Gilpin observer., 1899-03-23

r1son avenue, and II was all that four
and six horses, aided by the pictur-
| esque vocabulary of the ore haulers,
could do to raise the blockade. Even
with four-horse team it is necessary
to move only about half load The
chances are greatly in favor of the con-
J uitlons getting rather worse than bet
/ ter, for several weeks at least, unless
another very cold snap should occur.
| Then there is the timber famine.
This is n cold, hard reality. as visit
to the saw mills very clearly proves
This camp in ordinary times can con-
sumo about five carloads of logs per
day, but in February only three cars
reached the city. and there is but little
improvement in the situation. Logs
nave risen in price at least 33la per
cent. and 1t will be IL month before
there is any Improvement. Mr.. Win
ten Morrell of Cutler & Co., saw mill
men. explains that last year the log
gers were getting very low prices for
their logs, and as result many of
them were compelled to turn their at
tention to other channels of business.
They couldn't make living at the
then prices they We're receiving. Dur
ing the winter the local lumber deal
ers advanced the price slightly. and
there was a decided stimulus in the log
market. But the blockade came. tying
up the sources of supply on the Blue
river and the Frying Pan. Lately
eight-inch logs have been bringing
from 60 to 10 cents. while year ago
the same logs brought 30 cents: seven
inch logs 30 to 81 cents. former price
20 cents; ten-inch logs 20 cents. former
! price GO cents; twelve-inch logs 90
cents, formerly G5 cents. To these
figures 10 cents is added by the saw
mill men for framing, etc. this being
their regular figure at all times. OF
course the timber bill for the big
mines. under these conditions. is in
creased from one-third to One-half. but
probably the mine manager would not
complain providing there We're plenty
| of timberS. But even at these fancy
prices only stray carload now and
then can be secured. and the shrewd
logger naturally holds out for the high
est prices. In fact the local saw mill
men have had to bid very lively in or
der to secure what few timbers they
lave on hand, which accounts, par
tally. at least, for the high prices now
prevailing.
The result of this timber famine is
apparent The big mines gobble up
| every stick of timber on the market
| The small lessee is the one who partic-
ularly suffers. He is unable to prose-
cute his operations. particularly in
catching up the iron slopes. and as Il
| result. Il large amount of this work has
had to he abandoned. In fact some of
| the lessees have found themselves in Il
rather serious predicament. and sew
eral of them have had to temporarily
| abandon work.
Colonel George w. Cook has every
thing in first-class working order ut
the Garden City. in California gulch.
and began shipping manganese ore
yesterday. The shaft is not over 125
feet in depth. but the manganese ore
body is very large. and rs soon as 1t
can be properly developed shipments
will he largely increased. According
to the contracts existing at the present
time. the camp is expected to furnish
2OO tons daily of manganese from
| March list. OF course. owing to the
bad weather and other unfavorable
conditions. this amount Is not being
produced at the present time. But be-
tween Mr.. Horner and Colonel Cook
the deficit will be made up as soon as
the Catalpa-Crescent and Garden City
commence in real earnest.
The smelters are gradually returning
| to their old-time normal condition. and
all that is asked for is plenty of ore.
Coal. coke and limestone are coming
| in freely at the Arkansas Valley. the
| tracks have been cleared of snow so
| that the ears can be moved freely about
| the yards. During the severest
weather the smelter was only able to
keep four of its furnaces running, but
has now seven in blast.
During the past few days the rail
roads have been catching up on their
ore shipments. and 1t is believed that
in Il very short time the great storm
of 1899 so far as the local smelters are
concerned. will be but nn unpleasant
memory.
At the A. Y. and Minnie the average
shipments continue uninterruptedly. at
the rate of 800 tons per month. This
property has now developed into one
of the great lead mines of the camp.
about $50 tons Of pure lead being
supplied each month to the smelters.
The lessees have been particularly for
tunate in their operations since the
great Improvement in the lead market
set in. The increase since the first OF
| the year has been sufficient to pay the
| operating expenses, and the same Is
true of the Nab.
The McAllistcr lease on the Mike
and Starr will soon be shipping from
forty to fifty tons of copper sulphlde n
considerable quantity of which will go
| to the smeltcr at Buena Vista. Man
nger McAllistcr Is making many i'm
provcments In the plant. and as soon
ms the ads improve he will be able to
increase the shipments accordingly.