National Republican., 1883-07-13
MEXICAN MINES.
A Talk About Gov. Alex. II. Shepherd and
who nrc with Him ut BatopiiRs.

n Talk About Gov. Alex. X. Shepherd and
who nre with Him at BntopiiRs.
Mcssrs. Wilmer S. Shepherd aud w. II.
Hoffman, who are associated with ex-Gov.
Alexander Il. Shepherd in developing tho
silver mines of Mexico, are in the city, bav-
ing come directly from Batopilas Mr..
Shepherd says that his brother, the governor,
is in good health and is getting along splen-
didly. Both gentlemen report the work in
excellent condition.
GLOW many mines is the governor work.
ing?" asked n reporter.
About twenty altogether" was the reply;
although the two principal ones are the
San Miguel and the Rencevalles."
How many men are employedP
Between eight hundred and thousand.
Just now the rainy season is about com
mencing, and the MeNicans must put in their
little patch of corn so they have left tho
mines for that purpose There isn't much
doing any way during the rainy season.
The poems who go into the mine got " dollar
day. They go in naked except a breoch
cloth, and You have to watch them to prevent
their stealing even then"
How can they steal under those circum-
stancos?"
"Why, they will put bits of silver in their
hair, in their whiskers, in their mouths, and
resort to all sorts Of sXpedients to conceal
their stealiugs. They consider that their
tied to the silver just as much as we are. The
stealings which were recovered in one week
amounted to 81 ,000 So you can see how care
fully we have to watch them"
"Hou employ Mexican labor entirely, don't
you2"
yes; the poems l have told you about
The miners get seventy-five cents u drill"
The governor has boen doing vast
amount of work down there, hasn't heY"
" Yes indeed. You see there was no ma
chinery at all there when he went down.
The mines were just in the condition in which
they were left years ago when the Mexicans
abandoned them. All the machinery had to
be transported to the mines and then put up
and: we are now in a good condition. The
greater portion of the hard work is over and
the yield begins to be effective"
"What is the average yield?"
well, we get from two to five tons of the
best ore week, and then there is lots of ore
of n lower grade. We are doing very well.
But, of course, its hard work"
"Do you work the men night and dayW
"Yes, we have the day and the night shifts,
and we work all the time except during the
day Sunday"
"Do you have any amusements?"
mot much. The people in Batopilas gave
dance and invited us Americans owe there,
aud then we reciprocated at the hacienda,
and everything was gotten up with the liber-
ality for which you know the governor is
noted. He attended in full dress, and all the
rest of us put on our good store clothes and
participated. We had right royal time, too"
"How many Americans have you down
there now2"
Lets see, there is w. G. Clemo, who is the
superintendent of the San Miguel mine ; Jor-
gensen, who is the principal bookkceper; /;
John Young, Alex. Merchant Sam Young,
Ned Maunder, although he is now on his way
to Europe; Howard Wyman, Tom and Percy
Marshall, Charlie Cunningham, and his son,
Gus; Andrew Eckhart, George and Charlie
Ford, and Capt. J. C. White, who is the con-
ductor of the silver train Dr. Ross was with
us, but he has gone to Parrall, where some
new mines have been opened You see there
is quite number of us, although some of us
are scattered about at the different mines and
don't get together often"
"Do you have much trouble in handling
the peonsW
''Not great deal. Sometimes when they
got under the influence of liquor they are
turbulent, but generally we have them un-
der very good discipline"
when is the governor coming M"
Probably not for some months yet. He
will perhaps come east during the winter or
next spring. The trip would do him good,
and he has worked hard enough to earn
rest; but you know that he will never leave
until he has everything in perfect working
order, so that there will bo no difficulty
during his absence. Aside from the
mills he has put up he has built
railroad of nearly mile in length
aud has improved the hacienda so that now
his quarters are decidedly comfortable. We
are just ON the other side of the river from
the town of Batopilas, and the governor last
year hult strong wall to prevent injury to
the hacienda during the rainy season There
was some talk of building a bridge across the
river when we left"
" How long will you gentlemen stay cast2"
Probably until September, and then go
down with Mrs Shepherd ond her family"
Mr.. Shepherd will go to Chicago to settle
up some business matters in that city and re-
turn to Washington before leaving for Mexico.
Mr.. Hoffman will remain in this city with
his family, who returned from Batopilas
about wear ago