The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 23, 1905, Page 26

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, TUESDAY, MAY 23, 1905. - FSMERALDA COUNTY CONTAINS NUMEROUS GOOD MINES STRONG GROUP IN ORE VEINS Van Duzer-Douglass (Claims Resemble Bodie in the Character of Products S s OUTFIT IS COMPLETE Neat Sum of $60,000 Is in Tailings Fortune That Will Hold for Treatment da, tur tha was elected Distric Ker of s & st discovered first t w 0 cast his lot - n. In 1302 he was 1 serve in the Jected in 1904 C ress. rally known from Pacific, has prob- & in Ne- s mineral and her indi- delivered css upon the 2s been sought 1 the res: general manager ‘onopah Min: and s 3 man, the pub- serving on opolitan Golng to Neva ons in ma ot of the coun in 1898 he resigned Government posi- tion to re-enter th field. When Congressm Duzer was elected to Congress In 1902, Mr. Acker man went to Washington with him as private secretary. nce residing in Nevada mining has taken up considerable of his attention &nd the management of the Van Dugzer- Tonopeh Mining and Investment Company and the Van Duzer-Dougiass Mining EX - GOVERNOR GIVES MINE LAW. ol il On to Nevada. The bar of Nevada is wery strong in its personnel, indeed, but the rapid development of diversified inter- ests throughout the State and the aggre- gation of capital which has been attraet- ed to mining investments in general, has extended to s0 many varioes interests that the services of professional men from all parts of the country are In constant de- mand, In spite of the rapid and somewhat careless development of both individual end corporate interests, especially in min- ing, the new gold fields of Nevada have been comparatively free from litigation owing to the high moral status of the | | | i | | [ =5 | 3 SAOWING SCU 00 RN o0 MINES, — = oo O LCTION _OF VAN DUZE. C.OL-DERANC\E y\sm\c‘ry 25 mi: neralda County borders the eastern pe of the Sierra Nevada Mountains h mineral deposits. Its prom fon was first reached which produced many followed by the rise of the earl. the stock mp that in $60,000,000 to of precious Sodaville, Ssmeralda County on the Carson and Colorado division of the Southern Pacific Railroad, is the center dist ping point for one of the g districts in the State onnection is made with Tonopah for ' Tonopah, Goldfield and Nevada. Within five miles of e on the northern slope of Mount siah on the most eastern spur of the 000 fect elevation, properts s Mining Compa of the cen- da zone mlico and and Sil- Califors Bodie by three output; sec- hi es; third, large ore bodies [ of this zone has been $200, 000,00 possibilities are unlimited; float nd by Robert Stewart of Soda- ville the Gem mine, is about | 2500 fe from the Van Duzer-Dougls ented a value of $X 000 per The Van Duzer-Douglass group com- prises series of gold bearin 1 parallel 3 t and west. The ledges two to fifteen feet in width phy of the property and of the veins are such tI dge as to quan- lues can be ob depth n opened by shafts are clearly have been through the district resemble ted mine at Bodie, soft de- lly of yieldin, and pest me a od of ore re- ¢ c The gold is free and consid- | 1 very This company has about worth of tailings which are to treated by the cyanide process. tion was visited sdburst that did con- rz to the workings of veral hidden ledges and recently a few of em 1 opened up to a.depth from four to six feet from the sur- with remarkable showing, assayi taken running from $21 y all of the values bein of one new ledge averaged d $3 in silver. It is es- t $10,000,000 can be m ted from this group of mines. According to the United States Mint receipts $300,000 has been taken out | on this propert ce its discovery in While the amount extracted was rge in the aggregate, the work hav- g been done largely by individuals and with no capital or concerted ef- fort, was sufficiently eimply tb dem- onstrate the large ore bodies, many of | the veins being merely scratched over. The property has been looked upon as one of great promise. A n eight miles the Garfield Min- ing Company produced $8,000,000. The Van Duzer-Douglass Company has at present a five-stamp mill on the ground, which is used to make small runs of | ore from 100 to 200 tons. | The company has but recently ae- quired this valuable property. Con- | tracts have been let for a large hotel and oflice building to be constructed at the mines, and as soon as completed the working force will be increased to about twenty miners. A 700-foot triple compartment shaft is to be started at once, with a hoist capable of sinking 1000 feet, while later on a fifty-stamp mill will be | erected, with accommodations for 100 st ps. Water and fuel are available in suf- | ficient cuantitieg. prominent mining engineer, making an examination of the property, stated that it was capable of working 100 men for, 100 years with a 100-stamp mill. The officers_and principal owners of the Van Duzer-Douglass Mining Com- pany are Congressman C. D. Van Du- Tonopah, Nev., president; Allan y, Bayonne, N. secretary; Con- ynard, Portsmouth, Va.; John L. Watson, Portsmouth, Va.; Judze Herman Lazarus, Bayonne, N. J. | The Bounce mine, comprising twenty acres, property of the Van Duzer- | Tonopah Mining and Investment Com- pany, of which Congressman C. D. Van Duzer is president’ F. E. Van Duzer secretary and John B. Ackerman gen- | eral manager, is a developed mine and a producer, it having produced $100,000. A depth of 400 feet has been reached One of the principal cases of litigation which has come before the courts is the famous Jumbo mine of C. D. Taylor et al., in which the services of ex-Governor James H. Budd have been retained, who | 1= well known on the Pacific Coast and in | Washington, D. C., as an attorney of prominence in affairs of mining and cor- poration laws, He was admitted to practice over thirty | years ago, and bas been actively engaged in his profession ever since, somewhat less during his term in Congress, and while Governor of California, but even then doing all that the duties of the of- fice would permit. For over twenty years he practiced in the mining counties of the State, having Stockton their base, He resided during these years at that prospering town, which, though &n agricultural center, w: also the seat of the Land Office for the mining district, and the place from which they took their supplies, the old mining counties of Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa. He thus became very familiar ‘with mining laws and practice. He still retalns an interest in.the Stockton firm, mmen who are operating in the State. | though he has gone into practice in San d s attracting general attention in e mining world of to-day. The moun- | n ranges are thoroughly impreg: of from 100 to | in this mine, with a crosscut tunnel of 820 feet and drifts run on the 35, 65, 100, 200, 300, 350 and 400 foot levels, exposing ore bodies carrying values from $8 to $500 per ton, while in places picked samples have assayed as high s $1500. Considerable ore is stoped ready to be knocked down and milled. | A careful measurement of ore in sight piaces it at $100,000. The last three mill runs on ore from this mine of 160, 150 and 100 tons net- pectively, $5282, $3782 and $2000, 50, $27 50 and $20 ton. This company has about 5,000 worth of tailings in reserve for The Van Duzer-Douglass Mining Company and the Van Duzer-Ténopah { Mining and Investment Company in- | tend combining on & good-sized cyanide | plant for getting the values out of the | tailings on the two propertles. The camp is heautifully located, and | known as the Gold Range mining dis- | trict, while the present postoffice name is Dou A tclephone line connects the camp with Sodaville. On the southern slope of the Ex- celsior range of mounfains is a gro of eight clai portion of which adjoins the V. These are the property of E. Grassie ot Soda: , Nev. time bonded to te: o ore deposits property, and are the making of aa | enormous mine, the character of ore being the nie as in the Bounce and cr-Douglass mines. orties’ of the Van Duzer-Doug- ng Company are located.. at Esmeralda County, State of he most northerly slope of custern spur of the Excelsior range of mourtains, about six mileg in a west- erly direction from Sodaville} a station | on the Carson and Colorado Railroad, a branch system of the Southern Pacific | Railroad Compan | The properties comprise a group of twenty-two claims, including fractional | claims, ~or a total of approximately 360 acres. The elevation at the mines is 7000 feet above sea level, from which altitude gnificent view is obtainable for miles | of an extensive and valuable mining area. | This section, formerly known as the Sil- | Star mining district, has taken on a | renewed lease of life, and a new mining strict has lately been formed and is known as the Gold Range mining district, | which embraces an area some twenty s square, from within the boundary |'of which has been extracted in the past fully $150,000,000. | The early mining operations in this sec- tion of Nevada forms an interesting part in the history of quartz mining, due to | the fact that gold was first discovered | For years the surface of the numerous ledged was worked by leasers by open cuts, shafts, tunnels, etc.,, of limited f£x- tent, and exceedingly rich ore extracted from the pay chutes, but the instances are few where depths on the same pay chutes were undertaken. The- Van Duzer-Douglass properties comprise a series of parallel gold-bearing quartz veins, all holding a general east- erly and westerly course, with a slight dip to the south. The ledges vary from one to fourteen feet in width, the entire | group covering an area two miles in length by three-quarters of a mile in th. A mar] feature of all these series of veins is their remarkable per- | sistency in the deepest workings. They are traceable for a long distance upon the surface, while the system of dikes which parallel the veins are strong and well de- fined, and the veins, which are true fis- sures with the contact features, are in- closed in porphyry and limestone walls, the ore leaving the walls perfectly free. The ores are generally a soft, decom- posed quartz carrying iron, with some sulphides (pyrite); the gold is'free and quite fine, yielding readily to the free milling process of battery and plate amal- gamation, supplemented by cyanide treat- ment of the mill tailings, and a high ex- traction is thus enabled. The topography of the property and the development of the veins is such that a very accurate knowledge as to quantity of ores and the values can be obtained to a depth of 1000 feet. Several veins have been opened by shafts and crosscuts to a depth of from 100 to 400 feet below the level of the mill. These same veins are clearly defined on the surface and have been worked to various depths as they extended through the property, reaching elevations of from 500 to 1090 feet above the mill and down the opposite side of the mountain to about the same level. This district was discovered in 1893 and has been worked on a small scale by leas- ers and various owners, a number of whom took out snug fortunes, producing in all about $400,000. While the amount taken out was large in the aggregate, the work hav- and with no eapital or concerted ef- fort, was sufficient simply to demon- strate the large ore bodies, many of the veins being simply scratched over. The principal properties compris- ing the Dougiafs group of mining claims are: Tke Orphan Boy, Dispute, Duke, Frottler, New Party. Excite- 'ment, Confusicn, Monarch, Progress, Triangle, Herd Luck, Snowball, Mary, Original and others. The following will be found interesting, as it fur- nishes a fair idea of the strength of A S Nt L S £ Francisco. ~He will, however, for the next few years, take up a residence for several months_in the year at Goldfield and Bullfrog, at both of which points he will have offices, baving already one at the former place. What business he has will be personally attended to, his part- ners attending to the Francisco branches while he is at the Nevada of- fices. For the latter he has other ar- rangements made, but will In person at- tend to the preparation of papers and the trial of causes. During all these years of practice he has been most sueccessful, and engaged in many of the largest cases in the coun- ties above and in San Joaquin, Stanislaus and other of the counties of this State. He was raised a lawyer, his father being one of the ablest of the State and serving years on the bench, dying af the ripe age of 8 while Superior Judge of the State. He was graduated from the University of California in 1573 and was admitted to practice in 1874 As a jurist, an executive and a man among men, he is a strong character and one who commands the of his clients, the —_— ing been done largely by individuals | % the ore bodies ss depth is attained, as also the values contained in the ore. In many places it was impossible to make examinations, as the ground bad not been kept ¢pen by The leasers and was allowed to come together. On the Orphan Boy some work was done on the surface, showing a vein from 3 10 20 feet in width, while 755 tons of ore, extracted and milled, vielded | $2923 56 in bullion. The Dispute claim adjoins the Or- phan Boy on the west, and showed a large body of guartz, the 2ntire mass | having a value of from $3 to $8 per ton. A total of 274 tons of selected ore yielded $3658 06 in bullion. | The New Party ledge, upon which | considerable work has been done by | leasers, shows a large. strons | ledge formation, from 8 to 15 feet in width, the pay ore occuring in chutes, | or chimneys:; 1218 tons of ore milled | from this vein yielded $30,229 66 in bullion. The General claim, which is one of the extensive bodies of ore in the group and covers the east extensi of the famous Bounce ledge, shows width of from 1 to 6 feet. From 13 tons of selected ore the results showed 34309 69, the waste dump averaging by assay $5 65 per ton. The Snowball, Hard Luck, Triangle and Progress contain ~a series of smaller parallel and crossing veins, all heading into the Duke of Welling- ton claim, where exists a veritable mountain of ore carrying good average values. & These ledges Lave also been more or | less worked by leasers and workings filled up, while 1362 tons of ore from these claims vielded $29,178 65. The Ma claim, the most southerly property of the entire group, shows au remarkably well defined vein, while the accompanying dike stands out in bold relief. The ledges have been | opened up by cuts along the vein and small shafts nt several points. From‘ 2 milling of 939 tons of selected ore from this claim the yleld was $19,073 35 in bullien, In all. these ledges described the for- mation and material aside from the ore handled show the values qf rarely less than $4 to $ per ton, and usually much | higher. Nearly all of the claims owned | by the company have produced consider- able good ore and the development work | on same goes to show the regularity and | persistericy of all these ledges. | Lying between the General and Snow- ball is the Bounce mine, which property, although owned by other parties, should be united with the Van Duger-Douglass holdings and forms a decidetily valuable adjunct. A large amount of development O work has been carried forward on this claim. A shaft has been sunk on the vein to a depth of 400 feet and a large amount of ore exposed by the aid of crosscuts, drifts, stopes, etc. In the low- er workings the pay chute averages about four feet in width. At the present time a five-stamp mill (600 pound stamps) is kept steadily in operation on ore from the Bounce vein, while the bullion' output of the mine at the present time is limited only by the present crushing capacity” of the mill. The results of the ore now being crushed in the five-stamp mill taken from the Bounce vein must certainy be encouraging as it is equally as good milling rock as that milled from the sur- face or upper workings, and from which S0 many dividends were paid. The Duke of Wellington claim is one of the most conspicuous properties of the group, for it is within the confines of this claim that most of this great series of parallel veins seem to join on their course west. By the converging of all these veins on the Duke property has been formed a mountain of good aver- age milling values. Associated with the quartz is a black spar. This is purely a quarrying propo- sition and with a mill having large crushipg capacity and an ample water supply ‘the ores can be mined and milied at a cost not to exceed $1 a ton. JThis portion of the property is a mine within itself and worthy of immediate equipment and operation. From the above claim 186 tons of selected ore yielded $3729 48, while the entire deposit which | outcrops very prominentiy for from 400 to 500 feet in width will average from $4 to $5 per ton. The question of water for power and mill purposes is always an important question, and has been carefully looked into. Within the limits of the com- pany’s_holdings are several available sup- plies of water which require only de- velopment to prove an abundant supply. In the Union and Rebel lches are several springs, while the Farrington and Pepper springs will furnish an ad- ditional supply. Connected with the development of water on the above properties is a feature which, once un- derstood, simplifies largely the question of water. Paralleling the Orphan Boy vein, which is the most northerly claim of the group, is a clay vein of great width which holds back the waters emanating from the immense wa- tershed lying above and beyond the prop- erties, which supply can be piped to the mill by gravity. Upon. the properties o. the company there is an ample supply of wood for both steam and domestic purposes, which can be delivered at the mill at a cost not exceeding $6 per cgrd. Coal can also be delivered on lhe property at a cost of approximately $10 per ton. Thus the all-important items con- nected with the economical mining and milling of ores, namely water and fuel, are at hand. In these properties it is impossible to estimate the available ore reserves except from tne nature of the ore de- posits and past method of exploitations jand the average value of the ore ex- tracted. I¢ is always hazardous to estimate the quantity and values contained in a body of ore, but the estimates made on the Douglass properties which place the figures at $12,000,000 are certainly con- servative, as the estimate was made on 500 feet depth of the main veins only, and, to be still conservative, the veins were estimated at an average of two feet in width and the ore at $10 per ton. Most of the ore formerly milled returned an average of $20 per ton, while the tailings show an average of $6 per ton. -~-— GOVERNOR OF THE STATE QF NEVADA Chief Executive Who Sees Great Things in Store for Broad Land East of Sierra. N, N o DS N y Y/ NS A ST twice filled the position of chief execu- tive of the Sagebrush State. In politics he is a Democrat. He is one of the ac- tive citizens of Nevada. Stock raisers and confidence admiration of his friends, and the--Tespect of the breeders of fancy cattle all over the world | of him. As-a mining man-he has <+ PRESIDENT.- OF TONOPAH RAILROAD Alonzo Tripp Controls Transpertation Line That Runs Into the Gold District. = R IPP oy TONOPAAK ez == In reviewing the prominent men who have so materially assisted in making Tonopah and the entire gold producing district of Southern Nevada the great | and promising’ country, it is The Call’'s desire in this comprehensive re- view to give due space and adequate mention to a gentleman who has mate- rially assisted in this grand result. The discovery of goid in Tonopah naturally attracted to this section of the country hundreds of mining men and prospectors. These swarthy argo- nauts were at once confronted with the momentous problem of transporta- tion, for Tonopah was sixty miles from the nearest and, in fact, only railroad by which transportation facilities were available. Necessity, of course, is the mother of invention, and as, the camp grew and the mines began to develop, the old means of transporting freight by stage and wagon was found to be inadequate, and a railroad running di- rectly into the camp was found to be a necessity. Capital was ured and a company formed to consfruct a road from Sodaville to connect with the Car- son and Colorado road at that point. ‘The first important consideration was the selection of a manager and super- intendent to take charge of the con- struction work.® The people were in a hurry for the road to get into Tomo- pah, in order that provisions might be obtained and the precious metal ship- ped out, so that it was necessary to secure for that important position a man who could not only build a rail- road in the least possible time, but one, as well, who could consruct a road on the most improved plan for safety, etc. Naturally, there were a number of men available, but the directors wisely selected Alonzo Tripp, a man of years of experience in the railroad service in all departments and a man thoroughly versed in all the manifold details nec- essary to the proper construction and equipment of the road. To say that the directors chose wisely is verified by the fact that just exactly four months after the first shoveiful of earth was thrown out the last and, by the way, a golden spike was driven in the last tie of the new road, and thus Tonopah was placed in direct communication with the markets of the world. This feat was commented on by nearly all of the leading railroad journals of the world as being a re- markable example of railroad construc- tion. Mr. Tripp, under whose direction the Tonopah railroad was so quickly and completely constructed, was born in Kennebunk, Me., in 1839. -The son of parents who tilled the soil, he received what little education he could gather trom the district schools of the county in which he was born. At the early age of 13 he left home to battle with the big world. Thrown upon his own resources, he went to Boston, where he went to work for the Boston and Maine railroad and learned the art of railroad telegraphy, in which he be- came an adept. He was among the first to learn the profession, and wWith Robert Pitcairn, Andrew Carnegie and other noted men, formed the first telegraphers’ union. In 1861, attracted by the oil excitement, he went to Pitts- burg, where he accepted a position as clerk for the Aladdin Oil Company. Oil was then a manufactured produet, and when the natural petroleum was dis- coyered, he was made manager of the same company. Receiving a most in- viting wffer to enter railroad work, he resigned kis position with the oil com- pany and went with the 'Allegheny railroad in the freight and passenger department, and when he resigned to go with the Baltimore and Ohio rail- road in 1882, he was general yardmas- ter of the company. He was general yardmaster for the Baltimore and Ohio until 1890, when he went with the’ Charlestown, Cincinnati and Chicago railroad. When the road was absorbed by the Southern he was made genmeral superintendent of terminals. with head- quarters at Jacksonvijlle, Fla. He re- mained with this company until Octo- ber, 1903, when he accepted the high ‘| and responsible position of general su- perintendent of construction and gen- eral freight and passenger agent of the Tonopah railroad. This road was built as a narrow gauge from necessity, owing to the fact that the connecting line was a narrow gauge road. The Tonopah road is thoroughly equipped in every way for rapid and safe handling of freight, and the road enjoys an enormous business, one that it may truthfully be stated is much larger than any otker road of the same mileage in the world. The road was built by the Tonopah Mining Company for the purpose of hauling its own ores out of Tonopah. In buying the equipment and preparing for busi- ness, the plan was based on conditions as they two years ago, At that time there were no outlying camps it was thought that the road would not be required to handle more than 25.000 tons of ore a year, and that 1y Tonopah | tributary to Tonopah have changed all | this, and instead of handling only | about 2000 tons of ore a month and about twenty passengers a day each way, the road is now hauling out of Tonopah between 8000 and 10,000 tons of ore a month, and during the past six months has carried about 150 passen- gers a day and handled nearly 4000 pieces of baggage a ‘month. At the outset one senger coach was con- sidered sufficient for the business, but when the road was completed it was found necessary to purchase two more coaches, and shortly afterward two sleepers were added to the passenger equipment. Four more engines were also found necessary, and the road is now equipped with nine. The business has grown so rapidly that the road has been forced to increase its facili- | ties, in equipment, sidings and ter- minals, threefold over what it was at firsst thought would be necessary. In November of last year the Tono- pah Railroad Company was notifled by the Southern Pacific Company that it would at once begin to broad gauge its C. and C. line from Moundhouse to Sodaville and that this work would be completed in three months. The Tono- pah Company had just placed an order for three new narrow gauge engines, and this order was canceled. On ac- count of the freight blockade which occurred on the C. and C. early in the winter, the Southern Pacific Company was unable to carry out its plans with- in the time specified, and it will prob- ably be ninety days more before the C. and C. is broad gauged to Sodaville. In the meantime the Tonopah Railroad Company has been broadening its grade and placing broad gauge ties under the rails of its line from Soda- ville to Tonopah. This work is now | practically done, and by the time the | broad gauging of the C. and C. is com- pleted to its junction point with the Tonopah railroad, the latter will be ready to spread its rails, and the work can be accomplished in twenty-four hours. The Tonopah Raflroad Com- pany has nine broad gauge engines lying at Sparks ready for service. Three of these engines belong to the Goldfleld extemsion, which is now graded to within five miles of Gold- field. If the rails and other material are delivered promptly, the Goldfield line will be ready to handle business by the time the Tonopah railread is broad gauged to Tonopah. At the present time a passenger train is run each way daily Soda- ville and Tonopah, and three freight trains, consisting of about twelve cars, are run each way every day. The freight trafic from Sodaville is about 10,000 tons a month, and no “empties™ are sent back, all cars being loaded with ore. About 70 per cent of the Incoming freight goes to the southrward by mule teams for Goldfleld, Bullfrog and the other camps now springing up all over Southwestern Nevada. The equipment of the broad gauge road will be the equal of that of any raflrcad in the country. A through Pullman sleeper will be run from Oakland to Tonopah and Goldfield. The broad gauge will handle four times the amount of traffic now handled by the narrow gauge and the country will furnish it. —_————— ' NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING. & James F. O'Brien Makes a Phemomenal Success of the Goldfield News. “The value of proper newspaper ad- vertising was never better iHustrated than . in the brief history of Goldfleld. ‘When it was a camp of but three tents and ‘a frame shack it was visited by James F. O'Brien, a newspaper man, who had come to Tonopah from Colo- rado some six months before. Acting upon the faith that was in him, Mr. O'Brien immediately started to herald to the world the possibilities of Goldfield. Every spara moment was devoted to sending corre- spondence to the leading papers of tha country. He infused a spirit of con- viction into his writings and the out- side pavers, usually skeptica® regard- ing new mining camps, printed his stuff and called for more. Finally Goldfleld grew to where needed a newspaper. Working for noth- ing is not conducive to fattening a pocketbook and Mr. O’'Brien was prac- tleally in that econdition which i usually referred to as being “brok: But the boys went on his note for $500, a small plant was bought and on April 29, 1904, he issved the first nub- ber of the Goldfield News. To-day he has a lot, building and plant worth over -$15,000, and the business pays a good rate of Interest on a capitalization of $100,000. The Goldfleld News has subscribers in nearly every State in the Union and six foreign countries. It is possibly the most conspicuous success in the his- tory of mining camp journalizes. There is no better adverti: camp in the world to-day than Goldfjeld, and @ the News and Mr. O'Brien’ is given the it situated in an ad- just west of the opened up