Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-09-29
CREEPING CLAY.
4 Force That Compressed wood
Vntu II Was Like stone.
(San FRANCISCO Chronicle

There is but one mine in the world that
has ever shown through the natural ac-
ton Of its drift how thoroughly nature
can compress wood. and that mine is the
old Consolidated. III the Comstock lode,
"Jim Fairs Pet" and the mine that holds
the record for Quartz-ore. In hali dozen
offices in this city there are small Slabs'
4XlO inches. that have for some time
puzzled workers In wood. Every tine a
man who knows anything about WOOD
comes into one of these offices he Is
shown one OF these slabs. and asked 10
say what Kind of wood II Is. As rule
he shutters and stammers and hesitates,
and is lost IL has the principal proper
ties OF so many different kinds OF WOOD
that he does not know just what forest
should be blamed for it, Uirth. rs a Iact'
II is Sierra Nevada pine, and its com
pre.ssion is due TO the fact that several
million tons OF supeiiluous earn nave
been pressing upon H. although not Tor
any very long time, but with SO great
a force that pieces OF WOOD IL inches
eouare have been compressed into inches
In width. and the iibres so closely crowd
ed together that when polished IT seems
much more like stone than wood
An the history of the Comstock lode,
Governed and regulated as IL always has
been by men in San Francisco Is peculiar
hut OF all the stories IN the mines on
this lode there is none more peculiar IMAM
the Creeping clay" and the compressed
timbers. From 1874 until 1917 the Big
bonanza was worked down 10 l.5V0-i0dt
level. but at 100 feet they stopped Tor
awhile. and concluded 10 drift off TO the
east This brought them 10 a position
where a large part Of a side Of mount
ain was pressing upon the quartz bed.
There was "A body OF ore, shaped IKE
a ,yatprmelon and In size, equal 10 about
four Palace hotels. 1t was this ore that
made the fortunes OF so many men, anu
10 get IL out required particularly skilui
engineering. There was "A wall running
down at an angle Of about 10 degrees,
and this wall marked the limits or the
loose earth which contained TINS water
melon OF ore. ana this same loose eafth
was continually moving. Immediately
surrounding the lump OF ore was clay,
srJ ms clay so moved in the natural
ntocess of natures action that by the
miners IL was called Creeping clay and
watched continually. SO irresistible was
its force that nothing could stand against
IL ,,,. -.
From the l1O0-foot level. the drift was
cot In toward this body OF ore. There was
a gallery where the car ran along Tor
taking out the ore, and from thls saiie'y
ran the smaller drifts. Above. below.
ana on the sides of these smaller drifts
were heavy timbers OF Nevada pine.
There was between the timbers Il space
of about On the average feet in height
aud 5 feet In width. These were square
,ets. and II was these tlmbers that, by
the action of the loose earth around them.
were so compressed that pieces Of them
look more like stone than wood.
At one time. about 1887, the engineers
of the Nevada mine believed that they al
most reached the limitation OF the BIG
bonanza ore. So they went back to the
main shaft and sank down TO the Low
foot level. working, as they afterward
found. below this eccentric deposit on the
side of Mount Davidson. Finding that
they were striking no pay-dirt, they went
hack 10 the l,loo-foot level 10 rework the
Big Bonanza
IL was then that this compressed tim
her was found for the first time so faI
az il generally known. In the history OF
the world. These timbers were l'Si.
inches. and were the ores that were used