The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-06-25

when he comes to balance his books This
gentleman informed the reporter with
whom he talked that he represented a New
York firm who had made discovery by
which they were able to work over this
refuse and obtain from it material which
could be used again in the manufacture of
jewelry.
The clipping was shown to Julius Wod-
iSka, a manufacturing jeweler of this city.
He smiled and said that he was not sur
prised at the discovery that had been per-
fectly well known to the trade as long as
men had worked in metal Gold and silver
even in the most minute particles, he eX-
planned are worth extracting from such
easily worked material as the refuse or the
floor of a ssop, and no manufacturer ever
thought of wasting this hotsam and jetsam
of his business. Then he explained the in
teresting processes by which the saving is
effected.
"Of course" he said, sit is practically i'm
possible to save all the gold that gets scat
tered; THAT is, some escapes in Ways that
might perhaps be stopped, but it would cost
more than the gold is worth to stop them.
Every time you walk through jewelry
mandatory you are likely TO carry some
gold away with you on your clothing or
your Shoes / took off my shoes the other
night, and noticing that they were worn |
| turned them over and looked at them.
| Stuck in the bottom of one of the heels was
little lump of gold, which | picked out
with knife. A certain amount of gold,
no doubt. is carried off on the clothing and
shoes Of the workmen, and no attempt is
made to save that. But in regard 10 the
floors and benches and tables it is different
You notice that you are standing on a
peculiar flooring, do you notF 1t is com
! paratively new practice to cover the floor
with sheeGs of tar roofing. 1t is put down
| just like carpet, for the reason that it is
easier and cheaper to burn it than TO burn
the floor. When left shop in Fulton
street that had occupied for six years |
burned the floor and got enough gold out Of
it to pay for a new floor, which had to put
down, and leave me $200in cash besides.
1.-The sweepings and refuse of the shop
yield very considerable amount, and so do
the washings. The dry dirt is swept up
two or three times day and put into this
stove"
Here he opened the top of 'chowder
stove" and showed pile ready to be
| burned. The chowder stove is a contri-
vance with small chamber for the fire uu-
derneath and large compartment above
with no aperture under it.
| "You see,n he explained, eve build fire
| underneath and burn it until the refuse
catches fire That will shoulder a long
time for there is no draught through the
chamber, merely a pipe above it to allow
for the escape of the smoke. Finally it is
reduced to ashes, and the gold and silver can
be easily washed out of it.
"With our waste water the process is diff
ferent. The aprons and caps the workmen
wear are washed over the same sink where
they wash their faces and hands and any
vessel or tool that needs cleaning. The
water runs into a barrel and then through
pipes below the water line into a second and
a third barrel, before it is allowed to es-
CAPE The object of running the pipes be-
| low the level of the water is to prevent
minute flakes of gold from floating off, for
though they will float on top of the water,
they will sink to the bottom when they are
drawn below the surface. We throw a lit
| tlequicklime in from time to time, and that
curdles all the grease and soap, SO that 1t
sinks to the bottom, and the water that
runs off from the third barrel is as clear
and bright rs runs from the faucet The
curd is taken out when enough is accumu-
lated and the precious metals are washed
out by usual methods.
1.-THE crucibles which we use for melting
gold are broken up and thrown into an oc-
tagonal revolving chamber, in which is also
put a heavy iron cylindrical bar. The
chamber is tightly closed, belt is at
tached to the main shaft and the whole
| thing set whirling. In time the crucibles
are ground into a powder as fine as dust,
and this powder is sold to the refners, who
treat it with mercury. | used to do this
work in the place, but | gave it up, for l
don't like to have mercury around. The
fumes are very unhealthy.
"The gold that we get by these various
processes is of really the same fiIeness of
the average of that we use in the work
The first alloy is destroyed or partially de-
stroyed, l suppose, but enough alloy is
gathered to nearly keep the standard"