The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-09-01

miner who expected to strike 1t rich few
years ago. He found a small vein which
he considered to be first class. and without
exploring it he constructed an arastra at
great expense. The man ran tunnel for
over 400 feet and could not find the ledge,
for he was evidently running the wrong
direction on a small strlnger. The arastra
never turned a wheel, and to-day Ii lies
rotting in the DiDkey Greek near Laurel,
and the man, who went "broke. Is giving
quartz mining in this county "olack
eye" simply because he set his pot 10 boil
ing before he caught his hare.
The reasons why this district is so far
behind the times In the matter OF mining
are that most OF those who have worked
there have hunted only for placer gold,
and those who have hunted for quartz
lodges were not practical miners. The
latter are mostly farmers from the valley,
who spend few months in the summer
on a sor: OF prospecting vacations, and
men who work in the vineyards during
the busy seasons and "coyote" prospect
for q few months when times in the valley
are dull. With the latter it is a case OF
here to-day and there TO- N orTow, and the
experience they have gained of mining in
other countries does not apply to this
district. The large amount of iron in the
quartz, for instance, throws them off the
track, as the iron rust hides some OF the
finest gold that can be found in the State,
and those not aware of tins are easily
misled into believing that good ore Is
worthless because they canrot see the
gold sticking out OF the rock. Further
more, iron rusTed gold Will not stick TO
the amalgam, but passes out in the waste,
which TOO often decelVes the uniformed
miner. little acid will clean the gold
of the rust so that it will stick and be
saved.
Probably there is no mining district in
the State that is easier to reach than the
Dlnkey Greek diggings. 1t lies about
eighty-seven miles northeast of this CITY
and q good wagoD-road leads direct 10 the
creek. Two lines OF stages Iun to the toll
house, which is about forty miles from
here. The worst grade is from the toll
house TO kenyon's, seven miles iarther
on. From keayon's to the Dinkey the
road lies through forest of the finest
timber that one could wish to see and
passes mum Der of small settlements and
many lumber and shake camps. The
road practically stops u the Dinkey, but
several private roads run off 10 numbe
of mining claims. 1t is expected that
upon the opening OF spring the Dinkey
will be a liv-ly little mining camp and
the base OF supplies Tor the miners who
strike out into the mountains in sea; CHI of
wealth.
1nere IS one drawback 10 the district,
and that is that the land has been largely
taken up as tin Der lands by one of the
large lum Der companies of this county,
while it should have been filed upon only
as mineral lands At the time this LAND
was taken up as tim Der land the miners OF
the district entered protest, but, being
without means, they could not stand the
expense of going to Stockton and making
their protest OF any avail.
Aside from the several mines in the dis
tricts where the present excitement pre-
walls, there are nun Der Of very valuable
properties scattered along he foothills.
One of the best is a copper proposition,
located about twenty-five miles from this
city and four miles from Letcher's station,
on the road to the Toll House. 1t is known
as the Copper King, and is owned by a
company of English capitalists, who re-
Gently paid $l5. 600 for it. 1t was originally
located by Hugh Knepper. The new
owners have set at work to make it pay
ing investment. new hoist and a
! smelter are in process of construction.
The ledge is very rich in copper, but the
company expects to make the mine pay
for itself from the gold that runs in the
rock. The ore shows SIC to the Ton aside
from the copper.
Another good little mine is the Provi-
dence about twenty-five miles beyond
Kenyon's. 1t was located by party of
| Adventists, who attempted to work it
with roller ball machine. They made a
failure of it. the present owners are Rus
sell & Howell, but the property is leased
TO Baird & Nelson. A tive-stamp mill is