Evening star., 1896-08-22

means Of dynamite. Each man had a can
die held in a curious wire frame and stuck
into the rock by his side. Each man had
hold of a drill attached to a pipe, through
which he compressed air came. which
turned 1t around and around with almost
tpconceivable speed. The men held their
drills against the rocks, and as they did so
the sparks flew from the stone, and atom
by atom the drills bored the great holes
into which the dynamite candles were to be
placed. Before coming into the tunnel
was merely closet filled with what looked
like candles. Each candle was as big
around as a broom handle. and about ten
inches lcng, and each contained enough
city house. The drills were Of about the
same diameter as the candles, and. after
the holes were made by them. the car
tridges were inserted and gently pounded
mainder 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 electric
ity. Now the men leave the mine. The
engineer IN the boiler room, a half mile
away. raises lever, the sparks of cleo
tricity fly and moment later hundreds OF
tons of rock fall to the ground ready to
be carried off in great steel cars and dump
ed down the sides of the mountains. Near
ly all mining Is now done by blasting.
There is little digging with pick except
down and every manner Of labor saving
appliance that will cut down expenses or
increase the output is used
A View of Lendville.
Standing on the dump of the Maid Of
Erin you get good view of Leadville 1t
lies in nest in the Rockies and it Is sur
rounded by some Of the most picturesque
scenery of the United States. Imagine an
amphitheater. 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. wood
en- shanties and comfortable homes, all
busted With yellow. put mountains OF
broken rock here and there through 1t and
let immense frame buildings which mark
the sites of smelter5 show out below 1t.
and you have faint idea of the city Of
Leadville as 1t looks today. 1t is d city
of schools and churches, city Of wealth
and manufactures. a town of gold and sill
yer and lead 1t contains about ZOO peo-
Of three times the size in the east. 1t is
the highest town of its size In the United
States.
There are parts of 1t 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 hand
kerchief in order to be able 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 smell
ters through the streets in enormous wag-
ons, each of which Is drawn by four
horses. There Is an almost continuous pro-
cession of these wagons going through
from daylight until dark and the pecious
dirt under foot Is ground to powder.
Lendville Placer Mines.
Speaking of gold dust. placer mining is
still done near Leadville. This has been
one of the greatest placer mining camps
of the world. California Gulch, which lies