The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-08-07

Of silver to the ton. The tunnel is three
thousand feet below the outcroppings of the
ore, and it is believed that some rich peck
cts will be struck in working upward. This
mine is worked after the approved Ameri-
can fashion. The tunnels have railroad
tracks in them and the ore when brought
to the surface is sent to the mills on gray
ity tramway.
SMELLING FOR THE PERUVIANS.
In addition to it's own ore the Backus
& Johnston Company does a large business
in smelling for the mines of Yauli and of
Cerro de Pasco The ore is carried from
forty to seventy-five miles to the smelters
on the backs of llamas. Each of the llamas
carries about hundred pounds, and they
are driven here by the Indians in herds of
from twenty to fifty. 1t is not an uncommon
thing for 1900 llamas to be unloaded in
day at Casapalca, and the yards of the
smelter were full of these curious beasts
during the whole of my stay 1t takes the
| llamas ten days to make the round trip
from Cerro de Pasco and about two days
from Yauli. 1t is one of the curious fea-
lures of freighting in the Andes that al
though Yauli is on the line Of the railroad,
| just twenty-five miles from the smelling
| works, the ore can be brought that dis
| lance more cheaply on llama back than
| on the cars. In the same connection eggs
| and vegetables are sometimes carried down
| the mountains to the markets of the low
| lands llamas, although the railroad al
most parallels the route of the llama trail.
| There is another large smelter at the end
| of this railroad, at Antofagasta, on the sea.
| This smelter belongs to the famous Huan-
chaca Silver Mining Company, which pro-
duces the greater part of the silver of Bo-
lix-io off iy1or n
| vast extent comparing in size with any in
the United States They have cost about
| two and on-half million American dollars,
| and smelt the ores of this company ex
| clusively. 1t is a magnificent establish
| ment and is now well managed.
! 1 have already said something about gold
mining in Bolivia. There is one thing which
failed to mention, and this applies to silver
| mines as well. This is the difficulty which
1 am informed exists of holding on to good
| mine here without a lawsuit Many of the
notary publics, through whom the mines
| when discovered are taken, are said to be
| entirely INSCRIPTIONS, and it is almost i'm
! possible to prevent fraud. A common thing
| is for the notary to issue papers to himself
| for the same property and to antedate them.
| If the mine turns out good he claims it by
| right of a prior title. Another method is
| to leave some important clause out of the
| papers SO that it will furnish a ground for
a defect of title, and a third method is to
forge papers claiming and substantiating
prior title. I heard the other day of such.
papers being brought in evidence, in which
the water marks on the paper showed that
the paper was made at a later date than
| at that at which the writing upon it was
purported to have been filed. 1 am told
| -doxr h11f of Ina
in Bolivia which are in the hands of for
eigners which have not lawsuits connected
with them, and it behooves the American
| who comes here to watch his titles very
| carefully and to beware of trusting any one
| farther than he help. In Peru under
stand that the mining laws are more care
| fully worded and that the chances of fraud
| are considerably less.
SPANIARDS MADE FORTUNES.
| AS to the existence of gold almost every
where in these Andean mountains there
| is no doubt but the finding of it in paying
quantities is different thing. The amounts
of treasure gathered by the Indians before
the days of the Spaniards and since then
| have given false idea Of the richness of
the country. In the days of the Incas these
Indian chiefs, called kings by the Spaniards,
| had the masses as their slaves. They could
| put thousands of them OF gold washing in
| the various rivers, and, though each man
| got but little the aggregate was large.
| There was little wear and tear on the gold
| thus gathered. 1t was not used as money
and but little of it went into the hands of
| the common people. 1t accumulated as
the ornaments of the mobiles and as
decorations in the temples, and was
consequently found in great guam
xvha IN,
| Spaniards themselves used the Indians as
| slaves and worked them so hard that to-
| day the Indian population of both Bolivia
| and Peru is not one-tenth of what 1t was at
| the time of the invasion of Pizarro The
mineral region least prospected is that
| the eastern side of the Andes. These parts
| of the country have been worked for years
| by savage Indians, who still bring gold to
| the settlements and dispose of it in way of
| trade The Indians are hostile to foreigners
and drive them out of their territory. The
| banks of the rivers are covered with
| dense vegetation, and the climate is in most
| parts malarious and very unhealthful.
| There are placer mines worked by the In
| dams on the Maranon, the Bent and San
| tiago rivers and on the latter / am told
| that the gravel often pans out two ounces
to the yard. Many of the mountain streams
were paved by the Incas during the dry
seasons, when the water was low The
floods brought the gold down from the
mountain, and this was caught in the cob
bles and cleaned up when the waters went
down 1 Travelled for some days with an
English mining engineer named Sharp, who
has been sent out here by some London
capitalists to investigate certain properties.
Said he 80 far as 1 have gone, and have
travelled extensively in the central parts of
Peru, / find that the gold lodges are few
and far between and very uncertain as TO
extent. The free gold has been pretty well
worked out, and what is left is in iron py-
rites, from which it is difficult to extract
it. The mines are pockety and uncertain
Such mining as is done by the Peruvians
is after the most wasteful methods. They
use the arastria process, and lose at least
| one-thrd of the gold"
FRANK G. CARPENTER
A Novel and Delicious Cake.
Harper's Bazaar.