The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1883-08-16

Fools Gold.

be expected that gold itself, the king of
metals, should have its counterfeits,
natural or artificial Leaving aside the
latter class, from time immemorial have
men been deceived by those of the FORM
er, that is, in mistaking other minerals
for gold.
A farmer lad, slowly wading through
little stream, looks down into the
water, and there, brought into view by
the sparkling rays of the sun, he sees
something glistening and shimmering SO
brightly that, seized by sudden curiosity.
he runs his hand through the he'd of the
brook and brings up handful of sand
interspersed with shining yellow specks,
and, behold, he has found gold! So he
fancies, and the wonderful discovery is
noised far and wide. A sample is quick
ly sent to some expert, and the report
is, mica in sand. But who can blame
the infatuated, self-deceived rustic? lit
looks like gold to him, and his castle in
the air rises higher and higher until the
rude fiat of the one who does know
dashes it to the ground.
1t is not SO long ago that pill-box
containing an ounce or more of this
mica bearing sand was sent to me to
ascertain its value; and the sender. was
CACOOuLA&1y WACA Au>
formed him of its worthless character.
And to-day preserve some of it in my
cabinet to show my visitors, and when
the question is asked of each as to ita
nature, nine out of ten promptly reply
that it is gold. Then, as short, practi-
cal lesson in mineralogy of this metal.
second bottle, containing sand Carrying
the genuine article is brought out, and
the difference is seen Mt once.
What assayer, mining engineer, min
eralogist or metallurgist has not had
the same experiences?
But mica is not the mineral that has
done the most harm. Pyrites of iron
and copper Copper pyrites or chalco-
pyrites), and pyrites of iron, the ''foolS
gold" have misled thousands.
In general appearance, this ''fooFs
goldh is not sovery unlike the true gold,
this is, when the latter is not directly
compared with it. 1t has bright, yell
low, metallic luster on the surfaces of
unoxidized pieces and the interiors of
freshly-broken pieces which are decom-
posed on the outside.
In 1908, about the time of the first set
tlement of Virginia, the -colonists .sbe-
lieving that they had discovered grains
of gold in a stream of water near James,
town. the entire industry of the town
was directed in digging. washing, refin-
ing, and loading gold; and notwith-
standing remonstrances of Smith, ship
was actually freighted with the glisten-
ing earth and sent to England. (Wit-
sons american History). Whether this
glistening earth was mica or minute
pyrites in the clay or sand, history does
not tell us, but presumably the latter,
since it Is found to a considerable extent
throughout that State. .
From that time down to the present,
the mistake has often been made, not of
imagining the pyrites to contain gold.
but that it is gold.
There is probably no other metal
liferous mineral more widely distribute
ed than iron pyrites. 1t is found in rocks
of every age, and almost in all parts of
of the United States but contains it to a
greater or less degree, hence the great
prevalence of the error concerning it.
To illustrate: a colored man in Mis-
sissippi mailed me lump of this min
eral, water-worn into q rude semblance
of gold nugget, and desired me to sell
it for him! All I could do was to tell
him of its worthlessness, and instead of
a piece of gold worth $40 to $50 as ha
supposed, it was, in fact, not worth the
postage paid on it.
To come nearer home: from two sep
arate places in Michigan, and from two
different counties in Wisconsin, has the
same mineral, with the same question.
been sent me, and lately an intelligent
looking gentleman brought me three or
four pounds of this same delusiye stuff,
picked up on the shores of our lake,
twenty miles north. 1t is needless. per-
haps, to say that they were all disap-
pointed in their great expectations
From all that / have written there can
surely be deduced moral as it can from
the history of any nation, race, or sect.
or life of any eminent individual, and
the moral is,, q more practical education
iss all of oar schools. i
/ do not refer to those institutions
which make a specially of teaching
geology, mineralogy, metallurgy, as
saying, or other branches OF science, but
to the average, the common schools, for
it is in such that the majority of our
people obtains all it knows of books and
learning. 1t should be as imperative
for the scholar to know lump of coal
from piece of iron ore. to be able to
distinguish u copper ore from one of
lead, to learn the difference between
granite and limestone, between ''fool's
gold' and real gold, as it is for him to-
learn that six and seven do not make
eleven or that the wonderful English
language is capable of pronouncing
rough as ruff and bough as 6oao!
1t Is not necessary to make of the
youth whose entire school education iS
acquired in one or two years, an expert
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. are limits to ALI
things-but simply to know more of the,
material things, such as he is likely to
meet with in his every day life. =
10 give. a point to my moral and to-
return to my subject, let the one who
finds something bright and yelloU and
imagines it to be gold try to cut it Of it
be large enough to handle) with his
knife. If it cuts easy somewhat like
lead) and flattens by use of hammer and
anvil, it probably is what it is thought
to be, at all events it IS worth inyesti-
eating. II, on the contrary, the speci-
men is too hard to be cut Gron pyrites),
or crumbles instead of being sliced (cop-
per pyrites), it certainly is not gold.
Finish the test by placing some of the
suspected mineral, powdered, in COM
mon iron spoon over the fire. If, when
IL mas DeoH Well nedCeu, 1uln6S arise anu
smell as of a burning match is per-
ceived, then pyrites is present, for it is
the sulphur leaving the iron (oriron and
eopper) with which it was united to
form the pyrites that causes the fumes
aud odor.
In conclusion, let the enthusiastic
seeker of the precious metal remember
the ancient but wise adage that 'All is
not gold that outward shewith brighte."
Waiter Lee BroaO,s, in Mining Re0iecO.
Congressman Blackburn Wardrobe.
A friend of Congressman Joe Black
burn says the following is gospel truth.
When Joe started for Washington last
week he was in a good deal of a hurrv.s
and neglected to bring with him the