Daily camera., 1897-08-21

grown and prospered until today 1t rep
resents many millions and makes the
annual twenty million dollars output or
precious metals possible.
The father of this industry is ex-Sen-
ator N P. Hill, who, IN the early SOS,
gave to the subject of working the re-
fractory ores of Colorado, scientific re-
search and intelligent application, which
resulted in building the Boston and
Colorado Smelling works in Black
Hawk in 1867, which were removed to
.Argo in 1878.
In 1864 Mr. Hill was the professor Of
chemistry in Brown university. In that
year he visited Colorado in the interest
of some New England capitalists for
the purpose of examining and reporting
on what was then known as the Beau-
bien grant in the San Luis valley.
The only mining operations which
were then carried on in Colorado were
in Gilpin county, and Professor Hill
naturally directed his attention to the
imperfect methods employed in the re-
duction of ores. He went to Europe in
1866 and again in 1856, to study the
methods in use in the old world in
Swansea, Friburg and other places.
In 1867 Mr.. Hill bgan the erection Of
works at Black Hawk which were small
at first, but afterwards reached large
beeen erected by James e. Lyon, which
was not successful and lived but a
short time, so that Professor Hill may
justly be said to be the Hather of the
smelling business in the Rocky noun
tain region.
Costs We're high in those days. The
smelling was done in reverberatory fur
naces and pine wood was the fuel. The
bricks which were used to build the
first furnace cost one dollar (SD each
and the bar iron for the construction
which had been carted from the Mis-
souri, river in wagons, cost twenty-five
(25) cents per pound -
The cost OF roasting the pyritic ores
was 81 per ton, which has been reduced
In the works at Argc to sixty cents.
Tie = char 6 fog treating ores in those
IS are oftes' referred to in contrast
with the charges which now prevail,
and yet we are Informed that the year
in which the largest Erofits were real
1xed by the Boston & Colorado Smelling
company was 1894, when, with the ad-
vantages of cheaper labor and supplies,
and the most efficient methods Of treat
inent the price charged the miner was
but b fraction of that obtained in 1867
The average margin now out of which
must be paid all costs Of treatment,
marketing the products, the losses in
ithe operation and the profits, is but lit
tile over s6 per ton.
Until 1873 the company confined its
operations to making matte, which was
sold in Swansea, Wales In that year
a great change was made by the intro
ductfon of the refining processes. 1t
was in that year that Professor Richard
Pearce became connected with the
company. He is g. man of eminent
scientific attainments as a mineralogist
and metallrgist, and he also had large
practical experience in Swansea, Wales.
From that time forward the products
of the wofks, gold. silver and copper,
have been all marketed as refined met
ais, thus making this establishment in
dependentIof the smelters and ref1ners
of Europe and, In fact, Of the world.
The tottl value of these products
which were largely in silver, have
amountedt 70 the close of 1896 to S5,202,-
857.
Not an ounce of silver has left the
works VIII hch was not absolutely pure
and the gold was reduced to the fineness
OF coin.
At present the Argo works is a great
concern and a monument to the energy
and ability of Its founder
In closing this article we quote from a