Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1869-09-24
LETTER FROM WHITE PINE.

LETTER FROM WHITE PINE.
Correspondence Of the s. F. Times.]
SHsRxAsrowS, New, September IA.
An ARMY DE- FURNACE BUILDERS.
Since my last letter, in which was
announced the fact that six draft fur
naces were about to be erected, for the
smelling Of ores from the Base Range sus-
eeptible Of treatment by this simple
means, there have appeared Oh the the
alter Of operations a small army Of COM
petitors in furnace building /; and the
prospect now is that, before winter is
upou as, We shall have two or three
dozen furnaces Of every kind in working
order. Four citizens Of Sherman have
erected a blast furnace Of brick, within
the town, Of sufficient capacity to smelt
from two to three ons per day. Mr..
Higgins, the builder of the same, also
made the brick used in its construction.
This furnace will have an engine and
fan blower. Mr.. Rathburn, of Hamilton,
is erecting a draft furnace at that place.
Tho one recently erected in Miser's
Canyon, by Messrs. Carpenter & Norton,
is already fred up, and will be ready
for the smelling of ofe in a few days.
Mr. Pritchard's little experiment in the
canyon above Swansea is a success, and.
the silver lead is beingruu from the ore
by it night and day. Another party are
erecting q blast furnace between Mr.
P%ritchard's aud the ruins Of the old
Swansea works, which were burned.
Still another company are beginning to
build four blast furnaces in Silver Can.
you, ON the road to Hamilton, immedi-
atsly in trout Of the-toll house, and be.
low the Chester mine. The fan will bs
run by a horse power, which has hith-
erto been used for running q circular
saw in cutting up cordwood. A draft
furnace is about to be erected on the
bill near the Cadiz mine, in Miser's
Canyon. The writer of this also has
one iu process of building Immediately
below the same locality. In addition to
all these, several parties are projecting
other furnaces 10 various localities,
some of which will eventually DO Sc
lected as sites for'the same.
Now, the cause of all this unexpected
activity is to be found in the fact that
Messrs. Bradshaw, Pritchard, and others
have demonstrated the practicability OF
smelling many of the ores Of tho Base
Range BY the simplest draft furnaces.
The excitement in consequence has
almost become a jfurore. The inland
| Empire chronicles these events 10 an
article headed LIVERY Miner his own
S~melter."
MATERIAL FOR FURNACES.
One circumstances favoring this mania
is, that there are in the vicinity Of
Swansea large quarries of fre.proof
stone composed Of silicate Of magnesia,
permea,ed by oxide of manganese. A
tremendous rush is now being made
upon these quarries, and the sre-proof
qualities of the stone will soon be fully
tested. Black and yellow clay are also
abundant, and are used both for mortar
and for Innings.
Neither. friedrich nor hre.clay are OBJ
tainable here at present, Uut it Is posi-
bio that the materials above mentioned
may be found sufficient for the purpose.
They are abundant and cheap, costing
but little besides the expense Of hauling.
IrrScr Upon THE PRICE OF sMELTISG
n OF les
The immediate effect Of these msve-
meuts 10 furnace building may be noted
from the fact that the price offered for
ores has already appreciated, aud that
proposals are being made to smelt ore
at twenty dollars per ton-one-balf the
rate hitherto demanded by Mosheimer.
The latter gentleman recently offered to
buy fifty from one miner at the latter
figure, aud take the ore from the dump.
But our miner chose to hold on for bet
ter prices, and would sell him but TWEEN
ty tons-just sufficient to enable him to
lay in his winters stock Of provisions.
A rise of Eve dollars in the price Of ore,
as rated by Mosheimer, is a sign Of bet
ter times to come for the miners of the
Base Range. Indeed, it is difficult to
see how the works of the White Pine
Smelling Company, Of which Mosheimer
is Superintendent, could be kept IN OPP
Grafton during the ensuing fall and win
ter, without q material advance 10 the
price of ore. These works have all
along been employed upon the fulfill.
meut of a contract to sme.t one hundred
tons of ore from the Miser's Dream
mine, at forty dollars per ton. To this
has been added fifty tons from the same
mine. No other ore has been offered to
these furnaces, aud the enclosure about
them was beginning to look as bare as
tho cupboard Of the ancient Mother
Hubbard. Hence tho offer Of the Super
~iutendeut to take Fifty tous at an in
creased price. And, by the way, the
ore for which the muni6cent offer was
made, assays to the amount Of eighty
Eve dollars in silver. A pretty good
margin for the .melter, one would think.
The mine is called the Northern Light,
and is situated upon Babylon Hill. The
ore also contains about fifty per cent. Of
lead.
PROSPECTS, AHEAD.
The hegira having nearly ceased,
those remaining here are looking ahead
with hopeful anticipations Of q revival
of tho business Of mining, and, in con-
sequence, Of all other business, in the
spring. The working of tho base ores
by the numerous smelling furnaces now
being erected, aud the increase Of mill
ing facilities as we'll, will produce q re-
action in favor of White Pine. eyen iu