Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1894-04-06
TO MAKE GCIR1'Z Ply.
An En- City Miner Shoes HoW
IL can be Done.
ELK City. March %. 1894.

ELK CITY. March %, 1894.
EDITOR f. P.:--What prompted
me TO write this letter is simply
this: 7 prospected about a month
last fall in this section, and this
section and myself are getting
along first-rate. No kick coming
to me. Strange class, we prospect
ors! Yes sir, after cracking rock
for eighteen years in the banner
camps Of two continents here / am,
anchored for an indefinite period.
/ had been kindly advised to turn
back last fall, but 1 would not
take for granted the statement
that the camp was no good. / have
been told the same in Butte, Lead
vile, Deadwood and Cpur d'Alene,
and there is no question in my
mind but those camps are alright.
l struck some float last fall and
pounded up the same it prospect
ed in free gold; it was an oxide of
iron together with granulated
quartz. / found the ledge; it is two
feet wide. The ore occurs between
diorite foot and granite hanging
walls. / have sunk several holes
to determine course of vein and
extent of ore chutes on the surface.
! always adopt daylight in prefer
ence to candle light for this kind
of work; it's cheaper. There are
two ore chutes, one of 800 feet,
the other $50 feet long. lam drift
ing on the 300 chute and have at
tanned 80 feet in depth, perpen-
dicularly. l sample face of drift
every day in the following man
ner: l draw six lines from top to
bottom of drift with a sharp pick
and eight horizontal lines. The
matter deposits itself on a canvass
placed below to receive it. From
every ten days such sample l ex-
tract four pounds or one ive-hun.
dredth part of a ton, which ] pound
up in mortar to the usual fine.
ness, wash the same carefully
amalgamate the gold, volatilize the
quick, and weigh the resulting but.
ton. BY adopting this method
arrive at the true milling value o.
the ore, which to date has averag.
ed $1,000 per ton free. Old-timers
tell me there are plenty of leads
better than mine in the camp, but
will turn base in depth. What il
they do, there is enough free to
make q respectable cleanup on
any way. No doubt prospectors
and miners differ considerably on
those matters. Here is the way
figure on my vein. Ore chutes on
surface $50 feet long, two feet wide,
and at present workings 30 feet
deep. Now by allowing IA cubic
feet to the ton, l find the result as
follows: $4,000 cubic feet or 1857
tons of ore at SO per ton, 1913 $40;
quite lot of money i'll hard times.
But how are you going to get it
out of the rock, they say, without
a stamp mill? Admitting the fact
that a stamp mill is beyond our
reach, l propose to develop my
prospect into a mine, and at the
same time make some money.
During the winter months
work 26 days in the month, or 1876
days extracting ore from the mine,
at the rate of 5000 ibsper day, and
l don't break my back either.
That gives me 22s tons of ore ex-
tracted in 1876 days. Now, to crush
this ore / adopt the old reliable
hurdy-gurdy arrastra - there is
plenty of water power in this coun-
try, and in several places bitches
dug by the old-timers can be utili-
zed to convey the water for said
power with but very little expense.
One man can run two beds Just rs
well as one and am sure nobody
will dispute the fact that 5000 lbs
of an oxide ore can be easily crush
ed by this means in "a hours.
That gives me for 312 days work
$2,2SO, or over 500 per day.
would like to know where it is
that man with a small amount OF
money, considerable energy, and a
little common sense, can beat this,
unless we revert back to the BIC
booms of the silver camps. But
the gold bugs of Lombard and Wall
streets have paralyzed them for
the time being. But in this neck
of the woods of Idaho
county, even if said gold bugs
don't treat us as equals, they must
remember the fact we don't care a
continental anyway.
Hoping this will gain admittance
to your valuable paper, 1 am
Yours very truly,