, 1889-08-22
ALASKA GOLD MINES.
LargeSt Mill in the World, With
24o Stamps in
Operation.
Interesting History of the Gold
snd Silver Mines in the
Far Northwest.
Juneau Letter to Nashvino American, j

| or, us IL Is commonly Cillltu III Juneau,
| the Treadwcll mine, The property is
| immensely valuable. 1t is owned by
| Col. J. ID Frye, an urbanc, white-hnircd
| San Francisco millionaire, and several
other nahobs of the California metrOpo-
| lis. II has been operated only for few
| years. Tho largest stamp.mill in the
world Gao stamps has been erected ON
/ 1t, and Is producing such rich returns us
| to put the value of the mine away up
| into the aristocratic ncighborhood OF
| $40 100000.
The "Paris" enters at narrow gulch
| into the base of one OF the rugged
mountains which makes up Douglas
Island. The vein of ore Is 40 feet wide,
| and has been followed dOwuwurds to Il
depth of $50 feet without the bottom of
the ore being found. Is IL any wonder
| that Colonel Frye wears q smiling
countcnance just above his nock.tie?
The ore is of low grade, yielding
from 81 to S12 per ton of quartz, but the
! immense quantities of rock which are
crushed make the gross product
IMMENSELY PROFITABLE,
the cheap chlorine process being used
to extract the metal from the pulvcr-
lied mass. As each stamp breaks two
and ouc-half tons per day, and the Paris
has 2lO of these iron and steel mastica-
tors, Colonel Frye can get away with
coo tons of Douglas island every day
that his mill runs at its full speed and
capacity.
Douglas Island is six miles wide and
twenty miles long. How much of it's
rock Is auriicrous nobody knows,
Claims have been staked of in every
direction. An English company is now
erecting a l20-stamp mill ON the claim
adjoining the Paris and expects to
| pick golden eggs ont of the Bears
| Nest, as its property Is called within
/ a. 4 -. 4
ing on the island is not Il long one.
| ADout eight years ago sotne prospoctors
discovered traces of loose placer gold in
the decomposcd rock on the surface and
stakcd oil il claim which, with careful
sluicIng, yielded between $4,000 and
$40, 600 before the "mouldN was cN-
haiIstod. Strange TO say, they did not
rock, which they supposed to be
valueless. One of them, how
ever, Mr. John Trcadwcll was
AN OLD MINER IN SORE NEED
of "raiso, and looked carefully over
the rock which his comrades had neg
| lected. Finding traces of pay ore
lac managed quietly to buy up the
whole claim for $500. Then he started
| TO San Francisco to interview some of
the gold kings there, and, it possible, 10
secure capital to build q quartz mill on
y
not eager to experiment In polar mines;
but at length Mr.. Treadwcll sue
ceedcd in interesting Col. j. ID. Frye
and several other Californians, who
advanced the money To- erect u five
stamp mill rs partners with Mr. Tread
well. The mill arrived in Juneau about
five years ago. Trcadwell soon had it
put together and drove a tunnel into
the rock. The indications were so salts
factory that the cash was advanced for
a l2O-stHmp mill. II was speedily erect
ed, and III u very short time ground out
hundreds of thousands of dollars TO the
great delight of the investors. The
amount of the golden harvest was kept
secret; but last year 12O more stamps
were set agoing, making the cost of the
milling property run up to something
like 81 ,hOh,O 600. which is a sufficient evil
dcnCc that the previous investment had
paid satisfactorily. All of the stamps
were under one roof and they have am
pie work To keep thcm running. The
ore seems TO bc incNhaustiblc
Trcadwell, the disCovcrer of the mine,
remained for time pcriutcndcnt and
/ aCcumu lated u fortune. Recently, how
| ever, he fell into bad health, and retired,
selling out his interest to Col. Frye and
his other partners. Col. Frye is an econ
omist who
COUNTS EVERY DOLLAR To RE
| worth at least 100 cents aud good
many stories of his management since
| Treadwclls retirement are atloat in
Juneau. one piece of gossip has II that
hc was amazed and disguised 10 learn
that the miners at the paris were al
lowed pie with their dinners at the COM
pany's expense, and forthwith abolished
tho pie as an unsccmly extravaganza.
This tale may hc touched with an'cle-
mont of doubt; probably it could not be
n i.,r, s.l
at least II illustrates u fact, and the fact
illustrates in an instructive way how u
millionaire may expect to stay rich.
With the exception of Bears Nest
and the Paris no mines are in process of
actual development on Douglas island.
There is no capital here, and the returns
TO be oNucctpd' from the large invest
mcnts required for the erection Of ma
chinerY are too uncertain 10 attract cap
ital from the East
ON Admiralty island, just north of
Douglas indications OF gold have been
found, and claims have been staked oil,
but no work has yet been done. The
ore where found is of low grade, so that
/. without expensive machinery no profit
can be made, and the amount of ore to
bc worked has not been ascertdincd.
On the mainland just back of Juneau
is gulch which can he reached only
after struggle through three miles OF
muu ana water When YOU get there
you are IN Silver Bow Basin, which is
something of misnomer, since the rock
is freCkled not with silver, but with
gold. In this locality
THREE NEW MINES
have just been opened, the TalSou Union,
the Gold Mountain and the Juneau
Gold Mining Company's claim. Owing
TO the altitude of the lodCs aud the lack
of water at that height, the mill owners
are Obliged to build tram-ways rescmb-
ling coal elevators to lower the quartz TO
the mills, which are built far below
4 the mines. The tram ways work auto.
matically, the loaded ears on the down
grade pulling up the empty cars at the
other end of the cable. The plant of the
Takou will cost when completed about
$4,000 It's cars will run about
q quarter of mile. The
tram-way of the Gold Noun
tain will be three-ouarters
of "A mile long, and the cost of its plant
will he about 500, 600. The Juncaus
tram-way will be two miles long. Its
mills will bc situated At the confluence
of Snowslide Gulch with Upper Bow
Basin, 200 feet above sea level. As Ice
+ Gulch is in the immediate vicinity, tho
miners need have no fear of sunStrokc.
I even in July. The veins of ore in the
Basin do not crop out extensively at the
surface. They are believed To be o
smaller size but of higher grade than
that of the Trcadwell mine. All of the
ore yet found in Alaska il of quality
known AS free milling ore, and can be
pusily worked