Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-05-26
Protection az to Mines.

Protection az to Mines.
Some months ago Enoch Knight con-
t.ibuted to one of the magazines a de-
scription of the Temescal tin mine in
California. He has recently written for
the Chicago Tribune, says the New York
Times, letter in which he sets forth Ger
tain facts which have come 10 his knowl
edge since the publication of his first ar
ticle on this subject. Concerning the
output he says, writing from Los Angeles
on May 8:
The present capacity Of the works at
this mine is the crushing of about 80
tons of ore day, which, at a yield of p
per ce nt-the average so far, which does
not show any sign of change-means
about 20 tons OF pig tin for the working
days of the month. The output has no;
materially varied from these figures since
the present operations seriously be-
gan"
The mine has been inspected by many
persons. Mr.. Knight says:
"One Of the latest visitors was Lloyd
Booth, the head of the great iron works
of that name al Youngstown, Ohio, q
near personal and political friend OF Gov.
Mckinley. What he thought of it does
not appear, but the local newspapers had
it few days later that before long we
might confdentislly expect msnufac>
tory of iron 10 be started in connection
with the mine, preparatory to making tin
plate right here in California OF course
no iron works could be started here. The
iron ore is zoo miles east of here and
suitable many times further, To make
iron for tin plate under these conditions
is an absurdity on its face"
Mr.. Knight also points out that ther e
is no necessary connection between tin
making at Temescal and the tin>pla:e
business, because the product of the mine
is easily sold for other purposes. More
oyer, the Temescsl tin is not just what
manufacturers of tin plate want On
this point he offers trustworthy testi-
mony:
Il asked Capt. Harris, the mining su-
perintendent and the man to whom every
questioner is referred for information.
what the quality of the tin is in the opin-
ion of experts. He says it is universally
well spoken of for the uses to which it
has been put, which is mainly the m aking
of solder. He says it is little sitter than
the finest foreign product and lacks
something of the fuidity that is desired
for the coating of iron or steel"
II appears, then. that the output OF the
mine is about $40 tons per annum. and
that the product is used mainly in the
making of solder. We compare the Te-
mescal output with the quantity of tin
(the metaD imported into this country
last year:
Tons
Imports of tin in 7s1
Temescal output. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. $40
In no other place in this country is
the metal produced in commercial guam
titles. The Mckinley tariff law pro-
vides that there shall be duty of 4
cents q pound on tin after July 1, 1898.
The prospect now is that this duty will
be imposed for the benefit of the Eng
lish owners of the Temescal mine in
order that they may obtain higher
price for their output of $40 tons per
snnum. The duty will increase the
price of imported tin by about cents
pound-sn addition of about 30 per
cent. This tax would be nearly 81, 900,
900 if collected upon a quantity equal
to the imports Of last year, 80, 677. 041
pounds. The consumers of the metal
in this country will be required to pay
this sum for the protection OF this
Temescal mine and its $40 tons of tin
The price of tin is now, and for long
time has been, about 20 cents pound.
When it shall have been increased to
"a cents by the duty, the English own
ers of the Temescal mine will be able
to sell their product at that price. and
will enjoy the benefit of protection.
l used three bottles of Mothers
Friend" and when / was sick l never
went to he'd until 10 30 and nv bow was