Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, IA [i.e. Ind.]) 1839-1854, 1847-09-28

NV persons, perhaps, 10 not kno" a"a
- .ou.d like 10 know how II IS mano geo.
correspondent Of tho Boston los'.
n.;,;oo from Charlotte, in North Caro!in'a.
go an account Of the process, as nc
E,,;ned il from tho officers Of tho mint
,herc. Ho snys:
Tho miners have to grind tho gold rock
s,.. keeping it wet constantly; as it gets
sss il washes off. They have n kind OF
ard stone for grinding. They then NIX
..;eksiIver with it, and that collects the
.A dust. I, is washed out, dried, and
e, through some heating process. the
s,d dust is then usually sold 10 the super
e.,.odent of tho mint. Sometimes the
inner. melt the dust md cas-. It into
-, before Offering it at tho mint. To
sod tho value oach par reel hlsto DO assay
a. The ass,ying ~ tho most curious and
.,;on,ific Of all tho business in the mint.
The meters tako tho gold dust, melt it and
,aait into bar, when It Is weighed nc
,uraiely, and n pIcco IS cut oil for the
..saycr. He takes II, fncts il with twice
4. weight of silver, and several times It's
recf,, Of lend. 1, is melted in small cups
ado Of bone. she's. which absorb all the
had; largo part Of the silver IS cx'rac-
I'D by another process, and tho sample IS
hen rolled out to n thin shaving, coiled
% and pu. up IN sort Of glass vial cal
I'D n matirass, with some nitric acid.
Tho mattresses arc put on furnace
and tho acid is boiled sonlo time, poured
Of. new supply put in and boiled again.
This is done several times, Till tho acid
has extracted all tho silver and other min
eral substances, leaving tho simple pure
Gold. The sample is then weighed, and
by the difference before and after assay
ing, tho true value ia formed. All the
silver over and above five penny wei shts
for each lot is paid for by the mint at It's
true value. The miner calls at tho mint
afer his lot Of gold has been assaycG and
gets its full valuo in gold coin. Govern
ment charging nothing for coming; that Is
what one Of tho officers of tho mint here
told me, though | bad always understood
thst tho Government got five per cent. for
coming. Tho gold. after il has been as
uyeI. is melted, refined, and being nike. /
nth its due proportion Of alloy, equal
parts Of Silver and coppor,) Is drawn into
long strips, in shape not unlike an iron
hoop for a cnsk, the round pieces cut out
with sort or punch, each piece woighod
and brought to the right siZe by file, if
too hoavy. when it IS milled, or the odgc
missed, and put into stcanng pro.s,
whenco it comes forth perfect coin, bear
iny tho ondorsment Of tina, respectable old
gsn.lc,nan. ..I1nclc Sam"
Various anecdotes arc told Of men finding
gold and carrying it to tho mint 10 get il
coined. n yarn IS told Of an old DItc!I-
MN who dug up ono day pioce of rock
near cubic foot IN size, that fairly spark
lci with gold. Many quite rich specimens
have tho gold in such particles as no. to
bs seen by vulgar eyes" But this glis-
toned brightly, and tho old man got hi.
team, drove up to tho mint. aud asked
them TO buy his sample, "or mako il u:
into money for him" They told him thoy
did not take such specimens, as /, mus. be
20, out first. He wanted to sell it, as he
know nothing Of mining operations. They
asked what no would take for it, md he
thought awhile and told thom five hund red
dollars. They wollI not risk il. but told
him il no would leave it they would goi
somo ono 10 get II out for hun, and pay
him for it when they know what it wa,
worth. Ho did SO, and on being worko,
upit brought over sixteen hundred dollars
Tho old man wont straigh. home to ,el
his wife and boys. Iio had eight sons al
grown up, and. furnished ench ono mus
ket. he marched up to the town after hi.
three hundred and thirty gold pieces. II,
clme into tho village with colors flying
and they did no. know but he was going
to take tho mint by storm bat he only
CANA md a1uin,Io ~ ho,l 81
his company" to CUT A sPLUp6E, "maks
a bit of n showing and .ako possrssof
Of his powtor. He got his dust. and mar.
ched OFF, "cycs right. toes out
Another chap made lucky hit, got
,olcrablo sizod bar Of gold. anl would n
sell it bu. won't 20 n blacksmith ana 90
his gold made into cup. He then pur
chased barrel Of cider, drove into thc
public square, and treated tho whoio town
making thom drink out of his gold cup
Such arc somo ofthe pranks that man cut,
up when he suddenly comes into posses
sion Of that "root Of all evil money.
A PHENoMENoN.-An extract OF let.
ter from Vivonchoux, in one of the De
par,men,s Of France, which is published
iu a Paris Journal, says:
~ singular, not To say marvellous
Phenomenon has attracted considerable a..
eniion IN our comrnunlty.-A fcma L
about 80 years of age, who was. sonl-
time ago, attacked with opilcspv, sudden ly
tell into n state of inscnsibili.y resembling
aconstan: le,hargy. 1t is now three years
since this took place. and during all this
time she has not mnde a motion or mani