New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-10-15
THE MINES OF NEW-MEXlCO.
PREPARING TO WORK THE OLD PLACERs-

~, stcKfIs-PEosPFCTs OF GAINING ALMOST
FABULOUS WEALTH
tvnoy A STAFF coBHEsroNrFNro f TIE TRIBUNE
Santa Fr y. NJ. Aug. "a long ago as 800
II was proposed 70 obtain water from the upper
pecos r yer. Which, east Of Tie santa re NOUN
tatns. is only a small stream. with winch Ia WASH
the gold from the sand and gravel oil the Ooi 'a'e
on the 0rtiz Grant. DIES, rhtd la my last elUi' ""
Captain Dav IT, that year made preliminary '"'
vey for q pipe lire for that purpose Wuic" W.
n.,or lu1t on account # the enormous expense
which won.d have been involved III the trahsn''
non OF more than twenty million pounds oil ho" ny
wagon nearly thousand miles acr"Ts 'no 60
and over two difficult ranges Of mountains aga,
;r1s-4 Professor RAYMOND recounotred me Bl""i'O
hastily and concluded not only lat the GUS
xrorld furnish an ample supply OF wafer ou' '"'''
m, courtIv WING between was pIacA'a0e I"' d"
nine line and the mines rich enough 10 warrant
the cxnense OF constructing 1t. SUI the properly
was NJ that tine four or five bundred Wles i'o'"
the terminus OF the nearest railway, and The c'uh-
trv between exceptionally rough ana dltbcut 10
haul freight over ; and nothing was done'
soon after the grant passed INTO The hands OF the
Ortiz Syndicate. the AtchiSon, Topeka ana eau"
TX Railroad was completed to the capital Of New
Mexico It's lire crossing the Pecos River not i'n
from the point where it had been proposed to Omid
the time had come for the development OF the prop
ertv Colonel NJ. G. G llette. now superintendent
of tle san Pedro and Canon del Aqua mines, ac-
COMMANDED by senator Jones, OF Nevada had IN
December 1879. explored the property pretty
thoroughly and they had given II as their OPINION
that the difficulties Of conducting water from the
Pecos to the Pacers would be less serious than those
generally encountered IN California, and the OWL
ers therefore concluded 10 go about the WORK I'D
earnesr Mr T. L. Slckels. for a long time chei
engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad. was there
fore employed to MAKE 4 survey Tor the pipe nDe
and report an estimate Of ITS cost.
A careful examination Of the country and a pro-
file Of the experimental line were made under ms
direction m February and March last but the
navscal J cnl les the eX 5 ence Of winch was dis
closed l. q $ report and consequently. the cnor-
Inous cost OF the Work. were SO great as 10 cause
the owners of the grant hesitate and to inquire
if some cheaper way 10 obtain water coud nos be
devised The length of the pipe, from It's inlet on
the Pec1s aver 20 its outlet on he Cunningham
mesi would BE- IA miles, with an average slope OF
lS3ro fe.t male and total descent Of Of 500 iert
For the first - mile, tue pipe would be 81 inches
IN dIamerer. and The remainder Of 10 80 inches. ana
its c1naci-r would he 1000 miners inches or
1000 gll.ous of water q minute. IN order that
no p.rt.on oft the pipe should be above the hy-
would haye 90 Doe made. Eleven can5ns must be
crossed. each from l25 20 500 feet deep and rom
GOO to uor than 600 feet W De- and to get over the
DIVIDE. eight tunnels constructed ia solid rock.
with an aggregate length Of $500 feet For -
mil, tuc averag. depth of thc pipe below the hv-
draulc ,rIir VollI be- SEQ Feet, and at thr lowest
poi4t 20 lc.t. su5jeetnE the pipe 20 a pressure
o. 3d. pounds to @ square IucA. such Is the char
aeter oi tIc country. winch. seen from distance
looked smooth ard easy 20 iJy pipe ire across.
The c--t Of Toe work vas estimated 1T @2,392' 0vc.
A MORE FGAsIBLE Project.
L. .-udrIuy the problem presented by these diff
culr.s Nj ~lc,sls conceived The Ilea OF OBJ
flaming va.er from The Glhsteo River, which
runs across the northeastern corner Of the
property for about q mile. and emptles into
the Rio Grande about twenty miles below No
one before him seems o. have looked upon this
as po~,i .ir source ol supply since los normal con-
dItoa I- tina. o.; dry arroyo. with, 1t most Etrle
brook. foot or two wide and three OF four inches
deel. wind ny over It's grlve,jy bed. The suspicion
thai 10 cons i .~l5is amount ti wafer passed down
the GaI.tel beneath the surface. suggested the
plan Of ds,.niuc mp tne stream from the level OF
It's bed down .0 .le rock, ans puupi-g the water
thus collected into stalI-lpe above the Level ~
the L .c.Is. from Which j, could be DISCHARGED upon
them vI ID ,uili .,eut force for hydraulic mining.
Tie Nld.h of ,nc level of b.El water iu tae CO.
rstro valley .. tine point where u was proposed to
place the Gam i 900 feet. MIR SIckeis sUCcestcd
the Excavation a trench across the valley. for
this dis auce ten feet wide, q the rock, II 10 WIS
fonnd w,.hir twenty feet OF the surface bed Of Jhe
stream. If the rock was deeper, then n line OF tim
Der .nc.t-piI.n-, ton-u-d aud yioovtd. Is TO be
entirely wator-t ght. would bc driven vertically u
the roc. the TOP Of the ping 90 be level with the
laF of h4 81 re- Re ! o.
which was to be placed AT DE lower side If the
french and its upper side, be- proposed 10 on The
excavaratlon with irregular blocks OF stone. ten
feet deep. forming a water drain. Connected with
tins drain he suggested the dgg ng of well
thirty feet n diameter. the sides of winch shouiG
be composed of stone laid with open joints ITS bot
tom on level with the bottom OF rue DRAM and
its TOP rising to the top Of The sheet-pilIng. and
covered with thick planks TO prevent
it from being injured filed up during
floods As the top OF all these arrangements
would be on "A level with the surface bed OF the
sire AN they would interpose no resistance 10 foods.
Thu submerged dam Mr.. Sckels Thought, would
hold back all water tha- comes down the valley up
u tb, level with It's top and turn 1t into the we'll
from which it could be pumped The amount Of
W. or which goes down the Galisteo, beneath the
surface m the DRY season has been fOunf 10 De ut
least 400 mners' inches. By turning the waste
water from the Placcrs back MO herveraboye the
dam, a constant stream of LOCO mlneIs inches
could II was thought, hc pumped out OF the reser-
voir by means Of d 1900 horsepower engine The
cosi Of the outfit Tor supplying water IN this way
was estimated AT S24G, 900 at little more than
one-tenih If that for taking the water from the
Pecos
Mr. Sickels was at once commissioned 70 se!ecf
site the proposed submerged dam. and his recent
IL that
accompanied him TO the Ortiz Grant when he went
there to examine the ground and ascertain the
depth ~ which his dam would have to be sunk 10
reach the bedrock and prevent the water from
escapipg underneath. A line of s0undings
wns rade across the bed of The Ilver