Bisbee daily review., 1915-11-21

renci was a place With the difficulties in building a mining plant and ore l treatment works. The Morenci ann phitheatre is high up in the mountains. | To reach it from the river valley below | by railroad was an engineering feat | of magnitude. Down in that river
 valley was the line Of the Arizona and
 New Mexico Railway, with which con necJion must be had to connect with | the outside world The latter road
 runs up the lower grades from Lords | burg Co Clifton. The highest ability
 in engineering-was required and it was secured. The building of the road was ' a necessity to profitable production and it was built The Copper Noun ! tain District had to be opened and the
 railroad must open it.
 The cost Of railroad construction at ! that time was high and formed a big | item to be met by the company The l road to financing it was nearly as
 rough and rocky as was the route the
 road itself had to travel But it was
 financed and completed and has since paid large returns. With it's comple-
 ton there opened 10 Morenci a new era of prosperity and of achievement.
 The Morenci Southern Railway makes its connection with the Arizona
 & New Mexico at Guthrie, near where
 it crosses the Gila River and then proceeds on over the foothills to the San Francisco River, at a point about
 eight miles below Clifton The line
 ascends sharply and at a steep grade Go the mouth of Morenci Canyon, a
 mile below the town. In that last mile 1t rises 50G feet over a series of
 loops and curves and trestles, even | traversing a "switchback" in it's own course. Since the road was first open
 ed numerous changes and improve ments have been perfected which ma
 t,rially reduced grades at some points,
 thus enecting a reduction in operating expenses and advancing the interests
 of safety, although the railroad has
 been SO fortunate that it can boast there has never been a wreck along
 it's line that was attended by loss of
 life.
 Long Life Assured.
 . As in most copper mining camps in their early days, SO it was at Morenci Q in the earlier years of development, there were many to prophecy a short life and an early end to activities, to state that its ores would not continue with depth It may be, likely is, that the richness of ore that was required , at first to make production profitable will not continue to great depth, but the dicoveries Of vast stores of low grade ore with modern methods for
 handling. have opened up a long peri
 od of life to the company and to the l district and have silenced those who would declare the end near at hand. It js tue that with such low grade - ore, rigid economies must be practiced, - but conditions are such that the most ? skilled workers are not required un- b Iderground. Mexican and other labor lot that type can be used. It is imprac- Iticable to consider wage scale such - as operates in the mines of Bisbee, for - instance It is more like the situa- ton that exists at Ray.
 Other Large Holdings.
 , By no means all of the holdings of , the Detroit Copper Mining Company - are located to the Copper Mountain | District where are its oldest claims } and present mos important workings. i Holdings of the company extend into i the Greenlee district as we'll In the i latter district the most important } work it has undertaken development , on the properties of the old New Eng l land Copper Company, where large , sums had been expended in road build !, ling and development work by the , former owners. This property is , across the mountains from Morenci, B and several miles distant It also has ] claims at Metcalf, along the San Fran , cisco and up Chase Creek.
 Looks Into Future.
 It has been the policy Of all the operating companies of the Clifton Morenci-Metcalf District that appear
 ed to have merit and promise, when
 such properties were adjacent or close 10 its present holdings With this policy in view the Detroit Company
 has acquired holdings in greater or Hess stage of development but which l, still require development along sys- , temauc lines to open up and make ac'
 cessible the ore bodies which officials p were convinced they contained before ? acquiring such properties for the com pany. It has spent it's proportion of the hundreds Of thousands of dollars
 expended by the operating companies
 of the district and among its holdings, thus acquired are some upon which P time has not yet been found for neces- | sary exporation work 70 prove the true importance of their values Output from them Is not at thc pre- ent time |. required for production. such acquire , imenls may be considered a form oi i Imine life insurance. As certain char 5 acters of orc are required the claims ' that contain such ores will be or will
 have been developed to meet such de- ] mands.
 In the explored area of the com
 pany'5 holdings there hayo been de-