The Elk Mountain pilot., 1881-08-18
SOME SENSIBLE REMARKS.

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The Chicago Mining Re0itav, in
one of its leaders on the subject
which is nearest to all of US, takes the
ground that prospecting should cease
and active development of what has
been found begin. II deprecates the
practice of people running over the
hills digging holes and doing moth
ing. We can understand why this
should be the sentiment of many east
'ern writers and investors. Yet it is
after all one of the most powerful in
f1uences at work for the settlement of
the waste places in the west. The
pioneer with his axe, precedes the
grand army of occupation, blazes the
trails for those that are to follow, and
points the way to mineral and agricul-
tural wealth. He don't expect to do
anything more, and takes little heed
of the kind of civilization which is to
be planted en- route. After him come
those who are to perform the work of
development with capital and skilled
labor. 1t follows just as surely as the
consequences Of any other we'll order
ed law of human progress. The de-
velopments proceed as rapidly as cir
cumstances will permit. Neither town,
city nor state can be built in one year
or two. 1t is Of slow but steady
growth. The American people never
set their stakes in a new country unless
it has within itself the natural re-
sources to warrant the production of
regular harvests when the ground shall
have been fully and rightly prepared
and the seed sown, and once estab-
lished it is never wholly abandoned.
In mining country the capitalist
follows the prospeCtor, to develop
what has been discovered and known
to- be worthy of development. 1t
takes time to open NINE and the in
stances are rare in which the ore ex.
tracted in this process pays for the
work psrfqraed, T akasR n1ta e.
for example, where lie some of the
best mines of the Gunnison country.
They were discovered in 1870, and
passed from discoveries to corpora
tions in 1850. The winters have been
long and severe. All of 1880 was
consumed in making preparations for
methodical mining.
In 1881 they begin to produce lit
tie, but not largely. In 1882 some Of
the veins there will be penetrated to
various depths, from $50 to 500 feet,
BY shafts, adits, levels and tunnels.
Thus the ore bodies will be opened for
Stopping, and no miner expects TO reap
considerable profits from anything
but his stoping ground. In brief, this
is the only ground in the mine which
yields profitable returns. We are
speaking now of hssure veins, but it is
to nearly the same extent true of
blanket deposits. The squares OF ore
formed by running levels on four sides
of block of mineral are the stopping
ground in such cases. 1t is the same
in coal, iron and copper mines, no
matter how conditioned or where To-
cated-the stope is the one great fac
tor in its operation and the most i'm
portant Of ali when it comes to the
matter of profits. In fssure mining
where the vein is opened by perpen-
dicular sinking, the shaft is the con-
trolling improvement, for it is only
by sinking that new ground and new
slopes can be attained. At the depth
Of 900 feet the owner begins to real
ize that he must have machinery to
hoist ore and water. If the mine be
very wet pump must be added. This
involves an outlay of from $500 to
$40, 900. This plant will be sufficient
to carry him down say 500 to I, 900
feet, where a more powerful engine,
pump and hosting apparatus must be
laid.
No issure is much of a mine at less
depth than 500 feet. If it be strong
at the surface and carries a good pay
streak continuously, or with few un-
important pinches to that depth, the
g..