Show NEW COMSTOCK development C SCHEMES FOR DRAINING AMERICAN FLAT AND OPENING THE I 1 WEST COUNTRY SUMMER IN WINTER ABOUT AMERICAN FLAT A COMSTOCK GOLD BELT THE confidence TUNNEL ABOUT prospectors CURRY UPPER LEVELS THE OLD FLUSH fluen TIMES SENATOR FAIRS SCHEME ARGONAUTS DEPARTING correspondence tribune virginia city nov jan 6 although uc lie had a know benoi squall equal I 1 a ns 1 a windup wind up or of ism the now new year begins with filth fair and very pleasant winter flitter weather there was it a rail fall of about four inc indies e 5 of if snow and for tile first time tills this winter sleighs made their appearance on our ts however the snow carnival as 03 it was aebig bated by an enthusiastic local journal Jo uns mas on oil for only a day or to when the snow dib disappeared appeared the sound ot of the bells died out and wheeled heeled vehicles again put in an appearance appeal anac some snow Is 13 to to lie seen on oil tho the peaks of 0 the bg be ranges to the cast eastward Nard in tile the distance but nowhere Is there a sufficient depth to permit stock from undine finding teed feed on in tile the ranges this has been coil a fine season for eat cat tl einen puling doling tile summer there was as an ith abundance ot of iced feed and cattle u were ere in good condition for beef when hen the hie NN winter inter began tho the mild weather kept the lilt hords herds in good older and prices unexpectedly advancing hundreds and thousands of cattle were nere sold to E eastern t ria buyers that would have ve been kept till baring indeed cattle arc bill being sold anti and shipped right along all talou 11 ichel I 1 iber the shipping or of beet beef cattle front from belth and other points Jn central and eastern nevada was active As there may yet be some big biff eloies and deep fallt fain of 0 now mow beaole new glass la Is seen the cattlemen have live 1111 doubtless west acted wisely in boiling belling all such ruch anti animals nals as were in a marketable condition although xe wo licar hear of heavy rains in ill places placed in wit it not L much snow lids has fallen TIT ni lit la lh ill giemi nevada range sonic some are arc beginning to ferr fear a scarcity citY of water next summer but a single big storm may up or snow banks ot of almost unfathomable depth about tile the peaks of the big range in I february I 1 march N arch anil and april we are arc almost sure to have snowstorms snow storms and have seen some big biff ones in way alay and june with llie he big lake reservoir upon which to draw we need bave little fear of a water famine in ill tills this city A I 1 it ace of snow enow in the alei siena I 1 a I 1 ange would woul f be worse tor for the mining Ind industry witry of california than fur for any interest Inte iest on oil this side of the mountains as the supply of cut cun e cut I 1 I 1 t for the many electric dec trie into motors in use depends upon the volume OL of u water ater lit in the mountain bt streams reams ill THE 0 FLAT there was a good deal ot or relocating of idle and abandoned mining claims in this and gold cold hill bill districts this new years lay day but it if always so and amounts to hoL nothing bing those who tile make alie relocations is as a rule do no more lot for tile the development ot of tile lie ground than did those iho allowed the claims to lapse and next year the lodes lodea will ile be jumped by other rait li for years fill tills has hag been tile the basit ea sc as regards tile the majority of the lie mines lying to tile the northward ot of tile the comstock this year most ot of tile the claim jumping has been dune b ne in american flat this Is owing to the fact that tile the drainage of oc that section Is again being agitated it is proposed to drain the Aln american erlean flat mines liy by linnins a blanch flora the I 1 m main 1 in sutro tunnel starting starling in lower gold cold hill such a tunnel would explore a large sec section tion of favorably situated ground d before Ameil Anicil can flat indeed almost from the time lime of atar there would be hom something ething to expect in ill american flat are many lodes some ot of immense size and neatly neaily all show more or losa less gold but lit in all the shafts sunk in the lite early days pi gi eat volumes ot of water were encountered when the in water r level was reached every company mining on tile hat flat was obliged to bink a shaft below the burbace of a lake many portions persons are of tile the opinion ilmi that tile the hal flat occupies the site ot of an ancient lake it Is it a legion that has lieen been greatly luni tumbled bled about by volcanic disturbances tur bances on oil the top of a tall peak thit stands on oil the south smith side ot of the lint flat Is 1 about an dere acre ot of washed gravel a big bed or of cobblestones cobble stones the mountain appears to have risen through a lake carrying up oil with it ITT a part of the lake bottom on oil tile the welt tilde side of tile llie flat is an all old vole volcanic anle crater which left a large area ot of a pecullar kind ot of boney lava what Is now nou the nit flat may once have been a vole volcanic a ale clatter next it may have been a I 1 lake ake then alu n by some upheaval it may ma chave have been left as it now nil appears pears the cost of the pio pi opened proposed branch drain tunnel would not lie cry git cicat at not hundredth one part of what was spent in the shafts and lit in trying to drain them fill pu antl and it would open oliell up it a laige area of very promising mining country that Is the lite same ab I 1 new ew As A only a few men lan call be vo ikeI in in the tunnel on a shift the sooner it la IS started the nutter better it need not lit in any way interfere with other operations on tile the comstock py by running the groat great tunnel some acciel of great abuelo alu in to the formation foi mation of ting till great iCAt comstock lode in the lower pirt part of ct its I 1 ours may lie be brought to tit light the nafton creaso why by Ameil Anicil can flat WAS riot not drained drain ed bv means rnea n 8 of a tunnel lit in the car early ay iy daya i of hp bp ending calill ma for pumps and pump pumping ng was that I 1 the he country was too loo flat now there is a good starting point for a diaan kome bome HOO 1400 feet below the bur burbace face A tunnel staffed at the carson river would go no lie deeper it 1 li probable that after the bibin ot of the flat Is drained no mole moie water I 1 or 1 would lie be encountered at that 1 depoli t lt than lit in other pai ts ot of tins the country till WEST COUNTRY OUTLOOK 1 I 1 think that when hen our epst eat coun countie tty byles are opened up lit in a proper mannor manner they will vill she gle this city a new least lease of lire life the rne american plit flat minis are arc probably good but I 1 am of the opinion that some of the velna veins in the west nest country licit belt are arc letter titan than tile hie liest beat in that region it Is moat strange that the west went country lodes lodea liaro have been allowed to lie almost untouched for nearly forty years A when lien bean between eon them and the bonanza mines there Is only the of the comstock at one time the country on tile avoid arnt able of if t llie I 1 ie comstock Com wua wm full of witter but it has now been drained out to a consider able depth and may lie bo cheaply drained to lo the level of tho the sutro tunnel by it a hhorn connecting tunnel from one ot of the inc old mines ophir or mexican in talking of an extension of the suto tunnel into tile west country many pernoma advocate driving it through mount davidson Dav ldson to drive into that mountain would bf be a great mistake mount davidson to Is st a nia mass of and no veins or of value would dixs to found in any part of it hut but because ot of its ta upheaval there ale aie good veins sur ur round lne it the mountain itself illicit Is a pyran pyramid ild of syenite and the only veins in it aro are EL a rew few gabli velna veins containing noi nothing bin more valuable than iron iran the west est country a should ile be tapped west of the ophir far north of al mount 0 davidson w here are to lie ile alie e heavy crovi cropping lings of 0 many parallel le lodes des all of which are gold at the surface alir confidence TUNNEL at gold 1111 they are about lili ti lap fail tills hii vest nest country in a tunnel ruit nm wit st front from confidence mine this thin tunnel Is in now out a distance of f frit feet fri t t from rom L he autin comstock lod godf wa a found at gold hill it hat ha been lii through the very hard rock which constitute sti tute th Conia lork but has ha nav entered ank frfd rfd a oft rock n hh it indi tt 11 11 n 11 appi irli h 10 lo ill couf oil fw IT dev loument lop ment of 0 i aich it win at start starl ed cd this vein sometimes called the red ledge shows immense crop plugs and gives give at the low is as says in gold though tit alic woi k dune upon ll it has been more mere surface scratching in its course nort northward huard this biff vein through on oil the west side aide ol of mount davidson connecting with nith tile hie system of west country ains of th that ILL see tion tint anil also bilth tile the system to t the he noTt northward hward I 1 thui thu it will lie seen that the meat country urination formation Is iff no now about to bo be cut into to lo the south ivul d at 0 old hill 11 li 4 set wil to 0 be a mcglun V 0 eold beat beading ilig veins and s should hould pay ote oie be found jn the v vein lill ill tins confidence people are exploring it ill not be long lie iw fore a move will be mide made for the dc vc of 0 tie veins at this end of 0 lite comstock Co matock took T the a gold bearing veins of the I 1 west country extend all the way if 1 washoe like lake they all have a north and south strike and so some in ct of them arc of gloat cicat width the I 1 lodis les abele pios to pecked to some extent i in n the ca early aly lays days by means ol of short tunnels inclines I 1 ne title shafts and open cuts ut 4 all clift elihw w more or oi leas free gold and iome ate aio doubtless rich when these veins vein wele prospected in it the cally days quartz quart worth 10 to 1 a ton was nas not looked at as the charge for milling vias from ia to 10 it a ton ion sonic some of the ills hig veins would perhaps lie found very valuable if worked by the llie cyanide process the early prospectors tested their ground with pan and horn and would touch nothing that did lint show up well uell in free sold gold these veins are found all tile way fro from n the alie west nest side of mount fount DavId davission sion to bashne lake where achere Is I 1 located the harris barris mine which A hach is so BO i alch ten lit in hold gold prospecting our people do vely little respecting prospecting in the lie surrounding country As in most mining bamps vamps on all luiei amille coast the feeling ls is that ihu there sherli Is nothing to ix ITO found near home fill all the mg ilig things ale aie at a dI diblanca bLance and lit in oriler order to reach ahn great obstacles must he surmounted men alen allu love have been long in it a particular mining camp become rc ac cuilo mcd to looking at their surround sui round ings in it a certain way and nothing shot t of 0 a big find unexpectedly marte will jolt them out of their old rut this lic ile ing the case new blood in a camp is always alas liable to provo prove beneficial men alen bom colorado utah idaho or montana coming into this region would probably make good eod strikes chere w hero our peaple pile see nothing it ceita certainly would be well to mawe make robts of the ores of many mally or of our gold bearing veins veina by the cyanide process tills lic passed by as barren might show ul up V well ell by that process also it may he that tha t veins now nov paling by ordinary processes might yield field very much by tile the use of 0 tile the r cyanide I 1 de solution there are arc probably 0 voial mines at silver city that ale ae losing money right along because of nt the c cyanide y n do process not being used much or 0 the he gold ore of the mines or of that camp Is exceedingly line fine As aa regards big mining finds it is seldom an all old resident les ident of a camp that makes a big strike the lucky nuin man is neatly beai ly kalayil ala alvs ays yil a stranger or some tenderfoot who does docs not know slate from porphyry our people do well as all prospectors in alaska mexico or austi alla but at home familiarity breeds contempt THE some and bunches of goo good ole oie ate occasionally being encountered ih the k lode but the hoped for bonanza has no not t yet yet put lit hi an all appeal pet tiance the vin is a large one ant and to properly prop etly ly open it up requires a great deil deal of if drifting and choss cutlan thus tar far all the work lias been done sit in good shape and the several Com comstock stok k companies concerned in the development of the lode seem to be quite confident that chit good homes bodies or of ore will presently be oili encountered there is still polity plenty of room for birst bonati bonanzas zas 1 before I fore tile the level of the suite tunnel Is 19 reached recently sonic some men lien who ho are a private claim to the northward on oil what they claim Is sit an of the brunswick made IT a strike of quartz that saed very high lit in gold the monte alonte cristo also at the north end was yielding well in paying or ore 1 ah when ell A low how of water was tapped that tha adi drove rove the miners out however all if this I 1 ground will be drained sooner ot or liter e I 1 the autio tunnel runs beneath 1 it bit but t as yet no aconite connecting ling drift licis has been run ru it GOULD CURRY UPPER LEVELS lor for a clyne it was supposed that james jaines it 11 kinkead had bad obtained a lease of the old upper levels of the gould could curry mine and there was ilas wa s much rejoicing among our people as employment until 1 lie be given to many minors miners and others mr kinkead did not con consider sidor that chete wis was any bis big thing in the old levels but lie he was confident that by tile the use of ills grinding mills he could obtain some pa however a cry yah at once raised down don at san francisco that a job hall been put up to swindle stockholders it was said that a big boily body of I 1 itch fell ore was col covered ered up at some point on the old OK lo 10 hovels 14 which would lill found and worked as soon boon n ns tile the ground was tc be cured by lease aca se the gang at the ruy succeeded in preventing mr air kinkead flora obtaining a lease of the upper parts of the mine and in so io doing gave the town another backward push they will themselves v e do nothing with the ground and through S their suspicious auspicious greed will wili prevent the working of it by any capable of making it pay a small I 1 agular ili vilt at san sail fram francisco isco is a of a certain cunning ile of intellect wili who are always ready to make trouble on the Combi Co niblock ock with foot fool stories of big bodies bodic ot or ore hidden in this ibis monr or that the fact Is that thero there Is not a ton of good ore thus hidden in ili any nine mine un till the itie lode every deposit of paying ore that has eier eer been found ties lias been worked it was ell at one time lime the intention of the lite late senator fair and the virginia city and gold old water com piny to fr work these same 01 old 1 upper levels A I 1 mill was to lie put ui oil at the mouth of I 1 the lh gould curry tunnel d n to which t aich the IT in the mine would ile he run lun in luicus the whole upper part of tit the Q monr was to be lulled sluiced lul ced ott off up tip to tile the surface in the red surface j dirt and the do decomposed composed material i about the and elsewhere Is i sufficient clent free gold to pay for sluicing the tunnel was run with tills this sluicing project in |