The copper era. (Clifton, Graham County, Ariz.) 1899-1911, 1910-07-01
Wy First Impression.

trip to the underworld in the COro
nado mine one day last week. To
those who have spent a good many
years in the Camp there would be
nothing of interest that l could re-
late concerning the methods of cop
per mining, nor do I intend to deal
with methods at all. On the other
hand it might be of no little interest
to those who have never been under
the ropes, for me to relate just how
was impressed, and what to my
mind would be the impression of any
''tenderfoot" who goes down for the
first time.
As we LEFT the surface 1 grasped
the cage rod above my head with
both hands and shut my eyes, a most
natural coordination. We fell, yes
deliberately fell, to the lower level,
700 feet below. You uninitiated who
think the elevator in Marshall Fields
or the Masonic Temple is "just about
the limit" surely ought to have
]
to yours truly about that time. 1
| Just had time enough to say to my
self that 'a man who hasn't done the
square thing by his wife and taken out
enough insurance to last till the next
guy comes along, ought for her sake
to know his place and not spend his
time trying to prove the force of
ravity." Just as 1 began to feel
disguised with my heart and liver for
not sticking to see the show through
they Shook me on the "go in'D, we
struck bottom. Yes 1 did think too
of what a welcome thing is ones own
"freside" but what thinking I did
was done quickly to say the least; it
forced itself upon me.
On the lower level the tunnel ex-
tends for over a half mile in one
direction from the shaft and about
800 feet in another. AS a proof that
[ was new son the job'' my candle
kept going out at regular intervals.
| At the far end we came upon the
men drilling in the rock and placing
their sticks OF dynamite in the holes
they had drilled. All blasting down
there takes place between shifts. AT
this end we passed a little mule
which 1 was told had never been
above ground for 7 years. thought
1t pity and asked why he WASH 4
given a weeks vacation up above.
should have foreseen the answer,
that if he were exposed to daylight
ne would go totally blind. 1t was
too true in his case that "Where
ignorance is bliss, it's folly to be
wise"
We next went to the upper Level
which is 200 feet below the surface
and here can be seen the real work
of taking out the ore. There are in
Vulnerable tunnels and tracks along
which the ore cars are drawn by
mules. We first came upon the new
stable they were completing for the
latter. 1t comprises a very large
room blasted from the rock and is d
great improvement over the old one
As to the actual mining, well it wa:
much different than l expected il
would be. Actually I expected tt
find the men at work with picks the
same as in a coal mine, but not so il
modern copper mine such as thi:
one. The idea of first going up tt
the surface and blasting and break
ing the ore was a new one. Thi:
work had taken a year of work anC
now all that remains to be done is tt
: open the shoots to this mamouth biz
of ore, thirty in number, which ar,
placed twenty-five feet apart tn,
length of the tunnel and the or
comes down into the cars. 1t is yer,
quick work and about 400 tons of or,
/ a day is taken out in this way. A
all these thousands of tons of broker
f ore are lowered the surface gradual,
settles until finally nothing will b,
left but a yawning cavity 200 fee
= deep.
. Altogether spent two very inter
est and instructive hours in the min
and l take this occasion to thank tn,
, management. E. NJ. M.