Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1879-02-22

Causes 0fFaf1ures Of Mining Enter.
~prises-The Eurek Con.
Professor J. 8. Newberry, OF the Co
lumbia School Of Mines, delivered o lee
ture on " Mining and Its Mistakes" before
the Bullion Club in New York City, re-
Gently. Among other things he said that
most OF the mistakes in mining hinged on
principles in business, so simple that to
~enunciate them would be to insure their
acceptance. The great lesson to be learned
by the people Of this country was that the
laws which controlled mining business
were the same which controlled other in
dustries. Success in mining could not be
achieved unless attended by perseverance,
industry, energy and economy. The old
| system of mining at the West was a delu-
| sion and q sham, but the failure Of Eastern
| capitalists to realize upon their invest
| ments was not the fault OF the mines ope-
rated, but of the investors. Mines were
! opened far in advance OF civilization. The
| lecturer here instanced the case of a mine
in Arizona worked in 1857, the ore of
which assayed richly and appeared to be
| inexhaustible. But the region in which it
was situated was unsettled all material
and supplies had to be brought from San
| Francisco or from New Orleans, and the
| result was that the enterprise was a failure.
Continuing, the Professor said that an
other mistake made by those conducting
| mining enterprises was due to the lack Of
| ordinary knowledge of business. He ridi-
culed the fashion Of sending out agents to
develop a property owned in New York,
whose only qualifications was their rela-
| ton to some Of the stockholders or man.
ayers OF the company. In the mining
business more than any other the axiom
was true that nothing risk, nothing
have" There was a probability of the de-
posit Of q mine being exhausted, but there
was also a probability of their expanding
and becoming more valuable. The largest
number Of palpable mistakes in the mining
developments Of the West resulted from
the newne Of the enterprise. But the
West was a treasury Of inexhaustible
wealth, which was destined to be devel-
oped to a greater extent than any other in
terest Of the country except agriculture.
In the mountains Of Colorado, Arizona,
Idaho, Utah, Nevada and California was
buried untold wealth, only awaiting to be
brought out to enrich the people.
The lecturer said there were two other
reasons for the failure Of mining enter
prises in the past. The supply Of ore was
not looked after, and there was ignorance
in regard to treating the different kinds of
ore. Smelling ores must be treated by the
furnace, milling ores with stamps, mills,
etc. In the one case fire was necessary in
the other, water. For any success in a
mining investment there must be, first t, a
knowledge of the certainty OF the supply Of
ore, and second, a proper knowledge in re-
gard to the nature and character OF the
deposits. The lecturer then proceed
ed to describe the several kinds
Of mineral deposits, and tbs difference in
the nature of chambers" and true assure
veins" He said that the Emma, Miller,
Kesler and Eureka Consolidated mines were
all OF the same category--they deserved to
be called only chamber" mines. The
great fault Of these mines was the absolute
uncertainty Of their ore deposits. On the
contrary 'true fssure veins" were liable
to fiuctuato in their yield of ore, but there
was no possibility Of exhausting the sup
| ply. The Comstock was one Of these mines,
but the limit Of its development had been
fixed by Nature. The temperature in the
mine was about leo degrees Fahrenheit,
and when the mine was worked 500 feet
lower all operations would have to be
abandoned on account of the heat. With
chamber" mines, the Professor said, min
ing was a lottery; when one bought such
property it was well to know that he was
buying an uncertainty. The low price Of
the stock of the Eureka Consolidated
seems strange to many persons, in view
! of the fact Of the regular payment of divi-
dends by the company, but it should be
borne in mind that an end might suddenly
come to the dividends any day by the ex-
haustion Of the pockets"
[Such, however, will not be the case
with this mine in any reasonable length Of
timc.--ED.