Year: 1878




and certainly the greatest in the history Of


mining operations, has just been success.
fully completed. The Sutro tunnel has
penetrated the Comstock lode. The tele-


graph announces the fact that on Tuesday


the great tunnel Of the Sierras had broken


through into the lower levels of the mighty


silver bonanza of Nevada, and that the


demonstrations OF joy at the successful re-


suit were general throughout the mining
regions of the Pacific coast 8'''''f-1 ~


When Adolph Sutro first suggested the


work, some ten years ago, he was jeered ut,
and, as is often the case in the great under
takings projected by genius, be met with
desperate opposition from the bonanza
kings who now recognize HIM as their saw
ior. 1t was only by persistent efforts that
he at last made his plans appear feasible,
and raised the means that enabled him to
get, the work under way. The completion
of the great tunnel comes not day too
soon for the interest of the immense min
eral belt it taps During the past year or


two the heat in the subterranean drifts has
so rapidly increased with the depth, that at
the 800 and 1000 foot levels, it was al
most unbearable, and in a short time the
mines would have been abandoned for want
of ventilation. This opening into the
mines gives them a new lease of life. They
can now be worked at much greater depth
than they could have been had not Sutro's
genius come to their rescue.


The first ground was broken on the tun-
mel on October 10, 1869, and work on it
continued day and night from that time,
which shows grand total of eight years,
eight months and ten days, consumed in
executing this great work.


During the progress of the tunnel, some
wonderful changes have been wrought in
the science of drilling, which necessity sug-
gested. The work was begun by hand drill
ing, and continued by that slow process
until 1874, at which time successful expert
ments were made with Burleigh drill,
and the advantages at once becoming appa-
rent, a carriage was made capable Of sup
porting six of those drills, and from that
time on there has been no parallel to the
progress made in the history Of tunneling.
These drills, being diamond pointed and
working by steam, bored into the hard rock
as though it had been wood. Two more
drills were put to work in August, 1874.
and from that date the average progress
was over 300 feet per month up to April,
broad Comstock mineral belt, the heat be-
came so intense that two drills had to be
taken off the carriage. From that day the
average monthly progress did not exceed
25O feet. Work has been continued unin-
terruptedly from the time that ground was
broken until its completion, but at times
only two men were at work in the tunnel.
The greatest progress was in December,
1875, when the heading was advanced AIT
feet, and the least in October, 1870, when
it was only advanced 10 feet. The total
length of the tunnel, as stated in the official
chart published last September, is 20,170
feet. The tunnel being connected with the
Comstock workings, the next move of Mr..
Sutro will doubtless be to start north and
south drifts to connect with all the mines
on the lode. The work has cost nearly
$4,000, 900. ,-.E.. ..E


To raise such sum in the face of the op-
position of the Nevada mine owners by
man of very moderate means was, within
itself, herculean task which few men in
this or any other country could have
achieved. Sutro was equal to the emer-
gency. Failing to secure the necessary
financial support at home he went to Eu-
rope and there succeeded by presenting
his plans to capitalists, and convincing
them of the promising outlook of his scheme
from financial standpoint. The great
benefits of the tunnel to the bonanza mines
do not merely consist of the supply of
fresh air and the carrying out OF foul air,
but in the superior facilities for draining
the mines that are deluged by water and
now employ costly machinery to expel the
water by raising it to the surface. An
other very material benefit will be the facil-
ity afforded by the tunnel for the transpor-
tation of their ores by underground railway
through the tunnel, instead of hoisting it
by machinery. 1t is self-eyident that
Adolph Sutro's great achievement is to the
mining interests of Nevada what the
achievement of Ferdinand De Lessep's was
to the commercial interests of England
when he opened the way to India by the
Suez canal. ,s-