Autumn Days in Ventura [pp. 1-23]

A Autumn Days in Ventura.
VENTURA HIGH SCHOOL.
was once worked by the Franciscan fathers. There have been found abandoned
shafts, smelting furnaces, and piles of
refuse ore, which are convincing proofs
of old mining in this region. Thirty years
ago there were Indians livingi in Ventura who insisted that they had helped
to run a tunnel and bring out ore. These
natives were sworn to secrecy by the
priests, and no amount of bribery could
make them disclose the place. I have
made geological investigations of all the
San Emidio uplift, and am confident that
at no distant day the gold and silver in
those ledges will be extensively mined.
Fortunately, water is abundant in the
canions for running stamp mills, and for
other mining purposes. Here, I can
show you n uggets of the precious metals
from the Piru District where gold was
first discovered in California. The principal lode in this district, the Fraser
mine, gave a return of $I,OOO,OOO in the
eight years it was worked with a ten
stamp mill. There are positive indications of true fissure veins of gold and silver quartz all through this section. Now,
here is rich ore from the Guadalasca
range that has never yet been mined!
Probably, however, this will more nearly
concern the ladies," holding up a whitish
substance that lay beside the quartz.
"You may have heard of the mineral
soap that made so big a bubble here a
few years ago. There is an endless supply some six miles out of town. It is
composed of nearly pure silica,which has
detergent qualities that make it an excellent substitute for soap. Now, don't
suppose that I recommend it in place
of'Wild-Rose Bloom' or the' Balm of
Gilead," the Doctor laughingly added as
we arose to go.
The shadows lengthening on the lawn
6
[Jan.