The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-12-23
WORLD APPRECIATES ELY.
New Yorker Gives Interesting Inter
view on Great Camp.

Mr.. Charles !. Dumas. The Eastern
business associate of MIR. Houdcr
Hudgins, editor of the News, came IN
from New York on Saturday, and
stopped of at the smelter site until
Monday. when he came 10 Ely, Mr..
Dumas is n gentleman of large eX
pcricnce in the business world,
especially along the Atlantic coast. but
he is wonderfully impressed with the
West. He was seen by White Pine
News reporter and requested TO give
his impressions Of what he had seen
in Nevada, and this is what he said;
ION that portion Of my "trip west of
Omaha I chattcd with many passengers.
l. was quite surprised at the knowledge
they displayed of the mining industry
generally. and more than surprised at
the knowledge shown of the Robinson
district, Of which Ely is the center.
was informed that a number of law
yers. physicians and other professional
men in Denver and other Western cities
were so impressed with the possibilities
that they were planning TO come here
or establish agencies here | am con
vinced by what little ] have seen
and heard of conditions that within
five years Ely will develop into an Inn
portant city, with all the comforts, and
even luXuries, 10 which the residents OF
the great communities of the country
are accustomed.
''Thcse impressions were strength
encd by the evidence presented TO
me of the vast amount of money
that is to be expended in connection
with the construction Of the gigantic
smelter plant AT what is now called
McGill's ranch. In New York ] was
told by a prominent official of the
American Smelling and Refining COM
panv that the mining property in con
junction with which the smclter plant
| is TO he operated represents invest.
ment of not less than Sl5,000,000.
When one considers that this enormous
sum has been paid in by some of the
shrcwdest and most farsighted CAPT
| talists in the United States and that
! too. with a thorough realization that
! two or three years must clapse before
! the enterprise viii yield any return,
one can scarcely conceive of what the
profits Of the enterprise VIII be.
More than all was | impressed with
| the difference between the cond itions
of today In this State and those which
existed ten years ago. / vividly re-
call an editorial entitled "The Weakest
Of the Sisters which appeared in the
New York Sun about that time. 1t
referred TO Nevada and its then
dwiudhng population, which numbered
| about 10000, and the impression
| sought to he conveyed was that the
State ere long would find itself in the
pathetic condition described by Gold
smith In his poem: 1.-The Deserted Vii
! lagc. -
''Yet today we find that Nevada. be-
| cause of the recent uncoVering of Its
mineral wealth, in only a single sec
tion Of the State, has the eyes of the
| Nation focused upon il, and in the
| opinion Of eminent mining engineers
with whom ! have talked the surface
| has only been scratched Aside from
| the uses Of the metals for coinage pur
poses. it appears as If the value of
the copper product, as used in the
! arts and industries. Will soon exceed
| that of gold. it is we'll known that the
tremendously increased production of
| copper is far from meeting the demands
| and the greatly expanding use of the
metal is shown by its steadily increas-
ing price.
E'At the smeller site J found n com.
munity of more than 300 souls, living
| in temporary structures amid the
rudest surroundings, yet living well.
! Every man is interested in his work,
| and all are apparently contentcd and
| happy. ! found men who are world
| famous in mining matters, engineers
metalurgists, most of them college
| graduates, knocking around in rough
boots and corduroy clothing, mingling
with the greatest goodfellowship with
| mechanics ard laborcrs on terms of
perfect equality, but with due regard
to proper discipline.
Gas an indication of what Ely and
its environs may look for in social
way in the near future, | was pre-
sented with a hand somelv engraved
card Of invitation to reception and
dance, to be given by the staff at the
smelter on Christmas eve. and there
was every likelihood from the prepa-
rations with which ! was made ac-
-
| conducted in accordance with the most
approved ideas Of so,callcd society"