The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-09-30

mel and boards upon which you can
walk to keep out of the stream. The
water is taken out of the mine by
enormous steam pumps. Nine hun
dred feet below the surface of the
ground I found an immense engine
room, large part of the machinery
of which consisted of pumps, which
work away there day and night. They
carry out of the mine 900 gallons of
water minute, or $4,000 gallons an
hour. If they were stopped for two
or three hours the mine would be
filled, and it would cost a fortune to
open it again.
Standing on the dump of the Maid
of Erin you gets good view of Lead
Vile. It lies in nest in the Rockies
and it is surrounded by some of the
most picturesque scenery of the Uni
ted States. Imagine an amphitheatra,
the walls of which are snow-capped
mountains, and in one side of the
arena there is mass of dust colored
houses. Let there be buildings Of red
and yellow brick, log cabins covered
with dust, wooden shanties and com.
Portable homes, oil busted with yel-
low, put mountains of broken rock
here and there through it and let i'm
mense frame buildings, which mark
the sites of smelters, show out below
it, and you have faint idea of the city
of Leadville as it looks to-day. 1t is
city of schools and churches, city of
wealth and manufactures, town of
gold and silver and lead. 1t contains
about u, 900 people, but it does more
business than town of three times
the size in the East. 1t is the highest
town of its size in the Uuited States.
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 able
to breath. 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 under
foot is ground to powder.
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. California
Gulch, which lies Just below Leadville.
has produced the enormous amount of
s35, 900, 900 worth of gold. This was
the great gold mining camp of 1859
and 1860, when the words "Pike's
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 CT
gold were taken out of this gulch in
1860. The men who panned 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 it was
discovered that the lead was rich with
silver and the mining began which
made Leadville one of the greatest
silver camps of the world. One of the
first big silver mines opened was dis.
covered by the Gallagher Brothers,
two poor Irishmen, and another was
opened by Fryer, from whom Fryer
Hill, one of the most famous miping
districts here, was named. Fryer
lived in squstty little cabin on the
side of the hill, and he was looked