The Placer herald., 1874-12-26
THR MINING PRoBL. EN-.

EDrTon d1nALD.-A short time ago YOU pub |
lished an aiticle from the Scientific Press in re-
gard to hydraulic mining and it's consequences,
with certain recommend dations in regard to con- |
demning OF Withholding from sale large amount
Of land adjacent to the outlet of these mining
rivera, for place of deposit for the sand and
gravel sent down from the mines. Without ex-
amining further the merits of this idea than to
say u shows ,nst necessity for action exists,
and that q fuli statement Of the difficulties by
which we are threatened aud the means by which
the causes OF the difficulties may be avoided aud
utilized are IN order Then what are the evil con-
sequences OF hydraulic mining? First, the deposit
OF SAND ana gravel on the bottom lands OF the
rivers renders them useless for agriculture
1@-9no. the vast amount of debris now in these
RI - threatens at no distant day to render the
rirsrs OF the State unit foi navigation, as well
as pe!nanen' injury to the bay OF San Francis
co. with = adding the lesser evils of impure
water ana destruction Of fish to the list A case
OF deep 'n portance Is presented to every gooc-
wisher OF California. If there is any exaggera-
tion "a tnis statement of evils, the writer, for
one. will be gratlhed to be shown Wherein Now
the merits of tho minor. and the benefits be has
conf <rea on tne age and country needs de-
fence. Let II De sufficient TO say that he took
up he problem, which, twenty five years ago,
everywhere met MN AS an inexpllcabie riddle,
ana to-uay the children In lhe mines can tell
aou exactly the process Of Extracting the cold
Ksom mountain. No history of the pioneer
will ever convey 80 true an idea as the words of
the pioneer h'"seif. of the difficulties encean-
tered and c-.qaered. On the other hand he
passes down the conundrum, s'What are you CO.
ing to do with all this sand and stone am send
ing down to your" Uufortunately SO far the
answer has been 1--WE give it up until we
come to the writer in the Scientific Press and his
answer Is practically the old schoolboy warn
ing shat what goes up must come down, and
that the pest way is to hee from the taiings
Flood and drouth, are two words we'll under
stood on the Pacific coast, and much of our his
tory mas lts orig In one or the other. Among
the many scnemes OF irrigation has it never oc-
Cured to it's projectors that much of the snow
end rainfall OF Winter must be kept in lakes ana
sSefvors iof tns purpose, and without the.
a.cbes would be of little use, inasmucu as
uining operations cease shortly after the
ing OF the dry season? which fact shows
clearly that any farming operations dependent
on such system would be extremely uncertain
and limited. Then if we are to have lakes, and
| cough OF natural ones do not exist, it is clear
that recourse must be had to artificial ones. and
of sucn' tnunKs TO the enterprise OF the miner,
we have plenty to prove that the idea is entirely
practicable and OF alnoat inestimable vare
Before dsmlsslng this ~ = ehs subject wish
to direct attention to Meadow Lake, and the
lake IN Fordyce Valley, constructed by the
South Yuba Canal Company. The last men,
toned is in the conyon of the Yuba River, and is
III course OF construction. These facts are men
| toned in order to show that the most successful
| tiltcn ana Water man IN tae State has chosen the
conyon of the Yuba River for the most valuabi,
artfcial lake in the State. Now have come to
a point in this correspondence waere again.
| must draw on knowledge of facts obtained
| from mining, and that is the construction OF
| d..ms or barriers, IN streams which the out
lets iiom hydiaullo claims. Most miners will
| understand me when assert that building bni-
| iler OF dam Is comparatively an easy Job, when
the water Is very muddy, aud charged with sand
| and gravel. The manner OF DONG the wo. k Is
| slnipiy win trees end brush. Tne real builders
| a;e the mioers them elves. For Instance, Will
say the object is to bnlId barrier IN the Amerl-
can River, Oelow Auburn My method of pro-
ceedip3 would be tais: To comm nee work fl
iattcr p;st OF the mining season waen the water
Is lowest am SIMPLY throw across work OF
trees Fnd plush. These soon become pegmu-
aently mbedded in the sand and mud, and the
eb.le space above is flied with t.,pgs insieau
oil wniel. Aud 30 ihe eniise process will be a
rspet's'on OF the hrst. 10 any required height
mus a dam my De Ouiit for excelency, strength
and dunbi'uy, that 10 ais of IAason,y viii
compare with. l will say my object to com
meace Win, IL 10 Stop sand and stone, at point
where lt Will not lnte.fere with The hydraulic
miner. Let thus fact be determined by compe-
tent epoinee ;, rhd r-tef the exhaustion OF The
mines, q vaut Ne SIGHT will have been rs.iscd tor
an e1.ihciai laae, that VIII not only check the
rush OF sediment TO the valleys, but will afford
u supply OF water for irrigation or mining pur-
poses in the Summer time. Thus, in an i'm
periect way lave eOGc.svOfcd to show that We
can conquer the difficulties OF the situation; and
that II proper advantage is taken OF the works O.
the miner, ne may be ,side to accomplish
great and lasting good, by transform. 9 th'
waste iands Oi our noun tain river Canyons into
sites for artihclai lakes larger than Lake Bigler
and without cost Or injury to himself, other than
just consequent tax IN building such works
FINALLY, to conclude this long article, vii
state what claim, that a complete carving out
OF this plan will effect: first, it will save all til.
'and which otherwise woul. be overrun with
sand and taillpgs, and among which think
can count Sacramento aud Marysville. Second
we save the navigation of opnrivcrs. Third, we
build artificial lakes of a capacity to supply the
agricultural demand of the country. Fourth
we inansurate system by which the foods OF
very rainy seasons may be avo ded-that is we
stop the sudden outpouring of these mountain
streams with our lakes, and can run the Sacra-
mento river to her highest point without over
lowing her banks. If in this long essay |
nave advanced an idea That may be found, as it
IS himiy believed to be, of practical use, viii
be happy to know that have poin,cd out some
very plain facts leading to great and useful
result. G. B.