Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1848-12-23
0fFICfAL-THE. eOLb EssAyED- -txrRA.
ORDiNkRy pin 1rv

0fFICfAL-THE. eOLb EssAYED- txrRA.
ORDINARY PURITY.
We publish below the official letter copied
from the Union, Of the Director Of the Mint
at Philadelphia to the Secretary Of the Trea.
sury, showing the assay of the California gold.
The gold assayed, the Union says, yielded
ss6,4s2. The purity is extraordinary, the
gold dust yielding ssi pure gold the melted
gold yielding within $1,000, or six dollars in
the one thousand dollars, of the mint standard
of 600. This far exceeds expectation, and
places the extraordinary purity Of the gold
beyond controversy.
Mint OF THE UNITED STATES.
Philadelphia, Dec. IL, ls4s.
Sir . On the sth instant, we received, as
have already had the honor to infoftn you, the
first depositc of gold from California. 1t was
deposited by Mr.. David Carter, who brought
it from San Francisco by the isthmus route.
Ii weighed 1904 SO ounces troy j; Of which
l423.s0 was from the lower surface mines;
and 3sO.79 from those at Feather river On
the 9th Instant another deposite was sent by
the Secretary of War, which weighs 22s
ounces. ..
The gold was of two sorts in external char
acter, though apparently not different as to
quality The first, from the "dry diggings,'
was in grains, which averaged from one to
two pennyweights, the other variety, from
the swamps or margins Of the streams, being
in small fiat spangles, of which, on an aver
age, it would take six or seven to weigh one
grain. Of these by far the larger part of the
deposites was composed.
The gold was melted in six parcels, and
the loss by melting, due to the earthly and
oxidable matter which disappears in this OPP
Grafton, averaged about q per cent of the
original weight. The loss thus reported is
moderate, and shows that the gold had been
carefully washed.
ASSAYS of the melted gold were made with
great care, and the results showed variation
in tineness from s92 TO s97 thousandths--,h
average of the whole being s9l. This is
slightly below the standard fineness, which
is 900
The average value per ounce OF the bullion.
before melting, is Sls.o5a; that of the same
in bals after melting, is $3.50.
The whole value of the gold in the two de-
posts was sac, ,492, besides few ounces re.
served in the native state for the Secretary OF
War, at his request.
Very respectfully. your faithful servant,
X. NJ. PATTERSON, Director
Hon. Robert ]. Walker, Secretary OF the
Treasury.
GoLp IN SVIRGINIA.-The following letters
appears in the New York Evening Post, Il
was written by gentleman travelling in Vir
ginia to friend in New York:
FRrDERIcKsBuRc, Va, Dec. L. lsis.
was at the Whitehall mines-Mr Bedine
was there in high spirits. In sinking shat
Yesterday, they cut ,hrongha corner OF yer!
rich vein, and MIR. Reding washed out OFT
painful of the ore, one hundred and tren'y:fr'
pennyceights pure gold, worth SIPS MIR
Il. c. Taylor of Philadelphia: was there ano
saw it washee, and weighed it.
Com. Stockton, with three negroes, las
week pounded out, in hand mortars, from th'
common ore, six pounds of pure gold in tw'
or three days.
You must no, think that am exaggcratin!
in what have written about Whitehall, TO
have stated nothing but facts.
This looks like very respectable opposi
ton to California. We are certainly living il
the golden age.
DRAMATIC TALENT IN THE UNITED STATES
Mr. Foltcst, in his letter to MIR. Miles
says:
"Among all the plays which have beer
presented TO me, | do not find one that
could venture to put upon the stagc-but
your tragedy of 'Mohammed' has been de
,ermned upon as worthy of the second priz
nasmuch as it is considered superior TO al
the others as dramatic poem, herein Ell
close you check for the sum of one thousan
dollars
THE New YORK AND ERIE RAILROAD
graded and ready for the superstruciures ant
rails from Binghampton and Port Jervis, Il
three weeks, trains of cars will run regularl
on the whole line from PiermOnt TO Bins shamp
ton.
Bananas as well as plantains have bee
successfully cultivated near Galveston.
AT EDINBURGH the cholera has begun t
attack the middle classes
PHYI,ApHLPHIAD MARKET.
TuEsDAI, Dec. 20, lS4S.
DoJ =. ,,oxth rOG t0S cants