136 



COLORADO. 



The official report shows that during the year 

 1897 then- were employed in the metalliferous 

 mines of the State 80,816 men. The general aver- 

 age wage was $3 a dav. Reports made by the min- 

 ers' unions show a little better average. There 

 has been a constant increase in the number of min- 

 ers eni|'!o\ til Miice 1W7. but nn d.-rrease in wages. 



Kiisines*. Tin- niuiilHT of incorporations re- 

 corded in the office >f tin- S-i-n-tary of State for the 

 year cndin" Nov. 30. 1SU6. was 1,132, the capital 

 stock amounting to $3s.Vur,i.s.|i>. The "United 

 Stat.-s Investor" said in <>ctoer: " There has been 

 a Inri:.- in. Tease in tin- deposits in Denver banks 

 during tin- I'U-t -i\ months, due to improved com- 

 ini-rrial and industrial conditions, among them 

 In-im: ilu- growth of milling enterprises and the de- 

 vcliipincnt of dividend-paying gold mines, which 

 have been operated by individuals and private 

 c'.impani.-s. Another reason for increased deposits 

 has been the return of confidence since the outcome 

 of the war was evident, and its effect upon finan- 

 cial enterprise was determined. The deposits in 

 the largest three banks now aggregate about $26,- 

 000.000. which is a very large sum for three West- 

 ern hanks. The very rapid strides making by the 

 minim: industries i>f Colorado are among the im- 

 portant -i-iirees of business of the State in general, 

 while the advance of the cattle- and sheep-feeding 

 busim-s in that part of the State which can be re- 

 claimed bv irrigation has been a great source of 

 income. The success in the growing of alfalfa on 

 Colorado irrigated lands offers an unlimited field 

 fur tin- development of this industry." 



A MI n unary of real-estate transactions in Denver 

 in 1H!? >hows that the total reduction of indebted- 

 ness was |737,710, and the increase in consideration 

 of warranty deeds over that of 1896 was $237,810, 

 in the number of releases 726, and the decrease in 

 numlier of foreclosures was 278. 



Agriculture. The value of the farm products 

 in 1897 are given in round numbers as follow : 

 Wheat, $3.800,000; alfalfa, $4,300,000; clover and 

 timothy. $1,000,000; corn, oats, rye, barley, etc., 

 $6.500,000; potatoes, $1,800,000; garden products, 

 $7.000.000; dairy and poultry, $2,500,000; total, 

 PMOOjOOO ; 1896, $22,000,000^ 



The live-stock product was given as $15,000,000 

 in value, and the wool as $500.000. 



The estimate of "Field and Farm" was much 

 higher, the total of farm, dairy, and garden prod- 

 ucts a untiiig by its figures to $77,800,000. 



The following report of experiments with sugar 

 beets in 1SH7 is -iven: "The State Agricultural 

 College at Fort Collins sent out last spring over 600 

 mm pie-, i.f Mi;:ar-l.eet seed to farmers all over the 

 State, who promi>ed to take good care of the crop 

 and report the results. During the fall a great 

 many sample-* of In-ets were secured. Some were 

 !> the raiders, and some taken by representa- 

 tives of the college, who visited the farms and made 

 n-.tes mi the general conditions and management of 

 the crops. The larger part of these samples were 

 analyzed by the chemical department of the college, 

 tin >u i;h some were sent to the chemist of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture at Washington. The re- 

 sults of the season's work can be summarized in 

 two M-iit.-iiccs: First. g<xxl sugar beets will not 

 grow in Colorado without care. Second, good 

 sugar bwts can be raised almost anywhere in 

 id., by proper care. The average of the re- 

 POrtod -n.ps in Colorado will be over rather than 

 under l ',,iis ,,f hwts to the acre, with two farms 

 Hint exceeded 80 tons. Twelve per cent, of sugarand 

 INT lit purity in the standard of quality in 

 sugar IxH-ts. There has U-en scarcely a sample of 

 ripe beets r r ,, m K,e whole State that has gone below 

 the standard. Nearly all that have fallen below 



have been raised on clay soil. Many have gone far 

 above the standard." 



Early in 1898 the Denver Chamber of Commerce 

 made an appropriation of $1,000 for encouragement 

 of experiments in the culture of sugar beets. A 

 portion of the fund is to go to each county, under 

 the condition that it shall appropriate at least an 

 equal amount for the same purpose. 



Irrigation. There were at the beginning of the 

 year nearly 16,000 miles of irrigating canals and 

 ditches in" the State, furnishing water for more 

 than 3,500,000 acres, besides thousands of miles of 

 small ditches built by individual farmers in the 

 small valleys, of which no official record is made. 

 There were several large projects for canals to be 

 built this year, among which were mentioned the 

 Grand River Valley Canal, heading above Grand 

 Junction, which will bring 80,000 acres of remark- 

 ably fertile lands under cultivation. The Arkansas 

 and the San Luis valleys also have each several 

 new irrigation projects of scarcely less importance 

 than that of the Grand. And Weld County has a 

 proposition to tap the South Platte river at a 

 point above La Salle, from which source a supply 

 of water will be obtained sufficiently large to irri- 

 gate about 40,000 acres. 



Land Grant. The " Denver Times " said, May 

 11 : "The confirmation of the Baca land grant in 

 the San Luis valley, announced by the United 

 States Supreme Court yesterday, is a matter of far- 

 reaching importance to Colorado interests. The 

 final quieting of title to this immense tract of 

 100,000 acres, which includes a goodly portion of the 

 Sangre de Cristo range, will speedily open up to 

 settlement a vast territory of immensely rich agri- 

 cultural lands, and in addition a gold-mining dis- 

 trict which experts have pronounced the richest in 

 the State." 



Colorado Springs. A fire in that city, Oct. 1, 

 threatened to destroy the entire business district. 

 A strip four blocks by two was burned over, when 

 the wind, which had been blowing at 45 miles an 

 hour, died down and the flames were controlled 

 with the help of engines from Denver and Pueblo. 

 The losses were estimated at about $1.000,000. 



Anniversary of the Discovery of Gold. There 

 is a plan on foot to mark the spot where gold was 

 first discovered in the State by a monument, and 

 to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of that event, 

 which occurred Jan. 7, 1859, according to docu- 

 ments in the possession of the State Historical 

 Society. On that day George Jackson, an old Cali- 

 fornia gold miner, who was camping on Chicago 

 creek with no other company than that of two 

 dogs, having built a big fire to thaw out the gravel, 

 found in the ninth cup panned " one nugget of 

 coarse gold." He wrote in his diary after the rec- 

 ord of that discovery: "Feel good to-night; dogs 

 don't." They had had a fight the day before with 

 a carcajou that came into the camp. The spot 

 where he found the nugget is within the present 

 site of Idaho Springs. 



Political. The Republicans met in State con- 

 vention, Sept. 15. The platform approved the na- 

 tional administration, reaffirmed belief in the policy 

 of protection, and said further: 



" We are unqualifiedly in favor of keeping for- 

 ever in place the American flag wherever it has 

 been unfurled to the breeze, whether as a result of 

 conquest or peaceable acquirement. 



" The Republican party is and always has been a 

 bimetallic party. The Republican party of Colo- 

 rado is earnestly devoted to the cause of bimetal- 

 lism. It has no sympathy with monometallism, 

 and believes that the final imposition of a single 

 standard upon the people of this country would 

 work irreparable injury. Its members believe that 



