W ^i^^t^W^I^^i^ W^i^^i^ '^i^ "^i^ '^i^ "^i^ fi'i' fk'i' ^/s^ 5 Mk Mk Mk ^ok :^!^ THE ^old I?|inE? of Worth Carolina. OIVIPLIMENTS OF THE 18 WALL STREET, NEW YORK CITY. Mk^ •^4^5 Mkl Mkl Mki •?4^# •^4^2 '^4^J -^4^5 Mkt -^4^2 Ukl *74^5 :*!^2 -^4^2 Mkt •74^» u^k5 •*4^J Mkt Mkt •^4^2 •^4^« :*l^2 •^4^2 •74^2 •^4^2 •^4^« ^^2 74^ ^!^:^!^^!^ MkMo'^^ ^s^'^ •^'^ ^^'^ ^^^^ ^^'^ ^^'^ •^'^ -^'^ •^'^ »^'^ -^^^ ^^^^ "^'^ ^^^^ '^^f* Mk -^^^ • •^i^ -S'4^^i^^'5'4^^i^^4^^1^^i^ ^i^^l^^i^^l'?^i^^l^^i^^i'?^1^^4^^4^ ^i^'5'l>^i^^4'?^i^^4^^4'?^i'5^^i^^4^t (INCORPORATED ) 18 WALL STREET, NEW YORK. CAPITAL, - - - - « $2,000,000. Shares, $10.00 each (Non-Assessable). OFFICERS OF THE COMPANY. PRESIDENT. ADELBERT WILKOSZEWSKI. Secretary. Treasurer, Dr. HENRY KEYES. HENRY H. KANE. DIRECTORS. H. M. KEYES, M.D., Stapleton, S. 1. M. F. FLOWERS, New York. \VM. J. NODINE, Brooklyn, N. Y. CHAS. HANSON, Brooklyn, N. Y. A. WILKOSZEWSKI, New York. C^ompaijy's propi^rty. McDowell County, N, C. Uwharrie River, Randolph, Davidson - and Montgomery Counties, N. C. Direct Connection with all Stock Exchanges by means of Gold and Stock Exchange Telegraph and Ticker. For Particulars as to Sale of Stock and Lease of Free Claims, see pages 11 and 30. IMPORTANT — The proceeds of the Stock now being sold is to be applied solely to the purchase of Mines and Mining Land^, and for the further development of the Company^s properties. So resolved and guaranteed at meet- ing of Directors, held October 5th, 1891. Survey made sy Lounty Surveyor H A HenoersonX S. M.p of lilt Section of i our Uwliarrle River Property, ihowing number of Paying Cold Mines on Iributariei to same and owned by varions Companies. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/goldminesofnorthOOnort From The New York SUN, June 7, 1891 MILLIOISrS ill aOLD and aEMS. A WONDERFUL NEW EL DORADO IN THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS. Diaiiioud!!! and Other Precious JStoiies, iiolA and Many Rare J^linerals Found in Mar- %'elous Muddy Creek Valley— AVhere Gold Dust is the Every-day Currency- Geological Marvels wliich Astonisli tlie Scientific Men— Gold Mines \%liich Have Produced More than Two Millions Eacli— Only Twenty-four Hours from New York— Four Men Take $40,000 in a Montli from the Edge of a Swamp. Smashing, a Monster Diamond on an Anvil to Test it Twenty-eij»lit Pound Nugget. Ninety-nine New Vorkers out of one hundred if asked where the precious metals are mined in the Atlantic States would probably declare off-hand that there is no gold mine worthy of the name east of the Mississippi River, and yet it is a fact that within twenty-four hours of this metropolis there live peo- ple who do their trading and pay their taxes with gold dust and nuggets which they have dug from the valleys in which they live. The true story of the mineral wealth of western North Carolina and northwestern Georgia is a record that seems to border so closely on the fabulous that it will arouse incredulity as well as astonishment. The easily verified features of the -narrative are aecond in interest only to the history of the Pacific coast El Dorado. The California gold excitement was, indeed, the principal cause of the non-develop- ment of the partially discovered riches of these eastern mountains. The war and subsequent de- moralization were later causes, and it has not been until very recently that the wealth of the region has been investigated by competent experts, and with marvelous results. Where one million has already been taken out by negroes and poor whites, with rude shovel and pan, many more millions are waiting to be brought to light by intelligent labor and adequate machinery. Get into a Pulman car in Jersey City, at 4:30 o clock some afternoon, and leave the same car the next afternoon at Marion, the County seat of McDowell county in we,stern North Carolina. The town is about fifty miles east of Asheville, the new mountain resort where Vanderbilt is building his magnificent country mansion. It is a town in pro- cess of transformation just now, is Marion. It is enjoying a boom, and speculation in town lots is rife. The splendid scenery and climatic advantages and the completion of anew railroad are the reasons for the burst of prosperity, and not the mineral wealth hidden near by. A Sun reporter, who had reached Marion by the afternoon train, from the North, a few days ago, went into one of the village stores to make a small purchase. Bending over opposite sides of the counter were the shopkeeper and a customer, a tall, bronzed, roughly dressed countryman who apparently had just come in from his farm wagon. Between the two was a small pair of jeweler's bal- ances. In one pan were several small weights, and in the other a little heap of bright yellow grains and dust. " I can allow you only 85 cents a pennyweight for that dust, ' the shopkeeper was saying. " It's worth 95," was the reply. " There's a nug- get that'll weigh four pennyweights, purer than coin and worth more'n a dollar a weight." " But it isn't clean dust. It won't average over ! 85 cents." The customer had picked out the goods he wanted, and after more haggling a bargain was struck. Then the shopkeeper went to his safe and brought out an . ordinary glass tumbler almost filled with gold dust 2 and nuggets. On top was a rough, porous-appear- ing lump, about as large as a pecan nut. The shop- keeper said it was worth about $15. The tumbler- full of gold weighed rather more than three pounds, and was worth about $i,ooo. It had been nearly six weeks in accumulating, and the owner intended sending it to the mint in a few days to be coined, according to his usual custom, A large part of his out-of-town trade, he said, was carried on with native gold as the medium of exchange. He had become so expert in handling the dust that he could tell almost at a glance where it had come from. Its color varied considerably. Some of it was a very light straw color, as though there was silver in it, while the other was much darker and more coppery. Gold is found in North Carolina in localities too $40,000 IN GOLD TAKEN FROM THIS SPOT. numerous to mention, from the central portion of the State almost to the Tennessee boundary. The yield with primitive slave labor for twenty-five years before the war was sufficient to keep em- ployed a mint at Charlotte, where more than $5,000,000 was coined. Yet little has been done with improved methods and machinery to develop the hidden riches of a wide extent of territory. De- posits have been discovered recently and tested with results which, if told of some newly explored corner of the Pacific coast, would start a fresh gold fever through the country. It need not be said that the field will be no longer neglected. Already the most valuable properties have been bought by strong holders, and late comers must make new discoveries for themselves, for no known rich mining lands are on the market in any shape. For several months the fame of a little valley in the southern part of McDowell county has been spreading among geologists. Prominent experts ' from college faculties and from abroad have visited it and have been amazed by what they have seen there. Their interest has been aroused not by the value of mineral wealth displayed, but by the won- derful variety of rare geological treasures profusely exposed. It is said that there is but one other spot in the world, and that in Australia, where so great a variety of geological riches has been brought to light in so small a space. It is an opening of the earth's richest treasure house at a point where neither glaciers nor great cyclic changes have succeeded in concealing the secret. The precious metals occupy an unimportant space in scientific estimation in the long list of rare things that are found there. Dia- monds and other gems are included among them. It is not surprising that when a man walked into Tiffany's in Union Square last winter with a dia- mond weighing five and one half carats, which he said had been found in a spring in North Carolina, the great jewelers politely expressed doubts about the truth of the story. But they believed it after thpir expert had visited the spot and investigated the whole matter, and since then Tiffany & Co. have bought a good many precious stones from the same North Carolina valley. Already there have been taken from this same little valley rubies, sapphires, beryl, moonstones, jasper, garnets, zircon, gold ($1,000,000 or more), silver, copper, platinum, lead, iron, mica, kaoline, besides the rare and unfamiliar minerals, no less than 56 on the list thus far. It is little wonder that enthusiastic college professors who have gone there to stay a day or two have remained a month and then gone away filled with amazement by the successive surprises of their visit. Muddy Creek Valley is the name of this spot of many marvels. It is a winding irregular valley, averaging less than half a mile wide and about ten miles long. It was a spot rather difficult to reach until about a month ago. Now the Charleston, Cincinnati and Chicago road runs within about two and one-half miles of it. Formerly it was necessary to drive sixteen miles from Marion over a so-called road, where progress could be made at the rate of three miles an hour if you were lucky. The trip from the new railroad to the valley is by no means an easy one. It is a wild, rugged, picturesque country. The bed of a boiling stream is the public highway for a part of the distance. The water is not more than a foot deep, but through it you must drive in one place for twenty rods or more. The rushing stream is little more than axle wide, and the trees on either side hem it in. If you are on foot you must not attempt to go by the road unless you are prepared to Avade. You must follow a faint trail over the hills, which will lead you to your des- tination by another route. When you enter the mountain-inclosed valley you cannot fail to be impressed by the beauty of the scene. You make your way from a heavily tim- bered hill down to the bank of turbid Muddy Creek, and ford tlie stream. The mountains about you are PANNING FOR GOLD. several of them more than a mile high. Their out- lines are clear cut in the thin bracing air. The elevation of nearly 2,000 feet, with plenty of ozone to breathe, makes the sun's rays less oppressive than on Broadway on a warm day. The evidences of the search for gold are before you at first glance. The yellow stream, more discolored than the Missouri or the Sacramento, has not run clear for half a cen- tury, and all on account of the work it has had to do in washing the precious metal from the earth in which it was concealed. Moody Creek, it is said, was its name before the discovery of gold in its bed and banks, but that gave place to the present more appropriate appellation many years ago. Gold was discovered in the vicinity of Muddy Creek Valley in 1827, according to the most reli- able local records. Few people, white or blfXck, lived in what was then an almost untouched wilder- ness. Settlers came in small numbers and began to wash the gravel over which the mountain streams ran. They got good returns with even the crude manual methods which they employed. For years they used only the shovel and pan. Four or five pounds of earth were put into a broad shallow pan and shaken and washed, gradually letting the earth escape over the edges until less than a teaspoonful remained. The gold if any there was, would be found in these dregs, kept there by its greater specific gravity. A single speck of the yellow metal is called a "color," several specks several ''colors." Tiny nuggets weighing from one to several grains were often found, but the average yield was perhaps fif- teen cents per pan. But this meant good returns, for at that rate an industrious miner could earn $10 a day, which in those days was very high wages. But it was crude work. Much of the gold was lost by the careless process of washing. This gave rise to the old belief which still obtains among the old miners of the region, that gold grows. They say that if gravel once washed is left to lie undis- turbed for five or six years and then again treated by hydraulic process it will yield as much more gold as it did originally. This is quite true of the old workings in North Carolina, but the reason is not to be found in the processes of nature, but in the imperfection of man's work. The prevalence of ' this idea that gold grows has led the natives to re- wash some of the gravel in North Carolina river beds no less than five or six times, and each time at a profit. No doubt all this gold-bearing earth could be profitably reworked still again by modern eco- nomic processes, for the hydraulic treatment of earth bearing free gold can now be applied with profit if the yield is only a few cents per ton. When the California gold excitement of 1849 reached the East there was a stampede from the Georgia and North Carolina gold fields to the new El Dorado, Nearly all the white men started for the land of gold where fortunes were to be made in a day. They left a sure thing for big chances, and some of them were glad they did it and some were not. In all these years little had been done in the North Carolina fields except primitive placer mining. Some progress had been made in hydraulic methods, but little or nothing has been done in the way of vein work, the digging and crushing of ore in stamp mills which yield $100 where placer mining 4 yields ^i, and the indolent slave owners who re- mained were content to go on m the same way. They found it profitable even with unskilled negro labor, and they were content. James Upton's slaves worked the Muddy Creek gravel for about ten years before the war, and Upton grew rich out of the profits of their labor. A great deal of the gold which they washed out did not reach their owner's coffers, but they did turn over enough dust to enable him, as he expressed it, "to buy a new nigger every week " for nearly two years. Then the war came and Jim Upton's negroes beqame free. They refused to dig gold for him any more, even for was:es, and the old man's wealth turned to poverty. The change broke him down, and though he lived until about two years ago he never amounted to much after losing his battalion of negro gold diggers. In cruel sarcasm, his wife was universally known in the neighborhood for years before his death as '"Widow Upton," because "Jim was as good as dead." But old Jim while he lived was the best authority on the mineral history of the region in which he lived. He declared that fully $1,500,000 in gold had been scraped from the bed and banks of Muddy Creek in the space not more than two miles long and nowhere more than fifty feet wide. The biggest find ever made in the valley in gold was a monster nugget which local records say weighed twenty-eight pounds, and was worth about $8,000. This was found by a white boy in 1855. A year or two later a negro woman found a lump weighing three pounds, worth nearly $1,000. She took it home, chopped it in two with an axe, and divided it with her husband. They were slaves, and they hid the treasure until the war broke out, when they sold it. Of late years the big nuggets reported have varied from 30 to 60 pennyweights. Old Bill Owens is the negro oracle of the valley. Uncle Bill is 90 years old and he is probably the richest negro in western North Carolina. He was never a slave, and he has dug gold for a living most of his active life. He declared that the negroes used to take the yellow metal from the earth, " not by pennyweights but by pounds," and he says nobody has any adequate idea of the true yield of the valley in slavery days. Uncle Bill used to employ other negroes to mine for him. He made a good thing of the discovery of gold in Jackson Creek soon after the war. He set up a Long Tom, a sort of sluice box eight feet long, in which water and earth are shaken, and put a boy at work with it. He found about twenty pennyweights of gold, worth about $20 in the bottom of the Long Tom that night. Uncle Bill had several hands at work on another little stream, and he transferred ihem all to Jackson Creek, and took out a small fortune before he exhausted the pay dirt. When the valley was divided into small claims, he says that Henry Clay owned one on Muddy Creek. Nobody knows whether the great commoner ever got any gold out of it. After the war the land now considered of great mineral value gradually concentrated into rather few hands. Native mountaineers — half farmer, half miner — owned it in tracts of from 100 to 500 acres. They called themselves farmers because they usually cultivated a few acres about their homes, but most of their time was spent with the pick, shovel, and pan, instead of with the plough and hoe. Their firm conviction that gold grows has cost them for- tunes, or rather it kept from their eyes riches which scientific searchers easily discovered. They re- worked the old piles of earth until they ceased to yield gold in paying quantities under their crude appliances. Then they began to believe that the mineral value of the land had been exhausted. This was at about the time that Northern pros- pectors began to visit the long-forgotten fields in western North Carolina. It was directly owing to a visit of an old '49er that the Muddy Creek valley came into its present ownership. He had pros- pected in the vicinity a little when the news from California came East. He was quick to catch the fever, and he spent many years in Pacific coast mines. Three or four years ago he went back to North Carolina and looked the ground over with more experienced eyes. He discovered something which the natives had never looked for — some of the sources of the supply of loose gold in the river beds. He found some gold-bearing veins in the upper portion of Muddy Creek Valley. He brought the news North, and Northern capitalists became interested in the story. They investigated and made tests, and then began buying land. Private corporations were formed, and finally the whole valley and some land outside of it was secured by two or three concerns. In one of them two or three Uuited States Senators are the principal stockholders, and an offer of twice par for some slock a little while ago didn't bring out a share. In fact, there are no opportunities in sight for investors in any part of the known gold territory. There are ulines near Charlotte, loo miles east of Muddy Creek, which have yielded $2,000,000 or more each, but they are owned by close corporations. In fact, the only way for an ambitious newcomer to profit by North Carolina's mineral advantages is to spy out some new treasure and secure a title to the land in which it lies. The source of the gold in Muddy Creek has never been tapped, except by recent prospectors. The actual work of taking out ore has been delayed for three or four years by lawsuits. The neighbors of the former owners further down the valley heard of the discoveries of ore in veins, and, thinking to profit indirectly by the riches beyond their reach, they brought suit for damages to their farms by the deposit of earth brought down by the mud-laden stream. While these cases, involving in A I'ANFUI. FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. the aggregate very heavy claims, were pending, nothing was done in the way of mining. These claims have recently been settled, and the active work of mining will soon be undertaken. But the work of prospecting has been thoroughly pushed during the interval, and it has yielded results, some of which are outlined above. So far no less than thirty-one veins of gold ore have been uncov- ered and tested. They are from two inches to three feet wide, the average being more than 10 inches. They are each about a mile long, and they assay from $40 to $180 per ton. It is a free-milling quartz in every case, and generally soft enough to be taken out with the pick without blasting. It is an inter- esting and unusual fact that not only does the vein matter itself contain gold, but the metal is found in paying quantities also in the walling, as the sur- rounding rock is called* The maimer of iocatitig ii vein of gold-bearing quartz is interesting. It is usually traced by means of "float ore," so called. Loose stones upon the surface of the ground which contain gold are usually found either over a vein or where they would naturally roll b) gravity or the action of water from the vein itself. It is a difficult matter very often, however, to locate a vein even when the float ore indications are abundant. There is another peculiarity of this strange region of geological marvels. John Sprouse, Superintend- ent of the Marion Bullion Company, which owns a large part of the Muddy Creek Valley, expresses the conviction that the whole valley was once the bed of a large river. Mr. Sprouse was returning from a visit to one of the veins on a mountain side and was walking through a piece of pine woods with a Sun reporter and two or three miners when he broached this theory, "That's the only way that I can account for the fact," hesaid, "that we find placer gold in a layer of gravel almost anywhere we dig on these hillsides, I'll warrant you'll find it in paying quantities, too, anywhere you try for it." "Suppose we test it right here," suggested the newspaper man. "Agreed," replied the superintendent, and he directed a miner with a pick and shovel to dig a hole where the party had stopped. The location was nearly 100 feet higher than Muddy Creek, and about a quarter of a mile distant from it. The miner scraped away the pine needles and vegetable mould, and dug through three or four inches of soft soil until he struck a layer of coarse earth or gravel, such as Sprouse had said would be found. He filled a pan with this, and it was carried to the house to be washed out. On the way, just for a joke, another panful was taken from the mid- dle of the mountain road. Reaching the superintendent's house, one of the miners panned both samples under a stream of water running from a trough. The dirt from the middle of the road showed two or three "colors." That dug under the pines in the woods was really rich. It contained a tiny nugget weighing two or three grains and several smaller bits of colors. A man might net bigger returns than at any kind of skilled labor by simply shoveling dirt from under those pine trees on the mountain side and washing it in an old pan at a water spout. The richest deposit of gold in the Muddy Creek 6 Valley is undoubtedly in a strange swamp in its very centre. The swamp is a sort of pit, into which the mineral wealth of the basin would naturally settle. No man has ever yet been able to explore it. It is not large in area, but it is a treacherous, dangerous spot. The writer, in skirting its borders with no sign of danger, suddenly found his foothold disap- pearing. In an instant he was half to his knees in a peculiar, vari-colored quicksand, that required lively gymnastics to escape from. A man named Smalley and three others who owned the swamp several years ago took $40,000 in gold from the edge in less than thirty days. The mire and quicksands prevented their doing more though the deposit grew richer every foot they advanced. One of the first things done by the present owners was to dig a canal, at considerable expense, to drain this swamp. It was almost completed when the banks suddenly caved in upon the ten men at work, and it was with greatest difficulty that they succeeded in escaping with their lives. Since then such a strong superstition regard- ing the spot has seized the native miners that not one of them can be induced to work there for any wages. The swamp has been drained partially by the canal, and within a year this work will be com- pleted so that the search for gold can be prosecuted without danger. Graveyard Hollow is another spot believed to be underlaid with a rich deposit of gold. It is an old abandoned graveyard in the woods with high mounds of earth and tumble-down headstones marking the graves. Dates ranging from 1837 to 1870 were found on these stones by the Sun correspondent, and apparently about 200 bodies have been buried there. Whether these vidll be disturbed in the ruth- less search for mineral wealth cannot be said yet. It is the gems found in the valley which most excite the wonder of geologists and other scientific men. They never kill a turkey or a chicken in the valley now without Jooking in its crop for a possible ruby or diamond. Several precious stones have been found in this way. The bright, hard crystals to be found in the sand have a great attraction for the fastidious fowls, which would line their stomachs with a full assortment of jewels, instead of common gravel, if they could find them. It is only three or four years since it was known that there were gems of any value in the valley. Pretty baubles had often been found in the sand or earth, but it was not sup- posed they were vv^orth anything. The first known diamond to be discovered was a monster, and its fate was such as would make a lapidary tear his hair in exasperation. A beautiful, clear, white stone was picked up by a native miner, who showed it to his friends after finishing his day's work. It was a brilliant crystal, even in its rough state, and as large as a walnut. The men all admired it, and it was noticed that it still sparkled after dark. It was suggested that only a diamond would show such brilliancy at night, and the stone was examined with renewed interest. Various tests to prove its real nature were suggested. Finally, one individual who assumed to know all about it said that a diamond was the hardest sub- stance in the world, and that if the crystal was really a gem, it would resist unharmed all attempts to break TAKING A SAMPLE OF EARTH HAP-HAZARD IN THE WOODS. it. He advised testing the stone with a blow of a hammer on an anvil. If it was worth anything it would not break. The finder consented and the test was applied. When the sledge struck the beau- tiful stone of course it flew into more than a dozen pieces. It was decided that the crystal was not a diamond, but some of the fragments were so brilliant that they were preserved. A visiting geologist whose name the writer could not learn, got hold of one or two of the chips sometime afterward and promptly pronounced them parts of a diamond of great purity. The original stone would have been a gem of almost priceless value. There are eighteen known existing diamonds from Muddy Creek Valley, all of them found within a year. The largest, already mentioned, weighing five and one-half carats, is owned by Col. Henry C. Deming, of Harrisburg, general manager of the Marion Bullion Company. He values it at $1,200, and he has a collection of miscellaneous gems from the valley worth several thousand dollars. Garnets are the most common stone found of any value. There is a wealth of these. Almost a peck of them tumbled out of one of the hydraulics one day. They are found loose and in stone. In one spot there is a mass of garnet rock in which they are studded as thick as plums in pudding. These, however, are of no value except as curiosities. Another interesting spot is the vicinity of Rattle- snake Den, a mass of great rocks where a nest of eighteen or twenty rattlesnakes was broken up three or four yeai's ago. Within a radius of 100 PANNING THE SAMPLE FROM THE WOODS. feet, Prof. Alfred Free found seven extremely rare minerals, besides a great variety of more common matter. Almost side by side is rock hard as flint and talc soft as soap-stone, which can be cut with a knife. There is also a fine building stone of the quality of granite, but streaked with oddest color like the stripes of a leopard. It is called leopardite. The deposit of mica is found near a steep moun- tain top. It is reached only after a hard scramble to a height of 2,200 feet. Only a small portion of the deposit has been uncovered yet. The mica is found in great layers embedded in rock and in the midst of a beautiful deposit of clay which is all the colors of the rainbow streaked in fantastic layers and looking something like the pattern of a Turkish carpet. A great patch of kaoline, soft and moist, in the midst of such a setting, appeared whiter than the driven stiow in whiter. Most of the mica taken out thus far is not purely transparent, but speckled. It is found in fairly large sheets, however, many of them measuring six by eight inches. North Caro- lina, by the way, supplies nearly three fourths of the mica used in the world. While in variety of geological riches no equal is known in this country of the Muddy Creek Valley there are several spots in North Carolina which have surpassed it in the production of gold. The territory around Charlotte has the best record. Gold was discovered there nearly thirty years before it was found at Muddy Creek, Tradition has it thai a big lump of virgin gold found in 1799 was used as a weight to keep the door of his house from slamming^ by John Reed, of Cabarrus County, for three years. In 1802 he sold it to a jeweler at Fayetteville for $3,50. The present product of gold in the State is not easily estimated. The returns furnished State officials show a product of about $500,000 a year; but most of the gold mined in the State never make part of any official record. There are some sixty gold mines in Macklenburg county, five of which are in the city of Charlotte itself, and some $2,000,- 000 of Northern capital is invested in the industry. The Rudisill mine, the largest in the State, is located near the terminus of Church Street, and the St. Catherine is within a stone's throw of the Rich- mond and Danville depot. From Independence Square, the steam from the exhaust pipes from the Point mine, near the end of Trade Street, can be seen easily, while from the site of the new town of Dilworthcan be observed the works of the Summit Hill mine. The main shaft of the Rudisill mine is 390 feet deep, and there are about 3,000 feet of tunnels. St. Catherine mine is about 400 feet deep. Within a short distance of the city are some very valuable mines, among which are the Capp's Hill, the Dunn, the Hopewell, McGinn, Arlington, Clark, Guaran- tee, Baltimore and North Carolina, Ferris, Black, Stephen, Wilson, Sampson, Hoover, Hemby mine, Henderson, Chinquepin, Mountain, and a number of others. There are at least twenty mines in the county which are being constantly worked, and forty which are worked at irregular intervals. There are some extensively developed and prosperous mines in the adjoining counties of Rowan, Cabarrus, and Union, The ores vary considerably in quality, the lowest grade being about $40 per ton and the highest $180 per ton. The Rudisill mine lias produced since it was first worked $2,500,000 in gold, and the Copp's Hill about $2,000,000. Northern capital is becoming more and more inter- ested in the mineral wealth of the South. It is a resource which has by no means been fully devel- oped yet. The more common as well as the precious metals are found in paying quantities in the region which has been described. Iron in all its most valuable varieties is there in great abundance. The great revival in the resources of the South now just opening will not fully develop until her marvel- ous mineral wealth has been uncovered. The South to-day in many respects has for the pioneer all the charm of a newly discovered country. Slavery blinded her people to the treasures at their doors. The war added its paralysis. Now they are once more in the full vigor of their manhood, and won- derful things will be told in the next few years of the South. A MINER AT REST. 9 PART II. The discoveries of gold and precious stones in western North Carolina amongst the mountains, in the valleys and the small streams that traverse them would seem almost like tales from fairyland were they not attested by thousands of inhabitants, news- papers that have sent their reporters there, compe- tent mining engineers, geologists and scientists. Also and perhaps even more convincing, are the cold, unvarnished facts that the ignorant and half wild mountaineers do their trading with the country stores in virgin gold in nuggets and dust ; that large jewelry firms, such as Tiffany & Company, have purchased diamonds found in this region, and that large nuggets and valuable deposits are almost weekly being discovered. Should there still be any doubt in anyone's mind as to the richness of these new gold fields reference to the last official report of the State Geologist of North Carolina will forever set them at rest. But even better than this is the fact that a trip to these fields will soon convince any unbeliever of the facts we claim. ■ The North Carolina Gold Mining and Bullion Company was organized and incorporated with a capitalization of two million dollars ($2, ooo,ooo) for the purchase and working of the vast mineral wealth of this region, and it promises to be one of the most successful companies that the history of gold mining has ever known. The Company owns and controls land in McDowell County on Muddy Creek, and in Muddy Creek Valley, from which with even the crudest and most primitive methods of mining, over eleven million dollars in gold has already been taken, and where there are now in successful operation 22 large mines, with stamps, drills, crushers, amalgamators, etc., running day and night and controlled, several of them, by English capital. The Company also owns a magnificent property in Davidson, Montgomery and Randolph Counties, viz. : A State Grant (from Governor and State of North Carolina) of twenty miles of the bed and shores of the Uhwarrie River, from its source to its adit into the Yadkin River. On small streams emptying into theUhwarrie are located 17 gold mines in active operation, some running day and night and paying handsome dividends. This most valuable property was purchased by the Company under a guarantee that every cubic yard of sand and gravel in its bed, etc. , would, with ordinary placer min- ing (pan and shovel) produce from $1.00 to $5.00 in virgin gold. Besides this every rain and every flood brings down more gold from the mountains to enrich its gravel, and the mines on the small tributary streams are constantly washing down " tailings" containing wasted gold worth thousands of dollars. (See accompanying map.) Of this property CHARLES G. MANN, of Highpoint, North Carolina, probably the most capable, conservative and careful mining engineer in the State, writes in his report on the Hodge Tract: "Another New Yoi'k party has acquired valuable mining ground close by in McDowell County and 18 miles of sluic- ing ground on the banks of the Uhwarrie River, in Randolph County, where I once sluiced out one ounce of fine gold (950) in eight hour's time. With great pleasure I see North Carolina coming to the front with capital and improved means to do justice to her immense mineral treasures." To resume briefly regarding McDowell County, i in which part of our land is located-r " " " Some Pertineut Facts. There are 22 Gold Mines in this County, the ore iron) which assays from $50 to $180 pure gold. Two of these mines alone have yielded FIVE AND ONE-HALF MILLIONS DOLLARS IN GOLD (Russell and Copp's Hill). There are eighteen known existing Diamonds found recently in Muddy Creek Valley alone. The largest (51^ carats) is owned by Col. Henry C. Deming, of Harrisburg, Pa. He has a collection of miscella- neous gems picked up in same county, worth several thousand dollars. 10 Garnets are found in large quaniiiies. A rare form of Granite, for building stone, strioed lil