Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1877-07-18
kRGEsTiFERouS Mud.
Remarkable Discovery in oregon--Nat-
Grai Fountains That Throw Up
Mad and SILVER.

a 4S-1S ss4t Hr2-l E4x-aSE.EG .zESE+FN8G- - -
In Wasco county. Oregon, shsre is Z "a.
thickly studded with springs of a peculiar
character. that throw out mud. wh.rh has
overflowsd a considerable s-eA S9us
months ago itwas reported that this mud had
been discovered 10 he zr .entiferors and vs.r
rich. come specimens a~xsaving ever 5000
70 The ton. An effort vas made to organize
a company IN This c;.y 70 wo1k The mud
sp1lngs, but the enterprise collapsed II cn
sequence q q suspicion raised fhat the mui
naf BEEN "salted," and the memorable All
z5na d~iamcnd-fei swindle vas to- fresh n
recollection for the successful prosecution of
another fraud IN the SAME lins. Professor
Thomas Price a~nalyzed samples submitted
and reported that he had dis1 lrersi unz.i-
taxable eTidence Of Sailing. the microscope
sho Sifg filings, c Y<'ags. AID Fl sg Ii. Eiaich
ne had no hesitation N declaring hzG been
mixed N wrh tlle mud 9Th the ms.sif,
aesign q iustituting : grea, swiBdle. Pro
lessor II. o.. Hank also examined zaeca. r.;
b1i while he vas inclined 10 "a pect Fag6,
he was unable - determine yosiivelr
whether the arg ntifefous mud vas an arti6-
ciai Or natural production. Professor Hank
now intimates that the fnw OF the Oregon
mud springs Is IN reaiitr heavily iup-eena-
ted with silver, and This result he Announced
int paper read bef9re th.e California rlase
geological scciev last Teusdav evening.
The erIstence Of springs Welding s0ft mud,
charged with free sil Ter, says Professor
Hanks, Is neT to science, and scientific men,
both here aud at the East, who examined
specinens, ~pronounceing them fictitious with
out hesitation. The specimens lately exam
med BY professor Hanks, he says, were very
rch, and silver was discovered In a free state
by simple WASH ing the silver could be
wholly separated, and when then examined
the microscope failed 10 reveal the source Of
the precious metal. Had it been filings. a
single glance would have suficed to detect
the fact. Had the silver been precipitated
from solution by copper, ii would have been
crystallized. An amalgan Of silver and
mercury would have yielded a sublimate if
strongly heated in q glass tube closed at one
end. Such an smalgam introduced into the
wet midland the whole heated sufficiently
TO have volatiiized the mercury, would have
left the substance in a hard, baked state,
which could not again have been reduced 10
the state in which it reached this CITY. From
these conclusions ii thesilver had been intro
duced for fraudulent purposes, the substance
was very remarkable, from the fact that
some process had been employed not easily
understood. Professor Hanks finally obtain
the address Of a gentleman represented to
hln as being of unquestioned character,
Richard Hurley, reiding in the yincinity
Of the wonderful springs in Wasco County,
and applied to him for information. In
reply to Professor Hanks, Mr.. Hurley writes
: There Is no mistake rs to this mud con-
tanning silver, | have assayed over 100 sam
pies which contained silver, some as high a;
1 ~ Ln6 - H. 49, Il -
from the Springs myself. Think the wealth
er has considerable TO do with the mud con-
tanning silver. | obtain the best results
when the weather is warm. Sometimes h
one OF the larger springs, when the weather
is cold, the mud viii be of a yellow color
showing no silver, but when the day
is warm the mud is blackish blue
at least in places, and rich II
silver. They seem to work more actively il
a warm afternoon. Some of them contain
great deal OF acid, the bones Of animals tina
fall into them being dissolved in a few
months. There are old wells which ASA,
from 50 to s. ,200 TO the ton. One assay
made from the fat, half a mile from an,
spring, assayed $1,000 to the ton. Their,
is a great deal of salt, almost pure, all owe
the spring fiat. There are between 100 anC
200 quartz leads discovered, running in twt
directions close to the spring. | find silye
in several of them, all the way from a fey
dollars to 800 to the ten. Some of thes,
leads run through the springs, at least the,
point in that direction. The altitude Of thi
, place is between 1000 and 5000 feet"
Professor Hanks also refers in his pape
to the recent discovery Of a peculiar silver
bearing deposit located in southwestern
Utah. 1t occurs in the MAUD Mine" 81,
. miles from Leeds. Some assays as high a
500 per ton have been made. Instead Q
being sandstone, as supposed, Professe
Hanks found the deposit to be sedimentary
but closely resembling the Oregon mud
Under the microscope it has all the appear
ance of that strange substance. The Oregon
!, mud, if allowed TO dry in large quantities
. would soon form a similar substance to tn
Utah mineral, in appearance at least. TIL
! silver Is In the state of chloride, and is seel
5 under the microscope both amorphous an,
in crystals. An analysis of the two miner
ais will be interesting, and may throw som
new light on the subject. 1t is possible tina
4 a study of these deposits ma,
t contribute much to our know
: ledge of the formation of metalliferous veins
4 NE%lGHBoRHOOD NEWS.