Owyhee semi-weekly tidal wave. [volume] (Silver City, Owyhee County, Idaho Territory) 1868-1869, 1868-12-29

ed 70 procure figures as to quantity OF ore,
time Of crushing. roasting, amalgaInating,
etc, which, through our own neglect, we
have not at hand However, twill be inter
esting 70 our readers 10 know that more work
can be done by a few men. with the facilities
and economical arrangement Of the mill than
10 any other similar establishment yet con
struc,ed. In the irst place, the whole thing
Is projected with reference 10 labor saving-
The ore is thrown down from the ore-house to
the Jazz breaker, where il is broken into small
Jumps by one Of tue most powerful as well
as complete machines that it is possible TO
construct. This Jaw breaker, as il Is popu-
larry called, is very simple in its operation,
being two heavy iron plates hinged at one
end and standing at an acute angle 10 each
other, one OF which nas short but quick
osciilaiing motion Into this angle the ore
is thrown and broken into particles 50 rapid
Nv that it takes two stoui active men very
busy 10 keep it supplied with rock by shov-
cling in Il is a pleasure 10 drop the bard
Jumps Of quartz into It's ponderous jaws and
see it craunch them up with more apparent
ease than Western Cow would masticate
frostbitien nubbln, From the jaw breaker
the broken ore descends by an incline 10
kiln or on extension OF the roasting furnaces,
where il is thoroughly dried before it passes
10 the batteries. Here also il is sailed and
stirred in the handling until il reaches the
front OF the batteries, which are 50 nearly
on level with the platform that the labor
of feeding Is comparatively light The
crushing is not materially different from
other dry crushing There are thirty stamps
at work and ten more being adjusted that
will soon lie ready. From the batteries the
pulp, after passing through a screen, falls
into conveyors that conduct 1t into hoppers,
! from which il is fed into roasting furnaces
These are three long brick furnaces, each
over a hundred feet; the foundations are
about six feet wide, one hundred and seven
| or eight feet in length and about two feet
high On these the furnaces are built, each
opening being nearly the whole length of
the furnace, about four feet wide and three
feet high. Through these fues the fire
which is introduced AZ the side, passes, and
through this also the pulp is drawn by Mr..
o'Harra's endless chain process. The center
of the bed Of the furnace is raised by one
tier OF brick, in which is cut channel for
the chain to run. On this chain are two
circular iron frames with hinges in the mid
die that permit OF their doubling over cir
Gle at each end of the furnace. On each Of
these frames are six scrapcrs, set in angling
form, three on each side of the chain. The
scrapers on one frame scrape the pulp to
wards the chain, while those on the other
turn it the other way, each moving il ahead
about four inches The pulp is introduced
at the end away from the fire and is raked
towards it, consequently by looking in at
small openings that occur at intervals along
the sides OF the furnaces the pulp can be
seen in al stages from the time it enters
cold, through the red to the white heat as it
approaches the fire place, and is finally raked
thron gh into bins where it is allowed 10 cool
before being shoveled into car and carried
TO the pans.
AS TO the management of the pulp after
reaching the pans We have made no inquiry
but presume like other ores il requires scicn-
tific knowledge and experience in order TO
treat it properly, and that what is best at one
time may prove faulty at another In fact
we are informed by good arnalgamaters that
in the simplest and most docilc ores in the
camp such difference often occurs in a
single days run as to render quite different
process necessary in the afternoon to that
that appeared best in the forenoon So that
IL requires constant watching and expert
menting and no description of the process
can be correct except in particular cases.