The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-09-10
EXPERIENCE IN GETTING GOLD.
u.v Placer Mines nre Found, Tested,
md Worked.

Nine.tenths OF all the gold that has ever been
In circulation has been obtained from washing
auriferous gravel and sand. This production
NJ gold unlike that OF quartz leads. has. as a |
rul. been highly remunerativc to the miners.
The rlnccr mines Of Europe are exhausted.
Tho crcnm Of the African mines has probably
ho,, skimmed. Those of Asia. excepting In
northern Siberia. are surely exhausted. The
ust NJ booty secured in Asia and Africa in an
slant times by conluering armies sharply
,rdicates that the placer mines Of those coun-
,res were then at the height Of their output
Tbe anccnts did no. understand the economic
cnl extraction of gold and silver from ores
The gold must have been obtained from placer
mines and the amount taken out indicates
that those deposits OF auriferous gravel were
exhausted hundreds Of years ago. The mines
OF Siberia worked by convict labor under Gov
eminent contracts. will probably yield steadily
for many years. But no great increase IN the
output OF gold can be reasonably expected
from that arctic region.
The Rocky Mountains have been'very thor
oughly prospected from their southern ex-
tremity to point north Of the Peace River. in
British Columbia. and.the Sierra Nevada range
from Mexico far north of our boundary line
indeed. we'll up toward Alaska. All discovered
mines OF phenomenal richness. that would pay
fair wages to miners working with pick and
shovel. have been exhausted What the frozen
north contains Is unknown but on the discov-
cries yet to be made in those arctic highlands.
the world must look for the supply of gold sup
posed to be necessary to meet the increasing
demands OF ever-growng population and
trade. How placer mines are found and how
tested and worked rather than discussing the
questions OF supply and demand and single or
double standard. Is what started to tell.
Men young and active men gray Of hair, and
whose steps are inflrm with age: men who
have worked in pacers throughout the West
ern Territories; men who have dug fortunes
out of placer in one summer to spend il the
following winter in one wild spree: men who
have once hunted for gold and found It. all search
for placer mines. Hopefully they start out in
the spring or early summer, led to distant re-
gions in almost inaccessible mountains by
mythical stories OF old sluice boxes made Of
boards hewn out OF trees with aNcs-old.
weatherbeaten boxes standing in line on de-
Gazing blocks. the abandoned. rusty tools lean
ing against the caved sides OF long dsused
ground sluices. Test is added to the excite
ment Of the hunt il few skeletons with bullet
rivnn skulls are represented to be lying under
the sentinel pines that sadly sigh above the
abandoned workings. These old workings are
neYcr found. Towing donkeys. towing
tao prospectors for placer diggings travel
through the mountains. They haunt
the secluded parks. They deeply pit the val
leyS. They camp in securely hidden recesses
nigh 10 Indian reservations. and packing n lit
tie food and necessary tools on their backs.
they make excursions into forbidden lands. and
dig holes that too often are their graves. The
life is a free and bold one. and. though labo-
rious. is far from monotonouS. The scene con-
stantly changes. There is excitement connect
ed with it. and the hunting OF large game for
food affords sport. Gulch after guch Is pros
pected. Many holes are dug TO bed rock.
While digging the men are inspired by hope.
There is a chance as they wash a pan of
gravel taken from the bottom Of the hole they
are digging. that as the water clears in the
pan they may see the certain signs of a com
petence. If not fortune glistening on the bot
tom Of the pan. Not one in a hundred finds
anything Of value The hundredth miner
may find guch that he will be able
to work or sell to hydraulic miners. Dis
appointment they never apparently feel. A
summer spent in wandering through the
mountains is highly enjoyable and If nothing
has been found. why. it is miners luck"
These prospectors generally have partners.
They. though they may be widely separated
and not meet during the summer. share equally
found a paying guch search for months for his
partner. and find him 300 miles from where
they separated in the spring.
The gulch found. the men build log cabin
The ground is tested sufficiently to enable
the boundary stakes to be driven inteili-
gently. store Of bacon and -four is packed
on the backs OF donkeys, packed it may be for
hundreds of miles.
The season of the find is usually spent in pre-
pairing for the next seasons work. II the mine
proves to be exceedingly rich, they Will work it
with pick and shovel and suice boxes III the
miners find ii is not rlcn enough TO pay for
hand labor; they locate the pay streak. with
view to selling to hydraulic miners who have
and erect extensive works.
Ages ago, now long no one can tell. flow OF
gravel rolled down Il mountain valley that was
gIugsI II ths o graG N nils probably by
from having had its sharp edges worn of by
irtetion;r Gold i distributed throughout the
bed rock so,cal led because below 1t no gold Is
found. The bed rock may be II solid LAYER OF
formed by the decomposition of the original
oed but OF whatever composed. 1; is the couch
OF ne golden gravel. Through the gravel and
streak" This belt varies in width from few
leet to many yards. and Is characterized by
st to follow the pay streak. always up
cause OF the wiespreaa ' proanty a Of pla e
miners. Why the gold runs in a streak, instead
OF being distributed uniformly throughout the
gravel will probably never he known. The fact
Is that outside OF the streak the gold is in fine
particles. and the gravel is comparatively lean.
How is the pay streak followed; In II noun
tain park ribbed in tiny ridges By many grass
grown beaver dams. and surrounded by lofty
pines, Is an open ditch of some twenty or thirty
feet in width. and about SIX feet deep. known
~ ground sluce. Two miners are working
IL the ground Suice. The air is motiOnless in
the park, though by the swayn. Of the pines
thc miners know that a brisk wind Is blowing
aDove them. 1t Is morning. and the thin
zee iorhti me previous nlght. coating the clear
ma begun TO melt The heat has thawed out
!ne mountain mosqui toes. notorious for blood
shirstlhess and ioudness of wing. and they
swarm around the miners, The men have
washed away the clay and muck lying above
Tue pay gravel ~ far up the creek rs they have
respected. and are now engaged in digging q
ditch TO prospect the ground ahead Of them.
Ihey are trying TO follow the Pay streak. the
trench has been pushed ahead for some liitcen
or twenty feet. The compact wash gravel Is
uncovered. \ few minutes rest, II Whit Of u
Pipe; and in the gravel ut the face OF the ditch
a hole is dug to bed rock. Two shove.fuls of
gravel next 10 the bed rock are thrown into Il
hleet-lron prospect pan. and one Of tho m ncrs
carries the pan t. IL pool oil Y'Iter.