The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-30
An Old Waste Dump DiscloSeS
an Astonishing Quality
of Ore.
PROSPECTOR BEALES LUCK.
He Puts the California Mother
Lode Above the World for
Value.
Especial Correspondence Of THE CALI

SAN ANDREAS, CAL, Sept. 27.-Ru-
mors have been current here for several
days of rich strike on the Seiffert ranch,
two miles out on the Copperopolis road.
A visit to the mine to-day proved the dis
covery to be more important even than
rumor had represented.
A short time ago j. FL. Beale, a pro-
fessional prospector, after looking over Mr..
Seiffert's ground, asked the privilege OF
prospecting on it, as he believed the indi-
cations were favorable for finding gold.
Several veins crop out on the place, and
the gulches below have been rich in placer
gold. Mr.. Seiffert is something of a pros
pector himself, and believes in giving every
man a show, so he agreed to give Mr.. Beae
half of anything be should discover.
Some years ago Mr.. Seiffert had sunk a
shaft on the crest of high ridge running
in the general course of the mother lode,
northwest and southeast, but on ledge
running nearly at right angles to it. He
went down fifty-fve feet, and obtained &C.
casional rich prospects of free gold, but not
enough, in his opinion, to pay, SO he
finally quit work there, and has not
thought much about it since. Beale ex-
amined the rock thrown out on the dump
one day and discovered that it contained
telluride, and that the whole pile was good
pay ore.
Communicating his discovery to Mr..
Seiffert they went to work jointly hunt
ing for a continuation of the vein, and
soon found a cropping on the hillside be-
low. Breaking up the bowlder protruding
above the surface they were astonished
and delighted to find it rich in free gold
and telluride. This was about ten days
ago. Since then they have been quietly
at work prospecting the new find, and
have done enough work to prove big
chimney of high-grade ore.
Beginning at the original find, they
have made an open cut along the line of
the vein for forty or fifty leet, and at the
deepest place are down about ten feet,
with the vein rapidly increasing in size
and retaining the same character of rich
ore. Everything is rich in gold, from the
dirt on the surface to the bottom of the
cut. There are about twenty tons on the
dump, and Mr.. Beale says it will easily
average 500 per ton. There are many fine
specimen pieces that will go as high as
$1,000 per ton.
John G. seiffert, the owner of the ranch,
has lived here for eighteen years. He has
4S0 acres of land and is moderately well-to-
do. His home is generally known as the
Kentucky House, it having formerly been
a wayside inn by that name. He has
named the mine the Bismarck, in memory
of the great Chancellor of the Fatherland.
j. II. Beale is 40 years old and claims to
have been the first white male born in
Tuoiumne County. He was born in a
wagon on the road and says he has kept
moving ever since. He is a typical
prospector. having followed that calling
since he was a boy and knowing and caring
for nothing else.
He has travelled from Alaska to South
America "along the mother lode" as he
claims. He has been to Africa twice, to
Australia and to China and Japan. He
thinks Japan is going to become great
gold producer when American miners get
in there. When asked to designate the
best gold field in the world he falls into
line as an advocate of the mother lode in
California above all others.
Should this new find develop into per-
manent mine the facilities for working and
milling are nearly perfect. The Calveritas
Creek flows through the ranch, with suf-
icient volume of water at the lowest stage
to furnish abundant power.
The owners of the mine say it will not
be for sale until sufficient development
work is done to prove its value. My trips
into the hills around San AndreaS have
satisfied me that it has not been prospected
with anything like the thoroughness it
deserves. This new and important find is
but one of many that are certain to follow
the general awakening of interest in the
mining industry here.
A. j. Brooks.