Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-02-17
Marvellous Gold Finds in the
Occur d'Alene.
RICHNESS OF POCKETS
Samples Used For Selling Gold Clainf$
VI
In Other Parts of the (
e q
World.

murray, Idaho, special to Spokane Re.
view: The report from Elk City of thu
nnd1ng of wonderfully rich quartz Is no
doubted here, nor does it cause any par.
tlcular wonder, as such an event is one
winch has been common in this camp
The Mother Lode, the Daddy. the Eureka
the Wake Up Jim and dozens Of Other
claims in he Occur d'Alene gold belt
lave produced quartz which will rival al,
thai is told of the new Elk City find.
On one occasion a shovelful of quartz
from the Daddy was weighed and crush
ed by hand There was q younds of it,
and 1t proved to be just one-third gold,
producing nine pounds avoirdupois of
that metal. One poke, was several in
ches thick and so feet long, in which the
rock yielded $4,000 per ton in free gold,
beside the concentrates. From the Eu-
reka a miner knocked off a projecting
point while or his way home, filled his
dinner bucket with it, from which he
that night pounded out $3.50 in a hand
mortar.
The discovery on the Mother Lode was
a point of the ledge sticking out into the
creek, which all who saw 1t agreed had
the appearance of being gold plated. It
was left undisturbed for a long time,
the owners fearing that the prospect
would De spoiled if they put in a sho.
there. Failing to sell, they began work
at another point, striking a pocket from
which $50, 900 was taken in a short time
with an arrasta.
One OF the claims near the head Of the
Trail gu1ch produced specimens which
sold for upward of $40 0 besides many
others carried off by visitors all of which
came from a crevice not more thar 10
feet long and less thar two inches thick.
The Sunshine opened UP a seam about
as thick as a knife blade which carried
more gold than rock, n another Trail
gulch claim paid a man over 500 a day
for months, the rock being crushed by
believed would pay to work by that meth.
cd was punt on the dump. where it stu
lies, with the exception OF the specimens
which have been taken away by visit
ors. HgG a!ea Sc n 8
A chunk Of quartz no larger thanta
hickory not and carrying from $40 up
ward in free gold is no curiosity here.
probably so different claims having shown
similar pieces at n time or another
during their history. So plentiful We're
they that there were large numbers Of
them shipped out years ago for the pur-
pose of selling gold claims in other parts
Of the world. n it is a matter so we'll
authenticated that it seems to be beyond
dispute that there are good gold camps,
paying neat dividends from different
mines, which would still be u~ndeveloped
had not the attention Of the public been
attracted to them by the exhibition OF
specimens from them ca which had first
been dug from the ground In the Occur
d'Alenes. In the earliest history of gold
quartz here similar pieces We're import
ed, and had a very salutary effect in in
.creasing the popular demand for claims.
but the country soon became so prolific
in the production Of such pocket pieces
that it was no longer necessary to i'm
port them.
But there is also another side to mining
of this character which is perfectly ia
miliar to every experienced miner, and
that is no mine of that nature mas ever
a bonanza. Abnormally 'rich
rock is taken as a sure evidence Of a
pockety mine, and unless the rock be-
tween the pockets carries a decent
amount Of gold, in the long run it will
hardly prove a paying property. One of
the best remembered instances of the dis
covery of such a property was at Gold
Hill. Jackson county. Or. There the dis
covery was made by 4 tenderfoot from
who did not even know that he
found gold, but showed a peculiar piece
of rock to Mr.. Chayner. for whom he was
working. The piece had been found while
hunting horses. An offer of 5000 to show
W 1CIC ~ was lOutlfl uS promptly dCC6DC-
ed, and while the ledge produced $3.50, 900
from a place no larger than a decent syz-
ed dining room, the Iowa tenderfoot, was
the only n to make anything out Of it,
the men III owned it always having
enough invested there that it represented
a loss to them. "
There are men here who have been. min
gold for a life time. and no one c6n
an Instance of one being made
out of pockety property unless the rock
between the pockets carried reasona &
Of gold, except by the men VIII
sold out at the proper time.
One of the best known mines here. the
Daddy. Melted the owners $50, 200 ole
year, nearly all of which came from one
pocket, the remainder Of the rock barely
paying it's own way. When greater
depth was attained the rock becahre
more base. and while under the method
Of working about So per ton could be
the saving of it cost $40 or more.
and when. a few months passed without
finding a pocket it was turned over to
he en to continue work and get their
wages out Of it if they could. Had tn,
owners saved the money they had ra.
ceived in years when it was a dividend
payer they would have been able to run
md would still nave a balance on the
side of the ledger, even with thc
expensive methods under which it was
worked: but when there was a profit IL
was spent elsewhere. leaving the min tn
a dead property as soon as an ex-
tensive spot was reached which wouId
not pay the expenses of mining and mill. |
To the man who can mine ana midl orc !
or - per ton there are bOnanxas hero
OTIS OF them, and the profits will come
from the extremely rich rock, as the great |
of it will contribute from 81 to SO ner
ton and the pockets will be profit: but
Unless 1t can be shown that the great