, 1859-09-13

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER IL, 1859.
GHEELEY IN CALIFORNIA.
The n1inca and Mining.
s4csAxrs7o Aug. :, 1853.
have spent tbe last week mainly among The
mlnek and mitets Of FL Dorado, Placer, aud Nc-
vada Counties. in the Leari Of tue gu!d- -produ,
cling region. Therc may b: richer :" diegings'
north or >enth, os: ! believe no otncr Nfce
counties lying together hare yielded in the AZ.
grrgate, or are no~ producing, 80 much gold
rs tsapsc hatt namrd-
THE CANALS.
These canals arc q striking characteristic Of
the cu,ire mining region. As you traverse Il
wild und broken district, perhaps miles froul
and haMan labitAsion or sign Of present hus-
bsphrs, they insersecs your dusty, indifferent
road. or are carried in fumes supported By .
frame work oftituber twenty to sixty feet ovcr
your head. Some Of these fumes or open aque-
ducts are carried across valleys each mile or
more in width hare seen two Of them thus
crossing side BY side. Tho canals range from
ten 70 ~4xty or eighty msles in length, aud are
filled by damm,ng the streams wllcrrfrom thry
are seyetally fed. and taking out their water IN
d wide trench, which runs aloug the side Of one
bank, gradually gaining comparative alatndc as
the stream 1Y IL side talis lover ard hover in
ils canon, until ii is Ut length on the crest Of
lhe headtand or u1ouptain proulontoEy which
projects into the plain. and may DC g ndueted
desirable, think several of these canals have
cost nearly or auise Latf a million dollars each,
1la.iuc been enlarged md improved from year
to wear, 9. circumstances dictated aud mcans
couId be obtained. One Of them, originally
constructed il defiance Of 8angaine prophecies
.r sfus
Of its construction within three months from
tic date Of its completion. Then it Was found
necessary to cnlarge md cvery way improve IT.
aud evcrv dollar OF its net earnings for tho next
four wears was devoted tc its perfection. ln
some Instances, the projectors exhausted their
own means and then Fesortcd to borrowing on
mortgage ut California rates Of interest: be.
lieve nearly or cutie crery such experiment
resulted III absolute bankruptcy and chaugo
Of owners. OF late. the solvent aad prosperous
companies hnyc turned their intention to DAM
ming the outlets Of The little lakes which GIL the
lloliows Of the Sierra, iu order to hold back the
superabundaut waters If the Spring months for
use in Summer end Autumn. This course is
doub!y bepeticeut, in that it din1inisles the
danger from fuods to which this city Is spe.
chilly subject, bat which is also serious in NIL
tue valleys or cauons Of the Mining region
wherein there is ansthing that water Gun injurr.
judge that tho cost and present caAh Talue ol
these mining canals throughout California must
br n,auy millions Of dollars, paying in the aver
age fair income, wt4lc their supply Of water is
at this season, and from July TO November,
utterly inadequate. Wafer is sold by them by
the cubic iucn-a stream four inches deep and
81, wide, for instance, being twcntv.four inchcs,
for which, 1t fifty ccnts per incl, tWelre dollars
per day mnst be paid By the t4ker. i head Of
six iucttes--thut is. six inches depth Of water
in the lunas anbose the top Of the aperturs
through which the water escapes into tue mi
ners' private ditch or 1ume-is usually allowed.
The price per dag ranges from twenty ceuts 10
dolIar per iucll, though think it now seldom
reaches ihe higher figure, which WIS once COM
mon.
Go where you will in the mining region, you
ure seldom milo distant from past or present
*'d,ggings." Speaking generally, every rarine,
crcry one ut some point dug open TO the IS bed
rock" aud The OVERLAPPING earth or gravel run
through !" rocker - ".oin" or "slussce," in the
hope Of making it yield the shining dust. Mnny
Of these water courses have been deeply and
widely dug W for miles in extent. II any arc
left entirely undisturbed, the presumption is
strong thAt the subiucent rock IL SO near the
surface TINT gold flus had no caance to deposit
Itself thercon. III some instances, basins OF
deprcssions ID the rock hare been gradually
filled up with earth-rrobably auriierous-
through. thousands Of years, und the gold which
otherwise might llave been strown down the
valley tor suIles il lerc collected, 50 thut it
woufl bc sheer waste to mine throughout those
miles. hut the more general opinion seems to
bc that gold is .liaused throughout ths soil OF
the entire mining region, especially upon and
just ubure the surface Of the bed rock, though
uuy iu certain localities it is sufficiently abund-
nut to Justify efurts 10 extract il. find 10 one
seeming IL cherish any apprehension that Cali
furnia will cease 10 produce gold abundansly,
Mt least within tic next quarter Of q century.
~ IL L.. s,.r Il.
that the indax Of population will ia time 50 re-
duce tile wages Of labor, or the progress If in-
ycatiou and discovery su increase itk efficiency,
that extensive districts will ultimately be mined
with proit which arc now necessarily avoided.
II thu amount Of available wates were doubled,
With considerable reduction Of price, theGo'd
product Of California would thereupon lie
iucreased several millions per annun,. At pres.
cnt, ntniug enterprises Of considerable promise
mud indeiatiga6;e magnitude seu3ain in abey
ance, simply because the price Of f2bor, tht
rate OF interest," aud other elements Of the cos
of mining, arc deemed too hugh to justify tlcil
rrOsecutIon.'
QUARTZ ROCK MINING.
As to quartz .nining--or the reduction Il
powder of the yein-stone wherein gold il con
tained, and tue extraction of the gold from til.
powder. by MEANS Of watcr, quicksilver, de-
Judge tia: t1ie time bus not even yet arrived fo'
its proftabts prosecution There are conspicu
known rs " Allisou's Ranche." in Grass Valley
Tor exgfnple-but | aul coulident fully three ou
Of every fnur quartz mining enterprises haze
proved failures. or have at best achieved
no positive success. The current csli
mates If the yield Of gold by Quartz rock, art
yield Of gold by qu=rlz rein stone is less thai
twenty dollars per tun--borely one cent pe
pound-aud ttat this yield will not pay the az
eragc cost Of sinking shafts, running drifts o
ad'ss. pumping out water. raising ore land q
immense aggregate Of dead rock with it,
crushing il, nud extracting the gold, in 3 com
try whore common labor costs $2a to t. Pc
day. At 80 per tuu Of vein-stone, quartz min
ing might pay but wbtre one vein yields q
per ton, there are many which yield less tha
IN. There are souo instances Of protitabl
quartz 1piniag by n,eu on the spot Who thor
ouehlr understand the business; bat hare no
heurd u an instance iu which money has bee,
invested in quartz mining, Ey persons ont q
California, who lAse not lost every farthing.
NEW NODE or MINING.
OF course, l hare not even been within Sigh
or more than u fraction Of The mines or place.
OF ,hesc counties, while bare not careful
studied even one Of them. Hut the newest
most efficient, most cuifar1n1y profitable mod
Of operation is that termed Nydra3ltr Hiniag-
tlat;s, :he washing down ana the washiag ava
Of large deposits OF auriferous earth By mean
Of current Of water 90 directed as to fall o
the right spot, OF {hesteS still. projected shsoug
. hose aud pipe with the force generated b.
hcary fall, The former Of these methods il e1
hibited iu perfection at Nevada, the l1ttcr d
North san Juan, as doubtless, at Ln.any otlle
places. ii Sur,h San Juan, near the fork ofth
Tuba, streams at least three inches in dtamete
mud probably containing twenty measures
inches Of water, and directed against the re
mining ha1f of high hiIl, which they strk
with eucl force that boutdcrs uf the Aize Of CAT
non balls are startcd from their beds ind hurIe
Eve 10 ten feet into the air, By thsa proces
one nun will wash Away bAnk Of earth like
l!aystacl sooner than a hundred mcu could
it By o'd-fashioned s'uiciag. beliere curt
Welding u bare cents worth Of gold to the pa
inav be protitutiy washed by this process, pay
ing reasonable price for tlia wuter. As muc
as <leo per day is protitably paid for the wate
thrown through one pipe. The stream tim
thrown will koocl man Is lifeless as tboug
i we're grape:shos,, A. the bank. ovsr hun
ared feet liSh. is undermined " ttis huttery,
frequently caves from tbs top downward, reach
in; and burying the CARELESS operator. Thrc
msn have bgcn thus killed at San Juan With
The }asl month, until nj length greater eantio
liz exercised, aud the operator stands twice a
far away as he formerly Gid.
VERY long s!uices-a4 long Aa mxy be-conduc
The discharged water u*xy and asn told tina
it is no matter how thick y ith earth the wate
may rnn, provided the slnicc be long enough
II is Of course 70 arranged ~ to present rtt1et
crcviccs, DC, 10 arrest the gold us first born
aion; by the turbfd dood- i believe there ar
Cum pan,es operrtins by this method whoR
gross rrcrpt4 frum Single siuice are thor