Los Angeles herald., 1906-04-16
VALUABLE INTER-
BEDS ARE FOUND
CALIFORNIA STUFF TO MAKE
BIG GUNS BOOM
Important Discovery for Good smeter
Fuel at Great Saving-Mining
News In Western States.
Notes

be obviated in future. California Will
furnish the United States the stuff to
make the big guns boom.
State Mineralogist Aubury has COM
municated to the government at Wash
ington the fact Of the existence OF
these inter beds, and if the investiga-
tion that is to be made in the fields
results favorably the United States can
forever renounce her dependence on
the trust and on the strip of a repub-
lie. The California beds are located
in Death valley, and for climatic rea-
sons the earliest time that the exam
ination can be made by the geological
survey will be next October.
The fact that the country has to rely
wholly on the Chile inter field has long
been a matter of concern at Washing
ton. What might be the result in case
of protracted war is readily appar-
ent. The utmost effort has at all times
been made to keep secret the country's
dependence on Chile, and never word
is published of the appropriations by
congress for the purchase of inter sup
plies. If the fields of this state prove
! to be satisfactory in quality and guam
tity, as it is believed they will, Cali
fornia may proudly lay claim to great
service to the country.
Cheap Fuel for SmeIters
The great After Thought smelter at
Ingot in Shasta county has started up
after a shutdown of over q week, oW-
ing to short supply of coke. A tele-
gram states that the north winds have
dried up the Bella Vista road marvel
ously and plenty of coke now is arriv-
ing to insure a steady run.
A wonderful discovery has been made
by Superintendent Bretherton during
the muddy-road season and the discov-
cry will be the means of the smelter
saving $1O0 day in its coke expense
account.
When coke was so scarce and hard
to ship in, he tried the experiment
of mixing wood with the coke in each
charge put into the furnace. The re-
suit was surprising, for 1t was found
that a fuel charge Of green wood and
coke was better than fuel charge OF
coke exclusively. The molten metal
flowed more freely from the spout and
it was of higher grade, showing that
fusion in the furnace had been more
thorough.
The saving in cost is an important
item, for coke is very expensive there,
since 1t has to be hauled twenty-four
miles by teams. On the other hand,
wood is very cheap, for the smelter is
in forest.
Hereafter wood and coke mixed will
be used for fuel, even though coke be
abundant in store. The saving of $1O0
a day in the fuel bill is an important
item, to say nothing of the better re-
suits obtained.
The important secret lies in using
green wood instead of dry wood. The
Mountain Copper company at its Kes-
wich smelter tried the experiment of
reducing it's consumption of coke by
mixing wood with the fuel of each
charge. The experiment failed be-
cause dry wood was used The dry
wood burned out so quickly, even
when mixed with coke, that the ore
charged settled below the "queers" be-
fore fusion was complete With the
ore charge below the "queers" the
blast was lost and the fire was useless.
But the green wood burns more slow
ly and holds the ore charge in proper
position long enough for fusion to be
completed The distinction between
dry wood and green wood Is all impor-
tant.
Bought Famous Mines
Las Planchas de Plata mines, for
hundreds of years famed in Mexico as
producers of unusually high-grade sill
yer ores, have been acquired by
Messrs. N. NJ Norfleet and F. e.
Monteverde, Jr, of Los Angeles, by
purchase from Messrs. p. Sandoval
Co., the bankers at Nogales.
The property will be equipped with
a twenty-stamp mill in the immediate
future, besides various necessary ma
chinery for opening certain of the
veins to depths.
This property, which was first
worked by the Jesuit fathers, lies
about eighteen miles south of Nogales
and about six miles east of the So
nora railway. There are a number or
veins ranging from two feet to thirty
feet in width, which have been opened
and worked by primitive methods. The
values are chiefly in cflorides and bro
mides, though in places very rich sui
phide ore is found. There have also
been taken from the Planohas Viejas
vein large nuggets Of native silver
the heaviest of which is reported by
historians to have weighed 525 pounds.
The rocks of the country are por-
phyry and limestone. The veins are
we'll and strongly defined, cropping
in some cases for several thousand
feet Wood and water are plentiful.
Very considerable quantities of mill
ing ore are now blocked out in the
various workings. 1t Is reliably stated
that these will average fifty ounces
silver, though in places the values are
extremely high. The former owners
have been running an old ten-stamp
mill, which will now be abandoned.
The new owners, who will operate
under the style of the Big Mountain
Mining company, intend to develop and
equip the property very extensively
and expect to make of it one of the
great silver producers of northwestern
Mexico.
In SearchIight District
Considerable activity has been occa-
stoned by the visit of L. L. Patrick and
party from Goldfield; also Matt Hoveck,
superintendent of the Montgomery
Shoshone mine of Bullfrog. Both par
ties examined several properties in the
district and acquired heavy interests
in the Cyrus Noble extension; haveI
also taken bonds on several other prop
critics.
At the LIE Roy the entire shaft isl
being timbered In the drifting on thel
third level large body of free mill
ing ore mas been encountered east OF
the main shaft. A new electric pump
of $4,000 gallons capacity is to be in
stalled at once in order to drain the
shaft so sinking can continue without
interference from water.
The Southern Nevada company mill
will resume operations during the week.
The mine has been developed to the
250-foot level, but work is discontinued
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