himself, a hundred feet, and begin work. The original discoverer is allowed an extra hundred feet, in consideration of his discovery. After the several

claims are staked out, one of the number of persons is elected a recorder; and a record is made of the claims as of the deeds in a county clerk's office. To this record an Act of the Legislature has given the same validity as that which is possessed by the records in the other States. A paper, which is a copy of the record, is also affixed to some tree on the spot.

After these steps have been taken, any individual can sell his claim to any purchaser, and the sale passes a title which is good against all the world the United States only excepted.

Such is the title derived from occupation and settlement. It obtains entire confidence; for the opinion prevails in all parts of the State, as we are informed, that the government of the United States will manifest the same liberality, and extend the same protection to the pioneers and settlers in California, as to the emigrants to other new States. There is also a class of titles derived from Mexican grants, each embracing tracts of several leagues. There are only a few of these, and but little respect has hitherto been paid to them by miners.

Claims, such as we have been speaking of, are often sold for many thousand dollars. The price of a vein is governed by the richness of the ore, and the facility with which wood and water can be obtained. These are indispensable requisites for mining in the rock. Richer veins without wood and water at hand, command a much lower price from this scarcity.

In Grass Valley the veins have uniformly commanded a high price, in consequence of their richness and the abundant supply of wood and water. By the most recent estimates, there are, at this moment, about fifty companies in actual operation in quartz mining. Very few of them are supplied with the most suitable machinery for successful work. The entire number of companies, embracing those forming as well as already formed, for this branch of mining, is estimated at two hundred. They are almost entirely private companies, and are settled in all parts of the rock regions. Many of them have valuable claims, but are not able to obtain the machinery necessary to work them with, and therefore use only the Mexican Raster. A few of them are stock companies, and in some instances their stock can be purchased.

But this branch of mining has been entered upon with much spirit and enterprise. The latest reports represent the foundries of San Francisco, of Sacramento, and of Stockton, to the number of six, as working night and day to cast the machinery for these mills, at prices ranging from four een to twenty cents per pound. This is in addition to all the machinery sent out from the Atlantic States, during the last six months. Those who are most active in these operations, and who are investing large amou ts of capital in the mills and mines, are citizens of California, who have had the best opportunities to explore the mineral resources of the State, and are most familiar with the system of mining which is practicable.

carried on.

There are two important points in the labor of gold mining, wherever it is The first, is to crush the rock in which the gold is found; and the second, is to extract all the gold from the powder after it is crushed. To be successful in obtaining the gold, the rock should first be crushed or ground as fine as flour; for the smallest grits may contain particles of the metal. The best machinery in existence for this purpose, when the rock mining was commenced in California, was the Chilian mill; so called from its

extensive use in parts of South America. In July, 1851, the first mill of this kind was erected on the big Mariposa vein. This was the first machinery used in gold mining in California, unless we except the iron pestle and mortar used by hand. It crushed about five hundred pounds of rock in twelve hours, and yielded from two to four hundred dollars in three or four days. The expense of running this kind of mill is considerable, and they are therefore unprofitable in consequence of their inefficiency. To be successful in California, where wages are so high, a large amount of work must be done in a short time.

Georgia stamps were next introduced. But these were made to weigh only about one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds. These would crush from a ton and a half to five tons in twelve hours. But they did not crush the rock as fine as the Chilian mill, and therefore, pound for pound, would not produce so much gold as the latter.

This light and imperfect machinery was set up under the anticipation that the rock would yield from two to three dollars of gold per pound. The standard yield at present established, and below which mining is not attempted, is two cents of gold to the pound of rock, or forty dollars to the

ton.

The next step in the progress of crushing the rock, was to introduce hea vy machinery. For it was proved that machinery which would work to a profit under the low wages in the Southern States, would bring ruin upon its proprietors in California. The mill belonging to the Grass Valley Quartz Mining Company was the first to introduce heavy stamps. These weighed seven hundred pounds and upwards, and worked with such success as to obtain at once for the mill the designation of the "Model Mill." It is estimated as crushing from thirty to forty tons of rock per day, none of which yields less than two cents, although the average is much higher. It has thus been a source of immense profit to its owners.

But even with this mill, the rock is not crushed sufficiently fine, to render it practicable to obtain any more than half the gold it contains, with the present amalgamators for separating the gold. It is a trait of American character never to be satisfied with imperfectly doing a thing, where gold is at stake. Several machines have therefore been invented, which, judging by the success of experiments with models, promise to crush to a fine pow der at least fifty tons of rock daily. These have been constructed in New York and taken out to California at great expense, by men who belong there, and who have been engaged in rock mining for some years past, and who are the only class who are actually acquainted with the mining resources of California.

The amalgamation process, which consists in intermingling the crushed rock with quicksilver, is very imperfectly performed, chiefly in consequence of the coarseness of the crushed rock. It is estimated that at least onehalf of the gold is lost in the present mining operations.

The expense of working a mine has been variously estimated at different periods, according to the rate of wages. The following estimate is furnished by an experienced miner, and it is based, as he informs us upon the actual operations of a mining company:

66

Suppose an establishment working an engine of forty-horse power, and driving thirty stampers, will cost $70,000, an exaggerated value. Suppose the thirty stampers crushed, in twenty-four hours, twelve tons, an amount much underrated.

The number of hands necessary for the above work is twenty, at $5 per day.. $100

One engineer at..

10

Suppose the ore yields only two cents to the pound, or $40 per ton, fifteen tons will give $600. At this rate, the product per month (twenty-six working days) would give......

$15,000

5,340

$10,250

Expenses for labor per month (thirty days)....

Balance in favor of the mine....

Being abundantly sufficient to allow for wear and tear, particularly when we consider, that an engine properly managed, may last six years, and the stampers six months.

"Now let us see the figures when the mine yields five cents to the pound -a yield, which can be, with justice, considered an average product of the California mines.

"Without changing the amount of expenses, above presented, we will have as a result of the same mining operations, at the rate of $100 per ton or five cents per pound, per diem, $1,560; or, per month, $30,000. The original monthly expenses as above shown, $5,340, leave us a net balance of $33,660."

Some idea of the results of mining may be obtained from the work of some of the mills. In Grass Valley, where the gold in the rock is very uniform, the mills have probably been more successful than in any other section. The amount of gold obtained, notwithstanding the imperfect machinery for crushing the rock and defective amalgamators, averages from fifty to one hundred dollars per ton; and occasionally, the rich portion of a vein is struck, and the yield for the time is immense. In some instances, as in the case of the mill of the Grass Valley Quartz Mining Company, $3,800 has been obtained in a day. Many other instances might be enumerated. As the improvement in machinery and the capacity for work has increased, the success has steadily improved. Still more perfect machinery in skillful hands may quadruple it.

The first great embarassment which has happened to mining in California, arose from the high wages of labor, and consequently the enormous expense attending the employment of numerous laborers. No enterprises demanding a large outlay of human force, can be undertaken, unless there are most lucrative returns. Hence it has been unprofitable and ruinous to work many of the mines, previous to the present reduction in the price of

labor.

But the imperfection of the machinery greatly augmented this embarassment. Machines which would work to such advantage as to yield rich returns in the gold mines of the Southern States, where labor can be obtained for the lowest wages, were comparatively worthless amid the high wages of California. The process of amalgamation is necessarily performed, in California, on a most extensive scale; and to an equal degree it is imperfectly done. That is, nearly one-half the gold is lost. Thus it has been

necessary to remodel the entire system of work adopted in other countries, 'to obtain success in California.

There are many other embarassments, such as miners meet everywhere. These it is unnecessary to enumerate.

The business has also to a great extent been commenced by men without 'experience, and often with a limited capital. In the largest number of such instances, a speedy failure has been the consequence.

The Legislature of California has exercised a degree of intelligence and liberality somewhat unusual in new States. The most favorable laws have been enacted for the organization of companies, to engage either in mining, manufacturing, or other purposes. And while they are liberal on the one hand, on the other, they are sufficiently stringent to protect the rights of every stockholder, and preserve him from unlimited liabilities.

Art. VII. PIERS AND DOCKS IN THE NORTH RIVER, NEW YORK.

THE necessity of doing something for the accommodation of the rapidly increasing Commerce of the port of New York, becomes every day more urgent. It is allowed, on all hands, that the present piers are altogether insufficient, and that they cannot be extended or improved in the ratio of our

wants to come.

The proposition brought forward by Mayor Clark, in 1835, to build a pier and basins in the North River, similar to the Liverpool and London docks, is the only plan ever suggested which seems to meet the demand. It is simple and feasible. Nor has any reasonable objection ever been made to it. As to economy, it can be demonstrated that the lots created by it would be worth considerably more than the cost of the whole work, besides affording a handsome income to the city, not only by well founded estimates, but by the experience of other similar undertakings, such as Central Wharf in Boston. The North River is deep and wide. It has not so strong a tidal current as the East River, and has a more direct access to and from But, as a harbor, it is not so safe or comfortable, especially in winter. It is therefore in the North River that we have the demand for improvement, as well as ample field to carry it out.

sea.

London from the Tower to Blackwall, a distance of four miles, is nearly all docks. St. Katherine's, London, East, and West India, on the north side of the Thames, without reckoning minor ones, occupy an extent of four hundred and fifty acres, can accommodate twelve hundred ships, and have warehouse room for 600,000 tons of goods. The Surrey, Commercial, East County, and other docks on the south side cover nearly as much ground. St. Katherine's is one of the smallest, containing twenty-three acres, but taking advantage of the experience of others, all of its arrangements are of the most perfect kind. "It was undertaken by leading merchants in London, to meet the necessity of giving additional accommodation to the great increase of business in the port; to secure a reduction in the rates and charges, which were considered exorbitant at the London docks; no others conveniently situated affording the means of competition; and to bring the port of London more on a level, in point of expense, with the other ports of the

empire; but more particularly with the principal ports of the continent." It was commenced in May, 1827, and opened October, 1828. More than 1,200 houses, in the most central part of the city were taken down, to make room for it. The extent of wharf frontage is 6,004 feet, the warehouses are seven stories high, and ninety-six feet deep. They are erected within a few feet of the margin of the wharves, so that ships can discharge directly into them, and iron-roofed sheds are built upon the jutting piers, affording room for 200,000 tons of merchandise, always housed and under cover. It cost over two million pounds sterling, and, although the charges have been very much reduced, it now pays six to eight per cent interest on its capital. London docks cover 100 acres, and cost about four million pounds, on which they pay four per cent.

All the docks are walled in: are proof against thieving and smuggling; have an organized system of labor &c.; which gives the utmost facility and dispatch to ships and goods. They have also the privilege of the warehousing system, which is carried to perfection.

Liverpool has thirteen miles of quay frontage in her docks, which she is constantly increasing. She owes all her commercial standing to her unparalleled efforts for the accommodation of ships.

There are also docks in nearly every other port of England, as well as at Havre, Antwerp, &c., on the continent; all in successful operation, yielding a certain and direct benefit, and proved by experience to be indispensable; all agreeing in essential uses and only differing in detail, when experience has suggested, or ingenuity invented, improvements,

In carrying out such a system for the port of New York, we have nothing to do but to copy the models which are before us, so far as they may be consistent with our situation and wants. In one most essential respect, compared with the docks of Europe, that of economy in the construction, the advantage on our side is immense.

They have been dug out of the bowels of great cities, and have destroyed streets, churches, and houses, to make room for artificial ponds of water. We have ample space in the water. We shall not find it necessary to injure any man's property in order to create more room. They are built with solid water-tight walls, and expensive lock-gates, whose deep foundations are laid with coffer-dams and diving-bells. We have no necessity for keeping the water out. A simple embankment of stone and piles will make an allsufficient foundation, requiring no expensive masonry and dispensing with lock-gates entirely. They are situated where there is great rise and fall of tide. Some of them can only be entered at high water, and have shoals at their entrances which require constant dredging to keep them clear. We have deep water and but little tide, can go in and out at all times, and have no shoals to remove or guard against.

The plan is to construct a pier in the North River, commencing below Rector-street, at about 1,000 feet from West-street, and running northward, parallel with West-street, wide enough for a range of warehouses and the necessary streets, and connected at intervals with the main city by sets of drawbridges; thus forming basins which will combine every advantage of the London and Liverpool docks, and capable of being increased to any required extent. The mode of construction alluded to, as being far more simple and economical than our models, slightly differs from that of the Plymouth and Delaware breakwaters, which consist of stone loosely thrown in, nearly making its own slope at the sides, with a superstructure of masonry.