Year: 1871

, r. a long time canvas hose made of the
stest soilcoth used to convey the water from the
dites into the claim and TO the place where the pipe


mon were TO direct against the banks But as this was
oo,s+ontv wearing out aud bursting under even the
comparavey small pressure then used iron pipe was at
length generally substituted. This did permit some In
crease i'm the volume and force of the streams and woud
have permitted very great increase but for the fac'
that it was still necessary retain piece of hose al 'c
end OF pipe, In order TO allow the ppemen 10 oo
the nozzles and direct the stream occasion reqou
The short piece OF hose made as strong as o"nN


bound by rope could be, but still the utmost su0"N


that could be given Ii insufficient 10 carr! 0 P


full streams OF water which the miners Desan W ,'
necessary for the most efficient and economicai "oiA
The desideratum became, therefore, 10 uispenso va"


hose altogether and TO provide some mecnancal means
for directing the most powerful streams LUIS mas w"
been secured by less than three Inventions d" 'o
production OF practical miners orag uiooe doioi'
t" Fishers Knuckle Joint" and "Hoskins Improved
pv all three OF these inventions the nozzle is
Att directly 70 the iron waterpipe, and is given both


perpendcuar and horizontal motion at the VIII OF


single man. enormous increase OF power Is thus Sc
cured Five hundred inches Of water will do at least
twice as much execution when thrown in single stream


as when in two streams and with the new nozzes
IL possible even TO throw 200 1900 inches in single
stream, and that under pressure OF 800 feet OF ran,
whereas with the hose not more than 100 feet ia
could be used and after the Introduction OF iron
pipes not more than l5O Thus man can now manage
all the water formerly sent through seven or eight ordi
nary hose pipes, each requiring from to three men,
and that with enormously increased effect. The most
firmly cemented gravel, and cement which formerly
would only yield to the pick the blast is now easily
dsntegrated and washed away by the powerful streams
thrown under immense pressure. Nor is the saving OF
human life Of the least benefits OF these Inventions
Formerly the ppemen had to stand within 100 feet of
the bank they playing upon, and were frequently
overwhelmed by the falling of huge masses of earh but
can now take their stand at double that distance, and
even then feel reer to leave their pipes. The great
economy effected by these improved nOZzes has already
given fresh stimulus to hydraulic mining IaKlng the
mines through at least double the yield can be obtained
for the outlay. Claims which it formerly cost W
per cent of the yield to work, return so or GO per
| cent as profit and ground which formerly would not
pay for washing now yields handsome returns great
many new claims have been taken up, which VIII De
opened during the coming year, and, In NUMBER OF
cases abandoned ones will be worked for the cement


left by former washngs, but which can now easily De
moved by the new methods. In many channel claims,
formerly worked by tunnels but where there is no over


living lava hydraulic apparatus is put up for the purpose
Of washing OF the top dirt (an operation which Will now
pay and thus working the bed rock in the open ar saw


ing expense Of timbering and all the dead WOrA ol
| underground exploration.


| The recent improvements in the method OF cutting
through rock are of less importance than the i'm
provements in the methods OF using water The intro
duction giant powder reduced the cost OF tunneng,
from % 10 cent, by reducing Oh
drihoes necessary and permitting the substitution OF
singehanded drills for the large drills worked by two
men. This saving will be appreciated when it is remem-
bered to work the open-ar hydraulic claims
tunnels have frequently TO be run for haf mile ana
sometimes for even mile and in some cases these used
10 cost as high SEQ per neal foot Another invention
which still further reduced the cost Of rock work.
the diamond pointed dr-a rockbOrer having cutting
edge composed of small diamonds. 1t was an Eastern in
venton At Telegraph Hill, in this city, it bored 2oeet
holes in three hours which, bored by hand would have
required the labor Of six for from 20 to 25 days. and


has tried with the results in various parts of
the State going through the white crystal quartz
the hardest substance found in California and which in
fact ranks very the diamond itself, at the rate
Of three feet per hour. Beside these improvements
there have been several recently made In work
| ing our milling, both quartz and cement. There
| is also q noticeable tendency on the part Of the
| owners of smaller claims to concentrate and work
together and the law authorizing the sale of mineral
lands is egnning TO have most beneficial effect The
owners Of most of the principal mines are already taking
advantage Of this law, and if it is construed literally IL
will not be long before all the developed mines will be
held by this tenure There is, however, one great dill
Guilty about hydraulic mining which VIII require III some
places immense works to and that Is the hng
up guche ravnes and creeks by the masses OF earth
washed down taings, thus stopping up outlets
There are number of rich mining districts where owing
TO this cause operations have been entirely suspended
| and where long tunnels viii have to be run, or some
means adopted for cleaning out the beds Of the streams
again before operations be resumed. Bear River,
for instance the outlet Of large section OF rich mining
ground was filed to the depth of so feet by the tangs
empted into it, and its banks so far wldened that tall
pines which once stood above and beyond the stream,
disappeared in the deposits of successive seasons. 1t
is now proposed to clear Bear River and its tributaries
by running tunnel through the "divde" and empty
ing into the north fork of the American, which runs
through a gorge several hundred feet below Bear
| River Diamond drills and giant powder have so
cheapened unneling that the work could now be done
| for 100000 which would leave an ample margin OF
profit as the immense of taiings which could De
suced through the tunnel must contain large amount
of gold and quicksilver much of it deposited in
the earlier days Of mining, when the appliances for
saving gold were far from perfect When this work is
successfully accomplished other operations OF the same
nature will follow, and is not improbable that in
the course OF few years outlets for large sections OF
mining ground will be furnished by immense sluices
leading from the mining districts to tde-water' the
owners to be recOmpensed for their outlay in whole OF
in part by the gold left by the taings in their passage
for no process can extract all the metal.


Such enterprises surpassed by one upon which work
has actually been commenced. To Won Schmidt the
engineer who constructed the San Francisco DyDock,
and removed Blossom Rock from the haTbor with one
tremendous blast belongs the honor Of originating the
gigantic but practicable scheme Of bringing the water Of
Lake Bger in the crest OF the Sierra to San Francisco,
supplying on the way the mining region and interior
towns The lake, which is famous all over the country
for beauty its scenery the purity OF its water and
the size of its trout has of $50 square miles, ana
it is estimated that 1C5OOOOOo gallons be taken from
it daily without seriously diminishing the outflow into
the Tuckee, which the lake down the eastern
slope OF the Sierra From the point where 1t issues from
/ the tunnel TO Auburn, 80 miles from Sacramento, this
canal passes through rch mining country whose only
want Is water, where it is expected to renew the pany
! days OF 40 and 80. In fine, mining in California
never ooked more promising than II does at the present
hour; ana Tor years to large and steady in