St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1886-07-24
MINING IN CALIFORNIA.
A Probable Increase in tho Future Aggrs
gate Yield OF Gold.


gate Yield OF Gold.
A prolonged sojourn in Shast
County has put me in possession @
some important facts regarding tn
production of gold, which l think vii
prove interesting to the public.
For many years the mining of gol,
on the Pacific slope was to large ex
tent carried on by what is known a
the hydraulic method. The process
was SO far perfected that manipulatin,
Of a cubic yard of earth, though no
yielding more than two cents worth o
gold, was nevertheless sufficient,
remunerative to warrant the working
In order to extract the precious metal
the hydraulic companies, most if no
all OF which were organized by for
elgners and with large foreign capital
forced powerful streams of water
through pipes, tearing down hill-sides
and washing away the soil itself with
astonishing rapidity.
The devastation which this system has
accomplished can only be comprehend.
ed by an eye witness. You have bu,
to travel hither by way of the Central
Pacific railroad, and you will be horri.
fied by the baleful results of hydraulic
mining along the western slope of the
Sierras. at the Dutch Flats and at many
other points. The earth which was
dislodged by the hydraulic machinery
was carried down the water courses.
filling up the river bottoms. covering
miles OF rich farming land with the
washings, tailings and debris. Desola-
ton and ruin was threatened to pros
porous towns like Marysville and Sacra-
mento. There was even danger that
the harbor of San Francisco would be
filled up and obstructed, and that the
expenditure from the National Treas
ury to protect and keep open this har-
Dor would far exceed all the value of
metal produced by these corporations.
Meanwhile they left behind them. in
stead of the fair face of nature, and
lands fit for cultivation, or at least past
urage, only a scene of desolation-the
unchecked greed and selfishness of man
destroying the very earth itself.
An action was at length instituted in
the United States Circuit Court by the
city Of Marysville and by landowners
in the vicinity against one of the
largest of these corporations. A per-
petual injunction was finally procured
restraining the company from further
operations. This should have been
done many years before. The mischief
was apparent, and. indeed. had grown
to gigantic proportions. The tearing
away and destruction not of rock but
of soil, in order to get two cents worth
of gold per cubic foot out of it, is a
palpable crime against the human race.
The discontinuance of hydraulic min
ing inevitably wrought a large falling
off in the amount Of gold produced on
the Pacific slope. Ruinous as that
method was in many respects, it had
proved very successful, and the yield
of gold was accordingly very great.
Fortunately, however, American in
genuity has been found equal to this
emergency. Stimulated by the large
premium Of gold, quartz mining has
received a new impetus which bids fair
to repair all. and more than all. that
has been lost by the suspension of the
hydraulic process. The mountains of
Trinity Comfy, Shasta County and
other districts of the State have been
prospected for gold quartz
Many quartz mills are
now in operation and many more are
erecting.
A gold mill is very simple and in
structure in comparison
with a silver mill. The heavy and
costly appendages of the latter. such
as pans and settlers, are generally
omitted in gold mills. Indeed. if the
gold in the quartz is free the necessary
provision consists merely of stamps
and copper plates, over which the
crushed rock is made to run. In mills
Of the better class it may be remarked
that some device is also commonly en-
ployed to concentrate the tailings.
There are, likewise. several small
patented machines in use, which would
not be trusted in silver milling, but
which work reasonably well in gold
milling. In short. gold milling, while
it seldom yields the enormous profits
which are sometimes, although seldom,
made in the mining of silver or copper,
can nevertheless be safely undertaken
on much humber scale and by men
Of much smaller means.
The gross product of the mills now
in operation will probably range from
six to twenty thousand dollars each per
month. But the increase is steady and
the business will continue to grow for
years to come. This opinion is fully
borne out by observation. as we'll asby
diligent investigation and INQUIRY.
Judging from the present outlook, it is
safe to conclude that the prospective
IN the gold product OF
the Pacific slope is destined to play an
part in the final adjustment
of the problem of metallic currency
for this country and the world.-San
Francisco Cor N. Y. Sun.
n>~:A:~-