The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1916-05-10
Third Of Its Silver Has
Come From Mexico.
COUNTRY OF TRAGIC HISTORY
The Vast Wealth OF Its Mines
Long a Matter OF Much
Comment.
SOME DARK SCENES RECALLED


to-day having come from the mines
of Mexico, the metallurgic history
of that country has fully justified
Humbolt's famous description of 1t
as the treasure house of the world
according to bulletin issued by the
National Geographic Society of
Washington, which says:
"A close contender with the Unit
ed States for the first place in the
production of silver-the two having
produced nearly 20 per cent of the
worlds output in LELAND rank
ing fifth as a gold producer, Mexico
Is easily maintaining its position as
one of the worlds richest nations
with respect to minerals, a position
it has held since the Spanish con-
quistadores first began to extort
gold from the vanquished Aztecs.
when Cortez landed in Mexico
he told the natives that the Spaniard
suffered from a disease which only
gold could cure. and the chivalrous,
credulous Aztecs, it is said, sent the
Europeans great wheels of precious
metal as well as ornaments of all
sorts, which reckoned in value of
to-day were worth $3O,OOO,O00.
Immediately after the conquest
the Spaniards began to work the
ell In IF lint
many mineralogists are of the opin-
ion that there are gold mines which
were known to the Aztecs and work.
ed by them, but which even to this
day have been hidden from the
white man, the Indians, actuated
by superstition, keeping their secret.
AS if to substantiate this attitude of
the natives. the handsomest monu-
ment that graces the City of Mex
leo between the capitol and the cas-
tie ofChapultepec stands to the men,
DRY of Cuauhtamic. the Aztec Prince
who refused to reveal to the con-
querors the source of his peoples
wealth, even though his torturers,
in their endeavor to make him dis
close the whereabouts of this vast
wealth, burned the soles from his
feet.
1.-The modern investigator of So
cial and industrial conditions paints
drab pictures of the natives in some
of the Mexican mines, but these are
bright pages compared with the
black chapters of the early days in
the rich mines of Guanajuato, where
the laborers, under cruel taskmas-
tiers, toiled from great depths up
notched poles, bearing 10O-pound
bags of ore on their backs, and then
were driven back after scarcely
time for breath of fresh air. 1t
was not until about the time of the
death of Shakespeare. whose ter
centenary the world was celebrating
this month. that law was passed
in this mining district 'forbidding
the branding of slaves on the face"
Brutal taskmasters did not al
ways escape unpublished, however
For instance. in the Valenciana
mines, which produced s300,000,OO0
worth of silver in fifty years. the
slaves rose in 1860 and massacred
every white man in that region.
"An apocryphal story, strongly
reminiscent of the Peruvian tale of
a fire built against an overhanging
silver boulder. is told of the discov-
cry of the rich silver deposits of the
Gusnajuato districts. 1t is related
that a band of muleteers discovered
in that neighborhood one morning
the glitter of refined silver in the
dead ashes of their camp fire.
"AIl the stories of early mining
operations in Mexico are not blotch- :
ed with the blood of poems. There is
the interesting authentic account of
the famous Avino mine, worked as
an open quarry and decided by the !
owner to all the white men who !
would build their houses close to-
gether for mutual protection against
hostile tribes. This was the be-
ginning of the prosperous City of
Sunshine Durango.
at is of the Durango vicinity. in
cidentally. that one of the most pa
thetic stories of an ancient prospec-
tors blasted hopes is told. Thirty
years after the conquest wealthy
Spaniard. hearing of mountain Of
solid silver. started on journey Of
exploration. He travelled for days,
hoping each morning that the rising
sun would reveal gigantic peak of
glistening treasure. At last 1t came
in view. He FASTENED on but when
he reached the base of the mountain
he discovered that 1t was Of iron In