The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1896-06-20

t0V 0uOo0s
0aptain Henry 0uyeR e6 The Baekas aAA
Jehnstone mining asa smelling Cen-
pahy Tells Of the vieissituaes Of Opera-
ting 1t an Elevatton Of sixteen Thousand
Feet in = Country Where Revolutions
Are Frequent--It Pays a.d They otiok
to it-WooA River Mining Equally
Probable.
Captain Henry Guyer, the we'll
known mining operator and owner
of Guyer Hot Springs, who has been
visitor in our midst during the
past fortnight, favored the KEY
STONE with an interview in which
he gave an interesting account Of
his life and experience in the Cas-
apalca mining district of Peru. As
an introduction, the Captain said !;
THE way | came to settle there
was just this way: Something over
seven years ago I happened to be
down in Chilli and on my way back
| stopped at Lima. There l heard
of some Americans who were silver
mining up the mountains. / went
there, just to see what was going
on, and became q member of the
Backus & tombstone Mining and
Smelling Company. The founders
Of the company are Jacob Backus
and ]. Howard tombstone. That
happened seven years ago and l
have been in the Casapalca district
ever since, and have most of my
resources sunk in its mines and
smelters.
"Silver mining $1,000 feet above
the sea level is not anything like
what l found it in Virginia City and
Helena, years before l ever thought
of settling in Peru. 1t is difficult
to live at that altitude in such q
country as Peru, and I was glad to
get away for awhile. The principle
troubles up where we were among
the Andes mountains are head
aches and nausea like sea sickness.
l took my wife up on the mountains
three different times and each time
she had to go back to Lima unable
to stand the climate of the mining
district.
sour works are 81 miles up the
mountain from Lima, and the Ar
royo railway cute our Stag dump
about the middle. We are operat-
ing three silver mines and doing
extensive smelling.
1.-THE Rays mine is situated on
the mountain back of the smelling
works and was worked to d depth
of 700 feet by the Spanish people.
A tunnel has oeen run 5000 feet,
striking the vein at depth of l 300
feet, and an upraise has been made
connecting the tunnel with the old
works. This tunnel is now being
l 800 feet further to strike
the Carlos Francisco vein which is
900 feet higher up the mountain
and is 10000 feet above sea level.
These mines are the only ones
worked by the company. Most
of the ores reduced at the works
are bought from the miners Of the
district.
"Mining and smelling in the Cas-
apalca district is not difficult by
reason of the climate alone. Sup
plies are costly and hard to get. All
our timbers come from Oregon and
our coal from England. English
coal costs us $17 ton and German
coke, $3.50. In the roasters and
cupel furnaces we use petroleum a
good deal, and there is where part
Of our hard luck comes in. Within
the past few years two steamers
that bring petroleum to Lima were
burned down at sea, and third
ship wrecked, leaving US without
drop of petroleum for months.
"Then, when the Peruvians get
up q war or = revolution, the
mountaineers,' as the fighting men
are called, cut the Arroyo railroad
at both sides of US and we cant get
into the camp. The last
revolution caught me in the works
and tombstone and Backus down
in Lima. They held us that way
for six months and wouldn't let US
meet or communicate. One thing,
though, they took the bullion from
the smelters down the mountain
and turned it over safely to the
mint officials in Lima. But they
kept me up in the mine and smelter
works, practically prisoner, until
they had wound up the revolution,
and all that time l could get no sup.
plies from Lima or anywhere else.
THE LABOR PRoBLEM.
Another trouble we have is in
getting labor for the mines and
shelters. White men won't stay
up there, if they can help it, and
we have to get along with Cholo
Indians. They're a lazy set, who
don't want to do anything but lie
back and chew cocoa and corn all
day long. The climate of Casapalca
is remarkably uniform while the
sun shines, but we have q rainy
season of about six months in the
year.
"There is some mining being car