The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-10-12
THE GREAT GOLD MINE.
Dolving in the Deepest Hole in the Union.

" e." shaft. or the ono who had his skull
broken by the dropping of ilttln stolm frnm
IN ascending car. You were looking into tho
ipwelry storna. and wondering at one OF tho
most elegant collections Of aoms west OF Ill
fanva.
Perhaps You were standing with the crazy
crowd front OF u faro table, putting your
"pile" on the corner. or between the inlald
cards, and watching eagerly whether tho
awell-shrted desl"r placed tho winning cnrd
outside or inside tbs box | reckon you lost.
All 10 Their brains aud morals go. oven II
their cash sticks. VOL. since You We broke,
maybe you will wish to join tho underground
population,
Will yon 90 down with mo and SEQ this
lower City2
All the shafts sink into tho Comstock lode,
which was discovered IN 1s5I. ms v'l'' mas
been traced for five miles, but nowhere has u
width of more than -four hundred feet. Clhims
are located on Its length, the owner having no
limit TO the width OF depth of bis workings.
This lode is tho biggest and richest yet dis
covered In the United States. II is worked by
tho famous Consolidated Virginia Mine. better
known as the "Big Bonanza, which has paid
hundreds Of millions to Messrs Mhckey,
Flood and O'Bfien. Besides this shaft. and
almost equally famous. are tho Kentucky.
cross and the
BELcHER NINE
This last Ia situated In Gold Hill, and is the
one which gave up lts bullion to Senators
Jones and Sharon. AZ 1t Ia the deepest. we
attempt it's descent. We enter tho office Of
the company, six In our party. four gentlemen
and two ladies'. Wo arc given soparats hphit.
nentH and furnished with blue wo0lon suit.
like n "Vineynrd' bathing costume; big
heavy hrognns, wooden socks and M old hat
for which we care to exchange every article OF
clothing we have on. A few moments bring
,ls together, a merry crowd young gantIe-
man gives us n lantern, II relative of Senator
Sharon. and accompanies us into the great
building That contalns tho holsting machinery
over the shaft. High up In tho heavy timber
above our heads, over largo wheel. passns
steel band about six inches wide and II quarter
Of IN inch thick. This band coils at ono end
over a huge drum connected with tho engines
and ut the other drops iutp n hole about six
inches square. and IL lost In the steam and
vapor arising from this pit.
Tie young gentleman rings bell and up
comes tho rope, seemingly endless. Az last
the motion slackcns, and hanging In the air
gilt or wicker work prison for sopgsters. but
picture an Iron open elevator such ns is used
In the wholesale houses OF vOnr city This
cage Is double, Que above the other. Its base
is like II grating mHde to 1T the wheels Of the
cars that bring up the ore. Two Of these cars
arc rolled Off on their tracks to tho dumps.
and we TAKE their places. The ladies, with
two of the gentlemen, step onto the grating,
take II firm hold OF q bar overhead, ahd shout
"llcndy." Down drops the cage six feet. Then
and begin to whistle. Down, down, down,
what u strange scnsatoni
The candle lliclters, the wallis around VI
drip with water, the steam and hot air rush
Up by Us, for this shaft Ia an "upcast,' We
are wet to the skin. The motion changes; we
can feel the give of the long rope. Like re-
turn ball hanging on Its rubber cord we sway
upward and downward, yet constantly realize
we are dropping. A few seconds, and We
gently stop. We have reached the
EIGHT HUNDRED FOOT LEVEL.
There the surroundings are those OF n large
cellar. only the temperature IS nigh Men"re
around VA in their WOODEN costumes, rolling
the iron cars In from Iona tunnels. We take
drink Of leo water and follow our leader out
through one of these side galleries about half
q mile. Then We come to an open sphce
where Mt our side we SEQ an Iron box about six
feet long. three feet wide and three feet deep.
This box rests on wheels on n track that ex-
tends we know not whittier. At i3s rear end q
huge iron band Is fastened, and before u the
tracks slope into tho darkness. They COLL this
dllmpty, suppose. Weclmb into him, and
seat ourselves on boards placed like circus
soats. or we go. 1t seems as IL our heads
would touch the roofing over us, but they
don't The water trlckes along the limbs or
drops on our hair. The heat becomes more
and more like the third room Of o Turkish
bath Here we fall by an opening into which
our candle light throws gimmer. Now we
catch q glimpse OF where former tunnels have
been worked. We sing q song, and think OF
John Whopper. We arc getting settled, when
the box stops and We Chamber out onto the
SIXTEEN HUNDRED FOOT LEVEL.
Moro Ice water, and a quarter OF milo
tramp In single file out through n six foot
hole over pools OF water. by great props that
keep the rocks from burying us, till we get on
board train No. 8, and slide down again lis
Jolly It beats college coasting. 1t grows
WA ar btU
watch the long motions OF the great iron
pumps beside U.s. We IRE approaching the
end. The sounds OF the busy drill reach our
ears. The guide pulls the rope that has fol
lowed us all our course, and with gentle
bump the giraffe stops. We alight. We have
reached =a@M5es
THE BOTTOM
or the deepest hole In the Union, $500 feet per-
pendicularly below daylight.
Here are the mir c0ndensers, the long pipes
are stripped to simply q pair of linen pants
and heavy shoes. They fairly drip with wa
ter. We eat freely OF the ice, which Is con-
sumed In immense quantities down In these
depths. We walk out into the tunnels, where
the miners work only four or five minutes,
and then rest for ten back In the cooling
chamber They are chiefly at work pros
pectiDg, very little pay rock" being taken
out. All are digging to find lower layer OF
the immense v, in Most of the money was
immense sums are going into this lower
work. We looked about US for awhile, then
entered our car. and we're rapidly hoisted up
and up, till at last we stepped out into day
light, put on heavy coats, and ran for the
dreSSinH-rOom.
These mining companies pride themselves
on the conveniences Of taeir toiet-roOms, and
the office of the Belcher Mine excels all others
In It's appointments. We bathed In hot water
and warm water and cold water, took the
different shower baths, and after thorough
scrubbinR, stepped out In our citizens dress,
feeling brighter and frisker.
This mine is fair specimen of them all
very few are now digging out much paying
ore. All are doing this deep and expensive
prospecting. Undoubtedly these mountains
are SO full OF silver as to give prominence to
the cities, but the tluctuating nature OF the
"finds" will naturally cause a floating and
feverish population.
Most OF the moneys now made by the Inn
mense corporations are coined In the stock
rooms Of San Francisco, rather than lifted
from the middle OF the earth. Nearly all
small operators meet with failure, because