Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1882-08-12


and fix its aggregate value at more than
$1,000. 100000. One hundred thousand
dollars was taken out the first year of
of single claim.
Since the introduction Of the fiume
the product of gold at Rockerville has
increased very rapidly and has amply
compensated the projectors Of the f1ume
who expended quarter Of million
dollars in its construction.
There are several Of these rich gold
producing plateaus in Pennington coun-
ty already in occupation, but not 40 far
advanced as the RoCkerville plateau
and there are doubtless others not yet
discovered, as Pennington county ex-
tends fully fifty miles across the quartz
bearing region.
That part Of the Black Hills included
i'm Custer county is also rich in quartz
and gold bearing earth. and mining OF
both classes is in successful progress
with great promises in the future.
Placer mining ut Harney has proved
Very profitable, and is fast assuming vast
proportions, while the quartz mines
near Custer are being proftably worked,
and large mill on the Grand Junction
mine is producing constant and steady
yield Of gold at a large profit.
One great peculiarly Of this mining
land NJ ;tc fart,l;t, Tha
soil produces rich crops to the very apex
Of the highest mountains, and il is not
infrequcnt, sir, that mining operations
lead into gardens Of luxuriant vegcta-
bles.
Returning to the mineral wealth of
this country, will state that salt and
petroleum exist in large quantities and
are produced with little effort, in suffi-
cient quantities to supply the home
market. With transportation facilities
these articles will become important
items of export. Mica exists in mex
haustible quantities Of superior quality,
anil is already an important item Of ex-
port. Gypsum also exists in boundless
masses. Copper, lead, and asbestos can
be had for the taking. The hillsides arc
covered with forests Of valuable timber,
and great beds of pure bituminous coal
easy of access, surround the hills.
Here, sir, we find a busy community
possessed of sast wealth, paying the
highest labor wages in the world; 2OO
miles away from railroad communica.
ton, which has built itself out tho soil
without the slightest aid from the out.
side, supporting themselves, paying their
full tribute into the national treasury
adding more than S6O0O,OOO to the an
nual gold product Of the country, with
out dollars assistance from the nation.
Sir, the great advantage Of the United
States assay Office In n community like
that Of the Black Hills is that the miner
is permitted to deposit his gold and re-
ceivc certificate for the value thereof !;
which certificate passes current in trade
in any part of the United States, or, at
his option, can have the metal run in
bars and the value thereof stamped on
each bar, when it becomes marketable
at its actual value.
Without such an Office at hand, Mr..
Speaker, the miner is at the mercy of the
merchant, trader, or sharper to whom
he is compelled by his necessities to 90
with his gold, who, of course, fixes its
value and weight by his own arbitrary
standard.
No other mining community is so far
from established marts for the product
Of tho mines, or so completely at the
mercy Of the class have just referred
to. Yet, sir. this is second to but one
other gold producing region in the
Union in the value of its product.
Beside the advantage as medium for
getting the metals into market, the
United States assay Office affords means
for the prospector and investor to OBJ
tain accurate estimates Of the value OF
VIC OICs louuu VII IOuSiout thC uilHlhS
lands, and protects them from the cupid
ity Of private chemists who, unfortuna-
teiy, are sometimes influenced by other
than eqitable reasons in preparing re-
ports.
Free milling ores Of low grade exist
in inexhaustible quantities throughout
this land, and in these ores especially
strict accuracy is vital, an the margin OF
profit is small at best, the revenue de.
pending largely on the quantities hand.
led. In proportion to the facilities for
obtaining official reports upon specimens
from new discoveries may We hope fol
the rapid development of additional
mines.
1t will be but a modest assumption
sir, based upon the uniform increase Of
the product and the supply awaiting the
people to come, to say that within five
years the annual yield of gold alone will
reach $20,0OO,OoO
In behalf of these latter l stand her.
asking this house to inaugurate al en-
terpriso of small moment indeed to thi