USA > Colorado > Arapahoe County > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 36
USA > Colorado > Denver County > Denver > History of the city of Denver, Arapahoe County, and Colorado > Part 36
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In this emergency St. Paul's made overtures to the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, and offered to identify itself with that denomination. Arrangements mutually satisfactory were perfected and the change was quietly made.
The congregation of St. Paul's is not very large, but it is strongly marked by the resolute purpose and indomitable perseverance of its Pastor. Dr. Bliss is a man of strong convictions, and is not afraid to speak his sentiments on every subject. He sometimes invites, or even provokes, eriticism, but Western people like independence even in the pulpit, and those who do not agree with the Doetor simply stay away from his services. Among other peculiarities, the Doctor hates Indians with a holy hatred, and advocates the sternest measure of jus- tice in dealing with them-a doctrine which finds hearty support in his congregation and out of it. He and Dr. Crary, a well-known and highly esteemed minister of the Methodist denomination, are both bitter against the Indians, and united in their recommendations of extreme measures in dealing with the savages.
Ab Dodge.
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HISTORY OF DENVER.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE SUNDAY SCHOOLS OF DENVER.
THE FIRST SUNDAY SCHOOL.
TF, as has been said, the Sunday school and the - public school form the basis of good society, the social status of Denver was clearly defined very early in its history. It is shown elsewhere how the publie school system of Denver, which will bear comparison with the best and oldest systems of the East, had its origin, and to this early gathering of the children of the infant Territory for secular instruction, is due the organization of a Sunday school as early as 1859. During the latter part of that year, Mr. Lewis N. Tappan, of Boston, then, as. now, an earnest Christian philanthropist, was walking through San Luis street, Auraria (now Tenth street, West Denver), when his atten- tion was attracted to an unusually large gathering of children for that early period-fifteen or twenty being engaged in the ordinary games of childhood. Concluding that there must be a school near at hand. Mr. Tappan inquired and found that his conjecture was correct. It being recess time, Mr. Tappan stepped into the little log cabin which answered the purpose of a schoolroom, and there found a "young, nervous, but affable and polite gentleman. who informed me that his name was Goldrick." Conversation ensued, and Mr. Tappan, premising from the number of Mr. Goldrick's pupils that there must be a sufficiently large number of children in the settlement to form a respectable Sunday school, suggested to Mr. Goldrick the idea of forming an organization for Sunday instruction which should be entirely non-sectarian. Mr. Gold- riek cheerfully indorsed the proposition and agreed to assist in carrying the project into exeention.
Mr. Tappan then found Rev. Mr. Fisher, of the Methodist denomination, and obtained his hearty co-operation. Mr. D. C. Collier, late of the Cen- tral Register, was also invited by Mr. Tappan to aid the enterprise, and cordially gave his consent.
The gentlemen thus interested at once commenced a canvass of the town for pupils. In every case where there were children in the house, the project received the hearty approval of the parents, and it was soon demonstrated that the effort was a suc- cess. As a result of the canvassing, the following notice appeared in the Rocky Mountain News of November 3, 1859 :
" UNION SUNDAY SCHOOL.
" A union Sunday school for the children of Auraria and Denver will be held every Sunday at 3 o'clock P. M., at the house of Preachers Fisher and Adriance, near Cherry Creek. It is particularly requested that parents and guardians will endeavor to have their children attend the school regularly and punctually. Books and chil- dren's papers will soon be furnished to the scholars. The school will not only be a union school for both towns, but a union of all denominations. (Signed ) George W. Fisher, Lewis N. Tappan, Jacob Adri- anee, D. C. Collier, O. J. Goldrick."
A building was secured, a one-story, mud-roof log house on Cherry street (now Thirteenth ), near Larimer street, and, at the time appointed. came twelve pupils. Mr. D. C. Collier was unani- mously elected Superintendent, and the school commenced with the most flattering prospects. Mr. Tappan wrote to the Baptist Sunday school at Lawrence, Kan., soliciting a donation of books. and a collection of books was boxed and shipped. Jones & Cartwright freighting the pack- age across the Plains, free of charge. On their arrival in Denver, Mr. Tappan discovered, to his surprise, that they were the same books which he had solicited from his old Bible class in the Rev. Dr. Baron Stow's church, in Boston, for the Kan- sax Sunday school. This little collection of books had an eventful history; for, after having served
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HISTORY OF DENVER.
the turn in Denver, they were sent to the first anti-Mormon Sunday school in Salt Lake City, then in charge of Rev. Norman McLeod. It was nearly two months after the organization of the school before the books arrived; but this proved no drawback to the prosperity of the school, which grew and flourished like a green bay-tree, keeping pace with the wonderful advance of the country. On the second Sunday, fifteen pupils took their seats upon the rough wooden benches. The suc- ceeding Sunday saw twenty children gathered in from the highways; and so the school grew, until
it taxed the capacity of the two rooms, in which the sessions were held, to the utmost, to accommo- date those who sought admission. By that time, however, denominational organizations had been formed, and the period of usefulness for a union school having been passed, it was discontinued, leaving behind it nothing but the most pleasant memories, with which the name of Mr. Tappan is indissolubly connected in the minds of those early settlers, whose children first had Sabbath instruc- tion in Colorado in the Sunday school of which he was at once the founder and moving spirit.
CHAPTER XXV.
HILL'S SMELTING WORKS.
D ENVER has no single institution, public or private, of more importance than the Boston and Colorado Ore Smelting Works, better known as "Hill's Works," from the name and fame of their founder and Superintendent, Prof. Nathaniel P. Hill, now United States Senator from Colorado.
Although not the largest smelter in the world, it is by far the largest in Colorado, and compares very favorably with any institution of the kind in this country. The buildings, which are substan- tially built of stone, cover an area of six acres, and . are surrounded by an immense stone wall eight feet high. Outside of this mammoth inclosure are the comfortable cottages and boarding-houses of the employes, also the property of the Company, built of brick and finished in the best style.
Argo is the name given to the village and works. It is a suburb of Denver, in fact, being situated two miles distant on the line of the Colorado Cen- tral road. A dummy engine makes regular trips to and from Argo every day, and the passenger car attached is usually well filled with attaches and employes of the works, and visitors. So many of the latter are attracted, indeed. that of late the works have been partially closed to strangers, and a card of introduction is necessary to insure access.
The Company owns eighty acres of land which lies on a beautiful eastward slope, overlooking Denver from the northwest bank of the Platte, and the works themselves are visible from almost every part of the city, though distant enough to prevent the smoke and noxious vapors of their immense stacks of chimneys from poisoning the air.
The story of Prof. Hill's career in Colorado is something like the history of the State itself. The great works at Argo are the outgrowth of a small beginning made many years ago at a critical moment in the history of Colorado mining. Ref- erence has been made in another place to the great difficulty experienced in the treatment of refrac- tory ores in Gilpin County, as depth was gained in mineral development. The problem of treat- ment perplexed the best scientists of the State, and though experiments in smelting had been made before Prof. Hill eame, little or nothing had result- ed therefrom. As early as 1861, a Dr. Burdsall, of Nevadaville, had been elaborating a smelting process, but neither his patient labor nor the efforts of succeeding metallurgists had amounted to any- thing until Hill came upon the field.
Professor Hill was the son of a farmer, and had worked his way through college with great difficulty,
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HISTORY OF DENVER.
but with greater credit, and was retained in the institution-Brown University-first as a tutor and finally as a Professor, chemistry being his forte. Eminently practical withal, he soon gained the confidence of scientific men as being a man of affairs no less than a bookworm, and, about 1864. he was sent out to inspect the Gilpin Land Grant, in the San Luis Park, for a party of possible purchasers. Amusing stories are told of the sharp controversies between the enthusiastic Gilpin and the practical young professor, who refused to look at anything through rose-colored spectacles. After examining the grant thoroughly, and making his report, Professor Hill spent some time studying the mineralogy of Gilpin County, and finally con- cluded that the rich ores of Gregory Gulch could be successfully treated, and that there was a large margin for profit in their treatment.
Full of this idea he returned East, secured a leave of absence from the University, and visited Swansea, in Wales, where the art of smelting had reached its highest development, and there he made a study of the various methods, with a view to determining that best adapted to the ores of Colorado. After settling the question in his own mind, in order to convince others he shipped a quantity of Colorado ore to Swansea for treatment, and the result justified his previons opinion.
Returning to Boston in the spring of 1867, he at once organized the Boston and Colorado Smelt- ing Company, with a cash capital of $275,000. The works of the Company were erected at Black Hawk, where they remained until 1878, a little more than ten years. One smelting furnace was considered a sufficient beginning in January, 1868, but the complete success of the works from the first soon made it necessary to add other furnaces, and the fires were never out until their removal to Denver. The number of calcining furnaces has increased from one to eight.
The officers of the Company occupy an elegant two-story stone building, 77x47 feet, with a "tall tower" atop, from which a splendid view is had not only of the works, but of Denver, the mount- ains, and the country in every direction. On en- tering, the first room reached is that of Assistant Manager Henry R. Wolcott, who is in fact the executive officer of the works, Senator Hill being absent much of the time in Washington, in at- tendance upon his official duties, and being much occupied with the same duties when at home. The Senator has an office at the works, however, and is found there whenever more pressing duties do not call him away. Attached to the department of the Assistant Manager are a number of offices for his clerical force. Other rooms are occupied by Prof. Richard Pearce, metallurgist of the Com- pany, A. Von Schultz, Assayer, and E. Whiting, Assistant Assayer.
The labors of these latter gentlemen are scarcely less important than those of the managers them- selves. The buying of ores, or, rather, the . deter- mination of the prices to be paid, belongs to the assayers. Each shipment of ore must be sampled separately, and great care must be taken in select- ing samples, so that the average value of the whole shipment is ascertained. As the purchases of ore amount to more than two millions per annum, it will be readily admitted that the position of assayer is not a sinecure. The ore house is 452 feet long and 119 feet wide, with an addition 92x36 feet. in which are located the boilers and engines, blacksmith and carpenter shops, sampling-rooms, etc. The smelting-house is 283x54 feet; the repairing-house, 286x62 feet, and the coal-house, 204x62. Three railway tracks enter the grounds and run to the various depart- ments, so that the loading or unloading of cars occupies but a little time and involves little expense.
Visitors to Argo, as they approach the place, are Bare figures convey but a poor idea of the extent of these works, and nothing but a walk through the immense buildings enables one to impressed with the massive solidity of everything before them, from the stone wall surrounding the grounds to the smallest building inclosed thereby. | judge intelligently what great interests are involved
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HISTORY OF DENVER.
and what an enormous business is done. The ores are largely supplied by Colorado miners; and yet shipments are received regularly from other parts of the country. Montana and Utah ore is not uncommonly seen at Hill's Works, and New Mexico and Arizona furnish an occasional shipment. Of late, the supply is ample, and the works run day and night, continually.
In addition to the principal works at Denver there are branches at Black Hawk, where the main works were formerly located, and at Alma, in Park County. Ore-buyers are also established in nearly every mineral-producing district in the State, who sample and purchase ores direct from the mines. In a word, this extensive enterprise, though located, for convenience, at Denver, really belongs to the entire State. The importance of this establishment to the leading interests of Colo- rado may be estimated by the following statement of the value of bullion and matte produced during the twelve years it has been in operation, the figures for which have been taken from the books of the Company :
1868 $ 270,886 00
1869
489,875 00
1870
652,329 00
1871
848,571 00
1872
999,954 00
1873
1,210,670 00
1874
1,638,877 00
1875
1,947,000 00
1876
2,097,900 00
1877
2,154,000 00
1878
2,259,000 00
Total .$14,569,062 00 1879 (estimated)
3,000,000 00
The process of reduction may be outlined as follows: The ore is generally brought to the works in bags, and after being weighed and unloaded is taken to the crushing department, and crushed fine by Blake crushers and Cornish rollers, of both of which there are three sets in the works, having a capacity of from fifty to sixty tons every ten hours, the motive power being furnished by two No. 9 Woodbury engines. After crushing, the
ore is carefully sampled, assayed, and paid for according to the regular scale of prices. It is then separated according to character, the ore car- rying zinc, lead, or sulphur going to the calcining furnaces, and all other ores to the smelting fur- naces direct.
There are ten ealcining furnaces in the plant, and each is capable of roasting five tons every twenty-four hours, making the daily capacity of the works about one hundred tons. The object of this treatment is to remove the zinc or other super- fluous substances contained in the ores, and an intense heat is of course required. The ore is fed into the furnaces in large quantities, at intervals of eight hours, and remains under fire twenty-four hours, moving forward from time to time to make room for each new charge, and finally emerging purified as by fire, most of the foreign matter hav- ing been carried away in fumes up the tall chim- neys, from which clouds of dense black smoke are constantly emerging.
Thus prepared for the smelter, the ore is taken out of the calcining furnaces, and removed to another apartment through a series of doors open- ing opposite to each calcining furnace. Here science is again evoked to determine the proper admixture of different kinds of ores so as to produce the best results in smelting. This process of selection is technically termed "fluxing." The charges for the smelting furnaces are made up often of half a dozen different ores, though a less number would answer equally well, provided their constituents were such as to flux each other. In the absence of a variety of ores, it is often necessary in smaller establishments to introduce some foreign substance to flux the ores, but at Hill's Works the great variety of the ores purchased provides against this necessity, and reduces the cost of smelting propor- tionately. The utmost care must be exercised, however, in selecting ore for this purpose, and each charge must be tested in the laboratory before it is consigned to the smelter.
Prof. Richard Pearce, the metallurgist of the Company, directs this process, and his rare skill is
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HISTORY OF DENVER.
evinced by the uniform success of every operation Little or none of the Leadville ore is smelted at Argo, but refractory ores from every mining camp in the State find their way to Hill's Works, either direct or through the agency of his numerous ore directed by him. His laboratory is the "inner chamber" of the institution, and is rarely pene- trated by any visitor, save Senator Hill and Prof. Pearce's personal friends. The secrets of the . buyers. Ruby silver from the Elk Mountains is laboratory are known only to the metallurgist and the last Colorado production added to Hill's list, and is very rich. Could Denver but secure a coin- age mint, the importance of the works would be greatly augmented, but as it is they are emphati- cally the leading institution of Denver. the manager. Besides the fluxing of ores they embrace a hidden process of separation, said to be the most successful ever invented. In the smelt- ing furnaces the ore is extracted from its foreign substances, the latter passing off in the slag, and the former combining as a "matte," by which term the various ores in combination are designated. Of course this matte must be separated into con- stituents, and this process is quite as complicated and even more tedious than the art of smelting. The matte is first crushed, then roasted again, and finally is subjected to a leaching process by which the silver is extracted. Then the residue is again smelted and another "process," peculiar to this in- stitution, extracts the gold.
A technical description of this leaching process would be unintelligible to the general reader, and is, therefore, omitted, especially in view of the fact that the several secret processes eannot be described at all. Various rooms with cisterns, tubs, tanks cooling floors, furnaces, etc., are required for the continuation of the work, some of which are open to inspection, while others are almost hermetically sealed from public view.
At present the, product of the works is shipped East, principally to New York. Argo silver is about 9992 fine, there being only a trace of impuri- ty in it. The gold is from 950 to 960 fine.
Notwithstanding the innnense present capacity of these works, it has been found necessary to arrange at once for their speedy enlargement, and to this end an additional ore-room is being built, and other caleining and smelting furnaces will be added, for which new buildings will be erected at once. The unprecedented yield of ore in the counties of Gilpin, Clear Creek, Park and Boulder, as well as the new discoveries hitherto noted, has created the necessity for this early en- largement. Manager Wolcott says the old miners of Colorado appear to have been stimulated by the new discoveries. and the increased production of mines that have been worked for ten or fifteen years would be considered marvelous if public at- tention was turned in that direction instead of toward the riches of Leadville. But Hill's Works will always keep in the van of all progress, and will be enlarged annually so long as there is a demand for enlargement. The Company is prosperous. and can meet the wants of miners in all respects. Had the works remained at Black Hawk their fa- cilities would have been far below the demand of the public. .
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HISTORY OF DENVER.
CHAPTER XXVI.
MISCELLANEOUS.
SECRET BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES.
D ENVER has long been noted for the number and strength of its Masonic and other benev- olent organizations of that character. Among the ear- liest institutions of the embryo city were its working lodges of Free Masons and Odd Fellows, and both of these leading societies have continued to grow with the growth of the city, and even in advance of it.
The Masonic Hall is located in temporary quar- ters, on the corner of Holladay and Fifteenth streets, in the Fink Block, where comfortable rooms have been fitted up for the society until such time as a Grand Lodge Hall can be erected, which prob- ably will not be long. The Grand Lodge of the State holds its annual session in these rooms on the third Tuesday of September in each year.
Delta Lodge of Perfection, No. 1 (Scottish Rite), meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month. Denver Lodge, No. 5, meets on the first and third Saturdays of each month. Union Lodge, No. 7, meets on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month. Denver Chapter, No. 2, R. A. M., meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. Colorado Commandery, K. T .. meets on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. Pentalpha Lodge, F. & A. M., meets on the sec- ond Monday of each month. The Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Colorado meets on the Thursday after the third Monday in September of each year. The Grand Commandery, K. T. meets on the Fri- day after the third Tuesday in September of each year, and Mackay Chapter of Rose Croix, No. 1, meets on the first Monday of each and every month.
It will be seen that almost every degree of Ma- sonry is represented in Denver, and visiting breth- ren will find no difficulty in selecting the time or lodge for an evening's re-union. All of the Lodges
are in a good condition financially, and in all other respects.
The Odd Fellow's Lodges are less numerous, but by no means less important in character or influ- ence in the community. The lodge-rooms are located on Lawrence street, over the new City Hall. The Grand Lodge and Grand Encamp- ment meets at Denver on the 15th of October of each year. Union Lodge, No. I, meets every Monday evening. Denver Lodge, No. 4, meets every Wednesday evening, and Germania Lodge, No. 14, every Tuesday evening. Denver Encamp- ment, No. 2, meets on the first and third Fridays of each month; Humboldt Encampment, No. 6, meets on the second and fourth Thursdays, and Arapa- hoe Encampment, No. 10, on the first and third Thursdays. Colorado Degree Lodge, No. I, meets on the first Saturday evening of each month, and the Samaritan Lodge, No. 5 (Rebekah Degree), meets on the second and fourth Friday evenings of each month.
The Knights of Pythias are also well organized in Denver, there being two American and one German Lodges, which meet at their Hall over 386 Holladay street. Colorado Lodge, No. 1, meets on Thursday evening; Damon Lodge, No. 2 (Ger- man ), on Friday evening, and Centennial Lodge, No. 8, on Tuesday evening. The Endowment Rank meets once a month upon call.
Besides all these Lodges, there are a number of institutions of like character, together with tem- perance and religious societies, of which the follow- ing list will give a general idea:
Pioneer Encampment No. 1, Red Cross; Den- ver Lodge, No. 12, Good Templars ; Harmony Lodge, No. 4. Good Templars ; Denver Lodge, No. 171, I. O.O. B. (Jewish Society); Denver Lodge, No. 2, A. O. U. W .; Standard Lodge, No. 3, A. O. U. W .; Colorado Lodge, Knights of Ilonor ;
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HISTORY OF DENVER.
Gruetli Verein, Swiss Society ; Skandia Benevolent Society ; Young Mens' Christian Association ; Fire- mens' Relief Association; St. Vincent de Paul So- ciety ; Denver Irish Progressive Society; Denver Christian Temperance Union; St. Joseph Total Abstinence Society; and Denver Typographical Union.
CEMETERIES.
Denver has had three cemeteries up to the pres- ent time, one in North Denver, one south of the city, and the third, last and best, located about three miles down the Platte, and very properly designated as Riverside Cemetery. The latter is as yet the only one making much pretense of nat- ural adornment in the way of grass, shrubbery, and trees. It is laid out beautifully, and is being improved very handsomely. Some fine monuments are already in position, and the family of the late John W. Iliff is about to erect a magnificent monument to his memory. Riverside promises to become in the near future a beautiful " City of the Dead."
BRINKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE.
Among the private academies of Denver the above institution ranks high as a boarding-school for both sexes, where pupils of all grades are re- ceived and fitted for college or for active life. The Principal, Prof. Joseph Brinker, a sketch of whose life appears elsewhere, was the very successful President of Henry College in Kentucky before coming to Denver. He is assisted in the present undertaking by his family, consisting of his wife, three sons and a daughter, all of whom share his gifts and enthusiasm in the cause of higher educa- tion. The Institute is situated at the intersection of Broadway and Tremont streets. This institu- tion affords superior advantages for instruction in all grades of primary, intermediate and collegiate departments, the latter embracing scientific, classi- cal and commercial courses, music, painting and drawing, modern languages, military drill, etc. The Board of Instruction numbers nine. The boarding department is under the immediate
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