The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1896-10-10

est silver smelters In the two countries.
Each gives employment 10 about 9ov
men. No one will traverse the great
plant at Monterey and doubt that the
Mexican workman In the industry rem
ders equal labor. man for man, with the
American employed In the Omaha smelt-
er. At Omaha there Is little labor gwen
at Sl.50 a day. The wages In the various
grades Of the smelter range as high as
50 day. Ii will not place the average
too high 10 make IL 81 per day. That Is
American money-gold. Here the com
mon labor nnloads the cars and heaps the
ore by the thousands Of tons IN the yarus.
This same labor loads the ore into the
little iron tramcars aud wheels II unuef
the sheds, where the more skilled work
men do the mixing of the ores IN great
beds. This common labor shovels anu
lifts and pushes as hard as the $l.9O
gold labor at Omaha and does IL for 0z12
cents a day Mexican silver, or 3l1a
cents gold. This labor works ten hours
day for that price. Then there
Is the twelve hours labor, so divided
TO keep the smelter running night ana
day. Here something besides muscle en-
tiers in. The iron barr0ws must be
wheeled upon the scales, and one kind
OF ore follows another in. as beam alter
BENIN tips, until the barrow Is tull OF
just the right proportions OF lead ana
iron and lime and various ores 20 take
out all OF the silver in the smelling.
The Mexicans who do this are paid 40
cents day. worth 37@ cents American
money. Then come the feeders and the
furnace men, who know just when TO
dump In the barrow loads at the top
and just when 10 tap at the bottom To
draw off the bullion. This is labor that
receives 81 day in Mexican silver, or
90 cents a day in gold. The Stag pullers
get % cents a day in silver The fore
men OF the yards. who moves about over
seeing and directing. are paid from So
TO 80 day. They are few in number.
Still fewer are the furnace foremen Of
that ripe experience which is responsible
for the results. These get 5000 month,
the equivalent Of 500 in gold.
The pay at the Omaha smeltcr aver
ages 50 day. or $500 for the 100 la
borers, the equivalent OF $1,000 in Next
can money. The pay at the Monterey
smelter averages 81 day in Mexican
money, or 800 for the 400 employees.
We're is a difference Of $1,000 Mexican
money or 5000 gold in the daily pay
rolls. The Mexican silver smelters are
said TO be making so 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 IL would require the American
smelters TO pny only twice MS much for
labor where now they pay four times as
much ms the Mexican smelters do The
wages paid AT the smeltcrs here com
mand the best of Mexican labor. The
lowest rate, 621ac. is nearly double that
paid Tor ordinary common labor. III
brings 10 the works brown men with
muscles like steel. who trot along with
900 pounds of ore in n barrow. These
Mexicans shed all clothing but sandals,
strawhat and cotton drawers as they
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 smet ores 10 perfection
but you can not teach the Mexican wom-
an 10 get up and prepare breakfast sim
pie ms II is, before the whistle blows for
the change Of shifts from night 20 day.
And so, an hour or two after the brown
men have begun work. the little brown
women come stringing in with the beans
ana the corn cakes and the bit of meat.
Laborers' Wages.
At Cerralvo. in the state OF Nueya
Leon, is located the Benavidcs smelters.
From this smclter there has boon
shipped since the LIST of January, by OK
carts, 100000 pounds Of bullion This
Ccrralyo district was a great mining cen
ter 800 years ago. IL had Il government
mint, and turned out quantities of coin
during two centuries under Spanish do
minion. When the revolutionary period
set in mining ceased. Titles lapscd
With the establishment of stable gov
ernmcnt and the coming Of railroads
mining in Mexico took on new activity.
The Cerralvo district was one Of the last
10 feel the spirit OF revival. The rail
roads passed by and left this ancient
town in the interior. Three years ago
American enterprise found this long
neglected district A smclter was built.
The highly successful operation Of this
plant for the past three years, ninety
miles from railroad. affords one OF the
best possible illustrations of the cheaper
ing of silver production in Mexico. The
manager of the smelter is MIR. H. G.. Har-
rison, who has had n good deal OF ex-
perience in mining and smelling. lie
furnishes the actual cost of operation
from his books and makes n comparison
with the cost Of like smelter in the
States. These are his figures:
smelter operation In Mexico.
Per day In
10 f.t4tt