El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-10-12
MISTAKES IN PLACER MINING.
Some of the Blunders Which Result
From Ne0lectino the PRINCIPLES
OF HydrduliIS.

There 10 not one man ia 100 OF
those who think themselves good
placer miners that is fit to have charge
of placer operations" "a d one of Co
lorado's leading mining engineers q
few days ago. Tine mistakes of man
ayers are responsible for more fail
ure5 in placer mining that the poverty
of the ground. The fact Is that men
who would nos dare To under axe the
development Of lode mine ~iil with
out hesitation assume cnsrgs of plaC err
operations under the impression that
placer mining 10 easy, while ell miu-
ing engineers know that there Is no
more difficult task known TO the pro-
fession an the proper opening OF the
placer mine.
No one bus thoroughly educated
and experienced bydrsuii; engineer
should be intrusted With the consiruc-
tion OF the bitches. fumes. pipe lines,
ETC., upon which the success or failure
OF placer enterprises depend Leu me
tell you Of some OF the things that |
have seen, some of them very recent
~. The increase in the area of a
circle in proportion to its diameter IL
we'll kno~n TO every scnoolboy. IL
follows naturally that the friction OF a
small pipe is enormously Increased In
proportion to the water carried, and
yet ssw only 9 short tine since
division made in pipe line just below
the pens,ock. Il 10 needless to say
that this work was done by one of
those practical placer miners who
know everything and affect 10 oespise
educated mining engineers.
No hydraulic engineer would have
made such a mistake, for beside the
Increased friction OF she two smaller
pipes, the added force of q heavy
~ g. ;-f.
should never have been made until
within q Re y uIdred feet Of the point
of operations, but she practical
miner with no knowledge of the force
aud mathematics of by draulic., pro-
ceeded by the rule OF hand, and he.
ss well as his employer wonders a. the
paucity OF results.
l know of another of those cases
where one of these practical fellOws
built ditch to carry water for ths
operation of q hydraulic elevator. The
ditch cos: nearly $50, 900 II somebody
else's money and WAS laid out by the
glance OF the 'prscticaP managers
eye. IL was actually completed before
the depth of the gravel deposit to bed
rock had been ascerSsined. and there-
fore 1t was not surprising that whe q
water was turned into tie elevator, 1t
failed to raise the gravel to the sur
face, and q survey determined the fact
that the head of the ditch WAS 300 feet
loo low.
These are only two instances, but
The woods are full OF similar cases.
and / suppose always will be unit l
Eastern investors, many of them men
Of education, learn oy experience that
the application OF the science of
hydraulics requires the closest calcu-
alton, and an accurate kno~ledge of
Its princ Iples that cannot be under
stood by the best placer miner that
aver handled a rocker unless he he'd
Is drilled into him in the schools. |
Education alone will not make thor
,ughly good placer manager, but IL 10
hard to get good results without it.
Another mistake that is frequently !
made Is In the setting OF hydraulic |
n.chines. All mechanical appliances
require to be set accurately, as water |
must move in the line OF the least
resistance In ord r to secure the beet
.e.ults. One of the best hydraulic
elevators ever constructed has been !
Tanned in Colorado because q stupid |,
practical miner set the inflow pipe so
hat the stream struck the elevator
pipe at angle instead of exactly In the
.enter The result was an increase
Of friction and o loss of force tn t
my body could see, though no one took
he srou BILE to ascertain the real cause
rhe innoceot machine was condemned
or the blunder OF a man Who claims
! self-educated engineer, though he
has not get mastered with the fret
principles OF hydraulics.
Placer fields form one of the prlnc!-
pal sources Of weslth in gold mining,
quickly resent ignorance in their oper-
Tfuaa