The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-12-08
DURANGO SHELTERS.

| DURANGO SHELTERS.
Our first glimpse of mining carr was
Durango, called THE Gateway of the Gold
and Silver San Juan Country 1t is a
| rugsed, busy town in the center OF the
ore and coal supply and just north of The
fruit are cattle belt which makes the
San Juan country famous.
| In the evening We visited one of the
smelters, very wonderful sight ON a cold
| hight. The building danced with light
and flame, as we crossed the footbriuge
| over the Animas river and climbed tne
steep hill.
Men were dumping ore, together with
lime rock and iron 10: fluXing, into the
blast furnaces which are never allowed to
| grow COOL II costs many thousands OF
dollars to start these fires, which burn
| by consuming the gases and reducing the
| ore to a molten state. Then on to the
| engine room where the great polished arms
| and plstcrs seemed moving OF their own
| will The blow ROOM too was interS Atins,
but there are similar things in Nher
| places.
1t is the roasting furnaces that are
| strange, their yawning mouths disclosing
| beds of ore heated pure white On one
side of the long brick room are ten or
| these iron doors which are opened at reg
ular intervals by half-clad men, who, with
| long rakes, stir the deadly white ore as
carefully as though they were pulverizing
| garden soil. At the end of the row OF
fiery beds a stoker was rceding coal and
the wind driven from the engine room
above ran the full length OF the seething
sea of fire, carrying a wave Of red in its
wake.
Fumes of gas were at every turn and
I was well nigh choked when we again
reached the blessed night again, which was
doubly grateful after the glaring eyes Of
the terrible roasting beds.
The average output of this smel.er is
S1,5o0o00 annually, OF which more than
onethird is gold,
On the way out we passed a pipe which
was dsgorging molten Stag. This liquid
fire fell against jet of cold water. gran
ulated and was borne off to the heaps OF
this black refuse below the smelter. Stag
is the residuun of the ore after the metal
has been extracted, an empty, lifeless hing
which mother earth patiently receives back
into her bosom when man has no further
use for It. In all Stag there is small
percentage Of metal. often gold, which It Is
impossible or impracticoble TO extract
FROM DURANGO TO SILvERToN.
The following morning broke clear and
crisp and we were off early FOR Silverton
which is forty-fve miles farther on from
Durango on the horizontal and more than
xiii IL Ultle up on the peTpSnulGNlsE. ~
took us a good half day to limb that read,
but l would not have gone faster for the
world 1t was a curious little car bitched
on, with baggage and freight, TO III double
header that we rode in and GU: fellow
travellers were OF all sorts, from wooden
faced Celestial 10 several real Ruffalo BIZ
wild west rangers whose boots were, no
doubt, stuffed with -shoo.a rs.
1t was a wonderful ride those forty five
miles. and ! would that | had even small
powers of description to paint its picture.
We followed the course Of the Animas
river, which rises nearly nine .pat TO the
mile. Imagine, not languid river Of the
10 ylanGs drowsily slipping below its peace.
full banks to the gulf. but / raging, tossing
foaming stream. swift in the stlllest places
and at every boulder dashing into fall.
and swirls
The railroad at times was near the riv
ers level and We were in valleys where
sheep were feeding and farm houses Sc
themselves in the midst OF their slopine
meadows OF bue-g green alfalfa I smiled
when | thought of how we ditched gardens
at home to let the water off, but here
only wondered how the farms ever stayed
the torrents of water and rock ,hat in the
spring must come rushing down the moan
tain side. threatening 20 sweep all in ~
/ wake.
|
, beautiful. Sometimes the light burst iron
between tall peaks and broad stream o
, sunshine ran down the hill and slruci
the stream far below. like chaih
lightning as we hurried past.
, we parsed at Trimble Hot Springs I'M
, waters OF which are warranted to cur
rheumatism aud "all diseases flesh Is mel
, to as the bill board reads
, So high we were. the railroi1 'tAs'
, seemed o mere thread "linstng 10 TN
mountain side, hanging With a i'ta am
/, platform | swayed out over the a"lu
, danths and beneath us. 80 'ar GOV
, walled with the sides of the can ox
flowed and boiled the Animas. lNl'
, streak of foam To know hat the canol
, saa been wrought by the erosion "f Ia
river through rocks pmov nna f ny y sr
piSnorf beside the work % ages Al
ryas so full of wonder and neauty mat W.
grew weary with trying to ebs ,Hn J, wb dn.
rs found at Silverton, were very re-
, freshing our host was IeNan Az, nn'
IN mr.