Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-28
Some Of the Troubles Of GoIdfieId


From the New Vol
f." OLDTIELD, New, April 15.--We
i are still the greatest goh. camp
that ever happened, but, like
other places we have our troubles.
think we get rather more than our
share. At present we have several on
our hands. The first is the embargo
which has been placed on freight billed
to Goldheld on account of the accumu-
lation Of loaded cars here. For some
time past cars have been arriving at
the rate Of thirty to forty a dey. and
not more than half that number have
been unload5d. The consignees having
no storage facilities, find it cheaper to
pay 81 day demurrage than to build
warehouses, so they leave the goods in
the cars until they need them. The
result Is that, besides the yards here
being filled, every side track on the To-
nopah q Goldheld railway Is 5ai med
with cars billed to G. !dheld. The gem
eral superintendent Of the road reported
few days ago that there were 101
cars In the yards here and 1893 on vari-
Gus side tracks; also that the Southern
Pacific advised him that there ere 610
loaded cars being held on sidings be-
cause there was no room In the yards
at Nina
The newspapers, the chamber of COM
merce and the railway officials are
unanimous in their opinion that some
thing must be done to relieve the situa-
tion, but no one seems to know how to
go about Il. The only cars which get
unloaded promptly are those containing
lumber, as that is needed by every con-
signee just as soon as he can get It,
All kinds of building operations are be-
ing held back for want Of 1t. A short
time ago thirty shafts were reported
shut down for want of timber, throwing
more than 200 men out of work. Lum-
Der was even being hatled by wagon
from Tonopah, thirty miles away, AL
though 1t costs $50 or $25 a day to hire
n four-horse team. Mining machinery
also Is generally unloaded as soon as IL
arrives, but a good many cars have
been In the yards for some weeks, con-
signed to companies or individuals who
cannot be located. The railway COM
pany has threatened to raise the de-
murrage rate to $40 day. Inability
to get teams is one reason given as an
excuse for not unloading faster.
Success of Leasers
Aside from labor troubles. affairs
generally are quieter than they were
when the great Mohawk mine was be-
ing worked by leasers who had only a
limited time in which to get out ore. 4
They employed as many men as they
could find room for, and paid them the
highest wages--$6 for six hours. This,
added to the proceeds of the ore, which
w. high-graded," gave the men lots
of spending money, most of which was
spent as soon as they got it. The leas-
ers also had plenty Of money to "blow
in," as eight of them took out ore to |
the value of nearly $7,0O0,0 in less
than nine months. The smallest sum
of the eight was $4,000, and the largest |
$4,000,000. The only object Of 6. leaser |
is to get out as much ore as possible |
before the lease expires. Having no in
terest in the mine beyond this, the |
quality of the mining done is generally
pretty poor. Long chances are fre-
quently taken to avoid unnecessary
timbering. The safety of their sue
cessors is never considered, 81 when |
the owners take over a mine at the ex- |
piration of lease their first work Is |
always to make it safe by timbering
and retimbering as much as neces- |
sary. Then they open up the ore bod |
les on scientific lines, giving as much
thought to the future as to the present.
Sometimes a year will elapse before q
pound Of ore is taken out, but when
they are ready the work can be carried
High-grading" has been ST. ped by
the use Of change rooms, the cdoption
of which was sanctioned by the l. w. |
w. when the last strike was settled. |
The operators have the privilege of in
sisting on their being used by all the |
men, and of having a representative |
there when the men are using them.
Half a dozen mines have opened up |
"jewel boxes" of picture ore of
greater or less extent. Shipping ore |
was encountered in nine different |
mines last week, and it is probable |
that the record of last year will be
beaten.
High Cost of Living
Rents are as high as ever, although |
building has been going on all winter. |
I met a man who had left a $3.50 job |
in California to take a IS one here. |
He spent three days trying to find !