The indicator., 1897-04-17
MINING MATTERS.
MINING UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
Peculiar Method of Drifting In AIasisa
Mines.

~ ''hlp''l' ltIHldllillt IliisN W NhA'h II
the rays of the summers sun could
never melt. and with which the meth
DDS usually employed in washing ont
gold were totally ineffective. There
seemed 10 he no end of the depth 10
which the frost penetrated the earth's
surface, as the deepest shaft or pros
pect hole has yet To reach unfr0zcn
gravel except in certain localities. and
IN such places no one has been able To
account for the strange phenomenon.
Various ways were tried by the min
nrs of ten years ago to expedite the
slow work of the sun in thawing out
the congealed mass. Picks were found
10 be of no avail as the heaviest blow
would produce but little more impress
sion than ii would have done on n sol
i'll block of granite. Dynamite was "x-
perimented with. but n heavy shot re
suited in blowing out only Il pot hole"
1nd had no effect whatever in lOOScn-
'ng tie surrounding gravel. lIydrau-
Hes were proven equally futile, the
stream from the giants serving only to
bore n hole in the bank against which
II was directed. In fact, the only man
nor by which The shallow or summer
liggingS could be worked at all WAS 10
strip or burn Off the heavy coating of
moss covering the earth, thus allowing
fhe sun 10 reach the gravel beneath.
Ihis in Il day would thnw 10 n depth
Of three or four inches and that
amount could then he shovcled into
the sluiccs and another like amount
would he workable the day following.
rhr summers were short. however.
lnd 1t was Hn unusual season tlat
would permit of moro than ninety
Il I'll 81, Itf,, MI ,lu
that would not pay au ounce to the
shovel were abandoned Then came
the discovery of the Birch creek mines,
and the problem of proitably opcrat-
Ing the mines in the winter time solved
It's If as II simple matter Of necessity.
With the pay streak located from tif-
teen to twenty-five feet beneath tho
surface it would have been hmpracti-
cable and almost Impossible to remove
the barren earth lying above il.
Prospecting was done by burning
holes in tie gravel. \ huge pile of
logs would I've fred ON the spot where
ii WAS proposed to sink and allowed to
burn over night. In the mOrnin" Il
foot in depth would he found To have
been thawed uut amd this was shuvcled
aside and fresh lire kindled. BY
continuing this operation II number of
days the shaft would finally reach the
pay streak and then it became COM
paraiively easy matter 10 ascertain the
probable worth of the claim. If the
gravel panned nu ounce on two Il day
more fires We're built ut the bottom of
the shaft and drifting" WAS begun
With the pay streak, the latter being
followed the same as In n quartz lode.
During the night is the time employed
to "hurn.'' the fires being hcapcd up
with logs just before the days work is
finished. They last all night, and by
morning. If the amount of fuel has
been properly gnugcd. nothing re-
mains but the dying embcrs and hot
ashes, the smoke and gases have all es-
capped and the work of shoveling the
looscned gravel begins without delay.
\ windlasS has already been erected
over the shaft and as fast as the buck
ct is filed the contents are hauled to
the surface and dumped in II convent
cnt place for washing the following
season. When the drift has reached n
short distance underground the bitter
ly cold weather of the winter has no
terrors for the placer miner, and he
prosecutcs his work in comparative
ease and comfort. As distance from
the shaft is gained, Il wooden track is
laid on the floor of the trnuel and Il
ear pushed by hand is employed Ia
convey the gold-bcaring gravel from
the ever rcccdlng breast Of the drift To
the primitive hoistinG works.
The pay streak on Mastodon creek
which is the principal producer in the
Birch creek section. varies from three
TO four feet thick and from fifteen Ia
one hundred feet wide. In running Il
drift Il uniform size in the tunnel is
maintained of five 10 five and Il half
feet in height and one cut sixteen feet
wide. though some have been driven
but little over four feet high. Several
claims have worked out the pay streak
for width of over forty feet and So
solid is the frozen roof that no timhers
or other supports are necessary 10 hold
it up. Indeed old miners assert that
the solid ice and muck above them j.
much lirmer and safer than it would
be were the roof of granite After Il
sufficient time has elapsed from the dy
Ing out of The log fires. the air under.
ground is pure and wholesome. There
is marked popularity about some OF
the claims ON MnstGdun creek. the
cause Of which no one has yet ven.
turpd an opinion. In many instances
the pay streak Is found free from ice
and the gravel can b. taken out with
pick aud shovel, though Mastod1u l.
the only creek that is known whore
such conditions exist. II can not he
that the gravel in these claims lie he
low the frost line rs On other creeks in
close proSimitN TO MustOdOn are shafts
double the depth in which the pay is
frozen us hard rs concrete. Timber
ing is necessary in the drifts where no
frost is found. roughly hcwn logs and
often mounds built of the loose boul
dCrs cSUayHtcd in the course of burn
in. being employed us roof supports
In following the pay streak the miner
often leaves the channel of the creek
us 1t now exists, and finds himself un
der II bench or perhaps a side hill after
having proceeded Il hundred feet, and
ii has been found that in prospecting
new discoveries the creek bed may ht
practically barren YET II shaft sunk on
one of the contiguous benches is liable
to disclose Il streak of great richness.
Who II was that first conceived The
idea of drifting under The muck banks
and thawing the frozen gravel hy
means of log fires would he difficult tt
determine. bur whoever he may he liz
deserves II monument as Il perpctua
non ul HIS memory. ! ne ahllltN tI
mine in the winter has heightened the
mining season eight or nine months
As soon in the fall as it becomes cold
enough TO freeze the water and pre-
vent the shaft from filling up. then The
winter miner begins his lnbors only /,
cease in the spring when the water he
gins running again. During the. cold
weather lie has hostcd To the surface
and there lies on his dump many tons
of gravel wherein may he a small sized
fortune rs Il compensation for hi,
work of the winter. Exposed to the sur
the gravel quickly thaws. for it ln.
frozen again after being cast upon III,