Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1896-10-08

est silver smelters in the two countries.
Each gives employment to about 4OC
men. No one will traverse the great
plant Mt Monterey and doubt that the
Mexican workman in the industry. rem.
ders equal labor, man for man, with the
er. At Omaha there IL little labor given
at $l.5Oa day. The wages in the various
grades OF the smelter range rs high %
% q day. 1t will not place the average
too high to make 1t 81 per day. That Is
American m~oney-gold. Here the com
MOI labor unl0ads the cars and heaps the
ore BY the thousands of tons in the yards.
little iron ira and wheels It under
the sheds. where the more skilled work
men do b mixing of the ores in great
beds. This common labor shOvels and
lifts and pushes al hard as the $l.JO
gold labor at Omaha and does 1t for 6211s
cents n day. Mexican silver, or 31H
cents gold. This labor works ten hours a
is the twelve hours labor, 80 divided
to keep the smelter running night and
day. Here something besides muscle EN-
tiers in. The iron barrOws must be
wheeled upon the scales, and one kind
OF ore follows another in, as beam after
beam tips. until the barrow Is full Of
just the right proportions of lead and
iron and lime and various ores to take
ont all of the silver in the smelling.
The Mexicans who do this are paid Is
cents q day. worth 37h cents American
furnace men, who know just when to
dump in the barrow loads at the top
and just when to tap at the bottom to
draw OF the bullion. This is labor that
receives 81 a day in Mexican silver. or
90 cents a day in gold. The Stag pullers
get 20 cents a day in silver. The fore
men OF the yards, who moves about over
seeing and directing, are paid from So
to 70 q day. They are few in number.
that ripe experience which is responsible
for the results. These get $500 a month,
the equivalent of 500 in gold.
The pay at the Omaha smelter aver
ages 81 a day, or $500 for the 400 la
borers, the equivalent of $1,000 in Mexi-
can money. The pay Mt the Monterey
smelter averages 81 a day in Mexican
money, OF $500 for the 400 employees.
Here is a difference of $1,000 Mexican
rolls' T ps sS Ms gold . II the daily pay
said to be making $40 in Mexican money
where the American smelters are profit
ing 81 IN American money. Whether
free silver in the United States would
raise the mexican money to the Ameri-
can money or lower the American to the
Mexican 1t would require the American
smelters to pay only twice as much for
much rs the Mexican shelters do. The
wages paid Mt the smelters here COM
mand the best of Mexican labor. The
lowest rate. 62hc. is nearly double that
pald Tor ordinary common labor. 1t
brings to the works brown men with
muscles like steel. who trot along with
pounds Of ore in a barrow. These
Mexicnns shed ell clothing but sandals.
push and pull the ore down the incline
OF the long roasting ovens. They have
only. one bad habit. They will come 10
work before breakfast. You can teach
Mexican labor to smelt ores to perfection
but you can not teach the Mexican wom-
an to get up and prepare breakfast, sim
pie ms IT is, before the whistle blows for
the change of shifts from night to day.
And so. an hour or two after the brown
men nave begun work. the little brown
women come stringing in with the beans
n the corn cakes and the bit of meat.
Laborcrs' Wages.
At Cerralvo. in the state of Nueya
Leon, is located the Benavides smelters.
From this smelter there has been
shipped since the LIST of January, by OK
carts, 100000 pounds of bullion. This
Cerralv0 district was q great mining CEN
ter 300 years ago. 1t had a government
mint, and turned out quantities of coin
during two centuries under Spanish do
minion. When the revolutionary period
set in mining ceased. Titles lapsed.
With the establishment of stable gov
ernment and the coming of railroads
mining in Mexico took on new activity.
The CerralvO district was one of the last
to feel the spirit of revival. The rail.
roads passed by and left this ancient
town in the interior. Three years age
American enterprise found this long
neglected district. A smelter was built,
The highly successful operation Of this
plant for the past three years, ninety
miles from a railroad, affords one Of the
best possible illustrations of the cheaper
ing of silver production in Mexico. The
manager of the smelter is Mr.. III. G.. Har-
rison, who has had a good deal of ex.
perience III mining and smelling. He
furnishes the actual cost of operation
from his books and makes a comparison
with the cost Of a like smelter in the
States. These are his figures:
smelter operation In Mexico.
Per day II
Mexican money
Two foremen. at so
v ore weighers. at si.............. 20
Two engineers, at 81. 20
Two furnacemen. at si............. 90
Two feeders. at 75c 1.S
Four Stag men. at 621ac. ............. 2.5
Two ore men, at 621xc. IL:
Two charcoal men. at 62hc. ......... 10:
Two patio men, at 0215c. ........... IL:
Ten outside men. at Soc. ......... 5.N
Two bullion men. at 62lAs.......... ~