The Opelousas courier., 1886-02-13
BRICKS MADE OF GOLD
A Visit to a United States AS
say Office.
Throwing Packages of Gold Dust into
Orucibles and Melting into Bars.

IL i1I w wan
office here is very interesting, writes a
Helena, (Montana,) correspondent of the
Minneapolis Tribune. Being ushered
into the Feceiving Office found a clerk
opening several packages of gold dust
that had been brought from the postoffice,
and was told that no packages had ever
been known to be lost, though no extra
precautions are taken in sending them.
After being weighed carefully the dust is
handed over to the melter, who, accom-
panied by a gentleman whose sole bust
ness is to see that the dust is placed in
the crucible, for until the gold assumes
the shape of a bar, nc man is allowed to
handle it while alone. The furnaces in
which the dust is melted produce 2, 500
degrees of heat, and the crucibles are
made of two parts plumbago and one
part fire clay, and arc of various sizes, to
accommodate the ~ever-varying deposits.
The molds are of different capacities va
rylng from 10 ounces to 5000 ounces,
and before each pouring they are carefully
scraped and smoked, the thin coating of
SCOT preventing the bar from sticking in
the mold. The metal is always poured
in tho presence of one who watches the
melter all the time. This is done, " the
melter explained, Gas we'll for Jul own
protection as in the interest of the depos-
itors. For instance, if a depositor, de-
ceived as to the value of his dust, claims
that some of it had been wasted
or stolen during the process of melt
ing, two of us are here to act as checks
upon each other. Every effort is made
to ascertain the exact value of the depos-
it, and while there necessarily is a little
waste in the mechanical operations, it
is very slight. Every day the crucibles
are scraped of the little fuxing
that may adhere to the sides, and these
scrapings, together with the fuxing
poured out with the gold, and all the
dust that settles upon the iron floor of
the room, are carefully preserved, and at
the end of the year the mass is melted over
again, and the gold extracted and given
over to the government. After handling
over a million dollars last year, a little
over $500 were obtained from the years
"sweepings." Each bar is taken to the
two assayers, who each take a chip from
the opposite diagonal corners. From
these bits of gold the t~ineness of the
whole bar is calculated. The gold that
is bought for the government is sent to
New York, with the calculations on the
different bars, which are tested and aver
aged, and the results compared with the
calculations here obtained. The most |
perfect accuracy is necessary in the
weighing and calculating in order to
make the figures agree. The metric sys-
TEN of weights is used.
"a drop of water" said one of the as
sayers, sat SO degrees Fahrenheit weighs
so Kilograms. These scales will weigh
one-tenth part of a milogram," which, as
I figure it, would be one five-hundredth |
part Of q drop of water. They can calcu-
late the value of ore that yields only IS |
cents to the ton.
The government buys all the gold pre-
sented for sale, but a depositor may have
his dust refined and made into a bar upon
the payment of a small fee. A short |
time ago a deposit valued at $50, 900 was
brought in by one man. The dust
equaled in bulk about two pailfulls. The
assaying of ore has lately been discontin-
ned. Pure gold is worth $20.67 per
ounce. My guide showed me a brick,
which, for a number of reasons, | was
unable to put in my pocket, weighing 257
ounces; it was about sx3 1-2 by 1 1-2
inches in its several dimensions, and was
worth So, 046.