Arizona weekly citizen., 1884-05-24
ON WHEELS.
A Citizen" Representative Viewing the Country - Benson-St. Davids-
 Tombstone

ShhAeh heprtsenfattNe Ntewins q Country - Benson-st. Davids- Tombstone.
 TOMBSTONE. May i6.
 Wednesday morning found one Of th
 CITIZEN staff in the eas.-bound pa. senger, with a view of visiting thos
 places immediately affected by the pre-.
 ent financial panic. The country betwee
 Tucson and this place i- not desert b
 any means. Not unless green-leayed tree
 and blooming flowers, and broad acre
 of native grass go to make a desert
 The Cienega (pronOunced by the native
 Seneca IS in the eastern part of the val
 ley, and is one thousand feet highe
 than Tucson. It IS the natural gorge O.
 channel through which the RiIlito come.
 down from the Santa Ri.as. It seem.
 that artesian wells might be found here
 ani thousands of acres given suficient
 irrigation for crops. As one looks e.
 the matter, the ques .s-n of waier ems | PAN A0A -AAAlllAAA Ar EH AAACAAlN NlL lu IL ufl
 derstOod, and one that VIII bear scien-
 titic investigation. The prehistoric peo- | pie of Arizona seem tO have understood
 1t fully. There Is enough unoccupied
 and fertile land in the Santa Cruz val
 ley to make it an object 1f deep ra-
 search.
 An hours time brings the traveller to
 Benson, a thriving town which was call ed at first into existence by the necessi- ty of a shipping pOiIt at the railroad for Tombstone. Benson has nearly re- covered from the effects of the late fire. The business part of town, which WIS destroyed, is rebuilt in a substantial manner. While Benson lost cOnsidera- ble indirectly in the failure of Hudson * Co.'S bank, 1t also suffers from the great depression felt at Tombstone
 We got the smelter, St. DEvId's. tue ranches and railroad travel to help us out, for the troubles at Tombstone are going to bother us for little while" re- marked hopeful and patriotic burgher to the CITIZEN man, but town that's gone through fire can stand bank fail ure-" And this was the general tenor of every interview. Some predicted that another week would greatly relieve the extreme shOrtness of ready cash.
 To sec Benson without the shelter Is like seeing Arizona without Tucson. It is situated at the base of a small hill just east of the town on the north side of the railroad. As good fortune would have 1t Mir. Hugh White was present and acted as guide. The building is not SO very large, about the size of an Ordin- ary four mill. On the hill side a switch enables the cars to deliver the ore and iuxes on the rear platform of the build ing. Every lot of ore is analysed, SO the shelter man knows exactly all the elements of earth, mineral and metal 1t contains. It is then, after being reduced to proper size, mixed with a proper amount of tiuxes, and called on "change." Two large, tifty-ton stacks are running day and night. On the first floor are the engine rooms. fume condenser and fur- mace room. In the last named place men are busy tapping the furnaces and the slag. Every few nm utes q man with a ladle dips out the molten bullion from the lead we'll and pOurs 1t into mOulds, where 1t instantly eools into ..barS -.lGNH4s8'g 'guF9Re, rIe furnaces. There were then seventy or eighty bars in the furnace room, worth about Sl0O apiece. NIT. White stated that he and his partner began work there in March, 1883, with common thirty ton lead smelter, and have increased the capacity of the smelter just as fast as the supply demanded. He hopes to work the business up to double its pres ent capacity. At present 2.5OO tons are each month. From March, ! 1883. to January, 1881, they turned out S7250 900 in bullion. At the present rate of work they will turn out Sl,250,Oo1 for 1881. The bullion averages S4OO per ton. About One-half of their supplies are drawn from Arizona, One-quGrter from Sonora and Oae-quarter from New Mexico. \ visit tO the Benson smeltcr 1 will convince any one that We are in the l center of vast mining region The l present prices of copper do not warrant them in buying that klnd of ore. The shelter IS at present owned by the Ben son Smelling and Mining Company ct San Francisco, with VI. Salisbury as general manager. Capital stock, sj,oOo,- 600, and no stock for sale.
 The Benson Herald office was visited. W. A. Nash is dOIng a good work m writing up the resources of the country. and is ably supported. The Herald IS constantly growing.
 Thursday morning, in company with that pioneer, Jersey Ales, the CITIZEN man had the pleasure of a ride in pri- vate conveyance up the San Pedro val lev to Tombstone. The thriving MOr- mon colony of St. Dayids was passed. NIT. Ales pointed out the spot where Budd PhIlpOt was killed. Al Tomb stone tbe excitement over the bank fail- ure is not visible. Over lJO miners have left this week for other fields. The con test between them and the mine owners is q strong one. More particulars to- morrow. D.