The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-04-06
SOUTH AFRICAN GOLD FIELDS.
An Old Utah Miner Tells an Inter
eStimg Story.

An Old Utah Miner Tells an Inter-
esting story.
Utah people, especially those of min
ing proclivities, are taking great inter
est in the development of the South
African gold fields, the developers of
which this territory has furnished not
a few. A story of extraordinary inter-
est regarding the mines has Just been
told by James F. Wardner, who has
just returned from Johannesburg, to
a San Francisco Examiner reporter.
Mr.. Wardner is the discoverer of the
famous Bunker Hill and Sullivan silver
mine in the Occur d'Alene, of the Blue
Canyon coal mine, and has been for
some time interested in the SLOGAN coun-
try. He has had extensive experiences
in Utah, at Leadville, Deadwood, Vir-
GINA City and all other noted mining
centers of the west.
Mr. Wardner spent six months in the
gold belt about Johannesburg He went
by way of Cape Town and Port Eliza
beth, and describes the trip as one cas-
lily made. OF the richness of the coun-
try he has the highest opinion. He will
sail May II on his return to South At
RIGA.
I never saw a country so rich be-
FORE said he, ''and l never expect to
see the equal of it unless one is de-
veloped in Mattabeleland. Swazelard
or the Orange Free State. The Cali
fornia and Nevada men there-and
there are hosts of them-are all doing
well. John Hayes Hammond heads the
list. He is getting a salary of $780, 900
a year as consulting engineer for the
iRhodes-Barnatto group. V. NJ. Gle
ment, who was formerly at Grass Val
/ ley, is receiving $1,000 month as su-
/ perintendent of one of THESE mines
E foz7 lot 1,,1,r
dent Of the Treadwell mine, in Alaska,
/ is another Californian there who is do
ing We'll MI Weber. who was
/ prominently connected with different
mines here, is now general manager of
/ the celebrated Crown Wreath mine, at
Johannesburg. j. p. Connor is super
! intendent of the Guildenhaus, or Col
] den House mine. Clanton is engineer
( Of the City and Suburban mine.
4 Americans everywhere have the
/ call. Common unskilled labor. how
evera Srhether American or otherwise
I is not in demand
Mr.. Hammond's position is the lead
/ ing one of the world in mining, and he
/ gets the highest salary ever paid to
/ any one in the business. But his work
/ is very important, and of a character
! that few can do. As consulting en-
gineer fore the Barnatto group he is
/ now occupied in supervising the tim
pefIng OF the mines, the erection of
additional mills and cyanide works
ana settling as to what the treatment
! OF the ores shall be. The value of the
/ Barnatto mines is enormous. They are
/ capitalized at S35, 000. 600 Sir Cecil
Rhodes says he has diamonds enough
/ IN the Du Beers combination for four
worlds. Only quarter of what could
/ De mined are produced, however. that
being the present demand
/ fiTfaan
nannesSburg there are fiftv-five mills
and as many mines. each a fraadv ,taiI
/ or bigger in itself. They are all right
up against each other The world never
saw the like. Last year the whole of
! the United States produced S33. 600 O00
III goid, and 1t was a good production
! but this little area 1 speak of nro,
duced S29,O00,0O0 in the same period
100000 this year. YfO'-
Mar W ardner while in South Africa
was impressed with the fact that the
so-called Oregon pine of the Pacific
coast was just the thing for timberiney
the mines. A single mine prornn+lv oSo
dered 100000 feet, and the order is
now being filled by large mill at
Mr.. Wardner says the tinber of +,,o
SOUTH OF which Mobile is the centa,,
ana which has hitherto been going ~
ele johannesburg mines. has been
1ound TOO pItchy. The Norway 49,
mas the same defect, coDseGuentINJ
oouth African mine owners. are lool-i,.s
10 me Pacific coast for their fntnrs
Mr.. Wardner thinks the in,+,.,
ment will be followed by erea+ snip
others during the present wear -'-e anS
that the lumber business win 49, 1i ild
materially benefited. 'iius pe