El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-12-12
BURNING SLOPES
ARE ATTACKED
United Verde Company
Starts Removing Long
Smoldering Ore Bodies.

Jerome, Ariz., Dec '12.-The United
Verde Copper company has started
upon its long-pro5ected attack upon
the great burning sulphide Slopes,
near the old workings. These ore
bodies have been blazing or smolder-
ing for 90 years and have defied all
efforts to extinguish their fires Now
they are 20 De bitten away by enor-
nous steam shovels and their ready
made calciues taken down in steel
hoped broad-gage cars to be dumped
direct into the reveroerarories OF the
company's shelter at Clarkdale- me
shovels are at work already, clear
ing away a site Tor the new tllne
power house and surface palldlnss'
for the old smelter site above and the
fine office building viii 60 down as
the shovels approach them
The tonnage 20 be gOugeu from the
face Of the Black Hills range VIII dP-
proximate 100000 cubic yards. AL
viii be utilized for the filling IN OF
Millions to Be spent.
Millions Of dollars viii have TO be
expended in the enterprise In 1acts
millions already have been spent on
projects incident 20 the enterprise,
chiefly on the railroad that craW4s on
a four percent grade up the noun
tain, in four miles encomp assing the
distance Of one mile that Hes between
the mouth OF the HopeWeil tunnel anu
the terminus at Jerome. This roaq.
under construction two and nalI
years, viii serve the people OF jerome
as well as the mine II VIII carry
freight hitherto brought IN BY mar
row gage from Jerome Junction
Down in the valley at Clarkdale
there has been much in the making
THr go
more than doubled in capacity, tnoush
the improvements are not yet COM
plete. It's not that production IS
wanted just now, at the present stage
Of the metal market But former sen
ator W. A. CLARK, main owner OF lne
property, has long vision and VIII pc
ready for the great copper QenAn4
that will be known when foreign e1-
change IS able to finance european
metal needs. There have been added
six 5eratory furnaces OF larger
type than the six now IN use Twelve
new roasters are Of greater capacity
than those now operated A couple
l- new Great Fails converter stands
and eight new Sterling boilers ana a
variety Of other additions, inclusive
Of a power house OF doubled capacity
might be noted.
Coal supplants on.
There are two very especial lea-
lures. however. The first Is resort
20 the use OF N0MAeAeA Il4A a. AA@A
for the reFerberatories, succeeding
fuel oil. which Of late has proved very
expensive. The Gallup semi bituuli-
nous is stored under water till needed
for Il is suspectlble 10 spontaneous
combustion. Before used IL IS crushed,
dried and then pulverized tin Il can
be sifted through a 100-mesh screen
Then it is ready 10 be taken up BY
a fierce air blast and blown into the
100-fo0t reverberatories
Then there is the smoke treating
plant, wherein currents Of l25,000
voltage play through the dues from
the furnaces. catching and deposlting
all metallic particles. TO the greater
profit Of the works. and incidentally
stopping deposit OF SCOT and sulphur
upon the farms Of complaining ranch
ers in the nearby agricultural COM
munity. II viii cost $4,000 10 stop
the smoke. but IL is believed the re-
suit VIII show that 10 pays.