The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1922-04-06
EARLY GOLD MINING
ON THE NORTH SIDE
FAILURES EXPLAINED
Gold Quartz Presents a Fine
Opportunity With Intelli-
gent Management
(By Adam Aulbach, Murray, IdahO)

70 WATER LEVEL exploration
was ever done on the rim OF
Prichard creek to find the con-
tinuation of the Paymastel
lode of the Idaho. except sinking a
shallow shaft, but what this exposed
or demonstrated has not been made
public. About 200 feet south, or near
the center of the creek, a vein of quartz
about three feet thick was found by
placer mining. This vein prospected
literally in free gold and excited con-
siderable attention, shortly after the
collapse of the Idaho. A L. Schofield,
the stage man and mail contractor,
was interested in the location, together
with the Stevens brothers and James
Simms, the latter owning the placer
covering the ground. This claim was
called the Joe Dandy, and the name
was applied to the lode claim. A shaft
was started and was soon inclined to
the pitch of the ledge, cutting the
quartz as progress was made. At
depth of about 40 feet there was no
change in conditions, and the reports
about the values were by no means
conservative. Then it was noised
about that a ten-stamp mill would be
erected, and that John A. Finch had
been prevailed upon by Mr.. Scofield to
finance the undertaking. 1t appeared
to require no particular effort at that
period to put up ten-stamp mills par
ticularly with steam power. No one,
seemingly, had ever seen water con-
verified into power. The mill was
promptly in running order Stamps
dropped whenever quartz was availa-
BILE to get in "a hours of industrial jazz.
This continued for about a month
when the music ceased. The cessa-
ton was final The shaft had been
pushed down for hundred feet. Ev-
cry appliance, crude of course, that
suggested itself to the Stevens broth
ers. first-class mechanics, was put in
to handle the water put the full flow
on the incline steadily increased and
threatened to drown the miners if the
pumping facilities went wrong. The
yield of quartz was not sufficient to
keep even five stamps busy. Hence
another en-stamp mill was put in the
discard. A five-stamp mill with water
power would, no doubt, have been
promptly leased and at least the sur
face OF the ledge worked as far as it
could have been uncovered. But no
lessees, with sense, will tackle ten
stamp mills with steam power This
has been ding donged in the writer's
ears for over half a century. yet here !
there is a craze for ten-stamp mills, or
has been, in defiance of all reason. |
There has not been sufficient develop |
ment work done, or had not been done, |
with one exception (the Idaho), to JUS |
tify one single ten-stamp MILL espec- /
tally with steam power. Not that the |
values were absent. On the contrary |
the values were there, but there were
no reserves opened up to keep a ten
stamp mill busy, and the resources of
the individual or company became ex-
hausted in the installation of worth
less machinery and other equipment.
And only a stupid, inexperienced per-
son will say that one man on a shift
can run a ten-stamp mill, or that it
didn't take any more power to run
ten-stamp mill than it does five. One
man on a shift in a fIve-stamp mill
has all he can possibly attend to if he
IS willing to put in his time for the
benefit of the employer. He has plen-
ty to do besides paying attention to
the amalgam plate. He feeds the rock
breaker. adjusts the feeder, and,
if there is a Whitley, much time can be
devoted to that. Then if he is intelli-
gent and experienced he will sample
the quartz that he is feeding right along
by using a mortar and pan, save the
until he gets four ounces and
put them away for assay. In that way
the value of the quartz will be deter
mined and he will also find out the
that is saved on the plates
and the probable value of the concen-
trate. With water power and a five
stamp mill, reinforced by one Whitley
a quartz property on the
North Side would be idle, for there
are plenty of miners who will take a
lease if conditions are favorable. But
no one will tackle a ten-stamp propo-
sition with steam power. That ought
to be self-evident. The ten-stamper
has been a curse to the Murray dis
trict, and to this, of course, must be
added that the Joe Dandy mine was
promptly dismantled and the various
parts sold at great sacrifice.
The Granite and Allie.
Shortly after the collapse of the
Joe Dandy the Granite and Allie
also installed ten-stamp mill on
the sulphide ores of the old