Volcano weekly ledger., 1855-12-22
For the Weekly Ledger.
A Retrospect.

lament their former ineXperience in the art OF
mining. If they had been acquainted years
ago with the hydraulic or even ground sluice,
they believe their "piles" would have long
since been made. IT seems to me that this
amentation arises from too limited view oil
the subject. am disposed to belieye-not
precisely that whatever is, is righF-but
something very nearit, that all things in the
end generally turn out for the best" But
let me Illustrate by train Of thought that
passed through my mind yesterday.
was standing at the foot Of one of onr
huge hydraulics when | observed at its base
an old, rust-caten pan, which had probably
done good service in 40 and 80. The strong
contrast between the two mining implements
suggested very forcibly the great improve
ment which had taken place in our mining
operations Each was symbol of the mining
art during one stage of its progress. In fact
the pan may be considered the germ from
which the hydraulic has sprung. The analo-
ogy is toleraby perfect between the acorn
Seeding, shrub, saplng and tall oak" and
the pan, cradle, tom, sluee and majestic hy-
draulic Each series illustrates equally well
the great law of progressive development
This reflection led me to make another that
the law of progress permits nothing to be de-
veloped before its time or until it is actually
needed The Seeding does not produce bios
SONS, for it can not bear fruit We had no
hydraulics in 40, nor would we have used them
had they been in existence At that time
we were engaged in cleaning up" the crew.
ces those ingenious rifles which were long ago
patented by somebody of more ancient date
than the philosopher, who, according to San
cho invented the blessed art of sleep OF
what use were hydraulic in cleaning up
rifle For this purpose, do we not still use
the pan, as we did in 40?
But let us come down to the time when
cradles were in use. We were then mining
in the detas at the mouths of precipitous
guches, Or along the bars of our auriferous
streams. In other words, we were cleaning
up the boxes" which lay at the foot of Ma
ture's long-toms. What article is better
adapted to such work than the cradey The
cradle is still in demand when similar end is
to be accomplished Next in order came the
tom and box-sluce We were then occupied
in working what is called leads, that is to say,
we were cleaning up the great tail-races,"
into which nature had sluiced for whole geo
logical periods. In cleaning up our own Lii
putian races, do we not use the same imple-
ments that we used then? After this came a
time when the country was supposed to be on
the verge of ruin There were leads in abun-
dance still left but their dirt was too sparsey
sown with the golden seed to allow of its be
ipg .pro6tably worked AT this crisis the
ksluice was thought of, and the country
ted. 1t was found that by completing
Fbcess which nature had begun a new
nod of labor was opened to which no limits
can be assigned
But there were hills and mountains through
which the precious metal was so generally diff
fused, that the bare "color" could be found.
Nature had been sluicing them down for ages
but ages more must pass away before her
work would be done Could no means be de-
vised by which the present generation could
reap the benefit of these ineXhaustible store
houses of wealth To meet this exigency,
we have the hydraulic and its serpentne hose. /
j ilo II tIc ClpNhllE llStiuincHt vi lle iIiulUg
art. Here all the appliances made use of 10y
Nature in her mining operations, are united
and individualiZed. The beating rain the
torrent, and the land slide are here
reproduced in an intensified form. Not till .
our mountains are washed as bald as Sinai or
Ararat, will the labors of the hydraulic be
,nded
Ia this retrospect | think that we may dis .
,oyer that Providence disposes Of things to
pretty good advantage" With every diff
,ulty, the means for its removal are provided .
md not before. We may also learn to be
hopeful in regard to the future. If distant
shall find our placer diggings ex-
lausted, it will at the same time develop ma
;hinery for working proltably our immense
luartz lcdges and the historian of that day
will wonder that the opinion was ever enter
aimed that Volcano could grow too rapidly
or her resources
SILEX.