The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-01-29
| PhANY FOR PLACBRS.
Tickahoo and Good Hope Bars to
Be Developed.
COLONEL HITE'S OPERATIONS
The Ups and Downs of Placer Mining
on the Colorado.
Park City Ore shipments-Fish Springs
:. Miners Amend Their Dy-Laws-The
Black Diamond Election
The New Ontario Plant.

Colonel Ben Hite of Wichita, Kans.
VINO, with his brother Cass, has been oper-
ating on Colorado river bars with varying
success for several years, arrived in town
from Denver yesterday and a HERALD re-
porter found him at the Cullen last even
ing. Colonel Hite is man define ply
eique, and as bluff and hearty as the
typical western miner.
"We began operating at Dandy cross
ing some FIVE or six years ago, /" he said,
s'and first tried the experiment of bring
ing water out of Trachyte creek. The
fiuming was high above ground, and ow-
ing to lack of timbe-ing, was blown down.
AT that time there were no roads in the
country and it was next to impossible to
get material there. We next tried q
steam plant at Tickaboo, about twelve
miles below Dandy crossing, and this,
, too, was failure, owing to the lack OF
fuel, and each time we got water, how
ever, We proved that the gravel was rich
and SO made another trial. This time We
operated on Good Hope bar about two
miles below Tickaboo, where we raised
water by means of a current water wheel
We did considerable work in this way by
taking the water from the river in a canal
and giving it fall into the wheel. But
unfortunately the mouth of the canal was
not properly protected, and sudden rise
tore out. the mouth of the canal. 1t was
rebuilt at considerable expense. We
proved that the gravel was also rich in
that locality and that wages could be
made even by working it in a small way.
[ 1.-THE only difficulty experienced thus
far has been IN getting a proper plant
which will give a constant supply of wa
ter. Like others experimenting on gravel,
we have made many mistakes, and al
times circumstances, which we could not
control, have operated against US.
stNow we have succeeded in enlisting
the aid OF capitalists, who, after a thor
ough investigation. are satisfied that the
bars are very rich, and they are willing
to take hold and assist us in getting to
work on a permanent besis. | am not al
liberty Just now to state who these parties
are, nor just when we shall commence.
The deal will be closed up and we expect
to show to the world in a short time that
we have not worked on the property in
vain. In other words, we viii show that
our claims as to there being a valuable
gold property are true. It will cost from
SIS. 600 to S25, 600 to put in proper plant
at Tickaboo, and this will give an abund-
ance of water to cover Nos. and 2, ano
Good Hope, or about s, 600, GOO cubic yards
of gravel. To work the bars separately
the plant at each would cost much less
than this, but the plan of working then
as whole would be cheaper in the long
run. We have some bars further up,
which are not quite so extensive, and i
will take from S., 900 to 1000 to put water
on them.
GAS to the San Juan gold fields.
We have known for long time
that there was gold there, but moi
in sufficient quantity to make the bars
very valuable. l visited the fields will
Mr.. Goss and the Rio Grande party
short time ago, and they reached the-sam
conclusion that had formed. The party
stopped at our camp and at all the i'm
portant bars. They panned the gravel
themselves, and have reported at Denver
that the bars in the Colorado river from
Dandy crossing to Halls crossing, ar
very rich, and they regard it as the grea
coming placer gold field"
Colonel H1te leaves tomorrow for Dand,
| crossing.