New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-07-06
,so,ces r,br,nhcit Water nt this temperature 40

degrees Fahrenheit. Water Mt this temperature 70
heats up the level that only work strictly neces.
sary is undertaken. north drift is being pushed
rs randy as possible TO connect with al east dri
that is being advanced toward 1t on tue 3ooo iVe,
made there VIII be good strong circulation OF ar
in both mines, and prospecting operations NAY tnen
be undertaken.
This Belcher north drift will not stop at q counec-
ton with the Crown Point, but will he pushed
ahead TIL 1t reaches tho Yellow Jacket shalt, aow
5000 feet deep. with sump 80 feet lower; that IL
below the g 900 station. As here - ut the Yellow
Jacket shaft powerful pumping machinery. with
line of pumps extending from the surface down to
Crown Point, Belcher and Yellow JacAes-
will be able TO render mutual assistance;
once they are CONNECTED, ~ case case, ,,s OF
work together thrOu!h upper connections lhiee
tholsand feet is a great depth, ana even Wheh con-
nected with the Sutro funnel It Will oe necessary at
the Yellow jacket shaft to pump water to- the
height OF 1400 feet to reach a. However, as nc
powerful machinery on the Comst0ck now easily
pumps 1900 feet, can safely cacuiite on otin S
able to pamp another 5000 feet below the 1'ooo
level. ~,
In this shaft the deepest vertical shaft on the
continent an accident occurred last FRIDAY when
resulted III Che death of six of the eight men WHO
happened TO be at the bottom at the time Inc ac-
cident the dumping OF carload Oh toois,
plcks drills and sledCe-hammerS INTO the smart III
a MONT within about forty feet Of the top Iea-
tnre of the accident worthy of note and one c"ct-
lated to all the heart OF the miner at such depths
with awe and dread Is related by survivor VINO
WAS but slightly injured. This was that the shower
of iron and steel fell in perfect s. ence among THESE
men. Not warning sound was heard. During tne
Latter part of their course Of 1000 yards the
missiles travelled swiftly that all SOUND was lett
far behind.
THE NORTH END MINES.
r. 10 toward the mines TT the north end Of the
Comstock however that the eyes of all stock deal
ers and mining men on the Pacific Coast are now
turned--the Sierra Nevada and Union Consolidated.
What they wish to see is the opening up OF the
lower levels of these mines, bat as they must be
worked through the Union shaft owned by
the Sierra Nevada, Union Consolidated and
Mexican Companies, nothing can be cone
until all Is IN readiness at said SSaaaddI
near the bottom of which. at the $500
level, a pumpthe last OF line reaching 10 thc sur
faces beng put IN w men md on, Pthe 500
station of the Sierra Nevada and DRIFT started 10
connect with from the shalt at the same dep h
When this connection is made both mines VIII De
dry on the $500 level and also on those level
above that have not been thoroughly prospected
As the ore deposits of the two mines have never
been followed below the Z,4OO level all nope that
big bonanza may exist on the level below
LOw-GRADE BONANZts.
Thus it will be seen that everywhere along the
Ccmstock the mining companies are going down,
down. in search of bonanzas of rich ore like those
found and worked above. By working only the
rich deposits of ore known bOuanzas, It is with
us of the COmstOck towns ALWAYS either feast OF a
famine-there is no comfortable medium condition.
II has always been Between bonanzas there
have ever been times when half our population was
idle, everybody IN debt and business almost at a
stand. All this time we should have "spliced
cut" between bonanzls by working owGrade
ores. We should then have been making IA
comfortable living right along, and the
bonanzas, when they came, would have
been put down as much extra and unlocked Tor
occasional godsends. But iii the sta-t everything
was pitched at the hI2h- bonanza key-"ages
] IL. and Al
down TO the minor KEY OF the lOW-grdde ores.
| However, IL VIII not always be so. Instead OF
waiting a whole year to get ,t ea'ne ot
to work from to three months az
! III a day-the WAGES liked p{ we
! Miners Union for all miners if they 80 much rs put
| their heads below the suriace-we shall have an
arrangement bv winch a certain class of miners viii
be allowed TO earn two three dollars per daS the
wear through. In Colorado they manage 70 WORK az
| a profit ores Of very low grade. There thcY pegAn
the business OF concentrating ores IN tGe StL +;
while here on the COmstOck nothing IN the shape OF
concentrating apparatus is 70 ne Seen. .a H.
! Colonel +. T. Osblstuu, of the Frtel3nG ana hu-
kill mines Colorado, informs me that he Is apc 10
concentrate ores ri about 80 cents pr ton. Allow
iny fbe cost of concentrating TO be 81 per ton or
! even twice that figure we have here IN the CoHl-
stock millions of IONS Of ore that would pay for re-
duction if reduced three or four volumes. Indeed
| IN several places on the lode men are ohtalnin
having ore from points on and at short distance
| below simply by some selection IN digging II out
Wien this can he done it IS pretty certain that the
! whOle'paSs of ore can De- made 10 ray ny feuucilg
! three or tour tons 20 one by concentration.
Above the level Of the SuTo Tunnel can be found
quantities Of low grade ore, Sufficient TO keep thot-
| sands of men at work score or more of years. In
some mines-Jhe savage, Ch"ilar, }elcherand Crow
Point, for nstance-tcre are vast areas or II tIat
will ASSAY from s. to &15. This can be run ont
through the Sure Tunnel for few cents pr ton, to
| the Carson River where the ore may be concen-
| trated by means OF machinery driven oy water
power.
The first step toward tie attack on our loW-grade
! ores should be course OF experiments with the
| best concentrating apparatus now III use, and the
next the erection If large crushing AMI cpnceTtrdt
| mr mills on the Carson River. Cntl such mile
are erected nothing can be probably done az Mill
| iuG the luW-grade ores.