Arizona republican., 1908-02-02


 is running satisfactorily to the man. agement IL is a thoroughly equipped plant. having at present one furnace
 of a daily capacity of $50 tons, but an other of equal size is already ordered
 and will be added very soon. The shelter was built primarily for the re-
 duction of the ores of the Imperial
 mine twelve miles south of the smell ter but later will handle custom ores
 If they are offered.
 l The above telegram mak4s very timely condensed review of the history of the Imperial mine and its associated enterprises. No similar l project in Arizona was ever undertak-
 en and developed into d business of
 such magnitude in So brief a time. It is an illustrious example of what may
 be done in Arizona by the investment
 of a liberal amount of capital by men of business sagacity with the employ
 ment of the best engineering skill, the 1 utilizing of the most modern and scientific methods. the perseverance ! and faith necessary to conquer all ob- 1 stacles and the patience to wait for
 certain success that well demonstrat- ! ed conditions insured.
 The Imperial mine is situated twen- 1 ty miles south of Red Rock which is ! on the Southern Pacific railroad about i thirty miles west of Tucson. The l property is one cf the copper deposits discovered in an early day and was for many years known as the old Boot mine Some ore was worked by means | of an old shelter employing crude methods, a plant that sank into de- 1 cay and uselesSneSs long before the | present owners were attracted to the property. It was really before the copper era" in Arizona, for though l the territory is scanned and Assured i with copper veins. until the day of { railroads and the modern copper de- mand. only those properties most fav | ordbly located were dsemed valuable Nothing pertaining to the Old Boot mine was of value to operators of the ! present day. except the known exist ence of a large body of copper ore. | Even the old workings were of little use except in demonstrating the eX ! istence of the ore. for modern methods demand development on plans suited to modern operations.
 For all practical purposes it was therefore a virgin field when the pres ' ent owners acquired the property Tn March 1903. organizing for that pur- 1 pose the Imperial Copper company. of which the following named are the officers at this time: E. B. Gage pres | ident; w. F. Staunton. vice president and general manager; A. N. Gage, sec retary and treasurer; V. l.. Mason. as s'stant secretary and treasurer; and c. W. DietZ, auditor.
 IL was the purpose of the company to make copper mine. not merely to play at mining. Large operations were contemplated from the beginning for in copper mining more than almost any other enterprise. profits depend on a large volume of business on which small percentage of profit may make a large aggregate. A railroad to the property from Red Rock was therefore planned at once and the Arizona Sou thern railroad company was organiz- ed the following named being the present officers; F.. B. Gage president: H. NJ Robinson, vice president; w. F. Staunton, general manager: Henry ' urer: F. F. Friant superintendent This road is known locally as the Inn aerial railroad. merely as a briefer and more suggestive term.
 The railroad was completed in the summer of 1904 less than a year and half after the mining property was ac- quired. September :. 1904 shipments of ore began to the copper Queen shelter in Douglas and from that date . until the Sth of January 1908, the ship ments of ore averaged over 100 tons per day. Since January all the ore removed from the mine has gone to the cOmpany's shelter bins.
 The building of a smelter was also a primary conception the project to be carried out as soon as practicable af- ter the mine was sufficiently deveI- opcd and the railroad was in com . mission. for the shelter would neces- sarily be some distance from Red Rock , if not at the mine and could neither be constructed nor operated with economy except by rail connection. An ideal site for a smelter was found eight miles from Red Rock and twelve miles from the mine at the foothills
 
 from the mine to the smelter is all down grade and the haul for shelter fuel from Red Rock is a very slight up grade. good water supply and town site and all things needful in natural prerequisites are at hand The Southern Arizona Smelling com pany was organized August 14, 1906, and the present officers of the corp oration are; F. B. Gage. president; w r. Staunton, vice president and gen. eral manager; A. N. Gage, secretary and treasurer; NJ. Goodloe, superin- rendent
 Near the Imperial mine is the old time camp of Silver Bell the center of interest in the Silver Bell district in which the Imperial property is situat- ed. With the beginning of the events here related Silver Bell became Tive" camp, increased in population by the employees of the mine and those who congregate in mining camps to cater to the necessities, and pleasures of a mining pop ulation. At the smelter site a new town has also of necessity sprung into existence, peopled mainly by the em- ployes of the shelter company. This town has been most uniquely and ap-