Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1865-11-14

Comstock lode and the project of draining
it by q deep tunnel. Let US now consider
the interest that our city and State, and
the Coast generally have in the continuous
pr~oductiveness of the mines at Washoe.
Most Of the stock of the incorporated
companies holding the largest claims on
the lodes is owned in San Francisco, and
these stockholders have q direct interest in
the mines, amounting to perhaps $4,000
900. The indirect interest Of the general
public, which affects everybody, is far
greater. II the Washoe mines should
never pay a dividend, but yield enough to
cover expenses and keep them going, they
would still be Of benefit to the coast. The
Potosi mine has never paid a dividend,
but it has produced q large amount Of sill
yer, given profitable employment to a null
titude Of men. and helped to stimulate
business far and wide. The Chollar has
exercised a similar influence, though the
dividends have not equaled the assess
ments. If the Comstock lode were sud
denly annihilated, the stockholders would
lose only their $4,000. 900 but California
would lose q far greater sum by the stop
page Of trade, the loss of confidence, and
the decline in the value Of property.
The Comstock lode has played a very
considerable part in stimulating the latter
growth of San Francisco, and now con-
tributes much to maintain it and to fur
nish a basis for calculations of future
growth. It was the discovery Of the
wealth Of Washoe that filled our city with
energy from go to '63. and helped US to
| open new streets. and to huild new houses
at the rate of q thousand annually. The
wealth made at Washoe shows its marks
everywhere. A number of our richest
men owe their fortunes to the Comstock
lode. Some Of the best buildings on Mont
gomery street were built with silver OBJ
tanned directly or indirectly from Washoe.
Our foundries were flooded with work.
All the teamsters of the State were certain
| Of employment on the Sierra Nevada. The
people of Virginia city sent to the Sacra-
mento Valley for the fruits and vegetables
which their soil and bleak climate refused
TO produce. Their steam boilers were
heated with wood and their mules were
fed with barley from California. Their
wives bought u most costly silks and
velvets. Their men purchased the fastest
and most expensive horses of our country.
The demand for labor in their mines raised
our wages. Property in our chief thor
oughfare owed several hundred dollars
per foot OF its value to the influence Of
Washoe, which was felt everywhere and
by everybody, from the Colorado to the
klamath.
But in May, 1864, there was a panic in
mining stocks, and they have not yet re-
covered from the depression which then
commenced. The stimulating influence of
Washoe on San Francisco declined very
seriously. and the population Of California
and Nevada has since then remained
nearly stationary. And yet the produc-
ton Of silver has not fallen off; on the
contrary, as compared with 1868, which
was the year of the greatest activity, there
has been a considerable increase. The
beneficial influence wal owing not so
much to the silver as to the confidence,
and the decrease of influence is owing 10
the decline Of confidence, not to q diminu-
ton in the silver yield. The increase Of
silver could not outweigh the loss of con-
fdence.
Not only the welfare of California, but
we might almost say the very existence Of
Nevada as a State, depends OF the perma-
nent productiveness of the Comstock lode.
The report Of the Controller Of Nevada for
the fiscal year ending May lst, 1866, show
ed that the entire taxable property Of the
State was assessed at $~29,737,376, Of
which Storey had Sl5,3l6,309 Washoe
$3.50, 500, Lyon S2,S47,663, Ormsby
g. SS, 657, and Douglas Sl,l74,63l, a
total of S24,23S,0 6l, or ive-sixths Of the
total taxable property Of the State. These
Eve counties are all in the immediate vi
cinity Of the Comstock lode, which fur
nishes employment directly or indirectly
to most Of their inhabitants. Although
the ore comes from a narrow vein two
miles long, the mills whice reduce it are
scattered about at distances Of ter or if
teen miles, and men who dwell still farther
off are employed in cutting and hauling
timber, hauling ore or supplies, cultivat-
ing vegetables for them, and so On. The
production of $40, 000, 900 in silver, the
larger part Of which goes as wages to the
workmen, must, Of course, be a very i'm
portant item in a State which has a popu-
lation of only $4,000 Dr. thereabouts.
When Potosi, of South America, yielded
Sl0,O 900, 900 annually, q population Of
$780, 900 collected in the city, if the tradi-
ton is to be trusted, for the place has no
authentic history. It will not be easy to
find any other place in the world outside
of Nevada. where a population Of 10000
produce $500 to the person /; and this vast
production, coming almost entirely from
the Comstock lode, shows that the exist
ence of the State depends at present on
that lode, though there are, no doubt,
numerous other rich lodes which will be-
come productive in the progress Of time.
But if the mines at Virginia and Gold Hill
were rendered valueless now, the State
would be bankrupted. Precisely as con-
6dence rises in the permanence and steady
increase of the productiveness Of 1.-THE mines,
in that same ratio the value Of property,
the credi, Of the State, and the value of
its bonds will rise; and as the confidence
falls, so will the State credit.
Let us know that the leading mining
companies can act tremendously upon
those points where cooperation is neces-
sary to the protection of their mutual in
,eres,s; let US understand that no measure
necessary for the development of the
riches of the great vein will be neglected
lie, us see that the stockholders are in
earnest about commencing at the earliest
possible moment to open, explore and
drain the lode to the greatest possible
depth. and we shall all feel the better for
it.. The sound Of the first pick struck at
the Sutro Drain Tunnel, or in a tunnel by
any other name which promises to as
thoroughly drain the Comstock lode,
should cause renewed confidence IN every
man who identifies his fortunes with those
of California. 1t will stiffen the backbone
of Montgomery street; Front street will
get an impulse from it; the farmers will
plant more fruit trees and vines, knowing
that they are now c Of a permanent
market; the Pacific Railroad Company
will have additional inducements to hurry
I'D their work and everybody will feel
more confident Of the steady increase Of
of the population and wealth Of the Coast.
But on the other hand, if we know that
oannAR ,uA-I e.