Arizona weekly citizen., 1884-01-26
". H. PATTON.
An Interview With the General super
 intendent.
The ouijataa a Great Mine-The Water Question Not SettIed-Labor Not
 Needed Now-The Future.

] Yesterday afternoon a CITIZEN reporter met W. H. Patton, the general superin- tendent of the ComstOck and the Quijo- toa- He was busy writing letters in the county treasurer's office, ont on an in troduction by H. B. Penney at once quit his writing and answered every question readily and in extenso.
 What are the prospects upon the water question?
 They are now down l30 feet in the old we'll Water IS now brought for domes- tic use from the Covered Wells and Desert station and sells at ten cents per gallon. The company will shortly begin work in the valley east of Logan for water. We cannot run our stamp mills without water. and if it cannot be ob- talned at QuiiOtoss We will have to mill our ore either on the Santa Cruz or Gila.
 How Is the work progressing on the present we'll?
 Satisfactorily. They have been both cred with their machinery, but I think every thing will go smoothly. The peo- pie are very confident of striking water, and that very soon. But of that I can not tell
 About how long will it be before the water question Is settled?
 That IS hard to tell. When t is set tied, all other questions are in a fair way of solution. It may be three or six weeks. and 1t may be six months. There are no mountains at Quiiotoa like the Sierra Nevada that have snow always on their. summits, and afford never failing supplies.
 How about wood?
 We'll, that appears to be all right. I am used to a wooded country, and can not tell much about this couairy. They say though that the supply has been sufficient at Tombstone for several years. Mesquite appears to burn the best of any wood next to coal. It takes one cord of wood to work five tons of ore. To work one hundred tons per day will require twenty cords of wood, six hundred per month, and 7,200 per year. We must know before We commence work that We can get such supply as We may want, and be certain of 1t. l think from what information 1 have that we shall have sufficient sup ply of mesquite at Quijotoa.
 If you should fail in obtaining a suffi- cient supply of water at QuiiOtoa, would you freight your ore out?
 No, sir. There ought to be a railroad to the Quiiotoas, and here IS TucsOn's golden opportunity. The company could build one but they prefer to have others build, and patronize them, the same ss they did at Virginia. The com pany might be willing to assist. should think the Port Lobos railroad might bend of to Quijotoa and go to the gulf that way. Are they bound SO they can not?
 The reporter not being posted on Port Lobos lore could not impart the desired information.
 What work k now going on in the QuiiotOa mines?
 We are driving three tunnels, one on the Logan side and two oD tie other fhe dis;,uce IS so great that all the. miners have Co camp right at the tunnels. There are eight men at work on each tunnel. They are being made by con trnct. hat is all we have at present empioyeI. Inc tunnels will not need t5 be tlnbered as ir the Comstock, the rock ysill hold itself.
 How many men will you eventually employ?
 That depends upon the capacity of the mine. We must first do the preliminary work. That is, we must get in our tun- nels, wiDzes and upraises. Then if We have the capacity, that IS if We find the ore bodies we expect We shall then be able to employ a large force of labor, but thIs IS yet quite away in the future. We shall first have to find water. and do our preliminary work in the mines be- fore we can employ miners. People are rushing there altogether in too great haste. It is too bad to see good men going there without cent. They will certainly see hard times. I wish you men would discourage as much as possible this untimely rush. People thInk because of the names of men who have bought the mines that times will necessarily be good. But they are deceived. There will be plenty of time to go there after water is dis LuNtltAB anu AAlU is done. But l suppose people will go, there may be few sensible enough to profit by the newspaper ad- vice, and go slow.
 How long will it take to level the hIll?
 That cannot be done in a life time. It Is true larger hills in California have been taken down in short time by hydraulic mining, but this rock is of a e hvf dike held together by the quartz seams, and from which the outer shell or debris has fallen down by the action of the ages. All mines contain large quant- ities of low grade ore that can be worked cheaper at the mine and at profit which could not be obtained if 1t had to be hauled away. We are running the Comstock altogether now on low grade ore. The Quijotoa probably has a great deal Of this kind of ore, and that IS why we are so anxious to obtain water there.