The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-11-03
Silyer.Mining i'm Nevada.

Silver.mining in the United States is
at present in its infancy. 1t is not ten
wears sir ce the great Comstock Lodge
in Virginia City was discovered, which
is said to have produced over one hun
dred millions already, without counting
the immense sums which have probably
been lost by unskilful and ignorant
treatment of the ore. The application
of science to mining, though limited as
yet and insufficient, has still accomp-
lished great results so that ore not
worth more that twenty dollars per ton
can now be worked with profit, whereas
formerly nothing under one hundred
dollars per ton was considered worth
treating at all.
The ore is worked in two ways, by
wet and by dry crushing, the former
being by far the more profitable. but
unfortunately in many cases less practi-
cable, than the latter. Still, silver
mining as yet is an experiment, and
the application of science to the solu-
ton of it's problems has been very
slight, though, from the improvement
already manifested, we have reason to
expect great results in the future. 1t
appears that at only few Of the dis
tricts do they find ore that can be re-
duced by what is known as the wet
process, which can be carried on at
half the expense of the dry crushing,
with roasting process. Moreover, the
expense for roasting by the old reverbe-
ratory furnace runs as high as twenty.
two dollars a ton, while the improved
method of roasting, to say nothing OF
the diminished first cost OF the furnaces,
has lessened this expense to something
like six or seven dollars a ton, which
realizes from each ton of ore this differ
ence in cost, and also enables mining
companies to work cheaper ores, that
otherwise must be thrown into the
waste.dumps. These waste-dumps, as
may be inferred, are receptacles for
worthless ore.
Virginia City is the great mining-town
of the Pacific Coast. 1t is built on the
Comstock Lode, which extends for
three or four miles in very much the
same direction as the great Lode OF the
Pahranagat Valley. This lode has
made the fortune and the ruin OF many
an honest miner since its discovery in
1859. At present, work Is progressing
in a steady, quiet, respectable sort OF
fashion, the first flush Of excitement
having died out, and the mines still
proving sufficiently profitable toprevent
the population from deserving the city
en- n,asse. With its adjoining suburb OF
Gold Hill, it contains population OF
about twelve thousand.
It is built on the side OF Mount
Davidson, about halfway between the
base and the summit, and is thoroughly
striking and unique in its appearance.
Besides its natural features, 1T possesses
a work of interest to the student OF
scientific engineering-the celebrated
Sutro Tunnel, which was intended to
pierce the lode at its base, and thus to
drain the mountain OF its water, and
extract the ore without the expensive
and laborious system of hosting now in
general use. Phoebe, where the latest
mining excitement of the State has
broken out, presents another phase Of
mining-life. The city itself now num-
bers about two thousand inhabitants,
and is laid out, with some attempt at
symmetry, in terraces. The chief OBJ
.ject Of local pride is the graveyard, now
only a year old, out Of whose twenty or
twenty-five occupants only two met a
natural death. The mines are garri
soned and fortified against invasion by
rival claimants Henry rifles are sent
from San Francisco every day by anx-
ious holders Of mining property; law
suits are innumerable, street and
bar-room fights Of almost daily occur
renee; and, in fact, the only really
prosperous members Of the community
are the lawyers and the bar-keepers,
whose ives are in daily jeopardy. There
is a committe of public safety, who are
doing an active and useful work. If
they would only hang themselves as
we'll as the reprobates whom they are
supposed to judge, the entire State of
Nevada would owe them heartfelt
gratitude. Phoebe is place which a
stranger leaves with feeling of relief
a place where, though there is much
money in circulation, no one seems to
be rich.
In the present state of mining law, or
rather lawlessness, the social aspect of
mining-life is frightful and dishearten-
ing. 1t encourages the gambling-spirit,
the spirit which prefers the possible
ACKNOWLEDGMENT of one to the secure
prosperity and comfort of the whole
community. The population is vicious
and degraded, fuctuating from one
place to another, as new excitements
break out. The law is powerless, and
the only check upon murder and riot is
the lynch.law Of vigilance committees,
and it is doubtful whether the remedy |
is not worse than the disease.
The mines of the Pahranagat District,
unlike those of most other districts, are |
entirely under the control of one com
pany, which owns nearly one hundred
miles of claims to silver-deposits. This
is probably, from its extent, the most
valuable mineral property in either
California or Nevada. The main lode
appears to be true fssure-vein, and
the ore is of good average grade. But
in the most marked degree it shows
what is the desirable and the needed