Arizona weekly citizen., 1891-08-08
CLIFTON, r. B. l.. Gives its Interesting
 History. DISCOVERED BY SOLDIERS, Developed at Immense Cost, and Always Profitable. The Work Done and Doing-The Workmen-Ore and the Railroad
 Tapping It.

One of the chief mining enterprises, if not the greatest, in our territory, is
 that which is prosecuted by the Arizona
 Co llF ConoI1 county. The claims owned this con- . pany number several hundred, and em-
 brace a considerable district of country
 from four to eight miles above Clifton.
 To facilitate their operation, q 20 inch
 guage railroad was built from Clifton to
 Coronado, nearly eight miles, up Chase
 Creek in 1880. called the Coronado rail
 road. For the first eight months the
 plan of operations was to haul the cars
 up with mules and let them return by
 the force ofgravity, each car being man. 1 aged by Mexican brakeman. The first
 engine, weighing four and a half tons,
 was hauled here, distance of 600 miles,
 with OK teams in the same year that the
 road was opened. The engine was called
 the Coronado, and the remains may now
 be seen at the Clifton depot. It was not
 only the first on this line, but almost the first in the territory. the $. P. R. R.
 having introduced their engines only a
 few months prior. Henry Arbuckle has | been the engineer in charge of trains | from the commencement,a and still off
 ciates in the same capacity, being re | garded by the company as one of their
 most efficient and trustworthy en- ployees. He is more than ordinarily
 intelligent on other questions aside from hIs profession. Both he and Major G. M. Ford relate many thrilling experi- ences of the days of pioneer railroadipg | Tn this territory, and especially at this | point. The major has kept an exact | diary of the events coming under his | observation during the past twenty | five years, and cited to the 2lst uf April | 1882, when nine of his fellow citizenG had | been killed by Indians, giving the names | of each and pointing out the graves of | tive of them ln spot just above the | depot.
 About four and half miles above Clifton We reach the foot of the Long, fellow incline 200 feet in length, with a rise of 800 feet. Ed Whalen, whose name is most largely represented in this camp, IS the manager at the foot, and the genial and obliging Arthur 4. Wight has charge a. the head, or entrance of the LoDgfellow mine. Near the foot We pass through 600 foot tunnel, and it is advisable to lower your head slightly m riding through it. Failure to heed this advice is said to have left Mexican minus soap some months ago. The track is double a portion of the way, and as two cars pass up two descend at the same time.
 At the Longfellow group of mines, embracing the Longfellow, north exten- sion of Longfellow, Bassett, Emma, Geyser, Emerson, and Little Joy, resides James Colquahoun, the general superin- tendent of all the Copper Co.'s mines. His experience in the pursuit of mining and as smelter for the company here for the last eight years, insures his fit ness for the position he holds, and the confidence reposed in him.
 To P. Nicholas, foreman of the Long fellow group, I am indebted for guidance through portion of the fifteen miles of tunnels embraced in the Longfellow. This is claimed to be the old est mine now being worked in the Clifton copper district, discovered over quarter of a century ago by squad of U. $. soldiers whilst in search of a wagon pass down the river. Reaching the box canyon they found it most ex- pedient to pass over the hill, and espy- ing some rich copper float on the site of the Longfellow, led to its discovery. The location was made by Bennett, Bullard $ Metcalf Bros. TheIr success ors, the Lesynski Bros, operated the mine for some years, smelling the ores In comparatively primitive way, and transporting the bullion by wagons across the Rocky mountains It was necessary that the ore should run at least 70 per cent copper in order to make the business profitable in those days Of n gh prices for every commodity in use, and consequently a system of "hand to mouth" mIuing was pursued, stoplng { only the richest pockets, and leaving the ground almost wholly untimbered, . and practically unprotected from caving. Timber for use in the mines was almost impossible to be had, and, if at all, only at enormous cost. Under these circum- stances even the present company used : Gs little timber as immediate safety re- quIred, prior to the completion of their railroads, so that the grand eaving that took place some eight years ago, ard three years later, should have occasion ed little surprise. The result caused : partial suspension of operation Of the Lougfellow since the last cave, until lately vigorous measure were adopted to overcome the difficulty. Work is now progressing to remove the whole face of the mine to depth of 400 feet. and a level of 500 it, estimated at about 100000 tons of rock. From this quantity the ore will be separated from t6e waste, the former passing up an incline shaft run by 30 horse power engine and dumped into bins convenient to be loaded into cars, and taken to the smelter; the latter drawn out by mule cars and dumped down the hill. l noticed the work progressed finely, as three Mexicans and mule working at one point removed (Mr. Nicolas estimGt- shaft is now 200 fit. long, and will be ex- tended 200 it. to connect with both levels. After this face is entirely remov- ed as indicated above, the ordinary principle of mining will again be pur- sued, and a recurrence of the former caving will be avoided by amply timber ing the mine as the work progresses. Much credit would seem to be due the management from the fact that by prior methods it cost SIP per ton to get ore to the smelter, while at present it costs but S7, notwithstanding the richest ores nearest the surface have been extracted, and wages have not been reduced. In this group there are 97 men employed, three-fourths of whom are Mexicans and Chinese at from S2.00 to S2.50 per day; the Americans get from 8 to 8 per day.
 The formation of this district is chief ly limestone and the ore is found in pockets. Most of the Longfellow group lies between the quartzite dyke on the north and porphyry on the south. The 800 it. intervening is all ledge matter though irregular in per centage of copper. The ore can be worked with profit now when runnin0 as loR as s per cent. The