The San Francisco call., 1899-07-03
NEWS OF THE
MINING FIELD

The prospects of the California mining
exhibit at the Paris Exposition have not
! frightened during the week or become
| less hazy and uncertain. 1t seems fairly
likely that the exhibit will be pretty we'll
abandoned to the wishes and discretion
of the three State Commissioners, as there
are strong symptoms that the California
Miners Association will regard the size
of the mining allowance and the amount
of room for the display as too small to
warrant special efforts to get up a fine
display. Colorado is exerting itself to do
something handsome in the interest of its
mining industry, and a life-sized statue
OF solid gold is to De one of its adVer-
| tising features. Montana has five mineral
commissioners, who propose to make
fine exhibit. California should top them
all, but it would require vigorous and
liberal effort on somebody's part.
The mining regions are crying for help
as we'll as the fruit and grain regions of
! the valleys. No miner need seek employ
ment long these days. and skilled and un-
skilled labor of all kinds is In steady de-
mand in a great number of booming
mining districts all over the State. The
situation in Shasta County, which re-
fleets its mining prosperity, is thus
| described by the Redding Free Press:
Experienced miners out of employ
County. In fact, there are none idle.
Laborers are also scarce. Capital is now
seeking labor here. Oscar G. Rogers,
superintendent of the Mount Shasta
mine, spent Wednesday night and Tues
day morning in Redding in an endeaYor
to secure five good miners to be added to
| the Mount Shasta crew, but was COM
PEELED to return to the mine without a
man. Ten miners were secured few
days ago for the Mount Shasta. The
cause of the increase in the Mount Shasta
force is the development of the 300-foot
level which has just been opened.
IS. l.. Stone, who has charge of the
outside work at the Harrison Gulch
property of the Midas Gold Mining Com
pany, arrived in town Wednesday evening
in search of thirty laborers. He was
Thursday. Applications are heard on
all sides for men. A man need not be
out of employment for minute in this
Siskfyou County fully shares in the
great mining activity of that whole slight
ly developed mineral region of Northern
California, and has a great mining future
before it. The condition of the lndustry
is concisely and conservat1vely stated by
the Yreka Journal as follows:
''SiSkiyOu County has now in active Op-
Grafton a good many fine paying quartz
mines and it will not be long before new
and important discoveries will be made
pectors in the hills looking after quartz.
There are hundreds of fine prospects in
this county at the present time awaiting
deyelopm5nt, and all that is neeGeo elo is is "a
ing mines. The mines OF this county nave
never been doomed. but the county Is
gradually and surely coming to the front
as one of the best quartz mining Sec
tions in the State.
There are. all told. 225 stamps and two
Huntington mills in Siskiyou County. OF
this number 100 stamps are in continuous
operation, or at least as much as the
water supply of the respective properties
will permit About forty stamps are IDLE
from various causes. The remaining
thfrty-five stamps are worked occasional
ly doing custom work and making an oc-
casiona run. OF the total 225 stamps
nearly 100 are in the Salmon RIVER ,ldl- coun-
try. as are also the two Huntington
mills Not one of the stamps In that dls-
triCt can be claSSed as idle, ana SeVeral
arrastres are kept busy in the same ,i1e
locality OF the forty stamps now ldle
preparations are in progress TO start
about one-third or more. The 22o stamps
are divided among thirty.two d1fterenC
mines or an average of nearly seven
stamps The Black Bear and Gold BAH
head the list with the largest NUMBER.
A number of rev mills are also in con
temptation by parties who nave recently
purchased mines here.
stin another "gold-dredging' plant for
working the tempting submerged gravels
of the auriferous streams is to be tried
The Stanislaus Dredging Company has
three miles of such placer ground on the
Stanislaus River near Robinson Ferry,
and w. NJ. Slower. the president. has
after inspecting the operation of small
experimental one put on the San Joaquin
River, near POllasky, Fresno County, by
Mr.. Donahoo, the inventor, who has
patented it, In this booming dredger
time the practical experiment with a
plan opposed to all past experience Will
be watched with interest. This new sub
marine goldsaying machine is thus de-
scribed in the Sonora Democrat:
THE one for the, new company Will be
launched near Robinson Ferry. 1t will
be SO feet long. 30 feet wide and draw but
Il inches of water, thus permitting its
period of extremely low water. The bed
rock is to be reached by a Caisson four
teen feet square in the clear, which VIII
be allowed TO sink of its own weight
when the water will be forced out by
means Of compressed air, and the space
within the caisson cleaned up and so on.
The dirt is to be hoisted to the boat by
means of twelve-inch centrifugal pump
and turned into a double line of sluices;
each making the circuit OF one end ana
both sides of the craft or an aggregate
length of 400 feet. An electric plant is to
be Installed. which. besides affording light,
will permit having steel rifles, which by
being connected with positive and mega
tive wires will magnetic them so that
even the finest of flour gold will be saved.
The machinery has all been ordered, but
a few new features are to be added
Three shifts of six men each will be en-
ployed The plant complete is to cost
$12 600 and as it is no experiment but
demonstrated fact that it will do all its
manufa acturers claim, there should be
weeks when it will pay for itself along
some of the rich bars.
John T. Davis, whose original hydraulic
dredging scheme was recently described
in these columns. is having a dredger
built at Stockton for operation at Wal
lace on the Mokeumne River. With these
two new contrivances going there will be
dredgers built on six different principles
operating in California, with some other
types in prospect.
Easy lessons in mining can be found i'll
plenty among the stories of failure or
partial failure of California mining ven
lures conducted by men without enough
mining wisdom and experience. Here is
a very good one from the Amador Re
publican:
''The Bay State mine, near Plymouth,
was actively promoted about five years
ago and a company of local business men
was organized to develop the property.
Work was carried on about two years
under this company and a shaft sunk to
depth of about 700 feet This shaft was
not on the ledge and no crosscut was