Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1865-07-21
rHE rHREE NEcEssARY.

0AAA SAN NoN0hAAo4L4CAk VA oSASSNN
where the science of mining may be
thoroughly taught. In the first place our
mines never can be advantageously work.
ed until the Pacific Railroad is completed,
because only rock which is of extraordin-
airy richness can, until the means of trans
portation which that will furnish, be made
to pay for extracting and working. The
working of mines in many portions OF this
State has merely become a question OF
transportation. So it is in a large part OF
the mineral regions which lie between the
Rocky Mountains and the Sierras. 1t IS
not by the transportation Of freight alone,
that it will serve to open up and develope
this country, but on account Of the facili-
ties it will furnish to travellers, also, which
renders the Pacific Railroad indispensable
to this country. Transportation of ma
chinery and wood and provisions, and all
things necessary for the working of mines
and support of the miners at cheap rates,
is Of course what is chiefly and absolutely
necessary for the opening Of those districts
which are remote from natural means of
communication. The cost of working
ores must be reduced, or thousands upon
thousands Of tons must remain untouched,
which would otherwise yield hundreds Of
millions of gold and silver. The mills at
Reese River and Humboldt charge $50,
$50, and 800 per ton for working ore.
Of what enormous richness therefore must
the rock be, to pay for taking out and
working, in those districts! If the rail-
road were completed, so that they could
obtain machinery, provisions, and other
things necessary, at moderate prices, the
cost of working ore by the known pro-
cesses, could be reduced to $40 or Sl5
per ton. What then would be the pro-
duction of those parts of our State, which
now ship thousands of dollars worth of
bullion weekly, that is extracted from ore
worked at a cost Of from $50 to 800 per
ton:
Without such means of communication,
the full richness of this great country will
never be known. As matters now are, it
not only is the most laborious and fatigu-
ing undertaking to visit the different parts
of this mining region, but it is a task of
life and death to do so. The dread Of ia
tigue, exposure, highwaymen and savages
keeps hidden from the eyes of only the
most hardy prospectors, hundreds Of
mines, the truthful report of whose mar
velous wealth is regarded more like the
tabled mines of Ophir than as existing
realities. The railroad would bring out
thousands Of hardy men too, to handle
the pick and shovel. 1t would bring their
wives and families and oil the necessaries
and comforts of life, and make our people
settled and contented. 1t costs now a
small fortune for q man to bring his
family from the States to this country.
When he arrives here he can have but few
of the comforts or luxuries Of life be-
cause it costs so much to procure them.
A railroad across the continent would OBJ
viate all this. Then let US have the rail-
road as quickly as possible. Another
great drawback to the prosperity of this
country is the unsettled question Of titles
to mining ground and the great eageress
shown by numerous members of the last
Congress to raise money for the payment
Of the national debt at the expense Of the
miner. People are never free to expend
large sums OF money in making improve
ments on any kind of property without q
full assurance that the property, is their
own. Miners and capitalists do not will
lingly put valuable improvements on
claims in this country, looking to their
use and benefit a score Of years hence,
chiefly because they have no assurance
that the Government will not introduce
some policy which shall operate to give
the benefit Of their Improvements to an
other. Therefore, there has been inaugu-
rated and carried on, in mining operations
in the Pacific States and Territories, a
hand to mouth system Of working mines,
which in many cases has resulted disas-
trously to companies, and has in almost
all cases made changing and repairing
work the great source of annoyance and
expense. If almost all Of the irregulari-
ties of mining and business connected with
or dependent upon it, were to be traced
back to their source they would be chiefly
found to result from the instability of title
and the uncertainty of Government policy
concerning the disposition of mines and
the manner and extent of their taxation.
Mining is a comparatively new business
to Americans /; but though they have been
engaged in extracting the precious metals
from their ores only for a few years, they
have brought to their aid all the science
which has been the results of mining and
milling operations during past ages in
other countries, and to-day we stand first
in the class of miners. But our systems
of mining and our processes of reducing
ores are yet far from perfection. We are
loS;pg ,housands of dollars every day nv
not having processes which will separate
all the precious metal from the worthless
rock and useless mineral. French and
German mining schools have done much
% perfect the systems of mining, and
some of our mining companies have found
it for their interest to pay their graduates
as high as S35,OOO per annum to superin-
tend their affairs. If u scientific knowl-
edge of mining is as valuable as that, we
should have mining schools established at