There are ten thousand six hundred feet of twentyfour and thirty-six inch iron pipe, and six thousand seven hundred feet of wooden pipe, of like dimensions, used in the work. I All this has been the result of Mr. Hand's skill, I pluck and perseverance. So fully is this realized in I the Georgia gold belt, that he is generally called the I father of the gold mining interests of the State, and ' no history of that enterprise can be written in which

HISTORY OP WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

his name will not be prominently mentioned with clue credit and honor.

These results and achievements of seventeen years, have not been accomplished without the expenditure of much thought, as well as labor and money. Obstacles in mountains, hills and streams were not only met and overcome, wliich rc(juired great mechanical skill and engineering ability, but Mr. Hand had to contend with legal difficulties, and the prejudices of a ]>eople aroused against the introduction of new methods of mining. The code of mining laws adopted by the Legislature in 1808, princii)al]y to encourage the hydraulic process, had not been tested in the courts of the .State- To construct canals and ditches over the lands of others for mining purposes, without their consent, though just compensation was ofl'ered, was an infringement on the people's rights, as it was said, which they were bound to resist. The courts were api)ealed to, the farther construction of the canal was enjoined by the lower tribunal and work was stopped for several months, pending the appeal to the Supreme Court of the State. For a time the entire mining industry of Georgia hung upon the question. If the miner could not get water for his stamp mills, then all operations of any magnitude must cease. The future prospects of the State as regards her mining intei'ests, were about to be forever blighted.