New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-06-13


richer properties in this Gold Region, but for the
advantages OF easy working. profusion of ore and
.bssp command of convenient and ample water
sower. know nothing that can compare with il.
believe il is owned in Baltimore.
cannot take room to speak in detail Of any
.,her mines. The Vaucluse has an admirable
,dsp,ation of Pumping apparatus, whereby the
single stationary steam-engine of the company,
~ addition TO i:s more immediate duties Of stamp
ine ore, driving Chilian mills, &c. pumps the water
ont of a dozen shafts, situated fifty TO hundred
wards away from it in various directions. This is
effected by reciprocatDg motion, presume no nov
elty in the best mining works, but admirably ad
iusted and especially successful in turning sharp
corner with very slight expenditure Of power.
The general conduct Of Mining operations
throughout this region appears TO have been as
abort sighted and wsstefu, up to very recent pc
nod, as il well could be. Everything else has been
sacrificed to greed Of instant acquisition, so that
nearly al the veins have been worked from The top
soearafd-that is, the earth which seemed to
contain gold usually in the beds Or banks Of
streams Just below the crossings OF veins was irst
dug and worked by the rudest means into all man.
ner Of unsightly ridges aud hammocks then the
veins opened and worked up from the water level
upward to the surface after which another level
oftwenty feet or SO would be run-also from the
CD DOWN. ard-:hus keeping the opened portion
perpetual slough or wet ditch, more like the moat
Of dungeon than properly worked mine, and
drawing into it all the water Of the adjacent soil.
Recently, capital and skill have been to some OK.
tent drawn into these workings, but there is still
ample room for Improvement almost everywhere.
AZ yet, the veins have been proved on few
tates only and Of those that promise well not half
are now in operation II is well that they should
not be until they can be worked as they should
be, otherwise the results can only be disastrous 10
those interested There are some instances OF
sheer luck in mining as in everything else but
the general rule which requires science, forecast
capital and economy to give reasonable prospect
of success holds as good in this business in any
other. Tales Of huge Jumps found and great pro-
ducts from little exertion are common herein one
instance, $1,000 worth of the pure stufis said to
have been washed from single bucket full Of ore
and earth-but the chance of finding such is about
equal to that of being struck by lightning. Wash.
ing the surface earth which happens 10 contain gold
must always be species of lottery but this is soon
over, giving place to regular mining, which is
work Of method, means and calculation
The soil of the Gold Region is Of reddish cast,
much like that OF large portion Of New Jersey,
and was probably formed by decomposition Of the
slate on which it rests. Occasionally pebbles and
bouders Of quartz indicate the presence or vicinity
Of q vein There is some Iron in the neighborhood.
and little Copper, Iron or Lead is found in the
qusrtz-.generslly in the form OF sulphurets-but it
is in such trhing quantities as TO be of no account
save as il is held to indicate the presence of gold.
The richest deposits of gold have otenest been
found in a sort Of honey cOmbed or rotten quartz,
from which the sulphurets aforesaid have rotted
out in the course Of centuries through the action Of
water or Of one mineral or another. / think large
deposits Of gold are seldom neverfcund in quartz
that is perfectly sound and unaffected by time.
The best known processes OF separating the gold
Afrom the stone yet very imperfect. doubt
whether any OF them save more than seventy five
per cent of the metal. Much Of it is exceedingly
6ne, and remains connected with quartz or other
metal after the most thorough known processes of
crushing have been exhausted upon it and so, if
the material be light quartz or a sui phuret, they
float away in the water; if heavier, they sink and
are thrown away as sand. At the Naucluse, they
mix a part of their refuse sand with salt and some
acid then grind it over and rln it through the Chi.
Ian mill again. obtaining considerable gold by the
process. / heard of several improved processes
for separating lately invented one of them being
solvent lacid l believed which melts tie gold vitk-
oHt heat, and precipitates it at the bottom of tho
pan or cauldron. believe this is yet secret and
not in practical operation anywhere. At least, it
is not in this region 1t may prove failure but the
strong necessity felt for something of the sort will
probably lead to its discovery or invention if still
unknown.
Enough Of Gold. a few words now oil the M.
tural aspects of the Gold Region Mines are usually
found in districts otherwise sterile and forbidding
hut this is quite different The soil has been long
subjected to the wretched cultivation TO which Vr.
ginia is reemihent-exhausted by crop after crop
Of Corn or Wheat without fertilizing-- fingered
ous'-and then thrown up and allowed to return
lazily into forest At this moment not one. fourth
Of the soil Of the counties / have named is under
any sort Of cultivation while the portion cultivated
10 but wretchedly skinned over Not one.eighth Of
what the country cught to produce is produced
although tapart from few gold mines) Agriculture
is the sole business carried on Such an entire
desrth of manufactures and mechanic arts Van
kee can hardly realize and the churches and
school houses scarce at best are not equal to Dutch
barns. The schools are all private, and wish the
admirers of the Voluntary System Of Education
would come here and see it in operation. think
rot bali the children out of the lew and Struggling
'ilsges attend school ss much as three months per
Annum, and many OF those who do have to travel
rom two to three miles, often overtaken in the long
stretches of woods by violent thunder storms, and
compelled to ford suddenly swollen torreats at the
imminent peril Of drowning OF twenty streams