El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-03-18

Z where the WrlLlnE is peIluEu WIN
1 out Ostentation OF flourish.
Generally speaking, the less flourish.
Oldest: another is the Alaska Mexican;
' n third. the Alaska United Gold and
! fourth. the Ready Bullion. The Ready
; Bullion mine is separate and distinct
from the Treadwell properties IN that
! IL has a gold vein Of its own about 2OOO
I feet southeast Of them In all the
mines the ore bikes or veins are sand
/ WICKED between green stone and black
/ slate They run through the mountains
/ of Douglas Island and in places extend
/ far down under the Gastneau channel,
which flows between the island the
Z mainland.
Half Nile Below Ground.
In many OF these TreadweH mines
| they are now taking out ore which is
almost a half mile below the surface
of the earth. The ore is lifted into
great shafthouses, from where II de-
sends by gravity to the mills Ihe
/ ore bodies dip toward the channel. and
some OF the tunnels have hundreds Of
I feet Of salt water over their heads
I Ii is true there is a thick bed OF rock
| between the miners and the sea, and
| there iE no danger of the ocean making
J its way through. The mines are wet,
I hut the moisture comes from the fresh
water of the mainland that has found
! its way through the crevices IN the
/ rocks.
| During my stay went down into the
] Ready Bullion mine, and far out under
! the channel. The means OF descent
] were five-tOn steel bucket as Dig a.
I a bOgshead and a steel cable almost AZ
! thick as nv wrist. This cable is more
Z than a half mile long. It is wrapped
/ around a great drum, and so operated
/ by an engine that it raises the ore
] from the mines
A Descent Into the Mines.
7 went down into the mines with
! Russell G. Wayland. the assistant man
: ager Of the TreadweU properties. we
. climbed into the bucket and held on
TO the rim. Then an electric slgnal
! was given and we shut down into the
darkness The great bucket wobbied
I this way and that as we fell OuI
/ descent was at an angle OF ABOUT SV
/ degrees. We continued al Jhat anale
! for something like 1000 feet, and aIter
that the fall was even more precipl-
tous At last we stepped out 1ar uhder
! fhe ocean We were now given acety-
| lene lamps. and with these we piche u i
| ont wav through the tunnels ana
! stones The tunnels were lighted by
! electricity, and each of them had It's
| railroad We walked between the
| tracks, stepping now and then 10 4 4le
side and squeezing ourselves 70 the
| wall to let the ore trains pass. These
! trains were of cars drawn BY mulss-
| AT one place we passed mule staple,
| and I was told the mules were heP.
| down in the mines for several years AZ
| q fine Those I saw were fat and not
| at all vicious The darkness does no. no.
! affect their eyesight, as is geheraliS
/ stopped now and then in the Slopes
! or great caverns. where the miners are
! blasting the ore. They use drills OPP
| Grated bv compressed air to SINK lne
! holes for the dynamite, and thus cu'
! out great rooms away down unuel ~
| sea These Slopes are several huiiui -
! feet high, and of almost an acre tu
i area Some of them are fllleu ~
! gold ore nearly to the roof NeVeL -el
! less only n slab of rock lies between
them and the ocean.
Has Big Modern Mills.
Leaving the mines. I went thfousI
! tbe mills. where they were crushlils
the mighty masses Of rock TO pow ~ "
and saving the gold. As soon as e Sn'
property was bought, way back IN 20 60
the company began 10 lnslal ~. III
| Of modern machinery Its Iirst NJ
| had 100 stamps. That was cohsli 80
S2 wears ago. -Four years later IL wa
| double and other mills have since pee
! added until the company now hds - y,
| great mills with $50 stamps, anu '
| more stamps under construction
! T-bs motive power Tor the mlllS u
| partially electric, suppleu oy W.
powers on Douglas lslahu anu olt -. -,
/ r,ain1and part Of the power coLle
I fror1, "a hvdro-electric plant at the 100
I Of the Nendenhall glacier. Whlch is L.
or 10 miles away. ana ahotneI pa
comes from four miles south y
Juneau California crude oil is use
for generating steam and neat, am
the company is now burning aoou
0o0 600 gallons of such oil every yeal
The oil is brought here in tank snip
and stored i'm steel tanks.
Is one of the mills was not worHlns
and was able TO examine the stamps
Each consists of Il long steel beam a
big around as the arm of a man. fitle
into a mighty shoe. which is elgn
inches in diameter and perhaps foe
long. This shoe is Of steel. 1t
fastened to the end of the stamp, an
the stem and shoe together Weig
about half a ton. In crushing the orr
the stem is so hung by the machiner
of the mill that il can be raised an
dropped on the ore 100 times ever
minute.
Think of dropping half ton upo
rock every time your watch ticks, an
YOU have a slight idea Of the powe
that grinds the ore to powder Their
are hundreds of these stamps Workin
at once, and as you look at them 20
!. ] do not wonder at the noise There ar
J almost a thousand of them tallin
I within a stones throw of where al
" writing. and every time they drop goo
Il 600 pounds of weight falls on the or
This dropping goes on day and nisn