Volume 08 (1864) (474 pages)

The Mining and Scientific Press, 69 {Writsen for the Mining and Seleutific Pree} Humboldt Gounty--Nevada Territory. Tho daily journals of this city are devoting a good deat of nttentiun to the mines in UUnmboldt euunty, Nevnda Territory, ‘Tint so little concerning them Imns been published heretofore, is duo simply to the fact that the inhabitnnts of Humboldt are not a letter-writing people, and that the expense of sending “specinl currespondents” to that region is very great —even if reports, hased upon such superficial examinations as they would be ennbled to make, could be relied upon. {[t is very common for practicul miners to nnderrate their own cupacity to write for newspapers. Men who are fluent nnd accurnte in private correspondence, have a morhid fear of making themselves ridiculons in print. Of course this is extremely absnrd, nod also injurious, ns it tends to retard the development of some of the best of our mining districts. ‘The character of the early population of n mineral region is, ns things go in these days, merely n matter of necident. Reese River happened to ho settled to a great extent by men froin Sun Francisco, acting, generally, as the agents of capitalists, who not only possessed mioney nnd energy, hnt comhination nnd influence—and, conse. quently, the world knuws all ahout Reese River. Ifumboldt happened to he settled hy pe:sons from the npper counties of the State—intelligent and energetic enough, hut operating for themselves, with little money, and without concert of action—and, consequently, un almost Weyptian darkness has reigned over Humboldt. So profound has heen the ignorance concerning it, that respectahle men, whose notes are good in the market, and who are doubling their fortunes hy stock investments, have to scratch their heads two or three times befure they remember that hundreds of miles of mountain and plain sepatate Humholdt county in Nevadn Territory from the eonnty of the same name in Culifornia. We would not have been so profuse on this point, hut for our anxiety to stimulate the inhabitants of Humboldt themselves to distribute the facts about their mines. Their local paper must necessarily depend, to a great extent, for its interest upon their contributions, aud on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, we have to rely upon them altogether. We will gladly make tho Mixinc ann Screnriric Press the medium ol cireulating any information which may he supplied to us under the authority of any honest man’s name. Facts are not only “stubborn things,” hut they hnve an element of active life in them, which cannot nlwnys he repressed even by the dead-weight of iutellectual inactivity. This is the fortunate circumstance to which Humboldt is indebted for the present direction ol public attention to its resonrees and to its wnnts. ‘That county extends for about two hundred miles {vom its north-western to its south-castern extremities, and for an equal distance from its extreme north-eastern point to its south-western termination. It contnius nearly 30 mineral districts, and a multitude of large, well-defined veins, rich in nll the various forms of silver ore, and, with two or three oxceptions, displaying the simplest and inost tractable comhinations. Ht possesses a population of about thirty-five hundred, mostly concentrated to the south and east of the Humboldt river, within a longitudinal limit of thirty miles, on two mountaiu rauges running in » general way north and south, and the northern ends of which terminate within a few miles of the river. On these rnnges there is a considerable growth of stunted cedar and nut pine, sullicieut, on the eastern rauge, to last Tor steam purposes for ten or fifteen years. Star creek and Buena Vista creek furnish water power, and the Humboldt canal, sixtysix miles in its projected length, of an average width of fitteen feet, and from two to four feet deep, ot which more than ten miles are already completed, and which will he finished this year, will supply 45 quartz and grist mills with the means of crashing rock aud grinding grain. The mountaiu cations, the hanks of the river, and the verdurous soil in Pueblo District, now produce the finest of vegetables, and will soon yield a large part of the cereals required fur consumption in Ifumboldt. ond nt Reese River, while the sides of the hills are covered with the uiust nutritious grasses. The taxable property of the county wns assessed last year ut more thon hnlf a million of dollars, und it will be remembered that the asses-ment was necessarily imperfect, nnd that nothing but “improvements” are liable to taxntion, In the west rngo there are threo towns—Unionville, Star City nnd Mumboldt City—having an aggregate population of abont one thousand, and in the cast range, on one of the easiest of mountain pusses, is the town of Dunglen, tho result of n few mouths’ development, and contaming nbout 200 inhabitants. Buildings ure largo and substantial; stores fited to the roufs; there are sehool-liouses and places ctepenie worship, nnd society is ns regularly orgunized as in tho mining towns of California. There are two smull iills in the west range and one in the east mnge; and from Fall's mill, in Unionville, especially, many hars of silver, representing many wines in the various surrounding districts in both ranges, have been received here during the last tew months—the yield uf ore—mostly from near the surfuce—varying from $125 to $400 to the ton. Work is going on now hriskly and systeniatically in every direction. This is n brief general statement of what Ilumholdt is, nscertained hy personal residence and investigation. But that region can show something more then mere surface developments. ‘Ihe lode recently uncovered in the tunnel of the ‘Tullulah Mining Coinpany, three hundred Icet from its mouth. und two hundred from the surfnce of the ground. is probably the best defined, the deepest, and the richest vein of mineral ever discovered iu any of the outly ing districts in Nevada Territory, and estahlishes beyond question the permanence nnd the value of the mines in Sierra district. The Neptune Hill, ahout two Imiles from Dunglen, on which the claim of that company is situatod, is covered with rich croppings and float rock, traceable for a long distance through the extensions, and the fact may now be regarded as settled that, in its depths, are enormous hundred dollars to the ton. Wehave spoken thus of the Tallulah heeause it is a representative mine, hut Sierra district is full of miues, and possesses rare facilities for working them. The Auld Lang Syne, the Gem of the Sierra and its Oro Fino neighbor, the Natchez, the Great Western, the Humboldt, the Eclipse, the Independerce, owned by the Great Basin Mining Company, the Maremmne, the Champion, the Mouroe, the Vnlley, the Badger, the Atlantic, the Plntin, and numerous other ledges, are each worthy of a miuute description, but our space is limited nnd we must content ourselves with this general reference. Wood, worth in Virginia sixteen dollars per cord, is delivered at the Auld Lang Syne Mill at six dollars and a half per cord, nnd no ores in Sierra will have to he transported more than from eight to ten miles for reduction—generally too on n descendinggrade. The Tallululi claim is within tree or four miles, at the tarthest, of the Lfumboldt canal. The Sheba mine, uear Star City, contains antimony, hismuth and zine in considerahle quantities, and, in this respect, isa singulur exception among the Humboldt mines—hut, as some one has well said, it is ‘rich beyond the dreams of avarice.” Systematically opened aud admirably managed, displaying a great breadth of mineral, andin the best possible condition for extensive operations, nothing hut the perversity ol unscupulous speculators can prevent it from being ranked with the most lavored mines at Virginia. Speaking of this range, we may ohserve that atunnel, eight feet square is heing run from Humboldt City through Star Mountain, a distance of more than two miles, whichis expected to tap forty-seven ledges, sone of them at 4 depth of over two thousand leet. In Buena Vista district, the Manitowoc, the Logan, the Anderson, the Mouitor, and nomerous other veins, deserve attention, and we could wish to describe minutely, the Moonlight in Iudian district, the Great Republic in Cinnabar district, the D. C. Broderick, Chloride, Medora, Scottish Chief, Rattlesnake and St. Mary’s in Echo district, the Cuba in Humboldt district, nnd the Little Giant and Magna Charta in Santa Clara District, but time and space will not Humboldt. We hope suffieient has been said to show that, as a field for enterprise and labor, that region is not inferior to any county enst or west of the Sierra Nevada. The preparations which nre in progress to establish additional stage lines, and to secnre telegraphic communication with Calilornia indicate, nt all events, that those who have the hest opportunity of judging corréctly, anticipate a large immigration to Humboldt this Spring. Sypraon. Anvertiseuents for the Press should be handed in during the first of the week. masses of mineral which will yield more than two, permit, and we must trust to future opportunities, . and to the intelligent co-operation of the people of . {For the Mining and Sclontific Press.) Importance to the California Miner of a Knowledge of Mineralogy. Upon nn inquiry into the infiuite variety of ohjects surrounding us in the natural world, it would appeur that three assemblages nre to he discriminated. These divisions comprise the nnimml kingdom nnd the vegetnble kingdoms, characterized hy organic structure and the wonderous phenomena of life. The inorgnnie or mineral kingdom in which we cannot detect any traces of organic structure, but which, nevertheless, forins the greuter proportion of our planet—this assemblage of ohjects has been generally understood to form the province of Mineralogy. Mineralogy has for its ohjects the considerntion of the natural inorganic material of our globe, fluid and solid—the physicnl phenomena which they present, their chemical constitution, their modes of occurrence, the methods hy which they are distinguishnhle from each other, their classification, and the uses to which they may he made suhservient, The character of minerals is dependent partly on their form, partly on their chemical, and partly on their physicnl properties. It is importaut to insist on the definition and objects of mineralogy; as many scientific men assert that it isa mere depnrtment ol chemistry, hesides it is frequently confounded with geology or metallurgy. A miner may he a good chemist but it would not niake amends for an ignornnce of mineralogy. If he were obliged to make an analysis each time he required to know the natore of a suhstance, it would occupy most of his time in Inhors often repeated, nud in many cases fruitless. If after annlyzing the same substance twice he is ahle to recognize it hy some less lahorious task, we say thnt he has acquired a mineralogical knowledge of thnt suhstance. So that the methods of mineralogy are those which n man must employ, if in relation to the natural inorganic hodies he wishes to reap the advantages offered him by previous investigations. Who, for instance, would not prefer to determine the nature of a brilliant gem by the method ol mineralogy, instend of submitting it to the chemist, who, with suudry acids, would destroy its substance ere he could pronounce upon its character. When visiting the cclehrated Diamond washings, nt Abaite, Brazil, the writer was shown tho fragments of what had heen a diamond of great value, but which the finder, in a rude attempt to prove Its hardness, had struck with a hammer, and broken into uumberless small pieces; his want of mineralogical knowledge lost hin an immense fortune. The grand interest attached to our studies of the products of the earth is to be found in the fact. that the miueral properties of difierent lands, in conjunction with geographical features, have determined the distribution, the physical and social character, and” the well heing of the variousraces of mnn. Whether we examine the vestiges left hy the people of antiquity, or study the modifications produced in hrauches of the snme rnce, located in regions of different aspect, or inquire into the origin of the chief seats of modern civilization, we shali be assured that most of these phenomena are dependeut immediately, or throagh the medium of vegetation, on mineral produce, and the particular conditions under whieh it can he made nvailable to human convenience. * Strangers ror tum Hast—The steamship America, of the Opposition Line, nud the St. Louis, of the P. M.S. S. Company will lenve for Panama on the 3d of February next, and the competition hetween the lines promises to be lively in the meantime. The prices of the tickets hy the America nre as follows: First cahin, upper deck, after snloon, state rooms, $175: do. do., forward saloon, $135; second cahin state rooms, $100; do. do., open herths, $80; steerage, $50. By the St. Louis: First cahin, outside staterooms, $162.50; do. inside staterooms, $136; second cabin, $80; Steerage, $54.

The Mining and Scientific Press, 69 {Writsen for the Mining and Seleutific Pree} Humboldt Gounty--Nevada Territory. Tho daily journals of this city are devoting a good deat of nttentiun to the mines in UUnmboldt euunty, Nevnda Territory, ‘Tint so little concerning them Imns been published heretofore, is duo simply to the fact that the inhabitnnts of Humboldt are not a letter-writing people, and that the expense of sending “specinl currespondents” to that region is very great —even if reports, hased upon such superficial examinations as they would be ennbled to make, could be relied upon. {[t is very common for practicul miners to nnderrate their own cupacity to write for newspapers. Men who are fluent nnd accurnte in private correspondence, have a morhid fear of making themselves ridiculons in print. Of course this is extremely absnrd, nod also injurious, ns it tends to retard the development of some of the best of our mining districts. ‘The character of the early population of n mineral region is, ns things go in these days, merely n matter of necident. Reese River happened to ho settled to a great extent by men froin Sun Francisco, acting, generally, as the agents of capitalists, who not only possessed mioney nnd energy, hnt comhination nnd influence—and, conse. quently, the world knuws all ahout Reese River. Ifumboldt happened to he settled hy pe:sons from the npper counties of the State—intelligent and energetic enough, hut operating for themselves, with little money, and without concert of action—and, consequently, un almost Weyptian darkness has reigned over Humboldt. So profound has heen the ignorance concerning it, that respectahle men, whose notes are good in the market, and who are doubling their fortunes hy stock investments, have to scratch their heads two or three times befure they remember that hundreds of miles of mountain and plain sepatate Humholdt county in Nevadn Territory from the eonnty of the same name in Culifornia. We would not have been so profuse on this point, hut for our anxiety to stimulate the inhabitants of Humboldt themselves to distribute the facts about their mines. Their local paper must necessarily depend, to a great extent, for its interest upon their contributions, aud on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, we have to rely upon them altogether. We will gladly make tho Mixinc ann Screnriric Press the medium ol cireulating any information which may he supplied to us under the authority of any honest man’s name. Facts are not only “stubborn things,” hut they hnve an element of active life in them, which cannot nlwnys he repressed even by the dead-weight of iutellectual inactivity. This is the fortunate circumstance to which Humboldt is indebted for the present direction ol public attention to its resonrees and to its wnnts. ‘That county extends for about two hundred miles {vom its north-western to its south-castern extremities, and for an equal distance from its extreme north-eastern point to its south-western termination. It contnius nearly 30 mineral districts, and a multitude of large, well-defined veins, rich in nll the various forms of silver ore, and, with two or three oxceptions, displaying the simplest and inost tractable comhinations. Ht possesses a population of about thirty-five hundred, mostly concentrated to the south and east of the Humboldt river, within a longitudinal limit of thirty miles, on two mountaiu rauges running in » general way north and south, and the northern ends of which terminate within a few miles of the river. On these rnnges there is a considerable growth of stunted cedar and nut pine, sullicieut, on the eastern rauge, to last Tor steam purposes for ten or fifteen years. Star creek and Buena Vista creek furnish water power, and the Humboldt canal, sixtysix miles in its projected length, of an average width of fitteen feet, and from two to four feet deep, ot which more than ten miles are already completed, and which will he finished this year, will supply 45 quartz and grist mills with the means of crashing rock aud grinding grain. The mountaiu cations, the hanks of the river, and the verdurous soil in Pueblo District, now produce the finest of vegetables, and will soon yield a large part of the cereals required fur consumption in Ifumboldt. ond nt Reese River, while the sides of the hills are covered with the uiust nutritious grasses. The taxable property of the county wns assessed last year ut more thon hnlf a million of dollars, und it will be remembered that the asses-ment was necessarily imperfect, nnd that nothing but “improvements” are liable to taxntion, In the west rngo there are threo towns—Unionville, Star City nnd Mumboldt City—having an aggregate population of abont one thousand, and in the cast range, on one of the easiest of mountain pusses, is the town of Dunglen, tho result of n few mouths’ development, and contaming nbout 200 inhabitants. Buildings ure largo and substantial; stores fited to the roufs; there are sehool-liouses and places ctepenie worship, nnd society is ns regularly orgunized as in tho mining towns of California. There are two smull iills in the west range and one in the east mnge; and from Fall's mill, in Unionville, especially, many hars of silver, representing many wines in the various surrounding districts in both ranges, have been received here during the last tew months—the yield uf ore—mostly from near the surfuce—varying from $125 to $400 to the ton. Work is going on now hriskly and systeniatically in every direction. This is n brief general statement of what Ilumholdt is, nscertained hy personal residence and investigation. But that region can show something more then mere surface developments. ‘Ihe lode recently uncovered in the tunnel of the ‘Tullulah Mining Coinpany, three hundred Icet from its mouth. und two hundred from the surfnce of the ground. is probably the best defined, the deepest, and the richest vein of mineral ever discovered iu any of the outly ing districts in Nevada Territory, and estahlishes beyond question the permanence nnd the value of the mines in Sierra district. The Neptune Hill, ahout two Imiles from Dunglen, on which the claim of that company is situatod, is covered with rich croppings and float rock, traceable for a long distance through the extensions, and the fact may now be regarded as settled that, in its depths, are enormous hundred dollars to the ton. Wehave spoken thus of the Tallulah heeause it is a representative mine, hut Sierra district is full of miues, and possesses rare facilities for working them. The Auld Lang Syne, the Gem of the Sierra and its Oro Fino neighbor, the Natchez, the Great Western, the Humboldt, the Eclipse, the Independerce, owned by the Great Basin Mining Company, the Maremmne, the Champion, the Mouroe, the Vnlley, the Badger, the Atlantic, the

Plntin, and numerous other ledges, are each worthy of a miuute description, but our space is limited nnd we must content ourselves with this general reference. Wood, worth in Virginia sixteen dollars per cord, is delivered at the Auld Lang Syne Mill at six dollars and a half per cord, nnd no ores in Sierra will have to he transported more than from eight to ten miles for reduction—generally too on n descendinggrade. The Tallululi claim is within tree or four miles, at the tarthest, of the Lfumboldt canal. The Sheba mine, uear Star City, contains antimony, hismuth and zine in considerahle quantities, and, in this respect, isa singulur exception among the Humboldt mines—hut, as some one has well said, it is ‘rich beyond the dreams of avarice.” Systematically opened aud admirably managed, displaying a great breadth of mineral, andin the best possible condition for extensive operations, nothing hut the perversity ol unscupulous speculators can prevent it from being ranked with the most lavored mines at Virginia. Speaking of this range, we may ohserve that atunnel, eight feet square is heing run from Humboldt City through Star Mountain, a distance of more than two miles, whichis expected to tap forty-seven ledges, sone of them at 4 depth of over two thousand leet. In Buena Vista district, the Manitowoc, the Logan, the Anderson, the Mouitor, and nomerous other veins, deserve attention, and we could wish to describe minutely, the Moonlight in Iudian district, the Great Republic in Cinnabar district, the D. C. Broderick, Chloride, Medora, Scottish Chief, Rattlesnake and St. Mary’s in Echo district, the Cuba in Humboldt district, nnd the Little Giant and Magna Charta in Santa Clara District, but time and space will not Humboldt. We hope suffieient has been said to show that, as a field for enterprise and labor, that region is not inferior to any county enst or west of the Sierra Nevada. The preparations which nre in progress to establish additional stage lines, and to secnre telegraphic communication with Calilornia indicate, nt all events, that those who have the hest opportunity of judging corréctly, anticipate a large immigration to Humboldt this Spring. Sypraon. Anvertiseuents for the Press should be handed in during the first of the week. masses of mineral which will yield more than two, permit, and we must trust to future opportunities, . and to the intelligent co-operation of the people of . {For the Mining and Sclontific Press.) Importance to the California Miner of a Knowledge of Mineralogy. Upon nn inquiry into the infiuite variety of ohjects surrounding us in the natural world, it would appeur that three assemblages nre to he discriminated. These divisions comprise the nnimml kingdom nnd the vegetnble kingdoms, characterized hy organic structure and the wonderous phenomena of life. The inorgnnie or mineral kingdom in which we cannot detect any traces of organic structure, but which, nevertheless, forins the greuter proportion of our planet—this assemblage of ohjects has been generally understood to form the province of Mineralogy. Mineralogy has for its ohjects the considerntion of the natural inorganic material of our globe, fluid and solid—the physicnl phenomena which they present, their chemical constitution, their modes of occurrence, the methods hy which they are distinguishnhle from each other, their classification, and the uses to which they may he made suhservient, The character of minerals is dependent partly on their form, partly on their chemical, and partly on their physicnl properties. It is importaut to insist on the definition and objects of mineralogy; as many scientific men assert that it isa mere depnrtment ol chemistry, hesides it is frequently confounded with geology or metallurgy. A miner may he a good chemist but it would not niake amends for an ignornnce of mineralogy. If he were obliged to make an analysis each time he required to know the natore of a suhstance, it would occupy most of his time in Inhors often repeated, nud in many cases fruitless. If after annlyzing the same substance twice he is ahle to recognize it hy some less lahorious task, we say thnt he has acquired a mineralogical knowledge of thnt suhstance. So that the methods of mineralogy are those which n man must employ, if in relation to the natural inorganic hodies he wishes to reap the advantages offered him by previous investigations. Who, for instance, would not prefer to determine the nature of a brilliant gem by the method ol mineralogy, instend of submitting it to the chemist, who, with suudry acids, would destroy its substance ere he could pronounce upon its character. When visiting the cclehrated Diamond washings, nt Abaite, Brazil, the writer was shown tho fragments of what had heen a diamond of great value, but which the finder, in a rude attempt to prove Its hardness, had struck with a hammer, and broken into uumberless small pieces; his want of mineralogical knowledge lost hin an immense fortune. The grand interest attached to our studies of the products of the earth is to be found in the fact. that the miueral properties of difierent lands, in conjunction with geographical features, have determined the distribution, the physical and social character, and” the well heing of the variousraces of mnn. Whether we examine the vestiges left hy the people of antiquity, or study the modifications produced in hrauches of the snme rnce, located in regions of different aspect, or inquire into the origin of the chief seats of modern civilization, we shali be assured that most of these phenomena are dependeut immediately, or throagh the medium of vegetation, on mineral produce, and the particular conditions under whieh it can he made nvailable to human convenience. * Strangers ror tum Hast—The steamship America, of the Opposition Line, nud the St. Louis, of the P. M.S. S. Company will lenve for Panama on the 3d of February next, and the competition hetween the lines promises to be lively in the meantime. The prices of the tickets hy the America nre as follows: First cahin, upper deck, after snloon, state rooms, $175: do. do., forward saloon, $135; second cahin state rooms, $100; do. do., open herths, $80; steerage, $50. By the St. Louis: First cahin, outside staterooms, $162.50; do. inside staterooms, $136; second cabin, $80; Steerage, $54.