Weekly Trinity journal., 1877-03-03
CURIOUS MINING MACHINE

Of the new mining machine built by
Messrs. b. Hedge aud }. n. Walker,
OF Augusta, Maine, and at work in Feath
er river, near tho town OF Oroville. That
description went broadcast over the land,
aud hundreds Of tho best minels in tho
State hooked here to see it work. They
examined it carefully and Well, and all
went away satisfied that il Will do more
than We ever claimed for IL. 1t now lies
just below town. in the river, near tho
north bank at work ON Parks Bros. n
Shaottr's ground. People are constant
ly going down to see it work. The peO-
pic Of Oroyille have all seen it, and thor
ouShly understand the principle ON which
it works. Now, people from distance
are coming daily, and they are complete
ly ostonjshed ut the simplicity Of the
thing. 1t tisupon the very samo princi-
pal that the infant draws its nourisl-
mont, the smoker the sweet fragrance Of
the Havana. Each croatos vacuum,
and tho milk in the one case, and the
smoke in the other, makes haste to fill 1t.
So here, u vacuum is formed in the up
per part Of the cylinder, aud up llios tho
earth to dill it. 1t the lower end Of the
cylinder is on tho bed Of the river, tha
oarth, gravel and stones, even Of the sizo
OF a water bucket, rash to the top Of tho
cylinder like shot out ora gun, to Gll tho
vacuum produced by condensing tho
steam in that part Of it. But we will
again tell our roalers OF ts manner Of
working, and our statement Is absolute
" correct in ovory particular, as hun
dreds of men can Affirm. In our other
report some inaccuracies occurred, owing
to tho fact that we wrote without know
ing tho announcements Of the boat, etc
The boat is ninety feet in longth and
twenty in width. Tho deck is probably
three feet above tho surface OF tho water.
On this deck is house in which tho
workmcn cut and sleep, T. horse pow
or steam engine which hoits and lowers
the cylinder by means Of pulloys fixed to
a common derrick, and lot Of such inn
pcments as are needed for every day use.
/
dock, is common mining ilume, 100
feet in length and 20 inches in width,
provided with the same blocks and appa-
ratus for catching gold MS any other
hume. At the upper end is pump work.
cd by steam that pours n constant stream
Of 100 inches, miners measure, Of water
into this lumo. Now, suppose fro is
built and steam got up and the mnchin
cry set 10 work. The frs. scene IS tho
l0O.inch stream Of water pouring into the
sluoe then the long ann of tho derrick
lowers until the cylinder hanging from,
the end Of it by II bao, the same as amy
common kettle has, rests ON the bottom
OF the river The engineer, by turning II
mucct, sends the steam into the upper
part Of tho cylinder (tho lower end OF
course being filled with water which
stands inside nedrly rs high as on tho
outside until the mir is displaced this is
instantly followed by Il deuge Of cold
water which condenscs the steam, and
then ile-comes tho bed Of the river inn
medintcly below the bottom of the cylin-
der TO the amount Of from one to three
tons. Next up rises tho long derrick
arm, bringing with it the cylinder, with
It's load Of catth, stones and gold, and
swinging around to the suicas into which
it Is discharged, aud is washed away by
tho 100 inches of water that are con stant-
ly running. 1t takes a minute and half
to do aI-tltie, that is, from the time tho
arm Of the derrick begins TO lower until
it again reachos the same position. Tho
amount Of earth taken up is from one to
three tons. II they had 25-horse pow
or engine they could easily haul up nyo
tons. As it is now the lifting capacity Of
the engine is their limit. A days work
OF ten hours, 50 far has been to bring
up and wash 800 tons. More could bo
brought up, but no more can be washed
in tho present sIuices with the amount Of
wator used. They have been at work in
water running from six to sixteen feet ia
depth, OF course the depth OF The water
makes no difference, only that the deeper
it is the longer must bo The cylinder
Win not the machine rcyolutionize river
mining There is no longer any need OF
drying the river. Ia fact it can now bo
mined best when the water Is in its bed.
The gravel is 80 thoroughly puiyorized
that all the gold is washed IN very sholt
sluce. No longer any difficulties exist
about dumps or tail races. Turn tho
lower end Of the boat little and you
have ill the dump you need for a time,
and another change will give you more.
With an engine and derrick OH the shore,
the bed Of the river can be mined as tar
as tho arm Of the derrick will reach. a
lew days ago Mr.. Hedge found new
piece Of gravel that it became necessary
to remove. But little water was flowing
over il. 1T consisted Of powders us large
as water bucket, gravel AID cement
from the mining claims above. Picks
and bars We're tried in vain upon this sub
stance, 1t seemed to be almost as hard
as asphatum. The cylinder WAS lower
ed upon it, vacuum produced, and up
came this hard substaLce 20 the depth of
Is inches, thoroughly pulveIizcd. a
large number OF these machines will be
put upon the river as soon as they can Je
made. A number viii also he set ut
wotl, in the Lawn Bods. IL will be rec
objected that the Cinnamon we're always
driven out by water after reaching such
a depth, and just when the richest streaks
Of earth we're to be found. This same