MINING. 333 



men seldom dig down more than ten feet for it. The largest 

 deposit of it now known is about half a mile southward from 

 the railroad wharf at Vallejo, and teams are constantly em- 

 ployed hauling the rock from that point to the mill. The 

 company pays fifty cents for the privilege of digging up the 

 rock on land within four or five miles of its mill, and pays 

 from $3 to $5 per ton for rock, (according to quality) deliv- 

 ered at the mill. About 1,500 barrels of the cement are 

 shipped per month, and the quality is reported to be superior 

 to the best imported. Considerable quantities of the rock are 

 found at distances of ten or fifteen miles from Benicia, but not 

 enough in any one spot to justify the erection of a mill. 



258. Coal. The total annual consumption of mineral 

 coal in California is 500,000 tons, of which 175,000 tons come 

 from Mt. Diablo, 75,000 tons from the coast north of our 

 State, 5,000 from Chile, 30,000 from the Eastern States, 30,- 

 000 from England, 115,000 from Australia, and 60,000 tons 

 from the Rocky Mountains. The supplies from Chile, Aus- 

 tralia, England, and the Atlantic States, are irregular 2 depend- 

 ing to a considerable extent on the freights. The production 

 of the Mt. Diablo mines is increasing, having been 6,000 tons 

 in 1861, 50,000 in 1864, 100,000 in 1867, 150,000 in 1869, 

 and 175,000 in 1872. The method of mining for coal does 

 not differ materially from those pursued elsewhere, except 

 that our seams are smaller, and good qualities of the fuel are 

 not found until a depth of several hundred feet is reached. 



