Mohave County miner., 1910-08-20
The Perpetuity of Vein Mines.

or throws the point of his pick into the outcropping of vein, work will accu- mulate on that vein until the end of time. This work will be done by a long line of prospectOrs. The first To- foot hole sunk on a vein means the commencement of a new enterprise. It may be years, or even generations, before the business will be remunera- tive, but, broadly speaking, the per sistency of the miner will never allow work to stop.
 In the history of the world no min ing district has ever been exhausted, with the possible exception of strictly placer districts. In some old placer mining districts the deposits have been so thoroughly exhausted that those not familiar with history doubt if gold ever existed in the gravels. For ex- ample, in the very early dawn of Euro pean history, the valley of the Swiss Alps were one of the main sources of the European supply of gold. So thor Oughly, however, have these gravels been worked out that today only the merest trace of gold is to be found in them.
 But with vein mines history records DO district that has ever been con- pletely worked out. The mines of Cornwall were worked for their tin nearly 5000 years ago, and those mines are yet a very important source of the worlds supply of tin. The silver mines of Laurium, in Greece, have known history of 2,5OO years. Indeed, it is to the wealth of these mines that we owe the literature and the archi- tectural artistic glories handed down to us by the ancient Greeks. Previous to the discovery of the mines of Laur- jun, Athens was a miserable little village. The mines of Laurium, how ever, so greatly enriched the AChen- ians as to give them the leisure and the money to produce those wonderful
  ture that are the delight of modern students. Twenty-Five hundred years ago over 10000 slaves were working in the mines of Laurium. The mines are yet being worked, and only a few years ago the Colorado Iron works made a very important shipment of machinery to them for the smelling of the silver-lead ore.
 A few years ago hunters and exDlor- CTS rediscovered very ancient mines in what is now known as Rhodesia, but then known as Matabeleland, and in- habited by one of the most savage and war-like races of Africa. The mines were so ancient that native traditions gave DO indication as to when the mines may have been worked, and in the ruins of Zimbabwe it is thought that the mythical mines of the Queen of Sheba had been discovered. These mines are now producing heavily and adding nearly 100000 8 every year to the worlds gold supply.
 In the kingdom of Mysore, in India, old mines have been found with tre- mendous workings. These mines are exceedingly anclent-so ancient, in- deed. that the oldest Hindu writings make no mention of what must have been very important mining opera tions. Hindus were great chroniclers, and their archives extend back further than other known writings, with the possible exception of the Egyptian. It is probable, therefore, that Indian mines were worked hetween 5000 and 1000 years ago. Tn 'se mines have been actively exploited of recent years by British companies, hich are most successful, and are among the largest dividend-paying mining companies in the world.
 Of course, all these mines had a be- ginning. They were probably found by some shepherd or hunter. and in all probability were developed slowly by the ancients, until they became con- siderable mines. Yet thousands of years after these seekers for mineral | have passed away, the veins they dis c Ivered are still making histOry.-Min- Ing World.
 A Douglas dispatch says: The Cop Dar O,aar NT;,,,cr onrpnapv has npa-