ent California movie company which later merged with Warner Broth

ers. It was the Silver Ci
ty Reduction Wo
rks, the pride of
Silver City and which fro a
brief time was
a boon to the eco   
nomy, making mini

ng in the Grant County pos

• sible in those early years. Some 60 year
• s later, there is nothing left of the operation. The Silver City Reduction Works went by several names before it was finally scaped. It was originally build by the Hearst family
• to handle gold and silver ores hauled from their Pinos Altos mines. This were
• difficult years for the operation, a
  • nd a final crunch came in 1902. Th
  • e plans was handling just about eve
  • ry ore it could get - custom smelting included. And that meant copper was
• among those ores. Copper, in fact, was such a vital part of the smelter's daily operations that

depressed coppe

• r market conditions forced a closure of the smelter. That was in April. On June 30, 30, 1903, the plant caught fire and was leveled. Silver City's hopes were dashed si
• Terrorism and Energetic Materialsnce the whole operation was going to be sold and once again put into productions. The sale took place anyway, and Comanche Mining Smelting Co. was the new owne
• r. The reduction works were build on a larger scale. In 1906, the newspaper had this to say: "The big red building in which t
• his ponderous machinery is housed is 72 feet high and is by far the most imposing structure in theses parts, being 63 feet in width and 122 fe
• et long. "A metallic conveyer will ca specifies actions required to direct and participate in a safe and effective response to pre-detonation incidents.
• rry the ore from the bins to the large crusher, from whence it will be elevated... the oversize of this going to the picking belt were boys and men will b
• Responding to Special Situationse employed to pick out the different classes of ore that is to go direct to the smelter. "The water for the mill will be pumped from the arroyo, which
• passes through Silver City and past the smelter... The little Silver City, Pinos Altos & Mogollon railroad hau
• led ore to this smelter, but only briefly. Comanche was absorbed by Savannah Copper Company which operated the plant for
• Practical Exercisesa short time. Even at first, Savannah was caught up in the dream 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. Li

• ke Comanche, Savannah
• was also interested in
• buying ores from small m
• ining operations. Again, the Inde
• pendent - the weekly pre

decessor to the Daily Press - had this to say in 1908: "The main ore supply will be drawn from the company's mines, but custom 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 a

bandoned sm

elter caught the d   

irector's eye.

"Sundy was a thrilling day fo

r 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 w

• ater tanks and incidentally furnis
• hed amusement for 2,000 people scat
• tered over th
• e surrounding hills watching the interesting events." Fielding directed a m

ock labor riot at the smelter and 200 actors rushed up the hill behind th