The record-union., 1898-08-15
DEVASTATION AT kEsWlCk.
OPERATION OF THE SHELTER
DESTROYS PROPERTY. y.
Alleged That the Air is Poisoned,
the Water Fouled ana Life De-
stroyed With Impunity.

4
| Eds. Record Union: A year ago the
| 'Record-Union'' gave liberal space TO
| an article from me setting forth the de-
| Struction caused by the operations OF
| the roasters and smelters of the Mount
| ain Copper Company in this county.
| The article was the first published DN
| any journal circulating in this region to
| give an Independent and truthful state
| ment Of subject that not only con-
| Germs the immediate locality affected,
| but one that appeals to the State Of
! California and to the General Govern
ment of our country.
| | received assurances that the Rec
| d-Union" containing the article not
| only reached officials Of the copper COM
pany in London and elsewhere, but that
| it came to the attention Of State and
| Federal authorities. / was further graf
| ified by the sincere thanks of many res
| ldentS of this portion of the county and
/ State, who were unanimous in saying
| that the Record Union" was not only
fair and considerate, but lenient to the
| corporation, While at the same time it
| took an invincible stand for the rights
and privileges Of all concerned. A year
having passed, submit a second report,
sustaining the original, with some addi-
| tional facts as they have developed.
The Keswick Company has now been
operating it's works for about three
years, but until the second year there
were no alarming evidences of the de-
struction and devastation to follow. The
business has given employment to some
hundreds of men about the works
| jDrOOpr as we'll ,,tjlizipu larOa oman
tity of f1ux ore, doing custom work for
smaller mine owners and awarding
| large contracts for wood to be cut In
| the vicinity. A town of 300 or 400 de-
pendentS has clustered about the
mine on Iron Mountain, and another Of
probably 1000 inhabitants has formed
| about the smelters and works at Kes-
wick. These settlements are typical of
| mining towns in general the inhabit-
ants being chiefly unskilled and migra-
tory laborers and single men, aside from
the few families and the usual number
OF lodging-hOuseS, stores and saloons.
The buildings, such as they are, bear
| the appearance of temporary places of
shelter rather than homes, and things
IN general present the conditions COM
mon to uncertain and transitory settle
ments of dependent wage-earners If
the works We're to suspend operations
in forty eight hours thereafter 80 per
cent of the population would vanish,
and the remainder would follow in few
hours or days after.
Other things, such as the continued
extension of the works and other evil
dence that the business prospers indi-
cate, so far as a mining enterprise can
be depended upon, a measure of stabil-
ity and permanence Of the kind not
elsewhere establishd in the State. Thus,
as mere matter Of business extension,
the operations Of this company have es-
tablished one town in a canyon, an
other upon a barren mountain top, a
short line of railway, and withal many
!, thousands of dollars have been distrib-
uted, chiefly TO a migratory class Of la
borers. 1t is upon this showing that
the officers Of the corporation and their
defenders base their arguments against
protests from people whose homes are
being ruined. possessions destroyed, and
their existence jeopardized by wide
spread distribution of contamination
and poison, which has beyond question
caused a number of deaths and much
injury.
1t is estimated that the Keswick Com
pany expended 81 100000 as a prelimin-
ary outlay, and have invested as much
more in extending their works. For the
purpose Of comparative contrast let us
imagine what the expenditure Of
| S3,OOO,OOO would have produced had it
been extended in the establishment of
homes or rational development Of the
region being absolutely devastated!
region at present fully twenty
miles in area, representing, say 25O.o00,
: or a quarter of million acres, is
rendered practically uninhabitable, half
of which is already laid waste and de-
serted and desolation rapidly extend
ing over the remainder. No matter
how much gold or silver or copper
: may be produced, it is a clear sacrifice
, of public and private domain Of great
value, to a mercenary policy that never
enriched any place on the face of the
earth, and that to a corporation whose
very identity is entirely sheltered by a
foreign flag. Will it be possible for the
| United States to as completely appro-
pirate any one or portion of its war
won and blood bought islands?
Surrounding the smelters and roast
ers, where thousands Of tons of min
: erals are continually smoldering, Civ
ing out their clouds of poisonous va
, pors, there is now an irregular area
of utter desolatiOn and devastation ex-
tending for from two to four or five
miles the most of which has been
: finally completed by fire and the re-
, mainder awaiting but a spark to ig-
, mite the blasted debris and deadened
timber. Beyond this, the effects of the
fumes and their deposits can be traced
; for ten or fifteen miles in every direc-
ton upon all sorts of vegetation. The
trees and shrubbery along the canyons
: and watercourses are first affected
, where the air currents carry the denser
fumes. The younger growth of pines
and the alders along streams are first
? to perish. Trees that are not bereft
? of foliage are rendered peculiarly in
fiammable by the deposition of minerals
: upon them, and fire soon finishes what
the fumes prepare for destruction. Al
this writing there are fires in several
localities, and it is merely conjecture
e as to the extent to which they vii
] complete the ruin this season. and az
r to what will be left for next summers
!, flames.
The region directly affected contained
and supported, before the advent ol
I the smelters, a population of 5000 =
: 5000 people. Some of these have re-