Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1896-09-26
THE OLD WILSON MINE.

northeast of Yorkville, once famous
producer of gold, is again to commence
turning out its treasure Of the precious
metal, and that before many more days.
At least everything is now pointing that
way so strongly. that the proposition Is
but little short of certainty.
The property is now in possession Of
Messrs. Clarke Brothers-H. P. and Chas.
s. Clarke, of Colu mbia-and they are pro-
ceeding to devel op it in manner which
of itself leaves no doubt that they not
only have unlimited faith, but that they
mean business. They have been at work
about six months now, Mr.. Chas. 8.
Clarke in charge, and the development,
which started on a very small scale, Is
steadily growing larger and larger.
A reporter for THE ENQUIRER drove
out to the mine q few days ago to see
what was going on. He had never been
to that particular spot before. What he
saw was encouraging. There were evil
dences of good many thousand dollars
having been spent there in the past. It
was not difficult to see that the reason for
abandoning the work were other than the
fact that the prospect held out no induce
ment for continuance. On the contrary,
there was everything to indicate that the
man who owned the mine was without
means to develop it. That there was any
other trouble does not seem possible, for
without any apparent drawbacks, there
are numerous favorable indications suf-
ficient to make the most experienced gold
miner 60 to the end Of his last dollar IN
he effort to secure the rich reward that
looks all but certain.
The remains of the old operations in
the vicinity are quite extensive. There
are several shafts from so to 100 feet deep,
and underneath there are long tunnels
that were sunk by the old miners Of long
years ago-back about 1925 30-in search
of the ''soft" ores only that were worka-
BILE in that day. Down the hill, about 100
yards away, is ten-stamp mill that was
put up some 10 or Is years ago and oper-
ated for short time; but abandoned
on account of bad manage gement or lack OF
funds. At the stamp mill is big 5O-horse
engine, and at the main shaft, on top OF
the hill, is a small engine, used for pump
ing and hoisting. Both Of these engines
have been standing idle fog many years,
until recently, when Messrs. Clarke Bros.
put them to work again. In great piles
around the mine are to be seen specimens
of the ore that have been taken from a
depth of 100 or more feet, and which
were ready for reduction at the time the
mine was abandoned.
But Messrs. Clarke Bros. have not been
pinning their confidence to the old work.
ings. They have recently sunk an entire
ly new shaft and found what the last
miners evidently miss ed-a remarkable
rich vein seven feet wide, and described
by Lieber in his trip through this country
in the SOS. The ore in this vein assays
anywhere from IS to 800 ton, and the
vein is believed to be practically mex
h haustible. At any rate, Messrs. Clarke
seems to think so, for they are making
extensive preparations to commence tax
ing it out. They have just finished put
ing down saw mill plant and are now
engaged in getting out oak timber with
which to timber up their most recently
sunk shaft in a manner that seems to in
dicate that their operations are to be con-
tinued indefinitely.
The main reason, it is said, why the
mine was abandoned originally was be-
cause the ''soft" ores-the only Kind from
which gold could be extracted in the old
days-were exhausted. With the inn
proved methods of today, however, the
"hard" ores are even more valuable than
were the ''soft" ores then. The hard"
ores were known to be plentiful; but
this is not all. AS the result Of their re-
cent operations, the'Messrs. Clarke have
discovered that the "soft" ores are by no
means so nearly exhausted as the old
miners thought.
If everything continues to move as it Is
now moving, and with as much promise,
the outlook is that before another year
rolls around, the old Wilson mine will
present very different ap pearance from
what it now presents. Though lack of
means may have been the trouble the
last time, no such difficulty is likely to
occur this time. Messrs. Clarke Bros.
seem to have plenty Of money, and
though judicious with it, they are not
afraid of expense. 1t is their intention to,
develop the property to its fullest extent,
and already Mr.. Charles s. Clarke, who
is constantly on the grounds, has visions
of one of the largest reducing and extract
ing plants that has ever yet been built up
in this part of the country.
And it might be we'll to remark here
that neither of the Clarke's are dreamers.
They are practical Yankees from the Nut
meg state. They came south on account
of their health. That has been restored,
and now, like the rest of us, they are after
dollars. Mr.. Charles S. Clarke has made
a thorough study of the business, and
every step he takes is with due delibera-
ton and judgment. The reporter was
very much impressed with his operations,
and is strongly inclined also to the belief
that the present venture is going to be a
success.