The San Francisco call., 1899-03-12

- NE OF the biggest ScheneS 10 eA-
tract gold from the mountains OF
California was inaugurated al con-
ferences of mining men and pro-
moters held in this city Thursday
and Friday. The project is of such
magnitude and the prospects considered
60 good that the Rothschilds sought to
obtain control and would have succeeded
had not local capitalists made a more
advantageous offer to the originators OF
the scheme. An exhaustive investigation
has been made of the properties onered
and the men who have taken hold OF the
project will expend hundreds of thou
sands of dollars in opening up the mine.
OF course they expect to receive magni-
fcent returns on the investment and II
the hopes of those interested are even
partially realized millions upon millions OF
the yellow metal will be obtained and
California may once more lead III the
production of gold. number OF capl-
talists have been anxious to get In the
scheme, but ii was so quietly worked
by few Sonora men that only limit
ed number succeeded in becoming mem
bers of the corporation recently organ
fzed. There is unlimited money behind
the project, however, and it is now an
nounced that development work will be-
gin Immediately.
The proposed scheme is to open up the
great GTdNGl deposit I6dL OOluuID4eiJ SA-A
miles from Sonora, in TuOlumne County.
After the experts and engineers decide on
plans for the opening up of the mine an
Immense tunnel is 10 be driven from the
Stanislaus River TO Shaw's Flat and
Springfield Flat. This tunnel will be
nearly mile in length and will be built
TO drain the gravel sink, which COM
prises between 600 and 700 acres. In early
days this section was extensively mined,
both by drifting and hydraunCklng, ana
many millions of dollars in free gold was
taken from the gravel. After the top De
post of gravel was removed the miners
reached a lava crust and sort or ooWl-
der bedrock, which prevented further
operations under the systems then IN
vogue and, while II was known TO the
miners and min6ralOgiStS that greater
deposit of gold-bearing gravel was be
meath this crust, the mines were practl-
Cally abandoned. Those familiar with the
conditions realized that an immense out
lay would be necessary to properly de-
Velop the mines and make them profit
able, and as the requisite capital was not
at hand or the mOneyed men were chary
of tackling so great a scheme the gold
has remained hidden in the gravel Tor
many years. Now, however. an effort
is to be made to WreSt this hidden wealth
from the earth by a company composed
of a few daring spectators and miners.
For the past two years a score OF men
prominently identified with the mining in
terests of TuOlumne County have been
working up the scheme, which is now
IGplQlN coming 10 q lOCuS. 14lty hllEW
that capital would be easily obtained to
work the gravel flats in that section if the
matter could be properly placed before
investors. About one and a half years
ago the Columbia Tunnel and Exploration
Company was Incorporated under the
laws of West Virginia. The incorporators
numbered only twenty-five men, and the
articles of Incorporation contained a pro-
vision that no assessments could be levied.
This was done to protect the originators
from a freeze out" if the stock was
placed on sale. Among the charter mem
bers of the company were 3. a. Ogden,
James Mccormack, w. D. Bannister,
Charles johnson and a number of other
Sonora men. p. y. Lilienthal, president
of the Anglo-CalifOrnian Bank; James
Miller, the mining promoter; Banker
Goldberg and several other San Francisco
men were interested, and thought the
scheme meritOrious, and they went into
it. 7. n. Lilienthal was elected president
and James Miller secretary of the COM
pany.
The Tuolumne men then went to work
and quietly secured, by purchase or bond
the claims to all the land which the COM
pany desired to include in the vast mine.
They met with no opposition, and when
one of the individual members of the
Columbia Company went to the owner
Of an abandoned claim in the Springfield