Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-12-23
SANTA CATALINA.

island Santa Catalina, situated off the
coast of Alta California, about twenty
miles from the main land, opposite
the harbor of Wilmington. Its value
is variously estimated at from 81 ,OOO,-
600 to $3,O0O,000. 1t is about twenty
seven miles long, eight miles wide in
its widest part, from which il tapers
gradually north and south to point,
and contains 45,S20 acres. At the time
of the sale of the property constituting
the Lick estate the island was re-
served. The reason assigned was that
such developments of the mineral re-
sources of the island were being made
as to warrant the expectation that in
q few months it could be sold for a
much larger sum than at present.
The announcement was mildly decep-
tive. 1t is about three years since any
prospecting was done on the island,
and none is in contemplation at present
by those having control of the proper
ty. The Trustees feeling certain that the
value of the island will greatly en-
hance in a few years, and that 1t could
not now be sold for an approximation
of value, decided to hold it for year
or two more unless an advantageous
offer at private sale is made in the
meantime. f*~ II
AN OLD MINERS EXPLORATION ON THE
ISLAND. ti-'
In April, 1872, Mr.. Lick employed
William G. Bennett "a pioneer, and an
experienced miner, now residing at
GiIroy, to visit the island and exam
inc the leads discovered thereon, with
view to determining their character
and prospective value. AS there has
since his visit been no attempt to de-
velop the mineral resources of the
island or discover new ones, his ac-
count of what he saw and the cOnclu-
sions he drew therefrom apply to the
island now as we'll as at the time of
the visit. Proceeding to Los Angeles
by steamer, he there procured small
boat and ran out to the island, making
the landing without difficulty.
THE SURFACE OF THE ISLAND
Is hilly, and the main range which ex-
tends from north to south, shields the
bay on the east side of the island from
the prevailing winds, which blow
from the southwest. The water is
deep, the shore PERCEPTIONS, the sui
face calm and the largest ships can
ride in safety in the harbor. On. the
west side of the island is another deep,
land, locked harbor, capable of accom-
al, I,nIf -, ri lnt.
ships. The southern portion of the
scrub-oak, while the northern part is
more open. The soil is adobe, inter-
spersed with kind of sand formed by
the slackening of the limestone, which
forms the principal element of the ge-
illogical formatson of the island. it is
unfit for cultivation, but wild goats
grow in profusiOn and afford pasture
for from 10, 900 to 10000 head of sheep
every year. The only buildings upon
il are two-story frame house, said to
have been erected as barrack for a
company of United States troops sta
toned there for some time during the
rebellion, and the cottages of the
sheep owners and their herdsmen.
The climate corresponds to that of Los
Angeles. Fish are abundant in the
harbors, but there is no game on the
island worth mentioning. Regarding
the -,fsFf ~...---gsF
MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE ISLAND,
Mr. Bennett says: cat the time of my
visit there had been about four hun
dred mineral locations made on the
island. but they had all been aban-
doned. They were made when the
:,!. To l,a nh In nd
There were then a number of miners
on the island. They did good deal of
surface prospecting, and if they had
remained would probably have devel-
oped some good mines: but when Mr..
Lick bought up the old grant of the
island made by Pho Pico in 1916, they
all abandoned their claims and left the
island. They never returned and
nothing more was ever done on the
locations. The veins in their general
character appeared to resemble the
Reese River and White Pine mines.
They have the same general trend
from north to south, like them they
dip to the east, and like them they are
narrow, with premise of being rich.
Like them, the rock is
- .IMPREGNATED WITH GALENA, Z
And can only be successfully reduced
by smelling. The veins lie encased
in limestone, while occasionally one
has walls of slate, but they form the
exception. Some of the tunnels We're
run distance of twenty or thirty feet
on vein, and some shafts had been
sunk to adepth of fifteen or twenty
feet, but no systematic attempt to
prove the continuous character of the
veins appears to have been made.
The veins were from five inches to five
teet in width. Groupings We're fre-
quent, and by them some of the veins
could be traced on the surface thous-
ands of feet / am satisfied from my
own observations, although l did no
digging to speak of, that they are we'll
defined fissure ledges. / should not
expect to find very large bodies of ore,
but there is ore there that will assay
ST. 900 per ton. Mr.. Lick told me that
he had some of the rock from the
Emma mine tested, and it yielded
several hundred dollars per toni
have forgotten the exact amount
This vein is on the top of the highest
ridge on the island. 1t, is narrow on
the surface, widens to four or five feet
in descending and contracts again at
the bottom of the shaft. The ore
bearing rock, in this, as in nearly all
the other veins, has great deal Of ga
lena in it, some indications of copper,
and slight percentage of gold. There
is a quarry of as fine soapstOne as L
ever saw, about an eighth of mile
long, in the bluff overlooking the har-
Dor on the west side of the island. On
my return 1 reported to Mr.. Lick my