El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-01-24
Employs Large Force and
Treats Much Valuable
Ore from Southwest.

" URTHER enlargement of the FL
Paso smelter is now in progress.
\ An additional quarter Of a million
dollars is being spent upon the place
to enable it to handle the increased
output Of ores from the surrounding
country. Already the smeIter is one
Of the largest in the world.
Its monthly payroll including the
office force. is over $4,000. or very
nearly $1,000, 600 in a year. This goes
quickly into the hands Of the local
merchants, as the smelter does not
conduct any company store.
The smelter purchases through local
houses and agencies supplies and re-
pairs TO the amount of approximately
$oU,OOO per month. The amount paid
70 the railroads here for freight and
switching is between $780, 600 and $780,
700 per month. Therefore in these
Items the shelter disburses locally
about ~ million dollars per year.
The Beginning.
About generation ago Robert S.
IOWnei an ore buyer in this south
western district for one Of the Colo
radO smelters, became possessed Of the
4uea LnaL FL Faso was an admirable
point Tor smelling the ores produced
IN northern Mexico, in southern New
Mexico and Arizona. After many
months Of hard and earnest work, he
was finally successful in bringing to
MS support sufficient capital to start
the project. This was somewhere
about 1897 or 1883.
1t began with four small lead blast
FURNACES whose combined capacitv
would scarcely equal that Of one Of
lne present furnaces. Almost from the
start the enterprise was successful
AFTER while it was consolidated with
interests dominated by August r.
er' OF Kansas city, and was known
e the FL PasO Smelling works, branch
Of the Consolidated Kansas civ
smelling and Refining company. under
winch corporate name it still exists
me plant has always been a GUS
toms smelter, never depending for its
raw material upon the product of
mines owned by the smelling company
Even when ores have been treated
Dy companies very closely allied to the
snelClnB company, the handling Of such
ores has been done in exactly the
same manner as if they were bought
from outsiders.
Started On Lead Ores Only.
In the beginning all the ore treated
was lead bearing and the only product
OF the plant was lead bullion As the
southwestern section developed its
mines, copper ores began to seek a
market, and finally one small conner
blast furnace was added. In 1900 the
6melCng plant comprised eight blast
furnaces, one of which was working
on copper ores. In 1901, after a ver9
disastrous fire, the blast furnace
building and the power house were
reDulL Six large lead blast furnaces
and one copper furnace were con-
structed. Within two years the amount
Of business had so increased that two
lead furnaces and one copper furnace
were added just prior to the disas-
trcus panic Of 1907, nine blast furnaces
we're running regularly-seven lead
furnaces and two copper furnaces
smelling about 5000 tons of material
per month.
The Big Growth Recently.
Beginning with 1908 the business Of
the plant dWindled consider9bIv and
for couple of years it ran only at
about half capacity. In 1910 the de-
velopment Of the southern New Mexico
porphyritic copper ores began, and a