The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-08-14

w,EnyEsDAY. AUGUST IA, 1872.
r,,, ns.noud Mines.--rhc Marvellous
Pacific C0ast Diamond story.
The tc!egraphic reports lately forwa raea
are now supplemented by the ioilo VIE sn,
more detailed narrative from tnc Aa0 Cst't'
foraia OF the LIST instant =: -, w.
We have wonderful story 10 te... W., VIZ
listened to 1t at first with lncreuung!, pue
aiter hearing all that our informant haa ~ " =
say. we found that there were reasons ~.
believing. We have seen document Writscl
by Henry Janin, mining engineer OF Is
sablished reputation, who mas Visiteu tns
yaines. examined them proiessiohaiiy, anu
reported ilyorabiy on them: lie mas as,
,.epted the position Of superintendent. anu
has expressed the opinion that with 'weh.s y,
FIVE men he will take out gems worth ~ ic: ~,
81, 000, 00t, per month. In the paper Mni ~
we saw, he attached so much imporln..o ~
the discovery that he discusses the quss.lo; -
whether the value Of diamonds or rhples Is
,ikeIv IN depreciate i'm consequence OF IN
creased production, and his CONCLUSION Is IN
the neo,atiye. We have thus commenced
With Mr.. ,Janin because he Is well known
s.es,e and It is mainly upon bis statement
shst confidence rests. His statements evil
GENTLY command confidence, for some OF the
beading capitalists Of the State have pur
chased stock.
Tire place Of the new mines has not bee,
communicated to us by any of the interested
parties. but streetrumor says 1t Is Ne"
Mexico. About three years ago an lnd,af
near the diamond deposits gave several dia
monds and rubies to white man, VINO
brought them to Messrs. Roberts Il Harpend
ing, In San Francisco. Those gentlemen
satisfied themselves of the value Of the gems,
and sent the men to find more. They met
The Indian after a long search; he took them
TO the place, and was subsequently drowned
We tell the story as 1t was told Us.
Then Mr.. Janin went to the spot, washed
q ton and half of gravel took out one tholl
sand diamonds, four pounds OF rnbles, ana
dozen sapphires, and selected the best ground
for mining, or that supposed to be best
Three thousand acres were claimed unucl
the mining law passed ut the last session
which allows miners to take up any valuable
mineral deposit. Wood, water, grass, ;lno
game, ere abundant, and water for washing
can be had without difficulty over the di;
mond-bearing gravel bed. The country lol
aconsdcrable distance around was examined
and no other equally promising deposit was
found.
Most of the 1000 diamonds obtained by
MFR, .Janin are small, weighing about a
carat. The largest is eight carats. One OBJ
tanned before Mr.. Janin visited the place
weighs one hundred carats, but is black, anu
OF little value relatively. There nre one
hundred and nine carats in an aroirdurols
ounce, SO that diamond weighing a carat Is
a small affair, but yet, if clear and we'll
shaped, it may be worth from Slo to 700.
The value of the larger gems is greater re'a'
lively than that of the smaller ones, gong
up to more than $1,000 per carat in some
cases. Some of the sapphircs arc rs large a>
pigeon eggs.
a party of miners have gone to the mines
with tools and provisions tOr the winters
work, and, the extraction of the gems will
probably commence in few days. The
Stones are to he brought to San Francisco
and cut here.
The Financial Postscript adds:
An interesting fact in connection with the
gravel deposit in which stones are found is
that it contains numberless small black crys.
tails of carbou-the true black diamond
Besides the diamonds, MI. Janin's collection
embraces rubics, garnets, and sapphlres
One of the last named Is al extremely Deuutl
full stone. Rubies, as is well-known, are, tol
the first quality, more valuable than dia
monds. The value depends upon the color
Stones of the finest and purest quality, well
spread and proportional, sell at the follow
ing prices One carat, so to 500; two
Iarats, $3.50 to 800; three calats, 81, 900 t
$3.50, and four caruts, $1,000 to $2,25O
Stones of greater weight than four carats ar'
of such exceptional occurrence IS to com
mand fancy prices. The value of the sap
phire is not reducible to scale like that y
the diamond and ruby. A tine sapphire, o
rich color by night us well as by day. weigh
ing one carat, is worth $lO0i while sap
phiie, equally fine, weighing one hundred
carrts, would not sell for more than $4,000
and possibly not more than $1,000. \ rub.
of the same size and perfection would be tb
most valuable gem in existence, SURPRISING
even that of the finest diamond.
Mr.. Janin, from his examination of TIT
gem-bearing gravel, ventures TO place an esti
mate OH its value that is, he makes figure
to show that if the sum of S., 100000 he pait
for the property, the proceeds OF an eX
tremely limited area should turn the cost
Mr.. Janin limits his estimate in terms to TIT
supposition of finding only stones Of limited
size, in such quantities as his waShings actu
ally showed, and ut the valuation put upol
them by him-which is rather arbitrarily us
signed ut much less than their market value