Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1904-07-07

The big gold find of Southern Jose
phine county was visited this week
by two Courier men, 4. E. Voorhies
and Fred Mensch, for the purpose of
seeing the place which has put new
life into the mining industry of this
section, and OF securing reliable and
certain information as to the value of
the discovery. The reports have been
so varied and so widely different that
it seemed there was little dependence
to be placed in them, so, for the bene-
fit of the readers of the Courier, the
trip was made.
A journey by wheel to Holland
and thence by trail on foot up Sucker
creek and over the mountain brought
as to the spot which is justly entitled
to be considered one of the wonders
of the world.
David Briggs and his family, SOD
in-law and brother, in al FIVE men
and two ladies. are in camp by their
bonanza, carefully watching and
guarding it and taking out some gold
from time to time. They are making
no effort to mine it and are merely
taking out few slabs OF gold or
handsome quartz specimens to pass
away the time until they can safely
deposit the treasure already secured
They argue with reason that the gold
is safer in the ground than it is out
of it, 1t is one of the peculiar con
ditions of this mine that the gold can
be taken out far more rapidly than it
can be taken care of. The fact that
they are not working night and day
Oh the vein, has been misinterpreted
by some, who do not understand the
conditions and the report has thus got
abroad that the place is worked out
Nothing could be further from the
truth. From all appearances they
have only just began to take out the
gold which Is lying near the surface.
The milk pan full of gold in slabs,
which was on exhibit at a Grants
Pass bank, is only preparation for
the wonders that greet the eye when
the mine is visited. AT the Briggs
tent, there is gold in sacks, in cans
and in bottles, in the mortar, in the
gold pans, in tin cups and cooking
utensils, everywhere. There seems
to be enough gold in sight around
their camp to satisfy a family for
life time yet the major part Of what
they have taken out has been cached
away.
The place where all this treasure
has been taken out, is an insignificant
hole some ~ feet in length, as wide
as the ledge, which seems to run from
l2 to Il inches, and from one to two
feet deep. All the excavation which
has been done could be done by one
man in an hour, though it would
probably take him longer than that
to pick out the gold. Mr. Briggs
estimates that ali the work which has
been done is not more than half a
days work for one man, and the es.
innate seems a reasonble one.
The find is no pocket. 1t Is
true issure vein on contact between
granite and porphyry and is traceable
for a long distance alon the side of
the mountain. No tests have yet been
made to show the extent of the rich
pay chute, which still continues
both longitudinally and vertically
from the excavation The quartz, cX-
elusive of the seams Of pure gold, car
ries milling values from 3s to $50 to
the ton. Gold is diifused through
the rock itself and is not found alone
in the seams. This is presumed TO
be a good indication Of permanency.
The vein at the end of The excavation
is about l2 inches wide.
Along the hanging wall there is a
seam averaging about the thickness
of a mans finger, which is filled with
pure gold. The width Of this seam is
but the stringer Of gold is
If the discoverers of the
bonanza had carefully excayated along
the side Of the seam and removed the
quartz without breaking the gold,
they could probably have secured