The San Francisco call., 1895-05-24
THE TOWN OF GRASS VALLEY.

The surface groupings were discovered in
the early fifties on Eureka ground-an ad
joining claim-and the pay chute followed
into Idaho ground. The Idaho became
the property of the Coleman brothers and
O'Connor, and under their management it
yielded SIS, 100000, of which over So, 600 900
was paid in dividends. The pay chute has
been worked into Maryland ground, and
some time ago the Idaho company sold
their "worked-out' property to S. P. Dor
sey, owner of the Maryland, the signifi-
canoe of the sale being the advantage to be
gained by Dorsey of the long incline and
openings leading down three-fourths of a
mile from the surface to the ore bodies.
The Maryland is the deepest gold mine in
operation, having vertical depth OF 24oO
feet, and 300 feet on the incline of the
vein. AT this great depth mules are driven
to cars. The animals are taken down
on the regular mine cars, and to avoid
blindness are occasionally brought to the
surface to enjoy few hours of sunlight.
At the bottom of the mine the vein is
wider than at any point above, and carries
| large percentage of metal, demonstrating
| the permanence and true issure character
of the veins and the protitableness of deep
mining in Grass Valley. About 130 miners
at So per day are employed. The hoist
| pumps and mills are operated by water
| power.
Adjoining the Maryland on the coarse
run of the vein is the Lamarque, where
Andre Chavanne and son of l.. Fricot are
| sinking a shaft to cut the same chute o1
ore. Chavanne and Fricot made their for.
tunes in Grass Valley, and were noted
characters in its early history. After accu
mulating wealth they drifted to other quar-,
ters of the globe, but lately the aged Cha
vanne, more as diversion than for gain,
| returned and commenced operations with
the above-stated aim in view. This group
of mines is a contact of serpentine and
| diorite, while the majority of the mines oi
| this locality are in syenite, a granite rock
or in diorite. The country rock is hard
and often its extraction entails an expense
| of $14 foot for labor alone.
| The Empire mine, situated on Ophir Hill
| one mile southeast OF the town of Grass
| Valley, has been worked almost without
| intermission for forty-fve years. This
property has materially added to the fame
| of this region. On the 1900 level the main
ore chute is divided into three veins
! but at the 1900 level reunion occurred
| and il has continued down to the 21OO.
| The North Star mine is down 2SO0 feet
| on the incline of the vein, the quartz at
this depth showing high valuation in
| gold and carrying 8 to per cent of sui
phurets.
The Electric mine, owned by J. H
Henry of San Jose, L. L. Lewis of Sacra-
| mento and Dan Coffin, the superintendent,
| has 10-stamp mill grinding day and
| night and is said to be a promising mine.
| The Omaha is under the management OF
| George Mainhart, and is owned by San
Francisco company. This company has
lately been investing in other mines of the
district. The Shamrock group, managed
| by M. j. Farrell is also owned by San
Francisco company. Work has only lately
| been resumed on this ground.
The Allison ranch, owned by James L.
| Flood, the son of the late bonanza king, is
to be pumped out and again worked, after
lying idle for quarter of century. In
| portions OF this mine the gold had to be
chiseled from the vein and when it was
allowed to fill with water rich rock was in
| sight; in fact the direct cause of the close.
! down was the high grade of the quartz. A
party of miners had leased portion of the
mine and the owner adopted the drastic
means of refusing to drain the water from
the shafts. Years have passed and all but
| one or two of the leases have died, and the
| living gray-haired miners no longer hope
| to profit by their discovery, so without any
obstacles to overcome by litigation the
| water in the shafts is to be pumned to the
surface and mining resumed
| Osborn Hill mine Is owned by George w
Grayson, the Nevada mining man, and il
! is said to be promising property. This