OUR KIN ACROSS THE SEA. [BY J. C BIRTH.] III. PHYSICAL FEATURES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2251, 11 December 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

OUR KIN ACROSS THE SEA. [BY J. C BIRTH.] 111. PHYSICAL FEATURES.

TiiKcrrcat physical features of the United States ir.ay be bi ie fly -stated to be one vast plain, bounded na the cast by the Allcghany Mountains, jwml on the west by tho Uocky Mountains. Further west the Siena, Nevada range flanks the Pacific (Jo.l^t. Between the Rocky and the Nevada ranges lies a great desert plain, sometimes teimed the Great Central Basin. This latter term I shall employ in describing tins uocuhar and interesting region in my ne\t chapter.

AKKA. The total area of the United Statei is about 3,100,000 square miles, or about 100,000 square miles larger than Australasia. About one-third of this area, may be taken to be mountains and desert plains, the remainder, or about two million square miles may be described as one vast level plan of fertile land, through which rolls the mighty Mississippi River, with its grand tributary the Missouri River, and a host of smaller tributary rivers. Between the Rocky and Alleghaiiy Mountains lies, as I have said, the great valley of the Mississippi. Throughout this vast plain, a large portion of which I traversed, I did not observe one blue mountain peak or range. Indeed I did not see any elevations which might be termed anything more than hills. The effect, in various ways, of such a configuration of country upon its habits is, I think, very marked, to which I shall return in a subsequent article, when I describe more at length this grand fertile region, and the industrious people who dwell there. Meantime, let me return to the mountain regions lying went of the great Mississippi Valley. First, I may shortly describe California, the most western State of the Union, lying between the {Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.

GRAIN AND FRUIT. California, or the Pacific Slope, has a climate very different, and much superior, to that of the rest of the United States. It has a long, dry, hot summer, extremely suitable for growing wheat, barley, and fruit of every description. The vine thrives well and yields grapes in great profusion. Some varieties— the purple Damascus, for instance— being excellent table fruits, others well adapted for wine-making. The climate of the western slope of the Sierras is superb, so delightful and healthy, that I think a large emigration from the intense summer heat and severe winter cold of the Eastern States will eventually take place. The long diy summer of California, though very suitable for fruits of all kinds, has the effect of burning up every particle of verdure, imparting a yellow hue to the whole country. This long dry season has some advantages, but I prefer the climate ot New Zealand, which, having neither intense heat nor severe cold, while its rains, in the main, distributed over the year, secures a perpetual verdure. Though these frequent rains must always prevent the chief part of New Zealand from being a land of \ineyards, they, with its mild climate, enable it to produce beef and mutton much more tender, and of a far better flavour, than can ever be produced in any part of the United Stated I visited ; while the penial and equable climate of New Zealand, with its fertile soils, endow it in a much higher degree with all the elements needed to render life more easy, more healthy, and more enjoyable than any portion of the United States which pasoed under my review.

SACUAMKNTO VALLEY. With this brief digression, let us now ti averse the Sacramento Valley, rich in wheatfields, vineyards, and orchards. This magnificent valley is well watered by the Sacramento and American rivers. The yields of wheat of a fine quality from this feitile district were formerly very great ; as much ab 50 bushels per acre being at first common. But by the exhausthe system of growing wheat from the same ground for many successive yearn 1 , without the application of fertilisers, the quantity has much diminished ; and, what is even more serious, the quality of the wheat has become greatly deteriorated. For, though the wheat is still a bright, handsome grain, the important quality of "strength" or gluten has been greatly reduced, causing Cahfornian flour to be what millers term •* weak." Many of these old wheat lands are being turned into orchards and vineyards with good effect. As I traversed the valley I noticed that the vicious system of burning the standing straw, from which the grain had been " headed," prevailed to a very large extent.

HYDRAULIC MINING. As we swept up the valley I noticed with regret to what a serious extent the Sacramento and American rivers had been filled up and injured by the vast quantities of gravel and debris carried into them by hydraulic mining. To so great an extent had these livers and adjacent streams been injured by the process, that a year or two ago, thfc farmers took action in the Court* of Law to prevent further damage They were successful; all hydraulic raining throughout California having been summarily stopped, and a very large number of miners thrown out of employment. However hardly this peremptory stoppage of hydraulic mining may have borne on many industrious miners of small or large capital, thero can be no question that the Courts veie absolutely right, botli in law and equity, in putting an end to a practice, which, whilst it enabled miners not only to rifle the hills of their golden contents, leaving nothing but i\ desert behind them, inflicted a permanent injury on the hus-band-man, whose descendants would be otherwise pursuing their beneficial occupa- J tion for centuries after the last miner had sold his last ounce of the golden metal. Nevertheless, the farmer must rightly measure the peculiar circumstances of the country he cultivates, or he, too, will as surely, if more slowly than the miner, impoverish the soil. In a country with long, dry summers, like California, in which grasses do not readily grow, one powerful agent in rotation husbandry is wanting. Until some other plant, which will occupy the place of grass in rotation fanning, has been discovered and utilised, it is certain, to avoid permanent impoverishment of the soil, that either fertilisers must be used, or some crop other than cereals must be produced ; for it is undeniable, that however rich originally these lands may have been in phosphates and other mineral constituents of wheat, continuous cultivation of that grain can only result in a yield, steadily diminishing in quantity and quality, to be followed by such a fatal impoverishment of the soil of this fine country a 9 may ultimately compel large areas of land to be abandoned for a long period to Nature's slowly recuperative forces. Tn the midst of this general robbery of the land, it h pleasant to see considerable areas put into orchards and vineyards. The climate and soil seem to me to be very Mutable for the cultivation of the olive — a tree, which, with fairly generous treatment, after a few years, will yield a profitable return for ages to come.

GOLD MININC. Climbing through the fern-clarl hills, we diverge from the m.iin railway line at Colfa\, to the gold mining' districts of Grass Valley and Nevada City. These two mining centres aie small towns, about 2jUO foet «iho\e soa level. The forests sire exclusively composed of pines chiefly of a second gi owth— the original forests ha\ing been cut down. The climate on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, at the time of my visit (October), was cool, bracing and delightful. The undulating character of the district, the clear, running streams, and the deep red volcanic soil, reminded me very much of some parts of Kew Zealand, except that the hard foims, the rigid foliage, and the dark greens of the pine woods, are very inferior to the soft luxuriance, the endless variety, and the living greenery of New Zealand forests. The Grass Valley mines have long been, and are now, very piohhc in their yields of gold. One of them, the "Idaho" mine, has for eighteen years continuously paid monthly dividends, the 201 th dividend being paid during my visit. The output from this mine has attained a total value of £1,800,000, of which the shareholders have received in dividends £800,000 sterling. The. workings are now at a depth of about 1700 feet, and the reef is showing signs of exhaustion as it descends. Most of the mines of that district work seven days per week, and the batteries run on Sunday. The consequences of such a system I shall note in a subsequent chapter. The Idaho mine is an exception, working only six days per week, except the pump*, which of course run continuously. The Providence mine, at Nevada city, is a well-conducted enterprise, the quartz being first treated by an ordinary stamping mill, amalgamated, and the tailings concentrated, the concentrations being roasted and treated by a very complete chlorinisation process, by which

all the gold and silver is extracted, with the exception of a value of about twehe dollars per ton of concentrates, which cannot under the present process be saved. The proprietor gave me a quantity of the refuse, to try if we could not extract a proportion of thrt value for them. The towns of (4 l ass Valley and Nevada City are wretched collections of narrow and crooked streets, with small houses and hotels, embowered for the most part in orchards laden at the tune of my visit with fruit of excellent quality.

AMON'tJST THE MOUNTAINS. Returning to the main line of railway, we ascended the Sierra Nevada?, rounding Cape Horn on the way. From this lofty precipice we have a fine view of an alpine ravine, down which runs a mountain torrent through pine-clad mountains. Crossing the summit, at an elevation of about 8000 feet, we pass under a continuous line of 35 miles of massive timber snowsheds. The niglit previous to my crossing the mountains a heavy fall of snow had covered them to tho level of the railroad. The dazzling snow-white carpet made a striking contrast with the deep green of the scat tered pines on the mountain slopes. Winding round a mountain lake we strike the Truckee liver (rising in Lake Tahoe), a beautiful mountain torrent, which dashes and foams at our side for many miles through a picturesque gorge. The lruckee river winds its way through the gorge, blocked here and there by granite masses, over which it descends into deep black pools below. The sparkling river dashes along at our side in a constant succession of brawling cataracts, stopping here and there, as it were to rest awhile in quiet pools. Deep ravineß run up the mountain side, the brilliant sunshine lighting up every snow-covered peak with a dazzling brilliance difficult to describe. As we descended the gorge the scene became even more beautiful. Here and there a dwarf pine struggled for existence Among the hoary rocks. Many brilliantly-tinted mosses, lichens, and alpine shrubs imparted a rare beauty to the scene, and made it a charming study for the botanist, geologist, and artist. At length we arrived at Reno, a station on tho Central Pacific Railroad. Diverging at Reno, we ran through a pretty valley, enriched by irrigation, to Carson City, on our way to Virginia City, the location of the famous Comstock silver lode.

FABULOUS WEALTH. Never, perhaps, in the history of mining has so enormous an amount of mineral wealth been obtained in so short a time, from so small an area, as from the renowned Comstock silver lode in Vnginia City. J Silver bullion to the value of over sixty millions sterling was obtained in about j three years, from less than half a mile in length of the Comstock lode or reef. Of this sum, over twenty millions sterling were obtained from the famou« C and C^ mine, controlled by four men, originally diggers, saloon-keepers, &c, who, if report speaks correctly, not satisfied with the enormous wealth they obtained from the mine, stimulated stock-jobbing in mining snares in San Francisco to a frightful extent. So great was the excitement in the Stock Exchange there, that, under tho the terrible influence of the silver frenzy, men and women of almost every cla»s madly speculated in mining shares, utterly regardless whether the wealth they so madly sought, came from the mines or from the pockets of their friends and neighbours. While these victims of the silver insanity were buying and welling shares, the four arch speculators are credited or dobited with having moved them about like pawns in a game, regulating the output of bullion from the tnin?, as they themselves wished to buy for a rise or sell for a fall. L loking at the wickedness and villiany developed in those mad days, one cannot help thinking, that whilst the average man will buy and sell shares in co.il, iron, copper, or lead mines, and remain honest and reasonable, directly he touches the " royal metals," and speculates in gold or silver mining bhares, he had need to look well to his ways, and hold fast to right principles, or he may find, as many have found before, that the glittering temptation grips him like a fiend, and tarns him into little better th-ui * beast of prey, callous to the black and hopeless misery he creates, careltss who goes under, so long as he can step to fortune and infamy over tho broken fortunes and ruined homes of his victims. As for the archuriests of this unholy fetish of ruthless gambling, their fate awaits them, and they may be left to the Nemesis which pursue*, and generally over-takes and puuishes the evil-doer. After three years of fabulous yields the Comstock mines rapidly fell off. During the seven following years, enormous sum* have been expended in sinking and searching for the lost treasure. After sinking to the enormous depth of 3250 feet, on Oct. 13 the day before my visit, the lowlerels of the C and C, and Norcroes and Savage mines were abandoned, and though som« feeble efforts were to be made at the 1750 feet level, they were said to be practically " shut down. * As an instance of the uncertainty ing mining adventures, I may mention that one of the Comstock mining companies, after sinking a shaft over 3000 feet deep, at a cost of £1,400,000 sterling, h»d only obtained a gross yield of bullion to the value of £1400. Before I leave this part of my subject, I may stato that one monster pump, with a pump rod 3250 feet in Ungth weighing 185 tons, lifts one million gallons 1500 feet each 24 hours ; while three hydraulic pumps in the mine lift in each 24 hours three and a-half million gallons. CHANGED FORTUNES. In its palmiest days Virginia City wan regarded as the wealthiest, fastest, wickedest little city on earth. The utmost extravagance, the wildest revelry, the grossest immorality prevailed on every hand. It was Pandemonium gone mad. To-day the city is desolate, and sits, if not in repentance, in debris and ruins. Th« clanking of the mighty pumps, the beating of the giant batterie*, no longer wakes the echoes of the deserted valley. The revellers have gone. The mad fever has subsided, leaving at least this warning plainly written on the ruins of tho deserted city — namely, that whenever Nature makes a mpreinjs effort, and deposits the precious metals in such fabulous abundance on one little spot, as in the Comstock lode, as well as in other places, she | has exhausted her wealth-producing force jat those points. Whilst a moderately good mine may be expected to yield bullion in | payable quantities for ten years or more, it i may be taken as an established fact, that Ruch enormously rich "pockets" or " blows " as the Cnmatock lode or our own Caledonian mine, will have short life, and, when results are fairly weighed, very often a disastrous one. Crossing from Reno, the great central desert basin lying between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains (which I shall invite my readers to revisit with me in the next chapter) let us now crois to the gold regions of the Rocky Mountains. Those I saw are in the State of Colorado, probably the richest Stato, in gold and silver, of any State in tho Union. In the Black Hawk district, batteries (of which there are 750 stamps running) are the chief reducers of gold in the first instance. These batteries are generally rude affairs, and not equal in gold-saving appliances to the batteries in New Zealand, with one exception, that they employ machines for concentrating the " sulphurets " from refractory gold and silver ores. They have one commanding advantage, how ever, in the great smelting and refining works at Denver.

DENVER. Denver is rapidly becoming the inland Swansea of America. Its great smelting works are full of interest. All varieties of gold, silver, galena, and other ores are treated, with every aid that science, skill, and capital (largely English) can secure, to the immense advantage of the surrounding country. The city, though not large, is well laid out,' and handsome; and though the country does not produce a single tree naturally, yet, by irrigation, the city and suburbs are gay with avenues of leafy shade trees. English capital is largely invested in mines, irrigation, buildings, and smelting works. There is nevertheless— and I think very foolishly— grent jealousy of English capitalists by American citizens. I could not but think that Knglixh capitalist! might quite us advantigeously engage in gold enterprises in New Zealand, and without the unpleasant bickering bo rife at Denver and elsewhere in the United Stutes. In the Auckland mining districts very rich returns from mining enterprises have resulted from operations which have been really nothing better than "scratching" th« surface. In American mining districts, fifty or one hundred thousand poundu are readily invested in single mining tntsiprises, which may not at tho outset have offered a tithe of the promise which many Auckland mine* afford.

MINING FAILURES. The cause of Auckland mining failures, I am fully convinced, has not boen due to the poverty of the reefs, but hits arisen

partly from the arena of claims being much too small, and atone all, from the fact that oven these small enterprises have beflti und rtakon with a capital totally inadequate for the work to ha done. With us, directly it was found, when ovon wnrkH on a v«ry moderate scale were needed, that unles-* gold was struck alsnost nt once, share holders became disheartened, and refused to pay the very moderate " call* " trade, with the result that ininos generally have either boon abandoned, or carried on in Huch a feeble and languishing fashion as could only end, and have actually ended, in wasting the vory small capital expended in ao niggardly a manner. The pi »intn we have to consider are :—l.: — 1. Th.it gold cannot be obtained without diligently, skilfully, and persistently searching for it. 2. We have good gold reefs and skill in abundance, but we have not the necestsary capital. 3. Our reefing districts are in no sense, poor men's goldfields, as we have found both t« our direct, and still more, to our indirect loss.

MIMING CAPITAL. The remedy for all this, is large areas worked by English capital. After a long experience in quartz mining, and a moat patient, diligent, and extensive inquiry, during my recent tour in the gold regions of the United States, I am convinced that half a million of English capital could be most profitably employed on the Auckland goldfields by such capitalists, to the great advantage of the Auckland district and the colony at large. And I have good grounds for believing, if a reasonable and non-ob-structive policy were adopted by shareholders in mines— which, under the present narrow system, can scarcely be otherwise than worthless speculations— that English capital can be obtained.