Durango, Colorado - The Great San Juan of Colorado and New Mexico : a Brief History of the (part 1 of 2)

The Great San Juan of Colorado and New Mexico : a Brief History of the

Precedent to the upbuilding of populous communities are their resources; and as these are developed cities have their birth and after growth. Compared to eastern cities, and, indeed, to many in the west, Durango is a village; but, in the San Juan of Colorado, her 3,317 inhabitants with which she is credited by last year's census entitles her to a metropolitan rank in the southwestern portion of the state.

Twenty-one years ago the townsite of Durango was platted. The same year, and somewhat prior to the inceping the payroll, tonnage, etc.; but the dense volumes of smoke issuing from five lofty stacks daily reveal some¬ thing of the plant's magnitude and operations even the secrecy of the office cannot obscure. Nor do the trains of box cars, placarded with the names of the mines from which their mineral burden has come, divulge less. The fact is, the entire output of scores of bonanza mines is shipped direct to Durango for treatment, and all ^ the benefits that are to be derived from this great industry accrue to the Smelter City.

tion of the town, the old New York smelter was removed from Silverton to its present site, and Durango has since been an important smelting point: whence its soubriquet, the "Smelter City." This industry, as it gave birth to the town, would have afforded sufficient support for a small community, and, since the development of other resources and industries which have contributed to Durango's great¬ er growth, remains an important element in the city s prosperity.

Owing to either the disinclination of the big smelter trust, which has absorbed the local smelter, to give infor¬ mation to the press, with which it is justly unpopular, or to the curtailed authority of its resident representative, it .has been impossible to secure statistical data concern-

Hardly second in importance to the smelter is the great coal industry, which determined the owners of the New York smelter to remove their plant to this point. From the preceding sentence it appears that the presence of ex¬ tensive coal deposits in the vicinity of Durango was known prior to the organization of the town. The old San Juan coal mine, now defunct, was operated years before Durango was laid out, and it was near this property that the smelter was erected. The trestlework and tipple of this mine have never been torn down, and present a bizarre spectacle, dis¬ mantled by time and decay. But the coal taken from the San Juan was as a scuttle-full to the bunkers of a seaport. The whole country about Durango seems pregnant with coal, and theie are at least half a dozen collieries produc-

The Great San Juan

Ing their hundreds of tons a day; and, when its new elec¬ trical equipment is i'n, there will be one mine (that of the Boston Coal & Fuel Company) which will have a capacity for mining 2,000 tons daily, and coal enough to maintain that output for a century. Almost as important as the in¬ exhaustible supply is the quality or grade. The coal is a very hard bituminous, suitable for coke, steam and do¬ mestic uses, and marketable anywhere within a radius of five hundred miles.

Lumbering is another industry that has contributed liberally to the growth of Durango. From the time that the first sawmill was brought into the country the manu¬ facture of lumber has been carried on, and the extensive to make this city an excellent market, but, as well, to add to its commercial supremacy, for it is the trade center of a large and prosperous country population; and, as the country becomes more densely settled, as it inevitably wi!!, Durango will be benefitted in like measure. There are hundreds of fine ranches under cultivation in the valley of the Animas, and thousands of cattle and sheep on the rich ranges within a short distance.

Nature ordained that Durango should be a railroad as well as a commercial center. The topography of the coun¬ try is such that the Smelter City is a natural radiating point. The Denver & Rio Grande reached Durango in 1881 and was completed to Silverton the following year. A few pine forests of this section promise a certain reward for investment and enterprise for years to come. The timber is an excellent quality of yellow pine, and is suitable for almost all building uses. There is one mill located within the city limits of Durango, and others within a few miles that produce hundreds of thousands of feet of lumber daily in the aggregate. Their product is shipped all over the state and beyond its borders; but it is in giving cheap lum¬ ber to the homebuilder that it has been of inestimable benefit to Durango.

Again, Durango is favored in the rich agricultural sec¬ tion tributary to the city. Farm, orchard and garden prod¬ ucts thrive in this fertile region, and the effect is not only years later the Rio Grande Southern connected Durango with the terminus of the Denver & Rio Grande at Ridgway, and nov/ there is an excellent prospect of a standardgauge road being built from Durango to Clifton, Arizona. The Rio Grande system may ultimately change its south¬ ern lines to standard gauge; but even now, with the daily trains and Pullman service, there is little cause for dis¬ satisfaction, and Durango is anything but isolated. The freight and passenger traffic of this part of the system is heavy, and the regularity of the trains is seldom affected by snow blockades or accidents.

The Great Sah Juan

tile sectio'n, is almost level. It is lined for blocks with substantial brick and stone buildings, and arc lights at in¬ tervals of one block. The stores and shops, many of them handsomely appointed, present a metropolitan aspect. The tnree banks, two of which occupy their own handsome buildings, give unmistakable evidence that there is a large business transacted in the city. There is an excellent hos¬ telry, the Strater, where visitors to the city receive really first-class accommodations; there are large mercantile em¬ poriums, where strangers will find stocks as thoroughly up-to-the-hour as in Denver or any other city in the west; there are beautiful drives and engaging amusements for all.

sure is a great safeguard against conflagrations, and in addition to having a well equipped Are department, the city has employed men of great efliciency.

One notable statistical item that is of particu¬ lar importance, as showing that Durango is a city of homes, and not altogether rented houses, is the fact that, while the past year has witnessed fewer foreclosures and tax sales than any other year in the history of the city, it has also been a year of great activity in real estate transfers. These, large in the aggregate, have been small individually, evidencing the fact that the wage-earner and small salar¬ ied element have been acquiring property interests. The general prosperity is evident, too, in the fact that taxes on in the west. But a few blocks removed from the business section, already mentioned as substantially built, are ave¬ nues of handsome residences and artistic cottages. The public buildings are stately edifices, and the architecture of the city is modern throughout. The streets are admirably kept, and the Boulevard, which is parked its entire length, is one of the handsomest thoroughfares in the west.

Durango has an unsurpassed water and sewer system, and, as a guerdon for its sanitary improvements, its peo¬ ple enjoy the greatest measure of health. This is partially due to the moderate climate, the extremes of temperature being very rare; but, in the best climate, disease becomes rampant without proper sanitation. The high water pres-

Mkrcy Hosihtai.. City Hall

It is interesting, as indicative of the character of our citizens, that the office of sheriff, the emoluments of which are based on fees alone, is so unremunerative that aspirants for the office are few and inactive. There have been but two murders in the county in as ma'ay years, and burglaries and other heinous crimes have hardly been registered on the calendar in the same period. This will be a revelation to eastern readers, who have been taught to believe the west a lawless country, and it is a record of which any locality might well be proud.

tern, and it is an element of greatness in which Durango shares to a remarkable degree. The principal of the Du¬ rango High school, who devoted years to teaching in the public schools of New England, declares that the local schools are superior in every essential respect to those of the east. Certainly our educational facilities are not sur¬ passed in Colorado, so far as public instruction is con¬ cerned, and we are prone to believe that there are indeed few localities that afford greater advantages for children's schooling.

The religious and moral atmosphere of Durango be¬ tokens culture and refinement in the homes of the Smelter City. The churches, representing nearly every denomina¬ tion and sect, are dignified and graceful edifices. The clergy are men of learning and piety, eminently worthy lo occupy the pulpits of the city, eloquent in expounding the tenets of religion, zealous in exemplary living. The con¬ gregations are composed of the reputable of all classes, de¬ center of a large reading public. The Durango Democrat (David F. Day, editor) is, as the name implies, the organ of the democracy, and is published every morning, except Mondays. The Herald (owned by Raymond Bros.), whicii appears every afternoon but Sundays, is the Republican oracle. Besides these, the city is the home of two week¬ lies - the Wage Earner and Durango Republican, the latter a journal established during the recent county campaign.

The editorial staffs of the four papers, while at some variance politically and animated by a more or less keen rivalry, are one in their purpose as respects the advance¬ ment of Durango's material interests. They are aggres¬ sively enterprising in promoting enterprises conceived in the city's weal.

The equipment of the mechanical departments of the two dailies is an item worthy of remark, each having a modern plant, comprising the Merganthaler Linotype, cyl¬ inder presses, etc. This work, produced in the press and

Group Of

There is no enterprise or establishment that is more distinctly associated with the progress and advancement of a community than the press, and there is certainly not a town in the state of Colorado that has more repre¬ sentative newspapers than Durango. In point of space the papers of the Smelter City cannot, of course, be com¬ pared to the great dailies of Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, but, for its population, Durango's two dailies are as creditable as any published in Colorado. They print 28 columns each six days in every week, and publish the morning and afternoon reports of the Associated Press, giving to their readers a concise statement of the world's news the day it happens, and their local columns are raplete with items of more immediate interest. They carry an abundance of home and foreign advertising, reflecting their value as a media, and their large subscription lists afford substantial evidence of the fact that Durango is the

In concluding this brief commentary on Durango, we desire to emphasize the fact that the city is not a boom town. The city never has experienced a boom and never will, so far as may be seen into the future. Since the town was platted, in 1881, its growth has been rapid or gradual, according to the comparison; but one thing is positive, and that is that it has been remarkably even. Like all other places, Durango has had periods of great prosperity and of comparative depression; but her progress has been steady through either stage. It is this upon which the fu¬ ture of the Smelter City is based. Citizens of Durango do not anticipate or court a period of wild speculation: they are energetic, but conservative, people who look forward with satisfaction to a continual healthy growth, and it is people of this class that they would have join them in citizenship.

Were Solomon alive, he would observe that the great est fortunes have been made in real estate; he would ad¬ monish men of means, large or small, to invest in realty. Were he to name a place for investment, he would echo Horace Greeley's advice to young men - "Go West!''

Mercantile, manufacturing and professional pursuits yield livelihood, now and then competency, seldom opu¬ lence; speculation is a game of chance, in w'hich the ratio of success to failure is as one to a thousand.

Real estate investments alone combine elements of conservatism and speculation. There are two courses, equally safe. The investor may buy, or he may loa'n. In either case, locality and agent are to be determined.

The east and middle west are established upon a basis of gradual growth; the west is new, undeveloped. Tens of thousands annually abandon the overcrowded east to reap the opportunities the west extends. Millio'ns of dollars an¬ nually come from the money centers of the east and of Eu¬ rope to develop our marvelous natural resources. Our cit¬ ies are growing in population, commerce and manufacture. Our fertile and productive valleys are being settled. The overflow of eastern cities, the drought plague of the middle west, the low interest rates of the east a'nd of Europe - these are building the west.

But the west is an empire. Where is the place for in¬ vestment? There are many; but one will suffice for you. reader. No place in Colorado has greater advantages than Durango. Gibraltar is not more sound. Not only has it the resources to maintain its prestige, but resources which re'nder its future supremacy and growth inevitable, positive.

It is to the interest of investors and home-seekers to know these facts. It is to their interest to receive their information from a reliable source. If they recognize and avail themselves of the advantages Durango possesses over other localities, it is to their interest to entrust their invest¬ ments to an agency in which conservatism, ability and in tegrity dominate the management, - one that is substantial, reputable, responsible.

The Inter-State Investment Company occupies the first, rank in Durango. The company transacts a general real estate and insurance business. Business of non-residents is the company's specialty. Its connections afford ciients the safest and most productive securities in Colorado. The company absolutely guarantees its representations. No company can do more. The future is inscrutable. But the years of experience the management has had in western investments, the conservative judgment with which the interests of clients is guarded, and the scrutiny with which every phase of a situation is regarded, have made this company exceptionally successful in its relations with its resident and non-resident patrons. Immense sums of money are placed through its agency, and it is entrusted with the stewardship of vast interests. No one is neg¬ lected O'l* held of secondary importance. The interests of the home-seeker, whether in quest of business property or of agricultui'al lands, are given able attention. The com¬ pany's lists record all classes of salable realty, of what¬ ever description, in the San Juan.

Frank Eldredge, president and manager of the Inter- State Investment Co., has resided in Colorado for twentyfive years, and, through his extensive acquaintance and business connections, is in a position to give clients effect¬ ive service and important and accurate information ob¬ tainable through no other sources.

The Intbr-Sta.Te Investment Co The Durango Pres

The Durango Pressed Brick Company, for a small in¬ terior plant, is one of the finest and best equipped in the State of Colorado. There is probably no plant so well placed for economical manufacture. Their clay banks are extensive and of the finest quality, and they own the only bodies of high class brick material yet discovered in the

Sed Brick Company

San Juan section. The plant has one Boyd press, with a capacity of 20,000 per day, and three large rectangular kilns. During the past season they have burned nearly two million brick, which have the reputation of being the finest pressed brick made in Colorado. They have also opened a vein of fine fire clay, and during this season have been conducting a line of experiments, which have resulted very favorably. They have made several burns of small amounts, and ai'e now putting through a large quantity for market. As fire brick for the San Juan sec¬ tion have always been brought from the outside at a very heavy expense, this will be a particularly gratifying addi¬ tion to the resources of the section, and the company an¬ ticipates, on account of superior quality, reaching most distant markets with their manufacture of fire brick.

plies Durango and the entire San Juan, the trade of which they command at equitable prices. The San Juan terri¬ tory does not, of course, demand a large number of brick as yet, and it is impossible to ship brick a great distance, by reason of heavy freights. While this gives them a mo¬ nopoly, yet the company have never attempted to take ad¬ vantage of it in their prices, and therefore command the good-will of the entire section, from that standpoint as well as from the standpoint of excellence of manufacture, and quality of clay used.

Colorado State Bank

The Colorado State Bank is one of the leading finaiicial institutions of the San Juan. The bank was organized in 1887, as a savings and commercial depository, and a general business is transacted in both departments.

tions and banks, subject to check; issues interest-bearing time certificates; makes advances to correspondents and patrons on available collateral; discounts and receives as security for loans approved business paper; negotiates mortgage loans upon income property; makes collections throughout the United States and other countries upon fa¬ vorable terms; handles escrows; reports on mines and in¬ vestments; rents safety deposit boxes; pays taxes and at¬ tends to property interests for non-residents; carefully handles business of estates; transfers funds by cable, tele¬ graph or mail to all parts of the world; draws bank money orders on Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, Italy and all foreign countries and the United States; purchases ex¬ change at ruling market rates, etc., etc.

As a savings institution, the bank receives deposits for investment, accounts drawing quaiterly compound in¬ terest. The savings bank has come to be recognized as a factor of ( i vilization. Unlike many associations and saving schemes promoted solely in the interest of direc¬ tors, who reap through the inability of members to comply with subscribed conditions, the savings bank imposes no conditions requiring stipulated regular deposits, in default of which a part or all that has been paid in is lost. The patron of the savings bank deposits when and what he chooses, and receives what his money earns, without any fines and taxes, and without the harassing fear that his savings may be lost through his inability to meet an assessment or premium. For the flimsy argument that the prem¬ ium or assessment meth¬ ods make saving compul¬ sory, the fact that a safe accumulation is an incen¬ tive to save more is suf¬ ficient answer. Another feature of the bank's su¬ periority is the fact that, while deposits are made with the intention of be¬ ing left for accumulations to accrue, and while they are seldom disturbed, the depositor's funds are not tied up so that he cannot realize in times of emer¬ gency. There is no time when a depositor may not with¬ draw his account, receiving not only the entire principal but accrued interest as well. There are 1,000 savings banks in the United States, with 5,000,000 depositors and $2,000,000,000.00 of deposits. Outside of the United States there are 40,000,000 depositors in savings banks, carrying $5,000,000,000.00 of savings. The Colorado State Bank is patterned after the best of these.

The Colorado State Bank has been in business four¬ teen years in Durango. The officers and directors are B. N. Freeman. President; W. C. Chapman, Vice-President; F. H. Reinhold, Assistant Cashier; C. E. Hampton, F. Eildredg^e and D. L. Sheets - all well known in local busi¬ ness and financial circles. Durango is a city of business men and wage earners, and a large percentage of them manifest their estimation for the ability, integrity and re¬ sources of the gentlemen above named by giving their patronage to the Colorado State Bank.

First National Bank

If, as it is claimed, the stability and character of a community and its industries may be best judged by the standing of its banks, people of Durango have every cause for congratulation; for, while there are banking establishments in Colorado having larger capitalization, there are few with greater resources, compai:ed to liabilities, and none that is held in mor'e universal con¬ fidence by patrons and the general public than the First National of Durango.

For more than twenty years the First National Bank has been the recognized financial power of La Plata county, and there has not been a time during that pe¬ riod when its policy has not been in accord with the upbuilding of the county and the fostering of its industries and enterprises.

The management of the bank, while it has been so conservative as to establish a repu¬ tation for stability in financial circles throughout the state, has, at the same time, been liberal and progressive to a degree entitling the institu¬ tion to recognition among the foremost factors in the development of the industrial and commercial interests of this section.

The business of the First National is confined to recnized legitimate fields of banking. Advantageous connec¬ tions are maintained with the best banks of all the states, affording exceptional facilities for transacting business with promptness and thoroughness. Especially does this apply to making collections and handling commercial pa¬ per. Exchange is bought and sold on all the principal cit¬ ies of Europe and America. Money is transmitted by tele¬ graph to any and every point of importance in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and to all the principal cities of the commercial world. Acceptable commercial paper

First National Bank Building

The First National Bank was organized and incorpor¬ ated in 1881 to succeed to the private bank of Daniels, Brown & Co. The officers are A. P. Camp, President; John L. McNeil, Vice-President; Wm, P. Vaile, Cashier; and A. W. Ayres, Assistant Cashier. The directors are A. P. Camp, John L. McNeil, Wm. P. Vaile, Chas. H. Toll and G. Barrett, comprising a personnel sufficient to establish the financial stability of any enterprise with which the names are connected. In accordance with the requirements of the comptroller of the currency, however, the bank issues regular statements, detailing its condition, which it mails to patrons and to everyone desiring information concern¬ ing it. The following figures are taken from the report of the First National Bank of Durango, as shown by last report to Comptroller, December 10.

The Great San J U A N. The Durango Light And Power Company

America is the home of the greatest electricians of the Vv'orld. Had we have achieved no other distinction, Frank¬ lin and Edison would have gained ns a page in the world's history as enduring as the science with which their names are indissolubly connected; and it is fitting Americans should enjoy in the great measure they do the discoveries and inventions of their rarely gifted countrymen.

Measured by the facilities for lighting still obtaining in European cities and towns, Durango is favored to a de¬ gree that can scarcely be realized by us. We are prone to accept the conveniences derived through science as too much a matter of course, so rapidly are improvements assimilated and passed into custom; but there are many old-timers in Durango who remember when the flicker oc campfire furnished the only artificial light on the Animas.

erators, 150HP. and lOOHP., to furnish the power for the street railway system of Durango; two Westinghouse alter¬ nators, one with a capacity of 2,500 and the other of 2,000 incandescent 16-candle power lamps; two Thompson-Houston arc light machines, of 50-lamp capacity each; and two exciters. The company keeps a coal reserve of about 175 tons, and feeds the furnaces direct from cars weighed at boiler room entrance. The total number of pou'nds con¬ sumed every twenty-four hours is compared with electrical output registered by meters during the same time, thus giving a daily record of efficiency. A railroad spur con¬ nects coal bins with the mine. This plant is kept in con¬ stant operation, 'night and day, to fuinish power and lights. The lighting capacity is 4,500 sixteen candle power incandescents and 100 arcs, and the power capacity is 250HP.,

The Durango Light & Power Company was organized and incorporated only eight years ago, and, prior to that time there was neither gas nor electric lighting system in the Smelter City. A building was erected and a plant in¬ stalled at the foot of Seventh street, and the company oc¬ cupied that location the first two years. At the expiration of that time the venture had passed its experimental sta?ie, and the company found it necessary to increase its facili¬ ties, and substantial improvements were made with a view to future growth.

The buildi'.igs at present occupied are fire-proof bricic structures, the main building being 95x70 feet and the boiler room 48x45. The machinery consists of two Allis- Corliss engines, with a combined horse-power of 550, and a battery of four boilers, each of 150-horse-power; two gen¬

The officers of The Durango Light and Power Company are C. M. Williams, of Thurlow, Hutton & Williams, Colo¬ rado Springs, President; Arthur Ayres, assistant cashier of the First National Bank, of Durango, Secretary, and C. H. Peters, Superintendent. Mr. Peters is also superintendent of the Durango street railway system. He is a thoroughly skilled electrician, and citizens of Durango are not annoyed by irregularity of service, as is experienced in some cities cf far greater population. He has been three years with the company, and, by rendering absolute satisfaction to the public, has co-operated with the business management, which is notably liberal, in making the company one of the few popular lighting corporations in Colorado.

J. J. Harris And Company

The history of all new and undeveloped countries gathers about a few central figures, and the historian of Montezuma county will find Harris an ever-recurring name in his chronological data. Though not the first to pitch their tents within the limits of the county, the Harrises were among the early settlers, and they have been closely identified with the growth and prosperity of their adopted home.

John J. and Andrew F. Harris are natives of the "Buckeye" state, having been born in Ohio. John came west with the construction corps of the Kansas & Pacific railroad, in 1868, reaching Denver in 70, and was in rail¬ road employ in this state for a number of years thereafter. He was superintendent of the telegraph department of the Denver & Rio Grande railroad when Andrew came to Colo¬ rado, in 79, and the following year he resigned his posi¬ tion to engage in the forwarding and commission business with his brother.

During the spring of '80, the railroad reached Salida, and the Harris brothers together built the first house erected on the townsite. As the road was pushed ahead, the brothers esatblished themselves at the steadily ad¬ vancing terminus until it reached Gunnison, in 1882, when they sold out and took a tour of the northwest, dividing their time between recreation and business, their main ob¬ ject being to determine upon a location for the resumption of business. Finding no satisfactory openings, they re¬ turned to Colorado and later engaged in merchandising at Mancos. In 1886 they removed to the Montezuma valley, bringing their stock with them. A year later they pur¬ chased the stock and business of George Bauer, at Big Bend, on the Dolores, and combined the two stocks in one.

When, in the fall of 1892, the Rio Grande Southern railroad built through the valley, passing within two miles of the pioneer settlement of Big Bend, the merchants and townspeople deserted the old townsite and built the present town of Dolores on the railroad. J. J. Harris & Company were among the first to build on the new townsite, and by June, 1893, they had completed their fine brick store, 25x100 feet in dimension, on the principal business corner, ana had transferred their immense stock. Besides their store, they built a commodious warehouse, 25x150 feet, on the tracks of the Rio Grande Southern. Contem¬ poraneously with opening the new store the firm estab¬ lished a bank, in the rear of tne salesroom, and the mer¬ cantile and banking business owned by J. J. Harris & Company is today second in volume and importance to none in Montezuma county.

The general merchandise stock carried by J. J. Harris & Company embraces practically everything in demand in this section in groceries, dry goods, clothing, hardware, farm implements, vehicles, etc., and the firm does an ex¬ tensive business with ranchers, stockmen and millmea throughout the county and as far west as Monticello, Utah. Nearly everything is bought in car lots, and many merchants of the interior draw their supplies from this great mercantile establishment. The bank transacts a general banking business, and has for patrons the promi¬ nent men, firms and corporations of the valley. The man¬ agement has pursued a policy at once liberal and conserva¬ tive, and the county owes much of its later development to the presence of a financial institution .

The Harris brothers are widely and favorably known throughout southwestern Colorado, and are universally held in high esteem both as able business men and as pub¬ lic-spirited citizens of Dolores. Hon. John J. Harris served his district four years in the Colorado state senate chamber, having been elected by an overwhelming major¬ ity over two opposing candidates, in 1896. His official rec¬ ord is one of pride to his constituents and of satisfaction to all, regardless of party affiliations, demonstrating, as has been done times without number, that the plain, unas suming business man is infinitely better suited for official responsibilities than the professional politician. He is a man of unquestioned principles and one who holds his (onvictions a sacred trust in the administration of office. There is not a man in Southwestern Colorado who has commanded the confidence of voters in a greater mens lire, nor is there one who, when selected by their ballots has done more to merit the preferment tendered. He is a plain, straightforward, honest and incorruptible cham pion of the people's cause, absolutely unapproachable by the emissaries of corporations and political cormorants, against whom his established integrity is an impassable baj-rier. His tireless work in behalf of worthy meas¬ ures and his vigorous opposition to those he deemed un¬ worthy won him a host of desirable friends and not a feev no less desirable enemies, both among his confreres in the senate and the people at large throughout the state. He is a democrat, and the kind of a democrat who counts his friends among the ranks of all parties.

The Stubbs And Jakway Interests

The growth of the commercial and industrial interests controlled by Messrs. Stubbs & Jakway, of Durango, prop¬ erly belongs in a chapter by itself, as a prominent and dis¬ tinctive element in the later development of the San Juan. Ten years ago the names were scarcely known, in a busi¬ ness sense, outside the narrow radius of their retail pat¬ ronage; today there is not a business man in southwestern Colorado or northern New Mexico who cannot quote their rating without reference to Dunn or Bradstreet.

The interests of the firm may be divided into three branches, viz.: hardware, lumber and coal. The firm's stores and lumber and coal yards are situated in Durango. Telluride and Silverton, and its trade extends all over the San Juan. The commercial end of the business is directed by Mr. L. C. Jakway, of Durango, and Mr. F. W. Stubbs looks after the firm's milling and manufacturing interests.

As hardware dealers, Messrs. Stubbs & Jakway con¬ duct both a wholesale and retail business. Their stores are stocked with the character of goods especially suited to their locality, being practically alike in what may be termed general hardware. In special lines, however, they dens, seven miles west of Mancos, in the heart of a heavy pine forest. The firm owns a thousand acres of timber in the vicinity of the mill, and, besides, has contracts en¬ abling it to draw upon government and private timber by paying a stipulated price for trees on the stump. The mill has a capacity of 75,000 feet per day and its product is shipped to the firm's yards in Durango, Telluride and Silverton. The Mancos pine is an excellent grade of lum¬ ber, both for interior and exterior finish, and finds a ready market all over the state. In connection with the lumbe.' and hardwaie branches, the firm canies a line of paints, oils, glass, sash, doors, etc., and is, the.e^o.e, prepared to supply practically everything entering into the constructtion of frame buildings and all but brick or stone in any kind of structure.

As coal dealers, Stubbs & Jakway handle their own product. They operate extensive collieries at Hesperus, about fourteen miles from Durango. They own about 400 acres of coal land in this vicinity, and have a five-foot vein of an excellent bituminous coal. The present production of the mines is designed for local consumption and is only differ considerably. For instance , the Durango store, which has an extensive trade with farmers and ranchers, carries a complete line of farm implements, vehicles, etc. On the other hand the Telluride and Silverton stores, be¬ ing in the midst of mining districts, displace this line for powder, fuse and miners' supplies. In all the stores shelf and heavy hardware, with a side line of sporting goods, may be found, including builders' hardware, mechanics' tools, blacksmiths' and plumbers' supplies, stoves, ranges, agate and tinware, cutlery, household goods, firearms, am¬ munition, fishing tackle, bicycles, etc. Tinshops and bi¬ cycle repair shops are maintained in connection with all the stores. The firm has but recently moved into its pres¬ ent Durango location, and it is not too much to say that the new store is one of the most handsomely appointed hardware establishments in the San Juan. The firm's warehouse facilities are ample in all of its locations.

Messrs. Stubbs & Jakway are proprietors of the Man¬ cos Dumber Company, owning and operating one of the largest sawmills in Colorado. The mill is located at Graabout fifty tons per day. The capacity, however, is prac¬ tically unlimited, and can be increased to meet an in¬ creased demand at any time. The firm operates the mines under the style of the Ute Coal & Coke Company, and may ultimately build coke ovens, though nothing definite can be stated at present.

The firm of Stubbs & Jakway is composed of Messrs. F. W. Stubbs and L. C. Jakway. Mr. Stubbs was born in Iowa, in 1859, but came west as a young man. He has been twenty-eight years in Colorado, most of which time he has been identified with the lumbering industry. Mr. Jakway is a native of the Buckeye state, but came to Colo¬ rado from Pennsylvania in 1883, being then in his twentyfirst year. He settled in the Gunnison country, where he remained until '84, in which year he joined a Canadian Pa¬ cific surveying party in British Columbia. He returned to Colorado in '85, and, becoming associated with Mr. Stubbs, formed a pai'tnership which has endured until the present time. Individually, Messrs. Stubbs & Jakway are men of public spirit and progressive ideas.

If the importance of a community, as is frequently as¬ serted, is commensurate with its patronage of the United States mails, Durango is beyond question the most import¬ ant point in southwestern Colorado. The government di¬ vides postofRces into four classes, and the classification is determined by the stamp receipts, the rank being repre¬ sented by the descending scale of 1st., 2nd., 3rd., and 4th. The salaries of officers and character of service are deter¬ mined in the same manner, though there is a considerable range in each class in this respect. For instance, Durango has been an office of the 2nd. class for eight years past, and yet it is only within the past two years that the city has had a carrier service.

Durango has been more fortunate. Being the prin¬ cipal distributing point of the San Juan, the sale of stamps has been out of proportion to its popula¬ tion; and its growing im¬ portance as a commercial center is evident in the fact that, notwithstanding the post office box rentals fell off fully one-half as a result of the introduction of a carrier system, the postal receipts the fol¬ lowing year exceeded those of the previous year b y nearly $1,000.00.

When the present in¬ cumbent took charge of the office his actual sal¬ ary was based on receipts of $10,300.00 for the pre¬ ceding year. Last year the receipts were $11,- 873.00, and his salary, on this basis, was increased to $2,300.00; and, from present indications, he is in line for even greater inoiease bel'oie the expiration of his present term of office.

Postmaster S. M. Biggs was appointed for the full term of four years, by President McKinley during his first term, and enteied upon the duties of his office April 1st, 1899. It was a result of his tireless effoits, aided by Sena¬ tor Wolcott, that a carrier service was secured for Du¬ rango, and the growth of local postal receipts has been greater during his incumbency than at any time in the his¬ tory of the office. As a result there are three carriers for the city and one carrier for the rural delivery, giving Du¬ rango a service in every respect equal to that of cities of the 1st. class.

Mr. Biggs is a native of Ohio, and was born in 1840. He had barely completed his education when the war broke out, and he enlisted with the 85th. Ohios and after¬ wards in the signal corps of the regular army, servin throughout the war. He was with Hunter at Lynchbur and Sheridan at Cedar Creek, being in the same army corps with McKinley during the Shenandoah campaign. He was mustered out of the service in '65, and, after a brief stay in Illinois, where his parents had removed, went to Kansas, where he lived for nearly a quarter of a cen¬ tury. He taught school for a while, but was a civil engi¬ neer by profession, and was nine years county surveyor of his county. He also engaged extensively in merchandising and was one of the prominent merchants of his section.

Disposing of his Kansas interests, Mr. Biggs came, in 1889, to New Mexico, where he was prominently connectc 1 with the lumber industry for a number of years, as secrotaiy of the Biggs Lumber Company, of Chama. He sold out his interest in the company in '98, and took in pait payment the company's Durango yards. He subsequently sold this property, when he was sworn into office as post¬ master of Durango. Mr. Biggs received his appointment in r ecognition of his sterling integrity and of his staunch support of the repirblican party during its dark days in this section. When he came to the county there were but 8 i republicans out of 2,800 voters, and to his untiring effoits as chairman of the republican county central com¬ mittee, the party in a gr-eat measure owes its rehabilita tion and present strong organization in La Plata county Mr. Biggs is a broad-minded Lincoln republican, and a natural leader about whom his meaegre party took a bold stand in the hour of its need.

S M. Biggs And His Kesidf.Nce The Qheat San Juan

Durango is especially fortunate in the character and standing of her professional men. Most of them are of liberal education and of exceptional attainments, and Lo accord them a place among the first in the state is to offer them only what is really their own. Bspeciaily is this true of the legal profession, which is represented in this city by some of the brightest iawyers in the state. Among those who have won marked distinction within the space of a comparatively few years, is Mr. I. B. Melviile.

A native of Michigan and educated at Kalamazoo Col¬ lege, at the age of 21 he removed to southwestern Kansas where he began the study of law, first in the office of F. M. Smith and later with A. H. Tyler, of the city of Parsons in that state. Devoting himseif diligently to his studies, he was admitted to the bar after less than a year of read¬ ing.

Unfortunately, Mr. Melville's health failing at this time, he was compelled to seek open-air employment, post¬ poning the practice of his profession untii such time as he might regain his health sufficiently to again admit of office confinement. Having an opportunity to enter the service of the M. K. & T. Raiiway Company, he accepted the position and for ten years successfuily followed this line of work until the frequent change of climate and the out-of-door exercise wrought the desired effect, and he fully regained his former robust health.

Coming to Durango in January, 1898, and having been ten years out of the profession, and not having the re¬ quired two years' experience in the actual practice of law, he entered the office of Reese McCloskey, Esq., of this city, to brush up before applying for admission in this state. In December of the same year he took the examina¬ tion at Denver, standing among the best of his ciass, and was admitted to practice in the state courts of Colorado, and later in the United States circuit and district courts.

Mr. Melville has come to the front very rapidly in the little over two years he has been practicing in Durango, having proved himself to be a man especially adapted to his profession, and one for whom the future holds even greater successes. He numbers among his clients some of the strongest corporate and private concerns in the San Juan, and he is known as a tireless advocate, and an able, forcible, and convincing man, both in manner and speech. He has been retained in many of the most noted criminal cases in this portion of the state, but having made a very careful study of irrigation, mining and civil law generally, he is an authority upon anything that may arise in legai practice. He has the reputation of saving his clients the expense of costly litigation, where possible, and of never bringing an action in court that can be settled by other means.

Mr. Melville takes an ardent interest in politics, not for the sake of office, for he has never been an aspirant for one, but because he beiieves that it is the duty of every citizen to take an interest in legislative affairs. Coming to the San Juan at a time when Republicanism was not at all popular, he stood boldly forth for what he considered the best principles of government, and taking an active part in municipal, county, state, and national campaigns, by the strong logic and convincing manner that wins him cases at the bar, he has added many votes each year to his party's strength, and at the present time the Republican central committee of La Plata county, of which he has been chairman since coming to Durango, has the reputa¬ tion of being the most thoroughly equipped political or¬ ganization in the entire state, and as evidence of its effi¬ ciency, the Republican party achieved the most sweeping victory in the last election ever accorded it in the history of La Plata county.

Richard McCloud was born in Ireland, in 1846, but was lirought by his parents to America when he was ))ut two years old. He graduated from Norwich Free Academy, Norwich, Conn., in 1866, and from Columbia Law School, New York City, in 1872; having been a classmate of E. O. Wolcott at Norwich, and Mayor Van Wyck, of Greater Nev/ York, at Columbia.

Mr. McCloud came to Colorado, in 1882, after ten years practice in the states of New York and Connecticut. He was associated with Judge Ford, of Siiverton, until he received the appointment of Register of the U. S. land office, at Durango, in 1886, when he came to this city. He served the full term of four years, and was re-appointed in 1894, serving under his second appointment until April, 1899.

During his incumbency he received many testimonials to his efficiency from Washington, and his experience has es¬ pecially fitted him for land office cases. He was a member of the law firm of McCloud & Witter, his associate being Daniel Witter, of Denver, at the time the Ute reservation was thrown open for settlement, in 1899, the partnership being formed for this practice.

Mr. McCloud has a general practice but makes a spe¬ cialty of land and mining law. He has a large clientage with homeseehers, and is in a position to give them val¬ uable information. As a mining lawyer he had valuable experience in Silverton, before coming to Durango, and is considered an authority in that department of legal prac¬ tice.

Frank S. Balster

F. S. Balster, jeweler and optician, is especially worthy of mention in the Durango department of "Silver San Juan," not only as being the oldest established jeweler of the Smelter City, but, as well, because of his intimate connection with the political affairs of La Plata county.

Mr. Balster is one of the million born Canadians who have been adopted by Uncle Sam, and, like many of them., he has attained prominence both in the business arena and in politics. He was born in the province of Ontario, in 1861, and served his five years apprenticeship to a jew¬ eler and watchmaker in the town of Sarnia. As soon as he attained his majority, he embarked in business for him¬ self, in Emporia, Kansas.

fined to jewelry. A hardly less important feature is the optical department. The science of optics is now so far advanced that lenses are ground and supplied to the pro¬ fession; and a thoroughly skilled optician, provided witli the latest improved instruments and appliances for testing the sight, and a well selected stock of lenses, can make examinations and fit glasses or spectacles to the most dif lic'ult cases. In view of this fact, it is gratifying to state that Mr. Balster is an experienced optician, and is pro¬ vided with all that is required for the practice of the pro-, fession.

Another line, that is of more than passing interest, is his assoitment of Indian curios, Navajo blankets, views, etc. Situated as he is, in the midst of Indians and frontier

F. S. Balster, His St

Ouray, and opening another jewelry establishment. H» came to Durango three years later and opened his present store, which is the oldest established jewelry house in the city. Mr. Balster's stock is very complete, and has bee i selected with especial reference to the demands of a fash¬ ionable trade. The elegance and newness of everything gives the impression that the contents of the beautiful show cases have just come from the hands of the artists who made them. Mr. Balster is an expert watchmaker and manufacturing jeweler, and makes a specialty of diffi cult watch repairing and the manufacture of badges, tro¬ phies. emblems, etc., for which he submits designs and estimates. He is official watch inspector for the Rio Grande Southern railroad, and does expeit work for his general trade at reasonable figures.

traders. Mr. Balster is enabled to pick up many interesting curios on the reservation at a comparatively small cosr. This is especially true of the famous Navajo blankets, the most closely woven heavy fabric in the world, which are hand-made and which contribute largely to the support of the only self-sustaining tribe of Indians in the west. These blankets, a single one of which may lepreseni months of work, are sometimes secured for a bagatell'^ compared to their actual value.

As stated in the beginning of this sketch, Mr. Balstei is intimately associated with the political affairs of La Plata county. His election to the treasurership of the county in 1899 fittingly expresses the confidence and uni¬ versal regard in which he is held, and his capable admin¬ istration of the trust has won him the congratulations of everyone, irrespective of party.

George Bauer

It was well when Destiny ordarnecl that an empire' be builded in the western wilderness, that there were men of George Bauer's stamp to lay the foundation. Born in Siegen, Westphalia, Prussia, in the year 1848, Mr. Bauer re¬ mained in his native land until he as several years of age, when, in 1865, he came with his parents to the Great Re¬ public. Settling in Illinois, with no capital but his vigor¬ ous physique, inherited from a long line of sturdy ances¬ tors, and the sterling virtues - industry, thrift and honesty, - the heritage of his race, the young German secured em¬ ployment as the assistant of a stone mason. His sinevcy arm and quick intelligence soon made him an expert with hammer and chisel, and, having learned the stone mason's trade, he left Illinois to seek his foitune further west,

Mr. Bauer was a contractor's foreman in the construc¬ tion department of the Union Pacific railway tmee years after he first touch¬ ed American soil, and he devoted a year to railroad gra¬ ding in the Wasatch mountains on t h e great transcontirrental line. He was only twenty-one when he left the em¬ ploy of the railroad to help found th-r town of independeirce, Kansas, an 1 he was in his twen¬ ty-fourth year when he left Kansas for Colorado. He was at Fairplay in '72, and entered the San Juan early in '7J, and for the few years following worked at his trade, during which time he put rrp scores of buildings in the new towns of Del Norte.

In 1881, having accumulated a small capital, Mr. Bauer purchased a stock of general merchandise, which he took into Montezuma county, then, except for a few settlers and stockmen, who carried their supplies in from great dis ta'nces, populated only by Indians. Camping on the banks of the beautiful little stream, Mancos, name ! by the eccles¬ iastics who crossed this country over a century before, he decided to build a cabin and open up his stock. This pio¬ neer store was the nucleus about which the town of Mutlcos afterwards gathered, and, as Mr. Bauer was first as re¬ spects his presence on the ground, so he remains first in prominence and interests after twenty years of residence in the Mancos valley.

Mr. Bauer's trade was naturally drawn from the set¬ tlers, stockmen and Indians for very many years, before the country developed into a more populous section, and trading is more expressive of his business than selling; for money was not so current then as in later years, and the transfer of goods was quite as often based on the primitive mode of exchange as on cash value. The lands of the Mancos valley were fertile and well watered, and Mr. Bauer naturally took up ranching in connection with merchandis¬ ing. One of his ranches, which he still retains, is a 240- acre tract, almost within the city limits of Mancos, and the products of orchard, garden and field yearly harvested run into the thousands of dollars. Naturally, also, having been born and reared in a mining community, and having pros¬ pected considerably in the Silveiton district, Mr. Bauer's eyes were not closed to the possibilities of mineral existing in the La Plata mountains, about Mancos, and when he had time he took his pick and shovel a n d scoured the hills, prospecting for the precious metals. His efforts were not unrewarded, and his discoveries and de¬ velopment of prop¬ erties brought the Mancos district to the attention of cap¬ ital, to which he af¬ terwards sold a por¬ tion of his holdings for $25,000.00. The growth of his mer¬ cantile business conseque at upon the settling of the valley, the building of the town and the com¬ pletion of the Rio Grande Southern railroad, gave un¬ mistakable evidences of the presence of considerable money in the valley, and, in 1886, Mr. Bauer opened a private bank. His judgment was vindicated by the immediate support manifest in the depositing of large amounts of money by farmers and merchants throughout the valley. The country was new, and, while everyone was prosperous, it required development, and to develop it money was needed. The bank was thus afforded an oppor¬ tunity to place loans to advantage, and it may be doubted if any other agency has been so intimately identified with the giowth and prosperity of the Mencos valley as Mr. Bauer through his bank. He has not been a man to squan¬ der his money in ostentatious living, though he has given his children every advantage that money can secure and lives in one of the handsomest residences in southwestern Colorado. As rapidly as he has accumulated money over and above a safe reserve, it has been re-invested in his

The Great San Juak

Mr. Bauer's family is composed of himself, wife, son and daughter. He was married in Del Norte, in 1876, his wife having been Miss Augusta B. Schulz. John, now a you'ng man of twenty-three, attended Golden School of Mines, and he has a finely equipped metallurgical labor¬ atory at Mancos, where his mining lore is invaluable to his father in his mining operations. Miss Bauer is a young lady of high accomplishments. She is two years younger than her brother, and received her education at Wolfe Hall, in Denver, and at a conservatory of music in Denver and under private tutors in San Francisco. She is also a tal¬ ented artist, and many of her productions in oil adorn the walls of the Bauer mansion.

Considerable surprise has been expressed that a man of Mr. Bauer's wealth and influence should not have be¬ come a conspicuous figure in the political arena, for there is not a'n office on the political roster of the state to which, he might not have aspired; but he has preferred to remain a private citizen, and, with a few exceptions, has rejected every political preferment tendered him. Such leisure as the colonel has he devotes to his family and his orchard, which is one of the finest in the state. While active in mind and body, he has of late years u'nshouldered many of the burdens of his immense business interests, by placing them under the direction of responsible managers, and he now devotes a larger portion of his time to the enjoyment of that domestic felicity which wealth cannot purchase, nor poverty dissipate.

The Bauer Mercantile Company

The George Bauer Mercantile Company is an enterprise that would do credit, both in magnitude and character, to a city of 10,000 inhabitants, and the amount of business annually transacted exceeds that of even more pretentious concerns. The business was founded in 1881, by George Bauer, who brought in the first stock of merchandise ever opened up in Montezuma county. So much for the early history of the business. In 1900, the trade of the house had grown tO' such a magnitude that Mr. Bauer deemed it wise to incorporate, and, accordingly. The Geo. Bauer Mercantile Company, with O. G. Crenshacv, as president; O. E. Noland, as vice president; Geo. Bauer as secretary and treasurer, and William Roessler, as general manager, was organized and incorporated. Mr. Crenshaw is a travelling represen¬ tative of the Simmons Hardware Co., of St. Louis, and, as such, is enabled to secure the company the closest figures on everything in the hardware line quoted to the trade. Mr. Noland is an old pioneer of the Mancos valley, and one of the best known men in Montezuma county. Mr. Bauer, the founder of the business, is also a banker, and has more extensive business inteiests than any other man in thi.s section of the state. Mr. Roessler has been associated with Mr. Bauer for more than twenty years, having come with him from Durango to open up his first stock of goods.

Among the first c.-unges inaugurated by the company upon its organization were extensive building improve¬ ments, and the fine modern block now owned and occupied by The Geo. Bauer Mercantile Company would grace a city of metropolitan rank. It is a handsome and substantial white stone structure, 75-ft. front by 131 feet deep, and stands on the principal business corner of the city.

The forward section of the building is occupied by the general sales rooms, 50x90, and the bank, 24x50 in dimen¬ sions, Back of these is a general ware room with 3,930 sauare feet of floor space, and below is a basement 50x90 feet in dimension. There are, besides, two warehouses 32x80 and 25x90 feet in dimensions. The ware rooms and basement are all stocked to overflowing with goods in the case and the heavier articles of stock, such as stoves and ranges, wagons, farm implements, etc. The necessity of these extensive storage facilities is evident when it is men¬ tioned that the wholesale trade of the house extends all over Montezuma and Doloies counties and into New Mexico, .Arizona and Utah. Many merchants of the interior receive their entire stocks from this one establishment. This wai'- rants the company in buying exclusively in car lots, and the impoitant discounts secured on large bills and cash

Technically speaking, the general merchandise store of a few years ago is the department store of today. The south salesroom is devoted almost exclusively to dry goods and ladies' furnishings. The north room contains every¬ thing in the way of groceries, crockery, glassware and shelf hardware in demand in this section. The boot and shoe de¬ partment extends across the front sections of the two stores and across the rear is a raised platform, where hats, cloth¬ ing and gentlemen's furnishings are on display. Below this platform is a stock of carpets, mattings and linoleums, and over the railing are hung Navajo blankets and rugs. Ranges, wagons, farm tools and implements, mining sup¬ plies and provisions occupy the various warerooms.

Trimble Hot Springs

Centuries before the white man set foot in the valley of the Rio de Las Animas, the aborigine laved his stricken limbs in the bubbling warmth of Trimble Hot Springs, and, with the vigor of youth renewed in his veins, went forth to proclaim the marvels of its thermal waters to his tribe. For centuries the mineral springs of the Animas had been the sanitarium of the savage, and, when the march of civ¬ ilization entered the wilderness of the San Juan, the herit¬ age of Ute and Navajo passed to their pale-face brothers.

While the mineral properties of Trimble waters have long been kiowi to possess prophylactic and therapeutic powers, both for internal and external rtse, it has only been within the last five years that there have been proper facilities for entertaining the health and pleasitre seeker.

ment, while bowling, billiards and swimming supply en¬ gaging pastime indoors. A path for the exclusive use of cyclists has been made, between Trimble and Ditrango, a distance of nine miles, through one of the most beautiful valleys in Colorado.

The Hot Springs Hotel, or "Hermosa House," whicli is the more poetic name by which this fine caravansary is known, is an imposing three-story brick strrrctirre of handsome and substantial architecture. The house is lighted by electricity and heated by steam throughorrt. and lacks none of the modern conveniences which belong to the first-class resort hotel. The rooms are large and handsomely furnished, many being en suite with bath, and each is in direct communicatio.i with the office. A skilled chef is in charge of the culinary department, and the cuis- summer reso:t. It will henceforth be conducted as an all-the-year place. People of southwestern Colorado could travel thousands of miles, suffer weeks of fatigue, and not find another Trimble. The natural beauty of the situation, the perfection of climate, the curative properties of the springs, the excellence of accommodations are ele¬ ments combined in few resorts, and if Trimble Hot Springs lacks the excitement and novelty of Monte Carlo or Baden Baden, it contributes the more to recuperation and rest.

But Tnmble Hot Springs is not devoid of amusements and sports. The mountains back of the springs abound in game, and the crystal waters of the Animas river hold wary and gamy trout enough to satisfy the most ardent disciples of Walton. Croquet, tennis, golf and archery afford entertaining and invigorating out-of-door amuse- ine is beyond criticism. Everything has been arranged for the comfoit as well as pleasure of guests. An avenue of cottages is near the hotel, and, within a block are the baths. There are three large plunges (one < 0x40 and twj 20x30) and a great number of tubs. The natural tempera¬ ture of the water vaiies from 90 to 130 degrees from the different springs, and the flow is continuous, the pools emptying and filling all the time.

The improvements at Trimble were built and are owned by T. D. Burns. The present season he leased thve entire property to Mr. C. C. Murray. Mr. Murray has be¬ gun properly, and that he will make a success of an allyear resort is evident from the care he takes to make the place in every respect the equal of fashionable retreats elsewheree. Write for I'ates.

The Great, Sah Juan A Prominent Durango Industry

The Durango Foundry and Machine Shop and Vulcan Boiler and Sheet Iron Works are prominent industries, not so much for the number of men employed, as for their contribution to the other industries of this section. There is not a natural resource, timber, mineral or agricultural, that does not rely to a considerable extent on one of these plants, and the same is true in a general way of every manufacturing enterprise in the San Juan; for the busi¬ ness of these concerns extends all over the portions of Colorado and New Mexico comprehended by that name.

The equipment of the foundry, shop and iron works is modern throughout, and the power is furnished by 20HP. boiler and engine. There are two large lathes and one small one, varying from 12 to 72 inches; two pipe cutters, the larger suited to six-inch pipe; two machine drills, a screw cutter and milling tool, of the latest pattern, and everything required for foundry, boiler and machine work. It will be thus apparent that the facilities of the shops for turning out a high grade of work are complete, in so far as equipment is concerned. The other prerequisite, skilled workmen, has been supplied, and, with standard ence covers a period of forty-six years, thirty years of which has been in this country. He has been in Colorado since '79, having come to the state with the intention of settling in Leadville. After more than twenty-two years during which time he has been almost everywhere but in the Carbonate camp, his original destination remains uureached. He has been six years in Durango, and is man¬ ager of the two plants, of which he is one of the lessees.

Godfrey & Company are manufacturers of and dealers in brass, copper and iron castings, ore cars, boilers, en¬ gines, hoisters and pumps, cast and wrought iron pipe and fittings, plumbing goods, Leschen & Sons' wire rope, etc., etc. They make a specialty of all kinds of railroad cast¬ ings, locomotive repairing and general railroad work; and, by reason of the long experience of members of the firm in this class of work, they are exceptionally well prepared to meet competition in this direction. They have a pit es¬ pecially constructed for locomotive repairs, and handle nearly all the railroad and mill repairs in this section of the country. The firm's pations aie railroad men, mill men, lumbermen, smelter men, mine superintendents, man-

The plants are leased by Godfrey & Company, the terms of the lease being such that, at its expiration, the lessees have the privilege of purchasing. The firm of Godfrey & Company is composed of Messrs. W. H. and P. G. Holman and W. J. Godfrey, all practical men and each in charge of a department of the business. They are all, likewise, English-born, though they have been so longin America as to have become thoroughly American. The Holman Brothers learned their trades in Brighton, Eng¬ land, F. G. being a skilled machinist, and W. H. a boiler maker. They have been nearly twenty years in the United States, and, prior to their association with Mr. Godfrey, were with the Denver & Rio Grande shops in this city, F. G. having been master mechanic of the round¬ house, and having been sixteen years with the road. Mr. Godfrey also learned his trade in England, and his experi- ufacturers and the general public, all over the San Juan; and its successful competition with Denver and other cit¬ ies bidding for foundry, boiler and machine work, is a sufficient testimonial to its ability and disposition to meet outside prices. The firm has built up a home industry of which Durango is proud, and one it will cost no one a prem¬ ium to support.

In concluding, it is appropriate that some mention should be made of the "Durango" ore car, invented for W. H. Holman, and for which a patent is now pending in Washington. This car, which is being manufactured ex¬ clusively by Godfrey & Company, is a new departure, and is not extensively known even in the San Juan; but it is one that has so decidedly demonstrated its superiority over anything of the kind hitherto placed on the market, that it is rapidly displacing the Truax and other patents whereve it has been introduced. No effort has been made to advertise it, as the firm has not the facilities at present to handle more orders than come unsolicited.

The Great Sah Jgas The Sioux Mining Company

When this company was organized in 1897, its assets consisted solely of options. It now owns ten mines out¬ right and two valuable water rights in two of the richest mineral sections of the state, viz.: the Clear Creek and San Juan, which, with about six miles square in the Crip¬ ple Creek district, produce 99 per cent, of all the gold mined i'n Colorado. The Clear Creek country has been mined since '57, and there are still untold millions to re-

Picayune Gulch, Eureka mining district, San Juan county, two and a half miles from Eureka townsite, which is the nearest railroad point. The altitude of the group is 10,600 feet, and the claims are heavily timbered and plentifully watered. Railroad grades, at present used for wagon roads, have been built to the mines, and the extension of the line of the Denver & RiO' Grande railroad is only a question of time. It is a down-grade run all the way to the smelter ward the industry of the miner. The San Juan is a newer country, but is a patriarch compared with many great camps and districts of the state. Mining began here in 1868, and after '74, when the reservation was thrown open to mineral location thousands swarmed the hills, and some of the greatest mines in the world were discovered. In the former locality the company owns the Centennial mine, near Georgetown, and the Nabob, Sultan and Climax mines near Idaho Springs, Clear Creek county. In the San Juan the company's properties are the Picayune and Mogul groups, near Eureka.

The Picayune Group

The Surprise mine is a clearly defined fissure vein, six feet between the walls, and carries gold, silver, copper and lead, assays ru'-ining as high as 27 ounces in gold and 114 ounces in silver from selected specimens. Shipments have been made from this mine averaging $24.76 per ton, and in¬ dications point to a larger and richer ore body on the lowerlevels. The King mine is an extension of the Surprise, on the same vein, and should be in every respect as valuable. The Sioux company owns 2,700 feet of this vein. The For¬ tune mine crosses the Surprise almost at a right angle. It is a splendid four-foot vein, carrying copper principally supplemented by gold, silver and lead values. The Key¬ stone, which has shipped a large quantity of valuable ore is the eastern extension of this vein. The Queen mine crosses the King lode near the east end of the Surprise mine. It is a clearly defined, five-foot vein, in which marcasite, copper, gold aid silver predominate. Three assays of galena ore from this vein gave an average value of $50.95 per ton, though the body of the vein runs from $12.00 to $27.00 per ton near the surface.

These mines are being developed through two tunnels, and a shaft on the Surprise vein. The lower tunnel has been driven a distance of 500 feet. At a point 92 feet from the entrance an upraise connects the tunnel with the power house, 56 feet above. A compressor plant is in op¬ eration, and air drills are being used in driving and sink¬ ing. The company is sinking a shaft in line with the uplaise to the power house, and another level will be run at a depth of 150 feet. The ore has been stripped nearly the entire length of the tunnel, where it will be kept as a re¬ serve until the mill is completed. Average assays through¬ out its entire extent, return $27.00 to the ton, and, as the vein varies from four to ten feet in width, a moment's cal¬ culation is sufficient to convince the most skeptical that the Surprise is already a mine. The upper tunnel is in 209 feet, and is crosscutting for the vein, which yielded a sur¬ face assay of $130.55 near this point. The Queen vein will be cut by the 150-ft. level and the Fortune will be crosscut by the lower tunnel.

All four of these mines are so located that mineral can be loaded into an ore car, hoisted to the surface through their shaft, and run directly into the mill, without rehan¬ dling. The company's water right is one of the best in the district, a 742-foot fiume from the take-in to the penstock giving a drop of 291 feet. The fiume is constructed of wood, the upper portion of the pipe being 24 and the lower portion 12 inches in diameter. . This gives ample force for running mine and mill machinery. The power plant con¬ sists of a 25-HP. electric hoist capable of raising ore 500 feet; a 20-HP., 4-drill, Leyner compressor, and a 45-K. W. dynamo, all operated by water power. A 20-stamp mill, the estimated cost of which is $16,000.00, will be erected imme¬ diately below the power house, and ore will be hoisted through the 56-foot upraise from all the lower workings to the power plant and dumped into the upper part of the mill, through which it will pass by gravity, when the concen¬ trates will be returned to the same shaft, through one of the levels, and will again be hoisted in the same manner to the power building, and dumped from there into cars for shipment to the smelter.

The Mogul Group

This group consists of the Grand Mogul and Mogrrl, lo¬ cated at the head of the south fork of Eureka gulch, about six miles from the Picayune group, but only four miles from the railroad. The Grand Mogul is an immense mother lode, from 30 to 50 feet wide, and can be traced by the eye for several miles on the surface. Three distinct ore chutes crop out o'n the company's territory, one carry¬ ing copper, gold and silver values, one heavy in galena, with some gold and silver, and the other largely zinc, with gold and silver. Several tons of rich ore have been taken out, and large quantities can be secured at any time. The company is now engaged in running a tunnel to cut both these veins, and it is doubtful if there are any properties in the district that will develop more richly than these.

The Mogul mine is near the Grand Mogul. The vein varies from eight to forty feet in width, and can be seen on the mountain side three miles away. The ore crops out o i the surface at various points, and assays running from $76.00 to $5,000.00 per ton in gold have been secured.

The Centennial Mine

The Centennial mine is located near Georgetown, in Clear Creek county. It has shipped quite largely in the past, and is on the same immense fissure as several other mines that are heavy shippers, and when developed will prove a source of wealth to the company. It is one of that class of immense galena veins, to which Clear Creek county owes its great wealth, and the more such are developed, the more they will produce. It will undoubtedly make a big paying mine, and this company was very fortunate in se curing it.

The Nabob Group

The Nabob, Sultan and Climax mines form this group, and they are all owned by the company. They are located near Fall River, a little over a mile from the railroad. These mines are old discoveries, but, like many rich prop¬ erties, have lain dormant for years for the want of proper parties to develop them. Good ore, nevertheless, has been mined and shipped from them, and The Sioux company was very fortunate in securing this group at a reasonable figui-e.

The Company

sable shares, at a par value of $10.00 per share, giving a total of $250,000.00. Many companies with less property, are capitalized for ten times that amount, and few are in¬ corporated for less than a million. The stock of such com¬ panies at a few cents per share would be dearer than Sioux stock at par. The reason for this is plain to see. The Sioux Mining Company was not organized as a stock job¬ bing scheme. It was submitted to men who desired to see their money expended for development and not for high salaries and misappropriation.

all the money expended thereon. It owns its own mines, free from all incumbrances, and has the money assured with which to develop them. It has no debts, and its pay checks are always honored at the bank. Its work is being pushed with intelligence and energy, and it will soon be listed among the heavy shippers of San Juan county.

The officers of the company are J. M. Highland, Presi¬ dent; P. B. Merritt, First Vice President; R. W. Hughes, Second Vice-President; Sam'l Finlay son. Third Vice-Presi¬ dent; E. C. Condit, Secretary, and L. W. Kibler, Treasurer. The address of the company is Eureka, Colorado.

William Wolf

In his search for data the historian of the west finds cause for felicitation in the fact that, of the old pioneers whose careers have been most closely interwoven with the growth of its civilization, so many are still living and en¬ joying the vigorous manhood which so well befits the dauntless spirit that won them places in history. When the annals of the San Juan shall have been written for permanent record, the name of William Wolf will be men¬ tioned as the first white man to enter this section of won¬ derful wealth and future fame.

William Wolf is a native of Hesse Castle, Germany. He was born in 1836, and is, therefore, now sixty-fiye years o., age; but his vigorous age would lead one to suppose him ten years younger. He was reared to military disci- pline, in accordance with the German custom, and had scarcely served his term in the gymnasium when the Ciimean war broke out. He served from '54 to '55 in the English army, leaving the Fatherland in the latter year to come to the new world. He had not yet attained his majority when he first touched the soil of the western hemisphere, and he was only twenty-two when, in 1858, he came from Halifax to the United States to join a govern¬ ment exploring expedition headed for the San Juan. On. the same trip he crossed over into the San Juan, and stood upon the present site of Durango more than tenty years before the first habitation was built in the valley of the Las Animas. He returned east by way of Santa Fe.

Mr. Wolf was in Central City, Colorado, when the war broke out, and he enlisted in Company C., of the Second Colorado regiment, in 1862. He served three years, during which time he saw active service, taking part in several battles that will live in history so long as record endures. After the war he worked as a machinist for the Union Pa¬ cific railroad, then building, and afterwards engaged in ranching, to which he devoted a number of years. He later went into the mercantile business in Santa Fe, New Mex¬ ico, making a specialty of hides and pelts. Those were the days of quick sales and large profits, and Mr. Wolf soon made a competence. He was destined soon to lose it, however, for, coming back to Colorado, he became inter¬ ested in mining in the Needle mountains, and was unfortu¬ nate in his investments.

With the courage and perseverance that mark the pioneer, Mr. Wolf came to Durango, then a settlement of only a few hundred hardy men and their wives ami child¬ ren, and began all over the struggle for fortune in the fron¬ tier place. He re-engaged in the hide, pelt and wool busi¬ ness, and in a few years recouped the losses he had sus¬ tained in mining. The times have changed, and there is not the money in any mercantile pursuit that there was in the early days, but Mr. Wolf continues in business, trad¬ ing in wool, hides and pelts, as he did twenty years ago. He has had a partner for the past eight years, in the per¬ son of N. F. Cooke, and, though profits are not what they were in the frontier times, the business is conducted ably and is counted one of the most prosperous in Durango. The firm does business under the style of William Wolf & Company. Mr. Cooke was elected county commissioner of La Plata county in 1899, and is a prominent citizen of Durango.

Since the above was written Mr. Ernest Wetter has become a member of the firm, and the property on the corner of Main avenue and Sixth street, formerlybelonging to Mr. Wolf, has been purchased. It is the inten¬ tion of the firm to at once install an ice and cold storage plant on the ground and engage in a general storage busi¬ ness. The firm will have ample facilities for storing goods of all kinds and will be prepared to furnish storage room with any desired temperature to customers at reasonable rates. This is merely an addition to the firm's busines.s, and it will continue to deal in hides and wool as hereto¬ fore.

The Gold King Consolidated Mines Company

The Gold King Consolidated Mines Company was or¬ ganized with a capitalization of $6,000,000.00, in July, 1900, to absorb the interests of the Gold King Mining & Milling Company, the American Mining & Tunnel Company, the Anglo-Saxon Mining & Milling Company and the Rocky Mountain Coal Company. The Silverton, Gladstone & Northerly Railroad, though a separate corporation, is owned by the same people and was built to effect railway connec¬ tion between the consolidated company';; mines at Glad¬ stone and its collieries near Durango.

possessed of no means to develop the property. Being afraid to broach his find to capital, he zealously guarded his secret and set to work alone. At this task the poor miner literally dug his own grave, dying of overwork in 1890, after having sunk only 50 feet and having done only 50 feet of drifting. But this was sufRcient to demonstrate that he was on the vein, for he shipped several cars of rich ore; and the fact did not pass unnoticed, as will shortly appear.

Sampson And Gold King Mines

The Gold King Mine was discovered in 1887. In that year a Swede, by the name of Orlof Nelson, was employed as a common miner on the Sampson. This property was being developed on the vein, and, several hundred feet froui the entrance, a stronger vein crossed at an acute angle. When this vein was encountered the superintendent of the Sampson pursued the deflection, believing it to be the origi¬ nal Sampson vein. Nelson took a different view of the sit¬ uation. and, surrendering his job with the Sampson, pro¬ ceeded to locate the Gold King at a point he was convinced would strike the extension of the cross-vein.

were then west looking for mining investments. On Mr. Beach's recommendation, they engaged W. Z. Kinney as siiperintende'nt of the property. After two years of work Mr. Kinney, being unable to make favorable reports on the Harrison, Messrs. Davis & Soule discontinued the develop¬ ment of the mine, and, desiring to secure a good proposition on which to recoup their Harrison losses, instructed M)'. Kinney to recommend a property. This he was not pr^^- pared to do off-hand, and he. accordingly determined to de¬ vote himself to ol)taining definite information concerning certain pioperties that he believed could lie obtained for a leasonable figure and that had favoralile indications of dt'- veloping into mines. Among these was the Gold King, and, upon his advice, Davis & Soule authorized him to nego¬ tiate the purchase of the property, which was legally ef¬ fected in 1894, the widow of Nelson receiving in consider¬ ation the sum of $15,000.00. This amount does not repre¬ sent the tithe of the value of a single improvement on the property today, and, perhaps, not a thousandth of the value of the mine; but it was a fair and reasonable consideration at the time the deal was consummated, as the period of trial and disappointment that immediately followed amply attests.

The early development of the Gold King was fraught with dramatic vicissitudes. From 1894 until the organiza¬ tion of the Gold King Mining & Milling Company, in Sep¬ tember, 1896, the most serious difficulties were encountered. The eastern proprietors advanced sums at irregular inter-

The Gold King is on Bonita mountain. There is a system of rich veins, any one of which might make a mine, on the property. The Gold King No. 1 is a ten-foot vein, the Gold King and Gold King No. 2 have a width of fifteen feet each, the Red vein, crossing these, is ten feet wide, and there is, besides, a remarkably rich blanket vein, similar in form to a coal deposit, that is a bonanza in itself. A tram from the mouth of the tunnel spans Bonita gulch to the summit of Lost mountain from which point it de¬ scends to the Gold King mill at Gladstone. The cables are supported by fourteen towers, four of which are near the mine and the other ten within 2,000 feet of the mill. There is a mighty sweep of 2,100 feet, hundreds of feet above the earth, without any intermediate support. There are forty- vals, but these were wholly inadequate, and, dining these months of unproductive development work, Mr. Kinney re sorted to every means within his power to keep the oper¬ ations alive. Mrs. Kinney remained in Gladstone through¬ out the long and severe winter, offering every aid, and he often drew upon his private resources to vindicate his con¬ viction that the Gold King was a mine. This was demon¬ strated from the time ore was tapped by the cross-cut tun¬ nel started November 1. 1896. At this point the tunnel was in 478 feet, and considerable stoping was done, the upraise reaching nearly to the surface of the mountain. The tun¬ nel was carried rapidly beyond the ore body, and at the 500- foot point a station 20x40 feet in dimension was cut. Here a 25-horsepower gasoline engine, transported in sections to the station, was installed, and a shaft was sunk in solid ore.

The American mine is situated 2,000 feet below the Gold King on Bonita mountain and is on the same system of veins that traverses the Sampson anad Gold King. This property has been developed much the same as the Gold King. A tramway extends from the entrance of the tun¬ nel to the summit of Lost mountain and parallels the Gold King tram from that crest to the mill. Another tunnel 7 feet high by 8 feet wide, is being run from the mill, at the base of Lost mountain, to cut the Gold King vein, which it will tap 6,000 feet from the entrance and 1,500 feet below the present main workings. It is expected that it will cut the I. X. L. vein 2,500 from the mill. This tunnel is now in about 1,200 feet and it is being rapidly driven ahead by use of machine drills. The American is a large pro¬ ducer, and ultimately the output of both the American and Gold King will be transported to the mill through the lower tunnel, with which the upper workings will be connected by a main shaft.

The Sampson mine was discovered in 1882, and was first operated by the Southern Colorado Bismuth and Sil¬ ver Mining Company. The company was reorganized as the Cement Creek Gold Mining Company in 1885, and four years later the property was sold to the Gold King. There had been 2,500 feet of work done at that time, and, under the Gold King management, the work has been carried for¬ ward with great expedition. The Sampson is an old pro¬ ducer and a regular shipping mine.

The Gold King Mill is situated at the base of Lost mountain, and is so constructed that the force of gravita¬ tion does half the work. It was originally a twenty-stamp plant, but it has been increased from time to time until its capacity is now quadruple what it was when built. It is a massive structure, 400 feet in length by 72 feet in depth, and there are four floors. It is equipped with the finest modern machinery throughout. The power, for the mill, the trams, the machine drills and the lighting, is furnished by a 250-horsepower, self-oiling Westinghouse engine, and a 185-horsepower compressor plant, which is entirely dis¬ tinct and apart.

The Anglo-Saxon is located on Red mountain, about three miles below Gladstone, on Cement creek. This prop¬ erty is being developed through a tunnel. Fourteen cross¬ cuts have been run, and considerable ore has been mined. There are four main veins, varying from thiee to eight feet in width, and carrying gold, silver, copper and lead values ranging from $15.00 to $100.00 to the ton.

The Gold King Consolidated gold mines embrace tbirty claims in Cement creek district. They are all patented, and represent millions in value. The average leturns of rll ore milled run over $10.00 to the ton, and the ore blocked out is sufficient to run an 80-stamp mill at full ca-

The Silverton, Gladstone & Northerly Railroad is a nar¬ row-gauge road from Silverton to Gladstone. The track is laid with 45-pound steel rails, and the rolling stock is of the first class. The road is seven miles in length, and was built to handle the Consolidated company's ore traffic, but it is now recognized as one of the best-paying passenger roads in the state for its mileage.

City And Champion Coal Mines

It is not surprising that coal was discovered in the vicinity of Durango; indeed, it would have lieen surpris¬ ing if it had not lieen found. Smudges and outcroppings

City mine, and the output is about 100 tons a day. The grade is an excellent bituminous, and City coal is in great demand all over the San Juan. It is extensively used locally for domestic and steaming purposes, and is shipped over a wide area. Cars placarded with "City Coal Mine" cards, on which are written the destination of the shipments, are always conspicuous features of the Durango railroad yards, and a reference to them shows that City coal is used largely by the mines in the Silverton district, many of which receive regular car consignments. The Gold King properties, on Cement creek, use City coal exclusively.

The Champion mine was purchased about a year and a half ago. This property, while not operated on a large scale at the time, has since developed into a very valuable mine. It is also mined through a fiat entry, about half a mile in length, extending through the mountain. Its acre¬ age is a trifle greater than that of the City mine, and the grade of coal is somewhat different. The tipple is about half a mile from the railroad, and all coal taken out has been hauled; but it is probable that a tramway will be built to connect with the railroad in the near future.

The force employed on the Champion mine is about forty. The production, slightly less than that of the City, is consumed almost entirely by the local domestic trade, though it is shipped outside to some extent. The produc¬ tion of this mine will be greatly increased when the facili¬ ties for transporting coal from the mine to the railroad on th'S.JiUlsides, easily visible for miles where exposed, were unmistakable evidence of coal and the loca¬ tion of veins, with such indications, was simple enough. Yet there were many sec¬ tions that remained undeveloped for years, and there are doubtless many yet that but await the interest of capital to yield their hundreds of tons a day.

The City and Champion mines are among those that were operated in a small way years before the proper ownership and superintendence brought them into promi nence. The first to amount to much was the City mine. The importance of this property dates from the time that George C. Logan took charge of the mine five years ago, and, under his direction, it has come to be not only one of the largest, but one of the most valuable as well, for its location, al¬ most within the city limits of Durango, makes it possible to place its product on the market at current prices and at a min¬ imum price.

The mine is being developed through a fiat entry that extends a half mile through the mountain, affording a continual current of air and natural ventilation. The coal depos¬ its extend a great distance on each side of the entry, and both sides are being mined.

A tramway extends from the mouth of the entry to the tipple, a distance of 1,500 feet, and coal is loaded direct from the tipple to the cars, a half-mile spur having been built from the Rio Grande tracks.

Mr. Logan sold his collieries to the Rocky Mountain Coal & Fuel Company just prior to the time that corpora¬ tion was absorbed by the Gold King Mines Company, and the properties are now a portion of that great company's enormous assets. He did not dispose of his entire inter¬ est, however, and when he was requested to remain in su¬ perintendence of the mines he accepted the position quite as much to protect the interest he retained as to earn the liberal emolument offered : for it is an established ax> iom in mining that success depends as much upon con¬ servative and intelligent management as upon the mine.

Mr. Logan was well known in the San Juan before be¬ coming interested in the coal industry, having been in railroad employ for a number of years in this section. He was the plain, practical man to make a success of the City and Champion, and so long as he remains at the helm their prosperity is assured.

Ball Foundry And Machine Works

An evidence of the increasing importance of Durango as the metropolis and trade center of a large portion ol the San Juan is manifest in the many new enterprises that have sprung into life in the Smelter City since the beginuing of the present year. While not desiring to underrate the importance of others, it may be said without invidious comparison that the Ball Foundry and Machine Works easily rank first among those established within the year.

John R. Ball, a founder and machinist of long experi¬ ence and wide acquaintance in the San Juan, after a num¬ ber of years in the mining districts of southwest¬ ern Colorado, chose Durango as the most favorable point for location, and, in January last, came here with a view to establishing a foundry and machine shop. The wisdom of his selection is evident in his immediate success; but his judgment was based on the fact of Durango being the center of three great industries, viz.; mining, lumbering and agriculture, in their various branches, each of which would contribute to the prosperity of the thriving city.

Mr. Ball was fortunate in securing a lease on the old electric light building, which is located directly on the railroad, and the foundations of which were originally in¬ tended for heavy machinery. As soon as the lease was signed, he ordered his plant from Chicago, and it was soon set up and in operation. As it now stands, there are pon¬ derous lathes, planers, machine drills and smaller m.. chine tools, driven by electric power, and the plant is in every respect but capacity the equal of any in the state. The foundry has been more recently added, and castings of all kinds can be made now.

Balt. Foundry And Machine Works

Mr. Ball learned his trade in Holland, and has twentysix years of experience to his credit. He employs only skilled mechanics and guarantees all work. His special¬ ties are air drill, compressor and Corliss engine repairs, though he is prepared to execute anything in foundry or machine work, and at reasonable prices. Call or write.

It may be truthfully said that in no line of business rs the average purchaser more dependent upon the honesty of the dealer than in the purchase of a fine jewel or watch. Not one person in twenty is competent to judge the value of a watch, exceptinig its external appearance, which may be entirely disproportionate to the value of its works; and the average person knows even less of precious stones. It becomes a matter of evident importance, then, that our jewelers should be men of character and unquestioned in¬ tegrity.

Zeller, the jeweler, has been established in Durango since 1894, and, after seven years of business intercourse with the people of the Smelter City and of La Plata county, his name has come to be a guarantee of any arti¬ cle known to have come from his establishment. Hi.-i stock embraces everything known to the trade usually found in a first-class jewelry store, including loose and mounted diamonds and other stones, watches, clocks, toilet sets, silver dining services, cut glass, antiques, etc. The line of ornamental jewelry is especially full and complete, comprising the latest conceits in rings, fobs, charms, etc. Besides jewelry, the stock includes spectacles, and Mr. Zel¬ ler can furnish glasses properly suited to all variations from natural sight, having a graduate optician in his em¬ ploy.