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Show THE ONTARIO. Where Some ot the Money loaies From. A Big Enterprise iud a Snc-cessful Snc-cessful One. IXonie ProdiicdoiiN, Silver Bricks, elv. Park City, May 24, IS77. Editon IferaU: Tired of the "clash of hauls and the din of war," your, correspondent resolved to visit Parley's Park and, if possible, find out where all the machinery, ma-chinery, salt, lumber, and coal go to iu that region. Having heard that u enterprising trader of our Garden city had sold sixty tons of aalt to tbe Ontario mining company, I almost made a rash resolve to 6x up evapor ating pans and help to diminish the excessive store of chloride of sodium in our dead sea, thinxiug a salt miuv would be as Rood as a silver one it there were enough people in want of the article. Like every sensible man, 1 availed myself of a ride in one of Kimball's rock a ways that leave the city every morning at S o'clock, and soon todod myjtlf outside of the peniten tiary and after passing two more interesting institutions Bishop rimooi's and President You rig 'b woolen mills entered the well known Parley's canon, down which the fooetore pilgrims of early days used to "whoA-ha" his bovine steeds to our happy valley. Parley's canon is not much to look at, the most intsre&ling part being the summit where you leave it and come down onto Parley's Park. Years ago this region was the paradise ot wood haulers, but ttmy bnve disappeared and in thtir stead are scores of teams witn salt, grain, stores of all kinds, and mill furnishings, all bound lor the Mecca of tea coalers the Ontario mill. The altitude of Parley's Park is aboui 7,000 feel, cool iu summer and cold in winter; fine pasturage anu the higSer peaks ot the Wasatch covered with a dense coaling of the "beautiful;" aplemlid forests of quak-ingp quak-ingp abound. Crossing the park aud over a ride you reach Park city, after parsing Hound valley. This city owes its existence to th& location of the McHenry and Maraac mills. Operations al these mills are suspended, sus-pended, but all sre full of hope that i hey will start up again this summer, f nia city has a loot of a California mining camp, having tbe usual number num-ber of pigs naming around and all Hie variety ef architectural beauty that belongs to "cities" of rapid growth. It boasts of tour stores, a good hotel, and three saloons. The citizens possess enough of elf governing govern-ing power to do without the cumbrous cum-brous machinery of a mayor and councilmen. A justice of the peace keeps them straight. No gambling saloons or maisoiw dej ie didgrace us precincts. Higher up tbe canon, in what is known as Ontario gulch, looms up what is said to bo tbe finest stamp mill in the west. It is just thiny-one thiny-one miles from Salt Lake city to these works, aud thinking your readers would like to knew some thing about a mill that cost $225,000 to erect, I avjil myself of the courtesy ol tbe competent superintendent and manager, Mr. R. C. Cjambers, to go through it newspaper fadhiou. Entering Enter-ing at the upper story, or ore house, I found an immense stack of or?, eutli-cieut eutli-cieut to laet the null, running muhi ud day, two mouths, or about 3,tiO0 tons. The next floor down stairs for the mill is on a side hill brings us lo the drying floors, where the ores are spread out to dry. Half ot them have to undergo a roasting process, tbe otber half is servod up raw. A coating of salt is spread over tbe ore, and exercises a useful purpose in tbe after process. It requires 130 tons monthly, costing when laid down at ibe mill $18 per ton, or thereabouts. From the drying floors the ore pusses, after being s ,rted and crushed, into the hoppers of self (feeders, and thence by them into the mortars, where it receives the gentle taps of 40-stamps that produce a deafening noise like the roar of a cataract, of large proportions. The ore that after being pulverized is destined des-tined to undergo the roasting process is passed in a gnove by means of an archiineden screw to an elevator, where, alter passing through a sifting process, it falls into tbe flames of a Stedefelclt furnace. Here the u?e of salt comes into play as the chlorine is seperated from its base and unites with the silver to form chloride of silver, the chemical chem-ical name of common salt being chloride of soliuuv a compound of chtoiine gas and ihe metal sodium. By means of heat, the base met.vli, ouch ai arsenic, antimony aud otheis are vaporized and passed into tbe air through a very Lieii chimney. Toee vapors, when condensed on the sur-rmmrim? sur-rmmrim? veL'stalioti . exercise an in jurious uifliiancs, but there is nothing to hurt in Uie neighborhood, and so uobi.dy erc. This eiiloride of silver, with other refuse, is passed on to the cooling floor, thenperation requiring healthy lungs and temperate habits. Mr. chambers tells mo tb.it habitual drinkers of ardent spirits cannot stand the noxious fumes that aro tflveu oQ when the beated t-sB ts drawn from tbe furnooo. I observed the workmen work-men using a damp sponge over their mouths. This precautionary measure meas-ure is necessary, us water possesses the property of absorbing noxious g:iacB to a wonderlul degree. Only thfl other day we read of a man beiufc suffocated in the impure air of an old , well. Had the men who lowered hiin into it known enough to lower a candle dawn first, it would have been ex- tingviished, and thus dvmnnsirnted the f.ct that a man cannot live where a candle will fOt burn. Xb ore is pawed from the cooling floor in little cars to the pan room. Entering it we see a dozen immense tubs, in the centre ot which iton nr.il 1 lers are revolving at the r ite of irr ty times a miuute; the wieaui is applied and more 6lb added to the pulp, us well aa a certain per centige of qui.-k-eilvor. The niass is now like thick gruel, and in motion eight hours by a new process. The result is that the chloridf of silver has combined with the quicksilver and is thrown down Lo the bottom in the shape of silver amalgam. It is then passed into littl'j i:an to the le'.orts and smelling furnace, au intense beat is apnl.eil, the quicksilver is driven oil in the shape ot fumes, that are afterwards after-wards collected in tanks to be aain used for the same purpose. The pure silver mass, alter cjoling, is melted into burs, weighed, stamped, aud c m aitjned to the express agent for shipment ship-ment ea:t. About three bars are produced daily, valued at from $1 800 io $2,000 each quite a handsome rrf turn; but to reach this result an im n.etisu sum of money bus been in vested. Up to January ot Hie present year the company, composed of the foUowine gentlemen: Mes-rs. Hasgin, Tevis, Hurst, Chambers and Garwich, bad disbursed $9tH), 000 iu developing the mine and vreciiug the maguiQ cent mill. The returns to the same date hau been a little over $ L,000,i00. Since January (he expenseo of run ning tbe mill have been about $o2,-000 $o2,-000 monthly, paid in cash, tor the various necessities of a stamp mill. The proceeds from thomine in silver bars have been over $o00,000, or at the rate of $2,500,000 a year. From eighteen to twenty tons ot coal pt r dny uro hauled from the Weber mines. A l)ou t 100 teams are employed to haul diflerent articles. Iron eastings Irom Utah fnnndrieti are in cnuMaui fem.md. Eight hundred thousand feel of squ re edged Iipiitt w ii ined in the construction of 'the nail. The lire brick wan made in U ah. The en nine is of 225-horse pnwer. Total b-iifth of mill about 2S0 feet; width, SO feet, independent of outuouse-s, etc. The mine is one and a quarter miles from the mill, with ore niiougn to last two years, in sight, at the present pres-ent rate of consuinpliou. About 170 men are employed in the mill and mine, at good wages. Temperate habits are required ol the workmen. No drunkenness.is allowed. In brief, the reader may form some idea ol where some of the ready money comes from that circulates in Utah. It will he well for us when more of such reliable re-liable institutions are established, conducted con-ducted with honor and run with profit to the owners The gentlemen in charge are tillable and courteous. The writer is under obligations lor favors received. S. R. C. |
