The record-union., 1899-09-25
Pacific Coast
Mining News.

great mining regions OF the Pacific
Coast should be generally read:
PETROLEUM MINING.
Mining and Scientific Press /: Petrol
cum mining is now attracting more at
tention in California than at any pre-
vious time. Oil has been known to ex-
ist for many years in certain districts
hundreds of miles apart, but it is only
within recent years that the industry
has grown to large proportions. The
field near Newhal and the Puente hills
in Los Angeles County have been pro-
ducers for years. and more recently
the Coalinga, Fresno County, and San
ta Barbara fields have been opened and
produce largely. Within the past two
years, however, wells have been put
down in new territory and the known
field has been extended materially and
is still growing broader. Within the
past few weeks there seems to be a
growing tendency to create "boom''
in oil development, and oil developing
companies are being organized ad libi-
tum. Without doubt, most of these
companies are being organized for le-
gitimate operations, with tracts of land
so situated geographically and geo
AO5 lCdlly, lIldl lU0IG Is d IedSOTla Ole
probability, if not an assurance of sue
cess. There are others, however,
which, unfortunately, do not possess
any of the essential features of sue
cess. and which are wildcat operations
pure and simple. A perusal of the
various prospectuses would lead the in
vestigating public to believe that all
that is necessary is a tract Of land,
tall skeleton frame, called a derrick. a
deep hole in the rocks and fortunes will
gush up from the earth and stockhold-
ers will be only required to sign the
company's books to receive their divi-
dends That this fortunate termina-
ton of the oil enterprises is not always
realized is a well-known fact. Dry
holes and water holes are far more
numerous than even mediocre pump
ing wells. 1t is a fact that the wells
Which have thus proved failures have
in almost every case been sunk hap
hazard, without the slightest regard to
the geological conditions which control
the occurrence of petroleum. In this
issue is commenced the publication of
a series of illustrated articles on Pc
troleum in California, by w L. Watts,
which clearly explains the conditions
under which petroleum occurs in Cali
fornia.
COPPER FIGURES.
New York Metal Exchange: The fol-
lowing figures show copper conditions
in this country:
Supplies for the six months ending
June 30, 1890: Domestic production. as
per producers returns, 124, ,4S1 tons;
foreign net importations, 1390S tons.
Total supplies, 13S,395 tons
Deliveries for the six months end
ing June 80, 1899: Exports Of domestic
to Europe, 81, 723 tons; exports of do
mestic to British North America, 30
tons; exports of domestic to Mexico,
80 tons.
Contents of sulphate os copper ex-
ported: 7,640 tons at % per cent. 1910
tons.
Total exports, 53,903 tons; csti,
mated deliveries for home consmup-
ton, 10000 tons. Total deliver les, 10
903 tons.
The domestic production shows an
increase of exactly 1000 tons. as ccm-
pared with the same period of 1893,
but compared with the last half or
1898 the increase amounts to 10,102
tons.
The Importation of foreign is the
largest on record, exceeding even the
total for the whole year of 1893 by
1000 tons. Of the 1390S tons ini-
ported. about 7,100 tons came from
Europe, being mostly of Australian
and Japanese origin.
Exports to Europe show a decrease
of 1861 tons, as compared with the
same period of 1898, and of 14,1S0 tons
if compared with the last six months
of 1893.
The contents of sulphate exported
show an increase of $50 tens, as COM
pared with the same period Of 1898.
Deliveries for home consumption
were extremely heavy during the sec
ond quarter of the year. For the siA
months the increase over tie same per-
iod of 1898 amounts to $4,000 tons,
and il compared with the second halt
of 1898 the increase shows 1000 tons.
The surplus in supplies over deliver
les amounted to 12,942 tons, the great
er part of which went into newly estab-
lished refineries.
The above figures are in long tons
of 2,240 pounds.
WILDCAT CANYON.
Fresno Democrat: It's in the Wild
cat District Now don't become fright
ened at that declaration and say that
you want none of it. Because this
time wild cat does not mean a specu-
lative proposition. Instead it means
that that section of country has been
known as Wildcat Canyon from time
immemorial.
OF course this will seem a sort of a
disjointed manner of commencing a
story, but the name was so singular
that it needed some explanation. And
now it is as we'll to state that the lands
in question are those recently leased
to the Union Oil and Transportation
Company This company consists OF
A. f. Haraszthy and others of San
Francisco, w. D. Crichton, n. p Justly
County Surveyor Hoxie aud Dr. w. T.
Maupi1l of Fresno and A. c. Vandiveerd
of Dos Palos.
The latter was in town to-day and
gave Democrat reporter some inter
esting information regarding the prop
erty controlled by the company II
is in township II, range 10 east, and is
about twelve miles from Dos Palos
which is the nearest railroad point
| Mr.. Vandiveer was the iirst to visit
that part of the country, and as he had
previously visited Oil City and lSreyen-
hagen, he at once perceived a striking
similarity between the formations al
those places and that which exists at
| Wildcat Canyon. The same peculiar