The San Francisco call., 1897-06-27

There is no great well-defined lode. The
veins in every direction through the
country They vary a great deal in all their
Characters lcs-wdth strike. dip. etc.-and
they show considerable ore with but SHALLOW
developments. In the Rsdemaker district
north of Randsburg, only few months old,
there is great deal of activity in prospecting,
but there are none but shallow workings yet,
aud few mines are producing any ore.
There is good deal of placer mining by
the ory-washing process about Garlock, Goler
and Red Rock, and more or less in a stray way
all over the desert. 1t was through the opera
tton of these washing machines that the
discovery of quartz Lodges in the Randsburg
region came about. There are about fifty dry
washers in operation near GarIoek, twenty at
Red Rock and some elsewhere, two men work
ing to each machine. The machines are quito
successful in extracting gold from dry gravel,
but the dry-was hing business is in an en-.
bryOnc state.
Operations on large scale are necessary to
work low-grade gravel at profit, and If the
process could be developed so as TO work on
large scale, as hydraulic mining was, exten.
s1ye operations could be conducted on the
desert The gravel which is washed by this
process is taken from beds In ravines und on
the side hills. Most of the pay dirt is next TO
the bedrock, and is covered to depths of from
i've to thirty feet. The beds vary in depth
from few inches to three or four feet, and
most of it is dritted out by sinking shafts and
tunneling in, l have never heard that the
average richness of this desert gravel has been
estimated by anybody by the cubic yard or
ton. The miners there Just work. away and GO
by what it pays per day per man. 1t will run
FROM g few cents TO $50 day to the man.
Most miners are making small wages and that
is all. They did better two years ago, when
they began, and when nuggets were found
occasionally.
"There are occasional sales of quartz mines
in the Rand district, but 1ittle outside cspi tai
has been put in yet, mainly because there has
not been enough DEVELOPMENT to attract much
capital. Then many of the mines pay from
the surface, and the owners prefer to find
what there is in their mines themselves by
gradually paying their way by selling the ore
in sacks. There is a great deal of prospecting
and development all ever the Mojave Desert
L heard great deal about the Panamint dis
trict and the Slate range, and a great many
have gone there from Randsburg. Surveyors
are at work on routes for the Southern Pacific
and Santa Fe companies. and the Southern
Pacific surveyor are continuing on the route
to the Panamint region. They are develop
ing water IN small quantities from wells all
over the country. The pipe lines are only
talk yet, and if they come it viii be in the fu-
ture, when development warrants them. The
quesno of bringing electric power from the
Kern River also depends future develop
ments.''
There are about forty less rattlesuakes in
that country because of Mr.. Means visit, and
the State Mining Bureau is enriched by a fine
collection of ores, rock aud other specimens
collected during the trip.
The gold miners convention will meet in
Denver next week, but not great deal of IN
terest in it is being shown by California min
ing men who have generally but vague ideas
about its character ana whatit will amount to.
However, eight or ten men of the many dele
gates appointed will probably go, among them
being Louis Glass Dan T. Cole, E. NJ. Preston
of Nevada City, H. E. Pickett of Placerville
and ]. ]. Crawford, the late State Mineralo-
gist. TREY l. Ford and Julian Sonntag. sec.
retary of the California Miners Association,
have abandoned their intention of going
though both will attend the Mississippi
congress, which win meet in Denver July 15
week later.
It has been feared from the start that the
convention would De run by the Denver
brokers and prom o ters who started the move
ment for the convention and who would be
suspected OF having axes to grind instead of
by men with Il broad and intelligent interest
in the industry Mining men here have writ
ten Denver mining men OF standing who have
plies, though stating that the convention
would probably be important gathering
and be i'll the hands OF the right men.