, 1880-02-18

work having been Aone at the surfAc9 IN Il
line With Ophlr and the outcroppinEs Of
G0nld L. Curry, and no satisfactory results
having been obtained, tho owners OF the
various c1ntms were Of tho impression that
their possessions Ind fallen In the barru,l
portion OF the lode. Other mines, like tho
Sayage md Delcher, had already yielded
their immense supplies Ut mineral wealth;
but tho future "UiE I,onailza' was yet
buried deep down In the lower levels Of tho
earth, and tho famc Of tie Comstock was
then but Il shadow Of Its present self.
CONSOLIDATED v1nG1NIA.
Tho Consolidated Virginia Company WAS
organized Juno Z, 1SU7. Tho consolidation
comprised tho territory before included in
the Sides nnd White & Murphy claims. or
this possession n part was transferred to tile
California Company In 1878, and seycn-
twelfths of ono share of California stock was
paid to each slIRro af Consolidated Virginia
as q stock-llvItlcnd. The first assessment
WINS lGvfGd iii April, 18t0, and tho ltst III
juno, 1873. The total number levied wns tif-
teen, anu the amount collected aggregated
3i39, 4o9, an nnlonnt remarkably small Iii
comparison with that levied unon tho stock
OF other mines. III 1B13 tho property came
into the tAtltls OF tho present management,
n1ld ]. G.. Fair, Of the Bnnanzn firm,
was elected Superintendent. Work was now
conducted on more systematic and scicn-
tlfic scalo prospecting becu,no more easy
md extended; but for many months no very
rcmuneratiye results were obtained. Money
collected with difficulty was expended with
out any prospect Ut future returns, and heat
and barren porphyry sucn,cd 10 be ever Mt
war with the successful prosecution Of tho
work. It is truo the eminent Baron Rich
thofen, III Al elaborate nrtlcIe on the Conf
stSsx sceess st q e I caoxf x Hn Centra and oter M
well-kIlown clainls;, but the prospect was
ever uninyittng as the work went on. Tllo
sliaft went deeper, uprftscs "cro made, drifts
were run, stations Wyre excayatett, bgt the
drift wns run from tile Gould d. Curry shaft
through the Bust and DelclIer ground, md
tho crest OF the, great Bonanza Wns then laiu
bare., The ,pallny days Of f. 40 lad NOW II
Strfkn spreatl like wilt'fire to. California and
tile East, and tho Widest excitement OIL tho
rAciilc Coast prevailed. bonanza stock shot
up ifkaa u rocket, aud other stoclss shared In
tiio general rejoicing. It WIS thus Of gen,
suciety was everywhere GonvulBt1 at tho
prospect Of enormous wealth.
THE EXTENT or THE onE-nopY.
The strike increased In Importance aB pros
pcctlng continued: Tho milne was besleged
by mining experts and reporters, md the
and believed, Alr. Henry Do Groot, a
competent, mining engineer nnd, expert,
esti.l,ntctl the bnnanza 70 contain above tho
l,tU0foot Lowell, by. actual, exploration, 7,000,
sStS sSs i It s ss 'AS sse sslus Sd Us 5 III
State Mineralogist Of Neyatla. approaching
cerIalned, ln hls biennial report issued IN the
e, esry a part ps6x ot @ M e st the ""Hmt
lent to Sl3, GOO, willie below Tint poiilt tlio
amount was then lncatculu.le. Probably tho
two reports. whiel, g1i|H!!Ss The Wass. ere
and tIat Of col. J. q. Ntir, tl,e superln'.
press-lntoryiew, published On tho Stf Of
january. 1875, tho former gave expression
a1a m ontsn sow Fl e to SsSr1 I've aavs t
California ard consolidated Virginia, ST, ,500,-
0o0, 600 Of orc. I make this assertion alll atl
willing to stnnl by IT,. think that 1t will Gu
2sp5esty safe 70 sny tnat ue ore sf, wv
In ore that averaged ton por ton, as IL was
taken nut. $500 + should say that ConsolI-.
dated Virginia and California are. worth ut
lYast S5.on per s!laro,1.that b, I l1aye 70
out in dividends. have boen mining twfn
report OF Col. Fatr, Issued about the same
time to tho stockl,olt!ers,, bore Oil oflicinl
sppeed si1n ra VI 1"tGhMR ths RPast e*;saff yssr s
niain 'shatt ha4 e. been extuntle.l 70 tle
explored w cr9sscnts extending into t!c ort',
body ll four different places, eaoll TO- fcut
cuts shows width Of ore of 1863 feot. The
remaining crossetlts have not yet crossed
az .ore-6oey. oil having penetrated It over
100 feet su!d ono over A0 feet, The quality
Of , Tug ore y Of very l.ixA Crude, aid tar Y,
viow Is almost fa5aious. in the t,55o.fooott
loyol DRIFT has heel, run the who'll length
Of tho mine. tho northern 400 feet nt which
per ton. Two crosscuts 1iayo been run on
ills lavel,-ons ta the east anl one to the
st,-dlscios!ng width OF oru of oyur 1Oo
fss Sys aa fssce e'r sow s 9E s Tss H s sytY IT,
] passing through ricl ' ore, % aid tho ibot. bot..
ton OF tho lnze is now In orc OF
s9Eal rStst yalSa ot,,v to any yet ext!5s ioMnd
has been, from tlis l.3lv. l,sOo, and l,4oo fuot
theau levels, tic northern extent hMvIng not
yet been reaehed ~ my ut them: The quail.
the past ysar far exceed III value tllat Of any
mine which has ever come slil.ler my khowi-
edge Or observation, Taking Tho above
| figures as 4 basis tor tho calculation, IT,
wards figured out over 81 l,o0, 600 900 as the
RiSia iSHS aoe ~ or o. vaius of II suo to ssch Of of
Tue 1QS,0U0 shares In the lnllse.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.,
Nor were the reports Ut the newspapers
Just mentioned. Even wilder aud more
exuggeratel statements Wora given