34 GRAVEL AND PLACER MINING IN ALASKA. [bull. 263. 
that some of the hydraulic elevator installations are handling* the 
gravel at a profit, the contrivance is a makeshift, and its use forms no 
part of bona fide hydraulic mining. 
COST OF MINING. 
The average value of fuels in Alaska as shown by present operations 
is as follows: 
Cost of fuels available for use in Alaska. 
Bituminous coal, price at Nome $17 per ton (2,000 pounds) 
Crude oil at Nome $3 per barrel 
Spruce wood, average price in the interior $12 per cord 
Experience in the Nome district indicates that California crude oil is 
the most economical fuel available in the southern part of Seward 
Peninsula. In the interior of Alaska the price of imported crude oil 
renders its use prohibitive for mining operations. 
The recently exhibited tests of the adaptability and efficiency of 
gas-producing engines should receive attention from operators who] 
contemplate the installation of mechanical plants in any part of Alaska. 
There is no question that bituminous coal and lignite can be utilized 
for gas producers, giving proportionately better results than anthra- 
cite. An engineer operating a large pumping plant in the Klondike 
is of the opinion that even the poor spruce wood available for fuel im 
interior Alaska can be utilized in the gas-producer engine. The prej- 
udices which exist againt the explosion type of engine in the United 
States are fast disappearing. They have been due to faulty construc- 
tion of the engines and lack of knowledge of their principle among 
those who attempt to operate them. The present valid objections to 
installing gas and gas-producer engines are that these engines are 
undergoing a process of evolution, and the standard has not been 
attained. According to Mr. M. R. Campbell, the Government coal- 
testing plant at St. Louis has demonstrated that a gain of from 30 
to 50 per cent of efficiency is attainable in the gas-producing a^ 
compared with the steam-producing engine. 
The comparatively low cost of California crude oil at Nome renders 
it a valuable fuel for the mining operations in that vicinity. The satitj 
isfactory results from one type of gas engine at St. Louis showed thai 
crude oils of widely varying composition can be used with a higher 
efficiency in generating gas for explosive engines than in generating 1 
steam. 
The purchase of water for hydraulic or sluice purposes is no 
general in Alaska. In Seward Peninsula water under natural hea( 
or pumped water is sold to miners to a limited extent. The averag< 
price is $1 per miner's inch, twenty-four hours' service, for wate 
under head and 50 cents for sluice water. The inch used correspond 
to 1.2 cubic feet per minute. This measure of the miner's inch i 
not accepted in this report. The miner's inch, according to its bes 
