Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-08
TIC DCCI
That Made Milwaukee Famous.

quez de Mercado in search of it. When he
found that it was a mass of iron instead OF
more precious metal Mr. MercadO went
home disguested, and from that time until
this very little practical use has been made
of the great wealth that nature has de-
posted here in her mysterious way. There
is furnace a foundry a machine shop
and small rolling mill, but they are not
in operation now and have never paid q
profit. Within the last few weeks a report
has been published that the steel trust has
purchased the entire property, but that Is
not true. The steel trust has never even
thought of such thing Two-thirds of the
mountain belongs to the estate of the late
James Callahan of Des Moines. Iowa. and
the remainder to syndiate of Mextcans.
The Callahan estate owns the mills and
furnaces. The MexicanS, according to Mr..
Gregory, resident agent of the International
railway, are shipping fifteen or twenty car
loads OF ore daily to the smelters at We
lardena, Torreon, Monterey, San Luis Po-
tosi and Aguas Calientes. 1t has been
found that the ore possesses chemical prop
critics that make It desirable for fuxing
purposes.
How Ownership Was Obtained.
1t is very strange that this great gift OF
nature has been neglected so long and.
what is even stranger STILL It was allowed
to lie ownerless and unclaimed until about
thirty years ago a superannuated Methodist
preacher named John Knots from Council
Bluffs. and ex-Judge Helpenstein of Penn
sylvania wandered into Durango in search
of climate. Their Yankee curiosity was
aroused as well as their enterprise and
having discovered that nobody owned the
mountain, they Immediately denounced 1t
under the mining laws of Mexico or as
much of 1t as those laws would allow OBJ
tanned clear title and organized a So
100000 company. They peddIed the stock
IN small lots all over the United States
ana with the proceeds erected the furnaces
and foundrtes that still remain here but
they never made any money The lack of
fuel and poor business management made
the undertaking a failure and the control
OF the company finally fell into the hands
or James j. Callahan. an eccentric can't
talist of Des Moines, who sent his nephew
down here to manage it. without any bet
ter success. Local people say that If prac-
icai men with strong capital would take
hold OF the property 1t would be the source
or great wealth and supply the entire re-
public with iron, but somehow or another
the mountain is a white elephant" and has
lost many times more money than II has
ever made.
Valuable Mineral Deposits.
Durango is surrounded by valuable de-
posits OF silver. "copper" zinc and other min
erals. from which enormous fortunes have
been made. Several of the mines are fam
Gus. Ell Promontorio. which lies about thir
~ iileS from the city, belongs to the heirs
of an eccentric old gentleman named Maxi
milan Damn who blew over here from
Germany about forty years ago. and became
q clerk In retail store in Durango
through his faith in human nature Mr..
Damn allowed a prospector to run I'D a
large account with his employers and when
the miner could not pay they held him re-
sponsible for the debt. The miner turned a
prospect hole over to young Mr.. Damn as
the only security he could give and when
the latter was discharged from the store he
hired few poems and commenced digging.
Within few weeks he struck a vein OF
silver that made him millionaire The
mine has produced an average of 500 900
year profit ever since, and, according to
the popular opinion. 1t has more ore inside
tnan can be taken out in half century
Another famous mine Is the Candelerta
which now belongs to Daniel NJ. Burns OF
San Francisco. who was recently a candi-
date for the United States Senate from Cali
fornaa, Burns was sent down here to man
age the property ten or fifteen years ago
at salary OF $3.50 a month. and the muta-
tons OF human affairs have permitted him
to own It. 1t is now paying about 5000 a
month clean profit
Peculiarities Of Zambrano,
The Candeleria formerly belonged to a
country merchant named Jose Zambrano,
who got 1t IN trade for a stock of goods
worth $1,000 or $500 Before he died he
took out Of the mine more than fifty-nve
million dollars. according to his own reck-
oning. and according to the records still
preserved here paid as taxes to the Spanish