The New York herald., 1879-12-11
THE GREAT MINES OF THE WEST.
WHY A SCORE OF MINERS ARE NOW IN NEW
YoRK-soME TALK ABOUT THE MARvELs OF

WHY A SCORE OF MINERS ARE NOW IN NEW
YoRK-soME TALK ABOUT THE MARvELs OF
SILVER DEPOSITS.
The Sturtevant House. at all times q resort Of
Western men. has become lately resort especially
Of miners They not the traditional miners with
red shirts. high boots and slouch hats. but mine
owners. and the lobby Of the hotel Of an evening
might be taken for mining exchange Yesterday it
remarked that about twenty prominent gentlemen
from California Arizona. Utah and the Black Hills
district all mine owners. registered. and
HERALD reporter called to learn the reason Of the
gathering. "It is no especial gathering" said Mr..
Leland; ''that is. there 10 particular thing
that brings them. 1t is simply the mining interest
that is growing to such IN extent that representa-
tives Of different mines have to bo here. Bless you.
couldn't begin to say how many millions repre-
sented among them. They don't know themselves.
Nobody knows how much q mine is worth till it Is
exhausted. But. it's a big figure. undoubtedly.
There's the Father dc Smet Mine alone worth no
one knows how much. Certainly millions. when 1t
L. developed"
Mr.. Charles Roberts. who. with Mr.. Archibald
Borand is here to represent this mne said In reply
to queries that he not anxious to advertise the
mine. Mr.. Borand had paid 5000, 900 for it and had
then proceeded to put it in proper condition for
working. This he had succeeded in DOING and there
was now in that mine more ore exposed to view
then in other in the world He especially
sanguine about the prospect of mining in the Black
Hills. and declared that the people in the East knew
the mines in the West. He agreed that this
largely owing to the fact that when silver mining
mines were sold He had been shown stock in
company which was formed to deveiopc mine which
he sure did not exist.
EYrEcr or cALIpoRN1A's NEW CONSTITUTION
Mr.. Roberts thought the new constitution in Cali
fSrnia would have tendency to drive capital out OF
corporations. Companies would be formed outside
OF the State for the purpose OF mining within 1t.
As to the extent OF the undeveloped wealth. he said
no man could estimate it. He knew Of hundreds OF
quartz mines that could be worked at a good, fair
profit; but no one developed such mines, because
everybody was looking for something bigger-some-
thing that would yield enormous returns in pro-
portion the outlay As to the Leadville district
and the tremendous excitement over SOFT carbo-
nate discoveries he spoke somewhat conservatvely.
richness OF the yield. and he had desire to dis
parage IT. but that among practical and experienced
miners there was question AZ to whether the de-
velopments would continue to be astonishing
they now. The rocky formation of the Loadville
district entirely different from that in other
countries and when the vein already discovered
worked there was question whether anything
more would be found
Mr.. Mofat, the cashier of the First National Bank
Of Denver and one Of the owners OF the Little Pitts
burg mine. was pointed out to the reporter as the
at the question whether there any likelihood Of
reaching the ehd of the wealth OF tho Lcadville DIS
trict. The country Is made in layers. like jelly
cake" said he. "Theresa layer of porphyry. then
o layer of pay ore, then limestone then porphyry
and then pay ore again. I've got diamond drill
going down at the rate OF twenty ieet
day, aud we've struck four hvc layers of the
already. took Professor Raymond and Professor
Chandler out there some time ago in q special car to
investigate the thing and they 1t carefully
and agreed that when wo had worked down to the
limestone we had got through with the mine. Well.
/ took tho report I've got 1t now. It's all wrong.
/ made up my mind I'd see what there under
tho limestone more out of pure cussedncss than any
thing else guess. and found these layers spoke
Of"
BORING THROUGH PonPHYnY.
Tx~<v IN ttsataa hat vafA
81. 800 for. drove that down through $50 feet OF
porphyry People called me fool for doing it. but
/ wanted to what there under the porphyry.
They didn't call me fool after got through the
porphyry. Mackey offered me $700.vUO for the mino
tnen. Nobody knows how much it's worth. It's
my idea that when get to the bottom of the jelly
cake told you abe ut Will strike gold. It's certain
that the country IL rich In surface gold. We strike
nuggets there bigger than n butternut. Now. that
gold must have come from somewhere"
s1he country to have gone crazy the
soft carbonate discoveries in the Leadvle district
said bystandsr.
.'Yes, and there is Justification for it In the bull
lion that s sent out from there every month";. said
Mr.. Bella y. Buell. Of Colorado. ''The developments
have upset the geologsts CON petely. Why, there's
one place there where they hnd boulders from the
size of q nail keg to that Of mans head. They
break open these boulders and find silver orc in
them like the meat in nut. Now what kind Of
| geology is thatf
said Mr.. Leland, "when tho Little Pittsburg alone
pays dividends of $10O.O MONTH"
| number OF Others all interested In mines at ono
place another. talked with the reporter. Their
| views Of localities naturally differed, sad their
theories of mining differed curiously; but all we're
the country and that Its extont beyond the Wild
est conjecture that has yet boen put forth.