New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-09-09


,bsun. Al present Mining ssterprDes Of eons'd-
ersbe promise and indefbiie magnitude remain IN
sbeJ aDce, simply bec,O,e the price OF labr, tbs
rate Of interest and other elements OF the cost OF
Mining, are deemed TOO high TO justify their prose
eution.
MODES or MINING.
In the course Of a weeks travel through por-
ton Of TIE " mir district, did not see single
miner tpgsged with pick and pan in prospecting.
II gher up in the mountains, or further to the
north, might have found such. Nor do remem-
Der having seen white meD save, perhap', IN hn-
gle iIs.aoce, engaged IN digging and washing the
gravel ct earth in the bed Of any wster-coarse,
whether river creek, or dry guleh. But Chinese
bands Of ak 70 twelve were often hard at work Ia
these water cuurses-Bear River, the south fork
Of the Yuba, &c.-diggibg and washing, with
rocker sluiee, and a sort OF wheel sno -hame ar
rspgemeut v hch did not get the naDg Of
The Chinese are hardly used here. la the frat
place, they sre taxed four dollars each per mouth
for the naked privilege of mining at all. Next,
they are not allowed TO nine any where but IN Dig
eires which white men have worked out and ab,n
doLsd or which no white man considers worth
working. Thirdly, if these rejected diggngs
happen, in Chine,e hands, 10 prove better
than their reputation, and TO begin yielding
Iberslly, q mob Of white soyereieM soon drives
the Chinese out Of them, neck aud heels "J"hn y
does not seem to be very bad fellow, but he IS
treated worse tban though he were. He lie not
malignant nor saneuDsry, and seldom harms any
lutb, trtbo Ruf he ia oh liz geusu AL
intent on the fullest qualification Of his carnal Ap
pettev, and on nothing else. He eats and drinks
the best he can get, and as much as be can hold,
but he is never 50 devoid Of selfrespoct as to be
seen drunk in public place; even for IA opium
debauch, be sccludes himself where none but a
friendly eye can reach him. His particular va
"nty" in the eating Line is Rice, whereof he vii
have the bet only if the best is to be bsd he likes
fat chicken ol.o, ard viii pay bis la.t dollar for
oue rather than 60 without. Lacking the dollar,
it is charged that be will rob hebroosts; a. all
eveIts hen.roosts are sometimes robbed, aud
John" has Ia be,r the blame. He is popularly
held to spend nothing, but carry all his game
out Of the country and home to bis naive
lsnd--a cha ge disyrovsd by the fact that he is
iDyeterste gambler, an opiumsmoker, habitusl
rum. dJibker, d dey otee Of every sensusl wee.
But he is weak ia body and not allowed to vote 80
il is safe TO lramle on bim be does MT write En-
gnh, and 60 cannot tell the story Of his wrongs;
be has no family here (tbe few Chinese women
brought to this country being utterly shameless
and absbdoned), ~ that be forms no domestic ties
and enjoys no social standing. Even the wrefche1
Indians Of California repel with scOrn the susges-
ton ihst there is any bi0sbip between their race
and the Chinese. John" has traits which can
neither praise nor justify; yet j suspect that, if
other mems faults were punished ~ severely As
bis, good many CaIifornans would De less COM
Portable than they are.
AS to Quartz Mining or the reduction to pow
der of the ven-s.one wherein gold is contained
and tie extraction Of the gold from the po~de by
III. ans OF water, quicksilver, &c-I Judge that the
time has not even yet arrived for its profitable
prosecution. There are cons 2cnous instances of
lie success thai Of the concern known as "Alsons
Rancho" in Grass Val'.y, for eAample-but am
confident that fully three out of every four quartz
mining enterprises have proved failures, or hsve At
best achieved 10 potitive success. The current
estimates of the yield Of gold by qusrtz rock, are
grossly exaggerated. / Judge that the average
yield of eod by quartz vein stone is less tnan twenty
dollars per tun-barely one cent per pcund-snd
that this yed will not ply The average cost OF sink
ing shafts running drifts or sdts, pumping out
water, rsi,ing ore (and an immense aggregate Of
dead rock with t), crushing it, and extracting the
GOLD, IN 8 country where compon labor costs $2i
70 So per day. At $40 per tun Of vein-stOue
quartz mining might pay; but where one vein
YIELDS $40 per ton, there are many which yield less
than 500. There are some instances of prO6tsble
qusrtz-mDiJgb by men on the spot who thoroughly
understand the business; but | have not heard of
an iDstaGce in which money has been Invested
in quartz mining, by persons cut of California, who
have rot lost every farthipg Of it.
/ think the most popular form of Mining at pres
eIt is that of sinking or drifting into hlls which
have q stratum OF gravel at OF 0ear their base,
directly everything the bed rock. Macy Of these
hils would seem to have been piled, 10 some far
Of, sntediiuvan period, upon bsd or basin OF
sohd granite, which often hollovs or dips toward
it. center like saucer. If, then, tunnel can be
run in through the "rim rock" or sde of this
saucer SO happily as to strike the level of the bot
ton, thereby draining off the water, and af9rding
the utmost facility for extracting the gold-bearing
gravel, TIE fortune of the operator may be made
BY enc lucky, or better than lueiy operation. In
a few instances, these subterranean grs'el basins
would seem TO have formed parts of tie beds Of
sncien rivers and SO 10 be extraordinarily rich in
the precious dust. In some cases, the "p,y dirt"
is hauled b, steam up sn incliotd plane, or even
raised perpereculsrly BY Mindlsss but Il IS easier