The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1896-06-24
MINES AND MINERS

The interview published in Sundays
Herald with prominent mining man
from Prescott, Ariz., cannot fail to be of
instructive interest. Mr.. Tomlinson be-
leves that Los Angeles is the natural
point to which Arizona miners will look
for the development of their property;
he believes that the establishment of the
mining and stock exchange in this city,
governed and supported as it is by men
of substance and repute. will be Of
great value to southwestern mining. He
was negotiating while here for the list
ing of the mines of his company. the
| Brown-Dake Gold company, and be-
lieves that this will be followed by the
listing of many Arizona stocks at the
local exchange.
c. G. Yale, the mining expert of the
Examiner, has the following to say of
mining exchanges In general: Some of
the recently started mining exchanges
In different parts of the mining states
are having rather hard lines, and not
by any means doing the rushing bust
ness that was expected. The depression
in mining stocks. however, does not
seem in any way to affect the interests
of legitimate mining. At first there was
an immense business in the sale of
shares, but now there is a reaction and
| oullness prevails. This seems to be the
result Of having listed a great number
of properties of doubtful value which
were never worth tenth of their quoted
prices. For one good mine listed dozen
or more doubtful ones were called. BY
and by, when the standing of the COM
OF . !, R,.-t
excitement. there was a rush to sell with
| no buyers. and people found them
| serves the unwilling owners of lot of
worthless stock. All this was predicted,
OF course, but few buyers took the
trouble to investigate the character of
| the mines in which they were buying
| interests. The exchanges themselves
evidently had not taken the proper pre-
caution for protecting the buyers, the
result of which is loss of business for
them, and loss of confidence on the part
of the public 1t is unfortunate for the
| mining business that this state of affairs
exists, because the exchanges had 1t in
their power to induce Investments of
capital in enterprises needing it. The
great mass of people who wish to make
small mining investments have no other
means of doing it except through the
medium of the exchanges. At the same
time. 1t must be confessed, it appears
as II most Of the people buying the
stocks looked for their profit in fluctua-
lions of the stock itself, rather than the
products OF the mine. In this city there
has scarcely been business enough done
IN new gold mines for any effect to be
feit as has been experienced in other
mining centers. Moreover, there has
been no wild excitement here, and no
large number of new properties have
come before the public. Those called
thus far are well-known mines. with
open records. 1t is the class Of wild cats
and prospects, managed by unscrupu-
,ous men, which do damage to the whole
business"
The same writer thus discourses of
mining in Kern county: Probably Kern
county just at present is attracting as
many prospectors as any part of the
state. More work is going on in the old
camps of Keysville, Havilah, Kernville.
Caliente, etc, than for some years past
but 1t is to the newer ones, especially
Randsburg and vicinity, that the num-
pers of people leaving Mohave daily are
going, The desert and hilly region forty
or fifty miles east of Mohave and Te-
hachapi has never been thoroughly pros
pected until recently. and even now there
are probably more "tenderfeet" in that
vicinity than regular prospectors or
miners This will account to some ex-
tent for the character of some Of the re.
ports which come from that section. As
says OF gold ore running UP into thou
SANDS per ton, when chronicled in the
newspapers, have little attraction for
the experienced miner who knows that
it is not that kind of a ledge which nays
best in the long run, and knows. more
over that thousand dollar a ton" spec-
linens may be found in almost any mine.
Many years ago Kern county had great
Doom and large reduction works were
erected. but for long time compare
I n hn haar ;,,x
county. The lodges though rich were
expensive to work. There are some
hundreds of small claims at White river,
on the border of Tulare county but not
a good-sized ledge among them The
Lodges recently found about Randsburg
are represented as much larger and bet
ter, but as yet there has not been suffi-
Gent development to prove their actual
permanency and value AS to the placer
camps at Caller. Red Rock Summit and
thereabouts they have not held UP to
the promise of few years ago as to eX-
tent. There Is great scarcity of water
in the whole region, which is a draw
back to all kinds of mining The pla-
GERS generally have to be worked with
dry washers for this reason. Water
costs 81 barrel In some of the camps
and has to be hauled ten or twelve miles.
Wells are being bored and there are
plans to bring water from the noun
tains. There are DOUBTLESS great pos
slbillties in the mineral region now being |
most prospected. 1t is of wide area and
with very few settlers. II reaches down
to the Los Angeles county line, and Los
Angeles men are investing there Some
miners have done very well in finding
rich surface placers, or rich rock on
the groupings of the lodes. for which |
reason many persons are being attract |
ed there. There are few small mills |
and more will DOUBTLESS be built if the |
new lodges pan out" as expected and
hoped. The new region is a desert one,
put that will not prevent people going
there If the mines are half as good as
represented. Many new claims are be-
ing found and work is going on upon
them. so that this summer will doubt
less prove to some extent their perma-
nency and value With such an extern
sive uneXplored mineral belt to work on
there ought to be many good claims
found, both placer and quartz Many
people are going in from Tehachapi and
MohaVe Those who have gone there
nave high hopes of the Randsburg
claims, considering them not only rich
but permanent Some very rich spec
linens have been exhibited recently in
this city. The veins now being opened
are doubtless the feeders of the gravel
found at Goler and Red Rock. where
nuggets as rich as $1,000 each have been
found.
The Alaska News announces the sale
of the Mountain King group of mines a