The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-11-12
ALL. ABOUT THE NEW MINES

The mystery which has always sur
rounded the source of the gold supply of
the Tncas has partially been solved.
since the days of PizarrO constant
sea ch along the coast of South America
and inland among the Businesses of the
CordIllerls has failed to disclose any such
fabulou, gold mines as those limited of in
Presents Conquest of Peru"
Mining researches of later years have,
however. thrown a little light on the Dos
slble gold fields of the native Peruvians
through the recent detailed explorations
of Ecuador. carried on under the super
vision of Eastern mining men, backed by
American capital.
Within the past two years several North
American corporations have undertaken
t6@locate EcuadOr's riches of a mineral
nature. with such success that considera-
*b:e attention has been attracted to the
great gravel belt stretching for eighty
miles along the EcuadorIan and Colon bian
coasts and extending for sixty miles inland.
=: Yesterday the schooner Nora Harkins,
chartered by the Playa de Orc Mining
Company of New York, cleared for Ecua-
!: der with a cargo Of machinery Tor the
!: 7 laya de Orc mines.
. = The recent voyage of the Harkins TO
South America attracted considerable at
teHtion among those interested in mining
Everybody has been asking for informa-
1igB concerning the Southern Eldorado.
.. Before giving a description Of the
.Ecuadorian gravel beds, The CALL
warns ali g.classesiand men without
.capital that the country is no poor mans
paradise and that only those with capital
should undertake to make the Journey
south in search of fortune.
r. According to the statements made by
Officers of the Playa de Orc Mining Com
;pany Ecuador is divided into two districts,
the quartz district and the gravel section.
:: In the ESmeraldas district, where the
gravel deposits exist, the land is mostly
owned by negroes, who were left there by
the Spaniards nearly 200 years ago. These
negroes are proprietors by purchase.
= For twenty miles inland the country is
swampy. From the inner edge of this
swamp the ground gradually rises until it
reaches an elevation of 500 feet. This ele-
waited portion in the ESmeraldas district is
one vast gravel mine. Here is located the
properly of the Playa de Orc Mining
COmrany aud The Cachavi Mining Com
pany, besides the claims of several minor
concerns.
In speaking of the concessions granted
American miners in Ecuador under the re-
modeed mining laws. an officer of the
PLAYA lie Orc Company said yesterday:
"Our first effort was TO get laws to pro-
tect mining interests. | went before a
committee of the Ecuadorian Congress
and recommended the enactment of more
liberal laws.
LAS a result of this conference no
mining supplies or machinery are taxed,
nor will there be any export duty on the
output of the mines for period of twenty
i've years.
What is the assayed value of the
gravel? Well, we had several tests made
of Il. The most satisfactory one was that
OF our own engineer, who worked guam
tity of gravel out through sluices. 1t
yielded IS cents per cubic yard.
''Gold is evenly distributed between the
grass roots and the rock bed. have often
been fishing and told my negro bOatman to
land at points along the river and secure a
paddleful of gravel. Never IN any instance
have failed to find the color of gold.
The PLAYA de ORC mines are owned by
a private New York corporation, and
pveIv cent of capital Is American and not
English as has been enormously men,
toned. The company has all the ca pital
IL r. quires and is not looking for any out
side shareholders at all.
THE Playa de Orc mines are easy of &C
cess, as vessels drawing thirteen feet Of
water can go up the Santiago River to
BorbOn, where the cOmpany's warehouses
are situated. This point is sixteen miles
from the town of Playa de Orc.
Freight is transported across. the coun-
try by a dirt road, or in canoes by the
river.
"The climate, while for greater part
of the wear humid. is not. in any sense
dangerous. No one lives at lower ele-
walton than 500 feet in the Playa de Orc
properly.
There are insects and reptiles. espe-
cially in the swamps, but they are no more
numerous nor dangerous than in any
other district. The natives live in an
almost nude state; none of them wear
.sln oes, and men and women traverse the
forest without fear of reptile or beast.
81 consider that no such gold fields as
those of Ecuador have been discovered
since the days Of 40 in California. The
value of Ecuador's immense gravel de-
posts is incalculable.
ct is not hard to secure property there,
but care has to be used TO secure perfect
title.
''If our property proves but fractional
part as valuable as we anticipate, San Fran
cisco will have the opportunity to furnish
many thousands Of dollars worth of sup
plies, mining machinery and stores. We
have spent 100000 In your city already.
including $40 600 expended for supplies.
II wish To say this much, however. that
vour merchants are too independent aud
are a little too much on the make Ii
tbey wish to secure trade with South
America they will have to change their
tactics.
Relative TO the governing classes of
Ecuador, they are Intelligent, cultured and
friendly, especially to Americans, and are
fully alive to the Importance of developing
the country during their new era of pros
perity.
mo American ever suffers molesta ton
at the hands OF tie Government. Ii
foreigner does not interfere IN the politics
of the countrv his immunlties and rights
are greater in Ecuador than in many
parts OF he United States"
The Nora Harkins cleared yesterday.
Her cargo consists of 800 tons of pipe,
Rsphaltum, mining machinery and sup
plies.
The trade of the new goldfields right
July belongs to this city. New York
Should not be allowed TO get ahead OF US.