to the vast heights and depths Of
the mountains that tr ,vsrss Colorado from
north to south, and their wonderful min.
eral resources, nothing llaa impressed me
more than the rapid extension Of her rail.
road system. During tbs last Two weeks
l have journeyed back and forth belween
several Of the principal points Of the State,
nearly all OF them in the mountains, and
yet l have not travelled fifteen miles out.
side OF a railroad car. I have gone up
grades Of 272 feet to the mils, and crossed
a river where the bridge wal partially
suspended by iron raiters imbedded on
each side Of the narrow pass in the flint
rock that rose almost porpendlcularly 5000
feet above US, and have rounded the
sharpest curves at attitudes OF ten and
eleven thousand feet, and yet have realized
no discomfort or special. sense Of appre.
hsnsion. The narrow gauge system Of
railway Is seen in all lis glory out here. 1t
has defleh every obstacle 10 railway pro.
Rress, and has laid and 10 laying It's tracks
through all the defles Of the Rocky Noun.
tains.
This State is only five years old. In
1870 1t had less than 10000 people and
o''y about $50 miles Of railway. Now It
has 200,0 0 people aud abou. 1900 miles
Of railway. And in nc Stsle Of the Union
is the building Of railways going on more
vi orously. Those already built are reach
irg nut arms to the mining camps east and
wus., north and south throughout the
State. The Denver 4 Rio Ora de Is the
PenpBy lvauiR railroad Of the State. IL L.
the 'bipgest little" railroad In the world. It.
represents The perfection OF thu narrow
psuye system. 1t has already built 500
miles o! track aud IL going on cor Quering
and to conquer. have travelled over il
with great rnpidity-fteQuen,ly at the rate
OF forty miles per hour-and could per.
ceive no rring or sw,ying that l have
not generally realized on the standard
gauge !, deed il lis III all respects one I
the best built and best equipped roads Of
the country.
You would be tup,ised at the extent Of
railroad iIavel and transportation over the
railroads Of this State. For instance,
there are two roads between Denver and
Leadvillc, the Rio Grande and the Denver
4 South Park, each running two trains of
several coaches to the trsin, and yet they
arc always full and frequently crowded.
This too. Notwithstanding retes are very
high in this country, ranging from i to 10
cents per mile. II costs 81 10 to ship a key
OF nails from Denver 10 Leadville, by the
short line, a distance Of 10 miles. The
passage rate is SIS, and 81 for a sleeping
berth on the night train.
The people out here do not seem to pay
much attention to rates for anything. The
fashion of the country is high prices for
everything. A very Indifferent hotel in
Leadvillo charges 81 90 per day. ANY
Wheetit & bo,e! would give you better
accommodations for half the money. La.
borerH in the mines get IS 90 per day, and
outsidea laborers 81 so There is q great
demand for labor. l noticed adver,ise-
ments in the Chicsgo papers for railroad
Lands. offering 81 so per day. These rail.
road laborers pay S. 0Onnd i6 90 per week
Tor board to the contractors. Hired girls
&c. from $50 to $50 per month. A very
Indifferent girl gets $50 and An extra one
s35. Two yesrs ago they got from $50 10
$7O per moo,h Mt Leadville. The stores
there cell everything at nearly twice the
price asked in Wheeling. Money is plenty
and the people spend it freely. Leadville
is a wonderful place. II ia a three old
city and contains from $1,000 to 20, 600
people.
l spent several days there aud tried 10
lake IN liz nust prominent features. The
city 10 on q plain between two gulches,
and the principal mines a,e OH the side
OF q slope leading up eastward from the
city. How many shafts have been sunk
on this slope it would be impossible TO
Say. The kill il covered with prospect
holes. The whole area OF the "csmp"
comprises cay a thousand sores. In this
area are aome OF tho most famous mines
of Colorado. Their united bullion yield
last yeGr was SIP .00O, 900. Some OF them
are WORKED by incline SHAFTS and others BY
vertical shafts. l went into the Carbonate
mlne seven hundred fest, crossing ten
different workable levels. It reminded me
very much Of our coal mines. The rooms
are propped up The same way. The amount
OF lumber necessary to timber one of these
mineB is immense. Colorado consumes a
vast quantity OF nails, especially
large nails, in these mines. l priced
nails IN one house that buys a | 600
kegs at a time. The prics is So for tens,
This is not %extravagant when | state that
the height from Wheeling is g so per
key.
Nearly all the Leadyills mines are what
10 known as carbonate mines. The ore ia
a mixture OF earth, silica, lead and silver.
and runs from 20 to 400 ounces of silver
TO the ton. AT lhe smelling mills
1t is reduced 10 pigs Of mixed lead and ell.
yer, and these pigs are largely shipped
East to be refined. The railroads do a
heavy AID profit. bic freight businees in
carrying this bullion. ITIs.g|
l cahnot nope to convey an adequate
impression OF Lesdville to YOU. 1t is a
community sui qenris II 10 tho most cos
mopolltan town II Ito size l ever .s,ruck."
("SlTuck' Is tho word In nfe ont hefe.)
Az nations, all parts Of the United States.
,allclssses aud all creeds are fully represent
ted. Il Is a regular bee hive of activity. The
almighty dollar is " hat eyery man, woman
and child ID after. This Is what brought
them TO Leadville. And yet there in chi.
ture and education TO be met .on eyery
naha. You can not Judge a family in
Lesdville by The house they live in. The
town III u cu,ious mosaic in respect ~,
buildings. There are a lew LnsiuoSs
houses OF brick, but Scarcely a DWELLING
Log houses are numerous, but mos,lv tba
Dwellings are one story frame houses, In
these houses are people OF the highest "a.
hntmett. They i've well, some Ct th.,n
ln1nriously, although living ia expensive
in Leadville. AL over Colorado every.
thing is sold by the pound. Potatoes are
sold ~ 81 cents per pound, which would
be So 10 per bushel. Tomatoes sell in
Leadville at 80 centa per pound. Beef
sells at frvm l6 to So cents,
Kansas and California supply most Of The
vegetables up TO this time Of year, After
this the valleys Of Colorado begin 10 tell
on the market. A p,est deal Of beef ia
shipped from kaneas City In refrigerator