Graham guardian., 1901-06-21
A FEW FACTS.
Gathered at the Great Copper Camps
of Graham County Arizona.

After supper, in company with
Miss Jones, of Stafford, we pro ceed-
ed to view the plant of the Arizona
Copper Co, by electric light. After
crossing the long suspension foot
bridge, we took peep into the
large free library room furnished
by the A. G. company for the ac-
commodation of its employees,
then past the offices of this COM
pany where all the business is re-
corded. We first stopped at the
power room where five powerful
engines are running the dynamos,
generating power for nearly the
whole plant, then over in an ad-
joining room, powerful engine
running blower, furnishing the
air for the blast furnaces. From
this point we meandered to the
converters, where the matte as it
comes from the smelters is worked
over, and pigs of copper SO per
cent pure is produced. The COM
pany has three converters burn
ing at one time, with a capacity of
between five and six tons of matte
each, these converters are retilled
every two and half hours. The
converter room is supplied with a
crane having a capacity OF $4,000
lbs. 1t is one of the largest made.
From the smelters and converters
we climbed up to the top Of the
ore bins where the ore trains from
Longfellow and Metcalf dump
from 500 to 1000 tons of ore every
"a hours.
Through the kindness of Mr.. j.
Green an engineer on the "baby
guage," we were enabled to enjoy
the novel experience Of taking a
ride in the cab of the engine, by
star light, to the Longfellew in
cline and return, which is about six
miles up Chase creek. After some
of the ore,cars were loaded with
lumber the start was made and
we went spinning along at rapid
rate through cuts, over bridges and
around short curves, one curve
near Longfellow describing an arc
of 10 degrees. This trip was made
in little quicker time than the
ordinary, owing to the fact that
Miss Jones acted as assistant fire
man. The road bed in many
places has five per cent grade,
making the little engine puff and
blow to get up with the long train
of ore ears. The A. c.. company
has the grade for the narrow
guage to Longfellow nearly com
pletcd and expect to have the cars
running on it before the lst OF
August. A few facts of what the
A. C. company is doing here to en-
large and facilitate its ore carry
ing capacity furnished by Mr..
Green will not come amiss here.
They have sunk we'll in the
creek bed near the foot of the in
cline, which is about nine feet
square and sixty feet deep. From
it a four inch pipe will carry the
water up into tank near the pump
ing plant, being forced there by a
pump and engine situated at the
top of the well. The company is
laying another four inch pipe from
Clifton to Longfellow, the water to
be pumped from Clifton into this
same large tank. From this tank,
two four inch pipes will carry the
water up the mountain to the
Longfellow mine, to be used in the
$50 ton concentration just erected.
A fire proof pump house 60 by
so feet has been erected at the
tank in which are being placed
two large five cylinder double act
ing pumps, having a fifteen inch
stroke and six inch cylinders; three
so horse power gasoline engines
and one $50 horse power Corliss
engine, the Corliss to be used
when accidents happen or repairs
have to be made to the gasoline
engines. Here the company has
nearly completed huge ore bins, in
which will be dumped the ore
hauled by the baby guage cars
direct from the mines and trans.
ferred from these bins to the mar
row guage cars and hauled to the
smelters. A set of bins at the foot
of the incline will receive the ore
from the mines at Longfellow, and
set across the creek will
receive the ore from the mines at
Metcalf and Coronado. In con-
nection with this set the company
has erected set of bins to hold
the ore of the Shannon Copper COM
pany, they having just received
the contract, ESQ we are creditably
informed), to haul the ore from
the Shannon Copper company's
mines to their smelter situated on
the San Francisco river one mile
below Clifton.
The A. G. company have an i'm
mense deposit of excellent lime
rock which they quarry out and
haul about twenty-five cars day