Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1869-05-20

are being raissd and fall alternately, each
about once 8 second, mixing three hund.
red strokes minute inDs battery. tn
average work of stamp upon ordinary
quartz is one tom In twnty-Sour hours'
The mortar il heavy cast iron box, cast
whole, with the exception OF tho cover
which is fastened on by means OF set
screws, and set upon a firm foundation OF
timbers, heavily bolted together. The
mortar is provided with dies, or false
bottom, of chilled cast iron, easily remov-
able and replaced when worn Iout The
ore is fed to the stamps, in pieces not ex-
ceeding goose egg in size, through a
narrow aperture near the top of one side
of the mortar, while a small stream OF
water flows in at the top around each
spindle.
The ore cannot escape from the mortar
until it becomes fine enough to go out
through a screen with the outfowing wa
ter, and is carried by the water over ia
bles and into tubs, stirrers, &C., suited for
collecting the gold, and from thence out
of the mill into shallow ponds or reser-
voirs, where the quartz settles to the bot
tom, and the water passes off. The aver
age cost of milling quartz in California,
is one dollar and twenty-five cents per
ton, 60 to 70 per cent. of which is labor.
ROSS Browns Report to Congress.) The
cost of labor and other expenses will not
be as great in Vermont.
The gold is saved by its heavy gravity
and its affinity for quicksilver, the latter
being thrown into the battery, and dis
tributed in copper plates, which cover the
bottoms of the tables and sluices over
which the ore is carried by the current
of water. Coming in contact with the
most minute particle of gold, it adheres
to it, making it still heavier, and more
likely to lodge in the receptacles prepared
for that purpose and having no affinity
for the quartz, it is allowed to
pass off with the water. The gold
amalgam gold and QUICKSILVER being COL
lected, is placed in an iron retort, having
a close fitting cover perforated by long
bent tube, and is gradually heated until
the quicksilver becomes vapor and passes
off through the tube, to be condensed be-
fore it makes its escape, by the cooling OF
the tube by a constant stream of cold
water falling upon it. With proper care,
the loss of quicksilver is exceedingly
small, not exceeding pound in working
one hundred tons of ore. Much care Is
required in vaporizing the quicksilver
that the retort be tight, so that no fumes
escape to be breathed by the operator,
whose health would otherwise be.injnred.
The gold remains in the retort, and is
submitted to an intense heat in a cruel
BILE, and melted and run into moulds or
ingots of any desired size and shape,
when it is ready for the market as bullion,
or the mint to be coined.
The carrying on of legitimate and ex-
tensive quartz mining, whether for gold
or silver. has the same beneficial effect
upon the surrounding country as manu-
featuring establishments, marble or gran
lite quarries, &c, &c.
The celebrated Comstock lode in Ne
vada gives support to population, in its
vicinity, of thirty thousand The finest
agricultural portions of Mexico are in
close proximity to the richest mines.
The same fiocks and herds may feed
upon the hills, and the same crops be
grown in the valleys, while the hardy
miner far beneath the surface, delving
in the shining ore, is happy in the thought
that however great may be his gains, they
are not wrested from his fellow man. but
are taken from the ever looming bosom of
Mother Earth, who begrudges not rich
reward TO those who seek Alright.
May 10, 1869. il.