The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-10-26

Il mean those who do the rough work. The
men who dig the mines and lay out the
railroads Do YOU know any OF them
Some OF them.' said Mr.. LanEham. lean
Ing back and shutting the cards FOR a new
game. Why
did you ever hear 81 a Mr.. Robert Clayr'
Mr.. Langham smiled as be placed the
cards one above the other IN even rows.
Very often he said. He sails tomorrow
20 open Up the largest iron deposits In South
America lie goes FOR the Valencia Mining
Company. Valencia . the capital OF Olan-
chc. one OF those little Republics down
there"
DO you-are you Interested In that com
panyg' asked Miss LanEham. seating her
self before the fire and holding out her
hands toward it. Does Mr.. Clay know that
you are@"
.'Ye@I am Interested in it, Mr.. Lang
ham replied. studying the cards before him.
but I don't think clay knows it-nobOdy
knows It yet. except the president and the
other officers"
lie lifted a card and put it7Iown again In
some ind.c-sion. IT'S generally. supposed
TO be operated by u company. but all the
stock is owned by ore man. As a matter
o. fact. my dear children" exclaimed Mr..
Laugham. as be placed a deuce OF clubs
upon n deuce OF spades with a smile OF con-
;snt. the Valencia Mining Company Is your
beloved father"
on" said Miss ~Langham. as she looked
steadily into the fire.
HOPE tapped her lips gently with the back
Of her hand 10 hide the fact that she was
sleepy, and nutgcd her fathers elbow.
You shouldn't have put the deuce there"
she said. YOU should have used Il 70 build
with on the ace"
CHAPTER IT.
4 year before s,rz Par;er.s dinner a
tramp steamer on her way 20 the capital q
Brazil had strerrt So close 20 the shores
Of oiHncho That her solitary passenger could
look into The c1vrrus tire waves had tun-
ueied into ths Limestone cliffs along the
coast- The solitary Passenger was Robert
clay. ard BE- made ID guess that the white
E palisades which. frireei the base Of the
Z mountains along the -hure had been forced
up above the level - the sea many years
{ before by some volcanic action. O.ancho.
a. many people know. g. situated on the
3 Ecrthr1steTn coast % south America. and
+ It's shores are NashrI by the main equato-
rial current. From the deck OF n passing
vrreei you can obtain but little idea OF
/ olIncho or u The abundance and tropical
I beauty which lie hidden away behind the
I rampant ~ mountains on her shore. You
can see unly thslr dezollfe dsrk-green
I front. and the white caves at their base.
into which the waves rush with an echo
Z Ing roar, and iu ard cut 81 which rs con-
Z tinualiy thousands o. frightened bats. The
mining e~1ciueer on the rail OF the tramp
I steamer observed this peculiar formation OF
the coast with istiess interest, until he
{ NNLfHA. MTfn EaE vessel $1,000 some thirty
: miles north of the hart0r q Valencia.
that the limestone formation had disap-
peared ana that the waves now beat against
the base OF the mountains themselves.
[ There were five o. these mountains which
iutted cut into the ocean, and they sus-
gested roughly the I've knuckies % a giant
hand clenched and lying nat Upon the sur
I face OF the water They extended for seven
| miles. and then the cavcTns IN the palisade
! began again ana contiuued on down the
coast TO the great ciirs that guard the
harbor of Olancho's capitaA.
.-Th waves led their way easily
enough until they Tgn up against those I'VE
mountains" unused the engineer. and then
they had 10 faI back He walked 90 the
captains cabin and asked 10 look at a
map OF the coast line. i believe l won't
30 TO Rio he said later in the day: Il
think I win drop OF here al Valencia
So he left the tramp steamer at that
place and disappeared into the In
terror with an OK cart and a eou-
PIE 81 pack-mules. and returned
TO write a lengthy letter from the consufs
osice L. a A-. LanEham IN the United
States, knowing he was largely Interested II
mines and In miring. There are i've noun
tains dI!cd with ore" Clay wrote. which
should he extracted b. open-taced WORKINGS
l saw great masses Of red hematite lying
exposed on the side OF the mountain. only
Whiting a pick and shovel. and At one place
there we've aco tons IN plain sight I should
call the stuff drst-class Bessemer ore. run
ming about a pCr cent metallic iron. The
people know q Il there. but have no knowl-
Edge Of its value. and are too lazy TO ever
work 90 themselves As @ APPROPRIATION.
Il would only be- necessary 20 run A freight
railroad twenty miles along the sea coast
to the harhor OF Valencia and dump your
ore from your own pier into your wi YES
soils Il would not. I think. he possible TO
ship direct frlm the mines themselves. even
though. rs ! say. tile orc runs right down
into the water. because there IS no place at
which Il would be safe FOR a large vessel TO
touch. I will look into the political side II
II and see what sort OF a concession ! can
get Tor you. l should think 10 per cent OF
the output would satisfy them. and they
would. of course. admit machinery and plant
free OF duty"
SIX months auor this communication had
arrived IN New York city. the Valencia
Mining Company was formally Incorporated.
and a-man named Van Antwerp. with 90
workmcn and a ~half-d1zen assistants, was
sent South to lay out the freight railroad,
to erect the dumping-pler. and TO strip the
i've mountains Of their forests and under
brush. IL was not "a task for hpliday. but a
stern. difficult. and p~erpleNing problem. and
Van Autwerp was not quite the man TO
solve IL He was stubborn. self-couhdent.
and indifferent By turns He did not depend
upon his lieutcnaats. but iealously. guarded
his own opinions from the least question or
discussion. and nj every step he antagonized
MAAA L@Z 1913 ~ NAAA-HL1 .AHL"AA - A-a
come TO work. lie had no patience with
their habits o. representation. and r. was
continually offending their law E~ood-uaiure
and their pride lie treated the rich plant
err who owned the land between the mines
and the harbOr over which the freight rail-
road must rur. Will as iittle consideration
as ne showed the regiment OF soldiers which
the Government had farmed out 90 the COM
pany 10 serve as lahOrcrs In the mines Six
months after Van Antwerp had taken
charge at Valencia. Clay. who had finished
tho railroad in Mexico. OF which King
had spoken. was asked by telegraph 20
undertake the work OF getting the ore out
OF the mountains he had discovered and
shipping Il North. lie accepted the ofe-
and was given the title OF general manager
and resident director, and an enormous
salary. AMI was also given 10 understand
that the rough work Of preparation had
been accomplished. and that the more i'm
pOrtant service OF picking up the five
mountains and putting them In
into the tramp steamers would continue I'M
der his direction. He had a letter OF recall
for Van Antwerp. and a letter OF introduce
tiCn 10 the Minister OF Mines and Azricul- I
ture. Further than that, he knew nothing
OF the work before him. but he concluded.
from the fact that he had been raid me
almost prOhibiuve sum he had asked Cor
his services that Il must be important. or [
that he had reached that place in his ca
reer when he could stop actual work and
live easily. as an expert. on the work OF
others.
Clay rolled along the coast from Valencia