There is one noted mining king of to-day, Pedro Alvaredo, a full-blooded Indian, who is known as the peon millionaire. A few years ago a mine that he owned “bonanzad,” as they call it, and he became immensely wealthy. However, he and his wife still dress in the peon clothes to which they were accustomed. He has built a mansion and furnished it with every kind of musical instrument to be obtained, including many makes of pianos. A few years ago he announced that he would pay off the national debt, but he found it a little too large. The Spaniards worked only the very richest of the mines. They would not touch ore that did not yield nearly a hundred ounces to the ton. Their early methods were of the very crudest sort until the “_patio_” process was discovered and came into general use. If difficulties were met with in mining, these men simply worked around them and left great amounts of rich quartz untouched. The ore was so plentiful that they did not attempt to do their operations in a thorough manner. However they protected the entrance by building great fortifications around the shafts, that look like the walled cities of old and were patrolled by armed guards. Vast shafts were constructed down which run ladders. The poor peon toils up these ladders which sometimes aggregate more than a thousand rounds carrying a rawhide sack on his back containing two hundred and fifty pounds of ore without a rest, and will make several trips a day. In early times the natives were compelled to work in these mines to all intents and purposes as slaves, and were beaten and flogged even to death if they refused to obey their taskmasters. At night each peon was searched for fear he might conceal some of the precious metal. However as their costume was exceedingly simple the search was a very easy matter. The mines were cleared of water in the same way by the peons carrying it up these long ladders in rawhide buckets. Many mines were abandoned on account of water in those days long before their wealth was exhausted. Transportation was slow and expensive, and the mountain trails were kept dusty by the long trains of pack mules transporting treasures and supplies. [Illustration: PEON MINERS AT LUNCH] Until within the last few years since American capital has undertaken to develop many of the Mexican mines, only the most primitive methods were in use. Even to-day many are operated in the same old way, although modern machinery is being rapidly introduced. The expense of fuel has been a great drawback in the less productive mines, and the shafts many hundreds of feet deep are worked with a windlass and mule power. Coal costs as high as $15 (gold) per ton at the mine and is then cheaper than wood at $14 (silver) per cord. At these prices steam power becomes very expensive. In those early days only those ores could be mined at a profit that could be treated at the mine, because of the great expense of transporting the ore-laden rock on the backs of mules.