irect to the smelter. "The water

for the mill will be
pumped from the arroyo, which
passes through Sil

ver City and past the smelter... The little Silver City, Pinos Altos & Mogollon railroad hauled ore to this smelter, but only briefly. Comanche was absorbed by Savannah Copper Company which operated the plant for a short time. Even at first, Savannah was caught up in the dRASSream that first captured the Hearst family, and later the Comanche Co. Savannah made some improvement at the plan, and the smelter could allegedly handle between 250 and 300 tons or ore per day. Like Comanche, Savannah was also interested in buying ores from small mining operations. Again, the Independent - the weekly predecessor to the Daily Press - had this to say in 1908: "The main ore supply will be drawn from the company's mines,

but cu temperature system is based on a few simple principles of physics: one being the relationship of the speed of sound and air temperature. Sound speed is proportional to the square root of absolute temperature. Sound pulses are transmitted into the air with a vertical trajectory, and their motion monitored using acoustic backscattering in the stom system and radar in the ore will be purchased and fair and square treatment accorded the miner," it said. The whole operation - like the narrow-gauge railroad - never really panned out. The operation was idle for several years until 1913. Then, Romaine Fielding and the Lubin Motion Picture Company came to town, and the abandoned smelter caught the director's eye. "Sundy w

as a thrilling day for the Silver City people," said the Independent that year. "The Lubin Co. enacted a drama at the smelter below town, blew up the narrow gauge railroad bridge and two large water tanks and incidentally furnished amusement for 2,000 people scattered over the surrounding hills watching the interesting events." Fielding directed a mock labor riot at the smelter and 200 actors rushed up the hill behind the smelter and set fire to the water tanks. As they rand

down the hill, the tanks blew up. "The site was a beautiful one, the tanks being shot fully 200 feet in the air and the rioters and spectators were covered with a shower of slingers and rocks." Later, when part of the narrow-gauge railroad was to be exploded, the cap didn't go off. Undaunted, Fielding grabbed a pistol and fired at the dynamite. The following day, and old oil house near the smelter was also blown up as part of the bridge scene. Today, there isn't much left of the operation. Large black slag piles are gr

adually being hauled away from Grant County

elts by me
n - and children. The equipment was "the