Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-03-20
CONTENTION CITY.
It's Industries and Populatisn-The Quartz Mills for Tombstone
 Mines.
,-NrIoN CIrY- March 14.

scriptions of the Tombstone mines and mills -omewhat complete.
 Tins village or city, as il is called, has been brought into being by the erection ofthe Contention mIli It is situated ten miles from Tombstone on the .5au Pedro Ti;sr, where there is is pl- froom for all mills Tomb stone -Hl surrounding districts may
 require for many long year, as there Is lots of water. Wood costs bout $7 10 SS per cord and is daily getting scarcer. The proposed railroad, how ever, will soon bring the necessary supply of coal 10 take its place. The population is, l should judge, about l50, and the city boasts three stores, several saloons of course, and an un-
 pretending canvass rOOfed eating house called Contention House, where l had better meals than in many a more elegantly furnished hostlery.
 a slve adobe hotel. that has been long in construction. It bids fair tO be a con venient house Of call for those visitin 2 the neighborhood. There are three mills ID the vicinity, viz. The Con- tcntion, the old Sunset mill, in the town, aRd the one recently erected by the Grand Central Company.
 The Contention mill, under the su- perlntendenCy of j D. BOusfeld, has done much good work since it started. IL has 9 stamps of $50 pounds each, 24 settling tanks one half the size of those Oi the Grand Central, If pans, 2 settlers, besides the other usual ap- paratus. They are at present working about 15 tons of ore daily, brought by leans from the mIne at Tombstone at d cost of about s per ton. The en- zine of this and the Grand Central are similar, viz: l50 horse power (nominal), ample power 10 do all that ls at present required for it.
 The Sunset mill, lately bought by the Head Center Mining Company, of Tombstone, Is at the north end of the town. and although the capacity is small, still all about it Is good and In good order. It mas ten SJJ-pJund d stamps, with room aud power for an increase to 20 stamps, six pans and three settlers. During our visit the mill Uas not running, but it was ex- pected soon Co commence pounding away al Head Centre ore. The .Oca. tion Is in my opinion not SO favorable ss either Of the other mills, and the spot where the ore is deposited i- at the top of a very steep ascent, which
 must be often an ardu0us task 10 drive tired team of mules up, after their journey from the mine.
 The Grand Central Mill is about one and one-half mics on the Charles tCl tide or the town, and is par excel lence the mill ot the Territory. l am not often given to superiluous adula- ton, but l must say that the substan- tial way in which this mill has been erected, gives great credit Co the own CTS, designers and miii-wrights con nected herewith. Every advantage has been taken of any and all late i'm proyemeuts, both ia crushing and treatment Ol the ores, and taken all in all feel sure the milling of one ton of ore here costs less than at any other mill. The facilities even for discharg- ing the heavy ore wagons Uhere were four teams, of l6 mules each, waiting their turn when l visited the milJ, must save a considerable sum per month over the method employed else where. The rock-crusher and sizer too is another improvement on the usual mode, saving some labor on every ton of ore treated.
 There are 30 stamps $50 pounds each); 20 settling tanks, each SXllX3; 16 amalgamating pans, $ settlers, bull lion furnaces, etc.
 The Eugine Ca counterpart of Con tcntion milD, is of 15O horsepower, nomlnal, has a 2O-inch cylinder and 42 foot stroke; also 1 steel boilers, 54 inches m diameter, 1j feet long with 4G 3115 inch tubes
 It was my good fortune tO see the first four bars Ot bullion made at the mill. Of course they were just like other bars, but at some future day it may be something to have seen then.
 Mir. E. NJ. Crane is the Superinten- dent here, and am informed that the cost of the mill inclusive was $l30, O00.
 And now one word for lbe firm that has built inc three mIlls have so briefly described IS we'll as the Boston Custom Mil. situated about seven miles from Contention. The firm is Matter, Lind t Co.,, of San Francisco, Mr. L. being a resident here. In all the mills they have erected, their work has been good and substantial; they have gone on inn proving in each mill they took in hand, until with the completion of their last nasterpeice, the Grand Cen tral, they seem 10 have attained ss near perfection as possible. This is the largest silver mill in the Territory and the sixth mill built here by the same firm within the last year. the cost of the whOle.aggregating up- wards of one-half million dollars. May they have the opportunity of erecting many more such on the San Pedro river,
 On the other sids e the river, near the Grand Csnsssi, srs some very old ruins. The MeZicans had fort here which was an important place during their Indian wars and called Fort Santa Cruz, but MT. Chase, a distin- guishci archaeological, who has given much time and attsntiOn to the sub jsct. has found suudTy pieces of pot tery, etc, showing inc place, long be fore Mexican rule, had been in- hahited bv portion Of the Aztec race, a subject too expressing and interest iug for a newspaper article
 I leave tonight for Tucson, and will see you, likely, before this is in print. ARTHUR LANG.
 ST. LOUIS has a river front of l2 miles, and extends back from the river three or rOur miles Along its