Part 6

The Comstock Lode crops out along the eastern face of Mount Davidson about 1,200 feet below the summit, and just above the western suburbs of Virginia City. To the northward and southward the vein runs along the east side of other and smaller mountains of the same range. The face of Mount Davidson slopes to the east at an angle of about twenty-five degrees, and the vein dips in the same direction at an average inclination of forty-five degrees. It was at first supposed that the vein dipped to the west (into Mount Davidson), and the first hoisting works were erected on or near the croppings, where shafts were sunk and inclines sent down. For the first 400 to 500 feet the vein did pitch to the west into the mountain. Mount Davidson was then supposed to be the great central magazine, or nucleus, of all the silver found near the surface, and claims located on the slope of the mountain below to the eastward found but little favor in the eyes of mining men and would-be purchasers. Suddenly all this was changed, and there was a general “right-about-face.” It was discovered in the Gould & Curry and the Ophir Mines that at a certain depth the lode became perpendicular, then turned and took a regular dip to the east, of about forty-five degrees, following as a footwall the syenite slope of Mount Davidson. It was then seen that the false dip above was caused by the top of the vein being bent over under the pressure of sliding material on the slope of the mountain at and near the surface.

THE THREE LINES OF HOISTING WORKS.

However, much ore was mined at the first line of works, particularly at the Ophir, Mexican, California, Gould & Curry, Savage, and Hale & Norcross Mines. But, as the dip of the vein was away from these first works, it presently became necessary to move to the eastward about 1,000 feet. As very deep shafts would there be required in order to intersect the lode, larger and much more powerful hoisting works and pumping machinery must be erected. Indeed, the new works required to be first-class in every respect, as the shafts would be far deeper than any yet put down on the lode, and it was by this time known that there would be immense quantities of water to handle.

Accordingly, the second line of fine and powerful first-class works, seen at present, and again in active use, was constructed. The shafts of the new line of works all cut into the heart of the vein, and in several the “bonanzas” found were so large and so rich as to astonish the whole mining world and create a much greater and far more widespread excitement than was seen when silver was first discovered in the croppings of the vein at the Ophir Mine. All the leading mines were soon taking out their tens of millions, but when the “big bonanza” was struck in the Consolidated Virginia and California the yield of gold and silver bullion soon became a matter of scores of millions. It was then that the fame of the Comstock spread to every corner of the world, and the rush of speculators, fortune-seekers, and adventurers of all ages, sexes, and classes was greater than ever before. Though what is called the “Big Bonanza” was struck in the Consolidated Virginia in October, 1873, at a point on the 1,167-foot level, it was not until October, 1874, that the excitement in regard to it reached fever-heat. The main shaft had then reached the 1,500-foot level, and the ore disclosed by drifts and chambers was of such extraordinary and astonishing richness that experts could hardly believe their eyes or assayers their figures.

The Comstock Lode had a width (between the syenite wall on the west and the propylite on the east) of from 1,000 to 1,200 feet at the point where the “Big Bonanza” was struck. The space between the two walls was filled with what is locally termed “vein material” (gangue), and in this was found the ore body or “bonanza,” which was in one place over 300 feet in width. This mass of ore yielded from $100 to $700 per ton, but in places were found masses of pure native silver and spots of ore so rich in black sulphuret and gold that to make assays of it was much like making assays of the pure metals. From the “Bonanza Mines” alone from 1873 up to 1882 were taken $111,975,761.39; but in 1879 the yield began to fall off as the vein was followed downward, and in 1882 the amount of bullion taken out was small, not paying expenses.

In the meantime (while the big bonanza of the Consolidated Virginia and California companies was being worked out) most of the leading companies had exhausted their second bonanzas. Instead of prospecting further in their immediate neighborhood, they all determined to go still farther east, sink a new line of shafts, and tap the vein at a still greater depth. This time they went out about 2,000 feet beyond their second line of hoisting works, or 3,000 feet east of the croppings of the lode. As it would be necessary to sink shafts to a depth of about 3,000 feet to intersect the vein, the hoisting works, hoisting machinery, and all else was made much larger, more powerful, and on a grander scale in every respect, than the second line. The principal works on this third line are those of the Combination shaft, New Yellow Jacket shaft, Osbiston and Union shafts, and the Forman shaft. In sinking these several companies united, the work was prosecuted with the greatest energy, and no expense was spared as regarded machinery and appliances.

THE COMBINATION SHAFT.

Of these shafts, that which attained the greatest vertical depth was the Combination—the joint shaft of the Chollar, Hale & Norcross, and Savage Companies. Before work on it was discontinued it had reached the great depth of 3,250 feet. There is but one deeper vertical shaft in the world. This is the Adalbert Shaft, in the silver mines of Bohemia, which is 3,280 feet deep. There is no record of the time when work on this mine in Bohemia was commenced, though its written history extends back to 1527. The Combination Shaft was sunk at the rate of three feet a day, even in rock as hard as flint. The whole shaft is sunk in very hard rock (andesite), every foot of which had to be blasted. It is thirty feet by ten feet in size and is divided into four compartments for the accommodation of the hoisting and pumping apparatus.

The shaft was sunk to the depth of 2,200 feet before more water was encountered than could be hoisted out in the “skips” with the dirt. Down to the 2,400 level two Cornish pumps were used, each with columns fifteen inches in diameter. A drift run west into the vein tapped more water than the Cornish pumps could handle, when the management introduced hydraulic pumps. These pumps are run by the pressure of water from the surface through a pipe running down from the top of the shaft, whereas the Cornish pumps were run by huge steam engines. The shaft is connected with the Sutro drain tunnel at the depth of 1,600 feet, and to that point it was necessary to pump all the water. At the 3,000 level were placed a pair of hydraulic pumps, the deepest in the world. In Europe the deepest point at which a hydraulic pump has ever been worked is 2,700 feet. This is in the Hartz Mountains, in Germany.

When one stood at the 3,000 level and looked up a compartment of the shaft (five feet by six feet in size) the little spot of daylight seen at the top appeared to be about four inches square. At this great depth even the smallest bit of rock falling from the top whistles like a rifle-ball before reaching the bottom, and, striking a man on the head, would instantly kill him. Should a man fall that distance little would remain on which to hold an inquest—his body would be quite “dissipated.” The Cornish and the hydraulic pumps working together had a daily capacity of 5,200,000 gallons—a small river! Hydraulic pumps were placed at the 2,400-foot level, the 2,600 and the 3,000 levels. Some idea of the great size of these engines and pumps may be formed when it is stated that the stations excavated for them were eighty-five feet long, twenty-eight feet wide, and twelve feet high. All this space was so filled with machinery that there was only room left to move about among it. Drifts were run to the west to the lode at the 2,400, 2,800 and 3,000-foot levels. On the 3,000 level the distance from the shaft to the east wall of the vein was found to be only 250 feet. The lode at this depth (3,000 feet) was found to be of great width and well mineralized—indeed the Hale & Norcross folks had a good showing of ore.

The Deepest Workings.

Although the Combination Shaft is the deepest vertical opening on the lode, it is not the point of deepest mining. The deepest workings are in the mine of the Union Consolidated Company, toward the north end of the lode. There long drifts were run and much prospecting done at the great depth of 3,350 feet. This depth was obtained by running a drift from the bottom of the vertical shaft and then sinking a winze from the drift.

The Yellow Jacket (new) shaft has a vertical depth of 3,050 feet, and much prospecting was done in the mine at a depth of 3,000 feet; also in the Belcher and Crown Point. In the Belcher excellent prospects were being obtained when the company were obliged to discontinue work. By connecting adjacent shafts by means of drifts and otherwise maintaining a proper system of ventilation miners experience no difficulty in working at any depth yet attained on the Comstock Lode.

A Return to the Second Line of Works.

February 13, 1882, a flow of water was tapped on the 2,700 level of the Exchequer Mine, that flooded not only that mine, but also the Alpha, Imperial, Yellow Jacket, Kentuck, Crown Point, Belcher, Overman, Segregated Belcher, and Caledonia. The water rushed to the Yellow Jacket Shaft, where the pumping was done which drained the advanced workings (most eastern) of all the mines named. The Yellow Jacket folks pumped and bailed an average flow of 110 miners inches a day for seven days. Though they were raising 1,320 gallons every minute the water gained on them and raised to the level (2,700) on which it was tapped by the Exchequer. The water had then filled all the drifts, cross-cuts, and winzes of the whole group of mines from the Bullion south to the Caledonia. Pumping was still continued, for the purpose of exhausting the subterranean reservoir in the Exchequer, till March 28, when the water had been so far reduced that there was a depth of only 950 feet above the 3,000 level of the Yellow Jacket Shaft. Then, as no combined arrangement could be made among the several companies interested to continue the work and drain all the mines, the Yellow Jacket Company stopped pumping and shut down their works. This stopped all work below the level of the Sutro drain tunnel, and the works have never since been started up. Had all the companies “stood in” for a time longer all the flooded mines would have been thoroughly drained.

The cost of the new works on the advanced line had been so much, and the expense incurred in hoisting and pumping from such great depths was so heavy, that stockholders in all the mines along the lode now became discouraged. They declared that what had happened in the case of the Gold Hill group of mines was liable to happen in the other deep workings, and began to clamor for a general return to the works at the second line of shafts, where it was known that pay ore had been left behind in the race after depth. When stockholders found that the deep shafts did not at once cut into pay ore, when they tapped the vein, they had no patience to wait for much prospecting to be done. They demanded that paying deposits be sought for at once in the old levels above the Sutro Tunnel, where there could be no trouble from water. Thus it happens that along the whole lode all the mining now being done is at the works situated over the second line of shafts, and above the level of the Sutro Tunnel. These shafts are by no means shallow, as they range in depth from 2,000 to 2,900 feet. The return has been fortunate. The vein being from 400 to 1,000 and even in places 1,400 feet in width between walls, it was very little explored in the neighborhood of the works of the second line of shafts. When the bonanzas in sight were exhausted, the universal cry was: “Get away to the east! Strike the lode at greater depths! Another 1,000 feet of depth will give us a third fertile zone—a third line of bonanzas!” Now it is being discovered that large and rich deposits of ore had been left behind—that they are scattered in all directions in the great breadth of vein material like plums in a pudding. Again dividends are the order of the day along the famous old lode.

The Old First Bonanzas.

Out of the first “bonanzas” great fortunes were taken. The bonanza of the Ophir, into which the first discoverers of silver—O’Riley and McLaughlin—accidentally dug, yielded about $20,000,000 before it was exhausted; the Savage, $16,500,000; Hale & Norcross, $11,000,000; Chollar and Potosi, $16,000,000; Gould & Curry, $15,500,000; Yellow Jacket, $16,500,000; Crown Point, $22,000,000; Belcher, $26,000,000; Overman, $3,250,000; Imperial, $2,750,000, and the Kentuck, Sierra Nevada, Justice, and many other mines sums running from hundreds of thousands up into millions. In all, the yield of the mines on the Comstock Lode from the discovery down to the present time has been between $350,000,000 and $400,000,000. Of much of the silver and gold at first taken from the lode, both at Gold Hill and Virginia City, there is no record; and in many instances since that time much gold and silver bullion has been obtained from ores, tailings, slimes, and sulphurets that was never fully accounted for.

The New Departure.

In the new departure, of which a return to the second line of hoisting works was the leading feature, the two bonanza mines—the California and the Consolidated Virginia—were consolidated and incorporated as one mine under the name of the Consolidated California and Virginia. Work was resumed in the old upper levels and soon small streaks of low-grade ore, that had formerly been passed by, led to deposits of fair milling ore. In working these deposits other bodies were found, and finally many new and valuable ore bodies were developed. A fire which had been smouldering for about ten years in a section of the old workings was extinguished by the use of carbonic acid gas, and this gave access to large deposits of milling ore that had not before been available. This and the new discoveries soon gave the company large bodies of ore in a number of places above the Sutro Tunnel level. Again many miners were employed, and the output of ore became sufficient to keep many stamps in constant operation.

The total yield of the “Big Bonanza,” in the California and Consolidated Virginia, was as follows: Consolidated Virginia, $65,116,822.69: California, $46,858,938.70, making a total of $111,975,761.39. Out of this the Consolidated Virginia paid dividends amounting to $42,930,000, and the California a total of $31,320,000 in dividends.

Present Yield of Leading Mines.

Since the consolidation of the two mines, the Consolidated California and Virginia has yielded $8,001,856.95, and has paid dividends amounting to $2,440,800, up to and including December, 1888. The total yield of the great ore deposit known as the “Big Bonanza,” from the time of its discovery to the end of December, 1888 (under both incorporations), was $119,977,618.34, and the total amount of dividends to the same date was $76,690,800. To give an idea of the rate of the present yield of the mine the following details are furnished: For the quarter that ended March 31, 1888, the mine produced 39,552 tons of ore, yielding $921,903.77 in bullion, an average of $23 30 a ton. In April (1888) there was worked a total of 13,893 tons of ore, yielding bullion to the value of $418,729.43. The average assay value a ton was $36.83, and the average yield a ton was $30.13. In May the yield was $411,173.13; in June, $405,834.08; July, $206,672.26; August, $352,554.97; September, $267,386.18; October, $339,814.45; November, $220,373.74; and in December, $260,320.56. The falling off in the month of July and thereafter throughout the year was due to the dry season in the summer and a phenomenally dry fall and winter. In January, 1889, there was a fair milling stage of water in the Carson River the greater part of the time, and the yield of bullion rose to $267,847.51.

The mine has kept the Morgan and Eureka Mills going to their full capacity whenever there was sufficient water to run them at all. Owing to a scarcity of water at the sources of supply in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Virginia and Gold Hill Water Company have for some months been unable to furnish water for the two California Mills in this city; to furnish water to the Nevada Mill has been a heavy draft on the reservoirs. With proper storage reservoirs in the Sierras the mills on the Carson River might be run the year round. At present eighty per cent of all the water flows into the “sinks” and is lost.

More mines on the Comstock are at the present time producing paying ore than ever before in the history of the lode. The following mines are now ore producing: Consolidated California and Virginia, Gould & Curry, Occidental, Ophir, Andes, Savage, Hale & Norcross, Chollar, Potosi, Confidence, Challenge, Yellow Jacket, Belcher, Crown Point, Alta, Justice, Overman, Baltimore, and Kentuck. Several other companies who own mines on the lode have quartz that yields promising assays in the precious metals, and are liable at any time to find paying deposits.

To show the rate at which some of the mines have been paying during the past year, though handicapped by an unusually dry season and a lack of milling facilities, I give a few statistics, as follows: During the quarter that ended March 31, 1888, the Chollar Company milled 1,415 tons of ore that yielded $21,795.70 in bullion; the Confidence 1,722 tons, yielding $42,541.72; Hale & Norcross, 7,958 tons, yielding $236,047.32; Kentuck, 1,027 tons, yielding $13,055.50; Potosi, 3,050 tons, yielding $56,461.16, and the Yellow Jacket, 16,780 tons, yielding $121,027.82.

For the quarter ending June 30, 1888, the Hale & Norcross yielded 18,075 tons of ore, that produced $451,740 in bullion; the Chollar, 4,750 tons, yielding $74,507; Confidence, 17,285 tons, yielding $401,293; Yellow Jacket, 7,080 tons, yielding $55,022.

For the quarter that ended September 30, the Hale & Norcross yielded 6,365 tons of ore, that produced $173,941.80 in bullion; Confidence, 9,207 tons, yielding $176,064.93; Yellow Jacket, 1,370 tons, yielding $9,932.

For the quarter that ended December 30, 1888, the Chollar milled 2,835 tons that yielded $38,130.81: Challenge, 1,875 tons, yielding $31,096.16; Confidence, 6,195 tons, yielding $105,970.59; Yellow Jacket, 3,388 tons, yielding $25,856; Savage, 5,292 tons, yielding $66,422.75; Hale & Norcross, 4,820 tons, yielding $90,015.59, and the Alta, 946 tons, yielding $23,330.

The Consolidated California and Virginia has steadily paid $108,000 monthly in dividends. The Confidence and Hale & Norcross also paid dividends during 1888 at the rate of from $49,000 to $50,000 a month. And during the year the pay rolls of the several companies have aggregated from $250,000 to over $300,000 a month.

During 1888, new bodies of ore were found in the Consolidated California and Virginia, Hale & Norcross, Confidence, Yellow Jacket, Crown Point, Gould & Curry, Savage, Chollar, Potosi, Best & Belcher, and some others. Crown Point and Belcher have made connection with the Sutro drain tunnel, and are again working below that level. Eventually the leading companies will get back into the deep workings now deserted.

Vicissitudes of Fortune in Mining.

The vicissitudes of fortune are probably more striking in mining for silver than in any other kind of mining. In all silver-producing countries we are told of mines being again and again abandoned because it was thought their rich “bonanzas” had been exhausted, but they have again and again been reopened and new and rich bodies of ore discovered. The Valenciana Mine, on the Veta Macbee (mother vein), of Guanaguato, Mexico, was reopened in 1760, on a part of the vein where work had been done in the sixteenth century, and which had afterwards lain as worthless for 200 years, and in 1768 a bonanza was struck at a depth of only 240 feet, from which $1,500,000 was extracted annually. And from 1788 to 1810 the annual average was still $1,383,195. At a depth of 1,200 feet the ore was considered too poor for extracting, and the mine was allowed to fill with water. Afterwards it was again opened and again paid immensely by working the almost inexhaustible quantities of low-grade ore.

The Veta Grande, at Zacatecas, which from 1548 to 1832 yielded $660,000,000, occurs in propalite, as does the Comstock, and has a similar structure, the vein branching out toward the surface, and dipping at an angle of forty-five degrees. It is, however, much smaller than the Comstock. It averages only about thirty-three feet, and eighty feet is its greatest width. In the upper part the ore was found concentrated in chimneys, but at depth it was found to be distributed through nearly the whole width of the vein. At first this low grade material could not be made to pay, but since it has been profitably worked and the bullion product has reached a high figure. Scores of such examples may be found in all silver-producing countries, as chronicled by Humboldt, Ward, Von Cotta, and others.

Even when no more large deposits of rich ore are to be found on the Comstock, there are immense and almost inexhaustible areas of low-grade ore upon which to fall back. In working these small bonanzas are sure to be encountered—scattered plums in the pudding—which will assist in sending up the average. New processes for working and concentrating ores are constantly being discovered, new methods in mining are being introduced, and new labor-saving machinery is almost daily being invented. Water-power, steam, compressed air, and electricity are fast taking the place of muscle. Each year machinery guided by mind is lessening the work to be done by mere power of muscle. Already the cost of milling has been greatly reduced, as has the cost of transporting ores and the cost of wood, lumber, and mining timbers. Present expenses will shortly be still further reduced.

TOWNS OF WESTERN NEVADA.

Virginia City.

Virginia City having been sufficiently well described in connection with the Comstock Lode, it now remains to briefly mention the other towns of Western Nevada. These all lie near the Sierras within a space of territory forty-four miles long and twenty-five miles wide—under the “eaves” of the mountains.

Gold Hill.

The town of Gold Hill was originally about one mile south of Virginia City—a mile south of where silver was first struck in the Ophir Mine. Buildings now unite the two towns. The boundary line between the two places is on the ridge called the “Divide,” but at that point there is no break in the rows of buildings on the streets. Gold Hill is built along the deep and narrow gorge that forms the head of Gold Canyon. From the north line on the Divide it straggles down the hill and along down the canyon for a distance of about two miles—almost down to Silver City indeed, the main business street following what was formerly the channel of the ravine.

There were houses and settlers in Gold Hill before there were either in Virginia City, therefore it is the older town. Here it was that the Comstock Lode was first struck—though not the silver ore—by “Old Virginia” (John Bishop) and others, who were prospecting for placer mines. The town is 6,000 feet above the level of the sea, and, being shut in on the east and west sides by hills, it is always two or three degrees warmer than Virginia, 1,000 feet above on the mountain-side.