Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-11-24
A SHELTER.
IL Proposition 10 obtain One for
Los Angeles.


n Proposition 10 obtain One for
Los Angeles.
There is perhaps no one industry that
could be inaugurated in this neighbor-
hood that would so greatly conduce to a
healthy business prosperity as the erect
ion of smelling and refining works for
the treatment of the eilver and lead ores,
and rebellious gold ores, which are
abundant here. AS matters now stand,
ores OF the kinds mentioned are. most OF
them sent to Denver, or Pueblo, in Colo
rado, or San Francisco. This one ex'
pence of railway freight from $l4 to S2o
per toni effectually shuts out the great
bulk Of the ores of Southern California
and makes unproftable nineteen-twen-
tieths of the mines. 1t is well Unknown
fact that the best mines the World over
are those producing low grade ores, and
these ores are the ones that usually occur
in large quantities, and are also the ones
that this heavy cost of railway transpor-
tstion prevents working. :,
With smelters here the ores from all
points in Southern California and as far
east as the western half OF Arizona can
be reduced at a saving to the miner Of
from 81 to $12 per ton. And this OF it.
self is a good profit, and would make
profitable many of the mines and pos
poets that today are idle and of no value
for lack Of market. Start up say 100
mines in this region, buy from the
miners the ores they have now on their
dumps. and what will be the result.
The miner takes the money he gets for
his ore and with it he will produce twice
as much more, find employment for
hundreds of men and scatter about this
city thousands Of dollars daily for sup
plies, etc., while the smelter will be pro-
ducing daily her thousands in bullion.
This matter is now being intelligently
investigated.
Prof. G. E. Anthony, the mineralogist,
has spent the last six months investigat-
ing the minerals of the southern half OF
the State, having in view the erection OF
reduction works; and in conversation
with HERALD reporter yetesrday, said: :
II am now fully convinced that there are
ores enough now mined and obtainable
to keep in blast a 40 ton smelter for six
months If more no mining was done. The
works that we expect to erect somewhere
in the southern part of the State will be.
at the beginning, 40 ton lead and silver
water jacket furnace, in which all ores
except those rich in copper will be
treated. have fully investigated the
lead supply, and shall have no trouble in
supplying the furnace. Much of the ore
here obtsinable will require roasting
or desulphuring, as the carbon
ate and oxide of lead is not
very abundant here; but there
is one very favorable feature in the
smelling here, as we propose to conduct
it. There is not a single substance that
We are obliged to use as fux that does
not carry either silver or gold. The
lead, iron, lime and silica can be OBJ
tanned either as silver or gold ore, and
thus no barren matter will be put
through the furnace"
The Professor, when asked where he
would erect the plant, said that it had
not been decided upon fully. Several
points have been talked of, all of which
have something to recommend them.
Los Angeles business men can not
afford to have this plant go elsewhere.
The most fourishing cities in the West
today owe their prosperity in great
degree to their smeltera. Denver,
Omaha, Salt Lake, Kansas City,
Pueblo and Ell Paso. These towns
all concede this to be the fact.
San Diego, Anaheim, San Pedro and The
Needles, are all striving for the smelter,
and each place has some feature to rec
ommend it. Bnt Los Angeles is rail-
way centre, and the ores and fiuxes will
be drawn from all the different roads
that enter this city. The promoters of
this scheme cannot do better than TO
nvaat hai rLe coro M ,r1 tho e,,h
urbs of Los Angeles. And upon the
completion of the Utah Southern there
can be obtained ore enough of the most
desirable kind to require large additions
to the original plant.