Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-12-09
CALIFORNIA TIN.
Reported Sale of the San
JacintO Mine.
OBJECTS OF THE PURCHASERS.
Will They Work 1t, or ALLOW LII
to Remain Idle?-Hist0ry
of the Mine.

old Daniel Sexton, one Vi tne plonccie "
Southern California, with number o.
others, discovered what are known as the
Temescal or San Jacinto tin mines in Sar
Bernardino county. The expectations ol
the discoverers OF this ledge--the only
one known to exist in the United States
ut that time-were reused to the utmost,
and they thought themselves on the high
road to fortune. Instead OF the realization
of their hopes in the smallest degree,
however, the discoverers Were doomed to
years of vexatious litigation, resulting at
last as has SO often heen the case in
the history OF all sorts OF mines, in
nothing but Disappointment and loss.
With the merits of that litigation the
public are not now concerned. Suffice
it to say that the question of title has at
last been settled beyond all question,
and that there are hopes that steps will
now be taken to thoroughly exploit this
noted ledge.
About twenty miles southwest from
Riverside, the best known of all the
colony gems of the south, are two lofty
peaks of a spur of the Coast Range,
called the Temescal Twin Peaks. The
name Temescal, by the way, being the
Indian designation OF bathing place.
At the base of these peaks lies the
famous TIN mine, which derives its
name OF San Jacinto from being located
ON the Spanish grant known as San
Jacinto Nuevo, or New San Jacinto, III
distinction from the San Jacinto Viejo,
or Old San Jacinto grant.
Here, away back in the fifties, some
wandering prospectors found some min
eral, the exact nature of which for
long time puzzled them. Finally some
one found out that it was cassiterite, or
tin ore, and at once great interest was
aroused. 1t had been supposed that no
tin existed on this continent, bat here
was apparently an immense supply,
which could be made to yield fortunes
for all interested.
The principal vein or ledge is about
four feet in thickness and OF unknown
length and depth. The country rock is
granite, and the ledge matter is quartz,
with the tin ore scattered very ire
gularly through it. For instance, many
portions of the ledge matter will not yield
more than two or three per cent. OF
metal, while other portions will go as
high as sixty or seventy per cent.
Owing to this irregularity, an average OF
the purity OF the ore is very difficult to
determine. Indeed, experts who have
examined the mine are very loath to ex-
press an opinion upon this point.
Before the litigation began shaft was
sunk for something over hundred feet,
and a number of tunnels were run into
the ledge. A considerable quantity of
ore was taken out and worked on small
scale, and numerous specimens OF the
tin so obtained are in museums all over
the country. But with the beginning of
trouble about the title to the land upon
which the mine was situated the work
was abandoned, the tunnels caved in,
the shaft filled with water, and the build
ings about the place went TO ruin. And
in this condition the property has re-
mained for over quarter of century.
But with the final settlement of the
question as to title comes good prospect
that the mines are to be reopened. Be-
sides the principal vein, upon which all
the work so far accomplished has been
done, there are numerous smaller veins
found here and there for miles in various
directions, generally running parallel to
the main ledge, and some OF them show
ing outcroppings OF quite rich ore. But
nothing has yet been found that would
seem to warrant the expenditure OF much
capital in development-at all events
until it shall have been decided whether
the principal ledge can be worked with
profit.
There seems to be pretty good author
sty for the statement that syndicate OF
English capitalists have obtained control
of the tin mine. At all events the old
workings were cleaned out some time
ago. and a, Cornish expert made thor
ough inspection Of the property. This
was several months ago. Since the ex-
pert made his report the news has come
from New York, where the owners OF
the mine reside, that the sale has
been effected. On the other hand
II ia reported that even if such sale
has been made, it by no means fol.
lows that the mine is to be worked. 1t
is suggested that the object OF the pur-
chasers is simply to prevent the extrac,
tion of tin from this mine which would
come into competition with the tin mines
of Cornwall in which the members Of
,Ne syndicate are interested. The state
ut is made that the Black Hills tin
.,,; nG '. concerning which so much was
ant;e;:; miHen; ted, have been controlled in this
a,nnnp au'ro,oa I'D that the Tenescal deposit
anl' ~ a. ha d. >ipHlated in the. same way
Fine w oe of ar canrs'. yall determine whether
+h;a ,a1, - VI % ooors1, 30, In case. it shoulc
move @ ~ TO T he ths % "a, ~, ready solution
could be found by la wing sdeh = A. saail dn
veiopment OF the America deposit a;s
The ore from the TemescAl aepoS,. ,,.ba, M
fers materially in appearance fir VIZ so,,u :,
ores OF similar nature. Atthe Ii WDs - - !:
of the State Mining Bureau in this G.
q case devoted to tin ores, and VIII, :"
contains fine specimens from the Black
Hills mines, the ancient deposits in
Cornwall, the still more ancient workings
in Italy, and from the more modern dis
cover;es in Mexico, Queensland and New
South Wales. The Temescal ore is very
dark colored, and the rock with
which it is mixed is also deer
brown, almost black. The Black Hills
ore, on the contrary, is a mixture Of
mica, quartz and feldspar, and is very
handsome. The Mexican ore is dark
red in color, while the ore from Austria
liza is mottled like granite. There are
also very fine exhibits of "stream tin
from Cornwall and elsewhere. La some
of this gold, rubies and magnetic lrol
are found.
Stream tin bears the same relation u
the parent ore that placer gold does to
.~l ~ ip found in tho SAM