The Placer herald., 1856-11-08
TURNPIKE RaADs AND BRIDGES.
The length Of these roads, excsyated. is as Il


Nile Hill, 5000
$4,000
The length Of these ROADS, excavated sas fol-
lows:
Mineral Bar. miles, Auburn and Yankee Jim
s, Murderer's Bar (part in Ell Dorado coy l, Wis.
consin Hill and Yankee Jim 4 Harmon Hill and
Auburn l. Bakers /. Mile Hill l.; Total II miles.
These roads, as works of internal Improvement
and true Yankee enterprise are uuequaled in
any country. The man from the East as he passes
over them for the first time. is struck with surprise
at the enterprise and perseverance of Californi-
ans. as evuced by these stupendous works.
These improvements are Of great value to the
miners of the mountains, afording them good
roads for the transportation of provisions where
previous to their construction. every pound must
be carried upon the back of the mule
The owners of the Stock in these roads receive
a very fair interest on the capital invested. and
the assessed value may be generally taken as the
a.aount of the original cost.
QCAnT2 Mills.
In my last years Report after stating that there
were but two successful quartz mills in the coun-
ty, closed my paragraph on the subject by say
ing when these old surface washings shall have
been forgotten. the sound of the quartz stampars
will be heard from almost every ledge which the
miner now passes daily without notice" When
pened the above little dreamed that these quartz
soon. Now, at this time, the sound of two new
mills may be heard within two miles walk of this
place. They are located at Ophr. place once
celebrated for the richest surface diggngs in the
county.
The mill of Watson & Co. Sarahsvile, is the most
successful quartz operation in the county. The ca
pacity of the mill is not large. being worked bv
an eight horse power engine, and with an invest
mcnt of only 81 900, yet, the mill and ledge is
valued at $50 900 The rock averages over $40
per ton. paying about $4,000 per week.
The second mill, located at Grand Ledge pD
Iiumbug Canon, is more extensive, having put up
within the last year new mill and GO horse
power engine, and running "a stamps. and capa-
bic of crushing IS tons Of rock every "a hours
This lead is believed to be good.
The two mills above alludcd to arc in the upper
portion of the county, and were in operation last
year and the Two new mills are in the lower.
about q miles of Auburn at Ophir. one steam and
the other water power. They have been in opera
ton about month, and it is impossible TO state
what results may be expected from these
lodges. There has been invested about $4,000
in their construction. and every well wisher of
that section Of our county hopes ii inay not be in
vested in vain.
in this same vicinity there are several compa-
MES of MeXicans working other ledgcs with the
old Spanish arastras, and generally with good
success.
Also anothar ledge is being opened at Blue
Canon and prospecting with arastras.
The MINES Of this county have proved pro-
ductive rs ever the past year. and River mining
on the average, more so. The hill tunnels are
still being pushed forward, day and night, with
great perseverance,. In several localities the mi
ner has reached the richest pay in this class of dig
gngs 1t c,n be safely estimated that Placer
county has furnished sGO00,010 of the gold pro-
duct Of the last year.
Our numerous rivers afford great fields for the
fNts ~ /, ~
rican river this season, ii was estimated that
there was two thousand Asiatic, engaged in min
ing; and in the entire county over three thousand.
The revenue from this people since their monthly
tax was reduced. has been considerably incrcas-
ed and collected with less aboy The total re-
ceipts during the year Was about $4,000.
TELEGRAPH LINES interScct our county. the wire
passing through Auburn, Wisconsin Hill, Iowa
Hill and Yankee limS.
LIME KIN9-Thnre is but one Lime Kiln in
the county, which is located near the county scat.
The article manufactured here bears the name Of
eng very excellent and large quantities arc ship
p,d to Sacramento and MarysvlIc.
County BoUNpARF.--rhe western line of the
county adjoining Suffer and Sacramento, is en-
tircy unknown and unmarked, though it has been
once surveyed. This gives the Assessors of the
different counties, and the citizens living on the
line, no little trouble and Inconvenience The
distance which should be surveyed aud marked is
about thirty miles, running from the Junction OF
The rivers at Bcals' Bar to Camp Far West, on
Bear river The expense of running said line
would be insignificant and it should he at once
performed. The County Surveyor in his report,
will call your attention TO this line and report
more in detail.
DAlRYs.-Thc annual product Of the Dairye of
Placer, am unable to report They are lqutc
small and in their infancy. The coming year it
may be reasonably expected that butter and cheese
will be quite an important product of the county.
GRIsr MllLS.--No mills of this kind in the coun-
ty, and the farmers arc entirely dependent upon
our neighboring county of Nevada.
ASSESSED PRopERTr.-The total amount Of as
scssed valuation in the county OF Placer is 81, ZOO
QOG Last ycar it was Sl700 900. Notwithsand
inc the depreciation Of many kinds Of property, |
have been enabled to increase our property tax
half million Of dollars. The increase is owing
to more diligence in searching out Invisible pro-
perty. consisting Of money and gold dust solvent
debts, and money invested in mining claims
SOLVENT DEBTs.-The total amount
Of solvent debts assessed in the coun-
ty amounts to............ ......... Sl30.OO0
Coin and gold dust. st.............,... ll4,OoO
Capital in cams. .....,...'......'t. IZ2'ooo
Merchandise ............. 20j, 900
Total l...............,.... .... oo'9,ooo
This amount is about onc-fourth of the entire
revenue. Assessors cannot he too particular and
careful in assessing county, to call upon eVeFy
individual, and treating all alike, the statute
declares 1t is an easy matter for any Assessor to
find and assess visible property. But as appears
above, there is nearly one-tourth of the taxable
property Of this county, invisible. TO get this
list on the Assessors books must be acquaint-
ed with the citizens generally. In the discharge
Of my duties, have endeavored to find every man
worth from 800 to $4,000. From my knowledge
of the people. and better knowle lge of the To-
calty of property, learned by the actual pcr'or-
nance of my duties | shall he enabled to matcri