Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1881-02-18
( MORNING, FEBRUARY IS, 1881.


Go!a 9llallg II vermont
A company Of gentlemen from New York
will begin mining for gold in the town Of
Worcester as soon as spring opens They
will use Il new dredging machine, invented
by Gen. Roy Stone, of New York. and arc
anticipating very large results In this con
nection the following letter to the Windsor
journal about the attempts to obtain gold in
that county will be Of interest. Mr.. Ken
nedy first discovered gold ON the Chateau
gay branch of the Quccchc river in Bridge
water, about the year 1871 lie was induced
to send some of it TO an assay office at New
York city and have it reduced. The report
was sufficiently favorable to bring about the
formation of a joint stock company The
company was called the Green Mountain Gold
Mining Company, with a capital stock Of
$500, 900. Many individuals at the city put
their all into this stock, such was their faith
in the business induced by the results of the
assay, which was certified to under oath
by the officers at the office. When the
company was fully organized and sufficient
on the stock paid in, one Captain Payson
was sent here as their agen. and
business manager. The captain. on his
arrival, proceeded at once with a large
number of men to build suitable
buildings, and ordered large and expensive
set of machinery. A steam engine purchas-
ed, together with amalgamators with plenty
of quicksilver, and everything was put in
readiness to run ten stamps or m0rtars. He
then leased all the farms i'll the vicinity for
mining purposes, paying from i've 10 ten
dollars cash down, and further agreed 10 give
six per cent of all the gold mined on their
respective farms for the space Of ten years
or less, as they could agree when the leases
expired by limitation.
After crushing some two hundred tons Of
the rock and realizing only about four dollars
TO the ton, the stockholders in bitter disap-
pointment deposed their agent, refused TO
pay further assessments, and sold their ma
chinery, the failure resulting in the prcun-
larry ruin of several of the stockholders. Al
ter this Capt. Payson engaged workmen on
the gulch diggings of the Plymouth branch,
where he put in sluicc and gathered up
some thirty barrels of what he called "black
Jack" mixed with more or less gold. As
there were no means of separating the gold,
the whole was taken TO New York city by
the owner. That was the last ever
heard Of Captain Payson or his
''black Jack" This black sand 10
nearly as heavy as gold and consists of mag
notic steel ore with slight admiXture OF
carbonate of lead, hence its specific gravity
is nearly as great us that of gold. Some
years later others became interested in these
mines and new companies were formed.
New assays told a good story and one com
pany put in eight stamps, constructed a
stone amalgamatOr, and commenced business,
with far from satisfactory results. The
crushing was well done, but the stone anal
gamator was failure The quicksilver was
thrown out by the centrifugal force of the
rotary arms, and went down the brook carry
ing the gold with it, which the inhabitants
along the streams panned out.
About this time one Oscar Washburn, Il
jeweller by trade, came from New York city
as agent for still another company, of which
he was the principal shareholder, and COM
menced operations. lie built large dam
| across the branch, getting n head and fall of
some forty feet, erected a building of con-
| siderable dimensions, and put in = four-foOt
| turbine water wheel, and Bullock CrIshcr.
After crushing several hundred tons, all
| that could be realized was an average of :
| 4 ton, just enough 10 pay expense Of mining
and crushing. Mr. Washburn, having sunk
about $50. 900 in this enterprise, with dam
| aged credit retired from the business.
young man was sent on to look after th,
property, which he did for few months
when the whole was abandoned at the great
| freshet of October T. 1868, and the mil wa:
| carried away.