Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-04-06
THE MINES OF ALASKA.
THE LARGEST sTAmP-MiLL IN THE
WORLD IN ACTIVE OPERATION.
Richness of the Country Already Dis
eoSered-A Fascinating Field for
Prospector-MsrbIs and Coal
Well as Gold.



now in active operation on Douglas island,
opposite Juneau, and is turning out S69, p
90 bullion per month. II carries l2O
stamps. and Works the whole year round
| The ore comes right out of the side Of the
mountain which rises abruptly from the
| ocean, and is shot down an inclined plane to
! the stamp mill, where il is treated; and
vessels drawing twenty feet of water can
! lie right alongside the rocks of the natural
shore and receive their freight not a hun
| dred yards from the mill The primitive
forest clothes the slopes Of the mountain
from base to summit, and fuel is all around
in intimate proximity. No plant of such
value was ever erected or operated at SO
cheap cost It is said the outlay was
q, 900, 900, and that sI6, ,OOO 100 has been re-
fused for the pI uperty. II is a low grade
ore, yielding - TO SlOO per ton Of quartz
! No stock is for sale
OTHER RICH CLAIMS
Right alongside of this mine in continue
ton of the same ledge or formation, is the
Treadwell claim, owned largely by San
Francisco parties, which is supposed to be
equally rich in ore. Its shares are at
very high premium, although the mine is
not developed. Next year machinery will
be set up by some one on q scale equal to
the Douglas plant.
On the mainland, Just across the channel
from Douglas island, and six miles back
from the shore, in the heart of the mount
aims, is ''Silver Bow Basin," where there are
stores, blacksmith shops, boarding houses
and tsnements for a large community Ell
gagged in placer mining, who turn
out 81, 900 bullion every month from May
to October. The altitude is so high that the
however, are ordinarily clear enough Of
snow for prospecting in April Here are
scores of sluices, expensive viaducts and
hydraulic apparatus, ''Tasters," hose, pans
and iron conduits ten inches in diameter, in
place, an over the basin and up the sides of
the enclosing mountains to the very snow
line Several tunnels have been driven into
the quartz Lodges, which yield a fair supply
Of gold Claims have been stsked out every
where Lead of the richest kind is found in
big nuggets, as well as gold l have myself
broken open large chunks of quartz which
seemed TO promise nothing, and been sur
prised at the richness of their revelations
QUEER APPARATUS
An araster is a queer sort of a cheap ma
chine for treating ore which can be used TO
great advantage when the quartz is decom-
posed and soft II is a sort of circular tub
twenty feet in diameter and four feet high,
with a hard stoue floor and an upright shaft
in the center whicn carries four arms like a
clothes-drier At the ends of these arms
heavy fiat blocks of stone are attached by
chains, and as the arms swing round they
drag the stones over the bottom of the tub
and pulverize the quartz, which is fed into
it with a due proportion Of quicksilver and
such chemicals As the nature Of the ore may
require. The machine is driven by a simple
water-wheel attached to the same shaft; q
sluice placed a few inches above the floor
lets off the waste water, the precious metal
uniting with the quicksilver and settling
To the bottom of the tub. There are two of
these contiivances in the Silver Bow basin
These mines have made Juneau quite the
center of business in southeastern Alaska
There are possibly 800 white people in the
town, which is most romantically situated
at the base Of a mountain just in front of
the entrance of a canyon through which a
beautiful stream flows in a series of cascades
and perpendicular leaps to the sea The
store OF the Northwest Trading company Is
conspicuous among others, but there are
good restaurants, two drug stores and sew
eral general stores, q beer brewery two
barber shops with hot and cold baths, q
jewelers. shop, blacksmith shops, postoffics
and some very snug dwellings, nearly all of
which are painted and look neat Some
houses have little gardens inclosed dis
play Of flags from three or four tall stats
shows prettily against the somber back
ground Of evergreens, and makes the place
look gay. There is a commodious wharf
and warehouse for the steamer, and usually
two or three small sailing craft and numb r.
less canoes enliven the little blight within
whose curve the town is principally built
FASCINATING PIELD.
Alaska is a fascinating field for prospec-
tors One can find there q show" Of
everything he wants; gold, silver iron, cop
per, marble, coal and great red garnets as
big as hickory nuts; but the results do not
always realize the promise, and the reason
evidently is q lack Of capital necessary to
develop them Since the mineral discov-
cries at Vermillion lake in Minnesota, it
took twenty years TO convince people that
the ore would pay for working, bnt when
certain iron company found nerve TO quietly
undertake business it cleared up s. 600 tons
the first year, and 226,O0O the next, All
that is needed in Alaska is capital Lack
of confidence and lack Of capital have alone
prevented the development of richness
which Is Known 70 exist
Alexander Choquette Of Wrangell has
some very fine specimens of notified blue
marble from quarry quite convenient to
tide water. Mr.. Bartlett Of Port Townsend,
Wash, discovered excellent coal on Ad-
miralty island, and several other deposits Of
coal are known elsewhere Marble crops
out all over the country which one passes in
the coastwise steamer There is plenty Of
rock which will pay well if properly worked
The gold mines Of Alaska are doubtless as
rich as those of Cariboo and Cassiar in
British Columbia, since the geological struc-
ture is the same in all The richness OF
Douglas island is an assurance Of the rest
1t was something less than domestic Sc
cret that Mrs Crawford was the chief
worker in The Daily News Paris CORE
s. ond' nee even during her husbands life |
time Nightly she might he seen at the |
Cafe Veron with her lord and master, and |
sometimes alone. | know not q single |
Frenchwoman, however sprightly and intel /
lectual, who has lived her Paris as Mrs |
Crawford has She is an animated ency- |
clopedis OF all the undercurrent of political |
and social gossip of the last hai.-century |
The genial but subtle Celtic face is the mark |
Of q ripe and sound Judgment, and Of q
cynicism which has !ost all cruelty When
this sparkling provider Of copy likes, she
can out Labouchere Labouchere. She knows
all the scandals Of the courts and palaces Of
y yesterday and to-day.-Paris Journal
Dropped from the Capitoi's Dome.
As illustrating the force Of a small object
6ajlng from distance q shot dropped from