The Record-courier. [volume] (Gardnerville, Nev.) 1904-current, 1915-08-06
A GHOST CITY
IN ALPINE CD.

III bb.u III .
In the last issue of the Saturday
Evening Post a very able article ap-
peared from hte pen of Chas. Van
l.oam on the Ghost Cities of the
West in which the early life of
Virginia City was featured The fol-
lowing brief article from the Saera-
mento Bee deals with the old town of
Silver Mountain, and is truly a Ghost
! City of the West"
What a powerful. wealthy mining
syndicate. managed by an English
Lord and later by the Lords Lady,
could not do find use for a quartz
gold MILD, in the late 70's, the State
of California, through the Department
Of Engineering. now is doing
The state is now using tie old
boilers installed in the quartz gold
mill 1T Silver Mountain in repairing
the Alpine State Road, by cutting mp
the bilers into sections rs enlverts
Nothing but jail Remain,
| All that remains of Silver Mountain
City is The crumbing County Jail.
The place once was the County Seat
of Alpine. and at the time the jail
was built there were more than t1oo
persons in the town.
The thriving city. the hoiaes. bnsi-
ness houses mining car y a:.ildings.
public Buildings. and even the old
mill, have disappeared. The cram
bled away through lisnse and in
their decay they left story around
which romance played prominent
part
Romance Recalled
| The falling walls of the County
Jail recall the once prosperous times.
The sections eut from the old mil
boilers recall the story of the English
Lord and the English Lady.
Lord Chalmers, head of an Eng
lish syndicate wealthy, but knowing
little of the practical side of mining
for gold. got control of gold mine
on Silver Mountain The ledge was
/ developed through a shaft from a
point high on the mountain.
Big Plant Installed
E Before the ledge was tappel from a
lower level, permitting the taking
out of ore, Lord Chalmers had erect
ed the stamp mill, also onther mining
buildings. and a sawmill, having ID
capacity of 10000 feet per day
To get ore for the mill, a tunne.
of 5000 feet was necessary. Silver
Mountain thrived on the future pros
poets, and the building of mining
plants, which could not be used until
The 6.000-foot tunnel was bored and
the ledge struck
When 1000 feet of the tunnel Lad
work stopped.
To London for None,
Lord Chalmers made a hurried trip
to London to make an effort to raise
sufficient money 10 complete the de-
Velopment work. He left Lady chal-
mers at Silver Mountain. intending
to remain only few weeks.
Before his mission had progressed
to where the money was in sight,
Lord Chalmers died n London.
- Lad, Chalmers Without Funds
Lady Chalmers, without adequate
funds, il a strange land, but among
friends, endeayored to tide over the
disaster and could not ovedcome it.
secured sufficient money 10 continue
the work at Silver Mountain
She stuck to the mining camp and
refused to return to England Failure
followed disappointment. and finally
the town gradually became dead"
rhe County Seat was changed and
the people left.
Lady Chalmers never deserted the
1ictrict She had been caught in the
disaster and couud not overcome it.
About four years ago she committed
suicide at Oakland after fruitless
search for her missing daughter
II is related that she was Try
beautiful woman, and when she first
came to California her beauty was
the sensation of the mining districts
of the Sierrs. Sacramento Bee.