The record-union., 1899-08-27


The character Of mining carried on in
California in these days is entirely diff
ferent from that done by the miners
who came to the State in the days OF
40" when very simple appliances were
all they required to obtain the gold
which the concentrating forces of Ma
ture had gathered in the gulches, ra-
vines, canyons, creeks, river bars and
river beds. The pick, pan, shovel and
rocker long-tom, or sluice, were all
the implements necessary, for this was
the era of placer mining, when fortunes
were gained in a day, and labor, not
capital, was the prime requisite for
successful mining.
At that time all the mining done was
placer or surface work. and only the
richer diggings were touched. Very lit
tie skill or experience was necessary.
and the early day miner collected the
gold in quantities which now seem Won
derful In the year 1852 the sum OF
$S1 ,294 600 was taken out. Gradually
the area of this surface mining began
to be narrowed down, and attention
had to be turned to other sources of
the gold for which all were in search
To- day, however, many of these old
claims are still being worked over and
over by Chinese miners, and as they
are satisfied with small wages there
are plenty Of places for them to mine
White men own most of the ground,
which they lease to Cinnamon, and
poor mining ground is now called
Chinese diggings."
tir71a it discovered fh9 I
the great, red hills in the foothill and
mountain counties in. the central and
northern part Of California contained
plenty of gold, though the material was
much poorer than the concentrated
shallow placers, necessitating the
handling of more dirt. Then hydraulic
mining was invented. Then, too, men
began to inquire into the sources of the
rich placers and commenced to hunt
for, open and work the quartz lodges.
The collection of gold from these
sources is a much more expensive op-
Grafton than taking it from shallow sur
face placers, and very different systems
have to be adopted. The method is
practically the same as that pursued
by nature-concentrating the heavier
valuable material and washing away
the lighter-but mans efforts are slow,
and it takes time and money to handle
the material.
With the necessary change in the
character and system of mining came
an entire change in the social cOndi-
tions and methods of the miners them
selves. People who only know about
gold mining in California from the old
stories of the mining camps in the
days of 40" would recognize none OF
the features should they visit the min
ing regions of the State in 1900. The
nomadic habits Of the miner have en-
tirely disappeared, and with them the
reclxlessness, drunkenness and eXtrav"
agance which were supposed to uni
versally prevail. 1t is proper to note,
however. that such habits were not
universal by any means, though among
the thousands who came were num-
bers of men who made necessary
lynch law and vigilance committees.
Around all the larger mines of the
present day are permanent settlements
where the miners live with their fami-
lies. content TO work for wages and 2
sure income. The larger mining towns
of the State, where there are a number
of mines in operation, have lost entire
ly the old features of mining camp life.
The people have settled down to min
ing as a permanent business, and con-
duet it like any other industry.
The principal producing mines of the
State now belong to private companies
or individuals. Many small claims and
prospects are owned by individual
working miners, but capital is required
to open and work quartz and gravel
claims to conduct the business on an
economical and profitable basis Many
of the wage-working miners, of course,
do more or less prospecting for them
selves, and many own small claims,
which they work in a desultory manner
until they can be disposed of to people
in a position financially able to bring
them to a producing condition. Cali
fornia is the pioneer of the gold-pro-
ducing States of the Pacific Coast, and
the one which has made the greatest
aggregate yield, has very naturally
long since passed its boom" period
and its mining affairs are conducted on
the same principles as any other in
dustrial business.
The auriferous gravels are worked
bN bOLn the HNQIduIIC anu the uttIliIiS
process If the bed or channel of
gravel is only covered by soil or earth
which may be washed away by water
thrown against the bank under pres
sure then the whole mass, soil, gravel
and all is washed down to obtain the
gold If the channel of gravel is COW
cred with hard lava which the water
will not break up. then the deposit is
"drifted": that is, long tunnels are run
under the Laval Gaping. and the bottom
stratum of rich gravel is removed and
then washed on floors or crushed in
cement mills" The upper portion is
in this case not disturbed, only the
richer gravel being taken out.
These deposits of gold bearing gravel
were laid down by a system of prehis-
toric or dead" rivers. whose channels