a
MINING IN EASTERN OKWiON.
It it the belief of those well-informed
npon the subject, that mining in Oregon
will take new departure during the
present year. Hitherto, mining in
Oregon, ha been mostly among sur
foes diggiugii, and ha not risen nhove
thedignity of the hydraulic hose. The
ra of the long-torn and rocker, has
long since panned by, and those primi
tive implement are used chiefly by the
unconverted Mongolian, whose " smile
ii childlike ami bland."
The quart.) ledge of eastern Oregon
have long been celebrated for the high
grade of rock produced, but the nr
row newt of the veins, ha hitherto pre
vented them from being worked at a
profit. The Connor creek mine, in
Maker county, owned by S. G. Heed,
Jno. A. Paull and Joseph Mvrick, was
an exception to this class. The vein is
over ix feet in width, thus relieving
them from quarrying any waste rock.
What the yield of the mine has brer,
no one know, for it ha always been a
close corjMiration, and it owner have
never allowed it to be listed on the
ttock lioard in San Francisco. The
success of thi mine caused a new
activity to spring up among the veteran
proector of that section, ami we may
be prepared for extensive discoveries in
that region a toon as the snow goc oil
the ground.
Somewhere in the tributaries of Olive
creek, near the boundary line letwccn
the counties of Baker and Grant, lie a
body of argentiferou galena, similar to
that lound at, I' iodic, Eureka and the
other large town of eastern Nevada.
Thi one ha Wen sampled and assayed
somewhat extensively in the past four
months and goc front 35 to 58 per
cent, of lead. In tome place it shows
at high a $30 in gold to the Ion, while
In other localities, it contain more
silver than gold. A imilr deposit has
been found in Union county, with silver
going a high a $io( to the Ion, while
the traces of gold are barely discerni
ble. Across from Olive creek, about
eight miles, are the Granite creek
ledge, of an entirely different character
of ore, Wing ihe " ruby ilvcr,n found
in southern Idaho, This is a 44 roast
ing ore," ami ha to W burned before
crushing. The lleagle brothers, whose
mine U aWut two mile from the
M Monumental," have tlte U-t of these
THE WEST SHORE.
ledge, the vein being over four feet in
width. One hundred tons from this
yielded $10.50, mid a second crushing
of one hundred tons, yielded $105.25,
So far, the Monumental 1ms not been
worked to any great degree of profit,
but the ledge widens gradually.
Eastern Oregon offers to capitalist
two peculiar advantages not possessed
by Nevada, and which contribute ma
terially to the economical and success
ful working of mines. Wc allude to
the splendid water power and abundant
supply of wood, enjoyed by the tribu
taries of the Grande Ronde, Powder
and Burnt river. The gulches all bear
abundant supply of pure water, free
from any refractory mineral substances,
and the pine wood is so abundant, that
four dollars per cord is over the average
price. Just contrast this with Nevada
mining. At I'ioche, the same sort of
wood is worth $16 per single cord and
by the thousand cords. The nar
row guage road from I'alisades carries
Evimstou coal to Eureka for fuel, but
for which those mines wiild be lying
idle to-day. In the Cornucopia district
the Leopard mine declared dividends so
long as the wood lasted, but was obliged
to shut down in 1877, because there was
no timber within forty-two miles, and
the cost of hauling wood to smelt ore,
cut oil" the profits of the mine. No
such contingency can occur in either
Maker or Grant county.
It is not always the richest quart
that makes the best paying mine.
Mining upon scientific principles must
lie conducted with economy, or it can
not prove lucrative. From what wc
have been able to glean from parties
Wttcr posted than ourself, we arc justi
fied in saying that the mining of these
ledge will W profitable, and that Ore
gon i rapidly advancing as a bullion
producing Mate. A geological survey
of that section would W of untold bene
fit lo our state at this time, but Oregon
cannot afford the expense, and there is
no private citizen who can afford lo ad
vance the money for it. Hence we
must "learn to lalwr ami to wait;"
but wc don't think we will have to
wait very long for the dawn of a new
mining era in our already wealthy
tate.
Why it Hymen alway represented
a Waring a torch?" asks the Moston
Post. That' easy enough. It' a hint
at to who thall build fire.
February. 1661
COUNSEL AND CAUTION.
As our caption would imply, we feel
moved at the present moment to give
the good people of our sovereign state,
a few words of wholesome advice well
seasoned with a due allowance of cau
tion. Through and in consideration of the
World's Fair, to be held at New York
during the summer of 1SS3, it is pretty
certain that strenuous efforts will be
made by the constituted agents of the
various immigration societies of our
western states and territories, to secure
their own quota of emigration which
this fair will cause to leave Europe for
our shores. That the fair will provoke
a mighty influx of settlers from the Old
World, nothing can be more certain.
It may not be generally known by the
masses of our people that this very ob
ject is one of the moving elements in
the underlying machinery of these
great movements. Eastern capitalists
themselves have large land interests in
the west and northwest as well as in
some of the Pacific states and territo
ries. My inaugurating these monster
cxihitions of our facilities, they count
on inducing thousands of well-to-do
European husbandmen to come over
here and purchase their lands that are
now not paying the interest on invested
capital. Much of this financial ma
chinery has already been set' in motion,
though for the most part, as yet, only
in a oit of sub silentio way, the active
agents of each interested party think
ing, very naturally that they have
gotten the start of everybody else.
Governor Perkins of California, how
ever, comes out publicly and boldly in
his recent message and appeals to the
people ol his state to begin operation
.it once in this good work. He pro
poses that the district agricultural socie
ties report immediately to the state
agricultural societies everything of im
portance relative to the inducements
offered to settlers in their respective
localities. The amount of wild and
improved lands in market, the price
per acre, kinds of soil, adaptability to
different crops, nearness to railroad or
water transportation, chaiactcr of mar
kets, etc.; the approximate supply of
timber and water, healthfulncss, climate,
rainfall and temperature, etc., etc., are
matters of great moment to settler, and
these the governor wants collected and
prepared in convenient form, ready for