Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1872-12-04
APoUT INNING EXPERTS.

lode and the consequent deVeloPmen'
OF the mineral resources OF this STATE,
mining experts of various degrees OF
merit or ~pretensiou have made their
appearance as important witnesses In
lawsuits between ~contendlng claim
ants TO mining ground. The services
of these so-called experts have been
always engaged at high figures, they
being willing to impart the immense
advantages Of their valuable education
and experience In the s~ubterranean
line only for a a liberal compensa-
ton. Yet, how those very experts
did disagree In the Comstock lawsuits!
What one swore was white, another
equally learned, on tho opposite side,
swore was black. Some swore there
were several lodges where others sworc
there "a but one, and the system Of
"horses" and dividing formations be-
tween the lodges was also a grand
bone of expert contention. 1t Is rather
amusing to us Of the present day to
look back and recall to mind the off,
cially expressed opinion Of those ex-
perts, and see how the progress Of de-
velopment since then has proven their
truth or ALPHABETICALLY the latter.
And yet those experts were graduates
Of Freiberg, or pretended to have
gained their important knowledge
from some such institution, or through
great experience in the principal mines
of the world. It was evident, how
ever. that money had power to sway
their opinions very materially IN
some points.
Tho fact Of 1t is that the good prac-
tical mining men Of the Comstock who
were daily toiling in its depths, knew
more about 1t than any OF those ex-
perts, and they do to-day. There is
not a member Of the Gold Hill Miners
Union to-day who does not know more
about the Comstock ledge, Its general
character, direction, width, dip, and
other practical points, than all those
experts put together, and We certainly
would trust their honestly expressed
opinion in the matter in preference to
the dearly purchased decisions Of those
experts, even though ever so elabor-
ately written out through quires OF
foolscap. No expert was ever able to
define the whereabouts Of the west
wall of the Comstock, although the
working miners were constantly show
ing the east clay, which has been re-
cognized as the eastern wall, and yet
it has remained for u miners to
practically-with drill, pick and
shovel-ix the approximate situation
Of the western boundary aforesaid. In
the finding or tracing Of ore bodies In
the vast extent Of the ledge matter be-
tween those walls, the opinion Of ex-
perts has been most f~allacious, and
more liable to mislead than benefit.
Give US the practical mining Superin-
tendent, or the underground foreman
every time In preference, and In cal
culating as to the future prospects Of
the mines and what Is to be found be-
yond the present lowest depths, the
opinion Of those experts Is nowhere In
comparison. Fair, Smith, kellogg,
Dave Monroe, or any Of our mining
Superintendent or foremen, could
show one Of those experts a big streak
OF barren porphyry at the lower level
and make him believe by c~andle-light
that it was u solid body Of $40 ore ex-
tending to the centre Of the earth:
yes, aud he would 60 and report accord
ingly-for coin.
An instance In illustration Of what
we have been saying, is Henry Janin,
the Frieburg educated expert" who
was sent out by the L.ent-H arpending
Diamond Company, to examine and
report upon their newly discovered
fields Of precious stones. He went,
saw. and reported everything lovely,
and apparently was completely hood
winked BY designing operators, until
Clarence King pronounced the whole
thing a fraud, and tho diamond
discovery a humbug. Then the
expert, Janin's, eyes were opened,
and he Jaw 1t in the same light that
King did. Capitalists who did not
happen to be taken In and thoroughly
swindled In the arrangement, need
not thank Janin. He says he was
badly fooled, yet had he done his plain
duty In the matter, he had no right to
be. You couldn't fool one Of our Gold
Hill miners quite so bad as that. Yet
Janin has been employed for years as
an expert in mines, giving what was
considered reliable information to cap
italists relative to their present
actual value, future prospects,
etc., on which they might base
their financial operations. If he
is so easily deceived In regard
to what is on top Of the ground, In the
broad light Of day, Of what real value
are his opinions regarding what is I'M
d~erground? Let the young nan join
the Gold Hill Miners Union (f they
will let him., and after practical work.
ing In our mines for 9 year or so he
will know more about mines and
mining than he eve did, or can be
taught ut Frieburg.
SELr-rRoPELILSo steam fire engines
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