Los Angeles daily herald., 1890-02-24
SMELLING WORKS.
The Prospect Good for an
Establishment Here.
PLAN OF THE PRESTON COMPANY.
Professor Anthony on the Mineral
Resources of This Section
Interesting Facts.

and business men OF this city
in favor of taking vigorous action to help
bring about the location of smelling
works here. A letter recently received
by L. R. Harrison, an experienced min
ing man of Los Angeles, from F. E.
Miller, of Chicago, who is the president
Of the Preston Reduction Com pany,
shows very plainly that the road is open
for development in this direction.
The Preston Reduction Company owns
the Preston system for the working of
ores by heat from crude petroleum, " hich
has the advantage of being able to handle
rebellious ores which cannot be worked
by any other method. A test smelter
was erected about eighteen months ago
by this compano at Elgin, ILL.,, and ores
Of the most rebellious type were expert.
mented upon with remarkable success.
The company then set about the erec-
ton of their first permanent works
at Bowlder, Colorado. In his let.
ter to Mr.. Harrison, Mr.. Miller says
that there is some difficulty about the
title OF the land on which the plant was
to be located, and if it terminates un-
favorably to the company they will
the effort to locate their first
smelter there and will choose Los Ange.
les instead.
1t will he remembered that Mr.. Miller,
the president of the company, and Mr..
Preston, the inventor OF the system, Wis.
tied Los Angeles about two months ago.
They looked into the situation pretty
thoroughly and held several conferences
with the railroad people. The Santa Fe
agreed to carry ores assaying less than
$50 to the ton at rate bet Teen So and
$4 A careful estimate was made of the
amount of ore available which was now
being shipped to San Francisco, Denver
and Omaha, including some which is
sent to Swansea in Wales, for the reason
that it cannot be handled by any smelt-
ing establishment in this country. IL
was found that there was plenty of ma
terial on which to work, and as there
was no lack of petroleum the two pros
pectors were we'll satisfied with the out
look. 4k
1t is the purpose of the company to
establish several smelters in which the
Preston system will be used, and there is
AO 0OuOb NAhb0tCl UudL 19b AuRcl6b ID
down on their list as one OF ihe places
where one of the establishments shall be
located. The only question is, as to
what can be done to induce them to be-
gin on ths work Immediately. The letter
from Mr.. Miller shows that they are
favorably disposed, and it is the view o
q number of capitalists and business men
of the section that some action might be
taken here which might bring about good
results.
The matter was brought up at the last
meeting of the Chamber of Commerce by
John F. Humphries, who offered to make
a present of five acres of land in Boyle
Heights to any company that would
locate a smelter anywhere in the city.
He suggested that gifts of land in various
parts of the city and county aggregating
a value of a number of thousands of
dollars might be offered to any COM
pany that would locate in the city. The
subject was turned over to the commit
tees ON manufactures and mines and
who will make immediate in
vestigation. Several members of the
chamber expressed the opinion that a
large bonus of land and money could be
raised for any responsible company
which would agree to build and operate
q smelter.
In connection with the subject Of the
ores of this vicinity, the following letter,
contributed to the HERALD by Prof. G..
f. Anthony, will give come idea of the
mineral resources of the sec.
ton:
EDITORS HERALD-It is q settled fact,
admitted by all who have taken the
trouble to investigate, that Southern
California is rich in the ores of the
precious metals. but very few are aware
Of the great variety of the industrial
minerals that are abundant, many of
which are of daily use to us all, and
nearly all of which lie neglected, while
We import from the Eastern States and
Europe the products which we should
manufacture, not only for our
own use, but to furnish the rest of the
world. The following list will astonieh
many people yet not one OF the minerals
mentioned but can be produced cheaply
and in any quantity the market may de.
mand. The writer has samples of them
all, and is assured of their abundance.
Beginning with clay, in variety we can
the world.
Clay for brick, clay for fre-brick, clay
for sewer pipe, for terra Gotta, for com
mon pottery, for queensware, and clay
(kaolin) for china or porcelain of the
purest and finest kind.
For limestones, we have those suitable
for quicklime ;hydraulic limestone for the
making of cements like the Rosendale
and Louisville, and also those capable of
making the Portland hydraulic cement,
such as we import from Europe by the
Thousand barrels annually.
In marbles, which is also a limestone,
Southern California has, for quality and
marbles unequaled in the world.
This is a broad statement, but capable of
proof.
Ochres for mineral paints: These are
in many shades and colors,
and of a good quality, free from grit They
are in demand everywhere.
Asbestos and tale: These minerals
are related and are generally neighbo
They are used for paints and for packing
steam pipes, also to make a body for
wall and other heavy paper.
Sand for glass-making: All the glass
used in California is brought from Pitts
burgh and elsewhere, while we have beds
and thick strata of the purest of glass
sand, entirely free from iron or other
deleterious substances. In this connec-
ton it is proper to mention the carbonate
of g. da necessary to accompany the sand
for glass-making. This latter mineral is
inexhaustible.
Pumice stone and infusorial earth :
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