The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, October 07, 1897, Image 3
' I PLACER Mir
I i IN TH
A Full Description of the Wi
^ Out of t
^ So far all the mining that has been
done in the Klondike country has beeu
?. "what is hujwu as placer miuing. This
is the simplest and oldest form of
I mining, and is usually adopted in newgold
lieids. Iu its crudest form,
placer mining is simply thcpicking up
of a panful of dirt from the bed of a
stream where gold is supposed to exist,
the washing away of the dirt and
pebbles and the gathering of the gold,
which, because of its weight, sinks to
f r the bottom of the pan.
For example, let us follow a prospector
on so.ne stream in our "Western
gold fields, where the complication of
eternally frozen ground does not enter
into the question. After traveling
perhaps mauy weary days he comes
on a stream coming down some mountain
gorge that looks "likely," as he
to his practiced eye. He stops
and examines the pebbles on the bottom,
and fiuds a good many of them
fc- are of quartz.
k This, although not in itself an indication
of gold, is a good sign, so the
prospector scrapes away the earth aud
tones at the bottom of the stream to
the depth of a foot or so, and then
J?S> *PL
r.
TWO TYPICAL KL0XDIKER9 IK PULL DRESS
&
takes out a panful of dirt. The pan,
t>y the way, is nothing but a broad,
hallow disu of strong sheet iron.
Having done this, he puts in enough
water to make the panful semi-liquid,
and then gives it a rapid, twirling motion.
This causes the gold, if there is
any, to sink to the bottom of the pan. 1
Then the gravel and sand are carefully
washed out until only the heavy residue
remains in the pan. This residue
is carefully examined to see how mauy
"colors" there are in it. "Colors" is
the term miners give to the particles
t or nuggets, if there are any, of gold
that can be seen at the bottom of the
pan.
But gold is not the only thing that
sinks to the bottom of the pan. Almost
always there is found with gold a
fine black sand, which is magnetic iron
ore, and from this the gold has to be
eparated. Of course, if the gold is
in nuggets of any size this is a simple
process, but if it is in fine dust, as is
generally the case, the mercury pro-1
cess is employed.
. In this the residue in the pan is ;
placed in a barrel.with some water and j
SLUICING AT A RICH CL
{frrom this mine $8000 was taken from a pi<
sions. It is officially designate*
'
mercury. The gold, when it touches
the mercury, forms an amalgam. After
* quautity of gold has been put in the
barrel the mercury is taken out,
squeezed through a buckskin bag, and
what remains in the bag is heated,
either in a retort or in some other
way, until what mercnry is left is valorized,
and the gold remains, nearly
pure.
This is placer mining in its most,
Cimitive form, but it is slow work, and ;
ag ago various methods were devised j
nINO ' Z'<
E KLONDIKE, g j
ay the Precious Dust is Taken ((j?&
he Earth.
t
to shorten it where it was to be carried
on to any extent.
The first step in advance in placer
1 mining is the use of the "rocker."
' The rocker looks like one of the old
j cradles we find once in a while in the
. attic of some old house up in the conn1
try. It is a box about three feet long
1 and two feet wide, placed on rockers
! just like a cradle. A part of,tho box
! is covered with a piece of heavy sheet
iron, placed a few inches below the
j top and punched full of holes about a
I quarter of an inch in diameter. The
i bottom of the rest of the box slants
| towards the lower end and is covered
with a piece of woolen blanket. Towards
the end of the box slats are
placed across, with mercury behind
them, to catch what gold gets by
above.
The miner sets up his rocker near
the stream anu piles his gravel on the
the sheet iron, keeping it wet all the
while and keeping the rocker in motion.
The fine gold and sand sift through to
the blanket, while nuggets of any size
remain on the iron. The finer gold
settles on the blanket and the dust is
a. i? i?av.a
j I'uugut iuo uiacuij u crux Lin iuo
I slats. The blanket is frequently rinsed
in a barrel of water with mercury at the
bottom, and this mercury, together
with that behiud the slats, is "roasted"
as in the other method.
But even this method is not used |
when "sluicing" is possible, as it is
when the stream has sufficient fall. In
sluicing a number of long boxes are j
made which fit into each other like a j
stovepipe. Across these boxes slats (
are placed with mercury behind them, i j
or sometimes the bottoms are bored full ' (
of holes and mercury placed under- j
neath. A long line of these boxes is j j
placed at a considerable slant and the ,
miner shovels his gravel in at the up-!,
per end, lets the water run down the ,
sluice and the gold, if in nuggets, sinks (
and is held by the slats, or, if fine, is j
caught by the mercury. Three times ' (
as much gold can be washed out in j j
this way as by a rocker, because three I j
times as much dirt can be washed. (
And after the boxes are all done with j
they are burned and the ashes washed | j
for the gold held by the wood. j i
These are the various methods of |
placer mining and thus they are prac- j
tised in the Klondike region, hampered
only by the natural conditions of the (
country. Let us now look for a mo- j
ment at what these conditions compel
the Klondike miner to do. .
Let us suppose the gold-hunter has
passed through the difficult journey
and arrived at the gold fields. He first
goes out and prospects until he finds
a claim where the "colors" in his pan
encourage him to locate. If he should
happen to be early on a new field he
would probably stake out a claim next
to one that was already paying in the
hope that his would pay, too. A
Klondike claim is supposed to be laid
out 500 feet long parallel with the
general direction of the oreek, and
666 feet crosswise, the idea being to
give each location the width of the
gravel from rim rock to rim reck.
Most of the creeks up there have a
slight fall with wide bottoms. Bedrock
is anywhere from four to twenty
feet below the surface and pay dirt is
apt to extend clear down to bedrock.
Of course, the great difficulty 1;hat
the miner has to contend with is the
fact that the ground is frozen solid
about all the year, and even in summer
AIM IN THE KLONDIKE.
see of ground 24 by 14 feet In plan', diaieji- ,
d as "No. 2, Below," Bonanza.) ,
thaws only a few inches. This makes
it necessary to thaw the ground artificially,
and this is done by "burning."
Fires are built on the surface and
the groond thawed a little ways. This
is then dug out; another fire is built
in the hole, and this process is continued
until bedr<>ck is reached. Then
fires are built against the side of the
shaft, and drifts and tunnels are
thawed out.
All the dirt thus taken out is piled
mtside until the stream opens in the
spring. Then the sluice boxes are set
jp and the winter's diggings washed
out. Thus a miner is enabled to keep
busy about all the year.
This method of burning out a shaft '
and tunnels is by no means new. for it
bas been carried on for many years in
the basins of the Amoor and Lena
Rivers in Siberia, where the conditions
are very similar to those in the Klon- I
dike region.
1, to*W1N6 OUT TiiK PHWP?
Placer mining in Alaska differs from
placer mining in warmer climates only
in that the dirt has to be thawed out,
ind that water for washing can be ob;ained
there only a month or two in
sack year. [
And even when bedrock is reached
it is in many cases tilled with cracks
ind seams which are rich in gold and !
well worth the digging out. As to the [
ralne of explosives in this frozen soil :
inthorities differ. The Mining and
scientific Press said recently that they
?an be used effectively, while the Miungand
Engineering Journal, in speakng
of the Siberian mines, where the
:onditionR are similar, says their effect
s simply to mat the ground together j
larder. For this sauie reason, says 1
;he latter journal, the ground cannot j
>e dug with a pick and shovel until
hawed out.
Lumber, by the way, in "lie Klon- j
like country, fit for sluice boxes, costs
rum $130 to $150 a thousand feet.
So far most of the gold found in j
ilacer mining in the Klondike region ,
i
"Jilllfeik |
wA\ \\
A SLUICE BOX. j
ias been coarse, and many of the nng- 1
jets bare been found attached to '
inartz. This, according to experts, '
urticatus that the veins from which it
>risinates are not far distant from the
illuvial deposits. Placer gold is libsrated
by the erosive agencies of ice, 1
ocks aud water from the rock matrix '
n which it is held. It is toucher than !
he rock which holds it and resists j
ibrasiou better. Drawing an inference i
rom other regions where placer gold 11
)&s been found in large quantities it [1
s reasonable to expect that in the
iTukon country rich gold lodes will be
onnd.
And this brings us to the subject of
piartz mining in Alaska, for the goldjearing
region up there is by no means
ontined to the Klondike country. Ac:ording
to the recently published
land-book on "Klondike," written by
b. A. Coolidge, of Washington, there
tre in southeastern Alaska gold mines
vhich have been worked for the past
welve years, and which in 1835 added
>ver $2,000,000 to the gold surplus of .
he world. Of this mining region
Tuneau is the centre, and its discovery '
s shared by Richard Harris and
Toseph Juneau. In 18S0 these two
nen started out from Sitka?it was in
he summer?and in August discov- 1
ired gold in a stream which they i
lamed Gold Creek. Later they ex- 1
>lored this stream to its source in a I
nountain valley, which they named I
Silver Bow Basin. Then a town site 1
v&s established at the mouth of Gold I
Ureek, which was at first named Har- <
t
* ' * . : fi- :
risburg. Later it was changed to
Rockwell and then to Juneau, which
name it still holds. This last christening
took place in 1881.
The next year both placer and
quartz mines were discovered on Douglas
Island, about four miles from
Juneau. These are now the famous
Treadwell mines, having been bought
by John Treadwell in 1884, and, says
Mr. Cooliilge, "from these enough ore
has been taken out to pay the purchase
money of Alaska and more." The ore
of these mines average only from $2.50
to $ 1 a ton, but owing to the enormous
scale on which they are worked and
the low cost of extracting the ore
there is a large profit in working them.
All around Juneau and, for that matter,
all along the Alaskan coast, gold-AJUI
'fg|y-y
MIXER TESTING GBAYEL.
bearing quartz is found, and in many
places is being profitably worked.
There seems to be little donbt among
mining experts that extensive quartz
mines will be located in this Yukon
jountry before long. This will mean
the introduction into that country of
ill sorts of improved mining mackin*
5i v, rock drills, stamp mills and so on.
rust what method will be employed to
jxtract the ore from the rock will depend
on what kind of ore is found. It
nay only have to be crushed, and
leparated by mercury. It may be re'rectory
ore and have to go through
tome one of the various processes now
n use for separating such ore.
As soon as the miues are found
neans of transporting the machinery
rill be provided and the miues will be
itarted. Mines in rock, of course,will
lot be delayed by the weather condiious
which make placer mining so dificult
in that country, Rock doesn't
reeze and the deeper down the mines
?o the warmer it will get, so perhaps
ilia kind of mining will be the pleasinter
of the two.
Boats Like Big Baskets.
Curious boats which look like big
baskets are used in Busrah, the Venice
of Turkish Arabia. As a matter of
Fact, they are practically ?askets, being
made of wickerwork, plastered to
keep out the water. They are known
is gophers, and the European who
boards them feels himself to be much
tike the three men of Gotham who
went to fea in a bowl. Until comparatively
recent times a boat something
similar in shape and made with the
?auie material, called coracles, were
used by fishermen on many of the
turbulent streams in Wales. Noother
form of a boat could hope to survive
the navigation of those streams, and
WICKER BOATS OP TURKISH ARABIA.
bumping against bowlders and dropping
over small cataracts in them did
them no material damage.
In China certain literary degrees can
be purchased of the Government, for
ibout $75. Taking advantage of that
fact, some unprincipled person has
lately hoaxed the Celestials by selling
them what purported to be diplomas
ivhich would bring the holders under
the jurisdiction of foreign conaular
offices.
'A ^8
sfflfri' riririiHfelili - r?' *
THE REALM OF FASHION.
PROMINENT FEATURES IN CARMENTS
FOR WOMEN.
Jaunty Little Eton Jacket With Vest
Front?Ladies' Hlouse, With Added
Basque of All-Wool Plaid and Sleeves
and Vest of Plain Matching; Material.
For shopping, traveling, yachting,
cycling and general utility wear nothing
has as yet met with such universal
favor as the jaunty littlo Eton jacket.
AS V.TOS JACKET WITH VEST FBOHT.
Its popularity, says May Manton, is
fully established. The model here
shown is developed in heavy black
diagonal, tastefully decorated with.
LADIES* BLOUSE BASQUE
braid in two widths. Ths hat accompanying
is of mottled felt, trimmed
with wide taffeta ribbon, that encircles
the crown and is stylishly bowed at
the lift side.
The vest front, which is of white
serge, is included in the shonlder and
underarm seams, and has single bustdarts,
the closing being effected at the
centre-front with buttons and buttonholes.
The jacket fronts are also
trimly adjusted by deep single busta
mi .1 -i il- 1.
aaris. j.ney ciose m mo uc? v>j>
gradually sloping away to show the
vest beneath. The wide baeks have a
centre-back seam and are separated
from the fronts by underarm gores.
The neck finishes with a close standing
band that is neatly rounded at tho
front-. The sleeves are two-seamed,
with the fulness at ihe arm's eye laid
in box pleats.
Ladles' Blouse Basque.
The two distinct and prominent features
of the season, writes May Manton,
are undoubtedly the blouso with
added basque and the use of plaid
stuffs, a combination of which is shown
in the large illustration. Tho model
from which the drawing was made is
of a late style of all-wool plaid, with
sleeves and vest of plain material
matching the darkest color, but it can 1
be made with the sleeves of the plaid, j
if preferred. The trimming is fine mohair
braid which also matches tho darkest
tone found in the plaid. The waist
has a fitted lining composed of the J
usual number of pieces and fitted with
the usual number of seams. Thej
blouse compo^^^H^BB^^^H
back andunder-arm gor
is effected by means of these lssi^H^^^H
shoulder seams. The basque portio^^B^H
is cut iu a separate piece and seamed
at the waist line; over the seam is worn ^
a belt of ribbon finished with a bow at '{*
the left side. The fitted lining closes a
at the centre-front by means of hooks
and eye9. The vest is attached to left
side and hooked over onto to the right.
The blouse meets at neck and again at
the waist line, but between these two
points are sewed to the lining at the
left and fastened invisibly at the right ?
side. The fanciful collar is cut in ; "
sections, lin.;d throughout with silk
and having an interlining of crinoline.
The sleeves are two-seamed, slightly
flaring at the band, close fitting well
above the elbow and terminating in *
small puff at the shoulder. Narrow
braid finishes all the free edges, and
at the neck there is a collar of satin ^
ribbon with an upstanding frill of lace
at the back. The skirt, which is fivegored,
fits with perfect smoothness
over the hips and is laid in deep underlying
plaits to form the fan back. ?
As shown the material is cut bias, but
the lining of taffeta or percaline must
be straight. It is faced to a depth of
eigni incites, wnu maienui iiae mo
lining, and has an inter-facing of haircloth
for the Rame depth. The braid, , j
which is all narrow, is arranged in '
groups.
? ' M
Dainty Dress for a Child. 'i . "-i
Figured bine and white challie and .
white surah are here daintilj combined
and decorated with narrow Ya- $
lenciennes lace and insertion. A.
smooth short body lining shaped with
shoulder and under-s.rm seams is the ' *jj
foundation over which the fall portion ; '
of white surah is aiTanged in ronn4
yoke shape. The full straight skirt it v
deeply hemmed and has a single band
of insertion above. The top is gathered
and joined to the lower edge of
the fnll yoke, a band of insertion concealiug
the joining. The neck finishes
with a band and frill of lace. That
with fan baci skirt. ^
two-seamed sleeves are of elboW'
length and are decorated by deegf
ruffles and bands of insertion* Pretty t
frill epaulettes extend oyer the sleeves, > ;
finishing with shoulder straps of illMP? ' f
tion and lace.
The pattern provides for a shallow
square yoke, to be need when the gar*
CHILD'S DKJSS or CnALUZ AND StTBAJt,
Ijj
ment is to be worn with a goimpe, a*
shown in back \iew of illustration. t -<??]