River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1873-07-25

shook his pan violently to and fro, dis.
solving all the particles of earth.
Then, pouring out tie dirty water ana
taking clean, he continued the shaking;
and so on for n long time, until only a
little black sand was left in the bottom
with the gold
=" But what is color. uncle George ~
"Color, Frank, is what gold there is
mixed with the black sand at the end
of the washing. We think four cents
worth fair color, but Fairweather
showed his comrades more than dol
lar"
"You don't mean real dollar, of
course, uncle ~ said |.
mo; but miners always talk in this
way, and mean by dollar one penny.
weight and not quite four grains, Troy
weight, which is about what a gold
dollar weighs.
"And were MT they all very happy,
Uncle George9 / wish had been one
of them, said Frank.
| can't say but they tried more
pans OF earth, and were lucky in all of
them. Well in a few DAYS news came
to us at Bannock, that Fairweather's
party had discovered new and very
rich gulch."
GA what, uncle2"
A gulch, for so miners call the
ravines where they find gold. In Cali.
fornia they call them placers. We air
hurried in bot haste TO the new gulch,
to secure claim before it was all taken
up. / got one far up in the noun
tains.
" How do You get claim uncle r"
Why, whoever comes first selects
what he chooses, and then all the
claim-holders get together and make
laws for the gulch. Our laws allowed
every man to own two hundred feet in
length down the ravine; but he must
work upon it five days in each week, or
anybody else could take it.
3" But did anybody mind these
laws " asked Frank.
g Yes, indeed, they did, better than
yott dc your laws in New England.
We had miners court, which kept
everybody strictly to the law"
"How could they punish men with
out prisons 2 !"
"By banishing them. and hanging
sometimes, Minnie.-I am afraid often
a little hastily, too. Well, in few
days every claim for fifteen miles was
taken. All! we were busy bees hiving
our golden honey. Fairweather and
his party had the best claims, as in
deed they deserved"
"Now, keep in mind shat | have
told you about the gold, aud / can
make our rude process of digging il
quite plain TO you IL is scattered
through al the earth in the ravine, but
mostly in the coarse gravel and sand on
tue rock at the bottom Miners call this
the bedrock, and the gravel and sand
which lies upon the bed rock, per
haps Ave feet deep, they call the pay
dirt. Can you understand why2"
And thoughtful Minnie answered
that che supposed it was because this
was the only dirt that paid the expense
of working.
Exactly" said my uncle; "aud Il
remove this pay-dirt TO the surface anC
save the gold from the gravel is al
/ there is TO gold mining The first great
ttorble is the wafer. The brook must
be managed n some way, or no one
could work IL would take too long to
explain to you how this is done, hut a
long canal, or ditch, as we call il, is
built through every claim, and every
CLAIM. owner must contribute TO the ex-
pense of its construction. We worked
faahy weary day upon our ditch.
How hard, after tOiling for weeks in
this way, to find that your claim is
utterly northeast"
"Do they ever find them SO, uncle n
80 yes. often. Mining is only lot
terry, and onlya few draw prize. /
have seen poor fellows Woth for months
on claim and make nothing, while
their neighbors above and below found
gold in plenty. On Fairweather's claim
IL vas Gully ten feet to The bedrock /;
and when the diggiilgs are rs shallow
as that, the miners shoSel away all the
earth which lies above the pay-dirt.
This is called stripping. You should
have seen the early days of our gulch
for anxious excitement There were
the miners, men OF iron frames and
arms brOnzed 10y exposure and pear
them, watching their success, the
herd of lazy drones, thieves, and
gamblers who throng around new
mines as eagles gather together
over carcass. After considerable
labor, quite field of pay-dirt is laid
bare, aud the washing commences.
Three boards are nailed together,
making a long trough, or box without
ends. with cleats across the top 10 keep
the sides firm. Several Of these boxes
are placed along IN line over the
place stripped supported by a staging
built for the purpose), the end OF each
box fitting into the next. Thus is made
drain Of from thirty 10 fifty feet long,
which miners call sluice boxes. Across
| tie bottoms of these boxes are nailed,
every lewinches, little cross bars, called
rifles.
Having arranged his eluice boxes
10 suit him, the miner lets into them
the water from the ditch, and his men
commence shovclling in the pay-dIrt.
Great care is necessary in arranging
the suice-boxes, for II there is too
rapid flow OF water, II carries along
not only the sand and gravel but the
gold also and il the boxes are too
nearly level, not only the gold but the