The Daily Missoulian., 1912-08-30

Indulgences. Naturally the iaborin9
men do not agree with such sentiments
issuing from the wcll-fed men seated
In comfortable club chairs with their
drinking glasses alongside.
The revolution has made heavy
demand upon the mining Industry OF
the northern part Of the republic
! Thousands Of poems have left the
mines TO enter the army OF freedom"
They have seen the mine owners
amassing great fortunes out of tho
sweat Of their faces and giving them
only the mort meager living OF
course shortage OF labor Is a most
serious evil in itself. But when
heavy price for mine operating priv
ilcges Is demanded and when all the
supplies OF a mine, including It's com
Inissary supplies and its powder and
other munitions that the revolution
lists need 10 much are taken away. II
serves TO shut down many mines and
to inf let great hardship upon those
dependent upon them.
There are large number of Amer
ican mining companies operating In
Mexico, and 'he majority Of them are
in the territory most affected by the
revolution. The majority OF these
are interested In gold. silver and cop
per mines. but some OF them are H.
terested In iron as well. At Monte
rey. known as the Pittsburgh of Mex.
leo, the American Smelling & Refining
company has large iron works, and
operates large number Of mines In
a. hntt
interest, and Is capitalized at $780,
100000. At Batopafas. a company
which Is the outgrowth Of the opera
tions of the late Governor Sheperd,
builder OF the new Washington, Is op-
Grating a number of properties, and he
has an output OF two and half mil
lion ounces Of fine silver year when
normal conditions exist.
The Cananea Consolidated Copper
company, with Its annual output OF
100000 pounds OF copper. valued a,
ton OF the big mining operations be-
ing carried on in Northern Mexico
and the Dos Estrellas Mining company
dos estreilas meaning two stars
which has declared dividends OF as
much as $50 per cent on its god min
Ing operations. the while placing one
half of its net earning In the surplus
account. is another. There are do1-
ents of big mining interests like these
In the region affected by the revo,u-
tion. and II has hit them very hard.
The oil business fortunately is out
side of the main revolutionary zone.
The Tampico region is very rich in
petroleum and there Is a rich supply
also on the Isthmus OF Tehauntepec.
A large proportion of the railroad en-
gines OF Mexico burn oil. and that has
proved an important aid to the gov.
ernment In that the fuel supply never
has been seriously interfered with.
One Of the principal oil corporations
In Mexico. the Mexican Eagle Oil
company. Is reminiscent Of the palmy
days under the regime Of the Cien-
tificos. who gathered around President
Diaz, and took advantage OF his age
and his confidence In them to feather
their own nests. In this company is
almost the entire list of the Glen
tificos. among them the son OF Diaz,
Enrique Creel. Governor Landa, Es-
candon of the federal district. ana
others. On the basis of $4,000 barrels
or oil day 1t made profit Of two
ana half million dollars in single
year. and more than half million
additional out of by-products.
On the whole the revolution has
served to slow up the mining interests
OF the entire country to degree, and
has put stop to work In
many of the more important mining
centers. II Is agreed on all hands that
Whatever the outcome OF the rebellion
II VIII be years before the mining in
dustry In Mexico will recover its for
mer status.
While god has been found in only
small quantities In Mexico existing as
an isolated metal. yet during the time
vi the Aztecs 1t was so plentiful that
the indians did not pay much atten- |
tion to silver. II Is estimated by
Prescott that the presents OF gold
winch Montezuma gave to Cortez as
MS tribute of friendliness amounted
10 *70 900 or more. But the Aztecs
never revealed the sources of their
gold supply. and like their, literature
ana science, II Is one of the mysteries
OF today. It has been estimated that
since the advent of the Spanish In
Mexico more than six billion dollars
worth OF silver has been taken out Of
the silver mines of the country. The
largest sing'e piece of silver secured
In the history of Mexican mining was
round by an Indian peon. There was
dispute as to whether the peon or
ms master should have 1t. whereupon
the Spanish crown took II for it's own
uses. When Spain first enacted a
mining law for Mexico 1t was proyid.
ed that two-thirds OF the silver and
gold taken out should be given to the
spanish king. Later this was cut
down to one-fifth. and the diligence
with which the representatives of the
crown made these collections gives an
excellent insight into the amount OF
mining done. The record shows. for
instance. that one mine yielded 55,OOO.-
ooo ounces Of fine silver In ~ years.
The owner OF this mine lived In wav
that would make lords manner of
lie seem that OF pauper in COM
parison. and yet he amassed a fortune
OF more than $50 100000. One bo-
fa.-