Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-03-13
BURTON'S LONG TRIP.
"A Milwaukee Mans Journey in Quest
of Silver.
A Visit to Mines Which the SpaniardS
Abandoned Early in the Century.

John h. Burton mas returned from
trip through a country seldom traYersed
by an American, where he met with many
things and saw many things which it Is
denied the ordinary traveller TO see.
Whether he or his friends profit by his
trip or not, the State Historical Society is
to be the richer for it by a consignment of
rare curiosities obtained by him, and now
on their way here.
Something over two months ago Mr.
Burton left this city to visit, with two ex
perienced mining men, the abandoned
silver mines Of the Spaniards, IN South
western Mexico, and he penetrated by
stage on horseback and on foot, to a point
200 miles from a railroad station or tele
graph line, where he spent twenty-six days
without seeing a newspaper, telegram,
or even a letter From the city of Topic,
the capital of the province of Topic, he
made four journeys, of 120 miles each, In
different directions into the marvellous
mining district of that country. His ac-
counts of what he saw read like romances,
but he has brought with him so many
material proofs of his statements that they
could not be questioned, however much
his nearer might be inclined to doubt
''When / told the people of that coun-
try, where a flake of snow never fell since
IL.
never CONCEALED. about snow storms and
ice fields, and how we drive teams over
the surface Of the rivers, they did not be-
ieve me, said Mr. Burton; land, now,
if | tell the people here what | saw there
they will not believe me, simply because
they never saw the like. The country is
tropical, with all the beauties of a tropical
climate Such fruit we In the North have
no idea of Think of potato weighing
$50 pounds, and two potatoes making a
mule-load! We went by rail to Guadala-
jaia, the capital Jalisco, the New York
state of Mexico, which is by all odds the
cleanest, brightest city In Mexico. Then
I'VE traversed portion of the famous Santa
Anna stage road, which it took 1000 men
sixteen years to build, and which runs from
the City of Mexico to San Balas, on the
Pacific coast distance of 700 miles. 1t
is macadamized all of the way, and enclos-
ed by stone wall for long distance.
At Axtlan we were metby..a body of,soldiers
sent by Gen. Leopold Romano, the mill
tary governor of Topic, to conduct us into
the mountains.
Capt H. H. Todd, of California, who
was one of my companions, John H. Ward,
of Idaho Springs, being the other, knew
Gen Romano, who, when he heard of our
coming, sent the soldiers to meet US. The
general, with whom | have made all my
contracts, showed us every attention. He
gave us body guards, and placed his coach
es at our disposal, and besides made me
several valuable gifts, including a portrait
of himself, He took us out to La Presa,
his coffee plantation; where he has 1000
bearing coffee trees. Each tree yields
about fifteen pounds per- year, and it will
bear for thirty years. No coffee is export
ed, and it sells for 50 cents per pound In
the home market. There is a chance for
American capital, which the Mexicans are
anxious to get invested. At Topic, we
were in the heart of the mining country,
Here, near the city Of COmpostela, are
the famous Huicicilla mines, so celebrated
that they are described in the old public
school books They are the richest in
Mexico. Talk about mines!; Mr. Ward,
who is an old miner said he had never
seen mine before, after looking at those
we saw. Those suncracks that Mr.. NJ. A.
Hurley of Wausau, is fOoling away his
time with in California, cannot be COM
pared with them Mining in California is
mere baby work Why, Mexico has pro-
duced more silver than the entire world
beside. Its output has been "a, 700, 000,-
600, and one mine, the Valencianna, the
largest in the world. has alone produced
100000, 900. That mine has twenty
eight miles of drifts, and man lost In it
could never find the way out. | thought
/ had seen dump piles ON the Gogebic, but
that at the Huicicilla mines was beyond
anything | had ever seen. 1t was fully
fourth of mile long. 1t had taken
nine years to tunnel the mines, and have
miles of unworked development. There
are some remarkable veins of ore to be
seen. One that | know of is 80 feet wide
In It's narroweSt place 300 feet wide In sew
eral places, and miles long. The Anahuac,
which we will work, has a vein 8 feet
wide, of very rich ore that is worth $500
a ton as it comes out of the earth.
when the Spaniards were driven out
of the country in 1910, they left 50 hur-
riedly they did not take the bullion away
with them. They simply exploded the
mouths of the tunnel to hide them, and
there they stand to this day have seen
great trees growing over old smelters.
In 1850 man made contract with
LoZada to operate the mines, but his men
were all murdered about the time he got
ready to operate Now that the bandits
have been wiped out, and in view of the
fact that | am dealing directly with the
military governor, ! do not anticipate
any trouble
''Americans are afraid to invest in
Mexico because they believe there is no
protection to life and property; but that is
a mistake There is not now single
bandit in the mountains. When negotia-
tions were begun by the government, it
was found that the robber chiefs made
about SIS month, and the men S35. and
after years of parleying they were induced
to go into the army at 800 for the chiefs
and $40 for the men, and they made the
best soldiers in the country. Then, again,
the Americans are afraid the MeXicans
will confscate their property; but there is
no danger Of that. They are anxious to
get Americans interested, and property
titles are sacredly guarded. An American
who has grown rich there is James w.
Stevens, vice consul for the district of
San Bias He went there from Duchess
County, New York. married Mexican
girl. has a family of fifteen boys and four
girls. and is worth half million easily.
He has cotton factory eighteen miles
from Topic, where he has S400,000 invested,
ard gives employment to 800 people
Mr. Burton had samples of cotton cloth
made in Mr. Stevens mill, which he ex-
hibited with soIid chunks of shining silver,
samples of ore, Aztec relics, and hundreds
of curious things which he brought back
with him. Among the rest was hideous
little god which Gen. Romano said was
at least 500 years old.
Gen. Romano gave me an old cannon,
which | am going to give to the State