Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-04-28

Return of Charles A. Dana and Gen.
Wilson from Old Mexico.

Return of Charles A. Dana and Gen.
Wilson from Old Mexico.
Mr.. Charles A. Dana, editor OF the New
York Sun, and Gen. Wilson, says the 81
Louis Republican of the oath inst, re-
turned yesterday morning from their trip
to the city of Mexico. The party passed
through st. Louis a month ago ON their
way South. They went over the Mexican
Central Road from Ell Paso del Norte, ana
when arrived in the Mexican capital they
spent four or five days with much inter-
est and satisfaction. They visited the
President and other officials; the the
aires, churches, and other public places
of note. Gen. Wilson speaks in praise OF
the railroad through Mexico, which IS IN
charge of Americans. Said he: "lt is a
standard road, and everything is built on
the standard plan, the same as IS IN vogue
on the best roads in the States. On the
narrow-gauge road from Laredo every
engine has different standard, whereas
standard roads make everything on one
plan, and can very easily supply defects
or breakages at once and with little loss
of time.
"A great many people from the States
are going into Mexico, and mutual adj
the result. The climate is delightful, and
everything is strange and novel; the
plants, the people, and the new aspects in
which nature presents itself to the eyes of
a stranger from the North. The country
is rich in its mineral deposits, and a new
impetus will be given to the working Of
mines according to modern methods.
Baron Humboldt in 1904 said the metallic
treasures of Mexico surpassed those of
~ for fhpIp abundance
and excellence, and he even then predict
ell that in the northern sections of the
country great mineral wealth would yet
be discovered in the rocks of the second
airy formation. In the years of greatest
prosperity the mines of Mexico in the last
century produced annually $22,OOO,0OO i'll
silver and about $1,000,O00 in gold. The
annual product of the mines IN Mexico, as
then estimated, was about $l0,000,0O0 more
than was afforded by all the mines in Eu-
rope.
1.-THE system of mining was then and
still is carried on in the most primitive
manner. The mining operation was car
ried on by individuals. When a person dis
covered a mine, and his claim to the dis
cOvery was established, the King of Spain
granted them a district of land around
the mine, in the direction of the vein, and
in those days granted to him also a GER
tain number OF Indians 10 Work the NINE.
The proprietOrs were obliged to pay one
tenth of the product to the King and =
per cent. besides together with the aver
age and the seignorage. The working of
the mine was attended with immense eX-
pense. A shaft was sunk 200 and 800
feet, down which ladders were extended,
and the laborers would bring up the ore
in sacks on their backs, so little knOwl-
edge had these old miners Of labor-saving
machinery, and this method is continued
up to this day in some of the mines. 1t is
true that the want of fuel near many of
the mines was an objection to the use of
steam engines, and animal power had to
be employed.
cit is true also that defectin working
the mines properly was not owing entire
ly to want Of appreciation of machinery,
for over fifty years ago machinery was
procured at West Point and shipped from
New York and the mines of Conception
and Temascaltepec were drained by tiers
of lifting pumps, operated by steam, the
machinery of which was made in New
York, and in 1925 800 yards of cast-iron
pipes were contracted for at the foundry
in Louisville, KY, for the mine at Catoree,
at a cost of $4,000. The debris thrown
out of the mines under the old system is
richer than many mines are in other
countries Under the new methods these
rejected ores can be worked over at a
profit"