Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-11-02
Queen City OF The Clutches.


! contains three column letter of except
ional interest from the pen of Amos J
Cummings, which on account of its ex
treme length, we are unable TO repro.
duce in full. 1t closes as follows:
The foundation of Deadwood's pros.
perlty, however, Is its gold mines. When
the auriferous gravels and lodes were
discovered there was a rush to the
northern hills. Custer City and other
camps south were deserted. Millions
were taken from the gulches around
Deadwood, and scores Of lodes were
found. Those that were apparently the
most valuable proved to be valueless
Their ores would not pay the cost of re-
duction. Those that were apparently
the most worthless proved to be the
most valuable. They carried free gold
miilfs SEVEN afe istin az WORK ,nref
drop today about 500 stamps. Each
stamp crushes from three TO four and
half tons of rock every twenty.four
hours. This rock yields in free gold
from sS.6S per ton to s402. The Home
stake and Golden Star mills give the
former average for 243, ,355 tons Of ore in
one year, and the Caledonia the latter
average for 73,425 tons in the same year.
The Homestake and Golden Star mills
produced that year almost $500, 900
worth ofgold. and the Caledonia nearly
100000. The Homestake lost Is per
cent of the free gold in tailings, and the
Caledonia probably about as much. The
net profit per ton in the Homestake, in
Guiding all expenditures, was $ll9 The
net profit per ton of the Caledonia last
year was 66 cents. The net yield per
ton of 1913 tons, however, was 1888.
The figures of the other mills were not
obtainable. If they did as we'll in pro-
portion as the Homestake and Caledon-
ia, the annual yield Of the seven mills
would reach nearly 100000. The ore
| crushed in some of them is so rich that
the utmost secrecy is maintained as to
the product. OF course these figures do
not give the total value of the gold and
silver yearly turned out in the Dead
wood region. Little gulches are worked
in manv an out-of-the way spot, and
there is considerable tinkering with the
refractory ores. The total yield is prob
ably between $5,000,000 and s6,0O0,000.
The Caledonia is the most remarkable
of all the mines. The veins are from 40
TO $50 feet wide. The lowest level is 500
feet below the ore floor of the mill. The
ore is harder than any other in the dis
trict. Prof. Carpenter Of the Dakota
School of Mines says that "the ore body
is pyritifero1s chloritic schist, lying
between hanging wall of phyllite and
ootwall of mica schist, in which there
occur layers of chloritic schist, which
carry gold the same as the main body
of the ore" To me the ore body SEEM
ed to be hard gray rock filled with
streaks ofquartz, but Carpenter ought
to know. The walls are apparently
granite, little darker in color than the
ore. l visited the mine within an hour
after reaching Deadwood. 1t lies in the
same hill as the Homestake group. The
mill, however, is on the other side of
the hill. One of the Homestake mills
stands above it. The water that pours
from this mill is as red as blood. while
the water from the Caledonia is of a
dark slate color. The streams unite be-
low the mills and preserve the sepa rate
colors far down Deadwood Gulch. The
superintendent Of the Caledonia mine is
Mr.. L. l.. Skinner. He was a Missis-
sippi law student who drifted to the
Black Hills many years ago. A law case
interested MIN in mines, and he has de-
veloped into a mining superintendent
of remarkable ability. Hardly a stick
of timber is used in the Caledonia mine.
Vast pillars of rock are left to support
the roots of the chambers. The cham
bers upon the vein are enormous. Al
places they are fully I50 feet square and
from rs TO 100 feet high. They are ter
raced like gardens. 1t is a picturesque
sight 10 see the miners with lamps in
their caps ranged in rows upon these
terraces, using the hammer and the
drill. While our party was in the mine
seven blasts were set of. The concus-
sion was startling, but not chip nor
grain Of earth fell from the roofin which
we stood. The Mississippian proved to
be man of varied attainments. After
our return from the mine in the gather.
ing darkness he brewed punch SO de-
licious in perfume and taste that it
would have sent him to Congress If he
had lived In Kentucky.
The destruction Of the great reduction
mill has cast a shadow upon Dcadwood.
1t was unfortunate that the system for
the reduction of the ores was not thor
oughly tested before the fire. The