The San Francisco call., 1895-10-14
A District Rich in Quartz Leads,
Gravel Banks and
PlaCerS.
EASTERN MEN AND CAPITAL.
Opportunities Are Abundant for
Investment With Certainty
of Profit.
Especial Correspondence of THE CALI

SAN ANDREAS. CAL, Oct. 13.-Al-
though there is no big producing mine in
the immediate vicinity of San Andreas,
the surface indications are very favorable,
and the numerous shafts being sunk on
pay chutes are sure to develop some good
mines in the near future. During the past
year numerous properties have been
bonded by San Francisco and Eastern
people, and in some OF them work is being
prosecuted in good faith. Complaint is
made that many of the bonds were secured
simply for speculative purposes. and prop
erty locked up that otherwise might have
have found legitimate purchasers. This
evil is common to all districts attracting
unusual attention, and can be remedied
only by care in ascertaining the character
and backing of the middlemen who are
acting as promoters. Experience has
proved in mining as in most other enter
prises that middlemen are necessity, and
when they are of the right kind and are
satisfied with a fair profit on their deals,
they are a benefit to the community at
large. 1t is in cases where they secure a
bond for nominal sum and then demand
an exorbitant advance from purchasers
that they become a curse.
The evidences of former great wealth are
to be seen on every hand at San Andreas
and for many miles around. All the
gulches have been washed for placer gold,
the hillsides sluiced for placer quartz, and
three old river channels opened up and
tunneled underneath the entire length of
the townsite. But short distance away
extensive hydraulicking has been carried
on at numerous places, and even yet there
is some of that kind of mining where the
local conformation is such that no damage
results from the deposition of the debris.
Rich cement gravel channels are still
known to exist in numerous places, es-
pecially at Central Hill, where numerous
old channels converge. The property there
is so subdivided that it would hardly pay a
single owner to construct a bedrock drain
or erect an expensive pumping plant but
a consolidation of the various interests
could easily be effected and a very valua BILE
property secured. This is one of the most
inviting opportunities in this immediate
locality. The last work done there on q
channel running under the hill was i'm
mensely profitable, but there was no drain
age and the hoist and mill finally burned
down and the ground remaining unworked
belonging to the company owning the
plant, would not justify new works.
D. In quartz mining all the inducements
ored regions of the mother lode. Along
the east of the belt, at the Ford mine and
other places, an immense vein of low-grade
ore Is known to exist, with fine walls
gouge, sulphurets and everything to indi-
cate that at depth valuable bonanzas will
be found. On the middle lode are great
bodies of stratified vein material identi-
cal with those at Angels in general charac-
ter and which will pay to mill. Depth
here will probably concentrate these
stringers into solid and permanent vein.
On the footwall or west vein at the Illinois
mine and elsewhere, the prospects are so
favorable that 1t is reasonable to hope for
another Kennedy or Gwin mine being de-
Veloped.. Following is a summary of the
most important mines contiguous to San
Andreas. all of which have been personally
inspected by the writer:
Coming into San Andreas from Valley
Springs, at the junction of the north
branch of the Calaveras River with Muir
ray Creek, about mile north of town, the
observing stranger will notice big white
dump on the extreme point of high hill,
and will naturally inquire What mine is
that?" Probably the men who sank the
shaft and created the dump had no idea of
the value or meaning of a standing adver-
tisement, but builded better than they
knew. The result at any rate is that few
people come and go from San Andreas
without having seen or heard of the Gott-
schalk quartz mine.
Judge C. Y. Gottschalk has owned this
mine for more than twenty years, but
never worked it more than to sink a 100
foot shaft and secure a patent for the
ground. The old shaft showed a good
vein and good ore from top to bottom.
holding out every encouragement to con-
tinue work and develop a mine, but prob
ably the water level, the old bugaboo
which frightened the pioneer prospectors
in quartz, was sufficient in this case also to
discourage continuance of work.
When the revival in quartz mining
hnally began to affect even sleepy San
Andreas year or so ago, the Gottschalk
mine was one of the first secured by East
ern capitalists and work was begun and
prosecuted vigorously on a new shaft,
which was sunk 100 feet and the big white
dump is monument to the good iudg-
ment of those who had a bond on the
mine, for it is all composed of paw ore: or
IL IS monument to their folly, for thew
couldn't keep what they had found. The
men with money for some reason failed to
come forward at the expiration of the
bond and the work done all reverted to
the benefit of the owner of the mine.
The new shaft was sunk between 500 and
600 feet from the old, and as there is
strong vein at the bottom of both shafts
OF pay ore, ana pay ore from the grassroots
down IN both shafts, and as the vein is
larger and richer at the bottom of
both shafts than on the surface. the nrob
abilities of a good mine seem very latter-
ing. A continuation of the old shaft down
to the 2OO level and drift CONNECTING the
two shafts at that level would prove
whether the intervening ground is all a
part OF the pay chute. Should such be the
case permanent paying mine would seem
TO be assured
Several years ago Judge Gottschalk sent
some of the ore from the old dump to San
francisco and had a mill test made of il
and it went $4 80 per ton in free gold and
60cents in silver. The ore from the new
shaft is of q better grade, and the Judge
thinks all the ore taken from both shafts
will average at least So per ton in free gold.
In order to secure a good mill site and
frontage on the river twenty -four acres of
patented land has been purchased and
added to the claim, making forty-fve acres
in the patented mining claim. The Ioca-
ton is very favorable for tunneling from
the river, and water and power can readily
be secured. The new shaft is a finely tim
bered three-compartment shaft. and, al
though no work has been done since July
l, there is but about twenty feet of water in
it.
The Spring Gulch Mining Company is a
close cOrDOration cOnDosed nrincinalIv of