sfurr.]  DEVELOPMENTS    AT    TONOPAH,    NEV.  141 
Therefore  these  roads  have  turned  out  to  be  inadequate  for  the  trans- 
portation of  supplies  to  Tonopah  and  the  more  recently  discovered 
districts  and  for  the  transportation  of  the  ore  which  has  been  pro- 
duced. The  rates  of  railroad  transportation,  however,  are  so  high 
that  the  cost  of  supplies  has  not  been  reduced  and  the  profits  upon 
the  ores  shipped  have  not  increased  so  much  as  was  expected. 
The  supply  of  water  for  the  town  seems  to  be  somewhat  more  abun- 
dant than  last  year,  though  there  is  still  much  to  be  desired.  Part  of 
the  supply  still  comes  from  the  wells  of  the  Crystal  Water  Company, 
4  miles  north  of  the  town,  while  another  portion  is  derived  from  the 
Rescue  shaft,  which  is  practically  within  the  town  itself.  Under- 
ground water  is  irregularly  distributed  in  this  district,  occurring  only 
in  certain  zones,  so  that  comparatively  few  shafts  have  encountered 
water,  while  others,  even  some  considerably  over  1,000  feet  in  depth, 
are  perfectly  dry. 
Until  recently  there  have  been  practically  only  three  producing 
mines  in  the  Tonopah  district,  although  a  number  of  others  have 
shipped  small  quantities  of  ore.  These  producers  have  been  the  con- 
solidated Mizpah  and  Valley  View  mines  (Tonopah  Mining  Com- 
pany), the  Montana  Tonopah,  near  by,  and  the  Belmont  Company, 
whose  properties  are  operated  through  the  Desert  Queen  shaft. 
Recently,  however,  another  mine,  which  ranks  with  those  above  men- 
tioned, has  been  discovered  and  developed — the  Tonopah  Extension— 
and  shipments  of  considerable  amounts  of  ore  have  been  begun. 
The  effect  of  the  discovery  of  Tonopah  upon  the  prosperity  of  the 
State  is  illustrated  only  to  a  partial  extent  in  the  development  and 
prosperity  of  the  Tonopah  district.  Of  probably  greater  importance 
is  the  stimulus  given  to  mining  activity  throughout  this  hitherto 
almost  forgotten  mining  country.  All  over  the  State  old  mines  that 
had  become  dormant  have  been  taken  up  and  are  being  developed, 
frequently  at  a  profit.  Besides  this,  an  army  of  prospectors  has  been 
searching;  the  desert  for  new  discoveries.  The  most  notable  success 
due  to  this  prospecting  thus  far  is  the  discovery  of  the  new  camp  of 
Goldfield,  which  lies  about  23^  miles  in  a  straight  line  south  of 
Tonopah.  This  is  an  absolutely  new  discovery,  which  was  made  in 
1903,  but  which  first  assumed  importance  in  the  early  part  of  1904, 
when  rich  discoveries  of  gold  ore  were  made.  At  the  time  of  the 
present  writing  this  camp  equals  or  exceeds  in  population,  and  far 
exceeds  in  activity,  the  parent  camp  of  Tonopah.  Since,  however. 
ill  the  traffic  for  Goldfield  must  pass  through  the  railroad  terminus 
at  Tonopah  it  contributes  largely  to  the  sustained  prosperity  of  the 
atter  town.  From  Goldfield  prospectors  and  mining  men,  with 
their  interest  and  courage  increased  a  hundredfold  by  the  discovery 
3f  this  second  rich  camp  in  the  desert,  have  pushed  southward  along 
