Evening star., 1896-08-22

daily for years to come. / met the presi-
den. OF this mine the other day and asked
if might visit It. He offered to grant the
permission. but only condition that l
would say nothing about my trip IN the
newspapers. l replied that l was in Lead
Vile to get the news and not to suppress it.
The result was l did not visit the mine.
There Is no doubt however, but that II is
one of the most wonderful mines of the
world In one of the banks here there is
about peck of specimens of the pure gold
which has been taken from it. The gold in
the vein Is i'll the shape of ordinary gold
ore. but In places there are fakes and
scales of pure metal. ard every now and
then rich pocket is struck in which 1t
lies in Jumps Tne daily output of the Lit
tie Johnny Is now about 20o tons, and the
average value OF the ore Is nearly $50
There are now six shafts on the property
the two deepest of which ere 40 feet. Gold
is struck about 300 feet below the ground,
Ind il is said that the whole area OF more
than Ion acres is mineralized.
Millions In silver.
Leadville is one OF the greatest silver
camps OF the United States Millions upon
millions have been taken out of the earth
back Of the city and scattered broadcast
over the world Much OF the money which
Levi u. Letter IS now spending in enter
tanning In Washington and gallavanting
over Europe came from silver mine here,
which he bought for $4,000. and which
panned out more than million. A
great part OF James G. Blaine's po-
litical expenses We're paid out of his
silver mine in Leadville and 1t Is
only five minutes walk from the heart
ef this city to the spot where Senator
Tabor. by srub-staking couple of miners.
jumped at once from the position of
poor grocer to that OF mining millionaire.
/ think that Tabor made something like
seven or eight million dollars out of his
mines here. and though he is practically
bankrupt today, there are others who have
done almost as well and kept their money.
Millions upon millions OF dollars worth of
silver has been taken out of the hills back
of the town. and there are vast quantities
OF dump and waste rock walled up almost
on the edge OF the houses. The city Itself
Is underlald with precious minerals. About
year ago Maj. A V Bohn struck a sill
Yer mine on the edge OF the town, the ore
of which averaged 100 ounces of silver,
with row and then a jump to as high as
from s0 10 l."1 ounces 1t has been found
that this vein extends right under Lead
Vile. and IL Is a question now as to whether
Leadville can hold its silver or whether
1t Is 10 go TO others. II Leadville gets X
1t will be the richest city in the world, and
single pockets of ore under the streets will
probably pay more than the city debt and
leave big surplus in the treasury. Lead
VILE claims that the streets were dedicated
to the municipality. and that all that IS
under them belongs to the city. The orig
inal owners of the land are now claiming
that they gave the ground only as
right OF way. and so the question hangs
In the courts.
Many ~ the silver mines of Leadville are
so rich that they can be worked profit,
notwithstanding the low price of silver. In
the Moffat and Smith mines there are 200
men on the pay roll as miners, and 1t takes
about three men to handle and care for
the ore TO each miner. There are 5000 men
at work in the Leadville mining district.
and laborers get from So to s. per day. The
Wolfton mine has recently struck an i'm
mense body OF ore, neither end OF which
has yet been found, but IN which 1oS.0O
tons OF stlver-bearing rock have been
blocked out This IL is estimated, Will pay
at least IS a ton above all expenses OF
handling and smelling, making the ore In
this mine alone worth at least SS64, 900.
Mr.. Moffat told me in my interview that
his best mine had been the Maid of Erin"
for which he had paid about 100000. and