San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-03-20
SCENES IN WONDERLAND.
A Visit to the Largest Smelter in
the World-A New Enterprise
From Gulf to Pacific--Miners
and Mines - Personals.
LA CONCORDIA, !
MONTEREY, March ID, 1913, |

equalled nor surpassed at the pres
ent time in the known world. Her
TOpO Chico hot springs rival any
spring now known to exist; then
her scenery and climate are second
to none, and now she claims to
have the largest smelter in the
world.
Last Monday morning, your cor
respondent paid a visit to the
GA GRAN FUNDACION NACIONAL
MEXICANA,'1
or what's known as the Guggen-
helm smelter, No. 3.
When we reached the office we
met Mr.. William Guggenheim, the
general manager of the smelter,
surrounded by stacks of letters,
which he had received that morn
ing. PAS soon as we stated our mis-
sion, he kindly informed me that
he would cheerfully supply
me with the information for which
l asked, for publication in the
LIGHT.
"Well, we are running ten
furnaces, which use one thousand
tons of material per day. We
handle four classes of ores, silver,
lead, copper and iron. We receive
these ores from all parts of the re-
public of Mexico; some of them are
brought twelve hundred miles.
We own four mines, one of which
is situated on the south side of the
Sierra la Metra, fronting the Santa
Catarina station on the line of the
Mexican National railroad. We
are now building a tram railway
from the station to the mine, which
is about two miles long and will
be worked by cable wire rope.
1--WE employ five hundred men
at the smelter and the same num-
Der of hands to work our own mines
and the leased ones. We have a
number of mines leased.
1--WE started work on the Goth of
January, 1892 with six furnaces,
and added four more since the lat
ter part of the summer of 1892, and
the machinery has been running
night and day since started.
1--WE have handled one hundred
and twenty-five thousand tons of
ore, and turned out twenty thOus-
and tons of bullion.
"When we commenced to
build here we constructed our
buildings so that we could
put up twenty furnaces and
will do so if we get the ores.
"The machinery is run by two
hundred and fifty horse power
each; there are nine boilers of
tiftyincandescent lights and twenty
ninety horse power each.
ave have an electric light plant
which gives us three hundred and
twenty arc lights.
"The ash chamber is six hundred
feet long, the smoke stack one
hundred and seventy-five feet,
twelve feet in the clear at the top
and twenty feet in the clear at the
base. The smoke stack of the
roasting works is eighty-five feet
in the clear at the top and fourteen
feet in the clear at the base.
"The reservoir is one hundred by
four hundred feet and twelve feet
deep. This tank is supplied from
wells that are sixty feet deep. The
water tank is erected on an Observ-
atory which is eighty-five feet
high, the tank is twenty feet high.
This tank supplies all the buildings,
officers and gardens with water.
1--WE also have a ditch by which
we receive water from Santa Cata-
rina twelve miles away, which in
case of accident to our well pumps
we can turn into the reservoir.
We use this under at present for
irrigation.
The elevated railroad which
runs parrelel to the smelter is
eight hundred feet long with stand
ard and narrow gage tracks on it,
by which the deliver coal and
coke to the furnaces on the second
story. There are twelve tracks of
four miles of those roads in the
yard.
We have large roasting works,
sampling works and an extensive
labratory for assaying the ores.
We have several one and two sto-
ry stone, brick and frame buildings
for the employees, and is twelve
room two story brick for the Off
GERS. All those buildings are
modern style and are furnish with
latest and best style furniture;
bath rooms and lit at night with
electric lights.
We have a system of water
works so that in cnCn of fire all