The Placer herald., 1872-01-06
1-os heen in constant operation ~

-, tor its romantic and singular situa'ion
7. lac on tbe northwestern coast Oh Oo' |
G. 1ret The entrance to the mihe 10 IL
tbo rock Immediately overhah9ll8 W" e..
and the works are carried many nui'''-0
,,odor the bed of the ocean. Inc roli %
waves during a storm can be heard III 'no
ho,oo4b producing most appalling effect DC
.;1os those of Cornwall copper mines are WolAe'
:, e,,oir France Austria, Transylvania' lIuS-
=, coxonv Sweden, Norway, Russia MeAoo'
,,stralia and America The pncPal copper
-. - c,,oder is the celebrated one of Fahiun'
in the province of Dalecarha. lnis nNAe
vac. cbasm. formed by the artificial eAc"'"''0n'
for the ore, the bed of which Is not aoo'o 'i','
!, oxtont The descent to the first gallery Is ny
uroodon ladders, and from thence by W'iiolns
stons cnt in the rock, made so commodlouS III"
horses ASCEND and descend by them to pr'hS o"'
.,,o oro II s said that this mine was worked
hotore tbo Christian era; but all that is certainly
known is that it has been SO ever slDce i'i''
The ore is extremely poor, yielding on I'LL ave-
ace not more than 1 q per cent OF pure metal
The water which collects in the mine contains d
little sulphate Of copper. AS 1t IS puLhPeu up
is conducted slowly through long trou8nS coi-
tanning pieces of old iron. In this way the cop
nor is precipiated and adds a little to the prontS
Of the workings. The part of the mine open TO
the sky is of funnel shape, resembling the
crater of volcano. 1t was originally mine OF
tbe pspal construction, bat in consequence OF
tbe numerous levels and galleries excavated, and
sufficient attention not being paid to the prop
ping up the roofs, in 1866 the whole central mass
fell in. and thus formed the present open basin.
4 prncipal level is carried from the bottom OF
the crater. and other shafts sunk, so that the
deepest part is upwards of 1900 feet below the
surface There are stables in these subteranean
places for horses who never see the light OF day
and there is a wainseoted chamber for the coun-
ell to meet in BY an old custom, each King on
his ascension to the throne Of Sweden visits the
mine and inscribes his name on the walls of this
apartment Sweden is also proyerbial for furn-
ishing the best iron, which believe is obtained
from the mines of Dannemora. These mines,
like those at Fahlun are immense open cxcava-
tions, the descent being made in buckets. The
act OF being raised or lowered in these vessels
is rather formidable undertaking for a stranger.
While a visitor to the mine Was occasionally
compelled to shut his eyes to avoid glddiness, he
was passed by three girls ascending in another
bucket who, while standing its edge and
holding the rope by one hand, We're knitting
with the other with perfect unconcern. The de-
scent of 800 feet occupied five minutes. Since
the visit referred to, the depth and extent OF the
mines have been wonderfully increased.
The iron mines at Persberg, about two and
one-hulf miles from Philipstadt, are perhaps the
/ most interesting and romantic excavations OF
lhs kind in the world. The mountains in which
they are situated are entirely composed of iron
ore, and thirteen i'll number. DIR. Clark,
who visited these mines, states that familiar as
he was with mines, his astonshment at behold
, ing these exceeded anything he had ever before
felt ON such occasions. For grandeur of effect
filling the mind with wonder amounting to awe
i there is no place where human labor is exhibited
under "rrlnstahces more Tremendously strik.
lng. "As we drew near to the wide and open
abyss, vast and sudden prospect of yawnno
caVernS and prOdlgOus machinery prepared u-
r for the descent We approached the edge of the
t dreadful gulf whence the ore is raised and ven
S tured to look down, standing on the verge Of a
( platform, constructed over It in such a manner
j as to command view as far down as the eve
: could penetrate for to the sight it appeared bot
/ tomless Immense buckets, suspended by rat
. Ting CHAINS, were passing up and down, and We
could perceive ladders sealing all the inwarc
y prcclpices, upon which the work people, reduced
e by distance to pignes III size We're ascendinl
j. and descending. Far below the fartbest of thes,
, deep and gaping guE opened to the lowermos
pts. Ihe clankng of the chains, the groaninl
OF the pumps, the halOoiug of the miners the
creaklnS OF the blocks and wheels, the trampinl
f of horses, the beating of hammers and the iouc
D ana frequent subterranean thunder from the
blasting, combined to produce an overpowerine
effect. The ladders for descent instead of beinl
G placed on platforms, as in the Cornish mines arc
lashed together III one unbroken line for many
lathoms, and being warped to suit the incna.
tlon of the sides of the precipices. are not nj.
ways perpendlcular, but hang over in some
d places, SO that if the feet were to Slip and the
person helu last by his hands, he would hans
over the gulf These ladders have only wooden
stlVos. broken and rotten in many places. cover
5 ea with frozen Ice and mud, SO that the hands
are humned and rendered unable to grasp firmly
AS we descended deeper large masses OF ice an
peared on the sides OF tie rock Ice is raised N
the buckets with the Gre and ruhble of the mine
After much fatigue and no small apprehension.
we reached the bottom, and were hurried alonp q
vaulted level into prodgious cavern whepe
amidst falling waters tumbling rocks steam, ice
e ana gun powder, fifty miners were in active EN-.
PIoyment IN din of noise that rendered all con.
yersaton imprachcable''
III cornwall there are about 160 mines n;
work giving direct employment to at least thirty
,nouSand ,ao t persons, and probably maintaining
IoU,OOo The value of the metals-chiefy con
per and un-raised annually in this district j,
about 81 100000. ''
IN the coal districts of Durham and Northum.
oerhnd the number of pits, or collieres !.
ABOUT ZOo, covering an area of g., 900 acres. and
supplying employment to about ~, 600 men and
9oyS. lhlr,y years ago these two countries pro-
anced only 4O00,0O0 tons of coal per annum. in
1921 the quantity raised was II 0OU, 900 tons
IN 1891 the gold fields of Australia We're dis
covered Mr.. E. H. Hargraves was the first 70
make 1t know to the Colonial Government, and
he was awarded the sum e1000O for the i'm.
Por'ant intelligence. In little more than three
years IL was estimated that the gold obtained in
ana actually exported from, the Australian Colo
mes was equal in value to ESQ, ,000. 600. Bnt for
many years America furnished by far the oreater
portion OF the gold employed Throughout tba
world lhe discovery OF gold here in Coiifor-
ma ma the vast number of people attracted hithcr
ahe changes suddenly wrought in the aspects Of
comparatively unknown country. and the oi-
H nos' fabulous quantities of gold obtained in a
| NJ" years, are events recent and we'll lno,