THE COMSTOCK MINES. 3 



and that obtained from the mines was not fit even for the production of steam. 

 After many difficulties this want was overcome by laying lines of pipe to a 

 source in the Sierra Nevada, 25 miles from the Lode, at a cost of $2,200,- 

 000. Up to 1 870 not only all the machinery, but almost all the food of the 

 settlement was transported by wagon from beyond the Sierra, mainly from 

 Sacramento, a distance of 165 miles. The freight charges were of course 

 enormous; in the earliest days as high as fifty cents a pound; but later from 

 five to ten cents. The Carson Valley, however, furnished a small portion of 

 the necessary food suppl}-. In 1870 a branch railroad from the Central 

 Pacific was completed. The junction is at Reno, 22 miles from Virginia; 

 but the railway connecting the two points is 52 miles in length, a fact which 

 indicates the character of the country through which it passes. Fuel and 

 timber are obtained from the Sierra at points from 10 to 30 or more miles 

 distant; but transportation down the slopes of the range is effected in flumes 

 by water with a great saving of expense. The difficulties to be overcome 

 in mining on the Comstock were not less formidable than those met with in 

 establishing a settlement. The ground has been in great part very bad, the 

 size of the ore-bodies required the development of a new system of timber- 

 ing, and floods have burst into the mines which it took years to drain; but 

 by far the greatest obstacle has been the heat, which increases about 8° 

 Fahrenheit for every additional hundred feet sunk, and which seems likely 

 eventually to put an end to further sinking. According to Mr. Church, the 

 amount of air passing through the mines is nearly 300,000 cubic feet a 

 minute, while, except at the change of shift, there are probably never 1,000 

 men below ground ; 37^61 there ai-e few spots where the miners can work more 

 than each alternate hour during the eight hours' shift, so that double gangs 

 to relieve each other are practically always necessary, and at many points 

 the conditions are still more disadvantageous. Besides every alleviation 

 which artificial ventilation can afford, the men must also be supplied with 

 unlimited quantities of ice-water both for drinking and washing. With all 

 these unheard-of easements, many men have died from overheating, and 

 some from contact with scalding water. Many more have fainted while 

 coming to the surface on the cages when they met the cool air, and have 



