The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-05-30
RAILROAD NEWS.
Santa Fe Official Strikes For
tune in Copper.
General Freight Agent Gay is
On Velvet.
FOUND BY ACCIDENT
In Arizona Desert While Look.
ing For Turquoise.
Outputting at the Rate of
$4,000 Per Month.

Word has reached the Santa Fe Offices
in Topeka from Denver that F. c. Gay,
general freight agent of the Santa Fe,
has struck rich copper mine that VIII
make him independent for life.
He is one of the owners of a copper
property which experts declare is the
phenomenon of the southwest. The
property embraces eight claims OF
eighty acres. Early in the present year
a syndicate of which Mr.. Gay is a mem
Der began operations on the property.
A rude mill was constructed and after
stopping once or twice for repairs the
plant got down to business The result
is an output at the rate of $4,000
month and an urgent demand Tor an
immediate increase in reduction facll1-
ties Result No. 2 is that a little rail-
way of the region which mas been d
money loser ever since it was built
early in the '90s, is now paying interest
on its bonds. Result No. 3: The mine
is paid for and the company is on velvet
With ore going out at the rate of a car
load of matte a week, with mine
which is nothing less than a huge
quarry, and with all the machinery
of the company working smoothly, the
outlook is exceedingly bright for for
tune for every member of the syndl-
cate.
The ore runs as high as 60 per cent
copper, although the ore coming out OF
the quarry on the side Of the mountain
away down in the desert of southern
California averages only something
more than Is per cent copper But 10
per cent is good enough when a man
with hammer and drill can knock
down 100 tons of ore in two or three
hours. The drill and the hammer were
what first attracted the attention of Mr..
Gay and his friends. The party was
travelling through the region when a
miner was spied on the side of Cliff
pecking away at the rock.
What are you doing there, my
friend 2'' asked a voice when the wagon
stopped in the shade of the cliff.
Getting ready to make shot" was
the reply from the top of the rock fifty
feet up.
Let's wait and see what happens"
The shot went off sure enough and
great mass of rock tumbled down. Sam
pies were taken and sent to the nearest
assayer. The spot where the mine is
located is in the edge of the desert far
from any railroad and seldom frequent
ed even by prOspectOrs. The report OF
the assayer was a surprise, buta second
batch gave returns fully as good, and
the bargain was soon closed for the
property. Mr.; Gay has had many
years of experience dabbling with mines
that didn't pay, but from the start he
was impressed that the desert mine was
q winner. His faith was not misplaced.
The Copper World mine is located
thirty miles west of a little branch of
the Santa Fe Pacific railway known as
the Nevada Southern road. This little
road is itself thirty miles long. 1t
starts and ends in the desert. 1t was
built by Isaac E Blake, formerly of this
city, now of New York, and is at pres
ent owned largely by General r. w
Woodbury. of Denver The railway
started for rich silver mining district,
but hard times overlook the silver
cause, and the road went into the
hands of the courts. 1t is row free and
growing more prosperous every day
all through the discovery of the men
with the hammer and drill and the trip
which the syndicate was making
through the desert. One of the objects
of the journey was to visit a turquoise
mine discovered a few years ago by
George Simmons, a prospector who has
made a fortune on account of his great
discovery. Simmons was introduced in
Denver to Mr.. Gay and invited him to
visit the mine. Mr.. Gay now wears
beautiful turquoise the gift of the
desert friend. Simmons, by the way,
is now luXuriating in one of the high
class hotels of New York. while his
blue turquoise are going into the cap
italS of Europe.
The turquoise mine and the copper
mine promise to attract wide attention
to the desert of Southern Arizona and
Southern California as good prospecting
ground. The copper mine is in what is
known as the old Vanderbilt mining
district. The copper vein simply dips
into the side of the mountain and all
that is necessary as work progresses is
to strip off the surface and throw down
the ore The ore is conveyed to the bin
by a tramway and there is loaded into
three big wagons which are hauled on
train by a twenty-horse team to the
laugha BILE looking. Smelter five miles
down hill in the valley. The smelter
is a patched-up affair but is looked
upon as a mascot which the company
will long delay in parting from. The
matte IS sent to Laude & Co. New
York, who Immediately place it on the
market. The CASH then goes into the
treasury of the company.