July 29, 1932 (4 pages)

~weah and Kern. , quin valleys. ' Neva : The Nugget’ ls: California’é Leading Mining Weeldy da City VOL. VI, NO. 38 The GOLD Center NEVADA CITY, CALIFORNIA The County Seat Paper FRIDAY, JULY 29, 193; SIERRA WAY PLAN CONTEM PL ATES SCENIC HIGHWAY The plan for the Sierra-Way, che mile scenic highway in the nigel Nevada mountains, moved a oe nearer realization recently with . inclusion of its routing in the pat i to-park highway project by federa 4 officials. ae : ener a year ago the Nugget carried an article stating it would be a gg eee Harry L. Englebright was instrumental in the putting over” of this immense project on the occasion of the visit of the ne eressional committee to California last fall. He pointed out the wonderful possibilities of this road and one of the strongest points in its favor was that the largest part Was already under either state or federal control. National parks along the route inelude-.Mount Lassen, Tahoe, X05 semite, General Grant and Sequoia. The noted peaks are Mt. Shasta, Mt. Lassen and Mt. Whitney. Famous lakes include Almanor, Tahoe, Don ner, Bass, Shaver and Huntington, reached by a side road. The route erosses such streams as the Feather river, North, Middle and South Yuba rivers, Truckeet, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, San Joaquin, Kings, WaState parks include the McArthur Memorial and Calaveras Big Tree grove. : The road will touch or make easily accessible most of the outstanding scenic features of the Sierra. Leaving U.S. Highway. 99, known also as the Golden State Highway, at the base of Mt. Shasta, snow-clad sentinel of Northern California, the project will pass through a region of virgin timber. It will wind through forest country to the shore. of Lake Britten and cross the Pit river on a huge concrete dam. Burney Falls in the McArthur Stata Park is nearby. The route then enters an area devastated by molten lava that flowed from Lassen during a comparatively recent.eruption of the volcano. Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park is then crossed by a road partly circling the base of the now inactive volcano and rising to an elevation of 8,000 feet. Lake Almanor is the next scenic feature as the route goes southward through Feather river country. The newly completed road between Sierra City and Downieville will be a link of the road erossing ‘the North, Middle and South Yuba rivers. In the Nevada county section it traverses the district of old mining towns and the country made famous by Bret Harte and Mark Twain in their writings. It passes the beautiful Donner Lake, with its interesting, though tragic, history and along the ‘Truckee ‘river to the picturesque deep blue Lake Tahoe. After paralleling the lake for 25 miles the road goes through the fertile andt productive Carson Valley with its memories of the Comstock Lode at nearby Virginia City, Nev. — 10,000 “feet, the SierraWay enters Yosemite valley, ascends ___theWawona-grade.and proceeds past Bass Lake, Kerckhoff Lake, Auperry and Dinkey to the Kings river above Balch Camp. From this point aun expensive link ultimately will con nect with General Grant Park and the new Kings River canyon highway now under construction. The reute continues on through Grant and Seq a parks and possibly via Hockett Meadows {© Balch Camp, Nelson and Isabella. The national parks service is definitely committed to the park-topark highways, the state highway commission is expending millions of dollars in the Kings River canyon and elsewhere and various counties are providing road links out of which the Sierra-Way will materialize in the not distant fu'ture. The Sierra-Way can be traveled gar most of the distance now and fagks ouly a few vital links from being complete. This project which will give California a. scenic mountain highway that will take its place in history as one of the worild’’s most famous motorways is located almost entirely within the national forests of California near the crest of the SierraNevada mountains, the last and most formidable barrier encountered by the nation’s hardy pioneers in their -westerly trek in quest of gold and adventure. The spirit of Kit Carson, John C. Fremont, the Donner party and picturesque, miners and immigrants pervades the atmosphere and depicts a good part of the romantic and colorful history of the state. -The road will be more than 800 miles long, extending the entire length of the Sierra-Nevadas. Practically the entire route may be traveled now by automobile. Some de-: tours are necessary. Although nearly all the route is included in approveu major road systems, about 35 per cent of it has not yet been improvey beyond the stage of low standard roads required for administering and protecting the Sh od pag a About 50 per cent of the route. has been constructed to current major highway standards, and the remaining 15 per cent is being constructed with national forest road money, and with state, county and national parks service funds. ‘ In going over this road during the summer the traveler will escape the heat of the Sacramento and San JoaBullion Group of Mines May Reopen Soon The Bullion group of mines and claims a mile south of Grass Valley and consolidated territory held under option to the extent of some 2,000 acres is expected to see active development within a few weeks. Plans for reopening the Bullion shaft have been underway for several months by the Bullion Consolidated, Ine., a Nevada corporation. The Bullion shaft, closed for many years, is located directly on the Auburn highway and should the property come into large operations it is expected to become of much sight-seeing interest to travelers, YUBA RIVER COUNTRY Yuba River Canyon The old 49’er town of Washington occupies one of the most picturesque spots in the Yuba River canyon country. East. of. Grass ValleyNevada City on the Tahoe-Ukiah highway, already famous for its long . _ straight sweeps through walls of tremendous pines, is Washington Junetion. A country road leads from there past the U. S.-Forest Service ranger station down the canyon sides into the town of Washington. At its entrance are’ great piles of immense granite boulders thatwere bellied up by the Chinese miners of long ago, who moved them from the and piled them many feet high. If the energy that jwas required to move and lift these heavy boulders could have been translated into horsepower and sold by a power company a revenue might have been obtained equal to the gold that was re. covered. There are still many evidences of the early Chinese miners, such as a gate covered with Chinese characters that leads to the homes they formerly occupied. Across the river on the county bridge a road leads up stream past hundreds of picnic and camp spots, where there are many swimming holes amidst surroundings of the water canyon walls and helps to fill the stream with its crystal clear, bluish green water. bumpy and to be traveled slowly its scenic value makes it well worth the trip. It stops at the Eagle Bird mine where the canyon seems suddenly to end in a sky reaching sheer cliff across the face of which water from a thousand springs glistens in the sunlight. Another road from the Washington bridge leads up to Graniteville. As it winds out of the deep canyon, it affords many breath-taking views of the river far below and the Sierra Peaks beyond. And waen the top of the ridge is reached it passes between the massive trunks of ageold pines that have withstood the lightning and the storms for centuries. This beautiful forest road then joins the Bowman Lake road. Near the bridge a branch road turns off to the Spanish mine which is about three miles above Washington. In 1850, Patrick Dillon came from New York and in °54 he was —eesins Brave] On Poorman’s creek, which was so named bécatise a miner who could not make high wages from the’ stream was a very “poor man.”’ In _’96. Dillon located. the present Spanish mine on the day that Bryan was. first nominated. Ags a result he called it the Sixteen-to-One. Later he -sold out to Egan, Chas. Blist, and Hale Brothers of Sacramento, who changed it to the Spanish Ledge. They, however, lost the mine which was located again by Mike Crowley, who about 1927 sold it to Fred w. Bradley for $250. When Bradley left collezge—a quarter ofa century ago—he worked at the Eagle Bird, a Year or two later the old Spanish mine, locoted Just above the present Spanish mine, iciled to pay its emPloyes and Bradley ie!4 the court he would take it over and pay off the back wages oué of the profits. His efficiency was so great that his statements submitted to the court, Which are still on record in the reports issued at that time by the state mining bureau, show his min‘ng and milling cost to have been but 41‘couts a ton. It was then that one of the world’s greatest mining operators, John Hayes ie ~™mand, dropped into Washington to examIneé some mines in the district. When he heard the report that a young engineer by the name of Bradley was mining and milling ore for 41 cents a ton he smiled. But the reports were so persistent he decided to look into the matter. When he saw the actual record he at once hired Bradley and made him superintendent of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan. mine in Idaho. Mr. Bradley igs today the managing director. and a heavy Owner in the Bunker Hill and Sullivan, the Alaska-Juneau a ; . é and man other mines, and is one of nad world’s greatest mining operators The present Spanish ed by his son, Jim nd here is erected an experimenta. plant in which a humber of different metals are being recovered by the increasingly po ular’ i method. : i ee eetoe and engineers, & DEADWOOD MINES IN SISKIYOU ARE OPERATING _ The Deadwood minin r in Siskiyou county are masta ee selves one of the best in the county at the present time. A large shipment made last week brought $19.07 per ounce. New openings are being made,“and the mill ig averaging 50 tons daily on ore running about $15. H. C. Baker is principal owner. “soon as conditions warrant a mill comes tumbling: out of the)! Although this road igs. ‘MINING PROPERTY IS TO BE DEVELOPED One of the largest deals to take place in the Sierra City district for some time was the transfer by bond and lease of the Big Avalanche group of quartz mines, comprising 21 claims; the Roman group of 28 claims, and the Northern Bell and Lucky Boy. G. W. Layton of Oakland is the operator, Who plans to install a new type test stamp mill capable of handling from 15 to 20 tons of ore a day. The stamps drop with great rapidity, having a speed ranging from 150 to 240 times a minute. Work of cleaning out the tunnels, building a bridge across the river, constructing roads, installing a compressor, jack hammers and other machinery and blocking out ore is progressing. satisfactorily, according to Mr, Layton. A crew of ten men is employed on the property. DIADEM MINE TO START ‘TAKING OUT ORE SOON Superintendent Whitman Symmes has three men at work at the Diadem mine at Forest cleaning out the incline shaft preparatory to developing that property and placing it on production. Sixty feet of the 80-foot shaft connecting with the drain tunnel has been cleaned out and when the bottom. is reached, mining operations on the three-foot ledge ‘will begin. The ledge contains good ore and as for the’ reduction: of ore will be erected, Mr. Symmes stated. GOLD BASIN MINE . S BETTER WITH DEPTH By Jo P. Carroll Work at the new Prospectshaft on the Gold Basin properties, adjoining the Black Hawk mine, of the Randsburg Gold Company continues to show improved values as additional depth is made. The properties are in the Rand district. Albert A. Turner and Raymond 9% Kidder, consulting engineers, retained by the company to take charge following their report on the prop erties, are giving their personal sus pervision to the development, .and are maintaining headquariers at Randsburg. . STS ean At 28 feet the vein, some five fee in width, took a dip of 57 degrees wtih a sharply defined footwall but with no appreciable change in width. Beginning at the 40 foot depth, a distinct alteration has taken effect in wall rocks adjacent to the vein proper. The alteration is of a tal~ cose consistency and carries values in gold. ‘The mineralized streak which has been followed. on the footwall side of the vein from the surface now has a width of approximately 20 inches at 50 feet. Mineralized values are found the full width of the shaft. Indications are such that it seems highly probable a drift to the east will be started from 66 fcot depth on the incline to contact a second lead striking north and south 50 feet east of the new shaft. TAHOE-UKIAH HIGHWAY. CONTRACT AWARDED The State Department of Public Works opened bids Wednesday for highway work in Nevada county. A, Tiechert & Son of Sacrament, was low bidder with an offer of $30,978 for eg . with untreated crushed gravel and bituminus, covering 11.7 miles of the Tahoe-Ukiah highway between Neyada City.and Washington Junction . The work will be completed on one sfde of thé foadway at one time and when finished the other side will be treated. Camotenville Gravel Property Is Leased Mrs. A-.Martignone has leased part of her property adjacent to Willow Creek to William Burns and associates. The property is said to coni in considerable gravel. Three Counties Combine in Southern California Fair An invitation has been received by the board of supervisors of Nevada county from J. M. Paige, superintendent of the agricultural department to enter an exhibit in the eleventh annual Los Angeles County fair at Pomona, September 16-25. The exposition wiil be presented for the first time this year as a great tricounties event following the action of Riverside and Orange counties in joining with Los Angeles °eounty—in the presentation of a gigantic harvest festival worthy of the Olympic year in California. With the Olympiad it will be one or the two major events for the latter part of 1922 in the southland, and will be the only large fair south of San Francisco this year. Editor Visits City— E, L. Platz, eity editor of the Northern Idaho News, Sandpoint Idaho, visited Nevada City Wednesday and spent some time visitine at the Nugget office. He stated that he had made the trip to Nevada City to see for himself the country and city of which Bret Harte wrote. _horthern geographical ‘an old. town, made famous by. Bret . the Mother Lode renowned the world PRESERVE GHOST TOWN 10 FUTURE GENERATIONS Historical ‘societies of Superior California and other. organizations or persons interested in preserving a ‘““ehost town’’ of the gold mining davs of ’49 by having the state include such a town in the state park system, have very little time left. State Director of Natural Resources Dan H. Blood states that only $117,832 of the $6,126,412 the state had in its park fund remains unallocated. The remaining $6,008,579 has already been committed-to-or spent on projects in different parts of the state., Of ‘the $117,832 unaliocated, only $30,735 can be used for the acquisition of state park property in the nalf of the state. To date the state bas actually spent $4,470,447 for state parks, matching private donations totaling an equal amount. In addition, approximately one and one-half million dollars have been promised for certain sites. There is a possibility that some of the proposed park sites may not be taken into the park system ,due to inability of their backers to obtain private donations equai to the money that would be put up by the state. If this, happens the money so set aside will be available for. reallocation. The purchase of the “ghost’” min~ ing town of Columbia, Tuolumne county, cited as one of the best preserved of the old camps, was strongly recommended in an official survey of possible sites for the park ‘system. No money has been set aside by the state park commission for the purchase of such a monument to California pioneers as yet, however, because no private funds to match state funds for such a site have been proffered. Blood said the state park system, one of the most diversified in the world, is worth at least $12,000,000 as it now stands. .When the present fund is used up, the state parks will have a combined value of about $15,000,000. Very little has been said about the preserving of a “ghost. town,’’ but it seems that some effort should be made in this district to preserve Harte or Mark Twain as these famous men have made this section of over. It is through the efforts of our local Native Sons and Native Daughters that many old landmarks are preserved and markers designate other spots of historical interest. Among them are the Wells Fargo building at Timbuctoo near Smartsville, the Lone Grave above Nevada, the Donner Monument at Donner Lake and the quartz marker at Grass Valley which designates the first discovery of gold found in quartz rock, HUGHES PROPERTY 70 BE PUT INTO OPERATION One of the recent mine deals tc take place in Downieville is the bond and lease obtained on the Hughes property by J. J. Gude and associates of Los Angeles, Included in the deal are four claims belonging to J. R. and H. J. Stark of DownieVille, making ‘eight claims altogether. Work of cleaning out the tunnels, retimbering and laying track ig under way with a crew of four men. As soon as this ig completed, development work on the property will] begin. ee SINC _~ WOMAN MINER GETS SILVER IN PAN INSTEAD OF GOLD While panning on the East Fork several miles above Downieville recently Mrs. D. C. Matison found a silver dine instead of a nugget. The coin, which is quite worn, bears the date 1816, This stream was worked quite thoroughly in earlier times, first by the white miners and later by the horse of Chinese. Downieville is said to have had a Chinese‘ population of 1500 at onetime, -The-otd coin may-r have belonged to Oriental, or by a ’49er. At any rate, Mrs. Mathison is the first miner, male or female, who ever panned silver from a Stream in this state, and she ig very proud of her feat. > some hoarding it may have been lost SS PARAGON MINE SOLD Rumor has it that the Paragou mine at Bath -has been sold by J. F. Thompson to a New York company, neaied by Rocket ller and Westing10use people. Tha&price is Said to be HB SR rp Herald, ONE WAY TO MINE Mrs. Chalie Yue has the best system when it comes to mining. She :alses ducks and lets them run in t ravine near her. home. When she viils one for supper she gene: ‘nds enough gold to pay for all the supper trimmings. She killed one recently that had never been in the ~avine but had spent its life locked ‘p in the yard. In its gizzard she found a lot of black sand and a retty little nugget of pure gold. Last year one duck produced a@ nug. Miss Alice Murchie Is Building New Home Miss Alice Murchie, who has been employed by the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Cothpany here for several years, is having a new home built on her property: on Broad street. The house will consist of five rooms and will be of frame construction with several innovations in construction. The materials, were furnished -by the Nevada County Lumber Company. Fred Tredinnick & Stephens ure the contractors. E. Schrieber has recently has his cafe re-roofed with composition shingles. Leroy Moulton and Lee Day did the work. Mr. and Mrs. Baptiste Toccalini are erecting a neat two-car. garage on their property on Prospect Hill. To the back of the building and over looking the town, there is to be a large room which is to be occupied as living quarters. MINING INTEREST TO BE REVIVED AT STATE FAIR Discovery of gold depohits—nearLake Tahoe and the revival of gold mining all over the state have proved an incentive to mining men of California to plan exhibits for the 78th annual state fair in Sacramentu, September 3-10. The Golden State’s output of gold has been vast in the period since its discovery in 1848; yet many persons fail to realize that mining of the yellow metal has taken on an added lease of life since other nations have gone off the gold standard, thus creating a greated demand for the precious mineral . The state fair offers this year total cash awards of $1,227 for the best displays in the mineral and mining department. Extent of the state’s varied. mineral production is indicated in the awards offered for placer vnd lode gold, copper, lead, silver, iron, quicksilver, tungsten and other metallic ores. Cut and uncut precious stones will be shown as will displays of borax ores and common and rock salt. Few persons realize the extent of the common salt industry in California where the table product is evaporated from ocean water, principally in the Monterey district. There will be extensive displays, also; of petroleum and _ petroleum products and asphalt as well as cement, slate, limestone, marble, granite, dressed stone, onyx marble; clay and clay products. 4-FOOT VEIN STRUCK NEAR HIGHGRADE Perseverance of William D. Broaddus, who for 20 years has persistently continued development of what is known as the “Klondike” mining claims in the Highgrade district, north of Ft. Bidwell, may at last have borne fruit. Broaddus recently has bared a 4foot vein at. the end of Klondike claim No. 1 which cross-face assays have shown bears gold to the value of $34 per ton. He is now at work on the vein and has reason to believe it extends no, méan.distance. across. his property. Pe Over the hill from the Kiondike the Big Four property is being put into sharps by William Nance who expects a number Of capitalists soon to inspect the workings. ; Activity at Willow nanch continues at the recent strike there but no announcemeénts of any new developments is forthcoming. At Hayden Hill miners are still at work developing the property controlled by A. K. Wylie. : MINING NOTES FROM PLACER COUNTY It is learned on authoritatiive information that the Phelps mine near Colfax has changed hands and will soon be operating. _ The Black Oak mine near New England Mills is now producing. The tunnel has been retimbered and the mill is operating. Rumor. has it that Harry Werner, who operates a mine on the Pike Bell road, is erecting a mill which will be used in milling the ore taken from his property,in that section. 4ACK COLLINS UNCOVERS ~ Gap COIN OF BEART: DATE Jack E. Coliins, world war veveran, who is living at the camp ground, while prospecting, one day this week near town came upon the remains of an old fireplace, remnant of an‘early-day cabin. He tried a pan of dirt out of the fireplace and was surprised to wash out a California gold dollar, minted in San Francisco in 1852. Furth operations failed to produce aw : thing else of value.—tTrinity Journal : First Fire of Season— The first fire of serious consequences this season in the Tahoe National forest occurred Monday. It was between Carson City and Glenbrook over the Nevada state line: Men Ffrom Nevada were called out on the fire and later reinforcements were sent out from Truckee and Nevada City. It burned over about 400 acres of timber before being brought under control. Owing to the heavy rainfall of last winter there has: been very few fires anywhere in this sec‘tion up to the present time. Last set large enough for a stickpin. year thousands of acres of land were burned over. : yAand_ winding with steep grades, NEVADACOUNTY LEADS STATE IN GOLD FIGURES Nevada county led the state of California in 1931 in the value of ther output of precious metal. With 63 mines in operation Ne= vada county produced 159,870.40 fine ounces of gold. Silver, copper — and zinc also were produced. The total value of these metals was $3,374,940. Because of her dredger operations Sacramento county usually leads the state in. gold production. The revival of lode and placer mining in Nevada county, however, has placed.this area far in the lead. Many of Nevada county’s “old standbys” are continuing ia rich production and in addition to several new smaller mines, several of the older mines that had ~ been inactive are again producing. Some of the latter are in rich ere. Sacramento county in second place’ had 20 mines operating and pro— duced 90,519.04 fine ouneesof gold and 3,641 fine ounces of silves with 1 total value of $1,872,251. Amador county, with the deep Mother Lode mines, was in third place during 1931. Amador had 35 mines in operation. Metals produced were worth $1,553,856. Plumas county was close behind. With 36 mines producing, contributing $1,535,222 to:the-nation’s new wealth. : Other counties’ production is as follows: ; WUE oo ~-$992,946 SIOVTa ice ese Shasta Trinity Butte 2: Calaveras El Dorado Tuolumne Siskiyou Placer Modoc YOUNG AMERICA MINE ~ BEGINS OPERATIONE According to Whitman Symnies, San Francisco mining man, who has obtained an option on the Youngs America property in the Sierra City district, that mine may again take its place among the producers of Sierra county. “s This was once a very rich property which made its owners wealthy, but which has not been operated during recent years except for some explora— .tion work in search of the ledge. that was lost during former opermtions. Mr. Symmes believes he can pick. up the lost ledge again and with this expectation has obtained an option on ‘the property. MINING JUBILEE IS PLANNED AT PORTOLA A mining jubilee is planned for August 14 at Johnsville by the si Plumas county chapter of the Calia fornia .Mining Association. Invita. tions have been extended to Govere nor Rolph, Congressman Engle bright and Errch MacBoyle,. presi” A dent of the htate associa tend the festivities, : A talniature tenzslanp iti, aos is being assembled by Ned Bites for the occasion and Steve Pezzoia is working on an arrastra—one of those primitive but marvelous stone Wills which once lined the streams of the. Mother Lode country—_ta haveit on display also, Alleghany Roads Are Sh ee In Fair Condition The following news item will be welcome to the many hunters and fishermen who enjoy getting back. where there is a chance of securing” their limits of deer or fish. The road from North San Juan to Alleghany is in. fair condition, the Toadbed not being cut deep and is fairly smooth though quite dusty. . From Alleghany to Forest and Good— years Bar the road is rough in Places and slightly dusty though a good mountain road. The road from Nevada City to ANeghany by way o. North Columbia is fair, but narrow: REWS ADDED “According to SS'iposiesemmei ten engine crew during the p ern Pacig eigh+ uings are sear “BLUE DOCTORS” TO GIVE. DANCES. AT LA MAR MBS Sits) The “Blue Doctors,” well dance orchestray will open a § of dances at La Mar Meadows, miles south of Grass Valley on Auburn highway. series open Sunday afternoon and . will be enjoyed until late. * lar plan of five-cent dances in vogue and admission to vilion will be free.Pe ROS ee ei

~weah and Kern. , quin valleys. ' Neva : The Nugget’ ls: California’é Leading Mining Weeldy da City VOL. VI, NO. 38 The GOLD Center NEVADA CITY, CALIFORNIA The County Seat Paper FRIDAY, JULY 29, 193; SIERRA WAY PLAN CONTEM PL ATES SCENIC HIGHWAY The plan for the Sierra-Way, che mile scenic highway in the nigel Nevada mountains, moved a oe nearer realization recently with . inclusion of its routing in the pat i to-park highway project by federa 4 officials. ae : ener a year ago the Nugget carried an article stating it would be a gg eee Harry L. Englebright was instrumental in the putting over” of this immense project on the occasion of the visit of the ne eressional committee to California last fall. He pointed out the wonderful possibilities of this road and one of the strongest points in its favor was that the largest part Was already under either state or federal control. National parks along the route inelude-.Mount Lassen, Tahoe, X05 semite, General Grant and Sequoia. The noted peaks are Mt. Shasta, Mt. Lassen and Mt. Whitney. Famous lakes include Almanor, Tahoe, Don ner, Bass, Shaver and Huntington, reached by a side road. The route erosses such streams as the Feather river, North, Middle and South Yuba rivers, Truckeet, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, San Joaquin, Kings, WaState parks include the McArthur Memorial and Calaveras Big Tree grove. : The road will touch or make easily accessible most of the outstanding scenic features of the Sierra. Leaving U.S. Highway. 99, known also as the Golden State Highway, at the base of Mt. Shasta, snow-clad sentinel of Northern California, the project will pass through a region of virgin timber. It will wind through forest country to the shore. of Lake Britten and cross the Pit river on a huge concrete dam. Burney Falls in the McArthur Stata Park is nearby. The route then enters an area devastated by molten lava that flowed from Lassen during a comparatively recent.eruption of the volcano. Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park is then crossed by a road partly circling the base of the now inactive volcano and rising to an elevation of 8,000 feet. Lake Almanor is the next scenic feature as the route goes southward through Feather river country. The newly completed road between Sierra City and Downieville will be a link of the road erossing ‘the North, Middle and South Yuba rivers. In the Nevada county section it traverses the district of old mining towns and the country made famous by Bret Harte and Mark Twain in their writings. It passes the beautiful Donner Lake, with its interesting, though tragic, history and along the ‘Truckee ‘river to the picturesque deep blue Lake Tahoe. After paralleling the lake for 25 miles the road goes through the fertile andt productive Carson Valley with its memories of the Comstock Lode at nearby Virginia City, Nev. — 10,000 “feet, the SierraWay enters Yosemite valley, ascends ___theWawona-grade.and proceeds past Bass Lake, Kerckhoff Lake, Auperry and Dinkey to the Kings river above Balch Camp. From this point aun expensive link ultimately will con nect with General Grant Park and the new Kings River canyon highway now under construction. The reute continues on through Grant and Seq a parks and possibly via Hockett Meadows {© Balch Camp, Nelson and Isabella. The national parks service is definitely committed to the park-topark highways, the state highway commission is expending millions of dollars in the Kings River canyon and elsewhere and various counties are providing road links out of which the Sierra-Way will materialize in the not distant fu'ture. The Sierra-Way can be traveled gar most of the distance now and fagks ouly a few vital links from being complete. This project which will give California a. scenic mountain highway that will take its place in history as one of the worild’’s most famous motorways is located almost entirely within the national forests of California near the crest of the SierraNevada mountains, the last and most formidable barrier encountered by the nation’s hardy pioneers in their -westerly trek in quest of gold and adventure. The spirit of Kit Carson, John C. Fremont, the Donner party and picturesque, miners and immigrants pervades the atmosphere and depicts a good part of the romantic and colorful history of the state. -The road will be more than 800 miles long, extending the entire length of the Sierra-Nevadas. Practically the entire route may be traveled now by automobile. Some de-: tours are necessary. Although nearly all the route is included in approveu major road systems, about 35 per cent of it has not yet been improvey beyond the stage of low standard roads required for administering and protecting the Sh od pag a About 50 per cent of the route. has been constructed to current major highway standards, and the remaining 15 per cent is being constructed with national forest road money, and with state, county and national parks service funds. ‘ In going over this road during the summer the traveler will escape the heat of the Sacramento and San JoaBullion Group of Mines May Reopen Soon The Bullion group of mines and claims a mile south of Grass Valley and consolidated territory held under option to the extent of some 2,000 acres is expected to see active development within a few weeks. Plans for reopening the Bullion shaft have been underway for several months by the Bullion Consolidated, Ine., a Nevada corporation. The Bullion shaft, closed for many years, is located directly on the Auburn highway and should the property come into large operations it is expected to become of much sight-seeing interest to travelers, YUBA RIVER COUNTRY Yuba River Canyon The old 49’er town of Washington occupies one of the most picturesque spots in the Yuba River canyon country. East. of. Grass ValleyNevada City on the Tahoe-Ukiah highway, already famous for its long . _ straight sweeps through walls of tremendous pines, is Washington Junetion. A country road leads from there past the U. S.-Forest Service ranger station down the canyon sides into the town of Washington. At its entrance are’ great piles of immense granite boulders thatwere bellied up by the Chinese miners of long ago, who moved them from the and piled them many feet high. If the energy that jwas required to move and lift these heavy boulders could have been translated into horsepower and sold by a power company a revenue might have been obtained equal to the gold that was re. covered. There are still many evidences of the early Chinese miners, such as a gate covered with Chinese characters that leads to the homes they formerly occupied. Across the river on the county bridge a road leads up stream past hundreds of picnic and camp spots, where there are many swimming holes amidst surroundings of the water canyon walls and helps to fill the stream with its crystal clear, bluish green water. bumpy and to be traveled slowly its scenic value makes it well worth the trip. It stops at the Eagle Bird mine where the canyon seems suddenly to end in a sky reaching sheer cliff across the face of which water from a thousand springs glistens in the sunlight. Another road from the Washington bridge leads up to Graniteville. As it winds out of the deep canyon, it affords many breath-taking views of the river far below and the Sierra Peaks beyond. And waen the top of the ridge is reached it passes between the massive trunks of ageold pines that have withstood the lightning and the storms for centuries. This beautiful forest road then joins the Bowman Lake road. Near the bridge a branch road turns off to the Spanish mine which is about three miles above Washington. In 1850, Patrick Dillon came from New York and in °54 he was —eesins Brave] On Poorman’s creek, which was so named bécatise a miner who could not make high wages from the’ stream was a very “poor man.”’ In _’96. Dillon located. the present Spanish mine on the day that Bryan was. first nominated. Ags a result he called it the Sixteen-to-One. Later he -sold out to Egan, Chas. Blist, and Hale Brothers of Sacramento, who changed it to the Spanish Ledge. They, however, lost the mine which was located again by Mike Crowley, who about 1927 sold it to Fred w. Bradley for $250. When Bradley left collezge—a quarter ofa century ago—he worked at the Eagle Bird, a Year or two later the old Spanish mine, locoted Just above the present Spanish mine, iciled to pay its emPloyes and Bradley ie!4 the court he would take it over and pay off the back wages oué of the profits. His efficiency was so great that his statements submitted to the court, Which are still on record in the reports issued at that time by the state mining bureau, show his min‘ng and milling cost to have been but 41‘couts a ton. It was then that one of the world’s greatest mining operators, John Hayes ie ~™mand, dropped into Washington to examIneé some mines in the district. When he heard the report that a young engineer by the name of Bradley was mining and milling ore for 41 cents a ton he smiled. But the reports were so persistent he decided to look into the matter. When he saw the actual record he at once hired Bradley and made him superintendent of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan. mine in Idaho. Mr. Bradley igs today the managing director. and a heavy Owner in the Bunker Hill and Sullivan, the Alaska-Juneau a ; . é and man other mines, and is one of nad world’s greatest mining operators The present Spanish ed by his son, Jim nd here is erected an experimenta. plant in which a humber of different metals are being recovered by the increasingly po ular’ i method. : i ee eetoe and engineers, & DEADWOOD MINES IN SISKIYOU ARE OPERATING _ The Deadwood minin r in Siskiyou county are masta ee selves one of the best in the county at the present time. A large shipment made last week brought $19.07 per ounce.. New openings are being made,“and the mill ig averaging 50 tons daily on ore running about $15. H. C. Baker is principal owner. “soon as conditions warrant a mill comes tumbling: out of the)! Although this road igs. ‘MINING PROPERTY IS TO BE DEVELOPED One of the largest deals to take place in the Sierra City district for some time was the transfer by bond and lease of the Big Avalanche group of quartz mines, comprising 21 claims; the Roman group of 28 claims, and the Northern Bell and Lucky Boy. G. W. Layton of Oakland is the operator, Who plans to install a new type test stamp mill capable of handling from 15 to 20 tons of ore a day. The stamps drop with great rapidity, having a speed ranging from 150 to 240 times a minute. Work of cleaning out the tunnels, building a bridge across the river, constructing roads, installing a compressor, jack hammers and other machinery and blocking out ore is progressing. satisfactorily, according to Mr, Layton. A crew of ten men is employed on the property. DIADEM MINE TO START ‘TAKING OUT ORE SOON Superintendent Whitman Symmes has three men at work at the Diadem mine at Forest cleaning out the incline shaft preparatory to developing that property and placing it on production. Sixty feet of the 80-foot shaft connecting with the drain tunnel has been cleaned out and when the bottom. is reached, mining operations on the three-foot ledge ‘will begin. The ledge contains good ore and as for the’ reduction: of ore will be erected, Mr. Symmes stated. GOLD BASIN MINE . S BETTER WITH DEPTH By Jo P. Carroll Work at the new Prospectshaft on the Gold Basin properties, adjoining the Black Hawk mine, of the Randsburg Gold Company continues to show improved values as additional depth is made. The properties are in the Rand district. Albert A. Turner and Raymond 9% Kidder, consulting engineers, retained by the company to take charge following their report on the prop erties, are giving their personal sus pervision to the development, .and are maintaining headquariers at Randsburg. . STS ean At 28 feet the vein, some five fee in width, took a dip of 57 degrees wtih a sharply defined footwall but with no appreciable change in width. Beginning at the 40 foot depth, a distinct alteration has taken effect in wall rocks adjacent to the vein proper. The alteration is of a tal~ cose consistency and carries values in gold. ‘The mineralized streak which has been followed. on the footwall side of the vein from the surface now has a width of approximately 20 inches at 50 feet. Mineralized values are found the full width of the shaft. Indications are such that it seems highly probable a drift to the east will be started from 66 fcot depth on the incline to contact a second lead striking north and south 50 feet east of the new shaft. TAHOE-UKIAH HIGHWAY. CONTRACT AWARDED The State Department of Public Works opened bids Wednesday for highway work in Nevada county. A, Tiechert & Son of Sacrament, was low bidder with an offer of $30,978 for eg . with untreated crushed gravel and bituminus, covering 11.7 miles of the Tahoe-Ukiah highway between Neyada City.and Washington Junction . The work will be completed on one sfde of thé foadway at one time and when finished the other side will be treated. Camotenville Gravel Property Is Leased Mrs. A-.Martignone has leased part of her property adjacent to Willow Creek to William Burns and associates. The property is said to coni in considerable gravel. Three Counties Combine in Southern California Fair An invitation has been received by the board of supervisors of Nevada county from J. M. Paige, superintendent of the agricultural department to enter an exhibit in the eleventh annual Los Angeles County fair at Pomona, September 16-25. The exposition wiil be presented for the first time this year as a great tricounties event following the action of Riverside and Orange counties in joining with Los Angeles °eounty—in the presentation of a gigantic harvest festival worthy of the Olympic year in California. With the Olympiad it will be one or the two major events for the latter part of 1922 in the southland, and will be the only large fair south of San Francisco this year. Editor Visits City— E, L. Platz, eity editor of the Northern Idaho News, Sandpoint Idaho, visited Nevada City Wednesday and spent some time visitine at the Nugget office. He stated that he had made the trip to Nevada City

to see for himself the country and city of which Bret Harte wrote. _horthern geographical ‘an old. town, made famous by. Bret . the Mother Lode renowned the world PRESERVE GHOST TOWN 10 FUTURE GENERATIONS Historical ‘societies of Superior California and other. organizations or persons interested in preserving a ‘““ehost town’’ of the gold mining davs of ’49 by having the state include such a town in the state park system, have very little time left. State Director of Natural Resources Dan H. Blood states that only $117,832 of the $6,126,412 the state had in its park fund remains unallocated. The remaining $6,008,579 has already been committed-to-or spent on projects in different parts of the state., Of ‘the $117,832 unaliocated, only $30,735 can be used for the acquisition of state park property in the nalf of the state. To date the state bas actually spent $4,470,447 for state parks, matching private donations totaling an equal amount. In addition, approximately one and one-half million dollars have been promised for certain sites. There is a possibility that some of the proposed park sites may not be taken into the park system ,due to inability of their backers to obtain private donations equai to the money that would be put up by the state. If this, happens the money so set aside will be available for. reallocation. The purchase of the “ghost’” min~ ing town of Columbia, Tuolumne county, cited as one of the best preserved of the old camps, was strongly recommended in an official survey of possible sites for the park ‘system. No money has been set aside by the state park commission for the purchase of such a monument to California pioneers as yet, however, because no private funds to match state funds for such a site have been proffered. Blood said the state park system, one of the most diversified in the world, is worth at least $12,000,000 as it now stands. .When the present fund is used up, the state parks will have a combined value of about $15,000,000. Very little has been said about the preserving of a “ghost. town,’’ but it seems that some effort should be made in this district to preserve Harte or Mark Twain as these famous men have made this section of over. It is through the efforts of our local Native Sons and Native Daughters that many old landmarks are preserved and markers designate other spots of historical interest. Among them are the Wells Fargo building at Timbuctoo near Smartsville, the Lone Grave above Nevada, the Donner Monument at Donner Lake and the quartz marker at Grass Valley which designates the first discovery of gold found in quartz rock, HUGHES PROPERTY 70 BE PUT INTO OPERATION One of the recent mine deals tc take place in Downieville is the bond and lease obtained on the Hughes property by J. J. Gude and associates of Los Angeles, Included in the deal are four claims belonging to J. R. and H. J. Stark of DownieVille, making ‘eight claims altogether. Work of cleaning out the tunnels, retimbering and laying track ig under way with a crew of four men. As soon as this ig completed, development work on the property will] begin. ee SINC _~ WOMAN MINER GETS SILVER IN PAN INSTEAD OF GOLD While panning on the East Fork several miles above Downieville recently Mrs. D. C. Matison found a silver dine instead of a nugget. The coin, which is quite worn, bears the date 1816, This stream was worked quite thoroughly in earlier times, first by the white miners and later by the horse of Chinese. Downieville is said to have had a Chinese‘ population of 1500 at onetime, -The-otd coin may-r have belonged to Oriental, or by a ’49er. At any rate, Mrs. Mathison is the first miner, male or female, who ever panned silver from a Stream in this state, and she ig very proud of her feat. > some hoarding it may have been lost SS PARAGON MINE SOLD Rumor has it that the Paragou mine at Bath -has been sold by J. F. Thompson to a New York company, neaied by Rocket ller and Westing10use people. Tha&price is Said to be HB SR rp Herald, ONE WAY TO MINE Mrs. Chalie Yue has the best system when it comes to mining. She :alses ducks and lets them run in t ravine near her. home. When she viils one for supper she gene: ‘nds enough gold to pay for all the supper trimmings. She killed one recently that had never been in the ~avine but had spent its life locked ‘p in the yard. In its gizzard she found a lot of black sand and a retty little nugget of pure gold. Last year one duck produced a@ nug. Miss Alice Murchie Is Building New Home Miss Alice Murchie, who has been employed by the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Cothpany here for several years, is having a new home built on her property: on Broad street. The house will consist of five rooms and will be of frame construction with several innovations in construction. The materials, were furnished -by the Nevada County Lumber Company. Fred Tredinnick & Stephens ure the contractors. E. Schrieber has recently has his cafe re-roofed with composition shingles. Leroy Moulton and Lee Day did the work. Mr. and Mrs. Baptiste Toccalini are erecting a neat two-car. garage on their property on Prospect Hill. To the back of the building and over looking the town, there is to be a large room which is to be occupied as living quarters. MINING INTEREST TO BE REVIVED AT STATE FAIR Discovery of gold depohits—nearLake Tahoe and the revival of gold mining all over the state have proved an incentive to mining men of California to plan exhibits for the 78th annual state fair in Sacramentu, September 3-10. The Golden State’s output of gold has been vast in the period since its discovery in 1848; yet many persons fail to realize that mining of the yellow metal has taken on an added lease of life since other nations have gone off the gold standard, thus creating a greated demand for the precious mineral . The state fair offers this year total cash awards of $1,227 for the best displays in the mineral and mining department. Extent of the state’s varied. mineral production is indicated in the awards offered for placer vnd lode gold, copper, lead, silver, iron, quicksilver, tungsten and other metallic ores. Cut and uncut precious stones will be shown as will displays of borax ores and common and rock salt. Few persons realize the extent of the common salt industry in California where the table product is evaporated from ocean water, principally in the Monterey district. There will be extensive displays, also; of petroleum and _ petroleum products and asphalt as well as cement, slate, limestone, marble, granite, dressed stone, onyx marble; clay and clay products. 4-FOOT VEIN STRUCK NEAR HIGHGRADE Perseverance of William D. Broaddus, who for 20 years has persistently continued development of what is known as the “Klondike” mining claims in the Highgrade district, north of Ft. Bidwell, may at last have borne fruit. Broaddus recently has bared a 4foot vein at. the end of Klondike claim No. 1 which cross-face assays have shown bears gold to the value of $34 per ton. He is now at work on the vein and has reason to believe it extends no, méan.distance. across. his property. Pe Over the hill from the Kiondike the Big Four property is being put into sharps by William Nance who expects a number Of capitalists soon to inspect the workings. ; Activity at Willow nanch continues at the recent strike there but no announcemeénts of any new developments is forthcoming. At Hayden Hill miners are still at work developing the property controlled by A. K. Wylie. : MINING NOTES FROM PLACER COUNTY It is learned on authoritatiive information that the Phelps mine near Colfax has changed hands and will soon be operating. _ The Black Oak mine near New England Mills is now producing. The tunnel has been retimbered and the mill is operating. Rumor. has it that Harry Werner, who operates a mine on the Pike Bell road, is erecting a mill which will be used in milling the ore taken from his property,in that section. 4ACK COLLINS UNCOVERS ~ Gap COIN OF BEART: DATE Jack E. Coliins, world war veveran, who is living at the camp ground, while prospecting, one day this week near town came upon the remains of an old fireplace, remnant of an‘early-day cabin. He tried a pan of dirt out of the fireplace and was surprised to wash out a California gold dollar, minted in San Francisco in 1852. Furth operations failed to produce aw : thing else of value.—tTrinity Journal : First Fire of Season— The first fire of serious consequences this season in the Tahoe National forest occurred Monday. It was between Carson City and Glenbrook over the Nevada state line: Men Ffrom Nevada were called out on the fire and later reinforcements were sent out from Truckee and Nevada City. It burned over about 400 acres of timber before being brought under control. Owing to the heavy rainfall of last winter there has: been very few fires anywhere in this sec‘tion up to the present time. Last set large enough for a stickpin. year thousands of acres of land were burned over. : yAand_ winding with steep grades, NEVADACOUNTY LEADS STATE IN GOLD FIGURES Nevada county led the state of California in 1931 in the value of ther output of precious metal. With 63 mines in operation Ne= vada county produced 159,870.40 fine ounces of gold. Silver, copper — and zinc also were produced. The total value of these metals was $3,374,940. Because of her dredger operations Sacramento county usually leads the state in. gold production. The revival of lode and placer mining in Nevada county, however, has placed.this area far in the lead. Many of Nevada county’s “old standbys” are continuing ia rich production and in addition to several new smaller mines, several of the older mines that had ~ been inactive are again producing. Some of the latter are in rich ere. Sacramento county in second place’ had 20 mines operating and pro— duced 90,519.04 fine ouneesof gold and 3,641 fine ounces of silves with 1 total value of $1,872,251. Amador county, with the deep Mother Lode mines, was in third place during 1931. Amador had 35 mines in operation. Metals produced were worth $1,553,856. Plumas county was close behind. With 36 mines producing, contributing $1,535,222 to:the-nation’s new wealth. : Other counties’ production is as follows: ; WUE oo ~-$992,946 SIOVTa ice ese Shasta Trinity Butte 2: Calaveras El Dorado Tuolumne Siskiyou Placer Modoc YOUNG AMERICA MINE ~ BEGINS OPERATIONE According to Whitman Symnies, San Francisco mining man, who has obtained an option on the Youngs America property in the Sierra City district, that mine may again take its place among the producers of Sierra county. “s This was once a very rich property which made its owners wealthy, but which has not been operated during recent years except for some explora— .tion work in search of the ledge. that was lost during former opermtions. Mr. Symmes believes he can pick. up the lost ledge again and with this expectation has obtained an option on ‘the property. MINING JUBILEE IS PLANNED AT PORTOLA A mining jubilee is planned for August 14 at Johnsville by the si Plumas county chapter of the Calia fornia .Mining Association.. Invita. tions have been extended to Govere nor Rolph, Congressman Engle bright and Errch MacBoyle,. presi” A dent of the htate associa tend the festivities, : A talniature tenzslanp iti, aos is being assembled by Ned Bites for the occasion and Steve Pezzoia is working on an arrastra—one of those primitive but marvelous stone Wills which once lined the streams of the. Mother Lode country—_ta haveit on display also, Alleghany Roads Are Sh ee In Fair Condition The following news item will be welcome to the many hunters and fishermen who enjoy getting back. where there is a chance of securing” their limits of deer or fish. The road from North San Juan to Alleghany is in. fair condition, the Toadbed not being cut deep and is fairly smooth though quite dusty. . From Alleghany to Forest and Good— years Bar the road is rough in Places and slightly dusty though a good mountain road. The road from Nevada City to ANeghany by way o. North Columbia is fair, but narrow: REWS ADDED “According to SS'iposiesemmei ten engine crew during the p ern Pacig eigh+ uings are sear “BLUE DOCTORS” TO GIVE. DANCES. AT LA MAR MBS Sits) The “Blue Doctors,” well dance orchestray will open a § of dances at La Mar Meadows, miles south of Grass Valley on Auburn highway. series open Sunday afternoon and . will be enjoyed until late. * lar plan of five-cent dances in vogue and admission to vilion will be free.Pe ROS ee ei