Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1883-06-14
THE COMSTOCK LODE.
An Interesting Interview With
]. G. Flood.


Fertile C0mstock the Hest Held
FOR MiHinx Yet-The Bonanza Men
Have Let 60 Of Noihlng Work
Can be Done to 1000 Feet-very
Encouraging Talk.
Virginia Enterprise.
Reporter Have you faith still in the
Comstock |?
Mr.. Flood-Yes. 1 think as I Always
did about 1t. When il comes to looking
for a mine, the Comstock il about the
only place where I would go to look for it
just now. These other places which we
hear SO much about arc all right, but the
Comstock offers the best prospect. OF
course the thing to do is to find o mine,
and while the outlook is encouraging, all
conjectures are useless in regard to the
future. Find a mine, and everything will
come round all right. The Comstock, in
my Judgment, is the field for work.
Reporter-Very true, but il there is any
foundation in the stories now being circu-
lated, the Bonanza firm is losing control
of the mines up our way.
Mr.. Flood-That's all nonsense. We
have not lost control Of any mine which
we desire to hold. The Yellow Jacket, over
which there has been 30 much talk, / did
not want; because, under the present cir
cumstances. we could Go nothing with it.
The group of which it ia tho center il OF
no account unless concentrated i'll the
hands Of one management. I advised
MnrrAuv vnroalH 80 80 sn aud oonr1r m the
control OF Yellow Jacket while it was to be
had for a song. Even If we desired to
hold that mine, it could not be done with
out unnecessarily exciting the market. As
soon as We make the slightest me they
all jump us. Morrow and his friends can
pitch in and nc one is any the wiser.
Reporter-But what about Union and
Sierra Nevada. They say that those mines
have slipped out Of your hands?
Mr.. Flood-As / said before, that's all
nonsense. We have 10 intention Of giving
up the northend mines unless the stock
holders are dissatisfied. We arc getting
down pretty deep there, but with economy
and with the advantages VIC have now in
the way Of machinery, and the knowledge
acquired in regard to the best methods Of
exploring at that great depth, there ia no
ALhooh v nPRANACho tA0p We az Aa0hAh6
any mistakes. The ground is interesting,
but that Of itself is not sufficient. We
must find q mine, and that's what the
stockholders want.
Reporter-Then you don't entertain any
apprehension in regard to water2
Mr.. Flood--Not Q bit. We can take care
Reporter-Then you don't believe that
deep mining is played out?
Mr.. Flood do not. That's an old
scare-crow. When we were getting into
Consolidated Virginia we were told We
were going too deep. l thought differ
emily. You know the result, and there's
Tunnel gave us Q new surface-a new
starting point.
Reporter-How deep, then, do you think
yon can 60 and still feel hopefully
Mr.. Flood-As deep as we can find the
ore. Patton tells me that he can go down
to the 4 COO level with his present facilities.
But don't misunderstood me. We must
find a mine. / can only say That the situs-
tion warrants looking for one,e even at tina.
depth. We are justified in considering the
Sutro Tunnel level as our starting point
when we talk about depth. So we are real
y az wv pc v tuuh "hCA L WA
troll OF Consolidated Virginia. In other
respects the situation is a much more diff
cult one. Our safety lies in the practice
of the most rigid economy. The reduced
market value OF silver makes an important
difference. The financial world has beer
educated to believe that the Comstock
when productive, turns out nothing Blu
silver, and hat fact keeps the price OF
silver down.
Reporter-You don't mean to say that
the mono-metalists and bi-metalists are
ignorant Of the fact that for every IS cents
in silver we produce As cents in gold?
Mr.. Flood--I mean to say that it is al
most a fixed belief that the Comstock
is exclusively a silver producer. Deides-
hcimer's speech did the mischief. That
speech, in which he exaggerated the pro-
duet when we found the bonanza, was
published in every financial center, and il
left a deep impression. 1t will take them
90 years to find out that the Comstock
yields gold as we'll as silver. Silver went
down soon after Deidesheimer's talk, and
II has never come up since, and does not
seem likely for q long time to recover from
the shock.
Reporter When shall we see You on the
Comstock again, Mr.. Flood?
Mr.. Flood promised Mackay before
be went away that I would visit Virginia
City soon. I have q dispatch from him
that he Ia now on his way back. He left
Moscow q week ago, and IL coming right
home. In Q short while he will be back.
Then he and ! together will pay your town
. visit.
Reporter-Well, it is encouraging. Mr..
Flood. to learn that you think well OF
Virginia City. Our " people have never
lost hope. But we felt depressed at times
during the long gloom. and what with Mr..
Mackay In Europe, Mr.. Fair going abroad
and the accounts OF your buying real es.
tate extensively in San Francisco, and
building great warehouses, we had come
70 believe that the Bonanza firm were
turning the cold shoulder our way.
Mr.. Flood-A man ought to be allowed
to buy . little real estate.
Reporter-But Mr.. Fair gave u Z part
ing kick. He told Q New York reporter
there WAS no Improvement on the Com
stock, aud gave him to understand thai
while there was hope-that was about oil
We had left. That was not kind. wher
every miner on the Comstock knows thaI
the prospect has not been so encouraging
for ave years.
MT. Fiood-Mr. Fair should not hav.
said what he did. II he has not been mis-
represented in what he did say he die
wrong. The fact is Mr.. Fair Ia not . vel
man. He 10 i'll. Six months In Europe
may cure him.
Mr.. Flood said also that the contrao
which Sutro had made with the mines wa
q good thing for the Tunnel and q goot
thing for the mining companies. Tha
contract was made OIL his (Flood's) advice
But for it Sutro would have ''gone broke
But the Tunnel was to-day its W bes
vindication. Without 1t he would b,
helpless In the deeper levels. The situa
ton was encouraging both above and be
low the Tunnel level. We had all beel
in such 9 hurry to go down, down. tina
the upper levels had not been half pros
pected. improvements were still undo
contemplation. He had been considering
the practicability Of introducing the cleo
trio light under ground. and was o await
ing the result Of certain experiments t
determine which was the best patent. Tn