THE COMSTOCK MmES. 



107 



The following statement shows the details of the cost of 187 feet sunk 

 in 1867, and similar details for 879 feet, the depth attained on November 30, 

 1867: 





Cost of 187 feet 



sunk during 



1867. 



879 feet ; total 

 depth attained 

 Nov. 30, 1867. 



Excavation ....... .. ... 



$12,865 00 



I, 898 92 



1, 163 94 



950 00 1 



367 31 f 



541 25 



456 65 



716 05 



. 2,486 50 



20,626 64 



$35, 189 50 



11,569 59 



6,623 99 



6,405 81 



832 25 



1,510 95 



2,757 55 



6, 016 50 



46,904 52 



Timber ................. 



Lumber .. ............... 



Framing and placing the same .......... 



Pump rods and labor thereon .-... ..... 



Powder and fuse 



Candles 



Picks and drills ......... 



Carmen at surface and below .......... 



Machine labor, engineers ; oil, and other material consumed in 

 pumping and hoisting ; work in setting pumps including 

 $5, GOO for resetting engine in 1867. 



250 feet, sunk in 1868, at $342 65..... ..... 



42,072 26 



117,810 66 

 85,662 50 



Total cost of 1, 129 feet ........... 







203,473 16 



Or an average cost, for that depth, of $180 22 per foot. 





Deifts or Tunnels. — From the stations established in these shafts, 

 drifts or tunnels are run for the purpose of reaching and extracting the ore, 

 or for general exploration of the ground. These levels are usually 100 feet 

 apart, vertically. In the Gould and Curry, where the deeper tunnels have 

 been chiefly for exploring, they are 200 feet apart. 



The ground through which they pass is not very firm, being worked 

 sometimes without the aid of powder. The deeper levels, however, have 

 usually required blasting. They almost invariably need to be timbered, 

 especially when the drift is designed for permanent use and not for the sole 

 purpose of prospecting. Occasionally the character of the ground is very 

 troublesome, and the most substantial methods of timbering prove inadequate 

 to its support. 



