The herald., 1897-06-06
white metal and revival of the old day.
when silver was king.
DEATH VALLEY

white metal RuQ b IeVlvdl Oh the OlQ OdyH
when silver was king.
DEATH VALLEY
+ From the divide. three miles above the
old town, Death Valley is seen, bounded
by the Funeral mountains on the east.
1t Is a dry lake or sink, differing in gen.
eral characteristics but little from the
Panamint valley, and is said to be about
300 feet below sea level So far from be-
ing the terrible place it has so often been
depicted by imaginative writers, 1t Is
really better supplied with water and
there is more feed in the canyons than
In any of the adjacent valleys. 1t was
so-called from the fact that eighty emf
grants died of thirst, many years ago,
when they were but short distance from
water, Of which, Of course, they had no
knowledge. To the west the snow-clad
peaks of Mount Whitney. the highest
point in America, are plainly discern
able Truly, this Is a region of strange
contrasts!
A few gold-bearing lodges have been
found near old Panamint but the dis
trict has never been thoroughly pros
pected for gold
We reluctantly leave the deserted
town and its two guardians, and des-
cending the Bridal path, past the doors
Of many tumble-down cabin and bill
lard tables standing in the open, and
fast crumbling into dust, we finally
reach Ballarat, carrying with us pleas
and memories of the City of the Skies,
dreamy as Schiller's village of Friend
ship" in the mythical valley of "Gesund-
heit"
The Slate range which Is the western
boundary Of the Panamint valley, is so
called on account of the slate formation
and is mineralized to some extent. Sill
yer mines have been worked in small
methods of treating ore are very prin-
tive. There are said to be some rich
gold bearing veins in this range, but the
faulted conditions make them difficult
to operate.
NEW PANAMINT
Pleasant canyon, where the gold mines
Of the new Panamint are situated, is
deep gorge, with walls rising almost
perpendicularly to great heights "A
good wagon road has been constructed
over this tremendously steep grade all
the way to Stone Corral, which is three
miles from the summit Of the divide. On
the rocky walls of this canyon one gains
a perfect knowledge of what quartz
vein is. Here are seen veins of various
widths, sometimes running almost per-
pendicularly, and again broken or fault
ed and made by infltration. The rocks
have been extensively broken, as the
leaves Of a quire of paper are separated
by bending it into an arch. The f1ssures
have been filed while metamorphic
changes were in progress, by crystal
llzed rock material derived from the
rock on the sides of the fracture, and
metallic ores of various kinds have been
carried in, there to be deposited as long
as there was space to fill. Most of these
exposed veins are barren Of gold ana
carry lead, silver and copper, in small
quantities. The surface Of the mountains
is capped with calcine lime, underly-
ing which is the parting quartzite; then
come beds Of schist from which frequent
Iy protrude dioryte dikes. Near the sur
face the ore is said to be free milling, or
nearly so, but as depth is attained re-
fractory elements are met which demand
the use Of the cyanide process. The
geological formation of this section in
duces the belief that the veins are very
deep. and, with the great width SO far