The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1877-01-05
Oregon Silver Mud

now tN EFFORT WAS MADE To
swINuLE SAN FRANCISCO CAPITALISTS.
ON the 26th of November last. an
item was published III the BHjtttta re-
la,ng 10 All alleged discovery of mud
highly charged with silver. The 10
cali,y of the alleged discovery was
withheld for certain satisfactory rea
sons The objections Of it, announce
mcnt being subsequently removed, II
was given cut that the so-Called silver
mud had been taken from Mud Springs,
Wasco county, Oregon. A little air of
romance Was given to the alleged dis
covery. which may have made II more
attractive In the eyes of the wealthy
speculators whose interest in II was en-
listed by the discoyerers. Being men
Of strong practical turn of mind, how
ever. they set about satisfying them
selves of the Ccnuineness Of the dis
covery before investing much OF their
money IN il For shat purpose sam
pies Of the silver mud were placed IN
the hands ct Professor Thomas Price
for analvsi. Al the time ot the pub
llcatian of the item mentioned, Protes
sor Price had emily made \ partial eS
animation of these samples. bat he had
discovered enough IL satisfy himself
that the mud was "saItcd An | that
the precious metal II contained was The
pulp of a quartz mill running on silver
ore. aud altogether foreign 10 the mud
itself Assays made showed that
the samples contained from 5000 TO
=. Ooo per ton III silver. Fctore max
ing final report to the capitalists IN
,,res;ed III the results. Professor Price
pu. the mud through n series of tests
uhioh demonstrated concluslve!y that
the alleged discovery WAS y clear case
! If saltlug and bar faced fraud but
,ha, the sailing had been done IN "a
very hunging manner In 40 two
samples hAi TIA, same kind of salt"
! been used All that MAS necessary to
discover the swinile in soGe 81 the
samples was merely II agi.stc the mud
in water aud decant the muddy liquid
when fine silver Was exposed pafccr'
ible 10 the naked eye some Il the
samples contained free gold. othor'
chloride II SILVER. others silver h!lna ;.
/ Crushed quartz wrrc also i,ssud IN some
of the samples. Winch slrw,d u",ier a
low power microscope showed free gold
Ar! angular quartz, demonstrating b.
vopI question that the orv hal PASSED
through the battery ACttu- rpon the
report of Professor Psloe. thc mea ho
had b.su invited - invest .ael, inoaey
in tile >Nindle wA>A,,. ileir hand clean
ot the t;au>.ttIaa, Aui would have
nothing further - Be- wtth It SahSe
aueu:ly they received report from
Professor >glliuaan. Il lale q y Nhoni
sample t.si also been svtt tey ANALYSIS
which sAsr similar results, aul. cher
aetar.fed ia, whole tAlng 3, IN uuquaI
;fAi trNud The uausc~ g 'he men a.
,ht l.st; VA al th3~ ,}tAtecA:c atten'pi
- swinile are far s3me rs7s~ ga or oihe'
wl;bAsld by ihe pr fs- whom they en
..eAsorr.3 ia ssctsluize. We've they I
uer. Nth .helr i,ssrt, they w"Uai Ia
vigorously Ins~asut.e, a'.a spend
s>a.,y port, "a u their iaifEc ~ith''
the wAll, 4 peni'esit4ry Such .
>uirlle has s.os l.eea attempted tn l.
ralmel Of on San Francisco capitalist
SINCE the days Of ;he Arizona damon
affair. II. ~ minlou, fsilare wiz
probably gpreyeu; IL repetition ioF I
long sin,e io ccHae