The oasis. [volume], March 11, 1905, Image 4

About The oasis. [volume] (Arizola, Ariz.) 1893-1920

Image provided by: Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records; Phoenix, AZ

                
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f In tiryit Commnrcial fvuft in Northern Sonora,
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sr.
Saturday, March I I, !W5
ALAMOS DISTRICT
Ff tri ? 1,
The property was held and
operated many years by the Garcia
family, who were the original
owners. About 1875 or 'TO a Ger
man company, under the manage
ment of John Hays Hammond
purchased these mines and con
ducted operations several years.
The machinery what is left
shows that the castings were made
in San Francisco in 1878. A con
centrating mill and lead smelter,
with separating furnaces were
erected also roasting furnaces, the
pulp being roasted before concen
tration. Under the administra
tion of Mr. Hammond a number
of million dollars in silver bullion
were produced. Mr. Hammond
was succeeded by Mr. Victor Clem
ent, another well known mining
engineer, who took charge in 1883.
Within a year he netted a profit
exceeding 1300,000, gold and then
the mines were closed down,
DECLARED WORKED OUT,
and the property returned to the
original owners, who shortly sold
to the Ortizes, another old estab
lished family in the Alamos dis
trict, who in turn passed the own
ership to Don Antonio Goycoolea,
in 1884. Since that time Mr. Goy
coolea has operated the mines
steadily, by the crudest and most
primitive processes, having worn
out the machinery left by the Ger
man company and never replaced
it.
The condition of the machinery
and the way it is kept in operation
are most remarkable. There are
two old hoists that are in constant
use, and have been for years, with
out any repairs of any consequence.
Some of the bolt3 holding the
covers of the steamchests are gone
and have been replaced by wooden
pegs; the gallows frames are rickety
and loose in ail joints; and the
cables have been repeatedly spliced,
while their entire lengths bristle
with ends of parted wires. Instead
of cages there are great rawhide
buckets, each holding about 1000
pounds of ore; and they are also
used to hoist water, in lieu of
pumps. When one of these hoists
raises a load out from the shaft the
engine creaks and'groans, the gal
lows frame rocks and rattles, the
cable whips about like a loose
shroud in a gale of wind; and for
safety the engineer runs outside
the building as soon as the mach
inery starts, and watches its opera
tion from a convenient point.
Should the cable part and the
loose end whip about the building
he would be out of its reach. As
goon as the edge of the bucket ap
pears above the collar of the shaft
he dashes in and stop the engine,
the bucket and its load coming to
a rest at just the right point for
tilting. With
INADEQUATE MACHINERY
such as this, for the mill and fur
naces are in the same sadly dilapi
dated condition, Mr. Goycoolea
has sunk one shaft to a depth of
f)70 feet, another 450 feet, and a
third more than 300 feet; and the
mint records at Alamos show that
during a period of eighteen years
he has sold to the government an
annual average of 250,000 ounces
of refined silver, besides shipping
to Germany many thousand tons
of high grade ore. His operations
y
lumber, mmm SUPPLIES ad general merchandise.
GROCERIES. CAPS, PiPP, HARDWARE FITTINGS,
POWOSR, flSSflY, FUSE SUPPLIES
Iron and Steel, toajon Material. Lumber. Agricultural Implements, May and Grain.
Paints and Oils. Exchange bought and sold. Taxes paid for non resident Mining Companies.
Xlniclalcna9
Sonora.
during twenty years are credibly
stated to have netted more than
one million dollars.
Of course hoists so dangerous as
those are used for hoisting ores
and waters only; the workmen des
cend and ascend by ladders. There
is not a car nor a track rail in the
mine. Those that were in use
during the Hammond and Clement
regimes have long since gone to
pieces and been abandoned. .All
the ores, are handled in rawhide
buckets, carried upon the backs of
men.
The three shafts are about 1000
feet apart, and are. connected
underground by the extensive
workings whence have been taken
the ores that have produced all the
values noted. In the mine and
upon the dumps are about 20,000
tons of low grade ores.
The best ores are in the Descu
bridora shaft, ground which has
been practically worked without
cessation since i7. This is the
deepest of the three shafts and
there
OPERATIONS ARE SUSPENDED
apart of the year by filling in part
with water. When the rains come
in August the lower drifts fill and
no attempt is made to clear them.
In October baling commences and
is continued until May. Then the
shaft bottom is reached and deep
development with extraction of
rich ores continues until August
comes again. In the meantime
the mill is kept running upon ores
from the other shafts, Purissima
and Casa Blanca.
The ore bodies are continuous
the entire length of the property,
and are from twenty to seventy
feet wide, while the ores run from
twenty ounces silver per ton to
1,000 ounces and above, the pay
rock being calcite, impregnated
with oxides and chlorides of lead
and silver. There is also a small
per centage of copper, which it is
anticipated will increase with
depth, until, as in the Qnintera,
the process of reduction will have
to be changed. With that idea,
and with an intention of carrying
operations upon an extensive scale,
an American syndicate, represent
ed by Messrs. Amos Yaeger and
W. S. Cranz of Nogales, have
CLOSED A DEAL
for purchase of the Minas Nuevas
properties. Preliminaries had been
arranged at the time of the editor
ial visit, January 1st. The deal
is now completed, and the transfer
made.
Continued on page 9.
COFFEE
The better the cook, the
better the coffee.
The better tha coffee, the
better the cook.
Your frucw mam yrmr mgmy If JTWl dbnl liic
SsJuiiuig'i Beet.
Keep jour valuable papers, document
etc. ia a safety deposit box. For rent by
Tt, First National Bank, Ncgalcs.
COLEGIO
Particular para Winos.'
Erite plantel, fundado por las personas mas prominen
te de Ilermomllo, y en el que 8e educan mfios de las
mejores familiaa del Estado, est;! bajo la direccion
del Sr. Profesor Carlos M. Calleja, & quien deheran
dirijirse los interesados.
Cnlle Jcilapu, HermoHlllo, Sonom.
j-hMkl ! THE BEST MADE ON EARTH.
ERMOS1LLO BEER.
FOR SALE EVERYWHERE.
rnnnnn
Try It
Southern Pacific Company.
Log Angeles Passenger, No. 7, west bound, passes Ben eon 1 .05 p. m.
El Paso Passenger, No. 8, eawt bound, passes Benson 8:43 a. m.
Train No. 11 leaves Nogales 4 -.35 a. in. daily, arriving at Benson 7 :35 a. m., ami
at Tucson 9 :50 a. m.
Train No. 12 leaves Tucson 3 :35 p. m. daily, arriving at Benson 5 :25 p. m., and
at Nogales 8:55 p. m.
Sunset Limited east bound, passes Benson 7:50 a. m.
Sunset Limited west bound, passes Benson 5:40 p. m.
Clone connection is made at Fairbank with El Paso & Southwestern By. for
Tombstone, Bisbee, Naco, Douglas, and other points on that line, and close con
nection is also made at Naco for Cananea.
Tickets on sale to all important points in U. S., and we especially call attention
to the trip, via New Orleans to New York, by steamer.
This company's new 5000 ton steamships "Comus" and "Proteus" leave New
Orleans at noon every Wednesday, and make the voyage to New York in about
five and one half days ; they are equal to the modem ocean liners in every respect.
Saloon and second cabin passage have to be reserved in advance.
W. G. BOWMAN, Agent,
. - "1
y.. . . r. w '- ; '.: : '-
HOTEL
.RGADIA,
Hermosillo, Son., lex.
A First Class American Hotel
in an attractive City with an
Ideal Winter Climate.
Only T v-v I , cs Hourn I-x-o.- Mttlii Lin
Especial Rates to Tourists.
1, MIX, I-
reBiclent I
i
Dry Goods and
Groceties.
EL
Mining Supplies,
Powder, Fuse,Etc.
HA.MON BSQUBR
dtVi aSrM?tCuCi" La Coiorada and Primavera, Sonora, Foreign Exchange
Life Insurance'co." IRANCH AT MASDALENA. Bought and Sold.
P. Sandoval.
A. Sandoval
P. SANDOVAL Y C
BANKERS AND BROKERS.
Agents Banco Nacional de Mexico and Banco Occidental de Mexico.
Own and control extensive W Fiscal Agent for the Bin
lauds and mines in Sonora. rJJ Mountiu Mining Company
OWNER OF FRMOUS
PLHISCHflS DZ PLATA TOINES.
Nogales, Sonora. Mex.
Cable
Addre's:
Lavodnas.