IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) fe A ^6 1.0 I.I Ui 1^ III 2.2 J»^ Ij^ lill^i it" lio iiijzo 1.8 1.25 1.4 iir-^ ^ 6" - ► 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY 14580 (71*) 872-4503 i 4r, f<^^4^. :^ I/. Ip ;V v> 1 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques T«chnical and Bibliographic Notaa/Notas tachniquaa at bibiiographiquaa Tha Inatituta haa attamptad to obtain tha baat originai copy availabia for filming. Faaturaa of thia copy which may ba bibiiographically uniqua. which may altar any of tha imagaa in tha raproduction. or which may aignificantly changa tha uaual mathod of filming, ara chaclcad balow. 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Laa dAtaiia da cat axamplaira qui aont paut-Atra uniquaa du point da vua bibliographiqua. qui pauvant modifiar una imaga raproduita, ou qui pauvant axigar una modification dana la mAthoda norrnala da filmaga aont indiquto ci-daaaoua. □ Colourad pagai/ Pagaa da coulaur n n n D Pagaa damagad/ Pagaa andommagAaa Pagaa raatorad and/or laminatad/ Pagaa raataurtea at/ou pailiculAaa Pagaa diacolourad, atainad or foxad/ Pagaa dAcoiordaa, tachatAaa i u piquAaa Pagaa datachad/ Pagaa dAtach6aa Shovi/through/ Tranaparanca I I Quality of print variaa/ Quality InAgala da I'impraaaion Includaa aupplamantary matarial/ Comprand du material aupplAmantaira r~| Only adition availabia/ Saula idition diaponibia Pagaa wholly or partially obacurad by arrata alipa. tiaauaa, ate, hava baan rafilmad to anaura tha baat poaaibia imaga/ Laa pagaa totalamant ou partiallamant obacurciaa par un fauillat d'arrata, una palura, ate, ont At A filmAaa A no^jvaau da fa9on h obtanir la maillaura imaga poaaibia. 7 t( 1 f C fa ti ii G f S 7 s 7 V d a b ri ri n Thia itam Is filmad at tha raduction ratio chackad balow/ Ca documant ast film* au taux da reduction indiqu* ci-dassous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X „ y 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X Th» copy filmed h«r« has b««n r«produc«d thanks to tha ganarosity of: Library Division Provincial Archives of British Columbia L'axamplaira film* f ut raproduit grAca A la gAnArosit* da: Library Division Provincial Archives of British Columbia Tha imagas appaaring hara ara tha bast quality possibia considaring tha condition and lagibility of tha original copy and in kaaping with tha filming contract spacifications. Original copias in printad papar covars ara filmad beginning with tha front covar and anding on tha last paga with a printad or illustratad impras- iion. or tha back covar whan appropriate. All othar original copias ara filmad beginning on the first paga with a printed or illustrated Impres- sion, and anding on the last paga with a printed or illustrated impression. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Les images suivantes ont *t4 raproduites avac la plus grand soin. compta tenu de la condition at da la nettet* de Texemplaira film*, et en conformity avac las conditions du contrat de filmaga. Les exemplairas originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimAe sont filmAs en commengant par la premier plat et en terminant soit par la darnlAre paga qui comporta una empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration. soit par la second plat, salon le cas. 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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 12 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 nppi "II .' i^ ^i I 50 CENTS ^ A WEEK A MINING EDUCATION COMPLETE \ The Correspondence School of Mines is making .in of[i;r unheard of in the history of education. For fs down and $2 a month, we give an education in mining not to be had in any other school in the world. You study at home, and earn a living at the same time. Hun- dreds of miners and prospectors have been helped to better things by our courses. SIX MINING COURSES J. THE METAL PROSPECTORS' SCHOLARSHIP x— is intended for metal prospectors, resi- ^ (|iialiii(.s to prospect economically dents of metal-mining districts, and \ ) and successfully, do assaying and all others interested in metal miniiiK \ > blow-piping, ind open and work or prospecting. ^ pl.tcer mines. 2. THE METAL-MINING SCHOLARSHIP:— is intended for metal miners, mine managerT', foremen, mill ^ fr.reincn, officers nf milling companies, mine owners, metallurgists, quarrymen, etc. i> a complete education in metal mi- nine and the related sciences ; and qualifies to successfully manage ore and placer mines. Gives all up- to-date methods. 3. THE FULL MINING SCHOLARSHIP: is intended for mining engineers, mine officials, miners, and dll persons interested in any branch of mining whatever. includes both coal and metal mining, and is the most complete, comprehen- sive, and thorough mining coursein the world. It includes all other courses. 4. THE MINE MECHANICAL SCHOLARSHIP : is intended for stationary engineers, % pump runners, mine carpenters, black- % smiths, weighmasters, firemen, and % others in charge of mine machinery. ^ qualifies to operate, set up, and repair boilers, engines, mine machinery in- side and out, and dynamos, motors, and other electrical appliances. 5. THE COMPLETE COAL-MINING SCHOLARSHIP:— is intended for ambitious miners, mine officials, surveyors, clerks, etc., who wish to rise in the cual-mining business. quajifics to fill any position about a colliery, or to pass examinations for any license up to State inspector's. 6. THE SHORT COAL-MINING SCHOLARSHIP:— is intended for miners and ofTicials who have little time to study (qualifies to pass examinations for licenses, and to manage coal mines. FREE ASSAY COUPONS Don't spend your hard-earned money in assay offices. Each Metal-Pros- pecting, Metal-Mining, and Full Mining student receives Twenty Free Assay Coupons. Each coupon entitles him to a P'ree Assay. Write for particulars. InvMtinte Our Methods. Send for the name of a student in your vicinity. VVe have students in all parts of the world. Call on him and find out more about us. Send for Circular of Information describing the Mining Courses. We also have 39 other cour es which may interest you. Address Tbe Correspondence School of Mines Scranton, Pa, ^ \k '■sf i IV i 1 ■^ W ^ W 'J o»,/^Up H'tvJ^ <:: y^tM^ n-«5-p tlU^ >^-J ' ii mmmmmmmm m Hi |> n |M m ^ n »ii . l iiK ^g^WjO WlH W t»» WBi» 4*, V '\''^'5£!iBiai.^'ii-.^., ^ ■ ^ 1 > I 8 1 Xi V \ s^» .«,^ >^**^'^"": f^:avira""'*^- ttlTT' Ff iii< limmmmmamtiimm THE OM^IKHV KNOINfcCliW COMl'ANV'S MAI' Ul' THIS YUKON V. A" ! ^ -. ' ' • t4 4 /40 /36 /J2 /2& /Z4 n- Tllli YUKON VAI.I.i:V. SIHJWIm; WOUTliS TO THK CJOLO KIELDS. r . / Ic ' t" 0^ 'i--- I II l\ ■ •'^ i > %V^. M l«JL } O.^^:^: ^.-.: ., ^ st teji^m t>tm»iii>imti^^ *^ * »^ ' ^^ • ■ Mart^afaaife Jw i irtW »a; p.<<'' i i hiitfWWa rt«At I II I ii i i * ^ V!^>-- 'V Bismuth Pkpsin and Nux Vomica. — For indigestion or dyspepsia. One or two before each meal. Bichloride Tablets, Compressed Antiseptic Tablets (Poison). — (These are poisonous if swallowed; the solution made from them is poisonous if swallowed). One dissolved in 1 pint of water to wash out any wound or sore that has pus or matter in it. Bathe for 5 minutes. One dissolved in 1 quart of water for any fresh cut or sore. Bathe for 5 minutes. After washing with this solution a sore, wound, or any place where the skin is broken, cover the place with five or six layers of iodoform gauze, right next the sore, and out- side this plenty of cotton, and bandage or plaster to hold it in place. Wounds or sores that are festering (forming pus or mat- ter) should be dressed once or twice daily, according to the amount of discharge; those that are not forming matter or pus need not be dressed oftener than every three days. Carbolic Salve. — A good dressing for burns, chafes, and small cuts and frost-bites. The Best Liniment for Bruises. — Very hot water con- stantly applied, kept very hot, for 3 or 4- hours at a time Citric Acid. — Dissolve in water to make lemonade in case of scurvy. A pinch to glass of water. Lead Acetate, 12-Grain Opium Powders. — For lead and opium wash or liniment. It is made by boiling for 10 minutes 1 pint of water containing 1 heaping teaspoonful of lead acetate and 1 (12-grain) opium powder. Apply cot- ton saturated with this — hot, and change it as often as it cools; keep it hot (paper over dressing helps this). An excellent dressing or liniment for painful bruises or swell- ings, sprained joint, swollen testicle, painful bruise from fall, PLACER MINTNCt. 11 iigestion or ic Tablets the solution le dissolved re that has resh cut or md, or any with five or 'e, and out- ;r to hold it >us or mat- ding to the ling matter ree days. chafes, and water con- t a time ;monade in — For lead iling for 10 spoonful of Apply cot- often as it this). An i or swell- ;e from fall, kick, or blow. It is not good for extensive raw surface as large cut or burn. Monsell's Salts for Hemorrhacies. — In quantities in accordance with the person's liability to attacks of the trouble. Two drams iodoform, 50 quinine pills, ^ dozen assorted bandages, 1 pound of listerine (for cuts, burns, colds, sore throat, etc.), 1 small roll of surgeon's plaster, and some antiseptic gauze dressing for wounds. Surgeons' Lint. — One yard. Absorbent Cotton. — Four ounces. Mustard Plasters. — One-half dozen. Minnie AI. SUGGESTIONS. For many constitutions, the bracing effect of a trip to northern latitudes is positively beneficial. Snow and ice are not in themselves by any means injurious to the physi- cal health of the average native of the temperate zone. They may be disagreeable, but they are not unhealthful, unless the soil of the district where they occur is of a nature to retain dampness. Clays are bad in this respect; gravelly soils are safe. Scientific records have well established that the average duration of human life is greater in proportion as the resi- dence is advanced from the equator towards the poles. There are exceptions, of course, but only such as prove the general rule. There is more risk of disease by far in a voy- age to India or Panama than in one to Bering Straits. Climate, however, is not the only thing to be considered, when there is question, in a medical sense, of the risks of a distant and laborious expedition undertaken by a multitude of persons, widely differing, as all multitudes must, in the capacity of individuals for standing hardship and privations. 12 PLACER MINING. To the weak, or those disposed to special ailments, condi- tions which are only invigorating to the man in average health are often absolutely fatal. Weak hearts and weak lungs can not face northern blasts or temperatures below zero. Rheumatism and its kindred affections are equally ill fitted for such tests! Nor are such persons, whether young or old, as have been long accustomed to purely sed- entary occupations, or of lives of ease and luxury, physi- cally fitted for the hardships of the Klondike. In the form- er, the vital and resistive powers have never been developed ; in the latter they have been sapped. Weak eyes would be se- verely tested by the glare of a snow-covered land, and blind- ness is but one of the dangers to be feared by Arctic explo' rs. In brief, we would say that persons subject to troubles of the heart, throat, or lungs should stay away from the Klondike. Physical exhaustion, colds, scurvy, rheumatism, and snow blindness are the chief dangers to be apprehended on the trip from a medical standpoint. For the healthy in other respects than those mentioned, there is no more danger to be dreaded than in any ordinary change of resi- dence. Alaska is not in itself more unhealthy than Illinois, Norway, or the northern part of Scotland. Only those that are able to bear hardships should face them, but as far as hygienic conditions go, there need be no special appre- hension on the score of Alaska. In conclusion, those of weak lungs and weak hearts, and sedentary people generally, are advised to stay at home. The others may balance their chances without need of doctor's advice. CAMPING ANI> TRAVELIl^G. Establish camp rules, especially regarding the food. Al- lot rations, those while idle to be less than when at work, and also pro rata during heat and cold. Pitch the tent on top of the snow, pushing the poles and pegs down into it. PLACER MINING. 13 While some are busily engaged in building a fire and making a bed, let the best cook of the party prepare the supper. If you have no stove, build a camp-fire, either on an exposed point of rock or in a hole dug in the snow ; if you have a stove, arrange it on a " gridiron " inside the tent, the grid- iron consisting of three poles some six or eight feet long, and laid on the snow, on which the stove is placed. The heat from the snow will soon melt a hole underneath, but there will be enough firm snow under the ends of the poles to hold it up. For the bed, cut hemlock brush and lay it on the snow to the depth of a foot or more, and cover this with a large square ^i canvas, on which blankets and robes are put. When finished, it forms a natural spring bed, which will offer grateful rest after hauling a sled all day. In all except the most sheltered locations, the tent is neces- sary for comfort, and the stove gives better satisfaction than the cam.p-fire, and as it needs but little wood, is easier to cook over, and does not poison the eyes with smoke. There are fewer cases of snow blindness among those who use stoves than among those who crowd around a smoking camp-fire for cooking or warmth. Comfort in making a trip of this kind will depend, in a great measure, upon the conveniences of camping, suitable clothing, and light, warm bedding. Choose your bunk as far from the tent door as possible, and keep a fire hole open near your camp. If by any chance you are traveling across a plain (no trail) and a fog comes up, or a blinding snowstorm, either of which will prevent you taking your bearings, camp, and don't move for anything until all is clear again. Travel as much on clear ice as possible. Don't try to pull sledges over snow, especially if soft or crusty. White snow over a crevasse, if hard, is safe; yellow, or dirty color, never. Press the trig- ger of your rifle. Don't pull it. Don't catch hold of the 14 PLACER MINING. barrel when 'M) degrees below zero is registered. Watch out for getting snow in the barrel. If you do, don't shoot it out. Shoot a dog, if you have to, behind the base of the skull; a horse, between the ears, ranging downwards; a deer behind the left shoulder or in the head. If you can not finish your rations for one day, don't put back any part, but put it into vour personal canvas outfit bag. You will need it later, no doubt. Don't waste a single ounce of anything, even if you don't like it. Put it away, and it will come handy when you will like it. If it is ever necessary to cache a load of provisions, put all articles next to the ground which will be most affected by heat, providing, at the same time, that dampness will not affect their food properties to any great extent. After piling your stuff, load it over care- fully with heavy rocks. Take your compass-bearings, and also note in your memoranda some landmarks near by, and also the direction in which they lie from your cache; i. e., make your cache, if possible, come between exactly north and south of two given prominent marks, so that you can find it. From the close of navigation by the freezing up of the lakes and rivers, the only means of travel is by dog trains. The dog used for this work is large, gaunt, long-haired, and wolfish, and will make 50 to 70 miles a day with a load that a man could scarcely haul at a walk. Six dogs make a good team, though a man and a dog or two dogs are often seen. The native packers often have as many as a dozen in a pack. The regular rule of the Hudson Bay packers is about 100 pounds Lo the dog, and six dogs in a team. The dogs weigh from -lO to 70 pounds. They are well trained and do not get sore feet, as do " tenderfoot " dogs taken into the country. They are fed on cheap bacon, horse meat, corn meal, or anything that is cheap and eatable. Dogs taken in from > irmer climates are apt to get footsore, and PLACER MINING. 15 tire out and be of no use. It requires an expert dog hand- ler to get along with a dog team, and unless conditions are favorable, it is hardly worth while for a novice to make the experiment. CARB OF FURS AND CLOTHING. Keep your furs in good repair. One little slit may cause you untold agony during a march in a heavy storm. You can not tell when such will be the case. If your furs get wet, dry them in a medium temperature. Don't hold them near a fire. Keep your sleeping bag clean. If it be- comes inhabited, freeze the inhabitants out. Keep all your draw-strings on clothing in good repair. Don't forget to use your goggles when the sun is bright on snow. A fellow is often tempted to leave them off. Don't you do it. A little dry grass or hay in the inside of your mitts, next your hands, will promote great heat, especially when it gets damp from the moisture of your hands. After the mitts are re- moved from the hands, remove the hay from the mitts and dry it. Failing that, throw it away. Be sure, during the winter, to watch your footgear carefully. Change wet stockings before they freeze, or you may lose a toe or foot. When your nose is bitterly cold, stuff both nostrils with fur, cotton, wool, or anything to prevent the inside of your nose and throat from becoming frostbitten. The cold will cease. Don't eat snow or ice. Go thirsty until you can melt it. No man can continuously drag more than his own weight. In cases of extreme cold at toes and heel, wrap a piece of fur over each extremity. Remember success fol- lows economy and persistency on an expedition like ^'ours. And take warning — let no man go into the Yukon who can not endure hardship, who can not work with pick and shovel for ten hours, who can not carry a pack, and who can not take a full outfit with him. •m^ CHAPTER III. YUKON MINERS' OUTFIT. PRELIMINARY SUGGBSTIONS. In addition to the medicine chest described in the prece- ding chapter, the following is a list of supplies necessary for one man for one year in the Klondike mining region. All authorities are agreed that those who go with less will be tempting fate. The requirements in clothing, food, and miners' outfitting in general are peculiar, and differ for the Yukon district from all other mining countries. The extreme long, cold winters, short, hot summers, and other points have to be considered. Outfits should be pur- chased in Tacoma, or Seattle, or other Puget Sound ports. The markets there offer everything mentioned below, in good quality and at reasonable prices. The merchants understand the trade and will select and put up an outfit, large or small, and unless a man knows what he wants, the best thing he can do is to name the price he can afford to pay and leave the selection to the merchant. This is pos- sible, because there are manufactured the flour, bacon, evap ited fruits and vegetables, blankets, special Alaska clotb ,>^% boots, shoes, sleds, stoves, tents, boats, and, in fact, nixie-tenths of the staples used in Alaska. Large stocks of goods are also carried at Juneau. PROVISIONS. One hundred and fifty pounds entire wheat flour; 50 pounds corn meal; 100 pounds hardtack; 50 pounds germea; 25 pounds rice; 75 pounds Bayo beans; 50 pounds peeled and evaporated potatoes ; 10 pounds evaporated onions ; 50 pounds PLACER MINING. 17 he prece- essary for fion. All ss will be Food, and nd differ [countries, ners, and d be pur- nd ports, below, in nerchants an outfit, .^ants, the afford to is is pos- r, bacon, il Alaska , and, in Large flour; 50 germea; eeled and >0 pounds dried soup vegetables; 5 pounds split peas; 50 pounds of stoned and dried fruit (apples, peaches, plums, prunes, apricots, and raisins) ; one hundred pounds boneless bacon ; 50 pounds chipped beef; 5 pounds compressed soup and beef extract ; 30 pounds canned lard ; 30 pounds canned butter ; 5 pounds coffee extract ; 20 pounds compressed tea ; 40 pounds loaf sugar; 15 pounds salt; 1 pound white pepper, ground; 7 pounds baking powder; 2 pounds soda; G packages yeast cakes; 1 pound mustard; ^ pound ginger; 20 pounds con- densed milk; 2 pounds evaporated vinegar or citric acid; 40 pounds candles; 7 pounds laundry soap; 5 cakes tar toilet soap; 1 pound of matches. In making purchases, it is well to observe the suggestion that the very best articles that can be purchased are none too good, and will more than repay the purchaser in the long run. Germea is selected in preference to oatmeal, because containing nutriment in a more condensed form, and because it is a very quickly pre- pared dish. Tea is far preferable in the winter cold than coffee. SHBI.TER. One 10 ft. X 12 ft. wall tent, made of 8-ounce duck or heavy drill, will make very satisfactory temporary quarters for four men. In lieu of a tent, a remarkably ingenious affair called a *' Klondike Home " has been devised by Arthur F. Howes, of Seattle, Wash. These "homes," which cost $200, and weigh about 130 pounds, are built of aluminum. They are intended for two people, but, it is claimed, will house four and even six. It is said that the homes can be put up in an hour or less, and taken down and put in bundles in the same time. The frame is made of steel tubing, "telescoping" into the posts, which in turn are packed into the stove funnel, and this is put into a canvas cover for protection in transit. The material which forms the walls and roof is aluminum. The stove is of sheet steel, packed in a canvas 1 1 I I I I 18 PLACER MINING. bag to allow easy handling, and there are no sharp corners to cut into the carrier. It has two six-inch rounds on the top, and an oven of sufficient size, around which all the heat must pass. A copper-bottom boiler and a tea kettle are packed inside the fire-box, and there is room in this and in the oven to pack food and cooking utensils. The roof and walls of the " home" are packed into the bed, a sort of flat hammock, which when in use as a bed supports two people three feet above the floor. The frame is held together by connections resembling pipe fittings. This is covered with sheet aluminum, so lapped and fitted together that it is water and weather proof. It is guyed from the upper corners, like a tent. Hooks are provided on which to hang clothing, etc. A shelf along the side serves as a table. The bed is folded and used as a bench seat during the day. The windows are of transparent celluloid and are practically indestructible. The "homes" are ft. in. long X 5 ft. G in. wide X G ft. 6 in. high. CLOTHING. Those who have never wintered in the Arctic regions have no conception of the intense cold it is necessary to protect against. This lack of realization is doubtless responsible for the absolute insufficiency and uselessness of what is offered as a Klondike clothing outfit by some clothiers. It is winter that one must think of in preparing, not sum- mer. For clothing, then, take the following: 3 suits heavy woolen underwear; pairs heavy double-foot wool socks; 1 pair double-foot German woolen socks; 1 pair Cana- dian laragans or shoe-packs; 3 pairs seamless felt ankle moccasins; 2 pairs heavy snag-proof, leather soled, nail- protected, hip rubber boots, for summer work in water; 2 pairs specially made prospector's shoes; 2 heavy flannel shirts ; 2 suits corduroy ; 2 pairs pantaloons (one of stout, PLACER MINING. 10 moderately heavy cloth for summer wear, the other of a lighter, close-woven cloth, which should be quilted with cotton batting a half-inch thick in the seat and over the thighs and knees, for winter use) ; 2 pairs stout riveted over- alls, one felt-lined; 1 pair heavy Giant Buckle suspenders; 2 vests; 1 cloth sack coat; 2 heavy overall jumpers; 1 coat of wool cloth; 1 coat made of skin dressed with the hair on. The last named should be turned inside. For material, short hair, coarse wool, or sheepskin is excellent, and should not be expensive. For those who desire it, this coat can be made of deerskin with the hair outside and lining of squirrel or cat skins; 1 wool neck-scarf; 1 scarf or belt to draw coat tight around waist in cold weather ; 2 pairs boots made of deerskin, hair outside, ' reenforced leather sole, sewed or pegged on, not nailed. The tops should extend above the knee and be laced tight there. They should be large enough to take in the foot covered with two pairs of socks, or with one pair and felt moccasins, and to take in the legs of the quilted pantaloons. The top of the boot need not be lined with fur. One heavy rubber- lined coat or mackintosh ; 2 heavy woolen sweaters: 1 suit oil clothing; 2 fur caps, with fur-lined ear-laps; 1 wide-brimmed felt hat; 3 pairs heavy wool caribou mitts; I pair unlined leather work gloves; 1 pair snow-shoes; 1 pair snow-glasses; G towels; 2 dozen best quality bandana handkerchiefs; 10 yards mosquito netting, or 1 bee hat; 1 pair heaviest woolen blankets; 1 fur robe for sled travel and sleeping outdoors. This should be 4 ft. X G ft. , with the outside covered with heavy woolen cloth and arranged like a bag by being made from a piece G f t. X 8 ft. , doubled and sewed at each edge, except one. The end which is left open should be sewed about G inches toward the c^^nter from each side, and puckering strings arranged to draw the hole up close; 1 sheet light-weight Ih 20 PLACER MINING. I ill k f i rubber waterproof cloth 12 feet square; several rubber bags or packing cases should be purchased in which to carry per- ishable goods; compass, pocket comb, mirror, toothbrush, toilet paper, etc. In addition, there should be a small lot of repair materials — needles, thread, buttons, buckskin, shoe- maker's awl and wax, boot-sole nails, rubber cement, rubber patching, etc. HARDWARE, I2TC. One sheet-iron stove, folding, if possible, and pipe, the latter in flat sheets, with seam edge crimped for joining, or in three lengths, telescoping; 1 fry pan, with folding handle; 2 pots, 8-quart and G-quart, with cover and bail; 1 kettle; 1 galvanized water bucket; 1 small riveted teapot; Ji pans for bread baking, sizes to nest together; 3 soup-plates, blue or granite ware; 2 cups, blue or granite ware, sizes to nest; 1 can opener; table-knife; fork; tea and soup spoons; 1 large mixing spoon; 1 bread or butcher knife. To save weight and for ease in cleaning, aluminum ware is very much to be preferred for the cooking utensils. A combined rifle and shotgun and ammunition ; 1 large two-blade hunt- ing knife ; fishing tackle and hooks ; 1 oO-ft. tape ; 1 gold pan ; 1 gold scales; 2 3^-pound picks, with large eye; 3 handles for same; 1 drifting pick and handle; 1 long handle miner's shovel (spring point) ; 1 short handle miner's shovel (spring point); 1 scythe stone; 1 pack strap; 1 American ax; 1 hatchet, hammer head, claw; 1 blacksmith hammer; 8-inch files and 2 taper files; 1 5^-ft. whipsaw, for getting out lumber ; 1 26-in. Disston cross-cut handsaw ; 1 rip handsaw ; 3 chisels, including 1 calking chisel; 1 brace and bits; 1 folding draw-knife; 1 saw set and file; 1 square; 1 jack- plane; 20 pounds spikes; 2 pairs 8-inch strap-butts; 200 feet ^-inch manilla waterproof rope ; 8 pounds of pitch ; 5 pounds of oakum; nails, five pounds each of 0, 8, 10, and 12 penny; PLACER MINING. U bags per- "ush, ot of ihoe- ibber plumb, level, chalk lines. In addition, each man in the party will require a Yukon sleigh, a skeleton affair made from the best hard wood and shod with ground brass run- ners. It is 7 feet 3 inches long and 10 inches wide, just the proper width to track behind snowshoes, and its cost is from 17 to $14. Brass is preferable to iron for the shoes, as it slides more easily through the fine, dry snow one finds in the early spring. The list looks long and the bulk very considerable, yet there is not an unnecessary article in it. If, however, sev- eral men propose to travel together and work in partnership, only a small portion of the kitchen outfit and tools require duplication. Some game and fish may be taken, so that the use of the full quantity of subsistence suggested may not be required ; but it is far safer to provide the full amount than to risk the success of getting game. The total weight of the outfit is about 1,500 pounds, and the cost about $350. After purchasing his outfit and paying for his ticket to Dyea or Skagway, the would-be gold miner should have from 1200 to $500 to pay incidental expenses during his first year in the Yukon Valley. One thousand dollars would be a far safer figure. DUTIES OIV OUTFITS. Many different reports having gone out concerning the amount of exemption to miners which has been granted by the Canadian Government, it may be well to state that in- structions have been issued by the Canadian Government exempting from all duty miners' blankets, personal clothing in use, and broken packages of provisions being used, also cooking utensils in use, and 100 pounds of food for the jour- ney, charging ordinary customs duty on everything in ex- cess of this amount. The duty on a $350 outfit will amount to from $50 to $70. 1,s ''I i it •in i t CHAPTER IV. ROUTES TO THE YUKON GOLD FIELDS. RKCIilVT UI2VI:L0PMKNT». Gold, and the search for gold, ofttimes make a wonder- ful change in the face of nature. Before the rich discov- eries on the Klondike, Alaska was a land of slow-going old settlements, typical of all that was leisurely and ancient. A few steamers starting from Tacoma, the head of naviga- tion on Puget Sound, and stopping at Seattle, Victoria, Vancouver, and other Puget Sound ports, sufficed to take care of the trade in supplies, furs, fish, and occasional pros- pecting parties, and made up the life of the community at the extreme southerly edge and only inhabited portion of that vast territory. With the spreading of the news of the disct)very of gold on the Klondike River began to come the crowdii of eager gold seekers, by hundreds and then by thousands, f roui every quarter of the world, and at the principal Puget Sound ports, instead of the comparatively uneventful sailing of a steamer about once a week to care for the traffic in supplies, ores, fish, furs, and the few travelers back and forth, with the added interest in the summer months of the tourist ex cursions, now the docks present a scene of bustle and excite- ment. The crowds of gold seekers, with their outfits, their pack ponies, or dogs, the friends who go down to bid them good-by, and the rush and hurry in getting aboard the ves- sel's freight, make quite a different picture from the sailing of an Alaskan steamer a year ago. Along the streets of the cities are displayed " Klondike" outfits, Alaska clothing, sleds, sleeping bags, miners' tools, condensed foods for the PLACER MININCi. 33 Arctic rejjfions, j^okl pans, rifles and revolvers, dust belts, and the many other articles that ^o to make up a prospec- tor's outfit, all looked upon with interest by the passing crowds in the streets. In the shops, workmen are busy build- ing Yukon sleds, camp stoves, and other equipment for the prospector, and the stamp of '* Klondike" is seen upon every line of industry. Parties are flocking into the cities by every train, to await the time to start for the north in February or March, and groups of them may be seen talking over the various fields, the prospects and chances, a'nd the expe- rienced miner giving the tenderfoot points on outdoor life. At Juneau, many of those who failed to get over the pass in the fall are waiting for the spring, and at Dyea, Skagway, Fort Wrangel, and Sitka, others are awaiting the lengthen- ing days of February to be off to the Klondike, the Copper River, the Pelly, the Tanana, the MacMillan, the Munook, and the dozen other fields where rich finds are reported, and the first of March will see a rush of gold hunters into the country such as has seldom been seen in any former gold-mining excitement in the history of the world. THE FIRST OBJECTIVE POINT. As nearly all Alaskan steamers sail from Puget Sound ports (Tacoma, Seattle, Victoria, Vancouver, etc.), one of these cities will be the first objective point. If the would- be prospector is a citizen of the United States, he will probably go to either Tacoma or Seattle, which are near neighbors, both in the State of Washington ; if he be a Canadian citizen, he will naturally go to Victoria or Van- couver. Rates from New York City to Puget Sound points vary from ^02.75, the lowest second-class rate, to $81.25 for first- class. Meals and berths are not included in these figures. Berths from New York to Puget Sound points are $9. The m I n 24 PLACER MINING. Union Pacific, Northern Pacific, Great Northern, and Cana- dian i'acific lines are the principal competing roads. All of these lines have offices in New York. The cheapest way of getting from New York to the Pacific Coast is by steamer from New York to New Orleans, thence by the Southern Pacific to San Francisco. The cost of a ticket by this route, including steerage berth and meals on steamer and second- class passage by rail, is $54.50, From Puget Sound points there are at present nine known routes to the Yukon gold fields. As the Chilkoot Pass route is the most important and the most generally traveled of these routes, we will describe that first, reserving the description of the other routes for a sub- sequent chapter. THE CHILKOOT PASS ROUTE. The shortest route to the basin of the Yukon, and the one which has been taken by nearly nine-tenths of all the gold seekers who have thus far gone to the interior, is that via the Chilkoot Pass (see map). The details of this route are as follows: From Puget Sound ports to Juneau, 900 miles. — This portion of the journey can be taken at any time of the year. There are usually several steamers each way every week i)etween Puget Sound ports and Juneau. The trip usually takes five or six days. Rates at hotels and restaurants in Juneau are about the same as in any city. The fare from Puget Sound ports to Juneau, including berth and meals, is, first-class, $32; steerage, $17. One hundred and fifty pounds of baggage are allowed each passenger, and excess baggage is carried at $9 per ton. In the summer season, passage can be obtained direct from Puget Sound ports to Dyea, with- out changing at Juneau. From Juneau to Dyea (or Taiya), 101 miles. — Ordinarily, PLACER MINING. U passage over this portion of the route can be obtained within a day or so after arrival in Juneau; but as the small boats run irregularly, quick connections can not always be depended upon. The fare from Juneau to Dyea is $8 to $10, and if the weather is fair and the load light, the trip is made in twelve hours. The landing process at Dyea is long and tedious. There is no deep water near shore. The tide at the head of the long and narrow estuary rises and falls twenty-three feet, and the beach is long and flat. Hence, everything must be taken ashore in lighters and surf-boats, which make long trips with each load. Horses are dumped into the water to wade ashore. The responsibility of the steamship company ends at the anchorage, but it uses its boats and crews to help get passengers and freight ashore. As soon as possible after landing, the freight is sorted and carried out of reach of tidewater. Most miners camp near by in the edge of the woods, perhaps taking one or two meals at a restaurant ; others find both board and lodging until they are ready to push on. Now, for the first time, the miner begins to size up his belongings, and begins to realize that a proper outfit for a trip of this kind is the result of experience, and the longer he has been in this coun- try and the more thoroughly he knows it, just so much more care is used in the selection and packing of his outfit. A careful and thorough examination should be made to see that nothing has been lost or forgotten. Towns of five thousand inhabitants have grown up be th at Dyea rid at Skagway, five miles below. vj OVKR THIC CHILKOOT PASS THI2 IVKW W VY. The pioblemof how to rapidly and cheaply transport pas- sengers and freight over the Chilkoot Pass to the headwaters of the Yukon has been solved in an unexpected but entirely I > M i- 20 PLACER MINING. practical manner. Heretofore, getting over this pass has been the most dangerous and difficult part of the Yukon journey. Men have had to either carry their heavy outfits a distance of twenty-five miles over the i)ass, involving lug- ging them up steep hills with an aggregate elevation of 3,500 feet, or pay large sums to the Indians for taking them over. This has required a great deal of hard work when the miner's time was most valuable, or necessitated the ex- penditure of such large sums in getting over that few men could afford it. Men who have done their own packing have been tired* and worn out on caching the lakes, and some have given up on reaching Lake Linde- man. This situation will be quite changed by the C^ilkoot Rail- road and Transport Company, which expects to have its transportation system in operation by February, 1898, in time for the early spring rush over the pass. Miners and prospectors can then disembark from the steamers at Dyea, and in twenty-four hours find themselves with their outfits at Lake Lindeman. Boats, sleds, and dogs can be taken over as readily as flour and beans, so that on reaching Lake Lindeman the miner has only to pack his sled, launch his boat, or harness his dog team, and be ready to start down the lakes. The great majority of miners will have neither dogs nor boats, but on reaching Lake Lindeman will proceed to haul their sleds over the ice to the foot of Lake Lebarge, where they will build boats and be ready to start down the river as soon as the ice ]:)reaks. The Chilkoot Railroad and Transport Company is now (December, 18'.>7) comi)leting a railroad cigiit mile, ii' length from Dyea to the mouth of Dyea Canyon. Betwee'i the mouth oi the c myon and Crater Lake, on the other side of the summit, two aerial tramways, each four miles in PLACER MINING. 'Z7 ,.- length, will be operated. The contract for these aerial tram- ways has been let to the Trenton (New Jersey) Iron Works, which has built over a hundred of them now in successful operation in the United States, Mexico, Central and vSouth America. The longest one in the w^r'd, twelve miles in ]'"n[;*h, was recently built by the same company in the if'vji.. Hayti. One tramway on Chilkoot Pass will reach through Uyea Canyon to Sheep Camp, with a rise of 1,000 feet in four miles. The other will extend from Sheep Camp to Crater Lake, with a rise of 2,500 feet to the summit of the pass, and a decline of 500 feet between the summit and Crater Lake Over V) miles of the best steel-wire cable will be used in the construction of these tramways, which will be supported by solid iron supports placed every 100 feet. The power station, to develop 50 horsepower, will be located at vSheep Camp. This power v ']] operate the tramways rapidly, giving them a daily ca" .city n 120 tons, or outfits for 200 men. Special carnage;: ?,' i ■; provided for carrying passengers. The Trenton Iron 'orks is under contract to have this system of tramways :i o') nation by January 15, and beginning then the Chilkoot Railroad and Transport C, le line connecting Dyea and Lake Lindeman is being constructed, ensuring the operation of the transpor- tation system to the best advantage. It will also enable men crossing the pass to communicate with either end or intermediate stations. I i' ^:f 28 PLACER MINING. OVER THE CHII^KOUT I»ASS- THE OLO WAY. From Dyea to the Sheep Camp, Vi miles. — Two days are generally consumed in making this part of the journey, although it is possible to make '" one. The first five miles of the journey, from Dyea to mouth of the can- yon, can be made by canoe during pai ts of April and Sep- tember and all of May, June, July, and August, or on the ice at other seasons of the year. Dyea Canyon is about two miles long, and can be traversed on the ice in winter by bridging the dangerous holes with poles. In summer it is necessary to go around the canyon by a trail which has been built on the east side. The balance of the journey is easy. There is now a considerable settlement at the Sheep Camp. From the Sheep Camp to Lake Lindeman, 15 miles. — This portion of the route, containing the Chilkoot Pass, can be traversed in summer by any able-bodied man or vroman with very little difficulty or danger, but the conditions in winter, spring, or fall are such that great caution must be observed. This is due to the terrible severity of the Arctic storms, which come up suddenly and rage with fury through this narrow defile at certain seasons of the year. During the month of October, 1807, nor. less than 20 persons are reported to have perished in such storms. None except those who are familiar with the pass should ever attempt it alone. Four or five men should compose each party starting for the gold fields, as one tent, stove, set of tools, etc., will suffice, and the hardships can in many respects be lightened by cooperation on the part of all. The Sheep Camp is near the summit, and no wood for a fire can be gotten until timber is reached on the other side of the pass, about three or four miles from the head of Lake Lindeman. For this reason, the Sheep Camp is not usually left until all of the outiit has been placed on the summit. When the weather is PLACER MINING. 20 are favorable, everything except what is necessary for camp is pushed a mile and a half to Stone House, a clump of big rocks, and then to what is called the Second Bench, From this point, for about 000 feet, the trail is very difficult, but Indians may be hired to carry packages up it for about !l?5 per hundred pounds. At most seasons of the year, horses can be used for the purpose, if sharply shod and accustomed to mountain trails. A good horse will carry 150 to 200 pounds over the summit, while for the average man 50 pounds is quite sufficient. The descent for the first half mile is steep, then a gradual slope to Lake Lindeman, some ten miles away. But there is but little time for resting and none for dreaming, as the edge of the timber where the camp must be made is seven miles from the summit. Taking the camping outfit and sufficient provisions for four or five days, the sleigh is loaded, the rest of the outfit is packed up, or buried in the snow, shovels being stuck up to mark the spot. This precaution is necessary, for storms come sud- denly and rage with fury along these mountain crests. The first half mile or more is made in quick time; then, over six or seven feet of snow, the prospector drags his sleigh to where there is wood for his camp-fire. At times this is no easy task, especially if the weather be stormy, for the winds blow the new-fallen snow about so as to completely cover the track made by che man but little ahead; at other times, during fine weather, and with a hard crust on the snow, it is only a pleasant run from the pass down to the first camp in the Yukon Basin. DOWN THE LAKES TO THE HOOTALI\QUA. From Lake Lindeman to Lake Bennet, 5 miles. — The trip through Lake Lindeman is short, the lake being only ^^ miles long. Boats may be hired to carry goods across. It is necessary to portage from Lake Lindeman to Lake II ,'(! vM 'n lil II 30 PLACER MINING. Bennet, the portage, however, being less than a mile. The best time to reach Lake Bennet is early in the spring, say about April 15th, before the ice begins to melt. Persons who time their trip so as to reach there about that date can make the trip across the lakes on the ice, and need not build rafts until they reach open water on the Yukon or Lewis River. Those who reach Lake Bennet after the ice has melted will need to build or purchase a boat or scow at this point before proceeding further. It is necessary that one of the pi rty should have a knowledge of boat building, for it is absoh;tely essential that the craft shall be stanch and substantial. The double-ended batteau is the pattern ordinarily preferred, though the plain avow of good depth is more easily built and can be depended upon. The boats are usua.^y *.-;2 to 24 feet long and 4^ to 5 feet wide, and, if pur- chased at the local sawmill, cost about ^(10. From Lake Bennet to Lake Takou (or Tagish), 20 miles. — Lake Bennet is 'iC) miles long. Upon this lake the British boundary is crossed. Between Lake Bennet and Lake Takou is the Caribou Crossing, which is about 3 miles long and quite difficult. From Lake Takou to Miles Canyon, (!(j miles. — Seventeen miles of this distance is spent in crossing Lake Takou (or Tagish, or Takish, as it is variously spelled), 5 miles in de- scending the Six-Mile River, 19 miles in crossing Mud Lake and Marsh Lake, and the balance in descending the Fifty- Mile River. About half way down the Fifty-Mile River is Miles- Canyon. Before reaching the canyon, a high cut bank of sand on the right-hand side will give warning that it is close at hand. Good rivermen have run the canyon safely, even with loaded rafts, but it is much safer to make a landing on the right side and portage the outfit around the canyon, three- quarters of a mile, and run the raft through empty. The PLACER MINING. 31 sameness of the scenery on approachinji; the canyon is so marked that many parties have gotten into the canyon before they were aware of it. From Miles Canyon to Lake Lebarge, ol miles. — From Miles Canyon to White Horse Rapids, 2 miles, the boat or raft can be towed with safety down the stream, when a large sign will be seen on the left bank, with the words "Look ■ M M I MILES CANYON. Out " in letters a foot square. The White Horse is the most dangerous portion of the trip. It is a box canyon about a hundred yards long and fifty in width, a chute through which the water of the river, which is (100 feet wide just above, rushes with maddening force. But few have ever attempted to run these rapids, and fourteen of them are p 32 PLACER MINING. ii known to have been drowned. It is much safer to portage the outfit around these rapids and send the boat through empty. Even then the boat is Hkely to be lost or damaged. Every man's life should be worth more to him than all the gold in the Klondike region. The balance of the trip from White Horse Rapids to Lake Lebarge is via the Fifty-Mile River. It may be necessary, below the White Horse Rapids, WHITE HORSE RAFIDS, to build a nev7 boat before the journey can be continued. It is probable that ere long a railroad Avill be constructed around Miles Canyon and White Horse Rapids, to facilitate the transportation of freight and passengers at this point. At present there is a portage road on the west side, and rollways in some places on which to shove the boats over. PLACER MINING. •>•> •>•> From Lake Lt'har^e to HootaliiKiiui Rivc;r, (II miles.— There are no rapids or other (huij^ers in this part of the journey. In the middle of Lake Lebarge (which is 151 miles in length) there is an island where parties bound for the gold fields usually camp. Ice on Lake Lebarge is usually good until about the last of April. From Lake Lebarge to the Hootalinqua, the course is down Thirty-Mile River. UOWIV THIS YUKON VALLKY. From Hootalinqua River to McCormick Trading Post, 111 miles. — This section of the journey is always made in summer, as the river never freezes over smooth. The ice freezes in great rough masses, which makes traveling well- nigh impossible. If a person should have the misfortune to get frozen in, the best thing he can do is to go into winter quarters and commence prospecting at once on the little streams in his immediate neighborhood ; the entire region is known to be gold-bearing, and a lucky strike is almost as likely to be made in one place as another. From Hootalinqua River to the Big Salmon River is 27 miles; from the Big Salmon River to the Little Salmon River is 01} miles, and from there to McCormick Trading Post is 21 miles. The Hootalinqua River, after its junction with the Big Salmon River, is known as Lewis River. From McCormick Trading Post to Fort Selkirk, 79 miles, — Twenty miles below McCormick Trading Post are the Five Finger Rapids. Here four large buttes divide the water in five passages; the right-hand passage is the only one which is practicable, and, though the water is swift, it is safe if the boat be kept in the center. A few moments of strong pulling and careful management, and the boat is rapidly ap- proaching Rink Rapids, three miles below. Here again the right-hand side ensures safety, and having gone through m k :)4 PLACER MINTNa them the last danp^erous water is passed. Next comes the Pelly River, upon which, and especially upon its chief branch, the MacMillan, valuable, discoveries were made late in 1807. The junction of the Pelly and Lewis forms the Yukon proper. Fort Selkirk, or Harper's (as it is sometimes called), is located at this point. From Fort Selkirk to Stewart River, lOO miles. — Ninety-six miles below Fort Selkirk the White River is passed, 1() miles beyond which is the Stewart River, where some of the latest discoveries have been reported. There is little doubt but that the newcomer stands as good or better opportunity in pros- pecting along the creeks entering this river as anywhere in the Yukon district. All of the streams thus far referred to enter the Yukon from the right, with the exception of the White River. Below the Stewart River, the various mining districts are reached in the following order: Sixty-Mile Creek, Klondike River, Forty-Mile Creek, and Birch Creek. Gold has also been discovered on Porcupine River, Munook Creek, Tanana River, and Koyukuk River. An examination of the map will show that these districts cover practically the whole known interior of Alaska, and large deposits have been found on the Kenai peninsula and other places along the southern coast. Just at present the Copper River district (see map) is attracting much attention. il CHAPTFR V. WOUTHS TO THK YUKON CJOI.I) rii:iJ>S. {Coiitiiiiii(L) THIi AM.-WATKW WOl'Tli. One of the best, because safest, most natural, most com- fortable, and cheapest routes to the gold fields is the all- water route (see map). From Puget Sound the ste:iuiers sail out through the Straits of San Juan del Fuc\'i north- westerly across the Pacific ( )i"ean "^,(100 miles to Dutch Harbor, on Unalaska Island, which is the first stop; thence 750 miles north through Bering Sea and Norton Sound to St. Michael Island, (10 miles above the mouth of the Yukon, where transfer is made to the smaller craft which ply uji and down the Yukon. The Yidcon is navigable the entire dis- tance from its mouth to Fort Selkirk, in Canadian territory, 2,300 miles, without a break, and all of the gold fields thus far discovered are reached direct by the river steamers. The fare from Puget Sound to the gold fields, meals and berth included, is only $200 first-class. Competition may reduce this to 1150, or even llOO, for ordinary second-class accommo- dations. Steerage passengers must furnish their own bed- ding. As all the streams in the immediate neighborhf)od of the Klondike have already been taken up (see map for par- ticulars), persons of limited means are advised to wait until spring and go by this route. In doing so, they will pass both Circle City and Forty-Mile, near which some of the best placer mines on the American continent have been discovered, and were being worked at great profit before they were abandoned in the great rush for the Klondike. These districts m w1 86 PLAC'ER MTNTNCt. f i ' I I are lot-aLcd entirely \vithi)i American I'-rrilory. Millions of dollars' worth of jvold will undoubtedly be taken from these at present abandoned mininj>' districts within the next few years. Navigation on the Yukon closes in September and opens in June, As the head waters are much farther south lhan the mouth, the break-up begins in the upper river and tributaries, and the ice, which freezes A feet thick in winter, packs and crushes its way towards the deltas. Navigation between Circle City and Daws )n is possible sometimes a month before steamers can cntei the mouth of the Yukon from St. Michael's on the upward trip. One great disadvantage of going by the all-water route is that the best part of the season is gone before one can reach the mining fields. The boats which ply up and down the Yukon calculate on making only two round trips during the season, and some- times make but one. Two hundred passengers who left Pugcit Sound as early as July 22, 181)7, for Dawson, via St. Michael's, were stranded on the Yukon flats, five hundred miles below Dawson, and had to turn back. The lightest draft boats carrying provisions could not get up the river in August and September because of the low water. Several thousand men who started in July and August via St. Michael's were stranded for the winter on that cold and deso- late island or a short distance up the Yukon. Several hundred, however, were fortunate enough to reach Rampart City, at the mouth of Munook Creek, halfway up the Yukon, and as rich strikes have been made in that neighborhood they are perhaps as Avell off as though they had reached Dawson, The gold here is heavy and coarse, running 1^1 S and $19 to the ounce. The mines begin twenty-four miles up Munook Creek from Rampart City. In September, Munook claims were selling for Id, 500 each. Gold was plentiful, and PLACER :^IININ(i. 87 lions of n these cxt few ber and r south ver and winter, ngation times a Yukon route is n reach Lilate on d some- v'ho left , via St. tiundred lightest he river Several via vSt. id deso- undred, City, at I, and as :hey are Dawson. i^LS and niles up Munook ful, and it was believed that winter work would prove them very rich. Ciold has also been found on the Tanana River, a short dis- tance below the Munook. The Tanana is a large river with many tributaries, offering a large district in which to prospect. It is !MM) miles from St. ^lichael's to the mouth of the Tanana, SO miles from there to the Munook, 450 miles from Munook to Circle City, •i40 miles from Circle City to Forty-Mile, and 52 miles from Forty-Mile to Dawso Th( ' vessel sailing in the spring from Puget Sound for St. Michael's leaves in April or May. The steamers start in May and June, as the Yukon River does not ()i)en at its mouth until the latter month. Several parties have formed to take flat-bottom river boats to the Yukon in the knock down, and set them up there. A flat-bottom river steamer can be built for !i«l,000 to carry a party of ten with their provisions and supplies. Boats to carry parties of 100 to 200 cost $8,000 to $14,000. THI-: WHITK PASS HOUTIC. The White Pass route starts from Skagway City, which is five miles below Dyea. From the harbor, where there is a long wharf to deep water, the trail follows the Skagway River to its head, which is near the summit of the pass, a distance of 10 miles. The first four miles are in the bed of the river, and the ascent is gradual. At four miles the canyon is reached, and here the route becomes more difficult. For seven miles the trail works its way along the mountain side, rising steadily for almost the entire distance. This is the only hard part of the route. The next three miles is a gentle rise, and they carry the trail to the summit, an elevation of 2,000 feet above the sea-level. This is 1,000 feet lower than the summitof the Chilkoot Pass, but, because of the impassable i\ ad along this entire route. Gold has been discovered on this route, about iUidway between Chilkat Pass and Fort Selkirk. THK CHILKAT ROUTI2. This "oute is up the Chilkat Inlet, which enters the Lynn Canal a few miles below Dyea, thence up the Chilkat River and over Chilkat Pass (which is said to be abcuit 1,000 feet lower than the Chilkoot Pass) and down the Tahkeena River to its junction with the Fifty-Mile River below White Horse. Rapids. As the Chilkat Pass is 25 miles longer than the Chilkoot l^ass. it is not much used at the present time. *'s m i ■M 40 PLACER MINING. !l ■ THK STICKEEN ROUTE. Goods and passengers intended for this route have to be transshipped from ocean-going steamers to river steamers at Fort Wrangel. The Stickeen, under favorable circum- stances, i.-» navigable for stern-wheel steamers of light draft and good power to Telegraph Creek, 140 miles from its mouth. The river usually opens for navigation between April 20th and May 1st. On the lowlands there is good grazing for horses and cattle from April 20th to about December 1st. The distance from the Stickeen at Tele- graph Creek to Teslin Lake, the source of the Hootalinqua River, is about 120 miles. The portage is through a partly open and partly wooded country, somewhat rolling but not rough. A pack trail runs from Telegraph Creek to the head of the lake. At the head of Teslin Lake there is plenty of timber for whipsawing lumber to build boats for the voyage down the river to Dawson, or lumber may be purchased at the small sawmill now in operation there. From the Hootalinqua, the balance of ths journey to the gold fields is by the same route as that described under the head of Chilkoot Pass route. From the head of Teslin Lake to the Klondike is 584 miles. THE OVERLAND ROUTE. This route starts from Ashcroft, B. C. The distance to Stuart Lake can be traveled with ease by pack train. No feed need be carried for horses, as there is an abundance of grass the entire distance. From Fort James (on Stuart Lake), the route is to Telegraph Creek, over prairie country. From this point the balance of the journey is the same as via the Stickeen route. If desired, the journey from Tele- graph Creek to the Yukon may be made by the somewhat lengthy route via Dease Lake, Frances River, and Pelly River, which is said to be very easy. PLACER MINING. 41 THE TAKOU ROUTE. This route is from the head cf T^kou Inlet, a little south of Juneau, overland by the valley of the Takou River to Lake Teslin. from which the balance of the journey is th^ same as via the Stickeen route. The gold fields can also be reached by the way of Edmonton, on the Canadian Pacific Railway, thence via the McKenzie, Frances, and Pelly Rivers. i4ll i I ■i| J ;. .ill CHAPTER VI. MINING REGULATIONS OF ALASKA. V The misunderstanding and contentions regarding the .^aws that are applicable to Alaska, so far as the lands and claims are concerned, have been set at rest by a statement made by Commissioner Hermann, of the General Land Office. Many inquiries on this question have come to the Interior Department, and numerous applications have been made for copies of the Public Land Laws, which, however, do not apply to Alaska. All this is due to the gold boom. The General Land Office officials have taken much interest in the reports that come from the gold belt, and have investigated the laws that govern them. Commissioner Hermann says these laws are applicable : VARIOUS LAWS. L The Mineral Land Laws of the United States. 2. Town site laws which provide for the incorporation of town sites and acquirement of title thereto from the United States Government to the town site trustees. ^ 3, The law providing for trade and manufactures, giving each qualified person 100 acres of land in a square and com- pact form. The coal land regulations are distinct from the mineral regulations or laws, and the jurisdiction of neither coal laws nor public land laws extends to Alaska, the Territory being expressly excluded by the laws themselves from their oper- ation. The Act approved May 17, 1884, providing for civil government of Alaska, has this language as to mines and mining privileges: PLACER MINING. 43 MINIIVO CL.AIMS. "The laws of tVie United States relating to mining claims and rights incidental thereto shall, on and after the passage of this act, be in full force and effect in said district of Alaska, subject to such regulations as may be made by the Secretary of the Interior and approved by the President, and parties who have located mines or mining privileges thereon und'^r the United States laws applicable to the public domain, or have occupied or improved or exercised acts of ownership over such claims, shall not be disturbed therein, but shall be allowed to perfect title by payments provided for." There is still more general authority. The Act of July -I, 18()(;, says: "All valuable mineral deposits in lands belonging to the United States, both surveyed and unsurveyed, are hereby declared to be free and open to exploration and purchase, and lands in which these are found to occupation and pur- chase by citizens of the United States, and by those who have declared an intention to become such u.''der the rules prescribed by law, and according to local customs or rules of miners in the several mining districts, so far as the same are applicable and not inconsistent with *;he laws of the United States." The patenting of mineral lands in Alaska is not a new thing, for that work has been going on as the cases have come in from time to time since 1884. m AI.,ASKA MIXIIVG CODE. The United States mining code applies in the Territory of Alaska, but miners' law, which agrees with the Federal law, has prevailed, pending the appointment of the proper officials to carry out the full provisions of the statutes. The 44 PLACER MINING. 1 ti general law, covering quartz and placer claims, condensed into brief space, is as follows: QUARTZ DEPOSITS. Quartz Land. — Mining claims upon ledges or lodes of precious metals can be taken up along the vein to the length of 1,500 feet and 300 feet each side of the middle of the vein. To secure patent, $500 worth of work must be performed and $5 an acre paid for the land — twenty acres. Six months' failure to do woik forfeits the claim. PLACER CLAIMS. Placer Land. — Claims usually called ''placers," including all forms of deposit, excepting veins of quartz or other rock in place, are subject to entry and patent. No single individual can locate more than twenty acres of placer land, and no location can be made by any company com- posed of no less than eight bona-fide locators, exceeding 160 acres. The price per acre of placer claims is 12.50. Where placers contain veins or lodes, the cost per acre is $5. It is important that locators accurately mark and describe their claims. In marking, the locator may do so in any direction that will not interfere with the rights or claims existing prior to his discovery. Litigation, expense, and delay may be avoided by being particular in the matter of boundaries. The essentials are : First — That the corners should be marked on the ground by stakes in mounds of earth or rock, or by marked trees or other natural objects. Second — The notice of location should describe these corners so that they can be identified on the ground by the description, and, in addition, the direction and distance of one of the corners from a Government corner (if surveyed) or well-known object, such as a junction of roads, trails, or PLACER MINING. 45 ravines, a bridge, building of any kind, or natural feature, as rock, etc. PENALTIES. It is a felony to sell a salted mine ; to fraudulently ciiange samples or assays with intent to defraud; to make or give false assay or sample with intent to defraud; to rob vem, sluice-box, quartz mill, etc., or trespassing upon mmm^ claim with intent to commit a felony. It is a misdemeanor to deface, tear down, or destroy a post, monument, boundary mark, or location notice ; or with- out authority to take water from any ditch, pipe, reservoir, etc., or to unlawfully interfere with the same. CHAPTER VII. MINING REGULATIONS OF N. W. CANADA. The following is a summary of the principal regulations made by the Canadian Government regarding placer mining along the Yukon River and its tributaries in the Northwest Territories, corrected to August 21, 181)7: In these regulations, "bar diggings" mean parts of a river which are flooded at high water but are not covered at low water. Mines on benches are called '* bench diggings." "Dry diggings" mean mines over which a river never ex- tends. "Claim " means the right to a diggings during the time for which the grant is made. A claim does not include any special surface rights. " Legal post " means a stake or stump standing four feet above the ground, and squared on four sides for at least one foot from the top. Both sides so squared must measure at least four inches across the face. "Close season" means the period during which placer mining is generally suspended, and is fixed by the Gold Commissioner in whose district the claim is situated. " Locality " means the territory along a river (tributary of the Yukon River) and its affluents. " Mineral ' includes all minerals other than coal. Claims are measured horizontally, irrespective of the surface of the ground. Miners must be over 18 years of age. BAR, DRV, AND BENCH DIGGINGS. Bar diggings are strips of land 100 feet wide at high- water mark, and thence extending into the river to its lowest water-level. Their sides are formed by two parallel lines run as nearly as possible at right angles to the stream, and must I K PLACER MINING. 47 »g be marked by tour legal posts, one at each end of the claim at or about high-water mark, also one at each end of the cki'm at or about the edge of the water. One of the posts at higl- water mark must be legibly marked with the name of the miner and the date upon which the claim was staked. Dry diggings and bench diggings are 100 feet square and are staked in the same way. CRCKK AIVD RIVCR CLAIMS. Creek and riv^er claims are 100 feet long (discoverers of new mines or of new auriferous strata, in a locality where the claims are abandoned, are entitled to claims of double this length) measured in the direction of the general course of the stream, extending in width from base to base of the hill or bench on each side, but when the hills or benches are less than 100 feet apart, the claim may be 100 feet in depth. The sides consist of two parallel lines run as nearly as pos- sible at right angles to the stream, and must be marked with legal posts at the edge of the water and at the rear bound- aries of the claim. One of the posts at the stream must be marked as above. Entry is granted only for alternate claims, the other alternate claims being reserved for the Government, to be disposed of at public auction. The penalty for trespassing upon a claim reserved for the Government is the forfeiture of all mining rights. UCCOKUIIVG CLAIMS. A claim must be staked out as soon as located, and must then be recorded with the Gold Commissioner in whose dis- trict it is situated, within three days, if it is within ten miles of the Commissioner's office. One extra day is allowed for making such record for every additional ten miles. An entry fee of $15 is charged the first year, and an annual fee :| I 3 I m 48 PLACER MINING. 'i t of $15 for each of the following years. In addition, a royalty of ten per cent, on the gold mined is collected, and in case the amount taken from any single claim exceeds five hundred dollars per week, there is collected upon the excess a royalty of twenty per cent. Default or fraud in payment of the royalty is punished by cancelation of the claim. After the recording of a claim, the removal of any post for the purpose of changing the boundaries of the claim acts as a forfeiture of the claim. The entry of every holder of a grant must be renewed and his receipt relinquished and replaced every year, the entry fee being paid each time. No miner can receive a grant of more than one mining claim in the same locality, but the same miner may hold any number of claims by purchase, and any number of miners may unite to work their claims in common upon such terms as they may arrange, provided such agreement be registered with the Gold Commissioner and a fee of $5 paid for each registration. Any miner may sell, mortgage, or dispose of his claim, provided such disposal be registered with, and a fee of ^'i paid to, the Gold Commissioner. The Gold Commissioner may grant to holders such right of entry upon adjacent claims as may be necessary for the working of their claims, upon such terms as may to him seem reasonable. Every miner is entitled to the use of a share of the water naturally flowing through or past his claim. A claim is deemed to be abandoned and open to occu- pation and entry by any person when it has remained r*^.- worked on working days for the space of seventy-two hours, imless sickness or other reasonable cause be shown to the satisfaction of the Gold Commissioner, or unless the grantee is absent on leave given by the Commissioner. I CHAPTER Vlll. THE ORIGm OF GOLD PLACERS. For those fragmentary deposits carrying gold known as "placers," we are indebted primarily to the great glaciers of the Ice Age, and after them, to the rivers of both past and present, and, in a more local and restricted sense, to the waves of the sea. We might imagine what the mountains of the world would have been without these active agents of erosion. We may conceive of them as vast, smooth, rolling billows of strata, occasionally broken by stupendous cliffs, the result of pro- found faulting. As mineral veins are mainly due to the action of hot springs, geysers, fumaroles, etc., we might have noticed here and there along such lines of fault-fissure, mounds of tufa, of calcareous or siliceous matter, like those around the geysers of the Yellowstone, marking the position of the veins below in process of filling and formation. THE WOUK OF GLACIERS. On such an uneroded country, let the glaciers be set to work, filling every fold and undulation of the surface. The ice sheets would plane off the tops of the mountains, expo- sing the rings of strata composing them, and the ice tongues, or glaciers, descending from the sheet, would cut deep, broad, U-shaped swathes down the sides of the hills, as shown in Fig. 1, and by mighty canyons expose the anatomy of the mountains and the veins in them. The debris from this planing would be distributed in windrows on the sides of the canyons and in moraines along ravines, to be win- nowed and assorted by subsequent streams and rivers, and m M 'I liSl « tw ml m m 50 PT.Acn':R MINING. the finer material carriiMl out oiUo and distril)nte{l ovi-r the phuns, forming; soil tor the aj^rieultiirist, aiul a part to the ocean to form sea-bottoms. s 8 OMI(;i\ OF I>RIFT (;<>l.l). If all the gold that has thus l)een spread far and wide in minute grains by these agencies could be collected, it would far exceed all that has been, is, or ever will be, obtained by man in his puny :> efforts at vein and placer mining and sand washing. We ! c a n n o t sup p o s e that all this gold, so widely distributed Fig. 1. over the earth's sur- face, found more or less in every stream, and even among the waves of the seashore, and in regions far remote from any known gold veins or ore deposits, could all have come from well-defined, gold-bearing, quartz-fissure veins, but rather from the general breaking up of vast bodies and even moun- tains of crystalline rocks, such as granites, porphyries, lavas, and other igneous rocks containing more or less gold dis- seminated in minute particles throughout their masses. ANCIKIVT PI.ACKR FOKM A'l 1<).\S. Though modern placer deposits are generally conceded to have been laid down by the action of comparatively recent glaciers, streams, and other bodies of water, in more or less loose, incoherent banks, yet there are other, far older for- mations, firmly consolidated into rock, which may be con- PLACER MINTXr,. T)! thr the sidered as ancient placers, havin<>- liad the same alluvial ori- gin as modern plac-ers, and withal j^old-bearini;-, such, tor instance, as the uptilted g()ld-l)carin;jf coui-joinerates of the Transvaal (Fig. !),and the gold-bearing Cambrian (piartzites BUtek Reef Coal »'««'^«*/ Main Gold Hearittg Series Fig. 2. of the Black Hills of Dakota. These are but ancient placers, river beds, or sea beaches containing gold, consolidated by time into hard gold-bearing rock, and tilted up by the up- heaval of the mountains. li I r! f !> t.\ REQIOIVS OF GI.ACIATION ANR PI.ACKR FC)RM.\TIOX. Since glaciers are the parents of most of our large placer deposits, we must look for such deposits principally in those northern and mountainous regions which have been most sub- ject to the reign of glaciers. Such, for instance, is Alaska, with its coast line torn to tatters by long glacial fiords, and its mountain ranges cloven through and through by the passage of ancient and modern glaciers, and the Avhole region, as well as that of the adjacent British. Columbia, traversed by a network of streams and narrcAV lakes derived directly c;r indirectly from the glaciers. The same phenom- ena exist all through the Sierra region, down the Pacific coast to Southern California, and also in Idaho, Washington, and other northern regions. In all these, the placer depos- its, both by glacier and stream, are often to be estimated by the hundreds of feet in thickness, while as we retreat inland IBOOHO m Mil «i PLACER MINING. towards the Rocky Mountain region, where precipitation was "•••c,, ;ik/MOfcDURAt % cwMnn Atrfuffi irISTRIBUTIO]V OF OOLI) IN OEPOSITS. In a few cases, gold is rich in thin streaks of cemented gravel and alluvions on the top gravel. Even in high banks, the upper " top gravel," if of a fine, light, quartz wash, without boulders, has been washed at a profit ; hence, the miner tests the whole deposit. A fine lamina is sometimes found at grass roots. Pay gravel may oc- cur high above bed-rock, but gener- ally the top gravel is not rich enough to pay, the gold concentrating in those strata within a few feet of bed- rock and on and in bed-rock itself, A section of a placer bed from sur- face to bed-rock is shown in Fig. 7. Sand is generally poorer than gravel or boulders. Rich pay may occur in undulations and depressions of bed-rock; on the other hand, deep holes caused by water- iwdUJiL^i, Valv« ptrOuXd to Bto ».W a.7B 8.14 4.00 FIG. PLACER MTNTNr7. 59 ■■}.■ n falls are often, contrary to expectations, unproductive. Accumulations may assume the form of recliring cones, the apex resting on the top of the hillock, the gold being concentrated in the lower end of tlie deposit. Placers in place, that is, lying in a gold vein, may contain deposits similar in quantity and distribution to those of the original vein on which they lie. • Placers of accumulation are the richest where the current of the stream was interrupted by diminution in its fall, by sudden change of direction, entrance of tributaries, or by reefs, bars, and eddies, (See (a), Fig. 8). Small depres- FlG. 8. sions, creases, holes, and fissures {A, ^-i) in bed-rock over which the current passes are likely to be rich. (See (d) and {c), Fig. S.) As there are at times, in some placers, different periods of deposition, the lowest layers of each period are apt to be the richest. Several periods of deposition may have succeeded one another, and several rich strata occur on the same ground. Not only the courses of present streams, but also the channels of ancient rivers, are localities of 60 PLACER MINING. ! placers; the latter are the so-called "deep leads." (See (d). Fig. 8.) Alluvial layers may, at intervals, by a cementing process, form a seeming bed-rock, called a false bottom. There may be one or more such false bottoms before the true bed-rock is reached, and gold may occur on each of these. Placers have generally been formed of material transport- ed some distance by glaciers and drifts, but placer diggings sometimes occur on the very outcrop of decomposed gold veins, and are called "placers in loco," or in place. The deep leads were the work of a river system quite distinct from that now existing. Modern rivers, cutting across these old river courses, have redistributed their golden sands. Placers, as a rule, are much richer than the veins from which they have been derived. Gold dust, under certain favorable chemical conditions, may amalgamate into masses, forming nuggets, such as are rarely found in veins. Shallow placers are often iue entire- ly to the disintegration of quartz veins near by ; in such cases, the drift will be barren above the point where the reef or vein crosses it. Plain diggings present a great variety, both in character and material of deposits. Gold alluvions occur in river channels, in basins, and on flats, as surface deposits of sand and gravel, and as accumu- lations of clay, sand, gravel, pebbles, and boulders of all sizes, with, in some cases, caps of lava. Shallow placers are those whose deposits vary from a few inches to several feet, as distinct from deep placers, which cover large areas and are frequently several hundred feet in depth. " Hill claims " are deposits of gravel on hills. " Bench claims " are deposits occurring in bench-like forms on declivities above the line of existing rivers. "Gulch diggings " are found in gulches and ravines. ;S! PLACER MINING. 61 " Flat deposits" occur in small plains, or "flats." " Bar claims " are bars of sand and gravel on the sides of streams above water-level. '* Black sands " are the gold-bearing sands of the seashore. " Surface mining " and "deep mining " are the two main divisions of placer mining. "Sluice," "drift," and "hy- draulic digging " are local names. EXAMPLES OF PLACER BANKS. In the Ballarat gold fields of Victoria, the wash dirt is in a series of leads of varying widths, starting from the same point and trending in different directions towards the deep leads. In one placer, the width of the gutter and reef wash was 100 feet, and the depth of pay dirt 5 feet. The barren drifts overlying the pay dirt were of black clay, the reef of green slate, and the bottom of sandstone. At another place, wash dirt feet thick was of a dark blue granite or green slate. At Melbourne, the formation is Upper Silurian schist, traversed by a metalliferous eruption of dikes. The gold lies in crevices in the rotten bed-rock, and in "potholes" in the ancient river bottoms. Nuggets have been found in soft clay and in the face of bed-rock. 4 CHAPTER X. Hi METHODS OF VVOHKII^JG— SURFACE MINING; WORKING FROZEN GROUND : DRIFTING ; HYDRAULICKING. Surface mining is applit d to operations in shallow placers, and in new districts frequently gives very large returns. These deposits are, however, limited in extent and soon worked out. In localities where water was scarce, dry wash- ing was formerly resorted to. Selected rich dirt was pul- verized and worked in a batca, or wooden dish, the earthy portions being separated by a circular motion given the dish. Gold was also extracted by winnowing. Along the Pacific Coast, "beach mining" was practised. The gold occurs in the sands of the beaches in a very finely divided state, in layers of magnetic iron, or "black sand," where it has been concentrated by the action of wave and tide. By the wash of the waves, the lighter quartz sand is carried away, leaving the gold-bearing black sand behind, and this is then covered by barren material. When the tide ebbs, the miners scrape up the thin gold-bearing layers and transport the material to the washing places, where it is washed in sluices. These black sands assay from $10 to $30 per ton, only a part of which, however, can be recovered. Platinum occurs with the gold, in less flattened grains. BAR ANI> RIVBR MINING. In the early days, river mining was extensively carried on. When the portion of the bars above water-level was ex- hausted, the miners extended their operations to those parts under water. This necessitated the streams being dammed PLACER MTNINr.. 63 or diverted into a new channel (see Fi^\ !)). Beds of rivers for lon^ distanees were laid hare, and much expense and risk were incurred from Hoods and breaking of dams ; yet, though the losses were often great, the profits obtained in a short time were sometimes enor- mous. In some cases, instead of turning a river from its course, dredging machines have been used for the pur- pose of raising the mate- .^ rial to the surf ace, where it is washed in the usual manner for its gold contents. The Santa Fe Placer Mining Company is mining the beds of the Galisteo River and the Rio Grande by dredging. For this purpose, the Nettleton placer machine was designed. This machine is simply a powerful steam bucket dredge, with a capacity of one cubic yard of material per minute, having as an auxiliary a 0-inch centrifugal pump, whose .suction pipe will extend down the dredge ladder to within 12 inches of the lowest point reached by the buckets. It is claimed that this pump will not only bring up the necessary water for sluicing, but also such loose ma- terial as may be left by the buckets, and will in a great measure cle^r the bed-rock of gold. The product of the dredge and pump is deposited in a sluice-box 25 feet above the deck of the barge, from which elevation the work is done b^ gravity until the material and water are disposed of. Passing down the first sluice of 80 feet, a grizzly or grating is reached, removing all stones over 3 inches in diametet, 04 PLACER MTNTNG. the finer material passinji; through screens which further re- duce it to one-half inch and smaller. So the non-productive material is removed at once and deposited behind the barge. The percentage of fine flour gold being very large, the ma- terial is passed over a burlap sluice, the fibers of which ar- rest and hold the gold. The usual accompanying "black" or magnetic sand carries a great deal of gold, as much, at times, so it is reported, as ^2,000 per ton. To save this, after passing the burlap the matter comes in contact with strong magnets placed in the circumference of a cylinder, the iron adhering to the magnets, from which it is removed by a revolving brush, the non-magnetic matter passing on to a revolving screen, where it is reduced to -fY'"^h> prepara- tory to being run over amalgamated plates, such as are used in stamp mills, or into a series of boxes containing quick- silver. By this time all collectible gold will have been caught, and after being run out through traps to save any stray amalgam or quicksilver, the now barren material will pass into a tailings well, to be taken up by an 8-inch centrif- ugal pump and deposited far behind the boat. Fine sand settling in the riffles of the sluices or burlap may be treated with cyanide. Depressions in bed-rock which the dredge can not reach may be reached by an air caisson, and the bed-rock thoroughly cleaned. Another plan suggested is to raise the material and water for sluicing, with a centrifugal pump, to the amalgamating plant placed on the bank. Large .stones and gravel from the screens will be deposited in the excavation back of the workings; the fine tailings, and the sluice and surplus water will be conducted down the river by flume a sufficient distance to prevent their return. This plan will enable the bed-rock depressions and crevices to be cleaned by hand at less expense than by dredge or caissons. The water flow of PLACER MTNTNO. (;:> the river will not exceed 1(>,()(»(> gallons per minute durinjj ten months in the year, so no }^reat capacity of i)umps will be needed. The natural conditions have made the (ialisteo River a promising proposition. The extent of its gold de- posits can only be conjectured. Ground sluicing consists in treating gold-bearing gravel, dug out by pick and shovel, by washing it in trenches cut in bed-rock. It is like hydraulicking, except that the water is not used under pressure, and often wooden sluices are dis- pensed with entirely, the rough rock serving for riffles. The lighter material is carried away by the water, and the heavier dirt remaining behind is oUected and worked by rockers. Ground sluicing is often adopted where there is not a sufficient amount of water for the constant use of a box sluice, and a head can only be gotten for a short period after heavy rains. A ground sluice is then used, if there is abundant fall and outlet for the tailings. It is a gutter worn by the water in its flow, the miner assisting the operation by loosening the earth with a pick. The pay dirt is washed in by the stream or conveyed thither by manual labor. If the ^^S^ bottom be a hard, uneven rock, its inequalities will suffice to arrest the gold ; if ^^^ not, a number of boulders, d too heavy to be moved by the stream, are thrown carelessly*, into the sluice. This process saves only the coarse gold. To clean up, the water is diverted from the channel and the auriferous matter collected, to be panned out or cradled. - w PLACER .MTNINCr. ill I ¥ i Booming; is ground sluicing on a large scalr, hy means of an intermitlcnt supply of water. The water is collected behMid a dam with an automatic gate (Fig. 10), which, when the dam is full, opens, and the entire contents of the reservoir go down with a r!^sh carrying into the sluices all the material collected below. The rush of waters carries off boulders and dirt, leaving '.he heavier particles of gold and xiiagnetic iron, or black sand, collected behind on the bed-rock floor. WOKKING FROZEr* GROUND. In the placer mines of Siberia and Alaska, the ground is frozen to a conside'/able depth. Frozen gravel will success- TuUy resist all attacks of pick and shovel, and its extreme •ghness renders even drilling and blasting very tedious and ineffective, so the miner thaws the ground before at- tempting to dig it. This he accomplishes by building a fire against the ground to be removed. In sinking his shaft, if the surface is frozen, he builds a fire of wood where he desires to sink, ard the heat from this thaws out tlie ground for some little distance. The fire it, rendered more effective by covering it vvith charcoal, thus confining the heat. When the fire dies dcnvn, the miner scrapes aside the .mbers and shovels away the loosened ground beneath, until he comes once more to the frozen portion, where another fire is built and the whole operation repeated; and thus down to bed-rock. The sides of the shaft are given what little Biipport is necessary by a light cribbed timbering or a rough square set with lagging. From the bottom of the shaft the miner starts 'his drift. He is obliged to thaw every foot of this, also. A strong wood fire is built against the face of the drift, covered with charcoal as before, and allowed to burn out; in other PLACER MTNING. or respects, the work is the sanie as in ordinary driflini;. All workinj^s must be tightly, thouj;h not hervily, timi)ere(l. This feature is frequently nejLjlected, with inany sad acci- dents as a result. Match-boards (tongued and grooved) are frequently used on the sides, though either round or spht lagging will answer if closely set. Tn cross-cuts and cham- bers, the roof timbering should be entirely independent of that of the sides, as in Fig. 11. Large deposits are divided Ilia [I ! ■*; I MM ^^•^— ■••■^^■••■.•■■•ayi -^ '» ^^!^ IJ | I» M W Fk;. 11. into blocks, on the familiar pillar and stall system of coal mining. (See {(r), Fig. 11.) VENTILATION. Any of the simple mine ventilation methods may be em- ployed to clear the drifts of the noxious gases generated by the fire, and to keep the air in the workings pure. Warm air and gas naturally rise to the roof of the drift and (nit of the shaft on the side nearest the drift, the cool air from the rl iSf| 68 PLACER MTNINO. surface cominsjf down the* other side of the shaft and along the floor of the drift to the face. As the drifts get longer, particularly in small and low workings, the air from the face has more time to cool and diffuse with the fresh air, and the current gets weaker and weaker, so that it finally becomes necessary to use artificial aids to the ventilation. The simplest of these is by furnishing an artificial separa- tion for the outgoing and incoming air-currents. A brattice is made by fastening canvas from top to bottom along the middle row of posts shown in Fig. 11, or boarding up be- tween the posts with light plank. This is continued nearly to the face and usually up to the surface, dividing the work- ings into two passages, the cool, fresh air from above pass- ing down one and forcing the warm air and gas out through the other to the surface. If the heat of the mine does not create sufficient draft, a fire can be built at the uptake side of the shaft, the draft created by the fire assisting the natural draft of the mine. Ventilation may also be facilitated by the use of a fan, either forcing fresh air down the shaft or exhausting the vitiated air; the latter form is better when the scale of the w^ork is large enough to warrant the use of power-driven fans. For small workings, too narrow to per- mit division by brattices, a small hand fan may be used at the surface or at some poini along the workings where the air is good, the air being carried to the face in tin or sheet- iron pipes or wooden boxes, and delivered towards one side and at the bottom of the face, this scheme giving the quick- est and best ventilation. For long tunnels, a furnace sys- tem of ventilation is frequently used, the tunnel being con- nected with the surface by shafts, which are sunk or upraised at intervals as the work progresses. The hot air and gas from the fire at the face rise through the nearest shaft, and cool, fresh air replaces them, coming down the shafts further i PLACER MININr.. (1!) back along the drift. As soon as the face gets so far beyond the shaft that its ventilation becomes very sh)w and poor, a new connection is made with the surface; the use of a hand fan at the foot of the shaft or a light brattice carried along the side of the drift from the last shaft to the face, with a curtain behind the shaft to prevent a direct current of air between it and the previous shafts, and thus force the fres-h air to follow the brattice, will allow the drift to be carried forwas ur onsiderably farther before again connecting with the surface. The effect of the fires in the drifts is to raise the tempera- ture to an oppressive point, so that, as in some of the large Siberian mines, the miners work stripped to the skin, though the temperature outside is many degrees below zero. An amount of wood equivalent to a thickness of one foot across the face will thaw out about the same depth of gravel. Fourteen inches, however, is about the maximum depth to which the thawing will extend. ;i" 't DHIFTING. Gold is mined in deep deposits by tunnels and drifts, notably in those districts where the deposits are covered by an overflow of lava, as in {(/), Fig. 8. Drifting presupposes the concentration ot the metal in a well-defined stratum or channel. When the existence of a pay channel is deter- mined, it is opened up and developed by a tunnel run in such a manner as to drain all parts of the mine. The loca- tic.'. of this tunnel is a matter of great importance. If thi channel is discovered on the hillside, and rises as it enters the hiil, the tunnel is run along its bed, following the bed- rock ; otherwise, the tunnel is driven below the channel, or through the " rim-rock," in suc^h a, ])osition that the lowest point of the deposit will be above it. Sometimes shafts are im I'H 70 PLACER MINING. sunk and the gravel drifted out and raised through them to the surface. The tunnel 01. ce driven and the channel opened, drifts are run through the |)ay ground on both sides, and the material is breasted out, timi)ering being used as required, (travel is removed from the tunnel in mine cars, to the mouth, where it is dumped on floors and v/ashed in sluices. When too lirmly cemented for simple washing, it is first crushed under stamps. In some mines, steam loco- motives are used for transporting men and material through the tunnel, which may be more than a mile in length. In Vertical Section Exptanation» f^lClianiiel of y^ Fay Oruvel $, Lava Overflow Covering tlie Aurtferotu Gravel J^rn Stole Bedroek S§<5; Under the Oravet v^<§^f j^jf^ifii:^ Auriferous ifravel 'expU>red Qround ^%^^l«>^. Fk;. 1-^. the " Sunny vSouth "' mine, Placer County, California, the main tunnel is below the channel, as shown in Fig. I'l, thus allowing the mine to be worked conveniently. HYDUAL'I.IC MIXI]VG. Hydraulic mining is that method in which the ground is excavated by water discharged against it under pressure. Deep placers, if sufficiently rich, may be worked by drifting, but hydraulicking is far the more economical. For hydrau- PLACER MINING. 71 licking there should be ample facilities for (hunt) aiul grade, a:id a sufficient head and supply of cheap water. When the banks are too firmly cemented or are cov'^ered with lava, blast- ing becomes necessary to shatter them before water can be advantageously employed. PKI<:LIMI!«AUV mVESTIGATIOX OF PLACERS. The value of the gravel deposits is the first consideration. Its determination involves ascertaining the course of the channel, the depth and position of bed-rock, which may be under hundreds of feet of detritus, the size of the deposit, and an estunate of the yield of the ground and the cost of the work. The geology and topography of the deposit and its surroundings must be considered, to assist in determining the course of the channel, the depth of bed-rock, and the facilities for dump. The value of the gravel may be approxi- mated by makiii;:; shallow pits and washing the material obtained from them and from other available placers, as where the bank has been exposed in section by the cutting of a stream. A large enterprise requires preliminary pros- pecting by shafts down to bed-rock and by drifts. The water supply and facilities for dump should be carefully considered, and also the length of the working season. Different cr/lored gravels, red, rusty, and blue, are some- times considered as good signs, but are not reliable. Black sand is often accompanied by gold, but may be barren. EXAMPLES OF PROSPECTING. The example of the Malakoff property illustrates the pre- liminary work which is necessary on large deep-placer enter- prises. To determine the value of the claims and the feasibility of working them, four shafts were sunk to ascer- tain the position of the channel, the value of gravel, and the depth of bed-rock. The first shaft struck the bed-rock 7a PLACER MINING. i of the main tunnel at a depth of 207 feet; 135 feet of this was in blue gravel averaging 41 cents per cubic yard. From the bottom of this shaft, drifts Av^re run on the cour.se of the channel for a distance of 1,200 feet. The width of the channel was estimated. at 500 feet. The total length of the explorations was over 2,000 feet. The average assay of the samples from the various drifts was ^2.01 per cubic yard; the actual yield of over 21,000 tons was at the rate of 12.75 per cubic yard. The gross cose of the preliminary work, including the four shafts, was $60,950.20. ii ;i ri. ■ CHAPTER ::i. WATER SUPPLY— RHSKR vol RS, DAMS, AND measuri:mi:\t of water. RESKKVOIRS SOUWCKS OF WATIiR. The water supply for placer operations is obtained from running streams, melting snows, and rains. The snow accumulates on the mountains during the winter, and the heavy rauis and warm weather of the spring season cause rapid thawing of these snowbanks, and enormous volumes of water rush down the gullies and ravines. The placer miner impounds this surplus water in large storage reser- voirs, for use during the dry season. In selecting a reser- voir site the following points should be observed (Bowie): 1. A proper elevation* 2. The water supply from all creeks and springs and the catchment area.* 3. The amount of rain and snowfall. 4. The formation and character of the ground with reference to the amount of absorption and evaporation. The elevatiop of a reservoir depends upon the location of the mines and the extent of the country which it is proposed to cover with a ditch. The reservoir should be located below the snow belt, if possible, and at the lowest point of the catchment area, in order to obtain the maximum supply of wate'" therefrom. The average and minimum supply ot water from al! streams should be carefully determined. Rainfall is greater in mountain districts than in lower countries, and greatest on the slopes facing the direction *Area draining into reservoir. •41-1 74 pla(m^:r mining. from which the moist winds blow. Snowfall measurements are taken on a level, and a ^iven amount of snow is reduced to water, and the fall calculated as rain. ABSOWPTION AM> HVAPOKATIOIV. The most desirable formation of ground for a reservoir site is one of compact rock, like granite, gneiss, or slate. Porous rocks, like sandstone and limestone, are not so desir- able, on account of their absorptive qu/^lities. Steep, de- nuded slopes are best, as but little water escapes. The greatest slope gives the largest available quantity of water. Vegetati(m causes absorption. At the Bowman reservoir, in California, 75 per cent, of the total rainfall and snowfall (reduced to rain) is stored (Bowie). A reservoir must be made large enough to hold a supply capable of meeting the maximum demands. The area of the reservoir should be determined, and a table made show- ing its contents for every foot of (Jepth, so that the amount of water avaihible can always be known. A longitudinal section through the center of the reservoir, with cross- sections and contour lines five feet above each other, virtu- ally determines the height of the dam and the contents of the reservoir with the water at any depth. The Bowman reservoir contains ab(Hit l,05(),()0(),()()() cubic feet of water. The catchment area is 28.94 square miles. The cost of the reservoir and dams was st>24r>, 707.51. Besides the main res- ervoir, all mines have distributing reservoirs which receive the water from the main ditch for delivery to the under- ground claims. These are small and adapted only for a short run. HAMS. Dams are used for retaining the water in reservoirs, for diverting streams, and for storing in canyons debris coming from the mines. PLACER .MlNlNCi. 76 FOUNDATIONS. Foundations must be solid and water-tight, to prevent the settling of the dam, leakage under its base, and wear in front by water running over the top. Whenever possible, the foundation sho^^ld be on solid rock. Gravel is better than earth, but requires sheet piling. Vegetable soil is un- reliable; all porous matter, sand, and gravel must be stripped off until the solid ground is reached. I WOOnEN DAMS. Wooden dams are constructed of round or hewn logs one to two feet in diameter, laid in a series of cribs 8 to 10 feet square and pinned together by tree-nails. These cribs are filled in with loose rock. A layer of planking on the face of the dam makes it water-tight. Abutments may be con- structed of stone, cement, or wooden cribs. H ■: Kl it I MASONRY' DAMS. The masonry of dams must be well laid in hydraulic cement, so that the stones cannot slide upon one another, and the dam as a whcle so set that it cannot slide upon its base. Neither the material nor the foundation must be re- quired to bear too great a pressure. The stones must not be laid in horizontal courses extending from front to rear. Binders should be used; there should be no continuous joints. EARTHEN DAMS. Earthen dams are used for reservoirs of moderate depth. They should be at least 10 feet wide on top; a height of over GO feet is unusual. Fig. 13 shows a section of the Bowman dam in California, which is 100 feet high and 425 feet long. m n ill PLACER MININC. WAsri-: i>AMS. A waste dani is a cril) of round timbers hi to :»() inches in diameter, notched and bolted together, and the whole fast- Sirdiner. BEDROCK. Fig. 13. ened to bed-rock. The cribs are filled solid with rocks. The dam is provided with a number of waste-gates, each 40 to 50 square feet in area. These waste-ways are ordinarily kept closed, but are opened in times of freshets. The struc- ture should be able to withstand any flood to which it is apt to be subjected, the waste water passing through the wastes and over the crest. Water passing over the dam falls onto bed-rock or onto a wooden apron. DCHRIS 13 A MS. Debris dams are obstructions across the beds of streams to hold back tailings from the mines and prevent damage in valleys below. They may be stone, debris, wood, or brush. MKASURKMKIVT OF FI.OAVi:VG WATFK. Various forms of water meters are used for this purpose. Gauging by weirs of certain dimensions gives very close re- sults. In this method the height of the surface of still water above the crest and some little distance back from the weir must be measured. There should be no considerable current PLACER ^[TNIX^,. 7T 'S 111 ast- t(^ the water at the place "f ineasiireineiit. I'lowiiii;' wali-r is also iMcasiired hy ils dischar^H', under pressuri', lliioiijj,!! ()rifi(X'S ().' re<;ular section. The diseliarj^e of llunies of reg- ular secli( n may be calculaled rouj^hly from the mean sur- face velocity. An accurate calculation of the discharj^e of any stream may be made by multiplyinj^ theavx'rage velocity of the water at any point by the sectional area at that point. The discharjj^e of small streams may be estimated by filling- vessels of known capacity. A ri^ht-angled V notch of thin sheet iron is a convenient form of aperture for measuring the discharge of water. Fig. 14 The discharge in cubic feet per second equals 0.0051 times the square root of the fifth power of the head, expressed in inches. The notch is fitted in one end of the weir box (see Fig. 14). The edge of th : otch must be sharp and beveled off, and the inside face i !.;>! je at right angles to the surface of the water. To keep 78 PLACER MINING. A straight-edge or level is placed on the weir plate P, extending back over the surface of the water in the box, and the distance a between its lower edge and the surface of the water measured. This distance subtracted from H (Fig. 14) leaves h. In gauging the quantity of water passing over a weir, the formula is i2=3.31 L ^' + 0.007 Z. Q is the quantity, or the discha-ge, in cubic feet per second; L the length of the weir; // the depth on the weir, corrected for velocity of approach; for this formula // must not be less than 0.07 feet. In the accompanying table, opposite //, in the column Q, will be found the number of cubic feet of water flowing :>ver the notch in one minute. THK MINER'S INCH. The "miner's inch " varies in every district, and is by no means a definite quantity, as the methods of delivering it differ in different places. It varies according to the head and the height of aperture. Usually, the head is inches above the center of the aperture. The latter is a horizontal slit 1 inch high and 24 inches long, which can be closed so as to leave an opening of any desired length — 1 inch long giving 1 inch of water, 10 or VI inches long giving a cor- responding amount of water; thus, in most districts, a miner's inch is considered as that quantity of water which will pass through an opening of 1 square inch area under ? mean pressure, or head, of (5 inches. The quantity discharged from such an opening in 24 hours is equal to 2,274 cubic feet. A cubic foot is equal to 7.4S U. S. gallons, or 38 miner's inches. In some counties in California there are 10, 11, 12, and even 24-hour inches. Discharge apertures are rectangular, varying in width from 1 to 17 inches, and PLACER MINING. 79 niMCHAM(;i-: or watkw thuoltkh V XOTCH. A kight-a:v<;lhd h yuant. // Ouant. /, ' Quant. h Quant. h Q Quant. Head, Per Head, Per Head, Per Head, Per Head, Per Inches. Min., Incht:s. Min., Inches. Min., Inches. Min., Inches. Min., Cu. Ft. Cu. Ft. Cu. Ft. Cu. Ft. Cu. Ft. 1.05 0.3457 3.25 5.827 5.45 21.22 7.65 49.53 9.85 93.18 1.10 0.:W84 3.30 6.054 5.50 21.71 7.70 50.34 9.90 94.37 1.15 0.4340 3.35 6.285 5.55 22.20 7.75 51.16 9.95 95.56 1.20 0.4827 3 40 6.523 5.60 : 22.70 7.80 51.99! 10.00 96.77 1.25 0.5345 3.45 6.765 5.65 ; 23.22 7.85 52.83 10.05 97.98 1.30 0.5896 3.50 7.012 5.70 23.74 7.90 53.67 10.10 99.20 1.35 0.6480 3.55 7.266 5.75 24.26 7.95 54.53 10.15 100.43 1.40 0.7096 3.60 7.524 5.80 24.79 8.00 55.39 10.20 101.67 1.45 0.7747 3.65 7.788 5.85 25.33 8.05 56.26 10.25 102.92 1.50 0.8432 3.70 8.058 5.90 25.87 810 57.14 10.30 104.18 1.55 0.9153 3.75 8.332 5.95 26.42 8.15 58.03 10.35 105.45 1.60 0.9909 3.80 8.613 6.00 26.98 8.20 58.92 10.40 106.73 1.65 1.0700 3.85 8.899 6.05 27.55 8.25 59.82 10.45 108.02 1.70 1.1530 3.90 9.191 6.10 28.12 8.30 60.73 10.50 109.31 1.75 1.2400 3.95 9.489 6.15 28.70 8.35 61.65 10.55 110.62 1.80 1.3300 1 4.00 9.792 6.20 29.28 8.40 62.58 10.60 111.94 1.85 1.424(> 4.05 10.100 6.25 29.88 8.45 63.51 10.65 113.26 1.90 1.5220 4.10 10.410 6.30 30.48 8.50 64.45 1 10.70 114.60 1.95 1.6250 4.15 10.730 6.35 31.09 8.55 65.41 1 10.75 115.94 2.00 1.7310 4.20 11.060 6.40 31.71 8.60 66.37 10.80 117.29 2.05 1.8410 4.25 11.390 6.45 32.33 : 8.65 67.34 10.85 118.65 2.10 1.9550 4.30 11.730 6.50 32.96 8.70 68.32 10.90 120.02 2.15 2.0740 4.35 12.070 6.55 33.60 8.75 69.30 10.95 121.41 2.20 2.1960 4.40 12.420 6.60 34.24 8.80 70.30 11.00 122.81 2.25 2.3230 4.45 12.780 6.65 34.89 8.85 71.30 11.05 124.21 2.30 2.4550 4.50 13.140 6.70 35.56 8.90 72.31 11.10 125.61 2.35 2.5900 4.55 13.510 6.75 36.23 8.95 73.33 11.15 127.03 2.40 2.7300 4.60 13.890 6.80 36.89 9.00 74.36 11.20 128.45 2.45 2.8750 4.65 14.270 6.85 37.58 9.05 75.40 11.25 129.90 2.50 3.0240 4.70 14.650- 6.90 38.27 9.10 76.44 11.30 131.35 2.55 3.1770 4.75 15.040 6.95 38.96 9.15 77.49 11.35 132.81 2.00 3.3350 4.80 15.440 7.00 39.67 1 9.20 78.55 11.40 134.27 2.65 3.4980 4.85 15.850 7.05 40.38 1 9'?5 79.63 11.45 135.75 2.70 3.6660 4.9" 16.260 7.10 41.10 9.30 80.71 11.50 137.23 2.75 3.H380 4.95 16.680 7.15 41.83 9.35 81.80 11.55 138.73 2.80 4.0140 5.00 17.110 7.20 i 42.56 9.40 82.90 11.60 140.23 2.85 4.1960 5.05 17.540 7.25 43.30 9.45 84.01 11.65 141.75 2.90 4.3820 5.10 17.970 7.30 44.06 9.50 8.''vl2 11.70 143.28 2.95 4.5740 5.15 18.420 7.35 44.82 9.55 86.24 11 75 144.82 3.(H) 4.7700 5.20 18.870 7.40 45.58 9.60 87.37 11.80 146.36 3.05 4.9710 5.25 19.320 7.45 46.36 9.65 88.52 11.85 147.91 3.10 5.1780 5.30 19.790 7.50 47.14 9.70 89.67 11.90 149.48 3.15 5.3880 5.35 20.260 1 7.55 1 47.92 9.75 90.83 11.95 151.05 3.20 5.6050 5.40 20.730 } 7.60 48.72 9.80 92. (M) 12.00 152.64 1 cubic foot contains T. 18 U. S. gallons ; 1 U. S. gdllon weighs 8.34 pounds. 80 PLACER MINING. in length from a few inches to several feet. The dis- charjjfe may be through I -inch, I^- inch, 2-inch, or J5-inch planks with square edges. The bottom of the opening may be either flush with the bottom of the box or raised above it. The head may denote the distance above the center of the aperture or above its top, and varies from 4^ inches to 12 inches above the center of the aperture (see Fig. 15). An aperture 12 inches high by 12|^ inches wide, through a 1^-inch plank, with a head of (I inches above the top of the opening, gives a discharge of 200 miner's inches. CHAPTER XII. WATER SUPPLY— DITCHES AND FLUMES. Thousands of miles of ditches have been made in the placer-mining districts of this country. On account of the rocky character of the country in such districts, steep grades are necessary, and high trestles with flumes, and wrought- iron and wooden pipes were built for carrying water across canyons and ravines. In constructing ditches, the following rules should be observed (Bowie): 1. The source of supply should be at sufficient elevation to cover the greatest range of mining ground at the smallest expense, great hydrostatic pressure being desirable. 2. An abundant and permanent supply of water should be assured during the summer months. 3. The snow-line should be avoided, and the ditch in snow regions located so as to have a southern exposure. 4. All the watercourses on the line of ditch should be secured, their supply counteracting the loss by evaporation, leakage, and absorption. 5. At proper intervals waste-gates should be arranged to discharge the water without danger to the ditch. 0. Ditches are preferable to flumes. DITCHES. SURVEYING A DITCH LINB. Careful barometrical observations should be made to approximately determine the elevations, not only of the termini, but of intermediate points, from which surveying parties can start on the subsequent location of the line. I 82 PLACER MINING. These poinls estal)lished, the line is surveyed and started. In leveling, turning points should be made on grade, the stations numbered and staked, and the pegs driven to grade. Every lour or five stations the rodman calls off the reading, which is checked <^iom . the notes of the instrument man. Stations may be from 50 to 100 feet apart. Bench-marks should be placed every half mile. All details of tunnels, cuts, and depressions requiring fluming or piping should be worked out in full ; a hand-level can be used for this purpose. Complete notes should be made regarding the ground along the center line. The size of a ditch is regulated by its requirements. The smallest section for any given discharge is when the "hy- draulic depth " is one-half of the actual depth. The hydraulic depth is the quotient obtained by dividing the area of the cross-section of the stream at any point by the wetted perimeter at that point. Trapezoidal and rectan- gular forms are adopted for ditches and flumes, respectively. The resistance due to friction in the latter form is smallest when the width is twice the height. Half a regular hexagon is a common form for ditches. In a mountainous country, with rocky soil, narrow and deep ditches with steep grades are adopted in preference to wider ditches with gentler slopes, as they are cheaper to excavate and repair. Ditches with grades of 1(1 to 20 feet per mile are -se r ■fMMMMM^A quite common. Before commencing work, the line must be cleared of trees wi^^f,^m,m^^mmmm^ ^^^^^ brush; on the flume Fio. 16. line, the brush for at least 10 feet on each side is burned off. On a hillside, the lines PLACER MTNING. 88 should be graded off so that the ditch may have walls of solid, untouched ground, and not made banks. Banks should be at least 15 feet wide on top. The SDpe of large ditches for mountain regions is usually (JO degrees for the upper and 50 degrees for the lower bank, but varies with the nature of the ground. The cost of digging is estimated at so much per cubic yard. The annual expense of running and maintaining large ditchci averages about l?400 per mile. The North Bloomfield ditch, shown in section in Fig. 1(J, is 55 miles long, 8.(55 feet^ wide on top, 5 feet wide at the bottom, and 3^ feet deep; cost, l<4()(5,7()7. Its grade is 10 feet per mile; discharge, 3,200 miner's inches. FLUMBS. Flumes are to be avoided if possible, being liable to decay and a continual source of expense. Instances occur, how- ever, necessitating them, as where water must be carried along the face of vertical cliffs. Flumes usually have a slope of from 25 to 35 feet per mile, and are consequently proportion- ately smaller than ditches. They are usually made of seasoned pine planks 1^ to 2 inches thick, 12 to 24 inches wide, and 12 to KJ feet long. The edge joints are battened on the inside with pine strips 3 to 4 inches wide and ^ inch thick. The structure is reenforced every 4 feet by a framing consisting of a sill, cap, and two posts. A flume 4 feet wide by ? feet high requires 4-in. X 5-in. posts and caps and 4-in. X O-in. sills, with 8-in. X 10 in. stringers. The posts are set into the sills with a gain of 1^ inches and not mortised. Sills should Kic. 17. 1* R4 PLACER MINING. ii I extend Pi to 'io inclu'S boyutid the posts, which sboiihl be braced. Fhimes sliould be built on solid beds or rigid trestles, as in Fig, 17. In carrying a Hume around a hillside, the bed should be graded out and the ilume placed close into the bank, to avoid danger from snov/slides, etc. Curves should be laid with care, to ensure the maximum flow of water. The boxes must be cut in two, three, or four parts, necessitating more sills, posts, and caps. For good curving, the side planks are sawed partially through in places, so as to bend easily. To distribute water equally over an entire flume and prevent slack water, irregular curves, and splashing, the outer side of the flume is raised in accordance with the degree of curve and grade. Waste- gates should be placed every half mile. In the snow belt, flumes are covered with sheds in places exposed to snow- slides. Placing the flume close into the bank lessens the danger of freezing. If anchor ice forms on the bottom, the water should be turned out. Snow can be gotten rid of in the same way. DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION. The bed being prepared, the stringers are laid and the sills placed upon them 4 feet apart. Bottom planks are nailed to the sills, the end joints being carefully fitted. The side planks are nailed to the bottom planks and posts, which are set in gains in the sills, an occasional cap being placed on the posts to hold the flume in shape. Sixteen and twenty- penny nails are used. The joints are then battened. Each box, when completed, is set on grade and wedged. Where a flume connects Avith a ditch, the posts, for a distance of several boxes bick, are lengthened, to permit the introduction of an additional plank on each side. The end boxes of the flume are flared, to permit a free entrance and discharge of water. At the junction with the ditch or PLACER MTNTNCt. 80 1 l)e igid lide, lose etc. mm or For ugh ally ular lised iste- belt, low- the the )f in in passing through a bank of earth, an outer siding is nailed to the posts to protect the flume. Exact sizes of lumber should be prepared at the mills, so that the flume ("an be rapidly constructed. Enough water is turned into the flume as the work i)rogresses to float down the timber. The flume may in place, be trestled with supports every H to \'l feet. The life of a flume will not exceed '^0 years at most, and generally 10 years. • BUACKKT FLUMCS. Flumes are frequently carried along precipitous canycjns and cliffs on brackets fastened to the face of the cliff. In Fig. 18. Butte County, California, a line of ditch is run 200 yards up the canyon along a perpendicular wall of basalt. For a distance of nearly 500 feet the flume is carried on brackets along the face of the cliff, 118 feet above the bed of the ravine at its deepest point, and 2:Vi feet below the top. The method of hanging is shown in Fig. IH. The brackets are made of :K)-pound T rails bent into the form of an L; the longer arm-^10 feet long — on which the bed of the flume 86 PLACER MINING. rests, is placed horizontally, having its end supported in a hole drilled in the rock. The short arm — 2 feet li)ng — stands vertically, and has in its upper end an eye into which is hooked one end of a ^-inch round iron rod, connecting to a ring bolt soldered into a hole drilled in the face of the cliff. Brackets are set 8 feet apart and tested to stand a weight of 14^ tons. The flume is 4 feet wide and '.i feet deep, with a capacity of 3,000 miner's inches. The figure shows a trestle 8(J feet high. Along the line of the ditch is a trestle 1,080 feet long and 80 feet high. Another has been built luO feet high. The total length of ditch and flume is 33^ miles. • CHAPTER XIII. WATER SUPPLY— PIPKS AND NOZZLES. WOOnKN PIPES. » For moderate heads, wooden-stave pipes are coming into use. They are practicable for any desired head, but are only economical to the point where the pressure necessitates such close banding that the cost exceeds that of iron or steel pipes of the same length. If kept full of water, the staves will last indefinitely, and the bands may be protected from rust by a coating of asphalt or other mineral paint. The amount of iron in the bands for each foot of pipe is the same as that in a foot of sheet-iron pipe of the same diameter, calculated to withstand the same head of pressure, with a considerable margin of safety. IRON PIPES. Wrought-iron or steel pipes are used exclusively for very high heads. For lower heads, either wood or iron may be used, the selection between them being a matter of location and cost. Pipes are used as water conduits, replacing ditches and flumes; as supply or feed pipes, conveying water from the pressure boxes to the claim ; and as distributing pipes, taking water from the distributors or gates at the end of the supply pipe and delivering it to the discharge pipe or nozzle, which is usually made of sheet iron. Pipes used for convey- ing wate.r across depressions are called inverted siphons. The thickness of metal for iron pipes is determined by the pres- sure of the water and the diameter of the pipe. Pipe once put together soon becomes water-tight from the foreign matter in the water. This result may be hastened by throw- ing in a few bags of sawdust. Pipes thus prepared will 88 PLACER MINING. remain tipfht when siihjcctcd to a pressure <>f over 200 pounds per scpiare inch. The Texas pipe, Nevaihi County, California, is an inverted siphon, 4,4;J.S.T feet UiU^r and 17 inches in diameter, of riveted sheet iron. Its inlet is ;{04 feet above the outlet, and with full head its discharge is 1,5i<»() miner's inches. The maximum Iiead is 770 feet, equivalent to a pressi^re of :V.U pounds per square inch. JOIISTS. Pipes in general are 11, 15, 2tJ, .'JO, and 40 inches in diam- eter, of riveted sheet iron or steel, Nos. H, 10, 12, 14, or Hi (Birmingham gauge), made in sections of 30 to 30 inches, and riveted into lengths of 20 to 30 feet. The latter are put together stove-pipe fashion, neither rivets, wire, nor other contri- vances being necessary. Where there is great pressure, iron collars or lead joints are used. Fig. 19 (a) shows a style of joint which is frequently used. /" is a wrought-iron collar 5 inches wide, '^^f inch thicker than the pipe-iron and with a play of f inch between the inside of the collar and the outside of the pipe; / is the lead, which is run in and calked tight from both sid >; ;/ is a nipple of No. iron, (I inches in width, rivclnl in one end of each section by f -inch rivets. Fig. h) (/') shows the method of tightening leaky joints, a sIi'/Wn the clamp and its method of application for forcing back the PLACER MINING. 8!» ■r 200 unity, nd 17 is ;{04 rjre is feet, lead which has worked out by the expansion and contraction of the pipe. This is shown l)oth in perspective and cross- section. The chimp /; is used to keep tbt* lead in phice after it has been forced back by the clamp « The two lower views of this clamp show the side and end elevations. Fijj. 20 shows the elbow use(' !n making short curves, a, a are angle irons riveted to the elbow ^'^ '"*"• on the outside of the curve and connected by iron :3tiaps with the corresponding angle irons in the pipe, as shown. AIR VAI.VKS; BLOU^-OFFS. To allow the escape of air from the pipe while filling, and also, in case of a break, to prevent the formation of a vacuum and the collapse ofthepipe,blow-offsorair valves are provided. The simplest form is a loaded flap valve of leather on the inside of the pipe, arranged to cover an opening 1 inch to 4 ir.-^hes in diameter. Another simple auto- matic valve is shown in Fig. 21. This sinks and opens when the water leaves it, and shuts F,G. 21. when the water rises to it. Fig. 22 shows a form of blow-off valve used in I i 90 PLACER MINING. low places along the pipe line. Fig. 23 shows another auto- matic water-tight vacuum valve which is used at the high points on the line. The valve on the right is kept closed while the pipe is ' • full, being opened occasionally to blow ij<,,»ij,„ij,»„„rm7m 1 off air which may w'^'mm/tm/J accumulate. The ^^^- '^^- main valve is opened and the pressure of the water keeps the automatic valve closed. In event of a break in the pipe at a point beyond this valve, the pres- sure on the inside of the pipe is released, the automatic valve falls and admits the air, preventing a vacuum. On refilling the pipe, this valve being open, allows the air to escape, closing only when the water reaches it. LAYING PIPES. To preserve the pipe, it should be laid in a trench and covered with earth to a depth of at least a foot. Wooden pipes Fiu. 23. should be painted on the outside with the same mixture that is used for covering the bands. Iron pipes should be coated inside and out with asphalt or coal tar. Such pipes, well PLACER MININCi. ni coated, are still in good condition after 15 years of service. The following mixtures are found to give the best results: Crude asphalt 28 per cent. Coal tar (free from oily matter)... 72 percent. Or, Refined asphalt 10.5 per cent. Coal tar (free from oily matter)... 83. 5 per cent. To prepare these, asphalt in small pieces and coal tar are heated to about 400° F. and well stirred. The pipe is dried and immersed in the mixture, where it remains until it acquires the same temperature as the bath. When coated it is removed and placed on trestles, to drip and dry in the sun and air. For convenience of immersion, wrought-iron troughs 30 feet long by 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep are used. No. 14 iron requires 7 minutes' immersion; No. 6, 12 to 15 minutes', FILLING PIPES. Pipes should be filled in such a manner as to prevent, as far as possible, the admission of air, which will be drawn into the pipes along with the water in surprising quantities, unless considerable care is taken. The best plan is to put a gate in the pipe be- low the intake, and thus regulate the flow, maintaining a steady pressure. A common form of pen- stock or sand box for intakes is shown in fig. s4. Fig. 24. A grating of bars should be provided to catch all drift. The water at the intake of the pipe should be kept quiet and sufficiently dee[) to prevent any air from being carried into the pipe. For this purpose the box is some- times divided into compartments, one of which receives the I r 92 PLACER MINING. water and discharges it quietly into the second through lateral openings. There should be no difference between the water supply and the discharge. Some pressure boxes are arranged for two pipes. i ; i SUPPLY OR FEED PIPES. The water is conveyed in iron feed-pipes from the pres- sure boxes to the claim, and distributed to the discharge pipes by means of iron gates. The supply pipe is funnel shaped where it connects with the pressure box, and from there on it is usually of uniform diameter to the gate or discharge nozzle. Where 2'Z to 30-inch pipes are used, lighter iron than No. 14 B. G. is not advi- sable. The main supply pipe should descend in the most convenient and direct line into the diggings, avoiding angles, rises, and depressions. Air va'ves should be arranged at Fig. 26. proper distances to allow the escape of air when filling the pipe, and prevent collapse. The pipe Is braced and weighted at all angles. In filling the supply pipe, the water should be turned on gradually. Leak- age in slip joints can be stopped with sawdust. Wherever a junction is to be made with another line, or the stream divided, the present practice is to fork the main pipe, cast- iron gates being placed in each branch. Fig. 25 shows the form of gate generally used. PLACER MINING. 93 EVOLUTION OF THK GIANT. We have mentioned how hydraulicking began with the use of a rude hose to break down the banks of debris, and so dis- pense with pick and shovel. GOOSB-NECK. The first improvement on this primitive device was a flexible iron joint formed by two elbows, one above the other, with a coupling joint between them, shown in («), Fig. 20. These elbows were called "goose-necks." They were defective in design. The pressure of water caused the joints to move hard, and when the pipe was turned it would "buck" or fly back, endangering the life and limbs of the operator. GLOBE MONITOR. The goose-neck was succeeded by the "Craig Globe Monitor," which is shown in (^), Fig. 2G. This was a simple ball-and-socket arrangement, but was very difficult of manipulation. , HYDRAULIC CHIEF. The invention of the " Hydraulic Chief," by F. H. Fisher, was the next step. The machine is shown in (r). Fig. 20. The main improvements consisted of two elbows, placed in reversed position when in right line, connected by a ring in which there were anti-friction rolls. The ring was bolted to a flange in the lower elbow, but allowed the upper a free horizontal movement, while the vertical motion was obtained by means of a ball-and-socket joint in the outlet of the top elbow. The interior was unobstructed by bolt or fasten- ings, and the man at the pipe could operate it by means of a lever, without personal danger. Vanes, or rifles, were insi. Led in the discharge pipe to prevent the rotary move- ment of the water caused by the elbows, and to force it to M 1 94 PLACER MINING. issue in a solid stream. These machines soon became leaky, niCTATOR. The '* Hoskins Dictator," the next step of the series, was a one-jointed machine with an elastic packing in the joint, instead of two metal faces. The joint worked up and down on pivots, and in rotating it the wheels ran around against the flange. LITTLE GIANT. The "Little Giant." a subsequent invention of Mr. Hoskins, on account of its simplicity and durability, super- Fici. a«. seded all previous machines. (See (^/), Fig. 20.) It is a two- PLACER MINING. 1)5 jointed machine, portable and easily handled, havinj;- a knuckle joint and lateral movement. The (iiants have rifles, and nozzles from 4 to inches in diameter, 5^ to 7-inch nozzles being commonly used. To keep Giants from buck- ing, they must be firmly bolted to a heavy piece of timber securely braced against gravel or rock. The machine and adjacent length of pipe must also be weighted to the ground. The bearings should be lubricated with tallow or axle grease. HYDRAULIC GIANT. The "Hydraulic Giant" (see(r), Fig. 26) is a modification of the Little Giant. The " Monitor," with a deflecting nozzle, invented by H, C. Perkins, is shown in (/), Fig. 26. The deflecting nozzle /; permits the direction of the stream at any desired angle. When the lever c is in the rest d^ the deflecting nozzle b^ being of larger diameter than the nozzle, allows the stream of water from the nozzle to pass through without obstruction. To move the pipe, the lever r is taken from the rest and thrust in the direction in which it is desired to throw the stream. Any movement of the lever l\, either to the right or left or up or down, throws the end of the nozzle /; into the stream of water. The force of the water striking b causes the entire machine to swing around in the desired direction. Hoskins' deflecting nozzle Is of cast iron, the same size as the main nozzle, to which it is attached by a packed universal joint. The operation is similar to that of the Monitor deflector. There is the disadvantage of a constant interference with the stream of water, and this nozzle is, therefore, somewhat dangerous. r :}3 '■ \ lillliMlilHBl i I CHAPTER XIV. PLACER MINING PRACTICE— DEVELOPMENT OF GOLD-WASHING APPARATUS. THE PAX. The gold miner's pan, shown in Fig. 27, is pressed from a single sheet of Russia iron. It is usually about 12 inches in diameter at the bottom and 3 to 4 inches deep, the sides being inclined at an angle of 30 degrees from the hori- zontal and turned over a wire around Fig. SJ7. the edge to strengthen the rim. It is used in prospecting, cleaning gold-bearing sand, collecting amalgam in the sluices, and throughout the business gener- ally. Its manipulation requires skill and practice. A quantity of the dirt to be washed is placed in .^ the pan, occupying about two-thirds of its capa-'^ city; the pan with its contents is immersed - in water and the mass stirred, so that every particle may becomr soaked. When the dirt is soaked, the pan is taken in both hands, one on each side, and with- out allowing it to entire- F'g- 28. ly emerge from the water it is suspended in the hands, not PLACER MINING. 97 quite level, but tippingslightly away from the operator. In this position it is shaken so as to allow the water to disen- gage all the light, earthy particles and carry them away. (See Fig. 28.) This done, there will remain varying pro- portions of gold dust, heavy sand, lumps of clay, and gravel stones; these last are thrown out. A turn of the wrist allows the muddy water to escape in driblets over the depressed edge of the pan, without exercising so much force as to send the lighter portions of the gold after it. At last nothing remains in the pan but gold dust and heavy black sand and earthy matter. By the final careful working, with plenty of clear water, the earthy matter can be completely removed, but the heavy iron sand can not be gotten rid of by any method based upon its specific gravity as related to that of gold. If this iron sand be magnetic, the grains can be removed by a magnet. If there are fine particles of pyrites in the pan, they can generally be distinguished from gold by their lighter color, the gold being commonly a rich orange color. THE BATEA. The batea is a modification of the pan, used principally in parts of Mexico and South America where water is scarce. It is a shallow, conical bowl, turned out of a single piece of hard wood, and is about 20 inches ir diameter by 2| inches deep in the center. It is, on the whole, a better instrument than the pan for gold washing, the wood surface iacilitating the concentration of the gold. i ;i - :-8* . PUDDLING BOX. The puddling box is a wooden box about 6 feet square by 18 inches deep, arranged with plugs for disch^^rging the contents. The box is filled with water and gold-bearing Mi 98 PLACER MINING. Fig. 29. clay. By continuous stirring with a rake, the clay is broken up in the water and run off. The concentrated material in the bottom is subsequently washed in a pan or rocker. THE ROCKER. The rocker is a box about 40 inches long by IG inches wide and 1 foot high, with one or two riffles across the bottom, and set on rockers, as shown in Fig. 29. On the upper end is a removable hopper 18 to 20 inches square and 4 inches deep, with an iron bottom per- forated with one-half-inch holes. Beneath the hopper, below the perforated plate, there is a light frame placed on an incline from front to back, upon which a canvas or carpet apron is stretched. To use the rocker, material is thrown into the hopper and water is poured on with a dipper held in one hand, while with the other hand the cradle is kept rocking. The water washes the finer stuff through the bottom of the hopper, and the gold or amalgam is either caught on the apron or collects in the bottom of the rocker, while the sand or lighter material in the hopper is thrown aside. Rockers were extensively used in placer mining before the introduction of sluicing. Now they are employed in cleaning up placer claims and quartz mills and for collecting finely divided particles of amalgam and quicksilver. THC TOM. The "Tom " is a rough trough about 12 feet long, 15 to 20 inches wide at the upper end and 30 inches wide at the lower, and 8 inches deep. It is set on timbers or stones, with an incline of about 1 inch per foot. A sheet-iron plate or riddle, perforated with one-half-inch holes, fills the lower PLACER MINING. 00 end of the trough, which is beveled on the lower side, as shown in Fig. 30. The material coming from the sluice, on striking the riddle, is sorted, the fine dirt and water passing through the holes, and the coarse stuff being shoveled off. Under the riddle is a shallow trough with riffles, set on an incline, into which the finer gravel passes. The discharge of the water through the plate, with the occasional aid of the shovel, keeps the sand from packing and allows the gold to settle. The Tom succeeded the cradle rocker. The old-fashioned " Long Tom" was 14 feet long; it was followed by the "Vic- toria," "Jenny Lind," or "Broad Tom," 6 or 7 feet ^ long, 12 inches wide at the upper end and 3 feet at the lower. The Tom consists of two distinct troughs or boxes placed one above the other. (See Fig. 30.) A fig. so. stream of water flows in through the spout r" lOG PLACER MINING. the following method is recommended by Bowie: The main drift should be run in a distance of two-thirds the height of the bank to be blasted. The cross drifts from the end of the main drift should be run parallel with the face of the bank, and their lengths determined by the extent of the ground to be moved. A single T is usually all that is neces- sary. The powder required is from 10 to 20 pounds to 1,000 cubic feet of ground to be loosened. In firing by electricity great care should be taken of wires while tamping, and where dynamite-exploders with platinum wires are used tl^^€*3^ to<%j < K> to the surface are skimmed off. This residue, which retains considerable amalgam, is concentrated by working in pans or rockers, and the con- centrates are ground in iron mortars with some clean quick- silver. Any base material floating to the surface of the bath is melted separately to a base bullion ; the remainder is added to the fine amalgam. The quicksilver is strained from the amalgam through carivas or drilling, and the dry amalgam is treated in iron retorts. RETORTING. When the amount of amalgam to be treated is small, the hand retort answers all requirements; but at large gravel mines, stationary cast-iron retorts are used. When large quantities of amalgam are retorted and the furnaC' s eft un- attended, a retort which is set immediately above the fire is apt to become overheated. The weight of the luetal inside of the retort then causes it to '* belly, "ruii ing it ctrpletely. To prevent this, the retort should be supported at several points and arranged with the fire to one side, so that the heat may be evenly distributed over it. (See Fig. 38.) PLACER MINING. 121 cool 1041 Id Before putting the amalgam into the retort, the latter should be coated on the inside with a thin sheet of clay, which prevents the amalgam from adhering to the iron. The amalgam should then be carefully introduced and spread evenly. The pipe connecting the back of the retort with the condenser must be cleared of all obstructions, and the amalgam should be so spread that by no possible mis- chance can this pipe become choked, as an explosion would probably result, filling the retorting room with the poisonous FIG. 38. tumes of mercury and greatly 'endangering its occupants To avoid danger, the heating should be very slow at first. After the cover has been put on with a luting of clay or a mixture of clay and wood ashes and securely clamped, the li'e is lighted and the heat gradually raised, a dark red heat being all that is necessary to volatilize the quicksilver. Towards the end of the operation, the heat is raised to a cheny red, until distillation ceases. The retort is then allowed to cool, and, when cold, is opened. During the operation, the condensing coil at the back of the retort should be kept cool by a continuous supply of fresh water entering from the lower end of the box which contains it, while the discharge of warm water is effected above The 122 PLACER MINING. retort bullion is cut or broken into pieces and melted in a well-annealed black lead crucible, and the gold cast into bars. Dl.- ?UTION OF GOLD IN SLUICES. In sluicing, tj.> reater part (usually about 80 per cent.) of the gold caught is found in the first 200 feet. For ex- ample, of a claim yielding 1(53,000 on a hundred days' run, $54,000 was obtained in the first 150 feet, and $3,000 from the undercurrents. The first undercurrent, 790 feet from the head of the sluice, yielded 50 per cent, of the total amount taken from the undercurrents. The second under- current, 78 feet distant below the fir.st, with a drop of 40 feet between them, contained 33 per cent, of the gross undercurrent yield. The last undercurrent was 08 feet from the second, with a drop of 50 feet between them; its yield was about $500. Sometimes about a hundred feet at the head of the sluice is covered with gravel during the greater part of a run ; in such cases, the gold is found farther down. LOSS OF MERCURY. A certain loss of quicksilver is unavoidable in placer mining, the ianount depending on the grade, length, and condition of the sluices, the character of the material washed, the amount of water used, and the length of the run. The loss may be reduced by lengthening the sluice line, keeping joints tight, and careful cleaning and chinking. On large enterprises it is usually in the vicinity of one pound of mercury for every $100 worth of gold recovered. ! LOSS OF GOLD. The loss of gold is inversely proportionate to the size of the grains, the length and grade of sluices and undercur- rents, the depth of the water, and the completeness of the breaking up of the pay dirt. Frequent drops in a line assist PLACER MININH. in disintegrating the gravel and allow of shorter sluices. In washing hard cement banks, it is advisable to use plenty of powder to thoroughly shatter the bank, and large lumps of cement should be broken up before being introduced into the sluice. However carefully the operation be conducted, there is invariably some loss of fine gold ; the last under- current will always catch some gold, and the tailings will show a trace. CHAPTER XVII. EXAMPLES OF PLACERS— THE ALMA PLACER. As an example of an ordinary hydraulic placer mine, we may take that of the Green Mountain Company, at Alma, South Park, Colorado. In South Park, at an altitude of 10,000 feet above the sea-level, is an extensive area of placer ground, located along the banks of the South Platte River, and extending from the base of Mount Lincoln to Fairplay, a distance of over 'JO miles. This area consists of rolling banks of pebbles, boulders, gravel, and sand on both sides of the stream, covered with grass and a few spare trees, and sloping up gently towards the mountain sides for an average width of about half a mile. Portions of these placer banks have long been worked, both at Alma and Fairplay, but the banks are far from exhausted. The principal hy *"aulic workings are at Alma, where also the banks are thickest, owing to the confluence of tributary canyons and streams at that point. A powerful body of water is at hand during the summer months, and the beds are worked continuously, night and day, during the season. The main source whence the gold originated was doubt- less in numerous lai*ge, partially developed quartz veins in granite, at the head of the ravine above Montgomery, at the foot of Mount Lincoln, where are the headwaters and main sources of the South Platte River. Besides these gold-bearing veins, the quartzites and porphyries of the adjacent region may have contributed a certain amcnrnt of gold to the placer from gold disseminated generally through- out their mass. The head of the canyon below Mount PLACER MINING. 125 IP Lincoln was the starting point of the ghioier that carved out the valley upon which the Alma placers lie, the line of which is now occupied by the Platte River. The character of the predominant pebbles in the placers — quartzites, granite, and })orphyry — suggests the rocks at the head of the canyon as the principal source of the gold. The summit of Mount Lincoln is 14,400 feet above the sea- level, and about 4,000 feet above the valley of the Platte. The east face of the peak descends in a steep cliflf of massive granite, capped by quartzites and limestones carrying inter- bedded sheets of porphyry. The face of the granite cliff is traversed by a great number of wide, parallel fissure-veins of quartz and feldspar, carrying more or less gold and pyrites. The valley below is U shaped, betokening the path- way of an ancient glacier, and scooped out of granite by the ice. The rocks over which the glacier passed in its downwards course are rounded, polished, and grooved, form- ing what are called '* glacial sheepbacks." These form the pavement of the upper part of the ravine. Near the head, a violent stream, whose source is in a small lake in a glacial amphitheater still higher up, descends in bounding water- falls — the source of the Platte. Below where the falls plunge into the valley is a small, shallow lake, half filled with gravel, supposed to contain much gold scooped out from the veins in the upper part of the canyon, and a scheme is projected to drain the lake and work the gravel by a cof- fer-dam and underground sluice tunnel, the water and debris from the washing passing through the coffer-dam and out through the sluices in the tunnel. The hollows at the base of the waterfall, contrary to what might be sup- posed, are not found to be very productive. From the lake, we look down on numerous traces of the work and pathway of the ancient glacier. Vast bodies of huge boulders rise 12() PLACER MINING. I !ES ' on the slopes at the base of the mountain to a height of nearly 1,000 feet above the stream, with here and there an exceptionally large block dropped by the melting ice on the top of the moraines on either side of the stream. Between the moraines, the river runs through a long meadow, witli con- tinuous banks of placer material on either side from 50 to 200 feet in height. The surface of these morainal banks is undulated, rising and falling in smooth, grassy swells, like the waves of mid-ocean. These banks are composed of * ' modified drift "; that is, the rough, angular blocks left by the glacier have been worked over by the stream, pounded and broken up, and in part re- duced to gravel. When exposed in section, as at Alma, they exhibit the structure from surface grass roots down to bed- rock shown in Fig. 39. The structure in detail FIG. 39. is as follows: First, a foot or two of black turf, in which there is little gold; below that, a foot or two of clay with pebbles in it, and then a few feet of sandy layers, irregularly bedded, in dovetailing streaks, as if formed by eddies and currents, and, likewise, comparatively poor; the remainder, to bed-rock, 30 to 50 feet, is composed of subangular and rounded pebbles and boulders of all sizes, from a fraction of an inch to a yard in diameter, cemented together by gravel, sand, clay, and, in places, by iron oxide, into a tolerably fine conglomerate, which can only be successfully attacked by the point of the pick or the all-destroying Giant nozzle. Thes banks are continuous down both sides of the creek for several miles, \n PLACER MTNTNO. 127 and are thickest at Alma, opposite the outlet of the tribu- tary canyons, Buckskin and Mosquito. Here is the site of one of the oldest working placers in Colorado. The banks have been cut back for a long distance from the river, pre- senting a face of vertical cliff 70 feet in height and about a mile in length, channeled by narrow ravines and gashes, from the inroads of the Giants and the cutting back of ditch and flume waterfalls. Some of these cuts are short, narrow gashes, not penetrating far into the hills; others lead, through long, narrow, ravines into wide, open amphi- theaters surrounded by channeled cliffs, while the center is occupied by piles of large boulders thrown out from the sluices and stacked up in the course of the work. Winding through these paths of debris may be seen the remains of the old, abandoned gravel sluices, telling of work done long ago. To enter one of these amphitheaters, where the work is still actively progressing, we approach by way of one of the ravines penetrating the hill. From this ravine issue two long, Fui. 40. snake-like gravel sluices, shown in Fig. 40, debouching on to the open river bottom and natural dumping ground by many radiating, short-curved tributary sluices. The water 138 PLACER MINING. rushes with j^reat speed and force along the wooden bottom of the sluices, and the bigger boulders can be heard rolling and bumping over the wooden riffle blocks which pave the bottom. We follow up these sluices through the ravine for over a thousand feet, till it opens in a broad amphitheater 200 feet wide by 70 feet deep. Here operations are in full blast. Several flume waterfalls, shown in Fig. 41, descend the steep bank at the head of the amphitheater, at varying distances apart, each one cutting back rapidly a sharp, nar- row ravine or channel for itself from grass roots nearly to Fig. 41. bed-rock. These waterfalls, each fed by its own branch from the main ditch on the bank above, cut the bank into a series of parallel blocks of ground. Against the sides and faces of these insulated blocks, two Giant nozzles direct their powerful columns of water with crumbling effect, and the partially cemented material fades rapidly before them as mass after mass is undermined and topples into the ref- use stream, and thence is hurried into the gaping mouths of the gravel sluices. Giants also speed the boulders and gravel on their way by occasionally lending their force to that of the refuse stream which flows from beneath the PLACER MTNTNG. VZO waterfalls. Thus sand, y^ravel, and boiddtn's arc washed into the gravel sluices, the bottoms of which are lined with riffles of short cross-sectif>ns of the trunks of pitch-pine trees, placed close together, like rows of lozenges, or like a Nicholson block pavement. Both big and little boulders and gravel roll rapidly over this block pavement, and the gold, by its gravity, drops to the bottom and is caught be- tween the interstices of the blocks and retained there. Its retention and deposition are further aided by throwing in quicksilver, which, by its affinity for gold, collects the tiner particles in its soft, heavy, silvery mass. While the boulders and gravel soon find their way to the natural dumping ground on the open river bottom, the gold in its travel stops long before that point is reached. In the center of the amphitheater, a tall derrick, driven by a lO-foot Pelton wheel with an undershot nozzle, moves a long arm slowly around over the area. The use of this der- rick will pres-^ntly be apparent. One of the flumes having been stopped and its attendant waterfall having ceased, and the Giant nozzle being directed elsewhere, the pathway of the refuse stream becomes comparatively drv Then men climb into it and pick out the larger boulders. Loo large to pass through the gravel sluices — some of them being so large as to require blasting. Then the long arm of the der- rick swings around, and the boulders are piled into a large stone-boat and carried around to a convenient dumping ground on either side of the gravel sluices. The largest boulders being thus removed, the gravel and small pebbles become more exposed, and the Giants are again brought to bear on these, till at last bed-rock sandstone appears, full of cracks and crevices, forming by its gentle dip and in- equalities natural riffles and lodging places for a portion of the gold. The bed-rock cleaners now dig up and shovel 130 PLACER MINING. into the sluirc the rotten surface of the sandstone to a depth of a foot or so, or to such a depth as experience has proved that j^old occurs They probe the cracks in bed- rock with their '> I CHAPTER XVIII. EXAMPLES OF PLACERS— THE ROSCOE PLACER. As an example of placer mining by turning the course of a river by means of wide flumes, and leaving the river bed dry and bare for a space, for operations down to bed- rock, we may cite that of the Roscoe placer in Clear Creek Canyon, Colorado. Clear Creek Canyon is one of the steepest and grandest of the Frost Range. It is cut through granite rocks for a linear distance of some 40 miles, to an average depth of 1,000 feet. About 13 miles from its out- let on the plain, the creek forks, one branch leading up towards the gold-mining region of Central, the other to the gold and silver region of Idaho Springs. The main creek receives the drainage of two gold-bearing districts. At Central, in addition to gold from the mines, veins, and rocks direct, the creek brings down a great deal of flour gold, the refuse of old stamp mills, which by their crude methods lost in the past upwards of 40 per cent, of gold, together with a great deal of amalgam. This refuse matter has been accumulating from the mills alone for the past thirty years, not to mention what has been derived from the rocks them, selves by the ordinary process of nature. Miners and prospectors in past times obtained a great deal of gold from shallow surface washings, without attempting to reach the deep-lying but coveted bed-rock, where the most of the gold was reasonably expected to lie. Near the location of the placer, the canyon is at its deepest and narrowest. Several huge veins of quartz and feldspar, PLACER MINING. 135 ] doubtless carrying more or less gold, cross the canyon from side to side It is by the erosion and breaking down of these great veins, which originally stretched across the canyon like a dyke, that we enter the grand portal leading to the Roscoe placer. Originally, the great feldspar vein stood as a natural dam across the waters of the creek, until tiiey undermined and broke through it, and the vein collapsed into the creek in huge boulders, over which the waters now dash in foaming waterfalls, with a sudden drop of 30 feet. This natural dam was selected as an excellent point for dumping the material to be dug out immediately above it. The debris thrown over this fall would be rapidly disinte- grated and carried down stream by the torrents; so nature supplied one of the first reqr les for enterprises of this sort — a good dumping ground. Above the stone dam is a stretch of a couple of miles of com[)ar.'ii ively slow-moving and shallow water in a natural widening of the creek bottom, underlaid by deep gravel. The railroad runs on the bank, convenient to the placer, and the grade was also convei ent for laying alongside of it the pipe lines to run the ' Hants, etc. The opposite bank was low, and the slope gentle and well adapted for constructing the great flume and ditch to carry ofif the waters of the creek. PRELIMINARY PLAN AND l^ORK. Before commencing operations, the ground was pros- pected by shafts do'vn to bed-rock, and the presence of gold assured. The general plan of the work to be done was as follows; First, a wide and long flume was to be constructed on the south bank, capable of carrying off all the water of the creek, which was to be turned into it by means of a dam, laying Jiare a mile or more of the river bottom, At the lower end 1)30 VLACER MINING; of the property, just above the stone dam, a pit was to be dug to bed-rock. In this a Liidhim gravel lifter was to be placed— a large funnel-shaped pipe, up which water, gold, gravel, and stones would be carried by the force of a Giant nozzle below it into an elevated gravel flume on the surface above — to which would also be attached several undercurrent sluices for catching the finest gold. A pipe line, some two or three miles long, with a head of over l^'O feet and carrying l.OOO inches of water, would give the needed power to the Giants in the pit. As the workings would advance up the creek, the abandoned pit would receive the dump of the work in progress. BUILDINCJ DITCH AND FLUME. Two things had to be done simultaneously: one, to build the big ditch and flume to carry off the water of the river and leave the bed dry; the other to build a pipe line to get suflficient head of water to work the nozzles and sand pumps at the places chosen for excavation. By a natural widening of the river bank and its encroachment on the stream at one place, the channel of the stream is locally contracted. Starting with this natural advantage, a temporary dam and flume was built of sacks filled with sand, to keep back the water till a more substantial "triangu- lar " d; m, of timber par- titions filled with stones, could be built. Thus a ground flume was construct- |. ^f^ ^ ed, as shown in Fig. 4;{. Fig. 44. First, a pile or wall of sand- bags next to the water of the ditch, and then behind that a framework of timber with triangular partitions filled with PLACER MINING. 137 FIG. 44. 138 PLACER MINING. stones and pebbles, faced, or " rip-rapped," on the outer side with heavier stones, until the nature of the ground should require a flume of sawed timber to be constructed, This flume that carries off the river water is 10 feet wide, 6^ feet high, and 2,000 feet long, with a capacity of about 32,000 gallons per minute. The bents are 4 in. X 8 in. and lO feet long, with braces on the outer side at an angle of 11^°. The braces are 2-in. X 8-in. plank, 5 feet long, bolted to the 4-in. X 8-in. sill and upright post. The flooring is 4 inches thick, the boards 12 inches wide and 10 feet long. The flume is not straight, but follows the course of thestream, the floor being elevated on the outside of the curves an amount cor- responding to the degree of curvature, as on a railroad track, making the water run level. The grade on the curve is 1^ inches to 10 feet. When the flume is straight^ the grade is f inch to 10 feet. The angle at which the floor is cut for joining is not over 30 degrees. The sides are made of 2-inch boards 10 inches wide. WATER-POWER AIXI> PIPE LINE. The next matter to be attended to was to get sufficient head of water for the Giants. To effect this, they had to go three miles up the river to a point where the descent of the stream was somewhat steep and rapid. There they built an intake flume of wood, feet wide, 4 feet deep, and 800 feet long, to a penstock or sand box connecting with a wooden- stave pipe 48 inches in diameter at its widest point. To enter the penstock the water passes through a screen or iron grating, which catches the coarse rubbish, such as leaves, sticks, etc., floating in the water, and the overflow passes through gates on the south side. The main current passes into the penstock, which is 8 feet square and 10 feet deep. At the bottom is a well which collects any debris, so the PLACER MINING. 139 140 PLACER MINING. water passes clean and pure through the penstock into the 48-inch pipe. This pipe is made of staves or boards of pine, band- ed with round steel hoops. (See Fig. 44.) After leaving the pen- stock, the pipe is buried for a distance of about 100 yards un- der a stone embankment, and passes by an arch under the rail- road track to its junction with the metal pipe. Where it has to withstand the greatest pressure, it is closely banded. The pipe diminishes gradually in diam- .- eter, till, from 48 inches at the o penstock, it becomes 22 inches ^ at its junction with the metal pipe, which also, in its course, diminishes to 1(3 inches. The steel pipe is three-eighths of a mile long. A still smaller pipe, 12 inches in diameter, connects with this and runs parallel with the main pipe, forming two pipes, for one-eighth of a mile. One of these pipes is for the Giant nozzle, the other to supply the sand pump for elevating the gravel from the bottom of the excavation into the gold gravel sluices. The pressure on these pipes at the nozzle is 87 ■ PLACER MINING. 141 pounds per square inch, and they will throw a column of water 1G5 feet from a nozzle 4 inches' in diameter. With a closed pipe the pressure would be ItS'j pounds. Fig. 45 gives a general idea of the lower end of the works, and Fig. 46 shows a panoramic view of the whole plant, from the intake flume, far up the canyon, to the penstock, and from the penstock along the line of big pipes to their final connection, at the lower end of the placer, with the Giant nozzles, and on the opposite side of the river the big flume carrying the water of the river out of its natural course and leaving the bed dry for operations. The pit, above the stone dam, is also shown, as completed, in Fig. 47. Giant nozzles play against the sides and into the bottom of this pit, washing down the debris of the banks Pig. 47. and excavating the bottom, while gravel elevators and water-lifters force up the material excavated to an elevated sluice, to be winnowed of its coarse gold ; and thence the gravel passes over a finer-gathering, broad undercurrent ! 142 PLACER MINING. sluice; then, again, by a narrow flume, winding among the big boulders and through narrow crevices in the rocks, to a final undercurrent, where the finest material of all is collected on burlap, or sacking material. DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK. It is necessary to explain the details of the work which the accompanying sketches represent, as it is more or less complicated. After all the machinery, flumes, sluices, pipes, and Giants were in place, the excavation of the pit was commenced and carried on down to bed-rock, with the aid of the Giants and elevators. When the Giant nozzles had been brought to play, the material, as the pit deepened, was forced up through the gravel elevators into the gravel sluice. THE LUDL.UM ELEVATOR. The Ludlum gravel elevator, shown in Fig. 48, is a big steel pipe somewhat funnel shaped towards the lower portion, Fig. 48. the broad end of which descends into the bottom of the pit, where both water and gravel accumulate from the work of the Giants. Directly underneath the end of the elevator, at a distance below it of 10 inches, is embedded a Giant PLACER MINING. 143 nozzle, together with a portion of its pipe, receiviny^ a powerful pressure from one of the main pipes on the bank. As the gravel and stones roll down they are directed by a box in upon this nozzle, the lower portion of which is en- closed in bed-rock when bed-rock is attained. The stream carries the smaller boulders and dei)ris up the funnel of the elevator and into the flume above, where a pipe communi- cating with the main flume sends a flood of water into the gravel sluice to help push along the boulders and gravel that have thus come up. The other pipe that is also seen enter- ing the end of the box of the sluice and passing down in a steep, slanting direction into the pit is a Ludlum water- lifter, sometimes called an "elevator pump." It works somewhat like the gravel elevator, a vacuum being formed in the lower portion of the pipe, drawing the water of the pit up into it. The power-pressure nozzle runs about a foot up into the pipe. The purpose of this pump is to drain the pit of the water accumulating from the (xiants and in other ways. So, while the (iiants tear down the banks, the eleva- tors carry the water, gravel, and gold up into the gravel sluices. The main gravel sluice is a narrow trough or box, 208 feet long by 48 inches wide and ;j feet deep, laid down at a gentle inclination on the top of the surface of the creek bed from the lower end of the excavation. It is made of strong, inch boards and paved on the bottom with square, 8-inch blocks of pine wood set on end, so that the grain is uppermost. These block riffles are laid in rows quite close together across the bottom of the sluice, from side to side. Between each set or row of blocks is laid a narrow strip of wood, 3 inches high by ^ inch thick. In laying block riffles, the blocks in the first row are placed closely side by side. Then the strip of wood is nailed along the lowest part of them with headless nails, not driven 144 PLACER MINING. home, but protruding a little, so that when the next row of riffles is laid down and driven up, the protruding nails sink into the blocks and hold them fast while the strip is being laid against the lower side. The gravel, as it is being borne along in the sluice, drops its gold, which is collected in these cracks or gaps between the riffles, prepared to re- ceive it. On the side of this main sluice, and connected with it at the head, are two smaller side sluices, a little below it and running parallel to it. These are lined with Brussels carpet instead of riffle blocks. This carpet collects the finer gold, while the main flume usually collects the coarser material, boulders, gravel, and gold. Towards the end of the main sluice a few of the block riffles are omitted and a grating substituted, made the full width of the sluice, with bars spaced J inch apart and beveled on the bottom. This grating allows only loose stones or gravel below a certain size to pass, together with finer material, into the next sluice, called an "undercur- rent." This is a broad, shallow box, similar to that shown in Fig. 3G, tipped at an inclination of 6 inches in 24 feet, the latter being the length of the undercurrent, which is 12 feet wide. The bottom of this box is lined with a peculiar kind of riffle. These riffles consist of narrow slats or strips of wood, laid doAvn on the bottom, across the width of the box, and on top of each slat is a piece of strap iron, nailed flat, whose edge overlaps the slat on both sides, but only slightly on the lower side. The water passing through these moves to and fro, like an endless pulley, from riffle to rilfle, dropping its gold among them by the eddies so caused. There still remains a certain amount of very fine material, carrying even finer gold, which escapes this first undercur- rent and must not be lost. So from this a narrow flume, PLACER MININCr. Ur) winding? through a passage in the rock, leads into a still larger, longer, and wider undercurrent, which catches the finest material of all — in this case composed largely of finely comminuted pyrites, the tailings from the mills. This long, wide undercurrent, 45 feet long by 24 feet wide, is divided into a series of compartments or boxes, set longitudinally. The divisions are formed by long boards a foot deep. At the bottom of these boards a narrow strip of wood is laid and battened down on the burlap, or sacking material, which lines the bottom of the box and receives the gold. The burlap carpets are drawn off by rollers on swivels and trans- ported to a wooden tank, where they pass over a series of rollers, laying them conveniently open for inspection and cleaning. Every visible particle of gold is collected, and the rest drops into the water in the tank. Through the middle of this undercurrent sluice passes a small flume with perforated plates at the upper end. This flume is intended to catch and dispose of some of the coarser material that may have passed through the upper undercurrent, and what finer gold there may be in it drops through the perforated plates into the general undercurrent, the coarser rubbish being carried out to the river. On cleaning-up days, which occur at intervals, the block riffles are taken up and care- fully inspected for gold. This leaves the bottom of the sluice uncovered, and on this a good deal of gravel, gold, and quicksilver has collected. This is carefully shoveled into buckets and examined, the gold laid aside, and the quicksilver amalgam containing gold placed in retorts; so also in the other undercurrents, together with the Brussels carpet and burlaps in both sluices and under- currents. The bed of the stream, as at present excavated by the 146 PLACER MINING. pit, shows a section of the placer. (Fig. 40.) The great loose rocks, by foi-niiig the so-calied stone dam across the stream, produced a natural gathering place and stoppage for all the boulders and rub- bish brought down by floods from above. Some of the boulders are several feet in diameter and have to be blasted before they can be removed. Mixed Fxrj. 49. with these boulders are many stumps and logs of driftwood, some of which show the marks of beavers. Half way down the section is a dark line, formed by a thin bed of peat, marking the origin of an old surface soil. Above this are belts of irregularly bedded gravel and sand, showing the action of shifting currents. Gold has been found all the way down from surface to bed- rock, the coarsest and most abundant gold bting on bed- rock itself. They are obliged "o wall up portions of the loose sides of the pit Avith cobblestones, as the jarring of passing trains is likely to shake down boulders, endangering the lives of the workmen and gradually undermining the adjacent railroad tracks. " THE END. n i \ tmmm The Best Mining and Prospecting Journal in tlie World Mines and Minerals (Formerly ''The Metal Miner and Colliery Engineer"') FOR: I BECAUSE: Metal Miners aad Prospectors Miae Owners iHlnlng Engineers Mine Superlntenden is and Foremeki Mine Mecliaaics It is devoted entirely to mining methods, mining machinery, and prospecting. It gives them reading matter on the latest and best ways of working of gold, silver, iron, copper, lead, and other metal mines. It treats of prospecting, opening mines, winning the miner- als, dmbering, hoisting, '.'p.uling, pumping, ventilating, etc., in great detail. It keeps the reader abreast of the progress in mining. 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