purington.] OPEN-CUT MINING. 59 
The duty of a man shoveling is variously estimated in different dis- 
tricts of the North. This form of mining- having been nearly discon- 
tinued in the Klondike region, very little information concerning it 
was obtainable. The extensive shoveling operations on upper Bonanza 
Creek were not visited. In one case, where a platform was used, 2 
men shoveling, in two stages, a total of 9 feet lift, 2 feet of pay were 
shov T eled into the boxes at the rate of 3^ cubic yards per ten-hour man. 
In the Birch Creek district the duty of a man shoveling from an 
average of 12 operations is 5 cubic yards in ten hours, the depth of 
pay averaging 4.41 feet, and the lift never exceeding feet. 
In American Creek, where the bowlders were large and men had to 
stop work to get them out of the way, the duty was 2-f cubic yards. 
On Discovery Fork of this creek the duty was 4 cubic yards, the 
depth being 5 feet. 
In the Fairbanks district, where shoveling-in operations are few, 
owing to the depth of ground, the average of three seen was 7% cubic 
yards dut}^, the depth shoveled being 3 feet of pay, part gravel and 
part bed rock. In no case was there a lift of over 5 feet. 
In the Nome region 5.76 cubic yards duty is probably very near 
the average on a bank from 5 to 7 feet in height. In the case of the 
large operations of the Pioneer Mining Company, on Anvil Creek, 
the work has been so systematized that on the 3-foot bank handled the 
duty is 9 cubic yards per ten-hour man. 
One operation on Solomon River, where the lift was high, and the 
bed rock irregular, 3.75 cubic yards was the dut}^ on a 3- foot bank. 
In the Council district of Seward Peninsula, including operations 
on Ophir, Crooked, Warm, Gold Bottom, Camp, and Penelope creeks, 
the duty of a man averages 6.63 cubic yards on an average height of 
bank of 3.5 feet. This average is affected by one case where on a 
limestone bed rock, with double lift, the duty was 3.5 yards; also by 
another where with eight-hour shifts, working on 3-foot bank with 
5-foot lift, the extraordinary duty of 12 cubic yards per man was 
vouched for. 
The method of working shallow placers by shoveling into boxes has 
much to commend it, especially when the water is drained from the 
cut, either with or without a covered drain. In Alaskan gravels 
exceeding $3 in gold tenor to the cubic yard of material handled by 
shoveling, frequently from one-half to two-thirds of the gold lies in 
the crevices of the upper 18 inches or 2 feet of the bed rock. Men 
directly shoveling this material can thoroughly clean the bed rock by 
the shoveling-in method. On the other hand, if horse scrapers, steam 
scrapers, or steam shovels are used, the bed rock is frequently not 
cleaned, and a gang of men must go over the ground a second time to 
pick up the auriferous material which has been left. This point is 
