The Elk Mountain pilot., 1882-07-27

of profit to the capitalist, with only a
sahpllng mill, are very great, rs the
business is cash throughout. His
margins of, profit are from three to
FIVE dollars per ton for crushing and
sauaplng, and an inside rate of freight
thatthe single shipper Of m.llamounts
cannot get. Also, he can, on large
contracts with the heavier plants for
reduction, get fair reduction in cost
of treating the ores he purchases. 1t
does make me sore as visit different
parts of the State to see capital tied
up, thatsin other channels, might be
used pfufaDIy tor the capitalists and
for the benefit Of the district as a
whole.
Mr.. Webb is to be congratulated
that he has taken a step in the right
direction, and deserves the thanks of
this district in showing that he is
trying to meet the real needs of the
locality. The mill is a large one,
well arranged in some particulars,
and furnished with far better machin-
cry than expected to find. Under
the guidance Of Mr.. Charles Buffers,
who isin charge, l went through the
building. To his kindness | am in
debted for the following particulars ::
The mills furnished with station
cry engine, double cylinder, capacity
100 horse power, manufactured oy the
Buckeye Engine Company, of Salem,
Ohio. 1t is model of workmanship.
The boiler, with more than the power
Of the engine, is one of Bahcock &
Wilcox's best make, one of Blake's
largest size ore breakers, capacity five
tons per hour, ten-stamp battery for
dry sampling, a revolving cylinder
for drying ore, furnished by Frazer
& Chalmers, of Chicago, two reyolv
ing chloridizing furnaces, capacity
four tons each per twenty-four hours,
built by Morey & sperry, improved
Union amalgamatlng press, capacity
twenty-five tons per twenty four hours,
makes up the bulk of the plant.
The 'mos4s ehfraadi, as ] under
stand it, is this, briefly: From the
ore-bins to the crusher, then to the
rolls where the ore IS sampled and
paid for. After that to the revolving
drying kiln, thence to the stamps
automatically fed, where it is reduced
to a grade Of forty mesh or finer, from
there along an ore channel to an ele-
vator. The powdered material is
carried up and dumped into ore-bins
over. the chlorldizing furnaces, into
which the material passes with sufhFii-
cient amount Of salt to make the silver
contained in the ore free milling.
These furnaces revolve and strong
draft passes through them q do not
like that ; there is too much chance
for loss): being sufficiently roasted
here, the charge is dumped upon an
hearth, there to remain several hours.
then shoveled into ore cars furnished
with track across the mill floor, out
OF them to the amalgamating pans.
From these the amalgam will be col
lected and reduced in a furnace re-
Gently constructed under the direction
OF Mr.. Buffers. 1t is capable of re-
celving a charge of over 1900
pounds Of amalgam. Attached is a
model furnace with muffles for assay
purposes.
We visited the weighing room,
which isa type of neatness, well light
ed and furnished with number of
improved scales and balances of vari-
Gus kinds.
Mr.. Buffers tells me that he takes the
mill as he finds it, and will do the best
he can with what is at hand, adding
as little expense as possible. One can
see the difficulty he iabors under in
getting started, as owing to the inca
pacity of former men the foundations
of parts of the mill were not made
substantial enough, so that some OF
the machinery has to be reset, shaft
ing refined and adjusted, to say moth
ing Of the vexations in delay Of re-
celving parts Of machinery ordered,
which are to be used in the sampling
of the ores and which machinery &c