The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1903-10-03

mines are providing a daily output OF
five hundred tons OF silver-lead ores,
with an average yield per ton of thirty
Iseven per cent lead and seventy ounces
OF silver. Following the general rule OF
this country. the ores increase in rich
ness as depth is gained: fortunately be-
ing so situated as to be worked entire
ly by tunnels. AS the works Of nature
are on a grander scale here than else
where, so are the deposits of mineral
/ wealth greater in comparison and the
precious veins of corresponding wealth
and thickness. The two main tunnels
of the 'Empresa' are run parallel to one
another, on a vein os solid metal fifty
six feet wide, gaining a descent OF
twenty-five hundred feet in a run of the
same distance, cutting a hundred cross
veins. some of which are twenty-four
feet wide. This mine covers a total SUI
perficiaI area of 100000 square meters,
guaranteeing enough galena for the I'M
interrupted function of the smelters for
many years to come. 1 have these fig
ures from Mr.. August Stumpf, the
manager and general man of business
OF the ''Empresa Titicaca."
The ore-bearing district wherein Mr..
christy's property is located embraces
an area of sixty square miles, or more,
with great surface indications of mine
raj wealth throughout. The heavy out
choppings of the veins are oxide and
hydronade of iron. At the depth Of
about ten meters permanent ores Of ar
gentiferous galena are found with py-
rites, carbonate of lime, sulphate of ba-
rye and some quarts from the crossings
] of the veins. The average yield Of the
outeropping ores has been thirteen
ounces per ton. More than five hum
i dred veins have been marked out to be
| cut by tunnels which has already been
run ten thousand feet on an average
j depth of sixteen hundred feet below the
Isoutcroppings. The coal mine is only
twenty-four miles from the lake and
has an area of 1040O square meters.
/ The proximity of the property to the
| lake and the railroad greatly increases
Its value, because easy and compare
ltively creap transportation is thus af-
forded. Very much of Bolivia's wealth
is not available on account of lack oi
1 Transportation. Since Chilli has seized
4 her seacoast, the country has no outlet
of her own by which to reach the mar
1 kets of the world, At the best, trans
portation to the Pacific is over the pass
/ es of the Andes and across the desert;
/ and when arrived at the port there are
/ no facilities for landing or loading car
1 goes. There is a long and difficult
route to the Atlantic. across mountains
i woods and plains to Buenos Ayres
And another through the heart Of Bra
j. I'll. but both are dangerous and very
expensive journey. The same reason
/ prevents the incoming Of proper ma,
/ chinery for working the mines. To.
day, as in the old times, Bolivian ores
4 are mostly extracted from the sulphura
4 tied zone and are not suitable for ANAL
i gaination, which has been, and still is
/. the only system os treating them. The
people have no knowledge or conception
of treating with purifying furnaces and
quantities of ores, from eighty to two
4 hundred ounces of silver per ton, en-.
i tirely worthless to-day, can be bought
i at a low price, for this kind of meta
4 does not yield any profit II sent to Eu
Il rope, freight to the coast being too cost
4 ly. Now that American enterprise has
started a home market for all this thal
4 was formerly wasted. mining industry
lin Bolivia ought to receive a new inpe
i tus. The mills of Potosi in In which
ores are crushed, are fair samples o
4 the primitive methods employed here il
the richest mines. The best of the mill.
are rude affairs, beside which the mos
old fashioned home made cider mill WI
might find in the United States would
look like dainty piece of cabinet work
A Bolivian arastra, as the crushing
. mill is called, has great stone wheel,
attached to the ends of horizontal bal
moved by an upright shaft propelled b.
an axe, a mule or a couple Of bare
Il legged Indians. Thus the stone wheel.
revolve in a sort OF rude trough intt
4 which the broken ore has been tumbled
moving slowly around, crushing per
Il haps half a ton of ore in day, Will,
the mills of California and Nevada
would crush twenty times as much II
as many hours, and with little more ex
i pense. From the beginning Of the worl
4 to It's end the crudest and Stoves
methods are employed, and even b,
those processes the laborers are few ant
inefficient. In early days the INDIAN
were compelled, sorely against thei
i will to work In the mines for the bene
fit of their conquerors, and were re
warded with the most cruel treatment
4 When the enforced labor could NJ
I longer be controlled the mines fell int
comparative decay, and the Indians o
to-day doubtless retain a memoir.
4 through tradition of the wrong an,
. sufferings of their ancestors and can
/ not be induced to work with any degre
of energy.
i Powder or other blasting material
rarely used in Bolivian mines, the or
! being broken out Of the veins by man
power. Then the tunateres or ore-car
!. riers put it into raw-hide sacks, sling