The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1868-02-27

THUR
From Nevada.
1 Gold and silver Mining.
THE MODUS oPERANDI.
Special Correspondence Of CouRIKE
/ WAsHor Cry, NEVADA. !
/ January 20, 1889.
DEAR CoURIKR: .as, aA
1 am occasionally greeted with th
over welcome face Of your Weekly
and with your permission, propos
from time to time to jot down, 70
the information Of your readers, an.
my old friends in Wapello county som,
matters that are likely to intcres
them from this great Eldorado. Al
you are awars, ! hare itinerate.
pretty much I'll over Uncle Sam
Mineral Territories, since some min,
years ago, l bid my friends fare
well and with an anxious, hopefn
faith turned my back upon tn,
haunts Of civilization and salutel
the Western horizon.
But personalities aside with which
but few of your readers can take
any interest, come to . description
Of the business I am engaged in, and
which is the beginning snd end ol
human pursuits in Nevada, present
and prospectively, towit, mining -
Silver mining Is the chief occupa.
ton Of this country, and that princi-
pally in silver ores.
Virginia city which, . about twelve
miles from this city, is now the great
central mining locality of this State.
From the Virginia mines alone, Of
rather from the great Comstock lode,
and its spurs and variations, about
500 tons Of silver ore is reduced dai.
ly, the ore ranging in value from e25,.
90 to $40o, 90 per ton, and employing
in its reduction alone about 200 mon,
and consuming some 200 cords Of
wood per day. The process of re-
ducing ores here, is simple enough.
The Quartz Rock is first crushed by
. battery driven by steam. It is
formed by placing iron stems perpen-
dicularly in a heavy timber frame
work, and attaching to the lower
end Of the stems or upright iron
shafts, heavy circular cast iron shoes.
On these iron stems, is placed .
heavy collar or cam, by which it is
raised by an arm placed on heavy
iron shaft; the arm is made to raise
the stem, and shoe, which is called
q stamp, abont two or throe feet, and
then it is allowedto fall on the ore.
which is shovelled into an iron frame
or battery bed, and when the ore is
sufficiently pulverized it is sifted
through screens placedin the battery
frame. The pulverixed ore or pulp
is then placed in large circular cast
iron pans, or tubes, which are heat
ed by steam, and the pulp kept in
constant motion by turning these
vessels on pivots, or stirring them by
machinery driven inside, for from
four to eight hours. Z
Quicksilver, sulphate of copper and
sometimes other chemicals and min
erals, are thoroughly mixed in the
pulp, for the purpose of separating
the silver and gold from the refuse
portion Of the rock and ore. The
reduction Of the ore is but one item
connected with the business. Dig
ging, and blasting from the lodges,
and then hoisting it, sometimes 500
or 1000 feet to the surface, requires
immense man and horse power, and
complicated and costly machinery.
Amongtheprincipal articles of con-
sumption n reducing these precious
metals to tho bright and shining cir
culating medium, is wood forfnel, and
timber to support and keep the earth
and outside rock from caving in on
the miners.
In vicinity alone, about 5000 acres
Of heavy timber has been consumed
for that purpose in the last six years.
At present fuel and timber has to be
hauled from here to supply Virginia
City, but teamsters here take loads
when they 60. II would astonish
your wapello county teamstsrs, to
tell them about hauling 10, Is, or
10000 TBS At q load, but what will
they say when I assure them that
our Nevada mulewhackers often with
their ten or twelve mule or horss
teams, haul readily 80 to 10000 Ms
at . single load toand from the mines.
There are many other promising
mining localities in this State, but
mono Of them are uccessfhlly work
Cd. ~ the Virginia City at present
I am, together with my twopartners,
the owners Of some convenient tim
Der land, from which We expect to
deliver during the coming summer,
1000 cords Of wood TO the mines,
for which We yet $1,000 per cord.
More anon, FRANx HxDRrcK.
Obituary.
Capt. John F. Cunningham, 2lth
U. s. Infantry, and late Captain and
Brevet Major 10th Iowa, Of tho lows
Brigade l7th Corps, died ofConsump
ton At vicksburg, on tho 7th inst
The deceased was . brave and skilfa
officer, and fought his way up from i