734 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



will have. They expect to meet occasionally such " intelligent 

 prejudice " as is exhibited by Mr. Herbert Spencer, whose contri- 

 bution to the discussion of the subject is sure to be considered in 

 the years to come as altogether the most remarkable to be found 

 in any time or tongue. 



NEVADA SILVER. 



By CHARLES HOWARD SHINN. 



A THIRD of a century ago the surface bonanzas of the Corn- 

 stock began to yield their treasures. Californians long 

 skilled in gold mining were rushing by thousands into the newly 

 discovered silver districts, and prospecting the mountains and 

 deserts east of the Sierras. In fact, the whole Pacific coast was 

 ringing with shouts of u On to Washoe ! " In a few years this 

 obscure, long-neglected corner of western Utah became the State 

 of Nevada. It developed a multitude of mining camps besides the 

 Comstock ; it created new forms of mining skill, maintained vast 

 dependent industries, contributed revenues to distant cities, sent 

 forth new groups of millionaires, gave to the world new types of 

 frontier character, and added a dramatic chapter to the story of 

 American commonwealths. 



The land itself is worth a moment's attention. It is a high 

 plateau, gridironed by short, parallel mountain chains, the most 

 noted of which is the Washoe Range, separated from the Sierras 

 by a line of small Alpine valleys, and rising, in Mount Davidson, 

 to a height of 7,827 feet. East, south, north, extend weary miles 

 of desert, relieved by a few oases. The scanty rivers of Nevada 

 soon lose themselves in alkaline basins. According to an old 

 frontiersman, reported by Dan De Quille, "the Almighty once 

 started out leadin' a number of small rivers along, meanin 7 to 

 unite them into one large one, and take it to the Pacific. But 

 before he had more than started it grew late Saturday night, so 

 he tucked the ends down into the sand, where they have remained 

 ever since." 



Stephen T. Gage, of the Southern Pacific Railroad, tells an 

 interesting story of Horace Greeley's journey across the conti- 

 nent. The distinguished editor had reached Placerville, Califor- 

 nia, and had been met by a few ardent followers on horseback. 

 The boisterous mountain town was politically opposed to Greeley, 

 but when the group of young men, of whom Gage was one, 

 brought him out on the plaza for a speech, a great crowd as- 

 sembled. 



" I believe," said Greeley, " that God never made anything 

 without a purpose. But the wilderness that I have crossed is 



