Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1852-12-30
MIS- SCELLAN N Y .
Mining in California.

A gentleman in California, writing to
brother of his in the city of Portland, gives the
following interesting account of the methods
employed in mining in separating the gold from
the earthly matter in which it is found -
"There are three modes of separating the
gold from the dirt, Rocking, Tomming and
Sluicing. Rocking is done where wafer is
scarce, and the dirt is rich. The bottom of the
rocker is jnst like baby's cradle, except that
one end is lower than the other
On the higher end is a box with seive for
bottom. The dirt is thrown into the box, and
the man who tends the rocker, pours on water,
rocking at the same time
The seive catches the stones of any consid-
cradle size, while the dirt and gold go through
to the bottom of the rocker. The gold being
heavier than the dust, sticks 10 the bottom, and
the dirt is carried off by water; but it requires
great care 10 prevent the gold from going off,
too. Miners generally wash ten or fifteen
buckets of dirt in the rocker and then clear it
oo'3 y SSioPhS iO Solu diiu uIdSh ouho3 "iiSu
is almost as heavy as gold, to the upper end of
the rocker, washing it carefully as clean as
possible, and then putting the gold and what
sand remains into pan; and thus they con-
tinue through the day. AT night it is panned
out, as it is called. 'Panning out is quite a
noted performance, as it shows the exact
nf tho Iax,,s This is h.,
shaking the pan in clear water, until the sand
is on top, and then taking the pan from under it
the whole operation being under water. The
gold is almost clean out, not quite. 1t is next
dried and placed on blower, which is a tin
dish shaped like hopper, the sand is blown
out at the small end while the gold is kept al
the larger end. This last operation cleans j,
perfectly.
Tomming, or washing with a Tom, which
takes lis name from the gun called the Long
Tom, is carried on when there is water enough
to get stream sufficiently large to keep the
Tom clear, which requires pretty large stream
to do it well. The Tom is large hopper
about fourteen or fifteen feet long, and from
two TO three feet wide. The lower end, fol
four or five feet, is made of iron with holes il
it; and under the iron part is placed what i.
called the rifle boa, which receives dirt anc
water. The Tom is placed with one end abou
three feet lower than the other, and the riff,
box still more inclined. When the waite
reaches the box, it sets the dirt in motion, an,
as it rises it is carried away by the water; th
gold sinking to the bottom, where no water ca,
rise it. 1t usually takes three or four men Il
run Tom; two or three to shovel in the dir
and one to clear out the stones. Every nigh
the rifle box is cleared out and the gold sepa
rated by a rocker, as before described.
Sluicing is done when water is still NOR
plenty than when Tom is used 1t is usual
done on a side hill, where the water will
run freely through the sluice boxes, so as t.
keep them clear. These boxes sometime
reach twenty or thirty rods, being set in tn
ground just low enough to make it convenien
to throw the dirt into them. These boxes hay
small pieces Of board nailed to the bottom abou
three or four feet apart to stop the gold. Th
dirt is thrown into these sluices, and the waite
does the rest except that once week the
are cleaned in the same manner as the riff
boxes of the Tom"