Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1877-03-05
LETTER FROM CALIFORNIA.

OOO lOuS anu OnISC o1OIiCo hiSh ~ mug
two large chimneys l25 feet high. The |
building is located on the corner of
Mission and Fifth streets We enter
the building from Fifth street by
granite staircase % feet wide, and en-
ter the reception room. Here a gentle
man courteously conducts US into all the
important rooms of the building, and
shows us how and where the many tons
of gold and silver from the mines of the
Pacific States are converted into perfect
COINS. The gold and silver from the
mines is brought to the mint in bars,
similar in shape to pig iron, and as we
enter the smelling room, we notice hun
dreds of the bars awaiting their turn
for the fiery furnaces.
In the smelling room, a huge engine
is at work. driving the machinery of the
whole building; and large number of
furnaces or cruicibles are melting over
the precious metal. By melting and mix
ing with acids, the metals are purified,
and when separated they cast
into pieces resembling bricks. Some of
the gold "bricks" are worth 100000
while silver pieces are worth $4,000.
The next process is to cast the bricks
into bars three fourth of an inch thick,
and as wide as the width of the coin
they are to be made into. These bars
are then taken to the rolling machines,
and are rolled until they are of the right
thickness for the pieces of money to be
made from them. When the bars are
properly rolled, they arc cut by power
full cutters into round pieces ready for
the stamping machine. Before the
stamping is done each piece Is weighed
to ascertain if it contains the exact
amout of metal necessary for the partic-
ular coin it is to make. The weighing
is done by girls, and when the pieces
are found too heavy they are filed to
PrOr~---------..r4L-..- GRO Too I;obt tbev
are re-melted. After the Zoo p 5ISas eess
put through the stamping machine, and
receive the various letters and figure:
upon them, they are taken to the mill
ing machine and finished. No less thar
S18O,O00 worth of gold goes through
one machine in day. Gold is alloyeC
with copper to give it hardness. neces
sary to prevent wearing. After spend
ing a few hours in the Mint, and seein2
the huge piles of gold and silver coin
government might resume specie pay
ment at once.
THE PALACE HOTEL.
A few blocks from the Mint is th
Palace Hotel, one of the largest an
costliest hotel structures in the worlC
~ This vast structure covers plat {
II ground l65x344 feet. 1t is seven ST.
/ ries high Ql5 feet) and each floor col
70 taines 9o,160 square feet. There al
L 1,4OO rooms in the house of an averas
4" size of twenty-one feet square. A p0
r I-----I-J .-----r:1 II SeVlo
- The building occupies whole squar
ID and on the four sides there are 936 lar
III bay windows. Inside of the buildil
OF there are three large open courts, one
a which 84xl44 feet is covered with gla'
u There is driveway around this oou
twenty feet wide with aEchways leadil
NC into the streets.
as There are FIVE elevators in the hou:
u and we take passage IN one for t
nc broad roof. Only very few minut
are required to carry one to the ro
+. Here we find ourselves among wilde
en- ness of chimneys and water tanks. Bro
Die plank walks are laid in every directiC
OF and we here obtain excellent views
'i the city and surrounding scenery. 1
ny ter enjoying the pleasure of a birds-e
We view of the city, and bay, we return
ny look over one floor of the Palace,
0n having time to explore further, but
u pass down by one of the inner courts
and discover that it is surrounded
W seven wide piazzas, one for each foo
AZ. Az. each piazza is surrounded by a ST
iW railing, and as we made short rest
one of the sofas. we made count a
!, computation and saw that there W
= 53l pillars supporting the outer side
- the piazzas.
Senator Sherman, on his visit to c
:. ifornia last fall, put up at the Pala
and while here stood on one of tn
A. piazzas and addressed, as he said 'se'
49, stories ofpeople." We have now rea
a. ed the second floor, where is the larg
- and best parlor in the house. The "
dows in the room, which faces Montgt
:. cry st. are Is feet high and SO
h. wide with alternate panes of plate 81
80 and mirrors. The carpets. curtai
,o;u furniture, mirrors and pianos are V
49, costly, and beautiful beyond descripti
r; Their are numerous other parlors wi
every department of the house is of
same enormous proportion. At one
-. trance of the house there is a walk l
.o; 265 feet leading to an opposite entral
:. This walk and the floors of the courts
r covered with marble tiles. Where
there is a suitable spot plant pots