Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1920-07-17
A Big Project

| 1t was away back in lsso-befor
that. event of world importance. tn
discovery OF the Comstock's treas
ure rauts-that placer gold was frs
found i'll what is now known as Coli
Canyon, between Virginia City an,
| Dayton. The story that tradition
tells is that a Mormon boy made tn,
discovery while washing milk bottle
| in the stream that tricklcs through
| the canyon from a spring, Just how
the dust happened to be OH the sur
face the old story fails to relate How
ever that may be. these gravel de
posts have been worked from thai
day to this by methods more or les.
ancient and crude. and if what one
hears from folks that have lived there.
abouts in years gone by can be re.
lied upon, a whole lot of gold has
been taken from these diggins at one
time and another.
New modern methods and giant ma.
chimes are called into service and all
that ground is to be excayated to bed
rock,4 Feet below the surface. The
big dredge of the Gold CANYON Co
has finally been floated. afer many
months of continuous preparation
Much delay was experienced i'll Sc
curing delivery of material at the rail
way station; but record time was
made in hauling to the ground and as
seubling. AThe dredge complete
weighs 900 tons, is 1903 feet in length,
with 52-foot beam and is eight feet
deep. There are three floors above
the main deck 1t is constructed en-
tirely of steel, the body plates being
$40 of an inch thick. Fl. G. Hutton
is resident manager of the company
an experienced dredgc man in charge
Of operations. Osker Wicks is fore
man of construction, under whose
supervision the machipc was so ably
assembled.
This is said to be the most mod
ern and improved type o. dredge yet
devised. 1t is a development from a
machine experimental with in New
Zealand IS years ago, perfected a
year or so ago. 1t is designed to re-
main rigidly against the gravel bed
while the big buckets are in opera
ton. This is accomplished by means
OF "spuds', one at the stern and anoth
er at the bow, sunk in the ground.
They are also utilized i'll moving the
boat from one location to another.
resembling somewhat the move
ments of MANS legs when walking.
lo men are required to operate the
dredge.
While i'll one position the dredge
handles gravel from cross section
US feet in length and five feet wide.
1t digs down to depth of 40 feet,
and has 24-hour capacity OF 5000
cubic yards, the equivalent of $500
tons. The motive power is derived
from 5O0-forsepower electric mo-
tor, the current being supplied by the
Truckce General Electric Co. The
Virginia and Gold Hill Water supply
the water
Buckley Wells is president of the
company, one of his vast enterprises
centered around the Comstock. With
out attracting any attention, last year
his representatives acquired a large
acreage OF placer ground in Gold Can
yon, between Gold Hill and DAYTON,
two or three miles from the former
place, at repoted cost of $35O0OO
The work of prospecting 200 acres is
about completed. The average depth
to bedrock is feet. No public state
ment as to what the gravel runs
has been made but the thorough tests
OF experienced engineers assures a
profitable enterprise. 1t is estimated
that five years OF continuous opera
ton, "a hours day will be required
to work out this 200 acres, which is
not half of the-gold bearing ground
owned by the Gold Canyon Dredging
Company.