UNDERGROUND WATER. 
247 
A tunnel at 6,600 feet elevation would enter the breccia about 2,000 feet below 
the portal of the El Paso tunnel, would be approximately 7 miles long, and is 
regarded from the engineer’s standpoint as the lowest tunnel practicable. At the 
present stage of mining development in the district, however, it seems inadvisable 
to seriously consider any proposed tunnels below an elevation of 7,500 feet. A 
tunnel at that elevation would be about 4^ miles long and would have its face 
about 1,200 feet below the portal of the El Paso tunnel. Its cost in round figures 
would probably be from $400,000 to $500,000. Whether such a tunnel will be justified 
depends primarily upon the outlook for extensive ore bodies below the El Paso 
tunnel. Even if this outlook should prove encouraging, the wisdom of tunneling at 
an elevation of 7,500 feet rather than at 8,000 feet or higher might well be doubted. 
The justification for deep tunneling depends further upon the question whether 
water is as abundant at greater depth as it is above the El Paso tunnel and whether 
it can pass with sufficient freedom through the rocks to insure effective drainage of 
the major part of the district. 
Knowledge of the number of gallons of water corresponding to a fall of 1 foot 
in the general reservoir would be of great use in planning future drainage operations. 
This problem, however, presents two serious difficulties—(1) the data regarding 
the quantities of water pumped and drained from the district since operations 
began are very incomplete, and (2) it is impossible to determine with accuracy the 
average level of the water at any one time. Mr. S. W. Mudd, in connection,with 
his report to the Elkton Company, collected all the available data and calculated 
that from January 1, 1896, to December 31, 1901, the total quantity of water dis¬ 
charged from the mines and tunnels amounted to 20,005,405,000 gallons. He esti¬ 
mated the general lowering of the water within the same period to be 300 feet, 
giving an average discharge of 66,684,683 gallons for each foot of subsidence. The 
semiannual relations of subsidence and discharge and the pumping data from 
which they are derived are shown in the following table taken from Mr. Mudd’s 
report: 
Quantity of water pumped from the Cripple Creek mines from January 1, 1896, to July 1, 1902. 
[Compiled by Seeley W. Mudd lor a report to the Elkton Company.] 
Period. 
Jan. 
July 
Jan. 
July 
Jan. 
July 
Jan. 
July 
Jan. 
July 
Jan. 
July 
Jan. 
1, 1896,to 
1.1896, to 
1.1897, to 
1, 1897, to 
1, 1898, to 
1, 1898, to 
1, 1899, to 
1, 1899,to 
1, 1900,to 
1, 1900,to 
1, 1901, to 
1, 1901, to 
1, 1902, to 
July 1,1896. 
Jan. 1, 1897. 
July 1, 1897. 
Jan. 1, 1898. 
July 1, 1898. 
Jan. 1,1899. 
July 1,1899. 
Jan. 1,1900. 
July 1, 1900. 
Jan. 1, 1901. 
July 1, 1901. 
Jan. 1,1902. 
July 1,1902. 
Elkton. 
Gallons. 
43,200,000 
105,753,600 
180,403,200 
33.868.800 
97.436.800 
79,120,000 
114.356.800 
123.624.800 
173.836.800 
277.516.800 
302,054,400 
503.884.800 
2,035,056,800 
Mary. 
McKinney. 
Gallons. 
8,304,400 
108.172.800 
158.284.800 
140.313.600 
48,729,600 
174,528,000 
6,912,000 
232.257.600 
360,115,200 
94,003,200 
67,046,400 
1,398,667,600 
Portland. 
Gallons. 
Standard. 
tunnel. 
Gallons. 
52.876.200 
83.635.200 
103,680,000 
156,556,800 
274,742,000 
357,686,000 
145,152,000 
67,046,400 
129,600,000 
71.539.200 
77,414,400 
150,681,600 
1,670,609,800 
115,960,000 
485,568,000 
3,810,240,000 
3,246,912,000 
2,547,072,000 
2,004,480,000 
1,137,024,000 
107,136,000 
13,454,392,000 
Morning 
Glory. 
Gallons. 
45,964,800 
328,220,000 
262,656,000 
636,840,800 
Total 
