The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-10-19

plished in the mountains of Colorado. A
line Of steel rope Weighing 1900 pounds
and 1920 feet in length was safely trans
ported from the town of Telluride, situa-
ted at an altitude of S,756 feet above sea
level, to the Nellie mine, $500 feet higher.
The mine was accessible only by a narrow
trail that frequently dwindled to a width
of fifteen Inches. and over which only sure
footed little burros could travel In safety
with any weight attached
An aerial tramway had been built from
the mine to the valley where the town Is
located for the purpose of cheapening the
cost OF handling ores, and to dispense with
the pack trains which had been the only
means of conveying freight and passen-
gers TO the lofty eminence where the shaft
house was planted. Everything was ready
for start, and all that remained for the
engineers was to devise some way TO de-
liver the great steel cable from the rail-
way depot at Telluride. The first sug-
gestion was to haul IT up by hand by
stringing II over the trail with pulleys at
convenient distances to reduce the friction,
but owing to the tortuous nature of the
country, which is one of the toughest In
the west, the idea had to be abandoned.
Then IL occurred to one of the company OF
contractors that the entire difficulty could
be overcome by Simple expedient. He
concluded to impress into service the pa
tient burro, or dlmlnutive mule. II took
some time to perfect the plan, and when
all was ready II resolved itself into pro-
position that was so simple that the MIN
ers were astonished that none had ever
thought of 1t before
The huge rope was unwound from the
spool on the cars and divided into rolls
Of 1870 pounds each. There were 1913 OF
these rolls, and, with two for each jack,
the whole thing could be placed on sixty
L..w- l. - l.
ed in the streets of Telluride, and the
process of packing them began. The wire
was securely dashed to the pack saddles.
and all was ready for a start The ef-
ficacy of the original form of TRANSPORTS
ton had many advantages, for each OF
the burros was anchored safely to its
leader ana the Jack that followed. This
facilitated the operation, for If there Is
one trait more productive of swearing
than any other on the part of a train
master 1t Is the nomadic instinct that
Temps the burro to wander away from
Its mate while the loads are being made
up. When the last roll was tied to the
back of It's bearer the procession took its
way out of town and began the climb to
the Nellie. There was not a hitch In the
programme, and before dark the rope was
coming down over the sheaves that pierre
ed the clouds and established regular
communication with the valley
There Is no record of any similar at
tempt, and the Telluride men claim the
credit for simplifying a job that has al
ways been reckoned one of the most te-
dious In starting a tramway. The OPEN
ing Of this route will throw out of en-
ployment 500 burros. and the cost of op-
Grating viii scarcely exceed the interest
on the plant and the cost of a brakeman
to be. stationed at the summit to control
the ore buckets The weight of the de-
scending ore returns the empty buckets
and also brings to the mines whatever
supplies may be needed. wv