Los Angeles herald., 1892-04-02
ANXIETY AT ASPEN.
LOW PRICE OF SILVER CAUSES
UNEASINESS.
Fears That the Mines Will Be Compelled
to Close Down, Throwing Thousands
of Men Out of Employment Mine
Managers Opinions.

anxiety has been caused miners and
business men. and in fact all classes of
people in Aspen, who are dependent
solely on the production of the mines,
on account of the price of silver. Ru-
mors were rife regarding the closing
down of several properties, whereby
hundreds of men would be thrown out
of employment. In view of these facts,
an Associated Press representative
called upon various mine managers and
elected from them expressions of opin-
ion upon this vital subject.
Mr.. Fred Buckley, manager of the
Aspen Mining and Smelling company.
was the first seen, and said: mo, we
will not close down: for the present at
any rate. A lew men wore laid of, but
not many. Our chief production at
present is high grade lead ore, carry
ing from ten to twenty ounces of silver.
OF course so long as the lead keeps up
we can ship this ore. because it carries
but little silver, being desirable smelt-
ing ore. The treatment charge is light,
and therefore makes it profitable to
ship. You can state positively that
there is no intention at present of clos
ing down."
DR.. Henry Paul, manager of the Aspen
mine: "The owners, or rather those
representing the owners of the Aspen
mine, held meeting in this city very
recently, and after carefully looking over
the situation and taking into considera-
tion the fact that to close down meant
idle men and the causing of want in q
great many families, decided to operate
the mine at loss, rather than lay off
several hundred men, majority of
whom are supporting families. l would
say, however, that in case silver con-
tinues at the present price any great
length OF time, we will be compelled to
close operations"
Manager Palmer OF the Mollie Gibson !:
eyes, work will 60 ahead ON the Mollie
as usual. We realize fully the great
loss which will be incurred by continu
ing our over production, but we pre-.
fer shipping ore and keeping the men
in employment, to closing down. Still
we are sure, in case silver does not ad-
vance in the near future, to reduce the
working force. This do not like, and
certainly trust it will not be necessary,
as am confident silver will soon be
considerable higher"
Frank Bulkley, general manager OF
the Bushwhacker and Park Regent
"The Regent working force has been
slightly decreased on account of bad
roads, and the low price of silver. We
will, OF course, continue steady pro-
duction, but only sufficient amount ol
ore will be shipped to cover the neces.
sary expenses. When silver advances
to reasonable price, our production
will be from 80 to 40 tons per day. The
Bushwhacker, you know, OF course, il
only showing small lots of ore, which is
principally averaging 80 per cent
Manager Newberry of the Aspen Con.
tact, Mr.. May of the Argentum and
Durent compromise and several other
managers were seen, who made prac'
tically the same statements regarding
future action as those already given.
Newberry said it was to the everlasting
credit of the mine owners that when an
emergency did arise whereby to discon'
tinue operations would be a money.
making scheme, they possessed sufficient
manhood to rise above these mercenary
| temptations and decided to 90 ahead
and, if possible, avert a calamity which
would have affected all classes of bust
ness aside from the immediate effect
closing down would have had upon the
| miners.