Omaha daily bee., 1898-07-24

the bed OF the Tipuanl river, and II has
had a powerful dredge constructed with
which 1t can dredge the river bed to a
depth OF forty feet and to bedrock. The
dredge was made at Denver and was tested
there. 1t was constructed SO that 1t could
be sent here in pieces and 1t is now being
taken into the gold region on the backs
OF mules and Indians. The whole dredge
weighs eight tons, but no section OF 1t
weighs more than 1876 pounds, while the
average piece is not heavier than seventy
FIVE pounds. The cost Of getting the dredge
from Denver to the mine will be more than
$40, 900. 1t took more than six months to
get it here and its journey on to the mine
is attended with all sorts Of dangers. 1t
has to go over high mountain passes. to be
carried along the edges Of precipices. In
some places llamas will transport 1t and at
others men will have to do the work. This
machine has a capacity Of 200 yards OF
gravel a day. 1t will be put in the river
and will excavate pits to bed rock. the
gravel coming up being washed upon the
dredge. The bed rock will be swept and
scraped by men in diving suits and the
prospects are that a vast amount of gold
will be secured. The Tipuani river is one
of the most famous of the Bolivian gold
streams. 1t was worked in the days OF the
meas, ana the bpduldIuS hdNe ~
large amounts from 1t. The Tip
uani is a rushing stream 300 feet
wide, lying on the eastern side of Cordil-
lera, about two weeks travel from La
Paz. The river fiows into the Maperi and
thence into the Benz, in which its waters
| find their way to the Amazon. In the
| rainy season it is a rushing torrent and the
Indians cannot work in it. 1t is so deep
| that with their crude methods OF panning
| with wooden bowls they have not been able
to get to the bed rock of the center OF the
| river, although they still wash along the
edges of the stream every year with profit
| They stand in the water up to their waists
and scrape the gravel together with their
feet until they have made a little pie.
Then they dive down and gather a panfui,
| often getting % or so cents out of a pan
full of gravel. Just the other day a mug
get of the shape of a pear, weighing two
and one-half ounces, was taken out. Ihere
was a Spaniard who worked the bed OF the
| river to a slight extent years ago. lie had
a bucket brigade OF Indians, who, equipped
with rude cowskin buckets and standing
on notched poles that served as ladders
passed the gravel and water from one to
the other until they reached the top. IL
took two years of such work to get to bed
| IOtk anu IL Is Sulu lhdl thS ihuh SNON
during four years $40, 900 in gold. Another
story. which is questioned, is that he took
out 900 pounds of gold in a single year,
and another is that he PANIED out 463
pounds in five hours. The pit where this
Standard worked was about seven miles
above the claims owned by the Denver men.
1t was, 1t is said, only twenty feet square
Gold is also found upon the Yani river,
which is not far from the Tipuani and in
southern Bolivia.
Some Peruvian Gold Regions.
The Peruvian gold field that is now at
tracing the most attention is the Carabaya
district. This Is not a great distance from
Cuzco, and can be reached by hve days
travel on mules and on foot from the branch
of the Arequipa Puno railroad, which Is ex'
tended toward the city. You leave the rail-
road for the Carabaya on a mule and &c
two days down hill, then two days up hill
and during the last day you go down agar
for a distance of about 1000 feet. This las
Journey is made on foot, and 1t takes apou
eight hours. You then find yourself in
region that is covered with trees and on
where the vegetation is almost tropical. +
river runs through it, and in this the In
dians have been washing sold for centuries
These Indians are the descendants, IL l
supposed, of the Incas. They are .semi-civl
lized. and can be gotten to work for yo'
for 20 cents a day. Up until recently al
of the gold from this part of Peru wa
from placer washings. The chief work to
day is in the quartz mines of Santo Domingo
Out of this mine 80. 900 ounces of gold wer
taken in eighteen months, and 1t was late
on sold to an American syndicate for $2S5,
600. Whether the mine is only a pocket o
not is not yet known. The ore, | am told
runs very pockety, though some of the quart
has run as high as $780, 900 to the ton. In
ore that is now being worked turns GU
about $500 to the ton. This is being pu
, through a ten-stamp mill. This mine wa
bought for the syndicate by a California ma
{ named Hadison, who came to South Amerlc
3 to investigate the rubber business and &c
into mining. He managed the property 10
) a while, but not successfully. He bought
= lot of expensive machinery without consid
/ ering how he could get it to the mine.
V was in too heavy pieces to be carried ther'
q and some of it Is now lying along the roac
9 The syndicate has now a new management
t with Mr.. V. X. Speare, a well known min
ing man of Colorado, as its Peruvian hea'
5 l understand that the prospects of the min
e are good, although as yet no large amount
5 of gold have been taken out.
g The Best Gold of the World.
lust above Lake Titicaca, near the Bo
. liyian boundary at Poto, Peru, there ar
I gold mines which are doing well. My in
Z formation concerning this region Is froI
Il Mr.. Charles w. Bellows, an American pros
Z pector who is now in the employ OF tn
l Santo Domingo mine. Mr.. Bellows has re
: Gently prospected in this part OF PERI
Said he:
. There are at Poto placer diggings 1870
\ feet up in the Andes, which are now turr
! ing out $50, 900 worth of gold every thre
9 months. The gold is 9S7 fine, some of I'll
. purest gold of the world. They are worl
, ing the mine with one hydraulic, but the
!" could, / think, use thirty with profit.
There are other valuable gold mines
I" continued Mr.. Bellows, Just across the liz
. in Bolivia. At Suchez, just east OF Pot
and at the same altitude, there are place.
, which at times pay 500 600 a month al
produce gold that is 963 fine, supposed to
- the finest gold of the world. These min
were worked for $50 years by the Spal
iards, but they are now in the hands
Messrs. Penie and Gibson, two young Ell
y glishmen who are developing it. They ha'
a river with 130-foot fall, which gives the
!, force for their hydraulic. In their slut
boxes are pavements of cobble stones,
10 " a