Daily Los Angeles herald., 1878-10-24
Yos Sugeles ajerala.
Le. Angelo. as . Mining csunty.

fact that almost the first mining In
California was done in Los Angeles
county? Some years before the
beginning OF the "New Era,n
which IN ls4S was ushered in by
Mnrshall's discovery of the Sutter
Mil placers, = Frenchman, Barrie
by nEmes was working away at
gotd-bearing quartz near the Mis-
sion OF San Fernando. But when
the placer excitement commenced
no one thought of looking for min
eral wealth In this chosen county
Of the sunny south. This beauti.
full land was left for the farmer and
the horticulturlst. Los Angeles
was never placed among the coun-
ties of the great another Vein,"
and was not thought OF as related
to the silver-bearipg mountains OF
Ipy0, although the mountains near
the southern corner of the county
have been considered by biologists
~ belonging to the Sierra Nevada
rAnge. About 1861, when the Geo
log ical Survey explored the coun-
ty, copper and silver ore were
brought them from the San Gabriel
Mountains. The ore was found in
cretaceous formation, and the Sur
vey decided that the deposits could
not prove profitable. The Survey
reported, also, some gold-washings
In the came mountains, but not
enough 10 excite attention. When
the explorers ascended the peaks
and viewed the ranges to the south,
they pronounced them wild, chap.
parel-c0vered and little known, and
added that no Indications Of metal
liferous ores were observed in the
Eanta Ana Mountains.
In the Temescal range, Just over
the boundary of the county, tin has
been discovered, ore that has as
sayed as high as sixty per cent. of
the metal; but nothing mas come of
II, and very recent writer says:
"The tunnels and shafts are all full
Of water, and everything louks
quite 80 dilapidated as Rip Van
Wrinkles old gun" Later, coal
wns discovered near the Santa Ana
river. Neither did this attract
much attention, and of one of the
sslocations," a gentleman who Wis
tied the place in 1872, and pub
lished his report rs late as 1877, says
tersely: "The whole thing Is
worfhless.n OF over 1900 speci-
mems sent to the Paris Exposition.
Los Angeles county claims but two,
and neither one of these is charac-
teristic, one being a copper-and the
other a quicksilver ore.
Visitors who have passed through
the county In midsummer-who
have felt the warm sun and genial
breeze of its semi-tropic climate,
aud f.asted the aesthetic eye and
the more substantial inner man
among the green groves of the or
ange aud lemon-remember the
county as land literally Glowing
In milk and honey" where the
wheat and the corn and the tropic-
al fruits grow side by side, even al
the feet of the snow-capped peaks.
But no one has ever thought OIL
spoken of Los Angeles as min
ing county.
There lies on the desk before US a
box Of minerals from the Silverado
region in the southeastern part oi
Los Angeles county. There are
twelve. specimens. One processes
to be q tin ore; another is coal; a H.
other is q brilliant sulphuret from q
gold mine, and the remainder are
supposed to be ores of silver. None
of these have been assayed, but
they remind us that others like
them and from the same place
have been put to the test and u,
found wanting. They remind g
that hundreds and thousands ol
miners have been rushing to this
new mining country within the
last month or two; that numberless
claims have been staked out; that
ores have been extracted, and even
shipped to San Francisco; that
opinions of experts have been
sought and given; that develop
ments have been made sufficient Ia
warrant call for mili--a call
too, that has not gone unanswered,
and that the permanence of the
mines has been assured so as to re-
vive trade In the neighbOring
towns and make considerable
market for the other class of pro.
duets Of the county, drawing sup
plies from Anaheim If not from Los
Angeles itself.
Notwithstanding the verdict OF
the visitor of 1872, Los Angeles
coal has become product Of no
little Importance. 1t has not be-
come widely known. as yet, nor are
sufficient facts at hand to warra MT
q final judgment of 1t. But
this much Is certain; considere b e
capital has found its way into the
mines and quite large shipments Of
coal have been made.
Besides the Silverado district nd
the Black Star coal mines. another
part of the country now claims no.
ticefor its mineral deposits. But
. week or so ago the discovery OF
very large tracts of graphite was
reported almost simultaneous y
with similar report from Shasta
county. The exact locatio we be.
lieve is not generally knawn. II
the beds are of good quality and in
considsr~b'e onan'iiy. they will in
time prove valuable.
We nave seeh 40 account Of the
discovery of the Silverado mines.
Such an account would be veiy
welcome now. But we have nO
doubt that the fast increasing de.
velopment may be laid at the door
of the hard times that have driven
many sensible men fresh from the
overcr0wded cities, to seek wages
by prospecting or by working per-
sisteptly and economically old
abandoned claims. Such out
growths from the hard times have
been noticed in other counties. A
revival In Nevada county may be
instanced. and the discovery and
opening up of mining districts In
other parts of California and in
Nevada, may with show of reason
be ascribed to this cause. But
wherever the credit lies, the good
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