New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1866-01-18
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
,RowLEss ACROSS THE CONTINENT.

The opoortunity afforded to the anthOr OF TINS
volume for observing the scenes and people that
came undcr his notice rarely occurs to any Traveller
He formed one of the party which accompanied
Mr. Schuyler Colfsx in his official tour to tHe raec
States psrtook Of the liberal hospitality WITH which
The Expedition Was everywhere honcred, was re-
ssiycd with heartfelt welcomes into the homes Of
svery social class, was admitted behind the scenes
10 the most important operations of industry orsi-
psss and pnblic life, returning with singular wealth
Of materials for an attractive and Informing nara
live. Few men, moreover, possess more ample
qualifications for q jud,cous and profitable use OF
his opportunities than Mr.. Dowles. Combining the
kIge experience of popular Journalist, long
familiarity with public meu and public affairs, al
Intelligent curiosity stimulated ard not exhausted
by its varied and successful application, with re-
narkable native shrewdness and good sense, apti-
tude and facility Of research, and freedom ana
Atrectness of expression he could not fail to embody
Che results of his Summers tour in volume OF
peculiar importance and value. Although written
In the of hand and careless style Of rapid traveller,
With no pretensions to elegance, ard not uniformly
correct, IL embraces mass of information, not
easily, if ut all, attainable elsewhere and evincng
great nicely of observation, discrimination and eau
Nousness Of judgment, fairness of mind, and ntcg.
nty OF purpo...
The j~ rncy, properly speaking, commenced at
Atch.son in Kansas, where the party assembled,
and after stage ride of six hundred and fifty mile'
which was performed in five days, arrived at Denver
In Colorado. The first object Of interest was the
Rocky Mountains. The author was fully alive to
che emotions Of surprise and wonder awakened by
shat stupcndous locality. Compared with the Alps
Of Switzerland, they presented panorama of supe-
dor mountain beauty. But his attention, as
practical man, with keen eye to business, was
mainly directed 10 the mineral wealth and develop
nent of the surrounding regions. His remarks Oh
this point are weighty and instructive. The whole
vast range of the Rocky Mountains that divide the
continent, are crowded with veins of rich mineral
ore. They run through the hi-sidcs, like the bars
Of erdiron, ut intervals from twenty to hundred
oset There is no end TO them in number, no ap-
parent limit to their depth. After the descent Of
four hundred feet, TO which distance shafts have
heeg sunk, the veins of ore retain their richness
endiHinislod, and often enlarged. Some fbfty
miles west from Denver, along the Clear Creek, a
population Of six or seven thousand is gath' rcl
among the mountains. The principal villages are
Central City, Black Hawk, and Nevada They are
most uncomfortably situated, in the ravines OF on
Ne hill.sdes, with the crookedest and most narrow
stscets in America. The houses are perehed upon
Hszy heights, or burrowed into the stones Of the
hhl, with gold lode in the back yard and often
vell sprnging up from arock Of precious metals.
The towns hrying, orderly, and busy, support
hs their churches and schools and newspapers,
nth the best materials of government and society.
Down in the valleys and up the hl-sides, rise the
ills for grinding out the gold, or the shanties that
sevcr the shafts which lead down after the ore.
From the high prices of labor and provisions, and
~>rious other causes, mining has been dull for the
ssst year. Only about twenty of the one hundred
stamp mills in the territory are now at work.
Aiming at present hardly pays expenses, although
separations are making for better times. The
sommon process Of separating the gold from the ore
leaves but about twenty-five per cent Of the precious
metal. With such waste, only the most valuable
e the ore pays expenses Good ore yields about
one hundred dollars in gold per cord, twelve dol
lars per tun, under the usual process of stamping
end treating with quicksilver With favorable man.
sgement this leaves fair profit, the whole cost
= about sixty-fve dollars a cord. Choice yield
tArse hundred dolars but these are rare. Improve
'erts in separating the gold now on trial,
vh,ch, if successful will increase the yield from
ave hundred to eight hundred dollars cord. This
nate Of production will at once put new aspect
The business, redeem the mining companies from all
uising embarassments, and stimulate the invest
nent of capital with great rapidity.
The silver mines of Nevada, according to Mr.
vovles, afford great capabilities of wealth, cut
Hitherto have been worked at runous exPease
q they have yielded in the six years that have
dspsed since their discovery, sixty millions of ma
srials for CON- they have absorbed much more than
hat amount of capital and labor The main Austin
bsft has been successfully traced for but five miles
md ole in length. The veins Of ore lie thick in
ne rotten granite, but they comparatively
mall, rarely widening to moro than three or four
bet. But to compensate for this disadvantage
hey are exceedingly rich, and generally be de-
Pended on. About fifty veins are now in successful
operation. As many more await the coming Of
capital and machinery. The ore yields from one
hundred to four hundred dollars per tun in silver
end gold; but at present prices, the working costs
ssAry or quito q hundred dollars; SO that which
Fields only one hundred dollars does not afford
Fo6t. Miners who have no mills separate the ores,
md hire the working out of the most valuable
The remainder is reserved until the price Of milling
sen's down. or they erect mills Of their OWL The
shA &c for working the ores at the mills is eighty
ooa ara tun, about half of which is profit. The
srb OF enc mine Austin has averaged one humid
I'D and eighty dollars tun for many months, yield.
ING net profit of at least eighty dollars un to its