The herald., 1897-01-18
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! MINES IND MINING /

There will probably be more prospect
Ing done in the mountain, foothill and
desert regions of California during the
coming summer that has been the case
for many years, says the San Francisco
Examiner. Last summer the number
was more than doubled over the pre-
vious year. and there will be still fur
ther Increase this season. Most of these
new men will be Inexperienced, but it
Is one of the strange features of the
business that they seem to stand almost
as good q chance as the old hands. In
fact, they will work hard at places the
experienced hand would pass by. One
of the difficulties prospectors find in
these days is that so much land in min
ing regions is held by agricultural loca-
tors who object to permitting any pros
pecting. No man has right to go upon
such lands without permission of the
owners. 1t will be well for prospectors
to make inquiry, as to whether the lands
they are working on are held in private
ownership or not. If they are, then 1t
Ia best to make arrangements with the
owner, for if mines are found, they do
not belong to the prospector, but to the
owner of the land. unless some agree
ment to the contrary has been made.
Such agreements are often made on the
basis of an interest or royalty. Not only
newer regions, but older ones, Will be
pretty thoroughly prospected the coming
season. In fact, many prefer to stick
to old districts, where, IL they find any
thing worth having, there are custom
mills and other facilities. In the newer
sections Of the state, such as the south
Hoe In &c.
which pays at once on the surface It
takes some time to realize az thing out
of it. The whole country will be well run
over doubtless, but there are still plenty
of claims to be found, and If the pros
pector does not find one he can get hold
of plenty of undeveloped prospects.
which only need labor to be turned into
mines.
Miners ought to understand by this
time that they cannot make locations
on government reservations, yet the
question Is frequently asked as to how
is the way to make such locations. Such
lands are reserved from public sale or
settlement, and as the mining laws of
the United States only throw open to To-
cation minerals on the public lands"
no legal mining locations can be made.
This works hardship in many instances
no doubt. In this state when the Yose-
mite reservation was made several min
ing districts in Mariposa county were
practically closed. Those who are
there had only possessory rights and had
not patented their mines, and future To-
cations were rendered impossible. The
miners demonstrated. but 1t did no
good. The San Gabriel and San Bernar-
dino reservations in Los Angeles and
San Bernardino counties have number
of placer and quartz mines some of
which have been worked, and citizens
of these two counties have recently pc
titioned congress to throw these reserva-
tions open to prospectors for gold, sill
yer and copper SO locations may be
made the same as upon other govern
ment land. They conterd that mining
operations and the preservation and
reforesting or replanting of these re-
serves do not conflict. They also state
that the great mineral territory includ-
ed Is too large and important a factor in
the industrial development of these
counties to have their large area closed
to mining and prospecting. Congress
is, however, very chary of granting any
such privileges. The Mariposa county
men were unable to accomplish anything
of the kind, and it Is doubtful If the citi-
xens of San Bernardno and Los Angeles
will do any better.
At Mountain Springs seven miles
from Hillside and fifty miles west of
Prescott, according to the Prescott Cou-
rier. Messrs. Marcomy and Waters have
been doing some development work on a
gold claim A short time ago, while
going over the surface of this claim
they discovered an abandoned shaft
They placed a windlass and pc in
position and descended the shaft a dis
tance of forty feet From the bottom of
this shaft extended a tunnel, partly
caved in, but sufficiently preserved to
enable them to follow it in for 100 feet
The ore body exposed by the tunnel is
said to be fifty feet wide, the ore red
oxide of iron, carrying in places gold
visible to the naked eye. The old tun-
mel had caved in at point 100 feet from
its mouth. The explorers retraced their
steps to the mouth of the shaft, from
which they found another tunnel run
ming in another direction. This tunnel
they penetrated fifty feet until their
progress was stopped by cave of the
rocks and Girt. This tunnel continued
the same showing of ore that the other
one did. They descended the hill, and
400 feet below found the mouth of an
old tunnel. stored in which were found
rusted cooking utensils, picks with
handles rotted out and other mining
tools. No man now living in this Sec
ton has any knowledge of these work.
ings, or who carried them on. A party
of mining men has gone out to examine
the property and its ancient workings
There is an abundance of wood and
water close at hand