GOLD MINING IN COLOEADO. 513 



having at one end a pnlley, d^ of somewhat larger diameter, and, at the other 

 end, a brake-rim, e. Motion is communicated to the pulley d, by means of 

 a driving pulley, directly beneath it, and an 8-inch belt, g. This belt is slack 

 and imparts no motion to the spool unless the tightener, A, be applied to the 

 belt, by means of the lever /, which is done by the attendant, standing at 

 the mouth of the shaft, whenever it is desired to hoist a bucket from the 

 mine. On withdrawing the tightener the spool is held firmly, or its reverse 

 motion is controlled, by means of a brake, which is a 4^-inch iron band, en- 

 circling the spool at the rim, e, and applied by the lever i, as indicated in 

 the drawing. The pulley, by which the belt g, is driven, is on the same 

 shaft with, and concealed from view by, the pulley ^, to which motion is 

 communicated by the belt I, from the pulley wz, which receives its power 

 directly from the engine. The pulley 7n, drives a long shaft, w, extending 

 from the building in which the machinery is inclosed to the other shaft- 

 houses of the mine, where winding apparatus of similar character is set in 

 motion in the same manner as that jast described. Power is sometimes 

 transmitted in this way a distance of several hundred feet, from an engine to 

 a remote shaft-house. 



A detailed statement of the costs of sinking and timbering these shafts 

 is not in the possession of the writer, nor is such information readily obtained 

 in Colorado, as but little attention is paid to the classification of accounts or 

 analytical statements of the varied expenses of mining rock. Labor is gen- 

 erally employed by the day at $3 50, in currency, for miners, and from $4 

 to $6 per day for mechanics. Drifting, on contract, — the miners furnishing 

 their own supplies, except steel, — costs from $15 to $20 per foot; sinking $25 

 to $55 per foot. The west shaft, being carried down 6 feet by 10 feet, cost 

 $27 50 per foot; the central shaft 8 by 13 feet cost at first $45 and later 

 $55 per foot. Square timber and lumber cost $35 per 1,000 feet, board 

 measure. The owners of this mine have recently built a large mill contain- 

 ing 50 stamps, which commenced operations late in 1868. The average yield 

 of the ore has been already stated, but the writer was unable to obtain any 

 detailed statement of the mill's production. 



Black Haick. — The claim adjoining the Consolidated Gregory on the 



east is 300 feet in length and is owned and worked by the Black Hawk Gold 

 Co 



