| Show UTAHS NEW GOLD CAMP = n Tho iTolmiiJicHburjj ol AHUM Ion mid JtM TJiioo Oiout QoUlun IlliuiltotH = = Jtl Mntl of Mtitur ami Their Iail Quaililtn tf Lot Grade Orellmt Son Netmtiant MaJe Millioni TlH IffbovIerAl Iblttil of He AIn DMritt and III Lnonnaui l < otiblillet A IUd Oter the Kltifttl Stand art > > age alo1 of Hi ItolJ Dtrn Ha Mountain on ait Ore Car tad Other thtlir Meat it Cold Ktfbn WAft is Like Mb Other on Earth cItAbtodies4ibyrrantucarpentorp < < op ialcofffopoodthroot the NILIVII SALT lAu Cm September 1890 IN 1 lilt MOST won derlulol tire new e 6 Maid regions of A 1 l jS5l5 R 9 Ihe > United States e t m Is I now being de 4 f I I vctoped within I 7Jf O three hour by I rail ol Salt Lake I City It Is only thirty miles away as tile crow HIM and In treasures have until now lain tindls tulbed within almost talking distance ul one ol the liveliest centers of the west 1 or years some of the most expert ex-pert miners in the United States have worked In or near It It Is I known as the Mercur mining district and l III li on the site where General Albeit Sidney Johnston had his camp at the lime of the Utah war Ilctwcen 1870 and 1880 It was known as Ihe silver region and In one mine a single pocket of lIver produced I pro-duced f u6coo some of the ore averag jog Jtuw lo the Ion At this lime the late Senator Hearst and Maictn Italy were among the mine owners Tile Miiieri told them that I the district contained con-tained itoldbut they could find no color In the rock and no paying means ol jetting out the told Marcus DAY reduced re-duced Ihe ore to ponder I and day alter day panned and washed It looking lor gold At last ho threw dow till pan In disgust and l tald that the assayer was a fraud cleft Utah and etit to Monism Mon-ism vs hero lie bought tin Alice mine I and from developed the biggest cip per region ol the > world AUttllCAS JOIIANNMIHPO And sell this district Is I now said lo contain more than enough gold I to pay I the nrtlonat dbl I hate gone through one line which has already produced mo1 than u million dollars worth ol gel and which has paid to Its stock fa liters a half million dollars In divl ends Other mines have been opened which hae gold 1 ore In tight ol an estimated value of more than 110000 I UM and within the past eighteen months more than Jjoo mining claims have been taken up within II U Is now pro clueing about f 3000 worth of gold n I eilimaled that Its cay and 1 see It Is at product this year may amount to f Jooy like The camp as tar as pay I work Is I concerned Ii only about lour years old 3cl It has been made possible only by Ilieln enllen t of 1 the new cyanide pro t cess for getting iJn put ol the rock As ill Is the gold is being mined at less cost In all probability thin In any other mining district the world 1 Its ore Is so much like thai ol the Read mining district ol South Africa that the people havo named It the Jou umesburg pfev America The are can be mined tndtreated however less than hall I the ccst ol Ihe ttlpple Creek gold The charge for reducing gold at Cripple Creek Is I f7se > a Ion Here the chemist ol the great Mercur mine tells me that the cost ol mining and reducing docs not exceed f j per Ion while In the Sunshine Sun-shine mine about four miles awa the ore can Ile t dug out and turned Into gold lot less than fa per ton There are ate ready rate cyani IS at-e mills In I operation I in the district and there are others In course ol construction TIIRCK OOLUKN BLANKETS BUII let me give you some Idea of this lait treat gold discovery of t Iho or I J The story Sao wonderful 1 that i I car lo write what I believe lo be the truth lest I be cluied with exaggeration Imag Ice I It you can three great blankets ol I golden rock each from live to fifty feel thick lying one above the other wild blankets of shale between l them let bOlo blankets l begin about four miles stove the town ol Mercur at a distance I dis-tance of n mile and a hall above the ua and let them slope oil In the shape cl in Incline place cropping oil bee and there through the mountains fill I tiller I for a duunce of eight miles tel 1i Let the blankets be Calf a mile wide sod let Ihe golden treasures within them be worth all tho way from Is to fiooo per ton and you he Ime idea ol this wondeilul camp Tho gold docs net II in little veins between the walls I tl granite st In other mines It Is dli > tnbttiedwilh much regularity thriUii theso enormous blankets that uu nit start your mine in places where tie vein shows out ol the tides ol the mounlalnss and dig on station taking nothing but orehearing rock for mlC mlCTho The district as defined by Us working nines 1s known to bo at leait eight I Scale long and at least 3000 feet in Ionfl i I Ulh It Is Supposed I to be much lamr and claims have been taken up and talcs have been sunk far miles mound One man u wellknown miner rr Lead Jilte Major Holm believes that the I I Ilion l is extend lo mere than seven miles fit I 1 Ihpil he linking u iliaft ana over the mountain almost hall mile further dow In altitude and seven mllci r In the Utah I vjllcuii u sage least prairie 11OSag 1 fit Alligill10411 UIotlouuIcctAtJJ1 then hoexpecU I toitiike I the golden J blanket Many = the miners are however skeptical as h1btsivicorstbut should 11 his theory Prove correct the tidies nf this district illl btoiid human conception and 1 1114 relations I ro gold and silver I the oiu over may hu changed by Iho re 1111t < As it is at the moat conservative estimate rli the probabilities ato error civics Theo blankets of void ore rChl n lei long und 300 Icet wide will turn jut riches hitherto IInkllon WW mtiiinj me ore Seems ti gross licitly As Hie blankets dip diun Into I vic LV ill and I the Golden Chi mice I which oflllnin tile valley III hiclittle lo Illt Itrcnr Is I situated11tall IIIln AgAlfluetis be tire tjiggIbrillincoot I the oA rO I o 011d Already 151isuocoot woril fell has beta blocked out withill I = them and within a short lime their mills will be reducing this to bullion IN UTAH NKW MINING CAMP Hut let ui pay a visit to Metcur Ills I only > fiiy five miles by rail from Salt 1I keutv and we may ride own the Uuli valley either over the Union IA ofic or the Denver and I Rio Grando Vc tern railroads lo ahfield I where weitet I the wonderful standard cmce which by many hoj > s and winding turns drags ut uu the mountains and linili us In the little nest In the hlll where then the-n mng town of Mercur lies Uo are invamllcunJ lull above tire sea anti I surrounded by some of the mail heauti fill scenery of the United Stales The nounlalns are as gray and silvery as he hills ol Greece The sage brush on heir sides seems lo be covered with froit t and the hills are dotted with lowers of all colors Above us shines a sky as clear as thai of Italy and l all bout us rise the great shall t houses 01 he working mines In the nest or val ley winding about In the shape ol a horseshoes Is the town ol Mercur It contains I i ouu people an J It consists of iiJ r shanties running alone one street which skirts the gully Tilts street Is I fi ellA ell-A lilt men tin most ol whom have their their j = nJIUI pants In boots and who wear no coat their flannel shirt being stuck mu their trousers At lirrt you think hey are laiy but you soon learn lint they are miners and l that the mines work day and night In eighthour shifts to that there are always men off duty waiting lor their turn to work About Mrcur the mines ale to be seen 01 All sides Atone end ul the horse hoe are the Golden Gate mmci Thote rude factorylike buildings with what seem to be gravel banks beside them are they Tile gravel banks are pie of ore and hat duI Is worth fij a Ion as It lies out here under Iho sky Back and lo the len ul tile Goldiii uiteU tile great Mar loll mlnr whose mill has been grinding up filly tons of rock a day tlnce lw and which has I three miles of tunnels htotigh solid ore with jonoco Ion 01 gold bearing ore In sight 1 uitlitr an II the Geyser mine which is I now produc Inlt filly tons ol ore a day at a coil ol r C 77 a ton and adjoining them Is I the 1111117ocyartiolgh lilHyard nhaJI house in cidieil because be-cause the mines connected with them aie uader the site of an old brickyard racmg the Golden Gale mine behind you neviral milts down the canyon are he great Suinhmc tatliks where tho olden blankets I are said I lo be seventy cat thick slid where the miners I work ff ight Into the ore from the start Inline In-line mines juooou tons of ore are blocked out and tome P Isuctefi the old bearing rock can beP reduced forts for-ts than I a dollar a ton Near this Is lln Overland proper which Is largely jn Jor I jny ex Congressman George VV I > orsey who by the way Is I one ol the lirewd Investors here and lo Ilia right ol you away up the side ol the tnoun lain you see the shaft houses and dump ol the great Mercur mine one of lie Was t gold mines which was opened U p and probably the largest producer flail In the camp ag8 ol It has licitly been taken more than a million dollars worth ol gold and It has paid l Its stockholders more than f 500000 In dividends HOW SOUK MHIRASKANI IIADK IIIL LIONS The story of the Mercur Is as rotrjin tic as hy of the treasures of Monte ChrUto Six Years ago Its chief owners tero comparatively poor men In the little lit-tle town ol 1rnmont Nebraska Its iresldtnl Mr John Pern I about a score 01 years ago was dilving a team lor a lumberyard I He was aZroor German but he saved his money and at the time he Invested In this inlnc he was I venture ven-ture Morili not more than 540000 or 5oou Today his Income runs Into tile thousands a month and I doubt hether he would sell his Interest In this mine alone lor n million It was with him Ihall I went through the mine anti from him I got tho story ol Its I de elopmcnt One of the ret mom men knew that the Mercur rock contained told 110 I got un a company of Kebris ans and they bought the properly for brut 10000 They worked It I with pcritnced miners but though the as Z sayerslohl I Hen tin re w gold In the Dcykerisli IC giold Tnjc1vs rock Imo rouid nut k > it I cut They wailed thousands I ol dolleffiltit I trymr r reduce the ore b > quicksilver huLyf failed 1 I hen t they tiled the yantde I process tnd l aaln fit rlle The rock when reduced Ito I-to Hour became pasty and dough hKe and the solut on of cyanide ami water would not percolate through it At test l as an experiment Instead ol crushing the rock to flour they put it into the pans In lumps of about the size of a pea and In this thane run lhecanldesolu I ifarr 1vlt iI lion I over If fills solved the problem The cyanide solution soaked Into tire cruthcd gravel und earned away tile cold They have now here one of the biggest cyanide mills In existence and though they still lose about 17 per cent of the gold they gel cnoilxli out of the rock to give them air enormous profit Tile ore as 11 In taken front the earth has no slim I of I gold about Such of it as Is I ground into a powder looks not much different from the dust ol a lime I I tone road and alterlt hai gone through the cyanide solution the gold which Is I taken ut li mixed up I w lilt a lot nf dust which looks for all the wo d 1 like the scr ilngt ol soapstone Xter going through the mill 1 was shown a lot of thll golden dust II the same material was m your back lard and you did not know year It was IOU would l probably want to sell It fir aihrs It looks nut unlike ash It It however the heavl est allies In the world and when I was given a long handled s ovel and asked id lilt a nhovelful I anticipated no Iron ble I drove the above I easily into the llr lIrdl dusl hut ul lifting It was like tilling so mud lead I found that there were twenty pounds of weight at the other end of the handle and upon Asking was told I that there were about fijo worth lnI 1b Ji ul gold in that which I raised Iron the ground Die ore Is I too reduced and this dun Is then sent to the refining fur nices lo be turned Into pure gold IN Tilt CATAIUMIIS Of Till IIlIkl Ill 160 The acres Mercur of land Mining on the Comoary tide of owns the mountain above the town and Ills be lievid I that there Is 1 gold under the whole I 160 acre farm Inink of a quarter sec lion of land underlaid with three blan kets of o bearing rock lying one on lop 1 ol the oihtr Let each blanket run Irani I five to thirty I feel In thickness I and let there be a blanket ol shale 1 or limestone lime-stone between the golden blankets and you have tome Idea ol the Mercur mine M > far wherever the ground has been pierced U IMS struck the gold and this Is the same with nearly everyolhcr piece I of mining property in the eight mile stretch which I have described Ihe upper blanket Is not quite so thick nor does It average itulie as much cold as the two below and mill It dime about five dollars worth ol gold lo the ton I none place they have gone through the blanket lengthwise 4000 feet and at others they have run out Into the blan ket at right angles a distance ol 1000 Icet 1 was shown places In width the gold rops out in the side I ol I the mountain nd walked 1I1 Into 1 a tunnel I r which 1 had 1 begun thus at tin surface and which went down down down for rooo feet 1 The blankets of ore dip at an angle ul 6a degrees and they Ppread out In a wavy shape over the territory IPC Iho tunnel which we entered was high and wide I It was cut as t have lo said light out 1 of the ore and as we went dawn Into the earth we found on etch side ol us great chambers ached by other tunnels the whole maklt x me think of the catacombs near Koine Sonic ul these chambers were no Urge you might put the Capitol at Washing ton Inside ot them Sonic have lOony tioilen I lie Moors being upheld bv gicat timbers Ihe structure being built urn ward as the gold ore Is I taken out The tunnels were so high that wo could walk through them without slooplug and 10 wide that wo appeared at times t to be passing through vaulted corridors Every 1 few arils we passed openings where other tunnels quite as wide jutted of and In many places there were spouts or chuies don which the ore was rolled and loaded Into the cars fay gravity Every tunnel flail Its railroad track within II and here and there we found cars loaded I I w Ith ore There were hundreds of 1 miners at work dressed in blue overalls blue Shirts and slouch hats Ijch man had a pick with I ant and each carried a curious candlestick ol steel which looked l like a ring ram lined to what looked to be an Immense knitting needle and of such a nature that a man could stick the handle ol Ihe candlestick Into the earth In tome places men were drilling and lbl In others I IWnr if they Acre getting ready to blast with I dynamite MINltd WIT II YOUHrlNlCRNAlLS In all of Ihe tunnels and In every room the gold J bearing rock was pointed loolled ac in out to us As we looked wo could tee how easily and how cheaply It could bo gotten out In tome places Ihe strata Is I like clay and you can scratch It oil with your fingers I took out m > penknife and dug out Ihe soil containing ore Think Of mining I gold with Your fingernails finger-nails Mill that Is what rnljn I Itt actually done In some parts ol this mine Ill I other places Ihe gold Is In a part ol the gravel or crushed quart You gavel c out I ilyO lgc it down with a pick Again I It is lound In solid I quarts mixed with lie I P OlIts I of arsenic and sulphur The arsenic is I pure You could commit suicide at almost every step II you wanted and tho sulphur Is to strong n places II that with I rb candle I > ou can burn It and fill Ihe cavern about you with flames of brimstone In other places the gold Is found In n black rock which looks for all the world like slate and other wheres it appears In solid rock It is not found in nuggets or grains or pockets but It seems lo be a consistent part ol the clay and rock distributed In Infinitesimal panicles at the rate of a quarter of an ounce and upward to the I toil of rock A quarter UFW2 r oc rockic Aliquaiter ol an ounce to the ton would I be about as much as one part In 96000 and it you Ir take 96 oou shot anti Imagine one of them lo be ground up and Its dull to lie 1 distributed equally through all Ihe others you will have some Idea ul how the gold runs through a ton ol this lock The average last year wasonlyfiito Ihe ton or just a lit gar than hall an ounce to the ton ur About one flail In 43000 Still Ills oulol these low grade ores that most ot Ihe product ol the worlds gold Is I coming today The ore of this teflon Is to caiilyKOlten out that It can be mined at a gnat profit The rock ol the Gulden Gate mlnet maid to be rmuli richer than that ot Ihe Mercur but it Is mixed with arsenic to such an extent that a great loss occurs In reduction All llh ol Iho IIIII large mills about Mercur have their chemical laboratories labora-tories and at the Golden Gate there Is an experimental mill In which the most expert chemists and metallurgists money can command are at worktriing is u find Ihe cl most economical and licit methods lor gelling out the gold The Meicur as sell as the Golden Gale and all Ihe I oilier mines here Is I tun on business principles No monty Is spared to cheapen the cost ol 1 pruduc II lea lion 1 and the cents are as carefully lived BS In Iho Wall street counting house where the broker saves Ihe envelopes I envel-opes of his correspondence tu figure on As It Is I ho ever the Mercur still I I IIL I loses ijprr icnt ol is 001 Il 1 it 11 I v 10 ArIlov1 rriusi it II nan Ile 1 ml I mi I vcn ot i i cis I Hie i contains Id contains I from I Ji I yj to f worth ol gold In the lulutc noine one may discover I a proem by which I vicit r refuse may bo worked at a profit DOVlNTIIR MOUNTAIN ON AN on CAR Think ol riding down II rnuili silvery mountains on a bed of gold It was hi this way that we came ram Mercur to the Utah valley Our party consisted of Mr John Dtrn the millionaire ol the Mcrcui AIr reform I i f the IUD Grande nllroad Mr Hanson I the city editor ol Ihe nnKRRT NKVVS and mysell Squalling Squal-ling on a rock pile of gold beating dirt and Ih rock worth at least tuo holding on i 10 the latted stones for dear I life we flew round and round and in nnd out on true way down over one 0 the mOil reo markable railroad of the wail t It was built In 1894 at a cost or Si3oorso i It is l only four miles in i straight line trains the point whore It begins 11 I the point whsrelt ends but It uki mire than eleven I miles of winding curvrs to make the journey It begins a lIill over 5000 feel I atove the Sell and In this distance it call lea yuu upward an altitude alti-tude ol almost hall a mile I have gone I up tire little nArroustU4945 railroad I A hills ticket YOU from Hit plains ol India In I Daijellog m the lllm ta > a m tinlalns It Is only two feet wide and Ill cars are iY much t blrgrr tiRil the tear boxes The Mercur and 1 Sail Lake railroad rail-road Is l ol Ihe slandirdgauie and II 1 hat curves so short that Standing on Ihe rear of Ihe Ira n we could at limp almost touch the engine as II flew ar lund them Now Iho ciiRine mmed I roor lie climbing I an Inclined plane and we were pllchid almost straight down to the Ive below We could see the line running inparalkl tracks down the mountain and it wemed though wo could easily have jumped from one track to the other thaw cutting oil the dlittnce which by cuV required re-quired several miles Aswe went down we hung In places as II were on the Fidesolifte I mountain Wi could see thii great Utill valley stretched out below be-low Hi Ihe Utah lake shining I like silver 1 In ilia I Micron and bevond r It on the nlpOOle lid n wall ol mountains the Wasstch rangr whose silvery petks with I at their ragged cdgco cuttlepxura sky And owe went on and ou windIng wind-Ing In and out like a snake now travelIng travel-Ing toward Ihe enl now to the west now the south and again lo the north In making curves until f we en to the foot ol the mountain I fete w stopped before a large frame building Our errs carried us up on A trestle work and we stood on the track and watched the ore dumped Into the crushers ol the Mercur cyanide mill We weio IOAII the various processes of reduction I and 1 then I rretses ooJr taking the train found our elves I In Mill I more than an hour luck home In SAlt Lake City q qwv 1 CA + = |
