The record-union., 1891-09-28

R'ChItl SAOIb AlSIttiiSGS VI II. 41ht0 Ni4feO
was when mining was at its zenith.
Now Iowa Hill has little excuse for its
own existence, so TO speak, and of the
camps and towns which once surrounded
it only a tUmbled-down shanty or a
crumbling brick wall here and there on
the mountain sides remain TO tell the
story Of what the decline of mining had
done
The Supervisors did not attempt to do
anything further than discuss the mining
situation Friday night, but on Saturday
morning they started out bright and
early to see all that was to be seen. They
We're accompanied by S. NJ. Sprague and
W. X. Morton, two of the proprietors of
the Washington mine, j. T. Brown, the
principal merchant of the town, Mr..
Gleeson and several others. Attorney
DeyIin and the reporters went along, too.
LIKE A PANORAMA.
The party was first taken to the edge of
q high embankment or cliff just below
the town proper, from which point of
vantage d magnificent view could be had
of the greater portion of Indian Canyon.
The sites OF nine different hydaulic mines
could also be seen and the evidences of the
manner in which the mountain sides and
hilltops had been torn from their founda-
tions and hurled into the canyon below
completely awed those Of the visitors
who had never seen anything of the kind
before. 1t was striking illustration of
the ingenuity OF man.
The mines in view were the old Ma
sonic claim, the Washington, Morning
Star, Golden Gate and Homeward
Bound mines and the Mills, Burns, Da-
Wis and Jetfreys claims. Some OF these
claims have not been worked for years.
In fact only two are really being operated
to any extent and they are the Morning
Star and Golden Gate mines. Both are
t,s,f. H..
draulic process being used. There are
other drift mines in the vicinity of Iowa
Hill which are being operated, but they
were not visible from the point the visit
Ors were surveying the canyon. These
are the WaterhOuse q Dorm quartz mine,
the Pioneer and the Red Point mine
Others, it is understood, are to be opened
during the coming year. Drift mines are
very successful in this locality, but in
many places the earth is Of such a char
acter that nothing but combined hydraul-
licking and blasting has any profitable
effect upon it.
LOOKING INTO TIE FUTURE.
1t was while the visitors were feasting
their eyes upon this grand scene that
some very valuable information was
CLEANED.
In answer to questions asked by Mr.
Bates, Mr.. Brown stated that the people
sion to resume hydraulic mining as a
permanent industry. They had gone to
the expense and labor of stripping off the
hill-tops and uncovering The bedrock
and gravel in which the gold is fOu nd.
and were about TO reap the benefits Of
their efforts, when they were stopped
and enjOincd. All they wanted now, he
said, was TO finish up their work. The
people Of the valley need have no fear OF
further damage, as everything that could
possibly be carried by the streams had
been disposed of already, and ali that re-
mained was debris that would lodge in
Indian Canyon. Beside this, said Mr..
Brown, hydraulicking would cease Of its
own accord, even If the iniunctions were
removed, in about four or five years, un-
less new mines were TO he opened. This
was because in that time all the visible
mining ground could be worked out
And then, when that time arrives.
what viii become Of the town of Iowa
Hip asked Mr.. Bates.
'Oh, the town is here TO stay" replied
Mr.. Brown, "and when the hydraulic
mines are cleaned out we viii depend on
the drift mines. They are Oh the increase
here, and we hope TO have something like
old times here once more in a few years
that is if you folks will let us live that
long"
SCARCITY OF WATER.
Continuing, Mr.. Brown explained that
some of the mines could be cleaned up
with about ninety days of water. Others
would require a little more, and others
less. Ninety days of water, however.
did not mean that they could get through
the work in ninety days. He said that it
was very good year when they had
water in the bitches to be used in the
mines for four months. 1t is an impOssi-
bility for the hydraulic miners TO use this
IL
stop every few days to move their
long lines of iron waler-pipes about from
place to place III the mine SO as to wash
it out evenly. They lose two or three
days every time the pipe is moved. Then
besides this the cleanup takes place
about every ten days, and nearly week
elapses before the sluicCs are ready TO re-
ceive the waShings again. AS a result,
out OF four months of water, probably
thirty or thirty five days are all that are
available for actual work IN the mines.
Thus, Mr.. Brown explained, while only
ninety days Of water might be needed to
finish up a mine, those ninety days might
necessarily cover three years.
In several of the hydraulic mines, he
said, work was now being carried on on
a small scale. Washing bedrock, :" was
what the miners termed it. it was, how
ever, nothing short Of hydraulic mining,
but IN such a small way that the rivers
never caught any of the debris. This
work was slow, tedious and improbable.
The main object Of the request of the
miners to be allowed to use their monitors
for a while on the bedrock, was to accom-
plish something in a few weeks, which
otherwise (by the slow process they are
now compelled to resort to- would take
them years to do. He was confident. and
he said he
COULD DEMONSTRATE
That there would be no more debris
thrown out of the mines by the monitors.
than IS going out now by the slow
"wheelbarrOw and pick' process. If
they could wash it out quickly with the
hydraulic method, they could profit by
il, but there was nothing more than a
scant living in the slow process-and it
would have TO be an unusually rich mine
to afford even that. They did not want
to open up any new mines. he said. ana
would guarantee not to touch anything
with their monitors, except the bedrock
and bottoms Of the mines already un-
/ covered.
1.-The material that Injuries the rivers
and valleys has already been washed out
washed out before the injunctions, -
said Mr.. Gleeson, interrupting Mr.
Brown. There Is nothing left now to
wash out except heavy rock and cobbles,
and that you know will never get into
the North Fork, because il is bound to
stick in Indian Canyon. If we were
asking you to let rs open up new mines,
from which there would be great quanti-
ties of fine dirt, it would be a different
proposition. But here you have stopped
us when we can do no harm.n
IF that is the case" remarked oneIof
the Sacramento party, lit looks very
much as though we had locked the stable
door after the horse was gone"
That's the whole thing in a nutshell y
! said Mr.. Gleeson. But why should we
! lie stopped just when our mines are
cleared Of the fine dirt and are ready to
/ be worked for the gold that is in them