San Andreas independent., 1857-11-21

nish employment to a considerable mum.
Der of persons for two or three years to
come. There were taken from the Har.
per claim in 1854, with 5 months work
! 600 ounces of gold dust.
On the north side of Coyote Creek,
comes, first, the Hitchcock claim, which
was worked in 1850 as surface claim,
but, since, the owners have gone forty
feet deep, and still find very rich dirt
This claim is owned by J. p Hitchcock,
-. Wells and J. B. Burgess. It has
always paid largely and continues to do so.
Of other claims, great many pay big
wages and some pay more. The Ohio
Tunnel is, almost too we'll known to need
mentioning; it has been worked since
1851, and has always paid well; but, we
do not know how much has been taken
out of it. The South Western Tunnel
has also been worked since 1851, and also
has produced something over half mil
lion of dollars A great amount of sur
face mining has been done on the Flat,
and we noticed few hydraulic and tun-
mel claims on the western slope of the
hill, but did not visit them. The camp
looks dull, but few people ''in town. .
and no Post Office or Express Office in
the place. Douglass is about hallway
bstween Murphys and Vallecito, and
will always be eclipsed by the more active
and enterprising neighbors. The greater
part of the families residing here are
Welch and Italians -twenty-eight chill
dren large enough to attend school.
/ MURPHYs.- -"The Queen of the ST.
erras' has also large number of fami-
lies for mining camp situated so high
up IN the mountains. The school census
reports fifty-fve children large enough to
attend school. A large proportion of the
family residences are elegantly and con-
vicinity built and tastefully decorated with
flower gardens and every appurtenance
that comfort or permanence could sug-
gest. The people have undoubted enter
prise, as witnessed in the various inter
ests Of public nature, which have been
undertaken and built since the discovery
of gold. The Union Ditch, Saw Mills,
Big Tree Road, Suspension Fumes and
the Deep Ditch for drainage, now being
built, are among the most important un-
dertakings. Private enterprise has also
done much to improve the place The
fine fire-proof hotel Of Messrs. Sperry &
Perry, and the store houses of the prin-
cipal merchants, are superior to any 9TH
ers we have noted in the county. OF
the mines we have nothing to say, pre-
ferring to wait the completion of the
Fluming Company's Ditch, and the result
of the introduction of water Oh to Central
Hill.
MURPHY's FLAT FLUMING Co-The
object of the undertaking is to drain
Murphy's Flat to depth of twenty-five
feet, and to secure the GOLD which neces-
sarily escapes from the sluices of miners
washing their dirt into it, to whom it is
a great convenience, carrying off their
tailings, &C., &c; as all the dirt which
is now being washed on the fiat, is obliged
to be hoisted by horse Or steam-power,
to the level of the present flumc, a height
of some fifteen or twenty feet; and as, in
order to get at the dirt at all, steam or
horsepower pumps have to be kept con-
stantly working to free the claims from
water, which can only be done in dry
seasons, even by these means. 1t will
readily be seen how great an advantage
in working these claims will cnsue by
lowering of the fumc to the point men
toned. The hosting and pumping APP
paratus can be all dispensed with, and
the dirt be hydrauliced and ground-sluiced
Immediately into the fume. The result
will be that ten times the amount of dirt
can be washed, in one day, at one-fourth
the expense now attending the working
! Of these claims.
The NJ. F. f. Co. is an incorporated
body; the stock is divided into three
hundred shares, of 800 each, of which
about one hundred and sixty are now ia
ken. The fume, when completed, will
be $500 feet long, and at its termination
20 feet below the surface Nearly all of
this distance will have to be blasted
through the slate ledge and limestone
rock; and this, together with the high
price of labor, has long deferred the mi
ners from attempting the work. It's vital
Importance to the camp has at last become
so evident that further delay was not to
be tolerated, and they have made bold,
determined commencement. They have
now about eight hundred feet of the flume
built on the grade, and about fifty men
steadily working on it. Up to the pres
ent time, some $4,000 have been ex-
pended, and it is supposed that it will re-
quire about 81, 900 more to complete
the enterprise.
The present board of Trustees arc
James Silver, President; +. Burrows,
W. Foy, G. Murphy, and d. l.. Cary; j.
Palache, Secretary and Treasurer.
There is no doubt but that the stock
will pay good percentage when the
work is completed. The present fume
belonging to the Union Water Company
has paid for itself two or three times
over, and the amount of dirt which will
be washed into the new fumes, will
necessarily be much greater, not only
because the old claims will be able to
wash much more dirt, but because there