Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-19
4 GREAT ENL5 lM) Group

apparently the mine on which most money
has been spent is the Maryland Gold Mine
on top Of the ridge which the dirt road
to the falls crosses. and about midway
between the Conduit road and the falls.
This mine after various seasons OF ac-
tivity and suspension is again idle. only a
Waterman. John T. Knott. being on duty.
This mine Is equipped with a ten-stamp
mill, a concentration plant cyanide tank
and accessories. and a large amount of
underground work has been done. There
arc two shafts down about two hundred
feet each. and from these the miners have
drifted from various Levels. huge pile
Of quartz stands near the mill To the
west and south of the mine plant the
country is covered with taiings.
Two years ago when The Star man
passed that way the mine was in opera
ton. The ten stamps were failing. and
the slime was flowing over 'Quicked
plates and considerable quantities of gold
were being recovered by the amalgama-
ton process. 1t seems, however, not to
have been profitable.
A Refractory Ore.
Gold through that part of the Great
Falls country is encountered in two
principal forms. 1t is found free in
what to the layman appears to be rot
ten sandstone. and the recovery Of the
gold from this stone is simple. The
stone is easily crushed. and the gold
forms an amalgam with quicksilver.
Great Falls gold. though. is mainly
found i'm pyrites of iron and sulphur.
Ii is here that the main difficulties OF
extraction have been met with. This IL
not all of the difficulty. because This
ore which is especially refractory. IS
found in pocket formations. 1t is the
erratic or non-continuing character OF
the deposits that has caused r'Gch or
the distress which has atten I'D gold
mining in this region. On the road from
ho mir
near Potomac. there are gold mines
that have been worked, but Shtch are
not now in operation. and few rods
above Great Falls on the Maryland
side. on the road to Washington. is the
abandoned tunnel to gold mine or
near" gold mine.
1t is an interesting fact that IN many
of the ravines in that locality. by
taking the so-called rotten sandstone
and beating it back into sand one may
obtain a color" by the pannng rrocess
This requires rather a little ad 'oitness
in swishing off the debris and Washing,
so that the tiny flakes or grains OF gold
will be collected at one point in The p VI.
Those who would try the EXPERIMENT
and who would use q tin or ron pan
should roast it. SO there may be no par
ticle of grease on its surface.
On Old Wood Roads.
One of the extremely picturesque ana
lonely roads in the Falls country is that
which leads through the woods from
the top of the ridge at the Maryland
mine to the rock crusher on the canal,
about two miles east Of Great Falls.
Much of the timber is white oak. and
there are acres upon acres Of these
trees big enough to make mere -ntab BILE
lumber The road. grass-groprn and
shady tolls over hills. descenis fern
fringed gulches and climbs OUT again,
TO repeat the same thing many times
in the course of its two miles tenst..
This road is the means of commune
cation between the rock-crushing plant
where quartz and gneiss are reduced to
macadam and the county road. IL has
also been worn by wood-laullng
wagons, some of the timber III TINS
woodland having been cut out.
Hours may be profitably spent by the
wanderer about Great Falls in .bscrva-
lions on the intake of the great con-
duit through which pours all The Po-
tomac water that Washington drinks.
The conduit passes through mountain
of rock and then its course 20 where
the Conduit road begins is plain The
old bicycle path followed the pipe line.
In the depth OF the woods the conduit
jcrosses stone viaducts 0f/ the general
style of those which one sees along the
Conduit road. though among the raNlnes
and big trees they seem more f:Ctur-
esque. In the quiet of this part CT the
country the rushing water at the Falls
and the churning of the rapids may be
heard loud or faint. according to the
direction Of the wind.