Show ME1RCUR CORRESPONDENCE The Outlook for the Camp Growing BrIghter and righter Mercur has been very quiet during I the past week but there seems to be a better feeling prevailing now than there was some time back The mines are keeping up thair gait and in > some cases reaching out a little I The sale of the Sage Hen has caused j I some speculation a to what the future has in store for that property Of course the men who bought it did not pay out that sum of money merely for the sake of holding a claim and without with-out more work it will never bring a cent more hence the opinion that active ac-tive work will be commenced on the property is not an improbable one Judging from its position it should pay well for the means necessary to make it a producer The Sacramento is going ahead with the work of enlarging and although all the machinery is not yet on > the ground active operations have commenced I com-menced and they will 0 pushed to I completion Another strike has been reported in the Brickyard but as it was expected there is but little comment on the matter mat-ter The work of drifting from the main shaft along the body of the ore is still in progress as i is necessary to open up large ore bodies to supply I the mill when erected The report that free gold has been found in the camp is not the first report re-port of the kind that ha been circulated I cir-culated and while of the whie some prospectors pros-pectors disbelieve the occurrence of free gold in this neighborhood others I are spending considerable time figuring ou the most likely places and trying to discover the ledge from which the ledge te float Is most likely to come Matters at the East Golden Gate do not seem to be progressing as smoothly a at first and breakages are becoming becom-ing more frequent as the depth increases in-creases The hard limestone through which the company is still sinking is anything but easy drilling Nothing of material value ha yet been found but as it was not expected this soon there IB no reason for discouragement The drill has now reached a depth of nearly 400 feet or in other words they have pierced to a depth of between I seven and eight hundred feet from the surface o the ground I One of the properties that has received re-ceived but little attention of late is the GoldDust They have uncovered a I large quantity of ore and having reached it from various points it would I seem that they already have enough insight j in-sight to warrant the erection of a mill The owners however are in a position I to spend considerable means without the necessity of assistance from the mine and they seem to be more I i anxious to learn the value of their property pro-perty than to realize an immediate income in-come There is no question however but that they have one of the richest mines in the camp The news from the surrounding camps Is I encouraging There is but little doubt of the increase of the working work-ing force at the Northern Light and prospectors in that neighborhood are highly elated The latest news from Sunshine is that every man in camp has employment employ-ment leb and times there are comparative t ir dt < The report that the Overland proposes pro-poses putting in a mill is no surprise to those who are posted in the matter A great deal of ore is in sight and it runs at about an average value of 8 I per ton The floods have convinced many o I the householders that to be safe they must raise their houses a little and many of them are engaged in this undertaking I un-dertaking Good foundations ore b I ing built so that the water may raise a little without flooding the cabins I New business houses are being built I and quite a number of dwelling houses I |