New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-01-24
IEADvILLE AND IT'S MINES.

rIArrERlSa OUTLOOK.
,rpox A STAFF CORRESPONDENT OF TIE TRIBUSE.]
I.yApy1Lr, Col, Sept SOL should not have
been surpriscd II l had found evidences OF dlscour-
aoement and depression in Leadville this fall, ana
a general desire among business men to get away
from camp which has probably seen its bcss days.
40 rats desert a sinking ship Fryer Hill made
Ieadyille as every one who is at all acquainted
nth its history we'll knows. and the bottom has
aronned ont of the great Fryer Hill mines. great
.,r;te occurred in June, which caused suspension
"a Al, mining operations. demoraiized the labor OF
the camp. and cost the city large sum OF money
4; addition to the loss which it caused. Capital has
heen frightened by the heavy losses that have been
sustained through Investments in such mines as
Tho little Pittsburg, ChrysOlite Little Chlef,
I..dv,lle and q hundred smaller ones which,
+houUh never of any value. were sold at enormous
,r;cas a wear ago. In fact the tide seemed to nave
tnrred against Leadville and expected to ma the
fatb of the people in the future OF the campshaken
Strange as it may seem. the city SHOWS no sigus
% having been checked in the midst of its pros
nerous career Its growth since visited 1t before,
n Nav. 1870 has been even more marvellous than
~; birth and the people do not yet seem to think 1t
worth while to stop making permanent improve
ments. new Courthouse, an imposing DrcK
etrncture on Harrison-ave.. is nearly completed
new stores are going up on some OF the business
streets, and, in the north part OF tue cltf
especially dwelling houses are being built Dy inc
score Business men neither complain OF mar"
times nor seem to anticipate that they are likely 10
come: smelters are buying more ere than ever;
laborers generally find work at good wages ana no
bodv seems to have lost faith in the future OF the
camp. ,,,,..,,.u>, .,rv
pofore enumerating some of the reasons why
f,odville has not suffered rs much as some of the
,eonle who have invested in LeadvilIe stocks, 1
wish to convey to the readers OF HE TRIBUNE In
few words, some idea of how Western city
grows Sixteen months ago. this wasalrea-y Guy
of 1000 people; now, its population has since tnat
time probably been as much as three times as
great. although I suppose it does not now exceou
$4,000 Then fve-sxths Of the people lived below
Fourth-st., within an area that certainly was NOT
one-third as great that which the city now
covers Then Chestnut-st. was the principal pusl-
ness thoroughfare although trade had craw'ed up
Oh Harrison ave. three or four blocks, and State
and Main-sts. were built up tor distance of
square or two; now HaIrson-ave. is lined with
stores on both sides tor distance Of at least three
fourths of 1, mile, and there not less than
dozen other streets in which a large an cunt OF
In .iness is done Then the post.otiice had Just
been removed to its present location and the people
held an indignation meeting to protest against
uniting il " aw ay out of town." and the newspapers
abused the postmaster rOundly for the Jasmine
performance" Now the pOst-Oilice, although 1T
remains in the same place is " away down town"
and two-thrds of tho people live beyond it. Then
l remember but one brick building in tho cIty-the
First National Bank; now tall brick stores nave
taken the places of the low log and slab houses
almost the whole length of Harrison ave-. and line
halt dozen other streets that were not laid out
kfoy her graded
In the city: the sumps of trees could still be seen
in Harrison ave-. and prospectOrs log cabin stood
in tho middle of the street i'll front OF the Claren-
don Hotel Now all the principal streets are mac
adamized and boulevard has been built To the
Soda Springs, five miles, which would be q credit
. TO any Eastern city twice as large az Leadvile.
There has also been remarkable improvement
in the moral and social condition Of the city SIN
teen months ago not many respectable women had
come to Leadville to live. The camp was not then
easy of access and 1t almost impossible to
make a family comforts able here. i do not remem-
her that saw more than one or two ladies AT the
public table in the Clarendon Hotel III whole
week Now all this is changed, and the influence
of the presence of woman is everywhere seen. Inc
blue flannel shit and the Napoleon boots have
siven place to the "biled' shirt and Congress
CATERS. Business men, mine Owners ana superin-
tepdents and hundreds of Others have Dullt com
Irritable resic ences and brought their families mere
The churches filled on Sunday with well
dressed congregations There Is hhe opera
House with a good stock theatrical company. and
parties and concerts of which no city OF the same
size need be ashamed. Mrs. Latey, of Omaha,
snper of much cultivation who has spent the
summer here and become very popular, was given
n benefit concert the other evening, which at
tended. The music both vocal and instrumental,
was of high order of excellence tor an amateur
performance and the audience remarkably cr'tical
and apprecative. To sum it all up IN one word'
there are among the people of Leadvllle many edu-
Gated refined people, who have carried their cult
waited tastes to their mountain homes. where theY
have found, in many instances, more abundant
means to crafty them than they ever possessed Ill
the East
CONTINUED PROSPERITY OF LEADViLLE. o
Leadyie has not suffered as it might have been
expected to suffer, first. because in spite OF the
failure of some great mines and IN spite OF the
strkes the bullion product of the district has been
steadily increasing. The output since the year
began has already exceeded that for the whole o1
1879, and; as the ore has come from greater num-
berof ruines, it has required greater number OF
men to take it out and transport ii to the smslters
suspect that without the product OF the nelghbor-
ing districts across the range tn" shipments OF
buhon from Leadvllle will fall off next year, when
compared with this, but the business OF the town
has not ret begun to feel any decline.
and this leads to the second OF the reasons tof
the continued prosperity Of Leadville. During the
past year at least twenty-five new mining camps
have been estab lshed in the mountains within
seyenty-five miles Of Leadville, almost every one
Of which is tributary in some way TO TINS CITY,
Much Of the ore that has been produced IN them
has been brought here for treatment and LeadV'iie
has been the base of supplies for almost every one
of them. While these camps have taken some OF
&he peop,e away from Leadville-given employ
nent to some of the surplus labor that had conere-