The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1914-10-08
TIN MONARCH OF
SOUTH AMERICA
Romantic Story Of the Wonderful
Rise of Don Simon Patino of
0ruro, Bolivia.
WIFE BOUGHT FIRST MINE
Jewels He Had Given Her Provided
Funds for Start, and Now He 10
One Of the Worlds Rich.
est Men.
ey RICHARD sPlLLANE.

BY RICHARD SPlLLANE.
Copyright. 1914 by the Mcclure, Newspa-
per Syndic8te)
Don Simon Patino of Oruro, Bolivia.
has a great regard for his wife. Most
good men have the same weakness In
respect to their helpmates. Whenever
Senior Patino had little extra money
he hastened to spend it on the sonora.
Usually he bought jewelry. Senor Pa
tino was not rich, but his wife mad
diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sap
phires in greater number than the
wives of many wealthy men. Sonora
Patino used to protest against this
extravaganza, but it was of no avail.
She could not check him, so, after
time, she accepted with complacency
whatever he purchased.
Senior Patino kept store in little
silver mining town up in the Andes,
not far from Oruro. He was active,
energetic and progressive. Most Bo-
livians are slow. The mines were busy,
his trade was increasing and the fu-
ture looked bright.
There came a change in the early
COS somewhere. The world had too
much silver and the price of the met
al declined. Gradually the production
of the mines Of Bolivia decreased and
as they decreased the business of the
store of Senior Patino dwindled. The
good man was sad. He no longer could
buy Jewels for his wife. Not only that
| but it was question whether he
could earn enough to provide well for
his already large and growing fam
lily.
Tin Looked Good to Him.
Most men, in such a situation, NOPE
and complain. Senor Patino is not that
kind. When the mine bosses gathered
at his store and indulged in bitter re-
Elections upon the sorry state OF the
silver market, he listened to them,
but did not agree with their direful
predictions. 1t was true, he acknowl
edged, that the silver outlook was
very bad, but Bolivia was rich in 9th
er metals.
The mining men laughed at his rea
soning. For nearly four centuries 30
livia had been working it's silver ano
gold mines. In silver the country was
particularly rich That was the back
bone of the nation. What could 30
Iivia look to when it could not sci
it's silver?
Senor Patino suggested tin. Their
was plenty of tin in Bolivia.
His friends scoffed The idea tina
Bolivia, after all it's centuries OF de
pendence upon silver, should turn tt
tin was oosabsurd to consider. Wher
would 1t find a market? Even II Their
were fair demand for tin, how coul'
Bolivia compete with the great til
mines of the Straits Settlements
which produced more than half o
the worlds supply, and which had thu
benefit of good and cheap transporta
ton? Bolivia had too much of
handicap, especially since Chile hat
robbed Bolivia of all its seacoast ant
made it an inland country.
Senor Patino said that If Bolivii
could ship silver ore it could shil
tin. The world had more use for til
than for silver. Markets could b.
developed. Transportation charge
might be SO heavy as to make it seen
impossible to realize profit, but thes
could be lessened II the business at
tained considerable volume.
Wlfe's Jewels Paid for Mine.
Obstinacy is one of Ratino's charac
teristics. The more the mine bosse
ridiculed his idea the more positiv
he became in his belief One of thos
who ridiculed him offered to sell
tin mine to him for $4,000 boliviano:
A boliviano Is about 40 cents, SO tina
meant $1,000. Patfno did not have tn
money. He tried to raise it and failed
Money was scarce, especially for S
poor an undertaking as tin mine.
Women have faith when men hav
not. Whatever her husband believe
; Sonora Patino believed. When he
: husband failed in all his efforts t
raise money Sonora Patino dete
mined to get it herself. She sold he
diamonds, rubies, sapphires and en-
eralds and, turning the proceeds owe
to him, insisted that he buy the min'
] When he was reluctant, she argue
that its name, La Salvador, augure
: well. There could be no mistake.
; Hard Struggle for PatIno.
a Patino bought La Salvador. He ha
: to proceed slowly with the mine, b
D cause he had little money, but th
times were so hard in Bolivia the
4 that he was able to get labor ver
@ ! cheap. That helped Mining tin is
q slow and burdensome process. Aftt
n the ore is taken out of the earth
n has to be ground into small particle
Then it is washed to rid it of some
a it's impurities. Next it is roasted
/. expel the sulphur and arsenic it CO
, tains. Another and longer treatmel
4 in a furnace of tremendous heat
> necessary to reduce the oxide tin
its metallic state. and even then fu
;. ther refining is required to produ'
: pure metal that commands the highe
j price.
v 1t was desperate struggle PATH
" had for the first year or two. Mar
q times it appeared as il, he would ha'
O to give up. His labor had TO be pa
and he had little or no money. Wht
he made a shipment of tin there we
), loco aroorv months before he I