The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-04-02

And IL song, ike tue song OF q poet, ~ g.
wn.a s ss .Ss @s By ne 81. aide q Ii. loved
+. Love ditties all the dayt ..li.. M.
s.lH rtll 49,,
Georgia Gsld--0eld Minss 1t Dahlenesa.
tcors.po~dmee Of tie CHARLESTON Nsvsl
DAnLonxoA. March II, 1851.
In this Sacramento Of Georgia II IL natural to
think Of gold and the coinage. The banks and bed
Of the Chester river are torn up for twenty miles
sfasr the precious metal This work still goes on,
% ias q q e Iu@psin sad the sdenns Counties
The yield, however, IL not always satisfactory
visited pit and ssw three mon work an hour.
After shcvelins. rocking, and pa"nsnf, tnsy SOLO
tcles Of gold visibe to the naked eye, tho whole
proceeds Of their labor, for twenty-five cents Such
was NOT The rate Of mining ten or fifteen years ago.
two hundred dollars per day 70 the hand. During
The month that Il was leased II yielded fourteen
fhouaand dollars. Of which the owner received
wsrds lat ana 8 now Abandoned It il believed,
however, by many persons that at some future day
81 win be again discovered, with former success.
Hut, take my word for Il. gold mining !: dissd,
on, Il dwars the intellect and depraves the morals
OF men. Give me agriculture and it, kindred pur-
quits - the basis Of sound and healthy condition
= Csiling at the United States Mint, received
every attention from its polite and gentlemanly
proprietors. and was ahown through the establish
alton Of iot q csiiiornia gold which contained
quantity Of silver. BY this process tho whole was
converted into Auid In large glass vessel. and
~ pouring in certain acids ior Which ne siiyes
milk and falls to the bottom. The liquid then be-
ing oanted of, another acid was applied, and the
gold In turn precipitated. In this way the sePa-
ration was complete. and both metals: placed in the
scales together, after being dried had their ORR
ginal joint weight, saving very small fraction.
Dr. Stephenson, formerly Of Virginia. presids,s,
Il s M xa sns %
admirable. / should Ike to describe his labors
minuteiy. az they are both nice and beautiful; but
| must content myself with q brief glance at the
business Of the mint generally, which hope may
prove interesting to others. a. the visit certainly
The superintendent acts a. treaaurert to The mint.
and e also commissioned b.treasurer Of the
United States II 10 his duty to purchase and pay
for All the gold bullion presented. Hs receives
and dipburles All moneys. is the CHIEF othcer' and
e e ,n duss o both meter
and feliner. He receives the gold from the trea-
surer, and prepares Il Of suitable hrmness to make
coin. 70 posscss this quality. II must contain not
letu tan 696 parts in the thousand, nor moro than
902 n4r Or pure gold. II is then delivered TO the
coiner. who proceeds to have the same madc into
coin. Tho hslfeagle must weigh 1923 grains. the
grsins. vssiation q one quarter ii grain is
allowed in zach piece from these standards; but
the pieces muat DO 10 arranged, that in one thou
snd they mrss not ya,.sn
eaeos variation Of twenty grains is allowed;
and ia ono thousand gold dollars, twelve grains.
The brilion thirteen Operations to get
Where deposits Of bullion are made the assayef
cuts q small piece from each lot, after being mixed
by the eter, and puts il into delicate scale. ad-
idsted 10 one thousand miIIisrams, (about fifteen
Trains 10 which Il added twice the weight Of pure
silver. The silver and gold, being put. together,
are placed in capsule Of pure lead weighing three
thousaod u;Ilixrans. The whole il then placed in
bona. ash cups, In muf1led furnace heated to
whitenesa These bone ash cups phosphate of
Hne) possess tie quality Of receiving the oxidable
st. tie Exception f psina god
promoted.) II requires from ten to fifteen minutes
Tor this process-that IL, TO carry out Of the gold
all the metals II possessed. silver excepted 20 hat,
remains in the gold except the silver it con-
tanned originally and that which was added
TO il. 1t - then rolled down, and annealed
TO . very thin strip, and adjusted in boiling
nitric acid which has been diluted with distilled
rain water, to 2{o (Hydrometer.) After being
: boiledten minutes, this acid Z poured of, and q
dr.shm Of pure nitric acid added. and when thi:
time With pureaoid, Il il then washed in warm wa
teri ard from this bath i i put into an snnesling
cr1clbls, carried e the inrnsce and heated cate to
harehs H. until IL may Be handled with the pliers,
and also drives Of all acid and moisture. It 10 then
returned To the scale, and reweighed and its loss
uotooy toat Ia ~ uevin8 Wosgneu A,oVV a. INC DC
ginning,it now weighs say $50; it thereforc con-
tanned so ssikgrGmss of base metal in each 900;
and the assayer reports to the treasurer that Il 10
go 1000 6ne. By this data the treasurer then pro-
oakdsto ascertain the number Of pure ounces and
parts d ounces contained In the original mass He
than adds tho alloy to the pure parts, and arrives
at the standard weight. what the coin will weigh
whom alleged, rolled. and stamped. After this he
finds the value Of gold BY the rationale of forty
three ounces Of standard gold being equal to eight
hundred dollars; which e the first even count of
ounces and dollars, from the unit up.
Al the hazard of being thought tedious, have
endeavorcd TO- give some idea Of preparing gold
for tho hnishing machinery of the mint. This
latter work IL the perfection of truth and beauty in
lite movements. The whole expense Of building
4 and supporting the mint u borne by the Govern
mcnt, in order TO preserve sound and uniform
currency for the people. Not cent is charged
depository for coming their bullion. The whole
amount coined at the Dahloncga mint since its es-
iahmeut In 1887. to lst January, 1851, has been