Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-09
THE TEMESCAL TIN.
Enough of 1t to Supply America
When the Works Are in Shape.
ORE OF THE FINEST QUALITY.
Many Untruthful Statements Have Got Into
Print About 1t.
WHAT THE MANAGERS HAVE TO SAY

The development of the Temescal tin
mines in California has been the subject OF
considerable romancing on the part of zeal
GUS correspondents of both parties, owing
to its bearing on the operation Of the Nc
Kinley law. Extravagant statements on
both sides have unsettled the public mind
and made the English gentlemen in charge
of the works very reticent in the presence
OF news gatherer.
"a grand lot of lies about us has been
going the rounds of the newspapers, and we
hope you are not wanting to make up new
batch, said two of the managing English
men whom the correspondent of the New
York I'1b,ns met few days ago. Upon
the assurance that the paper was friend to
American tin, and sought to tell only the
truth, the correspondent was cordially ad-
mitted to their confidence
Among the published statements which
the managers fatty deny are the following:
That they have shipped $4,000 pounds OF
pig tin at 25 cents a pound to the Tin Plate
Company in ST. Louis; that they have orders
to the amount of $500, 900 in advance of
their output; that their works have at any
time been closed down; that they are en-
ploying 250 men; that they have promised
within any definite period of time to pro-
duce any stated amount Of the metal; and
that they have arranged to send each mem-
Der of Congress little tin pig.
FACTS ABOUT THE MINES
With the field cleared of these fctions,
the affirmative statements of fact have room
to stand out in clear outline. The tract of
land embracing the Temescal mines lies
about 80 miles in northerly direction from
San Diego, and covers Al, 900 acres of land.
Since the destruction by flood of part of
the Temecula Canon branch of the Santa Fe
Railroad, the mines are reached by way Of
Santa Anna and South Riverside, over the
main line The present owners are English
men, who purchased the property from capi-
talists chiefly residents in San Francisco.
Active development of the mines began in
December, $780, Colonel E. H. Robinson
is general manager, and Richard Harris, an
expert from the Cornish mines, is in imme-
diate charge of the work. Hugh Stephens,
purser of the company, is here on an errand
Of inspection, and it is from these three gen.
tleman and W. w. Stewart, of this city, the
commercial factor of the company, that the
following facts are learned:
Up to the present time the active opera
tions at the mines have been confined strict
ly to experimental tests. The ore must be
reduced to the fneness of -four and then
washed, and for this purpose mill of mod
crate size, with the requisite machinery,
has been built.
USE OIL INSTEAD OF COAL
Besides this, smelter has been erected,
and has been subject to more or less change
to accommodate the mode of reduction,
which is entirely different from that en-
ployed in Wales. There coal is exclusive
1y used, while here oil is injected by
steam spray into the cupola, producing o
white heat in much less time than by the
former fuel. Perhaps the most important
part of the experiment has been applied to
the mining of the ore and the adaptation of
machinery for this purpose. In this branch
of the business local conditions require new
methods and corresponding machines.
To promote and perfect the means of pro.
duction has occupied the whole attention of
the company, which has made no effort as
yet to court the market or solicit orders
The result of the operations, however, has
been an incidental output of fine quality
of pig tin, which our eyes have seen, and
which has been caught up by an eager trade
as fast as produced. One lot, of S,193
pounds, and another of IL, 336 pounds. have
been shipped in small orders to different tin
factories The manufacturers of tin goods
in st. Louis, Chicago, Cleveland and Phila-
delphia have taken small invoices for the
purpose of trying American tin. In San
Francisco the metal has been found equal
to any obtained from foreign mines.
ENOUGH TO SUPPLY AMERICA
The cost of the Temescal plant thus far
amounts to $780, 900, exclusive of the origi-
nal purchase. About 100 carpenters and
other mechanics were employed in the erec-
tion of buildings and furnaces, and when
these had finished their work and left the
place the report went out that the mines had
closed down. The actual number of men
employed is about 60, which is as large
number as the machinery established and
the shafts opened can prohtably work.
These men are worked by shifts, day and
night
The ore is of remarkable purity, in some
cases reaching 80 per cent. 1t is found in
a quartz matrix, and in some specimens the
native metal is. apparently pure and evident
to the eye, as in many specimens of gold
quartz Investigation thus far proves the
quantity of rich ore to be inexhaustible.
The management disclaim any connection
with the lockout in Wales or with any
other scheme whose object is to influence
the market They claim to be working pre-
cisely as they would were they Americans
instead of Englishmen. They "mean busi-
ness, +" in the conservative, solid, judicious,
English way. They have paid duty of |
81, 500 on new machinery received from |
England. They refuse to boast or to in |
dulge in glowing predictions, but the facts
speak for themselves.
The Temescal mines and the reduction |
works which will grow apace with their de- |
give fair promise of an ability to |
produce tin enough to supply the American |
Continent