The San Francisco call., 1895-05-24

such as is to be seen in the mountains of
Montana, Colorado or Nevada, where pre-
cipitous cliffs obstruct the view and castel-
lated peaks are wreathed in clouds that
float above the deep, barren canyons; but,
in strong contrast, here are found apple,
peach and pear orchards encroached upon
by mining company for dumping room
for refuse rock, or a vineyard in the center
of which is magnificent hoisting plant
connected with a mill of large dimensions.
A casual observer would hardly think
that mining was vocation, for the heavy
foliage hides from view the deep scars the
miner has left on mother earth, yet a drive
through the pines and over the hills will
disclose hoists and mills, where thousands
of tons of ore are brought from great
depths to be reduced to pulp and yield
the precious metal.
Grass Valley has been the most product
i've gold quartz district in this State, yield
ing an aggregate of 500, ZOO, 900; and Ne
vada County, in which it is situated, has
yielded $3.50, ,0O0, 900 by hydraulic, drift and
quartz mining.
In 1S4s, before Marshalrs discovery of
gold at Coloma was made known, placer
gold was found on the present site of Grass
NdueN, UQL no particular dtIeAGion was
given to the field until 1850, when the pre-
cious metal was discovered in quartz on
what is known as Gold Hill. Gold quartz
taken from the ledge gave mortar assay OF
$500 a ton. The news of the discovery OF
gold in quartz spread throughout the Coast,
and by 1852 Nevada County had popula-
ton of 1900 whites, 5000 Indians and
$500 Chinese.
The early influx of the timid Chinese is
noteworthy incident of early mining on
this Coast. The Celestials, as will be OBJ
served, comprised nearly a fifth of the
population and were principally employed
In the gravel diggings. In the fall of 1850
mill was constructed on Wolf Creek, the
name of the brook that flows through the
town. The second mill Of eight stamps
had wooden stems, shod with iron, which
answered for stamps, and was constructed
by a man named Wittenbach, but from
this crude structure was evolved the pres
ent ponderous stamp mills, the perfection
of mechanical genius, the roar of which is
pleasant music to the toiling masses
throughout the mining regions. And here
1t may be well to note that John Hays
Hammond, the righu-hand man to Cecil
Rhodes of Transvaal fame, gained his
earlier experience and knowledge of mines,
mills and mining in this section, in fact
the greater number of expert mining men
of the Western world began their careers in
Nevada County. The charges for milling
rock in 1850 was $50 per ton and miners
were paid $12 day.
For number of years after the first dis
covery no startling results were obtained
owing to the inexperience of the operators,
few, if any, of whom ever saw or had
heard of quartz mining. BY 1855 such
rapid strides were made in milling that the
ores. of the district were made to more
readily relinquish their gold, and by the
sixties millions of dollars were annually
produced. The process of reduction then
in vogue was soon used throughout the
West, and was known as the Grass Valley
system of amalgamation.
The rich auriferous gravels were not
neglected, for up to 1856 the production
from this source reached 81 000, ,O00 The
year 1852 witnessed the first application OF
water in sluicing, and in 1858 the power OF
water, under pressure, to remove large
masses of gravel was recognized, and on
American Hill, north of Nevada City, hy-
draulic power was first utilized and the
method of directing the power improved
upon, which led up to the present power
ful monitors capable OF washing down
mountains. The salient features OF min
ing in Grass Valley to-day are: the per-
manence of the ore bodies, or chutes, the
''freeness" of the gold and the utilization
Of water power.
The town proper is in basin and the
mines are on the surrounding hills at an
average altitude of 500 feet above the busi-
ness portion of tthe city. The altitude OF