El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-12-23

shelters, became possessed of the idea
that FL PaSO was an admlraDle POM
for smelling the ores produced IN
northern Mexico, in southern New Mex
leo and Arizona After many mon lIs
of hard and earnest WOrks ne vas
finally successful IN DflnSlHB W ~
support sufficient capital to start the
project This was somewhere aDOU'
1887 or 1883.
1T began with four small lead blast
furnaces whose combined capacity
would scarcely equal chat Of one OF
the present furnaces. Almost from
the start the enterprise was success
ful. After a while II was coiisoILue a % 3
with interests dominated by august H.
Never of Kansas City, and was known
as the El PasO Smelling works brancn
Of the Consolidated Kansas CITY SmeIL-
ing and Refining company, under
which corporate name 1t stlI exists
The plant has always been a Gus
toms snelter, never depending Tor llS
raw material upon the prooucI OF
mines owned by the smelling company
Even when ores have been treated
shipped by companies very Closely Al
lied to the smelling company, the
handling of such ores has Deen zone
in exactly the same manner as if they
were bought from outsiders.
Started on Lead Ores Only.
an the beginning AL the ore treated
was lead bearing and the only pEOuIcL
of the plant was lead bullion As the
southwestern section developed It's
mines. copper ores began TO seek d
market and finally one small copper
blast furnace was added. In 1910 the
s19eIti1o Diant comprised eight blast
furnaces, one of which was working
on copper ores In 1901, after a very
disastrous fire, the blast furnace
building and the power house were
rebuilt Six large lead blast furnaces
and one copper furnace were con
structed. Within two years me
that two lead furnaces and one copper
furnace were added. Just prior 10 Ine
disastrous panic of 1907, nine blast tur-
naces were running regularly-SeVen
lead furnaces and two copper furnaces
smelling about $4,000 tons Of material
per month.
The Big Growth Recently.
beginning with 1903 the business OF
the plant dwindled considerably anu
for a couple of years 1t ran only at
about half capacity. In 1910 the QeYeI-
Opment of the southern New Mexico
pOTphyritic copper ores began, ana d
contract was made diverting to FL Paso
all the concentrates from the great
mill at Hurley, New Mexico OF the
Chino Copper company IheSe cohcen-
trates required a different treatment
from the ores hitherto handled IN the
blast furnaces, and an equipment cost
ing about $500, 600 was put IN to handle
this product. In September, 1911, the
first blister copper ever produced IN
Texas was made at the FL PaSO Smelt-
ing works With the increasing price
of copper more ores OF TINS metal were
brought to the plant ana IN 1917 Hui
Their additions were necessary, and now
in 1913 operations are being rushed on
the construction Of Improvements to
handle still larger quantities Of con-
centrates and other fine copper ores
AT the present time about 100 men
are employed at the plant, including
200 or 300 who are working on the new
construction
The rest of Mr.. Ormsbee's address
was devoted to an illustrated eXpIana-
ton of the operations of the plant the
treatment Of the different ores, etc.
illustrated Talk with Pictures.
H. D. Slater, editor of The Herald,
illustrated his talk on the proposed
boulevard on the mesa's rim, with
many beautiful lantern slides chiefly
from photographs made by him. The
remarkable scenery about the highest
peaks of the Franklin mountains
aroused much interest. views are
show of the great work that has been
done by Kansas City, Spokane, Dem
yer, and other cities, in developing
natural features similar to our mesa
and mountain. Mr.. Slater pointed out
how we can utilize our river 'front.'
canal. mountain and elevations about
the city to enhance the attractlYeness