The Goldfield news. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1904-1911, 1908-03-21
VIRGINIA CITY, THE DADDY
OF NEVADA MINING CAMPS

A scene of desolation ereets IN. eve
OF the traveller as he wbirls a,ons 49,
last mile of the route from Reno to viz
ginia City.
80 this is the Old Comstock,' he
THINKS. the place where millions In gold
ana silver were taken from the bowels
o the earth; where incomprehensible
fortunes were made and mems minds
were maddened by the real glitter of in.
trinsic Wealth."
trees are a rarity. ~Sagebrush is the
gray, u~nbecoming cloak that the gold
seekers have seldom tried to mar. The
streets run north and south. along the
SIDE or Mt. Davidson. The side streets
cut these at right angles up and down
the side of the mountain. The great ore
shoots OF the Hale & Norcross and Saw
age mines in turn cast their shadows
over the train on it's last mile to the
depot. To the right and left the i'm
mense dumps of the Ward, the Combina-
ton shaft. the Chollar. the Hale & Nor
cross, the Gould & Currie, and Currie
tunnel loom up, one after another in
quick succession like miniature noun
tains Of white gray, growing out of the
time-worn hills. Thu mad eagerness of
mans energies to gain the power of
wealth have produced these great white
gray masses-this d~isemboweling seems
hk the result of a cataclysm of nature,
but which in reality is the scar of mans
passion and greed for gold.
The impression often received by the
visitor whn uiauc tbic a,.ar1Yr- -
earth, whatever it may be, soon turns
to wonder that the whole surface crust
does not fall into the caverns below.
These mountains of earth are the pyra-
mids of the Comstock, the sphinxes with
the knowledge of the past that never
speaks save to the imaginations and the
memories of men. 1t is the easiest thing
in the world. when viewing these So
called dumps to conclude that all the
wealth has been taken from the old
Comstock. This is often the impression
of the visitor of a day to the old lode.
Indeed, those were lucky men-Mac-
kay, Flood, Fair, OBrien. and the hun
dreds of others who came here in other
days; filled their Golfers with riches and.
c%huckling to themselves, wandered away
y thO mai VI ldut' Dut dltCl ali ~
reminds one of the shepherd who forgot
the best.
But to continue the tale of desolation.
The depot has been reached and the
traveller is in the heart of the old Com
stock town. Here are once-magniicent
buildings, now fallen into decay. Some
are still standing and a few of the
higher ones, like the Leaning Tower of
Pisa, seem to defy the avs of nature.
Along C street, now the principal street
of the place, they are for the most part
built of brick. Many houses have been
torn down and taken away, among the
latter the old home of James G. Fair.
In some places brick buildings have fall
en- in and their CHASTITY walls still stand
ing, like sentinels of departed glory, re-
mind you, somehow. of the uin of Her.
culaneoum and Pompeii. Yes; this is in
deed desolation. Let US admit 1T. Still,
withal Virginia today ook at a dis
lance more like a city than any other
town in the state of Nevada.
But let us return to the dumps. In
the early days of the Comstock and dur
ing the many years of her existence lit
tie attention was paid to rock that did
not run SIS a ton. Anything below this
was called waste and was cast over
the dumps. The result of this is that
millions of dollars worth of gold and
silver has laid locked in their quartz
caverns in comparative safety, while the
miners during the intervening years
nave been struggling and fighting the
gnomes of the under levels that so zeal
ously guard the treasures still hidden
below-the food of hot waters, the kill
ing heat, the deadly gases and the pes
tiferous sores that in turn have checked
and daunted the besieging miners.
1t is safe to say that for years moth
ing less than bonanza ore was consid-
cred as being anything other than waste.
And many a good judge of rock has pre-
ferred to gain his livelihood by picking
the richest pieces that have been thrown
away. The fact has at last dawned upon
mining men that it will pay to work this
ore.
To gain an idea of the vast field open
to the endeavors of milling men 1T is
necessary to consider a few facts. For
almost a half century this rock has been
piling up and tons of it have been added
every day so that now a seemingly IN