Evening star., 1934-08-26

around the great smelter. Then one
understands; the leaping flames are
| from the blast furnaces, the glowing
masses from the molten Stag poured
out on the monster black pile.
The Search for Leads.
"The smelter's busy" residents OF
| the Cloud City say-and smile. so
busy it takes week to get sample re-
turns on your ore"
At Golden, hor,e of the famous
Colorado School of Mines, graduates.
securing grub stakes, are ranging the
mountains in search of mine leads.
Stalwart youths are plodding shoulder
| to shoulder with bearded old-time
prospectors over hills and gulches,
keen eyes agleam for metallic-stained
surface rock-"float"-the clue to O
vein.
In Colorado towns numerous old
houses are receiving unusual atten-
ton. For on their walls, in lieu Of
wall paper, are pasted beautifully en-
graved shares of mining stock in gold
and black. Stock by mining COM
panies long ago promoted, considered
valueless by its owners. But now a
hunt is on for this old stock, faded
and fly specked though 1t may be.
Dividends from bonanZas are like
flakes of snow to thirsty earth.
We stood on historic Bennett ave-
nue., in Cripple Greek, recently. Au-
tomobiles, many bearing licenses from
other States, were. parked fender to
fender along it. Men were arriving
and departing, men in rough outdoor
clothing. Mining men, long-headed
adventures who had been attracted
by the sudden activity caused by the
boost in the price of gold. Their
laughter rang, punctuating eager
voices in spirited conversation.
We found guide in young miner
whose shift would not start for an
ether few hours.
More activity in Cripple Creek
than any times since the big boom" +"
he said. You can't rent a house
here, or even shack. If you'll walk
up to the station with me I'll show
you the first and last proof of what
this new gold price is doing"
SAAC 4OOA az tAIC Odl Od4 , III LL1C
railroad yard stirred our blood.
We're sending out train load Of
ore each day now," our guide went on.
"The railroad has had to buy new
cars and locomotives to take care of
the business. Shippers often have to
wait days to have cars spotted. And
then sometimes these dump hounds
beat them to 1t: they start loading
any empty car they can find. The
Golden Cycles had to put on a new
unloading force at the mill. Com
mences to look like old times"
New Milling Methods.
We drove up the winding road to
Victor. At one point our companion
asked us to stop. We walked over
to gigantic dump-the pile of refuse
rock from an old mine. Men were
shoveling the rock into trucks.
These fellows are shipping this en-
tire dump to the mill. They're not
even running it through machine
first, because there's enough gold left
in it to make them some money. It
was all thrown away in the old days,
when nobody bothered with low-grade
ore. Now new methods of milling can
recover these values But, at that,
they wouldn't be working if gold were
still $20.67 an ounce. This new price
has made these old dumps money
makers"
In Victor, the town that once had
a train or electric car to Cripple
Creek each IS minutes, we had diff
Guilty in finding a place to park
Hundreds of men at work." the
young miner said. "There1l be lots
more. You can't rent house or a
room in Victor. See these new houses
down the street? Well, plenty more
are going to be built.
If you're around here when school
closes this afternoon you'll see bus
pull in from Cripple Greek full of
kids. The school house here amt big
enough to hold EN-"
Boom Is On.
There was no depression in Victor.
From far up on the hill ahead of us
we could hear the singing of the
hosting cables. the thump and rattle
of sliding rock as tramcars of ore
"NAO NO4IPCas AAC lOdI VI oISIdIlL
blasting family reached our ears.
Trucks loaded with ore rumbled and
backfred their way down the road,
meeting others grinding along up the
grade with heavy mining machinery.
New mines were opening, old proper
ties once more at work. The boom
was on.
At Alma, in the heart of the famous
Mosquito Range mining district, cabins
costing $400 were renting for S25
month. Practically every man In the
great district was either working for
one of the big companies or on prop
erty that had been leased.
Historic Alma, named for his far
on sweetheart by some forgotten
bearded miner Romantic Alma. Al
few miles away Silver Heels Noun
tain rears its heights. 1t was named
for a mysterious. veiled woman who
appeared in a raging smallpox epi-
demic nursed the miners through the
scourage and vanished. No man ever
saw her face. but she wore slippers
with silver heels.
5000 Gallons A Minute.
At breckenridge, short distance
away. gigantic dredge was cutting a
path through the old camp-a swath
100 feet wide and IS feet deep. It
created lake of its own as it went,
for it pumped 5000 gallons of water
a minute to wash out the gold bearing
gravel. Six thousand cubic yards of
pay dirt went into its hungry NAV
each day.
In Idaho Springs, that lovely little |
city nesting at the junction of Clear |
Creek and Virginia Canon, We talked
with the young man in charge of the !
power company's office.
"A few days ago man came in to |
have the electricity turned on at a
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