Bisbee daily review., 1907-04-18
ORESHIPPERSARE COMPLAINING
 AT FL PASO
Abolishment of Government Assay Office at the Border City Is Cause of Much Delay and Annoyance.

The action of the treasury depart ment in abolishing the government assay office here and requiring all Mex ican ores coming in through this port to be assayed in Kansas City. has re suited in blocking the ore traffic at this port, says the Fl Paso Times.
 The railroad yards in Juarez and Ell Paso are crowded with cars loaded with ore waiting for returns from the government assay office at Kansas City before the ore can be forwarded to its destination. An American who is interested in shipping ore into this country from Mexico, expressed him self thus vigorously yesterday:
 It's a d-n shame that the govern ment closed its assay office here and compel ore shipments to be delayed here for weeks while waiting for as say returns from Kansas City. If the public did not know that the removal of the government assay office from Fl Paso to Kansas City was only one the treasury departments blame fool experiments, one would naturally conclude that it was a conspiracy to encourage the building of smelters on the Mexican border to take business away from American smelters. And that is what it is going to do. Neither the miners or the railroads are going to stand for this delay in business. The railroads cannot afford to have their cars standing on side tracks as ore warehouses, and the miners are not able to sit around Fl Paso for a month waiting for assay returns every time they make a shipment of ore into this country"
 chihuahua's Kick.
 The Chihuahua Enterprise of Satur. day is inclined to blame Collector Sharp for all the troubles of the zinc ore shippers. It says:
 The Enterprise does not want to be unjust to any man, but from the practically uniform accounts of United States Customs Collector Sharp at El Paso, we believe he is decidedly toe small for his position. The complaint in many instances is that he is man of no decision of character, hes to take up the most trivial matters with the department at Washington until f should be becoming question, if ii is not already, what the government is paying him s4000 gold per year for. The exporters in this state have to deal with this man for whom we have not yet heard a good word spok' en for his ability. s...
 Nor is this severe criticism con fined to Chihuahua people. We have made many inquiries of Fl Paso peo- pie and their criticisms are equally caustic. They all say he is honest and means right. but that his job is simply too big for him and he has not the courage to take responsibility.
 "The annoyances he has heaped up on the zinc ore exporters through Fl Paso have been very exasperating, and quite different from their action in the premises. Mir Sharp seems to have picked out every annoyance he could find to heap upon the zinc ex' porters to cost them money and time We shall have more to say of this of ficial from time to time"
 When Collector Sharp's attention was called ito the Chihuahua papers attack, he said:
 'I have not read it., but suppose il was inspired by an individual who ap piled to my office for information rela tive to the output of another mans property, and the information was de nied, because it is contrary to the rules of the department for my office to give out private information Tela tive to the ores of mine.
 But it is possible that some Mexi can shipper is still dissatisfied with the ruling that carbonate of zinc must pay duty. That same old contest comes up every time zinc shipment comes in.
 Mexican ore shippers certainly have kick coming on account of the tying up of their ores here. You set getting returns from Kansas Cfty causes such delay that the yards are now blocked with trains of ore. 1r cases where 1t Is consigned to bond ed smelters there is no waiting here But the majority of the ore is shipped to smelters not bonded. and must wait here until we can get returns from Kansas City"