Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1897-10-13
DOINGS IN CONGRESS-.
A Reporter Visits One Of the Best
 Camps in the Territory.
The Progress of the Mine. It's Out put, and Notes of Interest
 Concerning the Camp,

A JuUkNAL~ miAEk ItpOItcI fteiitA the scene of mining activity at Con gress Sunday and Monday, there found one of the liveliest, best aud most successfully gov erned camps in the territory.
 The train lands you at Congress Junction, where you are met by stage and conveyed three miles north to Congress, plainly visible, and nestling comfortably at the base of the mountain with its fifteen hun dred inhabitants.
 Congress is composed of lower town and upper town, lower town comprising the business and resi- dence portion, in contradistinction to that of the company's portion of the city, containing the mills, com pany store, boarding and lodging houses aud residences of employees. The line of demarkation between the two sections of the town is made distinct by ali intervening open space.
 We landed in the city at 9 a. m. Sunday, and found the town alive with the hum of business. The roar of machinery in the mill, the la bored breathing of the hoisting en- gines, the wheeling of ore to the bins and of refuse to tho dumps, coupled with business activity Tn lower town, told us plainly that Sunday as the day of rest is prac- tically unknown in the mining camp.
 At tho company's store we met the genial and courteous W. F. Staunton, superintendent of the mines, to whom we owe much of the pleasure of our stay, and the infor- nation contained below, relative to tho mines. Mir. Staunton is young man, but he IS genuine business all through. everything working with clock like precision under his super vision.
 Mir. Stauntou informed us that the number of men employed IS 425, with a pay roll of S30,0O0 per month, The output of the mine is l20 tons of ore, averaging S20 per ton in value, besides the additional ship ment of 25 cars per month of high grade ore. The mill is a 40-stamp and runs day and night with the exception of the first day of each month--a day for rest and repairs, The ore is taken from three shafts, No. is l,750 feet deep, No. 7, l,4OO set and No. 3, HOO feet. No. is lighted by electricity.
 A new hoisting plant has been ordered for the Shaft No. ?. capable of going to a depth of 5000 feet, and in shaft No. a similar hoist will be placed, capable of hoisting a load of 20,00O pounds at the rate of 1000 feet per minute for 5000 l feet depth.
 The water supply is taken from Martinez creek, to the northwest, raised 800 feet, and pumped . dis | tance of one mile into tanks, from which the mine and the tanks are abundantly supplied. The company charge the inhabitants of lower | town Sl per month for water, which would be considered fair price in any town. The supply is taken from a hydrant at the company's store in barrels trundled on their sides to and from the hydrant by the pur- chasers, who have their tickets punched for each barrel taken. All the supplies of the company and the merchandise for the business men are hauled to Congress from | Congress Junction by the company s railroad, a distance of three miles. The company has a magnificent Seton Brooks oil burning engine that does the work. The train makes one trip each way, going down and coming back in the morning. Congress has telegraphic and tele- | phoue connections with the outside world, and the company has its own electric light plant, by which their mills, stores and other establish ments are lighted.
 In the office Superintendent Staun. ton is assisted by five efficient men young in years, but old aud capable in business qualifications. In the store E. $. Jones has the manage meut, assisted by c. P. Hart. J. A i Wescott, w. E. Bayless, E. W Bretzel and John Harter.
 At the cyanide miil loo tons oI tailings are handled daily, and yet the capacity of the mill is insuffi cisnt to keep down the increase and, as a result, the company intend to enlarge this branch of the busi ness.
 The tenth of every month is pay ! day, and the turning loose of S3000l in the city makes things lively, as we found last Sunday, which hap pened to be the 10th of October. A 1 general good time prevails and lower town swarms with the boys out fol a good time. However, good order obtains, and lower town does a good i business.
 ! We found the business men oI l Congress enteTprising and courteous and together, between the camp and the city, our stay of two days was s genuine pleasure. Old timers re. [ lated to us the history of the Con ] gress mine, which has been pre-. viously told in these columns, and told us of many new and valuable prospects awaiting development in the hllls about.
 One old gentleman, who felt in duty bound to furnish his mite of information to the reporter for the edifcation of the general public and not being we'll versed in mining lore, gave us a lengthy dissertation on the characteristics of dogs.
 The company has plenty of ore in sight to keep them busy for years to come, and when that is exhausted they have other claims in reserve to keep them busy for an indefinite period.
 The town has its social side, with a church, three secret societies, the Red Men, new lodge recently in stituted with sixty members, the A O. U. W. and Odd Fellows.
 A good school is in progress with three able teachers at the helm and l50 scholars learning tho route to