The sun., 1893-07-19
HARD TIMES IN THE MOUNTAINS.
The Distress which Is said 20 Prevail IN
the silver Rer,or Of tho West.

mas come to the people OF the Rocky Noun
.. . tain region in consequence OF the fall In tn
gold price OF silver. Much OF what shall do
!, scribe have asccrtained by personal inspec
tion the rest from perfectly trustworth,
sources and your renders may be assured
that my statements are not exaggerated.
About the fifteen Cnur d'Alene silver minei
In South Idaho. which have been very pros.
! porous. had gathered n population OF somt
5000 souls. $500 Of them miners and mine
laborers. Tho ore OF this locality is richer In
lead than any other known. giving It, fol
smelling. great advantage. The C9ui
dAianc product has been. annually. $50 00C
tons OF crude ore yielding G5,0o0 tons ol
concentrates out OF which come $500 tons
OF silver lead. which can be refined into
1.4O0,0O ounces OF silver
These mines aro now oil shut down. some
5000 men being thus thrown out OF work. The
closure was not for effect rs the chief propr-
etors are paying heavily for work already
uone in Chicago on certain machinery which
has been ordered. but cannot now be accepted.
Most OF those miners who arc single mon are
wandering Off to distant States to find placer
mines or employment among the farmers
The placer.hunters can hopo for little this
year. since placer mining absolutely depends
on water. and this hereabouts is usually avail
| able In necessary quantities not over four
months in the year Some minors will try to
| get to south Africa, rs excellent chances for
| work are said to be offered there. near johann
nlsberg In the TransvaaL But many OF the
mine hands. having families and little homes.
cannot leave and arc In intense distress. II
silver can DO marketed at all the owners will
| try to offer work enough to keep these poor
| fellows and their families from starvation.
But most tho Cpur dAlene ores are OF low
grade SO far as their silver 10 concerned. offer
EtDQ only from fhrna to ~ all iyar
70 70, ton ton OF crude ore. and it Is doubtful II
this plan will be carried out; Two Of these
sHee silver per cent q the ThGe cIr dAsne
Grated protably for its lead alone. The same
mine in the United states Containing silver
Thss is T9ud fs simply for the sake
which makes them pay. i they do pay. and Il
w WHIT Es is toe low for mining no lead
Idaho as elsewhere. yied H little gold but not
now The DsIamar mine. however. in south
Mouth al 'fnif ha ao i FSs eSens c%ur
a. m f proprietors have no surpps to fall BACK
in northern Idaho. near % tie british ne whose
as high as 80. It Would would have ' @ reauired % three h
{s years more to render these digginRs produce
There are small mines ali over idahn Where
poor men have been wont to get out little ore
"s oTs q Be- sSP i ec sn th % they
rIed ,k 700 tons = silver ore daily making on it
The roaas are
train mon. station agents. and telegraph op.
stations. No passenger trains at ali are run.
oTf only mHed trains and very few these
AND nSw aS pHasfs c Sds
tie s hs s q whea
on@ one w0nld fa3ey himself in in an agricultural
anciliary to mining and When the IN miner ir is is
gone gone the IN man who has raised wheat and beef
or or ;ss cents. delivered at the railway station.
Thisis also the price in eastern Washington.
veal! At least half Of this went to the I miners es
OF Washington and Idaho. II so much is har-
Ssd Cd n XII #sSpsos e sSa srs
End so viii that
sfIo serious pd than in tdahc but i is bad enough
has population Of 5.ooo but not % more Gsnsle than
third Of these have depended on silver mining.
ounces ton. and some 3 per cent of the
copper work will 90 on. but the silver mines
will close down:
than aRo bun sus apssts rem
cessation at Of silver mining All the farmers in
hiring themselves out. with their teams to the
mining companies % haul ore. They; Of course.
Utah has had a large silver mining industry.
great Hnnauer Smelling Company OF Salt Lake
City has shut down and is cleaning up its
freight but ships none now. Business Hei IN sas II
Lake City is dreadfully depressed. Stores are
disshsrGRG sa1H n slsrks e. One gentleman alone
This city which had been countermanded since
the drop In silver, The same retrenchment in
going on ali through the Rocky ,Iountaln s conn. ~
try. Nevada. Colorado. Idaho. Montana. wash
5ueh in the iew States named @ ast the n? efeots
are less pronounced than In the others. There
p esss as It 6S hsSs bssS
PENDING { for living yety directly on the min
in the laudable desire to prevent a panic have
much to gay Of various industries other than
the silver mines This is not true. However.
!he point q 4 Importance Is NOT the quanttatiye
sept, as the. mining population provides ita
here: no doubt. but Instead OF progressing. s
building houses s, barns, fences. and proyding
STOCK ana toOIs, rs no many OF them
have heen doing. they will simply keep
soul and body together and sink into J
oIrbarism. Considerable business has been
lone in the States named in quarrying
limestone. hnt all this is used for fuxing ores 9
Ind most OF II for use in connection with silver
,res. The production OF coal. iron and steel,
md building stone also Is all but entirely de- 8
pendent on the activity at the. silver mines. A !
title OF 1t will continue. but without profit, I
While most OF 1t must cease altogether. Gold 4
mining Is the only substantive industry for
'ect in this vicinity Many silver miners viii q
urn to 1t, and In time the output may increase 8
n consequence This cannot, however occur .
or two or three years, Neither this season nor II
ext. probably, can the winnings Of the new q
.old miners make up for tho loss In our gold II
utput occasioned by the abandonmen OF sill
er mines OF which gold was by product.
f BENJAMIN ANDREwa