Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-01-14

is sometimes the case, why then they play It on 1t,
and crush the material very fine, breaking IL up IN
| small pieces.
o-where is the pulverization going on?
A.-Tbe pulverizine action takes place OF course
while it is travelling ON its road through the tunnel
| and into the canyon.
OF travels with erea. force through the tunnel,
| does it not?
| A.-Yes; the cemented material of the blue gravel
contains from 10 to 25 per cent OF the whole mass
Nov, that cemented material is not all fine. u is
composed of fine grains OF sand all the way up to
the size of peas and beans and of according
to the transporting power OF water, that viii be
more or less carried away.
| Q.-But it is all reCuced to very small proper
| tions-this ceinenting material?
A.-Certainly
Q.-Does strike you as being at all strange thet
tins cenenting material which you speak of is sUc!
fine agricultural land?
A.-No, sir; because lime is 4 fertilizer au' IS
used in soil. and yet it makes good cement under
proper conditions.
Q-Do you not know that ii the material from
the Gold Run mine will recemenr itself in tha
stream, that it will recement itself if placed oyr
agricultural land five feet deep: all oI it, e.cesG
that which is actually subjected to cUltiyatiUn-it
would ali form cement?
A.-So, sir; not under those conditions at all.
Q.-Why will it not
Al Because it is kind Of cement that is only
formed when it is packed closely with pressure
it, as there viii be when it is stream, for then
there is the we ght of the water and the heavy
howlders on it. OF course YOU ,an take soil and
you make bricks of it, and you can take soil OF
any kind most and it for mortar. 1t is used all
over, and they make adobe ont OF it, hut it do
follow that soil is going to harden by want Of cult
yation. The material from the mines that viii &C.
ment in the channels of the streams, under the !
pressure of wafer, will not become cement when
scattered on the surface of the soil.
Q-Do you not know, matter of fact, that ii
that could form cement in one place, II would form
II in another If subjectedif placed in water, If
water placed over it under it. and was per-
coating through it-that it would form cement
without pressure, as well as with pressure2
A.-NU, sir; that material woult not I can
simply say that here is material which we find ba'
cemened. 1t is self evident that it will reform into
cement under like conditions.
Q.-HOw deep would you have to have the soil |
ana bow great pressure before this material would
again acquire its eemeuting qualityf
Al suppose if you would take some Of that |
finely pulverized material and pack it under twenty,
or say thirty feet of earth, suppose it would be-
come again hard cement. know it would.
Q.-Under thirty feet of earth
A.To give it weight enough to give it four or |
five pounds pressure, continuous pressure, it will
harden to a certain extent, but put loo pounds |
pres on it, and it will solidify greater
tent. 1t commences cen enting at the bottom, and
will come right up gradually. There is another
thing connected with the process OF cementanon |
wh oh exerts influence in the river, which is the
water-the salts that are held in solution by the
water. Water contains silica in solution, and also |
lime, and those percoate through the material and
they form portion of the cementing material that
is in the process OF cemenaton. The cobble stones
are dun ped into the canyon, the river, what
you may call it, and finally there comes in this
fine material and it fills up TIE interstices in the
bottom Thrc ugh that the water filters, and when |
there is water in the river, which Is quite often
the case, that w1ter will commence to evaporate |
when there is water running in the river. That |
evaporation leaves behind it the silica the silicate
OF alumina and the lime, which forms cementing |
material. The salts that held in solution ia the
water viii form cementing material, and it will |
cement without pressure. Pressure acceler- |
ates the operation. This material will not |
form cement where it is deposited soil.
at he head waters Of the North Fork OF the Ameri-
can river there quite number of these springs
containing soda and silica and carbonic acid flowing
down there in large quantities. It passes ever
belt of lime believe be there. All these serpen
tine rocks contain lime, and 1t dissoges. There is
where it receives most Of its material. When Wis
tied the Gold Run mine ! went down the en-
bansment on the rim Of the chanuel and followed
down on the rim, and there found the blue cement
per off ss you come up the channel and as you 60
down it deepens was in the pit about an hour.
found there 40 feet OF ceme tea material, go feet
Of the bottom OF which is very hard and compact.
JAMES o'BBIEN
Sworn Ito A. B. Dibbel-I came to California twen-
ty- e'ght wears ago, and am resident OF Smarts-
vile, Yuba county. | came 20 this StIte for the
purpose of mining, and have been so engaged ever
since = he river mining on the Yuha was first car
ried by putting in dams and fluming the rivers.
The depth of the gravel in the bed OF the river |
varied from five TO forty feet, and from 1C0 to go
1t the natural bed Of the river, and was de- |
posted there by natural forces. The material dis
placed in The mining Of this river was dumped in |
such way as to cover up mil ing claims below. |
There was only pl5cer, guch ravne and deep gravel
minirg. Witness described the different kinds OF
mines and the various tthods used in operating |
them, and stated that il was the universal custom
to dump the tancs into the nearest uch, raylne or
other channel The Monitor, Little Giant aids in !
controlling the water. 1t is constructed Of iron
on universal joint aad can be readily directed to
any point of the compass without destroying any of
the velocity OF the water The upper light material
OF the deep gravel mines moved prior to 1875,
and was dumped into the river channels. Reser-
vors are to store aud canals to conduct the water
Sluices aid in carrying of the material and save the
gold. Powder b owS down and pulverize the banks. |
Witness described the gravel deposit productions
of the mines, and the value of the mining property |
in the section where he has resided for the last |
twenty-eight years. in substantially the same man. |
usr heretofore testified to by Hamilton Smith and
the Hon. Niles Searles He has made a thorough |
examination of the American river between Sacra- |
mento and Folsom, and the North Fork OF the |
American river between Riee's bridge and Picker |
ing's Bar, recently, and gave description of the |
material and condition of the channels Of those |
streams between those points, which was eorrobora.
tive Of testimony already received in the easel |
have examined the levee system Of some portion Of
the valley, and my observation is that leyees made
OF mining debris will not be worked upon by gophers
or squirrels. l also examined, in company with
some twenty gentlemen, the filling in San Pablo
bay, and find that the material there contains 40
mining grit or clay. The material there found is
identical with that found at the mouth OF Sonoma
and Petalurna creeks.
Afternoon Session.
Cross.examiuation (by George Cadwalader)- Some
hydraulic mines can impound their tailings. The
company to which belong own eight miEes. Six
of those mines could not be worked except they
dump their taIlings nte the Yuba [WitEess de
scrbed the Eureka Lake. BLOOMFIELD, Milton and
Gold Run mines stating the "ty Of their canals
aud reservoirs and the material composing the
pits Of each mine. The mines at Snsrtsville dump
into the Yuba and Roses Bar. The fuba river is
filled up at Smartsville TO the depth OF $50 feet and
wifiened from few feet 10 over 000. Shady creek
! and all the tributaries Of the Yuha river filed
| equally in the same proportion have 5000 acres
| covered with sandy debris that | have standing
offer to- dayof S25 per acre for the wood that is
it. 1t is on the south bank OF Yuba, near MarYsvie
The dam built by the Stat9 in the Yuba is about ten
| miles distant from Smartsviile don't know hY-
drauc in those gravel beds that the giant
| to cut the banks. The banks are thrown down with
| powder and then washed by the aid of the giant
into the fiume. The rivers OF California not
pable of taking care of big food OF waterinow and
| never have been. was at the Gold Run mine on
| the 1ith of November 1881, and spent few hours
! in the mine. | am member OF the Miners Associ-
| alton of this State. examined the river between
| this CITY and Folsom few days since. The bed of
the nyer is fled up considerably, but | found
/ cutie good channel. When we made the eXamna-
/ ton OF the Bay of San Pablo accompanied
| by Captain Faulkner, of San Francisco. We took
I at least eighteen samples from its bottom. exam
ined every sample very closely and failed to find any
| grit in it. 1t dark blush mud, similar in
| character to that found at the mouth OF Petaluma
| and Sonoma creeks.
| j. z. HALE
! Sworn. (To A. B. Dibble)-I came to California
in lsie located in Auburn in 1850 and have resided
| there since.
MIR. Dibble-I offer to prove by this witness and
expect he will testify, if permitted that the popua
ton of Placer county at this time is about 10000,
and that three-fourths of those people depend
snt on the mining industry.
Objected to- aud objection sustained.
Mr. Dibble-We take exception.
4 Witness described the flood of 1s6l-62 he wit
messed il at the city OF Sacramento. In ls49 saw
debris deposits OF flood wood, etc, high up in the
tree tops evidenced the fact that in some former
years the food had been very high, and much
higher than were the waters OF 1851 and 1862.
L. l.. Robinson sworn. Direct examination (by