The leader-enterprise. [volume] (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1912-1915, 1914-10-19
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 Is
One Of the Worlds Rich.
est Men.
BY RICHARD sPlLLANE.
Copyright, 1914, by the Mcclure, Newsp

Don Simon Patino Of Oruro, Bolivia,
has 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 fastened to spend it on the sonora.
Usually he bought jewelry Senior Pa
tino was not rich, but his wife had
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 a little
silver mining town up in the Andes,
not far from Oruro. He was active,
energetic and progressive Most b.
livians are slow. The mines were busy,
his trade was increasing and the fu-
ture looked bright.
There came a change in the early
eos 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 a question whether he
could earn enough to provide we'll for
his already large and growing fam
lily.
Tin Looked Good to Him.
Most men, in such a situation, NOPE
and complain. Senior Patino is not that
kind. When the mine bosses gathered
at his store and INDUCED 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 b.
livia had been working it's silver and
gold mines. In silver the country was
particularly rich. That was the back
bone of the nation. What could b.
livia look to when it could not sell
its silver?
Senior Patino suggested tin. There
was plenty of tin in Bolivia.
His friends scoffed. The idea that
Bolivia, after all it's centuries of de-
pendence upon silver, should turn to
tin was too absurd to consider. Where
would it find market? Even if there
were fair demand for tin, how could
Bolivia compete with the great tin
mines of the Straits Settlements,
which produced more than half of
the worlds supply, and which had the
benefit of good and cheap transporta-
ton? Bolivia had too much of
handicap, especially since Chile had
robbed Bolivia of all its seacoast and
made it an inland country.
Senior Patino said that if Bolivia
could ship silver ore it could ship
tin. The world had more use for tin
than for silver Markets could be
developed. Transportation charges
might be so heavy as to make it seem
impossible to realize profit, but these
could be lessened if the business at
tanned considerable volume.
Wife's Jewels Paid for Mine.
Obstinacy is one of Patino's charac-
teristics. The more the mine bosses
ridiculed his idea the more positive
he became in his belief One of those
who ridiculed him offered to sell a
tin mine to him for $4,000 bolivianos.
A boliviano is about 40 cents, so that
meant $1,000. Patino did not have the
money. He tried to raise it and failed.
Money was scarce, especially for SO
poor an undertaking as tin mine
Women have faith when men have
not. Whatever her husband believed
Sonora Patino believed. When her
husband failed in all his efforts to
raise money Sonora Patino deter
mined to get it herself. She sold her
diamonds, rubies, sapphires and en-
eralds and, turning the proceeds over
to him, insisted that he buy the mine.
When he was reluctant, she argued
that it's name, La Salvador, augured
well. There could be no mistake.
Hard Struggle for Patino.
Pltino bought La Salvador He had
to proceed slowly with the mine, be-
cause he had little money, but the
times were so hard in Bolivia then
that he was able to get labor very
cheap. That helped. Mining tin is a
slow and burdensome process. After
the ore is taken out Of the earth it
has to be ground into small particles.
Then it is washed to rid it of some of
its impurities. Next it is roasted to
expel the sulphur and arsenic it con-
tains. Another and longer treatment
in furnace of tremendous heat is
necessary to reduce the oxide tin to
its metallic state, and even then fur
Their refining is required to produce
pure metal that commands the highest
price
1t was a desperate struggle Patino