Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-06-13

| cubic yards Of material composed mostly OF
sand, gravel, snail stones, copies ana
powders, mixed with small particles OF gold.
EIGHTH.
Defendant, by means Of bitches and iron
pipes has conducted to its aforesaid mines
| large quantity of water. which it is using and
| will continue to use under vertical pressure
| of several hundred feet, to mine its said
tracts of mining lard by the hydraulic pro-
| cess. discharging water through Little Giants
and Monitors, and dumping all the tailings
| from such mines into the North Fork Ct the
Amerit an river.
Said defendant has been mining its said
tracts of land for about eight years last past
| in the mode and process aforesaid, and up to
| the time of commencing this action, and dur
| ing about FIVE months of each year of said
period has been daily discharging into the
said North Fork between four and five
thousand cubic yards of solid material from
| it's said mine-to wit: of powders. cobbles,
| gravel and sand, making a yearly discharge
| of at least six hundred Thousand cubic yards,
and will continue to discharge that quantity
annually, if the working of said mine be per-
mitted to continue. and at such rate it will
REQUIRE some thirty years to mine out and
exhaust said mineral land.
| TENTH.
That large portion of the material 30
dumped by the defendant into the north fork
| of the American river has been washed down
said river by the water and commingled with
tailings from other hydraulic mines, and still
other material, which is the product of natural
erosion, has been deposited in the beds and
channels of Sacramento and American rivers ;
| but mostly in the American river and upon
the lands adjacent to said rivers, and by said
mining of the defendant and other Mines the
| filling up, raising and Swallowing of said
rivers he's been materially increased, to the
! impairment Of the navigation of the Sacra-
mento river, and to the excessive overflow Of
the lands adjacent to said rivers, to the great
| injury of said land and damage, discomfort,
and annoyance of great number of citizens
of the State, owners of said land and resi-
dents of said valley.
| ELEVENTH.
That the power of water to preserve its
channels and to clear out and carry off de.
posits in the same is proportioned-otherco con.
ditions remaining the same-to the depth Of
the stream and the freedom of said water
| from earthly matters.
That the beds of said rivers have already be.
come 30 widened and filled that the depth of
| the water therein has been greatly lessened /;
that said water, at all times. is heavily laden
with earthly matters, chiefly from mines /;
therefore, said rivers are likely to fill more
rapidly in the future in proportion to the
quantity of hydraulic tailings than in the
past.
| That thousands of acres of good land in
Sacramento valley have already been covered
| by such debris, and if some preventive is not
applied much further and greater injury is
likely to ensue in the future, and large tracts
Of land will probably be rendered within a
few years unfit for cultivation and inhabit-
ancy.
TWELFTH.
| That the discharge from the defendants
and other mines go fouls the water of the
| American river ct all points below as to rem
der said water unfit for any domestic hse by
the inhabitants.
THIRTEENTH.
| That the filling of the beds Of said rivers
| has, to some extent, obstructed the natural
and artificial drainage of the valleys of said
rivers, and has interfered with the percolation
and flow of the water through the soil, and
has raised the soil water to such an extent as
would naturally increase the tendency to ma
larial diseases but l do not find that. here
tofore. it has had any effect on such diseases,
and the material carried down by the rivers
| is singularly free from matter which could
| ferment and induce malaria.
FOURTEENTH.
That if the said acts of the defendant and
others, mining as aforesaid, are allowed to
| continue, there is imminent danger that the
| beds and channels of the lower portion of the
American river, and of the Sacramento river
below the mouth of the American. will be so
| filed and choked up by tailings and other de-
posits that said rivers will be turned from
their channels, cutting new waterways, injur-
ing or destroying immense tracts of land, and
probably will result in greatly impairirg the
navigability of the Sacramento river.
FIFTEENTH.
That the filling in said rivers below Alder
creek has been accumulating from year to
year. The largest deposits were made by the
foods of 1861 and 1862, since which time
there has been steady increase in deposit
and slow but constant working down in the
channels of the rivers of the heavier mate
rial that 1t is not possible to determine the
proportions of such deposits which come from
| mines now working in other sources, but it is
| quite probable-in fact, almost certain-that
very much the larger part of that which in
| juriously fills the rivers is composed of ma
terial dumped into the river from mines
| within ten years previous to the fill in the
| river.
SIXTEENTH.
That the waters of the American river and
its tributaries, during the recurrence Of high
water in each year, move and transport por-
lions Of the debris then in the river further
down the stream, and most of such matter
finds its way ultimately below Alder creek,
which is point in the American river near
where said stream energies from the foothills.
about twenty-seven miles above the mouth of
said river.
SEVENTEENTH.
The grade of the American river above
Alder creek to Canyon creek is about thirty
feet per mile and below Alder creek is not
more than three feet per mile.
The mine of defendant is about eighty
three miles, by the river, above Sacramento,
and is blue-gravel mine, and constitutes
portion of the ancient river channels which
cross the present river SYSTEM diaeonally.
EIGHTEENTH.
That the Gold Run mine in 1854 was
within the mining district known as the Gold
Run District.
That mining rules and regulations were in
force in that district as in all other districts
in this State, which prescribed the size of the
mining claims, the manner of locating and
recording them, and the amount Of work to
be performed to enable the locators to hold
their claims.
Miner rules and regulations had no force
beyond the district.
Claims in the Gold Run District were in
small parcels. about one hundred thousand
square feet, and were taken, held and worked
by a large number of persons, commencing
such work in some of the claims as early as
1852 and were so held until sold to defend
ant, which has since acquired title to said
lands by means OF patents from the United
States.
That between the years 1854 and 1874, the
upper levels of the Gold Run mines were
practically all worked off, leaving the lower
portions thereof next to the bedrock to be
worked off. Such lower portions now consti-
tute the mines of the defendant, and yield in
gold from five to twenty cents per cubic yard.
The mining and ditch property cost the
present company two hundred and fifty.three
thousand dollars, including tunnels and all
Improvements in the same.
NINETEENTH.
The rules and regulations of miners did not
purport to regulate the manner in which
mining claims should be worked, nor the man
ner or places in which the mining debris
should be dumped; but the universal prac-
tice was to discharge the tailings into the most
convenient stream or gulch, even though it
should interfere with claims located in the
streams or ravines below.
It has been custom, almost universally
acquiesced in, in the mining communities Of
this State, to regard the streams as common
ways for the discharge of mining detritus.
The exceptions being where such stream has
been previously occupied by some works,
such as ditch to convey water. Such right
on the part of the mine-owners is, in most
cases, essential to the economical working of
the mines.
Such practice is necessarily confined to the
mining localities and has not been recognized
or acquiesced in elsewhere, except that the
waters of the streams throughout their entire
course have been rendered turbid and foul
without complaint until within the past few
years.
TWENTIETH.
That neither this State nor the United
States has licensed the defendant or any mine
to dump his tailings into the streams so as to
be transported into any. navigable river,