Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1886-03-10
ALASKA.

80 NNE
Eurckan. Now "a Resident Of Bong
las Island.
R. j. Doak received yesterdays very in
teresting letter from J.. T. Martin, for
merly Of Eureka but now q resident oil
Douglas Island, Alaska, from which the
SENTINEL makes the following extracts.
This ia probably one OF the most diff
ficult sections on the coast for q miner to
prospect in, az the entire country is very
rough and mountainous and covered with
heavy timber and underbrush. Under
that. in most places, is a heavy moss that
completely covers the surface. 1t Is nearly
impossible for a man to walk on it, Us he
will sink in it up to his knees, and often
times deeper. As regards to surface
ground one here seldom ever sees it, ex-
cept where water has washed the timber
and moss away. All travel ia in a canoe
or boat, as there are no trails, and where
there is any packing to be done 1t ia by
Indians, who, by the way, are a very hard
working and industrious race. There are
probably 1000 OF them here. AS to the
climate, il ia wet. It rains a great deal
during the Summer season. The Winters
are not severe. The coolest weather we
have had thus far this season was six de-
grees below zero. and that lasted for only
two days. At the present writing 1t is
raining. and has been for the past three
days. II ia probable that the cold
weather is over for the season. AS to the
PLACER MINES
OF Alaska they are. so far as known OF,
limited in number and not very rich.
There is q small basin on the mainland
about five miles from here that has paid
very we'll, but it ia now about worked out.
The placer diggings in this country are
located differently from what they gener-
ally are, as the paying claims discovered
thus far are way up on the sides OF mount
aims. One OF the best claims of the kind
ever worked here is covered with eternal
snow. After a number of men had worked
there all Summer the snow on the surface
remained intact, they having to pipe"
the gravel out from under it. and In places
build piers of stone to hold IL up. As
regards
QUARTZ MINING,
This il undoubtedly one Of the greatest
countries in the world. Quartz can he
found all over the country. II is not, as
a rule, high grade. but there 10 lots Of it,
and all Of it is gold bearing. The Tread
we'll mine is the only one of the kind be.
ing worked in these parts at the present
time. The ledge is on Douglas Island,
and ia about a mile from the mainland.
II rum in a southeast and northwesterly
direction, and ia about 1000 feet from
deep water. It has already been traced
and located for some three miles and q
half. The Treadwell Company ran q tun.
mel across the ledge at q depth of about
mn fazA E.4>a AL1 Asnnvtnnd and fnrnd -
over 300 feet wide. They then connected
with the surface by an upraise. This is
used to shoot the ore through from the
upper levels Town to the tunnel. They
lust quarry the rock out and send it to the
mill without sorting. The tunnel is con-
nected with their mill by a trsmway. and
the ore is delivered over the batteries by a
cable railroad. The ore carries free gold
and sulphurets Of iron, the latter being
saved by concentrating. The mill is sec
ond TO none in the world. 1t has 1870
stamps that weigh 900 pounds each. and
has 40 concentrating machines of the Frue
patent, and four large rosters. The en-
tire mill ia worked by water power. and
brushes 800 tons Of rock every "a hours,
and turns out about 500, 900 per month.
All
THE MINING WORK
Is done by Cinnamon and Indians; 30 you
see 10 is not much OF q place for q white
miner to come to. The mill is run by
white labor and Indians. and requires only
IA men on o shift OF IL hours. All the
white men employed in the mill were
brought from California under contract at
wages ranging from S75 to $50 per month,
including board and lodging, 40 that you
can readily see the country, while new anc
promising, Is as yet not much OF a place
for men who are seeking employment Of
wages to come. All such / would ad.
wise to wait a while, or else make arrange
ments for employment before leaving San
Francisco. The outlook for
Is, in my opinion. poor. as the seasons are
short, and il rains q great part Of the time
besides, the country is very rough. The
experiments in this direction have thus fal
been confined to the raising Of a few vege'
tables on small patches of ground lyine
along the beach. and they we're, to quite 9
degree, successes. The country. especially
this part of it. is not adopted to stock
raising. Several have come in here the
past year with small stocks of general mer
chandise, and in my judgment, that line o
| trade is being %overdone. would not ad'
wise any of my friends to come here al
present. Whenever matters take a favora
BILE turn l will apprise you Of the same.