498 MmmG industey. 



On Plate XXX will be found a longitudinal section of the lode, showing 

 the relations of these claims to each other, and something of the manner in 

 which they have been worked. This section is prepared from one furnished 

 to the writer by Mr. A. N. Rogers, superintendent of the Bobtail mine. 



The development of these claims has reached an average depth of about 

 500 feet. They have been worked independently of each other, except in 

 the matter of drainage, which has been effected by pumping machinery, 

 owned and operated by the several parties on joint account. But the very 

 limited extent of most of the claims has been the cause of very irregular work 

 below ground, especially in those east of the Bobtail Company. Each claim, 

 even the shortest, has carried on its operations through an independent shaft, 

 usually stoping the ore underhand as fast as made accessible by the shaft. 

 No systematic opening of the ground, in advance of the stopes, or economical 

 or advantageous methods of attacking or handling the rock can be employed 

 under such conditions. The vein is not wide, and the rock is hard, making 

 the costs of sinking and stoping very considerable ; water is abundant and its 

 removal involves much expense ; nor is the vein uniformly productive. All 

 these qualities demand economy and a well-organized and comprehensive 

 system of management as the first condition of permanent and successful 

 mining. In the absence of this the profits are likely to be absorbed by the 

 multiplied costs of administration when the lode is productive, and when the 

 lode becomes poor, in any given portion, the work is liable to be abandoned 

 by the parties that are most affected, and only resumed when the neighbor- 

 ing claims have afforded renewed encouragement. 



The Bobtail lode has been remarkably productive, and has yielded very 

 rich ores, so that, in spite of all the existing disadvantages, it has, during its 

 history, paid large profits to its owners. Nevertheless, its operations of late 

 have been less prosperous. Some of the shorter claims, under temporary 

 discouragements, stopped work two or three years ago ; the others, owing to 

 various causes, of wMch the inefficiency of the pumping apparatus has been 

 an important one, and the necessity of investing largely in machinery and 

 other improvements another, have been unable, for some time, to make any 

 dividends; and, in the summer of 1869, all work on the lode was suspended, 

 awaitmg the result of negotiations then in progress, having in view the con- 

 solidation of the various companies interested in the property. 



