New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-12-21
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
SOUTH AFRICAN MINES.

THE GOLD MINES OF THE RAND. Being a
Description q the M Afnirsn ReSubc BY Fred
s5isk Hatch and f CHI sy ss YIN Ma MnRS
Ian & Co.
As the authors of this book are mining engineers
they have contemplated their theme almost eHeiu-
sively from the professional point Of view Whether
they would be as hopeful as they were year
ago respecting the future Of the South African od
Region is open dispute. for in spite OF the great
output Of the mines in 1894 Qess than *io"'" De-
hind that of the mines OF the United States) they
refrained from specializing on the Lille OF the
Witwatersrand mines, either collectively or IN
dividually" as worse than useless They argued
that there must be a limit to the total quantity or
gold In the Rand. and that there was within TINS
limit another measured by the profits of mine-worK-
ing.
Many things besides the amount Of gold to be OBJ
tanned affect the question Of profit; for example
the of supplies and labor the waste or economy
in the appliances for recovering the precious metal
and the like Ore bodies which are out OF the ques-
ton under set of conditions become quite ieas-
ible under conditions OF another sort The authors
also point out the obvious fact that other things
being equal a hundred stamp mill will exhaust
mine in half the time that would be required with
q stamp MILL They argue in favor OF all the
speed possible in working out the mines by the
opening up of two three rows OF deep-leVei prop
critics distinct propositions" they say. without
waiting for their development downward from the
outcrop the annual production will be increased
enormously: but since the total output must remain
the same the life Of the Fields will be proportion
atey reduced
Thus II may be imagined without much effort
that the whole struggle will be over before the
South African Republic is around to the matter OF
an Official Geological Survey Department. which 1t
has been urged to establish. 1t appears from this
book that geological investigation has been sporadic
rather than complete. The general idea one gets
OF South Africa is that OF long slope of hard rock
granite gness and crystalline schists. which
has been laid down first what is known as the Cape
formation. exemplihed in Table Mountain The
echists wrinkled contorted to degree and OF
course the newer everything strata have accommo-
dated themselves less to this disturbance
section taken across the outcrop Of the Cape for
nation in the district which the authors are writing
about shows that elevated tract known as the
Witwatersrand, or briefly. as the Rand. is formed
by beds resting Immediately on the granite. The
Rand forms the division between the streams that
flow northward into the Limpopo River and those
that flow southwark TO the Naal River It's strata
comprise hard white quantities.. alternating with
blush clay shales. 'the latter being highly impreg-
mated with oxides of iron. and even carrying in
places well-dened seams of specular iron or hema-
title"
These strata Immediately and invariably underlie
the auriferous coneomerates or blanket beds OF
what is known locally the Main Reef. In the
neighborhood of johannesburg the hills are formed
by the denudation OF the quartzite ridges. The
southern slope is overlad with other formations in
which conglomerate deposits appear at intervals
Still further south crops out sort of greensboro
then more sandstone. and finally the uppermost con-
glomerae bed of the series the so-caed Black Reef
Beyond the edge of this Black Reef vertical shaft
sunk deep enough should pierce three auriferous
layers the Black Reef itself, stratum In which
gold is or less frequent. and the Main Reef far
below. This formation appears to stretch beneath
the plains the Heidelberg hills, for II there crops
out in the same order with dip to the north in
otYfNr IF he NO a
ate beds has been followed and studied remark
the authors. 'by quite host Of enterprisng pros
pectors allured by the chances of fortune In con-
sequence of such close and eager study an almost
continuous stretch OF outcrop. extending east ana
west of johannesburg over nearly forty miles has
been proved and mapped: and further. conglom
crate beds of similar character, also auriferous,
have been found in several outlying districts such
as the Heidelberg, Klerksdorf Nenterskron, and
Potchefsstroom districts" All these districts are
described in detail. In each case one gets the idea
Of vast trough shallow bowl. which has escaped
the action Of the water which denuded the ridges.
But a minute observation of the Rand shows
much more extended system Of gold-bearing strata
all named according to some local fact. There is
the Elsburg series. named from the village of Els
burg near which the outcrop was first observed;
the Kimberley series, the Livingstone or Bird Reef
SERIES and the Main Reef. These conformable
rs biologists say. But above these are others
which are uncomfortable which have dehed the
stratigraphers. But hitherto the Main Reef series
has held the chief place in the attention of miners
il has been opened for distance of fortysix miles
by almost continuous line of companies. The
beds are composed of round elipsoidal pebbles
which present every sign of having been water
rolled and smooth by attrition The pebbles
consist mainly of white smoky quartz and lie
Embedded in a sandy quartZtc matrix. In size
they vary from a pea TO a hens egg. but a rule
the pebbles Of any bed fairly uniform
considerable distances" These Embedded In a
gold bearing matrlx formed Of sand completely &C.
mented by a later deposition Of silica. The gold
occurs In the metallic condition. and is only TO
small extent aloyed with foreign metals. In one
case that Of the Pioneer mine the gold rose In fine
ness the deeper the workings went The particles
OF gold are rarely large enough to be visible in the
ore and while much free-that is, recoverable by
amalgamation-much also requires to be extracted
by chemical treatment
The machinery and processes described in
great detail by the authors. not only In comparison
with the gold workings In other places but with
references to the pecullarities Of the Rand Itself
The sum Of It all is that in working costs they ex-
pect an early reduction Ct less than II per
cent so that ore that 30 shllings ton 10
mine will only Is shillings. They estimate the
total product Of the Witwatersrand for the hall
century Just begun at less than $500 100000 of
which they think that $1,000 10000 will be clear
profit With statistical tables, charts and maps the
book Is cycopaedia of scientific and practical in
formation some OF which is tentative and theoreti-
cal but most of which is a record of experience.
NEGRO FOLKLORE OF THE BAHAMAS.
BAHAMA SONGS AND STORIES. A Contribution
to Folk Lore BY Charles L. Edwards, Pm. D.,
Professor of Biology in the University of Gin
pn Published American