Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1874-07-30

now being driven into the southeast
face of LeavenWorth, Mountain by
New York company has run some
hundreds of feet along a good lode,
taking out ore enough to pay eXpens-
es, and within q few days has struck
on exceedingly rich lode at five hun
dred feet or more below the deepest
workings from above. In such cases
even when connection is traced, the
advantages of the tunnel are so great
in saving pumping and hoisting, that
mine owners willingly unite interests.
Another curious fact is that what is
main vein at the depth of two thOus
and feet may branch toward the sur
face, and hence half a dozen different
claims on it. In such case a Y with
three or four additional stems would
fairly represent the "mother stem" and
its branches. In case two lodes do
thus come together, the Oldest location
holds the main vein, and the other
company is said to be "pinched out,
sustaining dead loss.
The Burleigh Tunnel, now being
driven into the southeast face of Sher-
man Mountain, is the largest enter
prise of the kind in Colorado, if not
in this country. Directly above it, at
various heights from five hundred to
three thousand feet, are dozen of the
richest mines in the Territory: the
| Dives, Pelican, Pay Rock, Silver
Plume, Antelope, Eagle Bird, Snow
| Drift, and others. The great question
in this camp is, how deep do these
| fsure veins extend? That question the
Burleigh Tunnel will settle, some day.
1t is now in 1920 feet, having been
driven all the way through the hard
est Of granite, at an average cost of
some thirty dollars per foot. 1t is
| Just four miles through the mountain
at that point; the tunnel has compile
| ted one twelfth of the distance, and
| with a capital of some hundreds of
| thousands, the company purpose to go
through unless the ''big vein" is struck
before. Those who maintain that the
| veins are permanent, still incline to
the opinion that the dozen or more
veins on top will run into these at the
depth the Burlelgh will strike them,
for itstarts in almost down ON level
with the creek. In that case, it will
hit the main stem Of the Y somewhere
near the center of the mountain, at ten
thousand feet or more from the mouth
of the tunnel. When it is noted that
ten feet week is good progress for a
tunnel through a granite formation,
you will see that only those should
invest in such an enterprise who have
nerve and can wait, and stand, also an
occasional assessment. Directly opo-
site the Burleigh, and on the north
west face of LevenWorth Mountain, is
a district where an Ohio Company has
lately invested extensively, the Pulaski
| Lode being their main possession.
There is science in mining-aD eX-
act science, too, but there are several
points it does not cover. 1t may be
said generally that the negative side Of
the science has reached perfection
We can easily enough settle upon dis
triots where silver is not; but having
settled upon the locality where it IS,
the puzzling question is to get at the
exact spot, and to make it profitable
when found. Here is paradox in the
business: A rich mine is often avery
poor one, while poor one may prove
} very profitable Mines have proved
improbable to work Of which the or
yielded 5000 per ton, while some o
the most valuable mines ia Nevads
never yielded over $50 per ton. Thi
apparent contradiction is due to doz
en- circumstances the vicinity Of Woo
and water, mills or smelling works
transportation and the cost of living
but most all, to whether the ores arc
, refractory or otherwise. In Utah WI
thought ''heavy galena,' which yield
, ed seventy per cent. in lead and % pc
cent. in silver per ton, pretty gOot
ore; here it would not often pay 70
, working, because here such ore mostly
contains "black jack or zinc bl ende
. THE PULASKI MINE.
Let me illustrate some of these general prin
ciples by history of the discovery and devel
3 opment of the Pulaski, above mentioned, an
: lately sold to an Ohio company. This lod
, was discovered and located in June, 1872, b
: Mr.. B. S. Hines, in the usual method of trae
4 ing from "hoat'' or blossom rock" The mir
eralogcal theory is that the surface of the lode
{ as of the mountain tops, was once much highe
than now; and in the wearing down process
by denudation or degradation, loose ore drifte
Z away down the slope. Having traced th
G ''foat'' up hill to point where it ceased con
S paratively. he discovered huge quantities
q what miners called ''red earth''-that is d,
composed iron ore, which is supposed to
the Glow of a lode and therefore good Ind
, cation. A ''boom ditch" was then trace
| down from Waterman above; this soon CT
u out gulley to the bedrock, and revealed I'll
presence of mineral. Then the discoverer an
: his partners dug and came upon the lod
J opening regularly into the main rock of tt
/ mountain. They opened it at several place
!, along their claim, 2, 100 feet, and found it te
= feet wide from foet-wan to hanging wall. Bl
do not understand that all this space wf
e | filled with ore. Such thing rarely happen
5 in this district. Most of the interior is vel
Il matter, consisting of quartz, vein stone, ca
y cite, earthly matter, loose stone, or some otht
J kind of ''gangue.'' Through this run the or,
J. seams. Strange to say the large ore-seam
;. generally found on one wall or the other, an
=, that on the foot-wall (the wall down hilD
J usually the richest; but the smaller seams ru
9 irregular through the "gangue," often unitln
h in little accretions or pockets" of ore.
n The ore thus found yielded from one to te
ounces in gold. from ten to eighty ounces
!, silver, and some lead, per ton. Now, you wi
say, the diseoverers were happy, and nothln
C remained but to procure patent and sell on
! By no means. There is nothing certain in
mine at that stage of development. 1t may |
merely "slide,'' that Is, portion OF IL
mountain side may have slipped from its orig
t. inal place, and the real lode be hundreds
q feet away. no one knows where. Or thel
- may be a "slip,'' ''fault" or "cup" at sho
,o depth, and require great labor before the mir
t is opened Or it may be a ''gash ,,vein,' p
l. the shape of wedge, with the sharp eds
is downward, and terminating in hundred fe
20 or So Or, again. it may be feeder" to son
&c large vein further up or down the hill The
s. are forty adverse chances. The only way
,e settle the question is to dig and blast
+ They sunk a shaft hundred feet, runnir
" a tunnel a hundred and eighty seven feet loni
T. connecting with the bottom of the shaft, al
is from there intersection drifted eighty five fe
- along the vein. In that drift was develOpc
n an ore-seam a foot thick-yielding both go
- and silver; but now the proportions ha'
IL changed. Above it was decided TO bea go
le lode,' as that metal predominated in Walt