FIRST MINE UPON THE COMSTOCK LODE.
The first mine upon the Comstock lode was known as the Ophir. The first shafts that were sunk were merely round holes of no great depth, and not constructed upon scientific principles; but as the value of the mine became known, shafts were built in a scientific manner, and lined with timber. The first hoisting apparatus was the common hand windlass. That gave place to the horse-whim, and that, again, to steam machinery. The first of the latter which was put in was during the year 1860, and was a common fifteen horse-power engine. By the end of 1860, the mine had reached a depth of nearly two hundred feet. The vein of rich ore was found to be forty-five feet wide. Nobody had ever seen such a width before, and the miners were at a loss for means to support the roof above. They sent to California for an experienced engineer, and after his arrival, it took him several weeks to arrange a suitable plan.
He arranged a system of “timbering in square sets,” which is still used in all the mines of that region. Timbers were framed and kept together in the shape of cribs, which can be carried up to any desired height. If the vein is wide, the cribs are filled with waste rock, which forms pillars of stone, and thus supports the mines. In 1861, an engine of forty-five horse-power was put in, with an eight inch pump and some improved machinery for hoisting purposes. This was thought to be frightfully extravagant at the time, but, compared with the present machinery, it is a most insignificant affair.
It may be well to explain, here, the meaning of the word which has now become incorporated into our language, “bonanza.” It is a Spanish word, meaning, practically, “in good luck,” or rich bodies of ore. Opposed to it is the term “Borrasca,” meaning “in bad luck,” or in barren rock. There are always, in the Nevada mines, some companies which are working in Borrasca, while others are working in Bonanza, and the great advance and decline in the values of the mining stock is due to this fact. When a company is in Borrasca, its stock is low; in Bonanza, there is a very rapid advance. In the latter part of 1870, an immense bonanza was found in one of the mines. A few months before this discovery, the stock of the mine sold at three dollars per share. A few months afterward, it sold for $1,825 per share. Another mine, whose stock had sold, previous to the discovery of the bonanza, at a dollar and a half a share, rose to $1,525. During the excitement growing out of the discovery of this “big bonanza,” the increase in the mining stock on the Comstock lode was nearly fifty millions of dollars.
The mines on the Comstock lode have swallowed millions of feet of lumber. It is estimated that not less than eighty million feet are annually lowered in the mines, never to be returned to the open air. In a single mine, six million feet are consumed annually, and at the same time, about two hundred and fifty thousand cords of wood. For miles around, the mountains have been stripped of their forests, and the country presents a wild and barren appearance. Nearly all the mountains within fifty miles of Virginia City have been thus denuded. Fuel has become so scarce and dear that search has been made for coal, and it is now extensively used as fuel, though, at present, it costs nearly as much as wood.
EXTENT OF THE MINES.
An idea of the extent of the mines may be formed by a glance at the pay rolls. On the first of every month, over half a million dollars are paid out to the employés. Of the principal companies, the Consolidated Virginia pays $90,000, Crown Point $90,000, Belcher $65,000. There are several whose pay rolls average from $20,000 to $30,000 per month, and many companies whose figures exceed $10,000. Then, in addition to this, are the wages of the men employed in the mountains, cutting timber, and bringing it to the mine, and for other kinds of work.
YIELD OF THE COMSTOCK VEIN.
The yield of the Comstock vein, in ten years, is estimated at two hundred and twenty millions of dollars, or an average yield, annually, of thirteen millions, seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars. In 1874, the yield exceeded twenty-two millions, and in subsequent years it was larger.
The mines have been subject to the usual accidents of similar works in all parts of the world. Many men have lost their lives there, from falls through the shafts, from the breaking of cables, from falls of rock, and various other causes. The mines have been on fire several times, the gases generated from the earth assisting the burning of the immense masses of timber. The heat in the mines is, at all times, very great, and consequently the wood becomes exceedingly dry, and liable to ignite at the slightest opportunity. Some of the fires are attributed to spontaneous combustion, but it seems more probable that they are the result of carelessness. Virginia City, which stands above the mines, has also suffered very greatly from the same cause, and on one occasion, almost the entire settlement was swept away, involving a loss of millions of dollars.