River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1888-05-24

post forms an amalgcm. At several
worthless mines this chloride of gold
was cmpticd into the water. and the
particles of metal united with the
quicksilver in exactly the manner of
nature. 1t deceived AL the experts.
and realized fortImo for the swind-
leE He built a samner hotel on the
Pacific coast with the proceeds. and
this was shortly after destroyed by
fire. Thus vice was ultimately pun
ished. just as it is in novels, plays
and real life.
Who has ever heard of 'Grattin's
bottes?' Very few. and yet they at
one time puzzled numerous leading
scientists Of the country. This is
briefly the history Of them: A man.
named Girattin owned a cluster of bar
rem claims in Colorado. He went TO a,
S.. Louis capitalist anS told him a
wOmdcrfulVstory of gold. which existed.
he said. all through the loamy subsoil
Of the mines The capitalist became
interested. and went out to investigate. .
Grattin giving him four glass bottles
in which TO bring home specimens Of
the earth These he brought back.
seclsely sealed. and ul assay discov-
cred gold running thousands Of dollars,
10 the ton. He bonglpt the mines and
Grattin disappeared.
When the mines turned out 10 be
absolutely worthless the question of
how the swindle was perpetrated,
arose. THE striciest search failed to
show any signs of sailing. and then
the victim thought of the bottles.
They were ordinary glass jars holding
quart each. and there was apparent
" nothing suspicious about them.
However he had them scalded out
and filed with earth from his
garden. In few days the jars were
opened and unquastionablc traces of.
gold found in the contents. He was
nOnplussed. Scientific men examined
them, and could make nothing out of
the phenomena. No matter what was
put into the bottles gOk would ap-
pear in n few days. II looked like
alchemy.
Finally it occurred TO some body to
Gus into the corks. and then the secret
was out. They were made of a COM
position of shellac. powdered cork and
gold dust. This had the property of
gradually disintegraiinS and dropping
of. and the more the bottles were nam
died the glsorc gold would be found on
ASSAY.
Mine sailing has been practiced so
frequcatly m Colorado that smcltnrs
and miners are cxtremsy careful to
~, - Il,
10 improper uses. Hcnc; il is n mat
ter of some difficulty 10 obtain the
salt. This was rather ingensously
overcome some years ago in Lead
Vile. 4 salter wanted some ore from
the Robert T. Lee mine. ut that time
the richest in the camp. lie obtained
employment rs laborc1, and every
day. after nc had eaten his dinner in
one of the drifts, nc would ill his
bucket with ore. In a short time he
had the necessary quantity. Some
miners who noticed the trick en-
pIoyed it TO steal ore and weDe getting
rich when the whole story came to
light and they came To grief.
Very few smclters have ever been
swindled by sailing Tlny take ex-
traOr,linary precautions against it,
sampling all the ore they buy from at
least a dozen places. and then grind
ing M the IEllmce and sampling it
afresh In s,Ene smelicrs as many as
forty different samples arc'taken.
Il is a singular fact that not only
have poor miDes been salted with rich
ore. but rich mines have been very
frequently salteJ with poOr- The cir
cumstances under which snch an APP
parent paradox would take place are
these: Explorati ons are being made
in some part of mine and vein Of
very rich mineral is Suddenly I'M
covered. If the superintendent has
salt and darkness in his soul he is very
apt 10 take a pick. dig out little of
the ore. and fill the cavity with low
grade stuff from some other part of
the mine. Then he makes dis
couruging report. apps rently verified
| by facts. and in due course of time
proposes to lease the property for .
song. If he is successful. the vein is
not long in being rediscovcred. This
trick has been played time and again
all over the State, and In instances tho
salter has gone so far rs TO sac
cidcntally" blow up the tunnel in
which rich find was male. Perhaps
some poor wretch of a miner would be
caught in the awful subtcrranean
crash that shook the bowels of the
earth and buried forever beneath tons
of rocky debris. but such an episode
as that never disturbs the even tenor
of true saltcr's way. -DeHVcr Cor.
" L. San.