538 



NEVADA. 



The present State officers are as follows: 

 Governor, Louis K. Bradley, Democrat ; Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor, Jewett Adams, Democrat ; 

 Attorney-General, John E. Kittrell, Democrat ; 

 Secretary of State, James D. Minor, Republi- 

 can ; Controller, W. "W. Hobart, Republican ; 

 Treasurer, Jerry Schooling, Democrat; Sur- 

 veyor, General John Day, Republican ; Super- 

 intendent of Public Instruction, S. P. Kelly, 

 Republican. 



The Legislature is classified as follows: 



Prof. R. E. Rogers has made to H. R. Linder- 

 man, Director of the United States Mint, a re- 

 port, dated November 15, 1875, of the Consoli- 

 dated Virginia and California mines on the 

 famous Comstock Lode, at Virginia City. Prof. 

 Rogers explored the mines during two pro- 

 longed visits, and made a careful and laborious 

 investigation, in which all the galleries and 

 cross-cuts on the different accessible " levels " 

 were critically inspected, with reference to the 

 body of ore that might be within view, and its 

 appearance in point of quality. According to 

 the description given by Prof. Rogers 



The surface of the whole country around Virginia 

 City is rough, broken, and hilly. At this immediate 

 locality there is a long, lofty range extension of the 

 Wasnpe Mountains, at places many hundred feeb in 

 elevation above the plain, whose steep slope to the 

 valley below faces toward the east, and whose gen- 

 eral trend is north and south. About midway up 

 the slope the croppings of the ore of these and many 

 other mines of the lode are visible. 



The first excavations which were made in the early 

 workings here were upon these croppings, but in due 

 time it was discovered that the ore-body dipped 

 toward the east in a measure parallel with the sur- 

 face of the mountain-side, though having no physi- 

 cal nor geological relation to that superficial outline. 



known as that of the Consolidated 



tutu, ui me consolidated Virginia mine, 

 was sunk at a point down the slope many hundred 



***. i 4-"U . ,,~ r ,4- *& li -.-J f * 



feet to the east of its outcropping 



It is from this shaft that all the ore from the Con- 

 solidated Virginia and the California mines has been 

 lifted, until the recent fire, which destroyed the 

 hoisting-machinery. 



The slope of the ore-body of these mines is from 

 40 to 47 toward the east, and its trend or line of 

 length is nearly north and south, or in the direction 

 of the line of the containing mountain-like range. 



This being the relative position of the vertical 

 shaft to the sloping bodv of ore, it is evident that 

 no ore would be looked for in the descent uniil 

 several hundred feet had been reached. In point of 

 fact 1,300 feet of rock were passed through before 

 any horizontal drifting was done to intercept the ore. 



Ore of profitable richness having been met with at 

 this level (the 1,300-feet level, as it is called), the 

 shaft was sunk to the depth of one hundred feet 

 more, and a similar horizontal drift run in to test the 

 continuance of the ore. Finding that the ore-body 

 on this (the 1,400-feet) level was undiminished in 

 abundance, and richer than that on the 1,300-feet 

 level, the shaft was carried down a second hundred 

 feet, with a view to explore a 1,500-feet level; and 

 finally, under the encouragement afforded in every 

 successive foot of descent, a double "winze" has 

 been put down recently in the California mine to a 

 depth of 110 feet below the 1,550-feet level. 



The shafts having been sunk successively to 

 the depths here indicated, the principle adopted 

 for exploring and probing the extent of ore on 

 each level was to run galleries and cross-cuts. 



The Consolidated Virginia and the California 

 are two mines, belonging to two companies, 

 but under one management. In both the ore 

 is of the same character; the east and west 

 walls of both are identical. The claim of the 

 Consolidated Virginia mine is 710 feet long, 

 and that of the California mine is 600 feet. 

 The explored width of the ore-mass on the 

 1,500-feet level averages 250 feet. The west 

 boundary-wall is that of the mountain-rock 

 syenite. The east boundary, which can be 

 scarcely termed a wall, is ferruginous clay. 

 The ore-body itself consists of a semi-crystal- 

 line, somewhat granular matrix of quartz, 

 sometimes compact, but more commonly fria- 

 ble and easily crushed, crossed and coated over 

 with whitish clay, containing the precious 

 metals, associated with several of the base 

 metals and a variety of other substances. The 

 nodular and rocky masses scattered through 

 the lode at times of magnitude to form what 



