GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Apk. 15. 



mild temperature. At Campe Verde we are 

 told it is almost a mile above the sea level. 

 There was considerable frost every night, and 

 the mountains were more or less covered with 

 snow. Before reaching the Grand Canyon I 

 must go almost a mile more, nearly straight up. 

 I was told everywhere that it was a dangerous 

 trip to take in winter; and the cool nights and 

 the raw northeast winds had begun somewhat 

 to affect my health. Very reluctantly I gave 

 up the unaertakiug until at a warmer season 

 of the year. You see, as we got up in alti- 

 tude the weather was colder and colder; and 

 when neariug the Grand Canyon there is con- 

 siderable danger of being snowed under; and 

 this, in a locality that is almost entirely unin- 

 habited, would be risky and dangerous. Rather 

 sadly we turned our horses from the well- 

 beaten road, and headed toward the Jerome 

 gold-mines. The locality of this mining town 

 was plainly visible from the crest of every hill 

 by the volumes of black smoke that seemed to 

 surround and envelop the neighborhood. Down 

 into the valley we went over a very pretty and 

 romantic road until we crossea again the Verde 

 River. Then began our gradual ascent over a 

 good road up toward the mines. The road was 

 so fine I tried my wheel, and rode several miles. 

 Finally I stopped to rest As my companions 

 came up I said: 



" Why, I do not see what makes me get so 

 tired. I have had a beautiful road; and al- 

 though I have not ridden more than about two 

 miles, it really seems as if I hadn't strength to 

 go any further." 



This remark was greeted with a laugh from 

 my comrades on the wagon. One of them said: 



" Why, Mr. Root, instead of two miles you 

 have made six or seven, and, besides this, going 

 up hill at a tremendous rate pretty much every 

 foot of the way. We are now within a few 

 miles of the great incline that takes us up to 

 the city. By all means, get on and ride, and 

 get rested enough so you will be able to foot it 

 up the great hill." 



It began to be evident, as we came nearer 

 and nearer, that we were getting into the sub- 

 urbs of a toivn of some sort. The dwellings 

 were better, and there were slight evidences of 

 wealth on every side. At a most romantic 

 notch in the mountains we came in view of the 

 incline. Said I: 



" Why, you do not mean that the horses and 

 wagons go up that hill ? " 



" Indeed they do, and carry heavy loads too, 

 as you will presently see." 



Our ponies were watered, and the sagacious 

 animals looked anxiously up at the task that 

 lay before them. The ro'd was so hard and 

 smooth it was not so very hard after ail; but it 

 was a terribly long pull, not only on the horses, 

 but our whole crowd were puffing and panting 

 as we reached a turn that gave us the first 

 glimpse of the city. Jerome is built on the side 

 of a clifT. I think it has between one and two 

 thousand inhabitants. The dwellings are 

 notched into the side of the mountains all 

 along. The streets are necessarily very nar- 

 row, for one side must be cut into the rocky 

 mountain side, while the other is built out by 

 a wall. The houses are so much one above 

 another that you can not only look down your 

 neighbor's chimney, but many times you could 

 easily jump down, or at least it would almost 

 seem so. There is one single church in the 

 town, built by the Baptists; and I verily be- 

 lieve it cost about as much to put up a structure 

 of timbers to hold the projecting edge of the 

 building as to make the building itself. Every 

 house has one edge jutting into the rocky 

 mountain side; then the other is propped on a 



stone wall or on timbers. There is only one 

 street in the town wide enough for a wagon. 

 The others are mere walks, or walks wide 

 enough to accommodate a burro. Said burros 

 deliver provisions, fuel, and every thing elge. 

 Instead of haying streets go up and down the 

 mountain, they have an endless amount of 

 stairways. The town is supplied with electric 

 lights, and waterworks. There is not any 

 sewage at present, and it may be a little diffi- 

 cult to manage it; for slops and rain water will 

 go straight down hill any way. The tank that 

 supplies the town with water is a hundred feet 

 or more above it; in fact, it is so high up that 

 it looks like a good-sized barrel; but it really 

 holds enough for all purposes. 



It was toward dusk when we got in, and be- 

 fore reaching the residence of my good friend 

 F. E. Jordan i caught a glimpse of the wonder- 

 ful pyrotechnic displays that can always be 

 seen day and night. Great tubs of melted slag 

 are constantly being poured out over the cliflf 

 as they are carted out from the great Jerome 

 gold and copper mines. In fact, the company 

 is constantly making a level platform on the 

 edge of the mountain, with the molten slag. 

 A guard is placed around the melted lava (as I 

 should call it), so that it cools on a perfect 

 level, hard and smooth as ice, and as firm as 

 the rocks. More slag is then poured over the 

 edge of the cliff until it accumulates for a 

 groundwork, and the floor thus laid is used for 

 building out the constantly increasing works of 

 the mining company. 



My friend Jordan used to be a bee-keeper at 

 Camp Verde. He has taken Gleanings many 

 years, and bought goods of us until he feels 

 perfectly well acquainted. He occupies a very 

 pretty little cottage, one of the three latest 

 built, and almost the highest up in the town of 

 Jerome Within his beautiful home we found 

 quite a contrast to camping out in the desert. 

 After supper he kindly piloted us over the 

 works of the great mining company. It is im- 

 possible to do any thing like justice here on 

 paper, but I will try to give you a little sketch 

 of it. 



Years ago a mining company located here 

 and dug out a small quantity of copper ore con- 

 taining some gold. They supposed they had 

 exhausted the mine, and it was entirely or 

 partly abandoned. This new company, by 

 going a few feet further into the mountains, 

 discovered endless quantities of copper ore — I 

 think some of it going as high as 75 or 80 per 

 cent pure copper. A shaft was sunk down 500 

 feet or more, and they found ores in paying 

 quantities clear to the bottom. Out of this 

 shaft drifts were led out at different levels. 

 The ore is mined, and placed on cars which are 

 run up to the bottom of the shaft, then it is 

 elevated to a room level with the mines. The 

 cars run right up the elevator, and the con- 

 tents are then pushed otT into the melting- 

 furnaces. The ores, with the proper materials, 

 are dumped into a huge cupola, similar to that 

 used for melting iron. This is mixed with a 

 sufficient quantity of coke, and by the assis- 

 tance of a tremendous blast of air the whole is 

 raised to such a great heat that the metals run 

 out. This melted metal is conducted into a 

 great pot or crucible. These pots are large 

 enough — well, I think some of them would 

 accommodate a good-sized family, tea-table 

 and all. By means of a powerful crane, oper- 

 ated by electricity, these great caldrons of 

 seething metal are tipped up as one would tip 

 a coffee - pot, and the contents poured into 

 brick-shaped molds. These bricks of copper 

 ingots contain more or less gold; but none of 

 the workmen, nor anybody but the assayer. 



