Show diio 4 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 FAMOUS AMOUS F 1 1 I 1 MIN MINING ING STRIKES I 1 i t dithomas by Dr I 1 THOMASE THOMAS L STEWARD 1 I 1 the C 0 amstock loile I 1 I 1 WHEN X john 0 fremont Fremo ht after affer words wards th the e alit candidate fr or president of the youthful routh ful part party passed overland through th tho sierras to california his ht guide was wag tile the ie redoubtable doubtable kit carson careen I 1 carson wa wag one of the cfall ahill the old frontiersmen and it was to in his hl honor 1 that the carson valley 0 oane 11 vada ww v is named Int inibig lils bulley Talt eyon bobu after trl there here cable to f therk the richest hes itil keO k nten eral treasurer ilie the world h hafl aver ever fanoun it was waa th ef amous comstock Co lode which produced millions in wealth weilt lf and established ahe fortune fortun ea ftc I 1 Wity blell romine lit fremont Freni ont made bid trip In 1844 it was five years yeara later late in 1849 that tha t the great mh to C newly dla dis rove ro vered gold ond and it wa ana the pali pul of the california gold that caused C the first discoverer dla coverer of the great q carson arson valley treasure foJ ioleane io leave eave it borwhat for what he hoped would be better ta in the ills golden this raan man was waa william li young oung mormon who stopp stopped ed inthe carson carion valley bichis wily way west he housed used atalik a pan to wish 11 ll out what looked like prom pit pay Y dirt and the results were far from discouraging but h he gave h up the reality for hopes of richer strikes tarther farther on yet news of this strike spread next year a party of mexicans put in an appearance and spent several months washing gold until their supplies gave out by then the place had been name nama gold canyon but there was no rea realization II 11 that it wis waa to rev reveal ealan an almost incredible wealth partly in gold but chiefly in silver salvo one day a miner by 64 afi nam name of james finney uncovered a more profitable claim than usual soon after a wandering canadian by the name of henry comstock took a claim nem Fin finnens it I 1 in may 1859 patrick nod and peter arlley staked a claim near those of finney fanney and comstock and immediately wrt that they had made their fortunes A black and crumbly kind iund of ore with which neither of them was familiar crumbled into gold in their hands and their crude rocker type washers showed heavy deposits of precious metal after ever every 7 load had bad been washed they haa made the big strike but no no sooner had they gone to work la in dead earnest I 1 than comstock reappeared andon and on the I 1 flimsiest flims est iest baste basis demanded a share to in their claim on a technicality hav having ing to do with the claim alilin he had sta staked rut mi this th they e y granted in this way it came about that Com stocks name wt went t down Into history as the famous comstock lode though he did not discover it and was lef lee into the final strike on a basis that looked extremely flimsy more because the dis dl coverers cover ers of a rich claim and yielded without argument when the crumbly black blach gold wot wah taken jo to san francisco for a scientific analysis it wa was 8 proved r ovad to have al a yield of a ton of are ore in silver and in gold never matched elsewhere all I 1 who staked flaked claims alo along abe famous lode became wealthy in jig time except those who sold out at relatively low prices to pocket a quick profit I 1 I 1 the gold of jabarr ta relatively modern days gold UP was a rarity in japan considerable supplies were obtained from r river iver gravels and some from quartz deposits that were crushed crashed and panned out jn in the way placer gold would be washed from sand but the count rys heeds for monetary purposes pares pus es and for royalty made it neis sary eary to restrict the use of gold by private persons the old fashioned raining mining operations in japan were wire paid lof for in a re oar mark kable able manner laborers employed gowash to wash the gravel did not receive any pay at all on the theory that enough gold would adhere to their clothes to repay them for their effort extort and seemingly this was true at any rate the mining continued and alie abe lack of payment persisted for many I 1 I 1 many years tr ir the early days after the opening of japan to westerners there was a belief that tremendous I 1 amounts of gold were to be found in that thai larid land this fallacy had its roots jn in the ali fact e t that in japan there were many golden ornaments la in temples and pi palaces places which were oki not ho however ever true I 1 9 gold jd but copper covered with gold by an extremely clever process procesa originated by the ibi japanese and still in use in thit that co country 1 the Ja japanese pinese plating process was reilly one of rather ihan oi of actual plating catl ng as it Is done today the copper coppe r b base see was fi heated bated having been bee n 1 immersed nini iise dafter an fo plum oual vine garto thoroughly wen I 1 the copper was still hot mercury was placed on ob 14 lt terming tin an I 1 surfaced surface goldea was then placed over tie mercury and tha whole object heated to td a still stu higher point to ket get rid ild i ld 0 tWiner the mercury curi the gold ther thet rim remained afna 1 I in 11 a rather thorough g b mixture with ilie he suir faaee of the c opper copper plat plating ink of ji Is aado have b been een extremely durable mahy stat liea ex ia ea c clr ro arguigo arg figo are still lna fiat a A good condition nam u illien they were new Z ts Y v V 1 I A wan tera map t f tbt albl 1 I 11 iv 1 I 1 V j 44 1 1 l t X 9 I 1 I 1 k I 1 k v I 1 4 |