558 MINING mDUSTET. 



cents, making a total, including water, of $2 85 ; or, without water, of 

 $2 60 j)er ton. Making due allowance for other supplies, not enumerated, 

 extraordinary repairs and miscellaneous expenses, the estimated cost will 

 accord closely with the figures just given as the result of the experience 

 of the "Ophir and the Sensenderfer mills. Of course the above items 

 will vary considerably in difierent mills ; the cost of fuel depends not only 

 on the price paid for it but on the economy with which it it used, the 

 kind of boiler employed, and the proper adaptation of all the machinery to 

 its purpose ; the same remark applies to the economy of labor, while in all 

 mills an essential condition of cheap work is constant employment at full 

 capacity. In the presence of favorable conditions, in every respect, the cost 

 of milling may be something, perhaps considerably, less than that just stated, 

 while in their absence it will increase accordingly. 



In water-power mills, as may be seen in the table given on a following 

 page, the cost of working is very much reduced below that of steam mills. 

 The cost of fuel is not only spared but the labor of the engineers and the 

 expense of keeping the engine in order is also saved. 



The mill of Miley and Abbe, on North Clear Creek, has an excellent 

 water-power and is very well arranged for economical work. According to 

 the statements of the owners, as set forth in the following table, the cost of 

 treating rock in this mill is 80 cents per ton. 



In the miU of Miley and Johnson, at Missouri City, the cost is said to 

 be much less even than the foregoing, amounting to only 66 cents per ton. 

 Such economy as is shown by these figures goes far toward balancing the 

 disadvantages, already referred to, to which a water-power mill is subject, 

 such as the occasional lack of water, the distance from the mine, and conse- 

 quent liability to interruption in the supply of rock. 



Yield of the ore. — The yield of the rock obtained by the ordinary 

 crushing and amalgamating process, has been already stated as varying be- 

 tween 4 and 15 ounces of crude bullion per cord of ore. The average yield, 

 throughout the district, is probably 6 or 7 ounces per cord. Precisely what 

 this is per ton is only to be arrived at, under the present methods of doing 

 business, by a careful guess. 



The quantity of rock sent to the stamps is not very closely noted. Few 



