Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-04-21
A MOUNTAIN OF SILVER
Great Work Being Done by Ex-Governor
Shepherd in Batopilas'
TunueIipr Through n Mass of Rock
to Get at Pockets of
the Ore.

| The correspondent of the Denver Repub-
ican, writing from Batopilas, Mexico, mas
! given an interesting account OF the WORK
| betue done by ex-Gox Shepherd in the de-
velopnent of silver mines 1t Batopiias. He
says:
| IN the early days Of the sos the news
! of the revived interest In the native silver
production in the mining district OF Bato-
( pilas in the southwest corner Of the state
| of Chill uahua had been a source OF news
paper comment and the undertakings Of
| the neWly organized company, at whose
head was former Gov a. r. Shepherd of
the District of Columbia, had been mat
ter of criticism III mining circles.
After an eight days journey, three by
stage from Chihuahua. and five on the
hurricane deck of a mule the town of
Batopilas with all its historic recollections
of immense outputs of native silver, was
reached. A visit to the Hacienda San Mi
gueI. where Gov. Shepherd was installed,
found him busy rehabilitatng the old-time
methods of production by improved ma
chinery and appliances.
a Mountain to Be Opened.
lone Sunday afternoon, in company with
Robert Duff, one of the mine superinten-
dents Ia Draw Scot, who had fought In the
army of Porfirio Diaz against the French,
ana VINO WAS one Oh the CdplOTS OF Max
imilian, when his carriage was taken), we
were seated in Gov. Shepherds office, over
looking the mountain range on the opposite
side of Batopilas river. Suddenly the
boss with energy exclaimed, I wish that q
thunderbolt. lightning riven. would with
out doing any injury TO life or property
burst open that mountain pointing to An
imas) so that could see what's in It. | be-
Iieve it's full of silver. BY George. a tun-
mel will do it, and I'm going to try it"
nlN,x
rather than fly to others you know not
Of? " remarked the writer.
Il believe with the governor that there 5
lots of silver there, all the way up 10
RonCesyaileS,' said Duff.
"A few words more and the subject was
forgotten by your correspondent In the
last days of December 1885, | again visited
Batopilas. and as my mule slid down the
precipitous descent. called road, l no
ticed, the opposite side of the river
an army of men at work. blasting away
the sheer walls of Anfrnas mountain and
levellng off as they went. In reply to NY
inquiry. the Mexican passersby informed
me that Ell Gobernador was preparing to
build the acequia.'
Then l knew that the tunnel project
was assured fact, and that, prelimin-
airy, water ditch was to be built to pro-
vide motive power for the machinery of
the tunnel as we'll as the reduction works
of the main hacienda (San Miguel As
years passed by the aceQuia wound its
sinuouS length of construction over four
miles from the junction OF the Arroyo Mon
erichic and the Batopia river to the point
where the mountain was to be attacked
| for the tunnel mouth, thence under the bed
| of the river in SiX-feet iron tubes, supply
ing the motive power to the stamps. pans
and other reduction machinery. Thence 1t
went back to the river below, that the
average Batopilian might have water. The
ditch in its entire length is built OF granite
and gneiss rock, with lime and cement
mortar. The walls are three feet wide at
| the base and two feet wide at the top 1t
is six feet high and five feet wide, with a
bottom of concrete IS inches in depth. 1t
Is buttressed every so feet OF length, the
base of each buttress being 10 feet wide
The ditch WAS completed in 1890, and cost
over a half million of Mexican dollars 1t
was Immediately utilized for the transmits