16 JOHANNESBURG, "THE QUEEN CITY OF THE RAND" It Is the Terminus of the Rand Mining District Railway jm locriion for a town Splendid Water Supply and Milling Facilities A DISTRIBUTING POINT Fine Climate and Bracing Atmosphere ABSOLUTE TITLE TO LOTS EXCELLENT OPENINGS FOR BUSI NESS ENTERPRISER One of the Greatest Gold Mining Dis tricts in America—What the Jo hannesburg Milling and Water Company Has Accomplished As the writer recently reached the summit of the small ridge at the head of Butte avenue, Randsburg. equi-dls tant from both towns and about three quarters of a mile from each, he gazed at the beautiful townsite of Johannes burg for the first time and was so favor ably impressed with the scene that he inwardly exclaimed, "What a superb lo cation for a town!" Nature has indeed done her part in preparing this valley, or plateau, for the habitation of man. in addition to storing rich minerals in the bowels of the earth, readily acces sible to those who will delve therefor with a reasonable outlay of money and brawn, and has even stored in Mother Earth an abundant supply of that great desideratum—water —for mining and domestic purposes. Situated at an elevation of 3600 feet above the level of the sea, and almost surrounded by hills and mountains, the topographical situation is unsurpassed in picturesque beauty. The sanitation is perfect, and the climate is excellent on account of its elevation and being free from the sweeping winds that occa sionally infest the surrounding districts that are less protected by hills and .mountains. The climate is bracing, but is not excessively cold in winter; neither hot in summer, the thermometer rarely exceeding 100 degrees in the hottest days of the year. It is an ideal climate for those suffering from rheumatism, asth ma, bronchial diseases, and even con sumption, as will he seen by a letter from Dr. Ormsby, an accomplished physician and surgeon of Randsburg, which appears in the preceding article on Randsburg. THE JOHANNESBURG MILLING AND WATER COMPANY No words of praise are too great for the enterprise of the above company in its work of inaugurating and carry ing through to a successful completion the establishment of an ideal townsite; also the kindred enterprises of water development, milling facilities and last, but not least, securing the construction of twenty-eight miles of standard-gauge railroad from Kramer, on the Atlantic and Pacific division of the Santa Fe Pacific to Johannesburg. On account of the great scarcity of water in the entire Randsburg mining district, comprising Johannesburg and Randsburg, a syndicate was formed by well-known Los Angeles capitalists, to H. L. NELSON'S REAL ESTATE OFFICE ether with capitalists of New York and Chicago, in November, 1«96, for the pur pose of supplying it, and the first step taken w as to purchase the best water bearing lands in the district, situated in the mountains, four and a half miles from Johannesburg. In January, 1897, the Johannesburg Milling and Water company was incorporated, with the fol lowing officers: Henry A. Darling, presi dent; George H. Curtis, vice-president and treasurer; George E. Pratt, secre tary, and with a capital stock of $200, --000, all subscribed and fully paid up. Since last November water development has been vigorously prosecuted, until there is now an ample supply for the domestic needs of the entire Rand dis trict, also for the requirements of sev eral stamp mills and concentrator works and for the new railroad now approach ing completion from Kramer. After a thorough investigation of the water plant—wells, pumps and reservoir—the writer can well smile at the incredulity of those who fear that a sufficient sup ply for the rapidly growing require ments of the Rand district cannot be developed at the company's'wells, for any one who will take the time anil trouble to visit and carefully examine the water plant must become, like the writer, thoroughly convinced that the water facilities are ample for all needs of the district. ; Besides the purchase of water-hearing j land, the purchase of machinery for the I development of water, etc., the com pany has expended many thousands of dollars in piping water to Johannesburg and along the principal streets; also in laying out and Improving the town site, erecting many substantial build ings. Including the hotel, which cost, with furniture and other appointments, $11,000; the post office building, a store building, the office building of the com pany, a large stable building, etc. The company has also constructed good roads to Randsburg, St. Elmo district. Holer and the Stringer district, and by means of the aforesaid improvements has induced the "Woods dry concen trator plant, which cost $20,000, to lo cate here, which is now in operation on the Alameda mining company's ground. For the same reason the substantial and thoroughly appointed ten-stamp mill now nearing completion and described elsewhere, was established at this point; also the Johannesburg sampling works and last, but not least, the railroad from Kramer was secured through the inde fatigable efforts of this company. The company have purchased all its machinery—pipe, lumber and other ma terials used in development work, town improvement, etc.—so far in Los An geles, and their enterprise has certainly been of great benefit to that city. They have labored under great difficulties, anil now look forward confidently to the fruition of their hopes. Randsburg and Johannesburg has each Its place In the work of building up what will ere long be one of the best gold producing dis tricts in the world, and the officers of the Johannesburg Milling and Water com pany assured the writer that they will co-operate in every way possible with the sister city in the effort to achieve that end. WATER SUPPLY As before stated, the wells of the Johannesburg Milling and Water com- pany are situated four and one-half miles northeast from Johannesburg. The first well has a shaft S feet in diameter, is 120 feet deep, with two drifts 30 feet long, and 700 feet of two-inch pipe to the reservoir. The pump is operated by a crude petroleum engine. The second well is about 1000 feet from No. 1, has a seven-inch hole bored like that of well No. 3, with a large oil boring rig brought last spring from Summerland, Santa Barbara county. This well is 250 feet deep, and is cased with 5%-inch perforated casing. The water reaches within 85 feet of the top. and has 800 feet of two-Inch pipe to the reservoir. This well only is now used for the entire water supply, and the pump is down 150 feet. A steam engine and boiler is used with a Woodward pump. Well No. 3, bored, is about 900 feet from the second well; has a 9Vi-inch hole, 283 feet deep; is cased with 7%-inch perforated casing. The water is within 110 feet of the top. There is BHO feet of 3-Inch pipe to the reservoir, rfnd a 4-inch "Ames cylind, r pump," with r,-inch casing, is now be ing put in 200 feet deep, which will throw from 150 to 100 gallons per minute. A 12 horse power Foos gasoline and dis tillate engine is also being put in. Th > flow of water from all the wells Is fully 10 miners' inches. It is worthy of note that four new Foos gasoline engines are now being placed in this district, making a total of eight. The reservoir is a marvel of skillful work—blasted out of the solid rock at an elevation of 260 feet above the wells. It is substantially cemented and as phalted, and has a capacity of 30.000 gal lons. Water Is conducted from the res ervoir to the town and along the principal streets, a distance of four and one-half miles, through a 4-inch steel pipe. The water is pure and soft, much superior to any other obtained in the Hand district, and is now the principal source of supply for Randsburg and th" entire district. K. M. Skilling, the pioneer water deal er of the Rand district, has two wells in this vicinity from which water in hauled to Randsburg. A. F. Snow of Fresno has two wells nt Squaw Springs, seven miles east of Jo WOOD'S DRY CONCENTRATOR hannesburg, from which water is hauled by wagons. JOHANNESBURG—ITS BUSINESS AND IMPROVEMENTS The townsite of Johannesburg is situ ated on a school section, making alto gether 200 acres. The streets are 60 feet wide, with the exception of Broadway, which is eighty feet wide. The streets are all run at right angles and are ad mirably laid out itnd graded. The lots are 40x110 feet and arc sold from ?2. r > up. Water is conveyed to the town in pipes as before stated, by the Johannesburg Milling and Water company to a central point, and also piped along the principal streets. The title to the townsite is vested in the Johannesburg Milling and Water company by a recently obtained patent from the state of California, and the company give a grant, bargain and ALAMEDA MINES sale deed to every lot; also a certificate uf title, the same as is given to property elsewhere in the state. Quit claim deeds only are usually given to property in mining districts, which do not protect the purchaser. Water is furnished to residents at 1 cent per gallon or 50 cents per barrel. The fact that fresh water can be ob tained at any time during the day is an Important consideration from a sani tary standpoint. In addition to the buildings erected by the Johannesburg Milling and Water company already mentioned are many others worthy of notice, including that of (i. J. Woodward, president of tho First National bank of Fresno, which was built last spring. This is a substan tial structure 40x60 feet, which has sev eral storerooms and a corner designed for a bank. Under the bank building Is a very heavy cement and granite foun dation. As w ill be seen under "Needs." a bank would pay well in Johannesburg. The Hotel Johannesburg cost, includ ing the furniture. $11,000. The furniture and appointments cost fully $4000. It is a substantially built structure, 60x100 feet, two stories in height and is sur rounded on two sides by a wide veranda anil porch. It has thirty-six large rooms, including an office 24x24, a commodious ladle*' parlor with elegant piano, a bar and billiard room, an elegant dining room that will seat 100 persons. The furniture throughout the blulding is first- class and the appointments up to date in every respect, including electric bells In every room. In the kitchen, pre sided over by an accomplished "chef," is a French range that cost $.100. All the room walls are nicely decorated and there is an air of comfort pervading the whole building that makes the guests feel at home. Water Is piped into the ho tel and ample protection is afforded in case of fire by fire hydrants and extin guishers. A large "Hosier" safe gives ample security to valuables. H. W. Squires is the proprietor and Mrs. 11. 1.. Squires, formerly of the Windsor ho tel, Redlands, and an experienced hotel keeper, is the manager. A commodious music hall, the Monte Carlo, 30x60 feet, was opened last week and entertainments will be furnished every night in a short time The Val Verde hotel and Phillips' res taurant are commodious buildings, also the Miners' home. The Pioneer Lumber company and the Desert Lumber com pany also have' buildings in connection with their yards. The Johannesburg Sampling works, Charles It. Wores, proprietor, is a val uable enterprise for this district. This is a branch of the Tucson Sampling works, where Mr. Worcs has been en gaged for many years in that line of business. It is a great advantage to the entire Hand district to have a thorough ly equipped plant for sampling ores so conveniently located. The Johannesburg Reduction works, owned by Messrs. Montgomery, Hicks & Griffith of Los Angeles, Is now being LOS ANGELES HERALD: SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 31, J897 erected in the town. The 10-stamp mill is one of Llewellyn Pros.' (Los Angeles) manufacture, and has an Bxl2 Blake crusher, a 20 and an 8 horse power gaso line engine. The foundation is very substantially built in stone and con crete. The battery timbers alone weigh 30,000 pounds. The capacity of the mill will be 30 tons of ore per day and it will be In operation by Nov. 10. Wa ter will be furnished by the Johannes burg Milling & Water Company, and it is expected that at least 30.000 gallons per day will be used from the start. Johannesburg has a postofflce, West ern I'nion and Postal telegraph offices, a telephone line from Mojave and inter mediate points; also a telephone ex change with Randsburg, two general merchandise stores, one real estate of fice, one stationery and variety store, one billiard and pool room, several sa loons, a music hall, four hotels, one lunch counter, two laundries, two lum ber yards, two livery stables, several dealers in hay and grain, one barber shop, one delicacy store, one notary and one attorney-at-law. Johannesburg needs a church (flour ishing Sunday school already estab- I lished), a blacksmith shop, tin shop, a large general merchandise store, coal yard, drug store, physician and surgeon, bank, ice factory (plenty of pure water here), a shoe shop, tailor simp, painter, carpenter and last but not least, a news paper. Stages run twice daily to and from Mojave and once a day to and from Kramer. RANDSBURG RAILWAY COMPANY This railroad company was incorpor ated a few months ago to construct a railroad from Kramer on the Atlantic and Pacific division of the Santa Fesys tem to this district. A. A. Dattgherty, the president, went east and completed arrangements for building the road be i fore the town of Johannesburg was started. The Johannesburg Milling j and Water company offered such favor able Inducements to the railroad com pany that a contract was made last -May. making Johannesburg the termi nal point. Many unforeseen delays have occurred since then, but tin- contract for building the road (28 miles in length) was finally made last month, to be com pleted to Johannesburg by Nov. 2:,, the contractors to incur a heavy forfeit if not completed by that date About 12 miles has been graded to this date (Oct. 27) and about six miles of track laid. This railroad is said to be simply a con necting link between the San Joaquin Valley railroad and the Santa Fe system by many who assume to have good au thority for that assumption. Rut. in any case, the completion of the railroad to the Rand district will mark a new era in its history, an era of progress and development undreamed of by its most sanguine advocates. REAL ESTATE AND MINING IN VESTMENTS In a rapidly growing mining district such as the Hand is and will be, and in a town that is destined to grow probably faster than any other in Southern Cali fornia during the next year or two, it i 3 important to know who is a re liable real estate and mining broker. 11. 1.. Nelson is one of the pioneers of the district in those lines and is as well informed on all land and mining matters to say the least as any man in the district. His main office is in Johannesburg, a cut of which appears elsewhere. He also has an office in Randsburg, where he has a cabinet tilled with a great variety of ore specimens from the Rand district. THE RANDSBURG GOLD MINING, MILLING AND WATER SUPPLY COMPANY This company owns seven full mining claims, three of which, known as th > Val Verde group, are situated just norm of Johannesburg, which is the center of REEDLEY GROUP, VAL VERDE, DISTANT ONE-QUARTER MILE a. very rich gold producing section, and in the same mineral belt in which we find the Rand, Kinyon, Wedge, Butte and King Solomon mines. The other claims, La Monte, Zephyr, Luna and Solar, fa miliarly known as the La Monte group, are in the Stranger district and contig uous to the Merced, Napoleon and Gold Coin mines, lying about midway be tween the two last named. Active work of exploitation is now being done on ali these properties and immense bodies of ore are being blocked out in readiness for milling, when proper facilities are obtained. This company at the present time has the Ophlr mill at Cuddebaek lake under lease, and keeps it employed night and day. The capacity of this mill is very small (five stamps) and being twelve miles from the mines, the expense of hauling is so great that only high grade ore can be handled at this point. It is the purpose of the company to erect a large mill upon the Val Verde prop erty as soon as arrangements can be perfected. The work of development upon the Val Verde mine shows a de- ) termination on the part of the manage ? ment to probe deep for the hidden treas ure, and the success attending their cf ,• forts is certainly very gratifying. Shaft - No. lis down 250 feet on the pitch of the l vein, which, starting at three and a half 8 at the surface, is now over seven 1 feet at the bottom of the shaft. Drifts - in both directions along the vein on the • 100 foot level, as seen by the writer, show 1 large bodies of ore, swelling at times to ? fully fifteen feet from wall to wall. At the lower workings, a view of which is . given on this page, there are three shafts , respectively thirty feet, forty feet and . fifty feet deep.the last, intended for main . working shaft, is now being pushed with I night and day shifts. At this place the ledge has been breasted for a distance , of about sixty feet, showing a vast de . posit of ore running from eight feet to • twelve feet thick and averaging in value . from $10 to $20 per ton, with rich streaks, I sometimes on the foot wall and some • times on the hanging wall that will run up in the hundreds of dollars per ton. It is safe to say that on this property there is now blocked out from 4000 to 5000 tons of ore that, with proper milling fa cilities on the ground, could be worked at a very handsome profit. It is of this property that Ben Thayer, the celebrat ed expert of the Hearst estate, after a thorough examination of the workings and the strong dyke movements appa rent upon the surface, made the remark: I "Here is a property that will be heard of; ; this ledge will go down." The La Monte mine produces high grade ore running from $100 to $200 per j ton in value. On this mine there arc ' three shafts all in ore. the deepest be ing SB foot. Most of this work has been done by men who have leased privileges i from the company, and it is of record , that two men named Johnson nad Hoi comb, while winking under a lease in sinking a shaft 35 feet deep took out $2100, making a net profit of $1600 after [ paying royalty and milling charges, and this in a period of less than forty ! days. This was indeed a Klondike stake, as both left at once for the new gol | conda of the frozen north, This com j pany is Incorporated under the laws of Colorado with 2.000,000 shares of stock | with par value of $1 per share. The [ main office is in Los Angeles, C. A. Burcham is president, J. S. Wilde sec retary, and John C. Quinn superintend ent, THE REEDLEY nnoi'P Immediately west of the Yal Verde group and in the same mineral licit, or I zone, is the Reedley group, consisting' of the Reedley, Ruby, Inca, Provo, Iz tec and Oro Cash. These properties were purchased several months ago by J. Wilson, an experienced miner who came from Humboldt county. Nevada, to Randsburg, last March. The writer having heard that this group is consid ered by expert mineralogists to lie equal in prospective value at least to the Val Verde property a careful investigation of these claims was made by him, ac companied by two experts. The verdict was unanimous, that not only is (here a large body of uniformly good ore in SCENE AT VAL VERDE MINE sight, but moreover, that it will unques tionably run about $25 per ton, free mill ing gold, on an average. Tne Reedley mine has a vertical shaft of the depth of 20 feet, thence an incline shaft on the lead to the depth of 75 feet from the surface. The ledge will average from 2U to 3 feet in width and the ore averages from $20 to $30. The Ruby, adjoining the Reedley on the side lines is another very promising mine. It has an incline shaft 45 feet in depth on the lead, distant 60 feet from tho Reedley shaft. The ledge in this shaft will average 4 feet in width from top to bottom, and will run fully $25 per ton. This- shute of ore should produce about 2000 tons, or more, according to actual measurements made by experts. As will be seen by annexed cut, there are four other good claims in this group, all on the same lead, but upon which only a small amount of work has been done. Mr. Wilson may be congratulated up on hoving valuable properties in this group and which will unquestionably prove good producers. If he ever sells the claims they certainly ought to com mand a high figure. GEORGE COOK MINE Adjoining the Val Verde group on the north is the above, owned by Fred B. Dexter and E. N. Baker. The shaft is down 65 feet on the same ledge as the Val Verde and following the course of lode line through three feet of ore. They have 292 tons of ore on the dump which, by mill and sampling works tests in 500 pound lots, shows a value of from $18 to $20. THE ALAMEDA MINES This valuable property, comprising the Alameda and the Jolly Girl, adjoins the townsite of Johannesburg on the east. It is upon this property that the big Wood automatic dry concentrator plant and ore crusher is situated, and which it is confidently believed will work a revolution in gold mining throughout the country. It is reported that the Alameda company contemplates pur chasing the above plant when fully con vinced of its adaptability to their needs. The above two claims were located in 1896 by the Ashford brothers, present owners of the King Solomon group. The present company was incorporated Sept. 1, 1897, with a capital stock of $500,000, divided into 500,000 shares of $1 each, all of which was taken up by the partners. The officers of the company are as follows: J. W. Hagesdale, presi dent; K. Hamilton Sim, vice-president; William Sim, treasurer; George W. Mc pherson, secretary, and William H. Mc- Ewen, superintendent. The principal work now being done is on shaft No. 3, which runs on an in cline to a depth of 130 feet, where the ledge straightens up thence 15 feet, on |an angle of 45 degrees. The ledge is 34 | feet wide at the 145-foot depth, has well I denned walls of porphyry and syenite, ! and good talc gouge. The ore mills on an average $20 to the ton. From the 80 --foot level there is a drift of 25 feet in I length (running earterly toward shaft | No. 1), which has similar walls and an | 18-inch ledge of high grade ore, milling | $75. The bulk of the ore taken out of | this shaft and drift is stock plied (about jSO tons) on the dump awaiting comple j tion of the above mentioned Wood con | centrator. Ten tons of ore from this I shaft was just being shipped to Cudde- I back lake mill, when the writer went through the mines, and about the same quantity will be shipped each week until the dry concentrator and crusher are in operation. , Shaft No. 1, where a rich strike was made some months ago, is down 100 feet by incline shaft at an angle of 45 de : grees. This shaft is now being worked, although in a large body of medium j quality ore the company deeming it best JOHANNESBURG MILLING AND WATER COMPANY'S OFFICE to push development in shafts Nos. 2 and 3. Shaft No. 2 is about 60 feet west of shaft No. 3, is down 90 feet, and Is in good ore, similar to that of shaft No. 3, above described. The Jolly Girl, adjoining the Alameda mine on the north, has a 50-foot shaft just completed and promises, from pres ent indications, to become as good a property as the Alameda. The company contemplates adding a gasoline hoist engine to their plant in a short time, and to reduce the ores from the various shafts and drifts in the Wood concentrator and crusher. These two claims are unquestionably destined to become great gold producers. WOOD'S AUTOMATIC DRY CON CENTRATOR As stated above, this plant is situ ated on the Alameda company's ground. It is claimed to be an improvement on all other concentrators, the fundament al basis of the invention being (as F. W. AVood, the Ingenious inventor describes It) the reaction of the vibration of air or "the wave motion." The great advan tage claimed by Mr. Wood is that it will save a large percentage of concen trates than are saved by any other known process. The many tests made, commencing with the one made in Los Angeles several months ago and wit nessed by the writer, have been so uni formly and completely satisfactory that reference thereto in detail is unneces sary. The machines now being man ufactured have a capacity of fifteen tons of ore each per day of twenty-four hours and can be operated with one-eighth the power used in other machines to ac complish the same results, making it HOTEL JOHANNESBURG one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, concentrators in America. Where mines are situated a long distance from a mill, smelter or cyanide plant, and where water is scarce, this concentrator is invaluable and it will be a great factor In the development of such mining property. The number of tons of ore that can be concentrated into one ton by the Wood process is, of course, de pendent on the proportion of concen trates in the ore. In some cases thirty tons of ore have been reduced to one ton by this machine, which is a remark able showing. Base ores are success fully handled as well us free-milling ores. The concentrates can be extracted from the base ores on the spot where they are mined, thereby avoiding the cost of transportation on the unproduc tlve part of the ore. In con nection with the Wood concen trator is a quartz crusher, which also has a very important advantage in a dry country, as all the water necessary to run a plant of this kind, with a capac ity of thirty tons per day, Is about one ordinary barrel, using a gasoline engine. The necessary power to crush and con centrate the ore In this plant is fur nished by one 25-horse power. The crusher Is not giving perfect satisfac tion, and is another man's invention, hence Mr. Wood is investigating the merits ot other crushers and is confident that he will soon have the crushing de partment in as successful working order as the concentrator. Those associated with Mr. Wood In the j ownership of the Invention and ma i chines are J. M. Hale of the firm of J. M. I Hale & Co. of Los Angeles, Frank Colo, I William Glore and C. C. Gibbons. Mr. Wood comes from New Haven, Conn., and has devoted almost his entire life from early boyhood to the invention of automatic machinery. He is the Inventor ef a pin machine thaS makes the pin, puts It in the paper, folds the paper and prints the name of the firm on the back of the fold. He is a man of considerable means, and has for a number of years past regularly spent his winters in Southern California. He claims that hfci invention of this automatic concentrator is the most valuable of any he is the author of. His friends claim for him that he can do by machinery anything that can he done by band. JOHANNESBURG- GOLD MINING COMPANY This company was recently incorpor ated with a capital stock of 1,000,000 shares of a par value of $1 each, for the purpose of operating mines in the Rand district. They have secured a group of four contiguous claims adjoining the Al ameda mine and the townsite of Johan nesburg. These claims are the Monto Cristo, Alameda No. 2, Golden Wedge and Croesus. Their close proximity to such prominent mining properties as the Alameda and Val Verde, which are known to have Immense depoists of rich gold-bearing ore, gives the new com pany a great advantage from the start. Folowlng are the officers of the com pany: H. J. Woollacott, president (the well-known banker of Los Angeles); C. L. Hanson (capitalist of Los Angeles), vice-president; Warren Gillelen, treas urer UUeMJont of tho DiuoJwoj UUIIK, Los Angeles),