The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-01-05
MINES OF ALASKA.
The Famous TreadweII and
Bears Nest Group.
RICH MINES LOCALLY KNOWN
4 Eeana Price Paid By An Enrlssh syn
diesse for fhe Bears Nest
GROUP.

AEs y. ~. S4EeU34f2e-s III 04sx-bkxktS xii
foyria miner, 6nt more recently from
Alaska, has been il the ctr for the p5ss
few days making investments n Seattle
real estate. lie has some important min
irg Interests in Alaska and his knoSIeslgs
Of that country Is both xsriei and exsen-
sive. He first Eer.t there IN NoyeEn BE-,
ls79 since which time many rich discover
ses ei gold ard silver have besn made
Mining. he says. has taken great strides n
The past few years. Bat there are vet dis
coseries to he made which wiil throw waal
has already been done quite IN the shade.
Development Is rapidly progressing, being
stimulated BY Engiish Eastern and Calf
foTaia capital. which Is beginning 70 end
its way there.
The largest and most important mines 50
far discovered and worked are situated
within 80 mites OF Juneau, the most popu-
LOGS town in Alaska. The discovery OF tie
Harris mining aistric. 80 miles northeast
Of juneau, one of the rich iields of Alaska.
was made III October. Is@l. By Harris and
Juneau. two miners Of long experience
who started oas from the coast on q pros
recfing tour. Decoaposed quartz as first
found, and afterwards claims were located
ng others who had followed after the dis
coverers. The lack ct facilities for quartz
crushing caused the miners to fall back on
placer mining. and for q uEse this was ex-
tensise.y casfscsi on The quartz hedges Of
the Harris district have 50 far basn i1per-
fecfly wor ked, owing 10 the lack OF capital
in that particular district. Mr.. s8gemulier
SAYS that 50 far he estimates the yield of
the placer mines At over 81 oo0.a00 This
sum has been fakeH oat since July. 1881
and subsequent TO the quartz discoveries.
The best ASSAYS Of this district have shown
gold running from $40 70 500 ton. bE.
many veins assay much less.
The famous Tresdweii mine and Bear s
Nest group are situated on Douglas island,
few miles from juneau. The Treadweii
was discovered IN ISL by a Frsnchmaa.
now living IN Seattle, and called by him
the Paris mine. IL did not seem 20 be
very good property, and be disposed oil il
to Captain Treadwell for the sum $500. The
Treadwell claim, like others in that coeH-
try, Is a location GO feet wide by | 800 feet
long. Treadwen associated himself with
four others. and they set about purchasing
an extension OF the FFenchman's claim.
This they finally did from IA man named
Bowen. for $3.50. The TEezdwell soon
proved a rich mine. IL was afterwards
sold BY Tfeadwell to D. o. Mills and Sen
ator Jones, of san Francisco. who paid sew
eral hundred thousand dollars for it. Since
they acquired the ownership Mr.. Mills
and Senator Jones have erected a 90
stamp mill at the mine. which IS at the
present time the largest one in the world.
The Treadwell vein is $50 feet in width,
and the ore averages a value OF s. q ton.
Il \ - 70 =
quite profit in reducing IT,
Next to the Treadweil is the Bears Nest
group. which was purchased in 1888 by an
English syndicate for about $2.t096 Coo.
There is = peculiar fact about this mine.
There is an impression in the minds Of the
owners that they we're cheated on their
purchase Although the group is an cx-
tension OF the Treadwell mine. the ore
taken out so far is OF much lower grade
The purchase was made on the strength Of
the Treadwell output behring's were made
under the direction OF the syndicate and
the core from the rock-driH seemed 10 jus
tiiy the purchase, a. the ore assayed well.
4 l2n-stamp mill was erected. bat the ore
was 50 poor that the mine closed down last
September. IL Is quite probable that next
spring will see ii in operation again. as the
syndicate has strong hopes of finding good
paying ore. Ii has already run tunnel
1850 feet into the hillside and does no:
propose TO give up vet
There are many other mines OF local
celebrity in Alaska. and. as Mr.. Sage
muller says, the richest finds are probably
yet 10 be made The Banner Bay district
sixty miles from Juneau, where Mr.. Sage
muller's two mines are located. contains
some Eve claims He himself has taken
Dat ore which yields from sl2 10 So per
ton. There Is some free gold found in this
district. and some in sulphurets. The
lodges here are from eight 20 ten feet thick
The Gold Greek district is a promising
field and the assays from there have
proved unusually rich. But in this a. vel
as in other fields development has been
slow aud the resources OF the miner are
practically unknown. MANY men uf
limited CAPITAL have within a very few
years gone into the different districts AID
erected small stamp mills and a large
majority oi them have taken OF; fortunes.
few miles southeast froia juneau
basin j. . country rich IN silver ore So far
a IS knova this is the most promising
silver district IN AlaskA. Re best finds
are on sheep ereek, The HYst cf which wee
discovered IA ISL A Short t5ue aSo
shipment Of ninety tons " Is fua.se - san
Francisco. which sveraged fully $3.50 psr
ton.
Mr.. Sagemuller thinks that the next few
years wiA see Great iailax 0i cap5tal .nto
Alaska. and expects O. see some yegv ex.
temsive mining operation carried Oh thegs.
The Yukon ciss..e;, osIny 10 the great Sa-
ficuity Of acoess, IS not extensively Encwsa.
surface mining only has been carried an.
and thiSin the erudssf mauter, WAT the
country about tie hess waiers NIL produce.
Is a question for the future 70 decide
Taere IS another ALASKAN pro5act which
IS receiving mercer less Atteaf5aTa. an 1 th.f
Is tina canatr Z industry Salmon aad hass-
bat are packed, ana the pToilts heretofore
resulting from this industry have been -
encouraging As 60 stimulate iaetgr.si en-
tension 81 the besiBsSs. Tar uraaucs aagss
as ready pssrket SIS th4s o. ere ore eoo
cauaegtes. the demand being about e4Ual-
i@ thr matter eF mining ard fshrF1es.
Mr. s. eem ier's lAisa ia tie eauntsy S
aabouadei, and ~ tbs coegtry becomes 10
lie more understood All ;aesser kgsapn
capital for is fulfssS eoala. t1eiaI develop
ment viii Re isvnis hal in attendance.
fNegsuiae - 'foaz.
The reeert 8sz Dszen assF - BE Sssft'a Bgsss.
uzss College. secaa1 street sews aw is1cr ave -
aEgeH6&n1e a. e. geF eeEsf- 4sts. wssA sae 1srnn