Evening star., 1937-09-30
GOLD ONCE LAID
ON CONDUIT ROAD
Ore Bearing Quartz Used on
the Street Now Is Basis
for Thriving Industry.

But don't let it get you excited, be-
cause that's technically speaking.
When first paved, golo- bearing
quartz, some containing as much as
SIS of gold ton-was used in ma
eadamizing the surface.
The latter was an observation made
by S. F. Emmons of the United States
Geological Survey in 1890, and that
same gold-bearing quartz is now being
developed for its gold values in the
neighborhood of the present road at
the Maryland mine and across the
river in Virginia at the Bull Neck
Run mine.
Approximately s20,000 worth of gold
was taken fro mthe Maryland mine
during 1886. But don't let that ex-
cite you either, for that figure rep
resents just SO much gravy" ex-
tracted in the course of development
work, but doesn't equal that already
sunk in by the firm developing the
mine.
Tourist Trade"
The Bull Neck mine is even less
developed and E. j. de Saba, sole
owner, said today
Whatever we're getting now rep
resents the raisins in the country
cooked rice pudding. The proof of
the pudding is in the eating, and
we've only tasted it.
Show me the man who can make
q gold mine pay for itself during
development and you're showing me
the greatest mining engineer on
earth. In any mine, before it gets
going, more money goes down the
shaft than comes up"
He added, however, that if he didn't
think he had something worth going
after, he wouldn't be sinking his
money in 1t.
Both De Saba and o. r. Turner
vice president, general manager and
mining engineer in charge of the
Maryland Mining Co., said today re-
cent published reports of their find
tngs had brought a considerable
~tourist trade" down about their ears.
StdTteO IN 1901.
I'VE had to put man at the gate
Of the Maryland mine to keep out
the kibitzers," Turner said
The mine was started in 1867, at a
time following the Civil War when
considerable Northern capital was be-
ing placed in Appalachian prospects.
1t was closed down after the shaft
had been sunk $50 feet and reopened
by the present owners when Presi-
dent Roosevelt pegged the price of
gold at s35 fine ounce in 1884
This pegging caused reopening OF
many mines throughout the East and
j. T. Pardee of the United States
Geological Survey and staff of ge-
ologists made field trips through the
area in 1884 under P. w. A. allot-
ment to scout possibilities of further
reviving the industry.
The Bull Neck Run mine also is an
outgrowth of the increased price of
gold.
Both lie in what is known as the
Southern Appalachian or Becker gold
belt, which runs through eight States
Alabama. Georgia, Maryland, North
Carolina, Pennsylvania. South Caro-
lima, Tennessee and Virginia-and fol-
lows the Piedmont region, underlain
by ancient crystalline rocks. hanking
the easternmost ranges of the Appa-
lachians
Spanish explorers were shown mug
gets from the Georgia end of the
belt by Indians as early as the six
teenth century, and the Spaniards
themselves mined the precious metal
there during the seventeenth century.
1t wasn't until after 100 that Eng
lish settlers began working the de-
poeits. Mining increased throughout
the area until after the Civil War,
after which there was decline lasting
until 1884.
Geological work, done chiefly by the
United States Geological Survey,
shows the deposits in all cases to be
relatively small and pod-shaped, with
the veins following a general north
south line. However, none has been
examined to a great enough depth, it
has been pointed out, to determine
their exact nature.
AS early as 1886 William B. Rogers,
geologist, wrote of the local prospects
In Maryland, of which there were a
number at one time, that they were
destined, under proper management,
to become an important branch of the
systematic industry of the State"
Veins May Enlarge.
However, by 1890, Emmons observed
that local mines, as well as those
farther south, had been closed due to
bad management. inexperience and in
sufficient knowledge of geological con-
ditions.
The present developers of the two
mines near Great Falls seem qualified
to make a ''og" of both. De Saba
has had a lifetime of experience in
the California gold fields and has in
his employ a staff of experienced
mining men, while Turner is a grad
uate OF Yale in mining engineering,
besides having had considerable ex-
perience in mining regions.
Both said today there were indi-
cations the veins may enlarge as they
90 downward.
But" they both cautioned. gold
mining Is just another business. When
we have exposed enough ore on three
sides to show profit, then and only
b.