New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-06-19

ing to hun than by reducing Il In the stamp mills which
they own themselves, for in the stamp mills nothing but
tho gold g saved Tie which contains copper ano
silver in small quantities, which, before stated Is sep
arate from the other cannot he used by the smeng
works with profit, and the other orc which contains
silver and copper In rich quantities cannot be worFed
with profit by the stamp mills. So there Is no compe''
ton, and each Is useful to the other.
The ore now referred Is taken from the mines to the
stamp MIL Here IL is broken as In the smelling WORKS
fed with shovel fast 1t can be disposed
OF into what il called battery. For the purpose Oh
making clearer the battery may be called an iron NOR
tar with an iron sieve side Of very fine mesh.
Into each battery mortar work nve Iron OARS vi
pestlcs Of several hundred pounds weight worked ny
powerful engine OH the principle as pe-driver'
though much quickly The bars are thus raised %!
steam two or three feet and then dropped on TIC oe,
crushing the battery streams OF wafer ana
the ground fine enough to 90 through the
sieve the water CARRIES IT In sort Of solution through tue
sieve plates aprons OF copper galvanized WIN
quicksilver. Gold having natural affinity for quick
silver and being heavier than the other substances OF the
ground ore falls TO the bottom OF the thin sheet OF
water that flows the apron, and adheres 10 Inc
quicksilver while the other substances are borne on
with the The batteries are also lined with quick
silver and much the gold dust is FLASHED by tho bars
and the to the sides OF the battery where IL
adhere The aprons and plates cleaned every week
by scrapng them carefully, and thus Is obtained an
arnalgam Of gold and quicksilver, which after being
cleaned ia placed in rctort and the quicksilver eyap-
grated by fire. leaving tho gold in almost pure state
saw retort yesterday. which much larger than
large goose egg and was worth over $4,000 III goid IL
was from the Bob Tail niue, and was the product OF
weeks work OF the stamp mill This is one OF the most
famous and valuable in Colorado 1t obtained Its
name former operator, who many years ago used
haul his from the mines with an ox-team One OF
the died. and and the oherwho had the misfortune
to lose his tail in quartzpil, continued to do the maui
ing Alone The team gradually became known as the
Bob Tail team,and nay,as the mine began to yield WE'LL
it became known the Bob Tail minc and it has gone
by that name ever since forgot to that after re-
of gold has been obtared 1t Is sent to mint or
assay Office 1t is here placed in crucibe the crucoie
being placed within pumbagO vessel and III furnace
where it is melted Aftcrit is melted It is stirred with
plumbago rod and all the impurities adhere to the rod
ami are then scraped of. When properly heated 1t Is
poured into mold OF the proper size and thus becomes
plain, square bar of gold The weight is then STAMPED on
it and is ready for the market This Is called BULLION
II any body thinks that gold is obtained by picking up
from the ground, chd's play, he is mistaken 1t
earnest, hard, difficult and scientific work, and while it
sometimes yields Immense profits, it often proves
disastrous.
I met at one OF the mines old miner, but q
man of middle age, vino has sounded all the
depths and shoals Of mining. His name was
Patrick Mclaughlin, OF course an lrishinan, ana
he came here In 1853. He said he had been
here all the time since excepting short trips to New
YORK. whittier he to attend the Fenian conventions
Said Patrick to my question, Yes, Sur, I've
seen the ups and downs of mining sure" He turned his
red face up to and wnked wisely with his rogush
eye Patrick was about IS years old OF rather
below the medium, hair coarse and black, and beard
crispy and red His face burned until it resembled
piece Of flannel His hands were very large and very
horny They gave honest testimony TO their experience
in barI hay beer
goddus In my buckskn pockets than I've got brains In
my head; and used to make 1t fly like prince Ii was
easy got in them days and wouldn't buy much neither
one day would have all my pockets full and the next
wouldn't have grub-stakc."
"What Is a grubstakcF
"Dont you know what grubstake is grubstake
IL enough to get your grub wth-your dinner with"
"were you robbed, Patrickl"
"Oh no, Sur but I've em Fifteen or
eighteen year ago was purity rough in these parts 1t
wasn't very healthy for fellows to steal"
"what done with tbeml"
"We, sur" answered Patrick, I" 1t would depend
upon what they did II they went to fellers tent and
stole his -four bacon and beans when he was out In the
mines prospecting, 1t would 20 hard with them. knew
fcller who stole pair of mules from one OF the
boys That purity hard for it was all the man had,
and he brought them all the way from Illinois Well,
that Teller tried for stealing them mules and ne was
hung right over where that Catholic school is" ontng
to hill)
"Was he hung by mobl"
90. bless your soul, no. Nobody hung bya
mob these parts. Every man got justice IN them days
Whenever fellow caught in any crime he was tried
by all the miners in the district They all got together
and witnesses and was ever punished except
by a majority vote. We had judge chosen from among
u.s. and we did anythng but what was right And
it did mt difference whether man was rich or
DOOR, Once there was named Dr. Judd, OF Rock
Island ILL., He had lots Of money and was working the
Gregory mine Some Of the boys, while prospecting
round same across a spur from the Gregory which was
very rich They began to work II, and named IL DEAD
Broke NINE They were dead broke when they found it,
and that's why they gave it that name. Well, old Judd
claimed the spur his; the boys would mt give
it up, and the thing was brought before the
miners for settlement. Well, We heard both Sides
and when were done, some OF the
bows went on one side and some the other but the
boys had the biggest VOTE and so the ease went against
the Doctor. As he was going away from camp he was
heard to say They're nothing but pack Of ragamufins
any way" You that was disrespectful and We
wanted to and If he the court the boys that
owned the Dead Broke. So we appointed committee
and went to the Doctors house. lie had gone to bed
We got him up We asked him il he had used such Ian
guage as those He said he had. We asked him II he
meant the Court. He said he did. We told him he must
apologize He said he wouldn't We said II he didn't We
would give so lashcs, shave half his head, and drive
him out OF the diggngs He thought he had better apo
ogsze and he did before let him go to bed again."
{" would you have shaved his head and whipped
hint Was that common punishment with YOU ut that
timcf"
Certainly, we would have shaved him, and whipped
him publicly. 1t often done for small crimes. We
generally hung for big ocnses. But things were
always rather peaceabe about here They very bad
over in Lake Guch There was always somebody to be
hung there" Patrick related several stories Of his early
experiences which may be useful hereafter
In talking with the miners find them generally intel.