The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-02-24

cess properly, aud must try again. But
repeated trials failed to get from the ore
a larger amount Of gold than could
have been obtained by other and less
extensive processes, and finally the 9th
Ger wrote to Gen. Butler that II he
wanted more gold he must try TO get 1t
out himself. T~nereupon some OF the
ore was sent up to Boston. the head
quarters Of the stevens fiux, 70 be
tried in the moth.r furnace, and by
those familiar with its manipulation.
4 gentleman associated with Gen. But
Ter IN his enterprise, who had learned
bv experience nut To be ov~cI-cTeduious
in such matters, Went up to boston to
see the ore put through. After 1t had
been duly placed III the furnace with
the necessary lux and fuel, this gentle
man. to see that all was properly ar
ranged inside for a successful operation,
onened 4 side door OF the furnace. To
m, surprise. a five-dollar gold coin,
which seemed to have lodged just
against the door, fell out upon the floor.
The sight of gold In some forms would
have afforded him much pleasure, but
he knew that the gold in their mine,
however abundant it might be, did not
present the form and figure Of coin
fresh from the United States mint.
THE BERToLA PROCESS.
The famous Bertola process deserves
mention here. Bertola was all Italian
wizard, a modern alchemist. He in
vented a process by which at least forty
times as much gold was to be obtained
as by any Of the old met Cd Ills la
boratory was closed to the prylng eyes
of the vulgar, while tho-c who for a
great Jun obtained the right to use tn,
process we're obliged to execute he,sl
bonds moi to disclose the s-cret Th,
general theory on which it rested seem
ed plausible. Placer g"l.-that Il.
gold found in the gravel a u sands
usually much coarser III it, grain thai
the gold obtained from veins. Scarce!
one per cent of the gold obtained from
veins is in PARTICLES as large IL tho<t
gotten out Of the placers. But as al.
the gold originally came out of the
what has become Of the tnc gold?
By attrition against the sand and gravel
il has been ground up until it has be-
SO fine as to float along with the
But the clay, which makes the
SO muddy, is tenacious in it,
qualities it has seized the Gne gold
with it, and carried it down in
to the beds where it has settled. There
the 2 ca bulk of the gold of the earth's
was Il be looked for aud found,
according to Bertola, and he was the
man TO . it. When his process
was introduced into North Carolina.
the opinion was confidently expressed
the rush of the miners would be :"
great the railroads south of New York
would not be able to carry them. s.
enormous was to be the supply OF geld, !
that all values were to be destroyed in
consequence; it was thought, however.
that gold would still be worth NOR,
than lead, and perhaps might ever yel
copper. The Wilkerson min,
in Burke county, n. c., was the first t.
be favored by the advent of the great
invention. This mine had for many |
years belonged to a man largely engaged
In the slave trade and was usually oc
by one or two hundred slaves
to he carried to the Southwest
Twenty cents a day would pay THEN
board. After all the mining land rear
the streams had been worked out, the
dirt was carried to the water on wheel
barrows and In baskets on the heads OF
the women. And thus the owner was
relieved Of part of the expense of main
them. The Wilker. on mine
was by all odds the most thoroughly
worked out mine in America at the
when some gentlemen from the
North purchased it for a considerable
Presently they brought down a
number of their Northern neighbors to
look at it. By their eulogies on the
Bertola process, by properly plying
them with brandy and honey, and las
believed) by skiltully sailing
the dirt panned out for inspection, they
succeeded in selling out to these visit
ing friends from New England, and re-
turned to the North, having made a
good thing for themselves. The pur-
chasers, after expanding about $40, 600
In putting up extensive Bertola mills,
abandoned the enterprise. Bertola,
however, by this operation and one or
two similar mes in Georgia, was able to
return to his native country with much
improved fortunes.
THE BULLOCK MILL.
The adventures of the Bullock mill
in North Carolina were not less re-
markable. Ii was q little iron tub
resembling a small CHILEAN mill, cx
cept that the tub revolved while the
wheel remained at rest. 1t was, in
fact, rather an ingenious contrivance
to avoid getting much gold. About
two feet deep, the basin was filed with
water, and the gold, after, being
ground SO fine as to rise to the top, was
to float over, the sides with the muddy
water. Ii a grain of course gold hap
ped to get into the basin it would lie
at the bottom until it was thoroughly
ground up into PARTICLES so small that
they could float in the water. Most Of
them escaped and went off with the
muddy stream. The machine made it's
advent in North Carolina in this wise
In Catawba county was the well known
Shuford mine, named after is ante
belium owner. When Mr. Shuford'.
negro men were not needed i'm the fields.
he used to send them to work the mine.
They conveyed the dirt from the TOD
and sides of the hill in carts down to
the branch, and washed it in a wooden
trough called by them a ''long Tom
Alter keeping as much of the gold as
they wanted Cor their own use, the men
paid over the surplus to Mr.. Shutord.
His books showed that he had in this
manner received $65, 900 worth Of gold
from this mine. The same gentlemen.
who had resold SO precipitately the
Nlikerson mine contracted for this
SufOrd gold drposit ONLY to soil 80,