The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-08-23

dies. and, after the holes were made
by them, the candles were inserted
and pounded In. noticed that the
pounding was very gentle. A too hard
knock might set off the nitro glycerine
and blow the men to atoms.
A gentle tap. however, will not hurt,
and the dynamite candles are driven
into the holes, fuse is connected with
them and the remainder of the hole Is
closed with earth fitting in about the
fuse and being carefully pounded or
pressed against the candle. All of the
holes are filled at the same time and
then connected by electricity. Now
the men leave the mine. The engineer
in the boiler room, half mile away,
raises lever, the sparks Of electricity
fly and a moment later hundreds of
tons Of rock fall to the ground ready
to be carried off in great steel cars
and dumped down the sides of the
mountains. Nearly all mining is now
done by blasting. There is little dig
ging with a pick except to take out
the rock which has been blasted down
and every manner of labor saving ap-
pliances that will cut down expenses
or increase the output is used.
NEAR HEAVEN. BUT SMELLS.
Standing on the dump Of the Maid
of Erin you get a good view of Lead
vile. 1t lies in a nest in the Rockies
and it is surrounded by some of the
most picturesque scenery of the United
States. Imagine an amphitheater, the
walls of which are snow-capped noun.
tains, and in one side Of the arena
there is a mass of dust-colored houses.
Let there be buildings of red and yell
low brick, log cabins covered with
dust, wooden shanties and comfortable
homes, all busted with yellow, put
mountains of broken rock here and
there through it and let immense
frame buildings which mark the sites
of smelterS show out below 1t, and
you have a faint lea If the city Of
Leadville as it looks today. 1t con-
tains about 10000 people, but it does
more business than a town of three
times the size in the East. 1t is the
highest town Of it's size in the United
States Situated more than two miles
above the sea, it is of all our towns
the nearest heaven, but Of all our
towns it smells the most like h.
There are parts Of it which are alive
with birthstone and when you drive
in the direction Of the smelterS you
have to cover your nostrils and mouth
with your handkerchief in order to be
q BILE to breathe. The birthstone comes
from the sulphur in the ore, which is
liberated by the terrible heat of the
smelling furnaces. Mixed with this
smell is the dust, which, when the
wind blows, fills all parts Of the city
The gold and silver ore is hauled to
the smelters through the streets IN
enormous wagons, each of which Is
drawn by four horses. There is an
almost continuous procession of these
wagons going through from daylight
until dark, and the precious dirt I'M
der foot is ground to powder. 1t con-
tains silver and gold, it is said. but
silver dust and gold dust are no bet
ter for breathing today than gold was
for eating in the days when everything
that King Midas touched turned
straightway into the yellow metal.
LEADVILLE PLACER MINES.
Speaking Of gold dust, placer min
ing is still done near Leadville. This
has been one of the greatest placer
mining camps of the world. Califor-
mia Gulch, which lies just below Lead
vile, has produced the enormous
amount of 35,000,0OO worth Of gold.
This was the great gold mining camp
OF 1850 and 1860, when the words
Pixies Peak or bust should have
been California Gulch or bust" The
work was then done in old pans or
rocking cradles and the stories Of the
gold nuggets and the gold dust found
. were carried all over the world Two
million and a half dollars worth of
gold were taken out of this gulch in
1860. The men VINO PANIED it noted
that there was a heavy black sand
mixed with the gold, but they did not
realize that this sand was carbonate
OF lead until years afterward, when 1t
was discovered that the lead was rich
with silver and the mining began
Which made Leadville one of the great
est silver camps of the world. One
OF the first big silver mines opened
was discovered by the Gallagher
brothers, two poor Irishmen, and an
otner was opened by Fryer from
whom Fryer Hill, one of the most
famous mining districts here. was
named Fryer lived in a squatty little
cabin on the side Of this hill. and he
was looked upon by his neighbors as
utterly worthless and good for moth
ing.
one day he went into the pines back
OF his cabin and dug hole. He struck
ore almost at the grass roots. and
opened up mine which yielded more
than a million dollars.
GRAVE DIGGER STRUCK 1T RIcg
Another famous mine was known as
the Dead Mans Claim" and the man
who acted as a grave digger on a GER
tain occasion became it's owner. A
well known miner had died, and his
friends, who wanted to give him a
good send-cff into the other world.
hired man to dig a grave for 800 1t