The west Tennessee star. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1888, 1888-07-27
BUYING GOLD DUST.
The Refuse From JeweIry Establishment
Turuad Into RTnnaw

The Refuse From Jewelry Establishments
Turned Into Money.
Mr.. Grotlenschen was the name of
the gentleman cited as being in Curl
GUS business, and while he was polite,
affable and jolly, he was not much in
clined to speak on the subject, He said
he represented a New York firm that
had made a discovery by which they
could work the dust and scraps from
gold and silver manufacturing estab-
lishments, therefuse of such places, the
aprons worn by the workmen, the wa
ter in which they washed their hands,
and the crucibles used for melting the
metal into bars and cakes of the pre-
cious stuff and resell them at a large
profit to be again worked over into
jewelry. The works are situated some
where in New Jersey, and have made
mint of money for the proprietors.
Il am continually on the road buy
ing the floors and appurtenances to
jewelry manufacturing houses" con-
tinued Mr.. GrotIenschen, land / have
just come from Minneapolis and St.
Paul, where I bought two floors and
the washings from the hands of en-
ployes, paid the man nearly s., 900
for the two outfits, and think have
secured a most excellent bargain.
The refuse is of long years standing,
and the older the premises the more
valuable the prize. am on my way
to Kansas City from here, where
have in view very promising plant,
and from there 1 will journey through
the South"
In response to a question if his mis-
sion to the city was to make a pur-
chase of a like description, he answered
that it was, and he said that he had
just closed a bargain for the floor of a
lately vacated jewelry establishment.
What was the price he paid for the
floor or how much gold and silver he
expected to harvest from the plant he
refused to state, desiring to leave it to
the firm to tell themselves. Next day
the reporter called upon the jewellers
at their new store, and the gentlemen
stated that they had not sold the floor,
but only the scrapings therefrom and
the filings in the crevices. For this
the firm had received nearly $500, and
Mr.. Meyer volunteered the informa-
ton that during the short time they
been manufacturing jewelry they had
received the snug little sum of over
81, 900 for the refuse from their estab-
lishment.
mo, we don't sell the floor out
right" claimed Mr.. Meyer, ''for the
reason that we are not prepared to
take it up. There is, without doubt,
a mine of gold and silver dust beneath
it, and it will some day bring in a
great deal of money. We consume a
large quantity of gold and silver in
our business, and at the end of the
year we box up the refuse and sell it. y
How do you save it?" inquired the
reporter.
I'm various ways" was the reply
''First of all the floors are carefully
and thoroughly scraped betimes, and
the scrapings are dumped into barrels.
Then there are the hands of the work
men"
What of them?''
Before leaving their benches and
tools they thoroughly wash their
! hands and clean their finger nails
While they are at work a certain
amount of gold and silver adhere to
the flesh and find its way under the
finger nails. The wash water is saved
and after a nights stand the metal
sinks to the bottom of the dishes and
in the morning the water is drained
off and the sediment thrown into the
waste barrel, which, in time, is sold to
the men who deal in it.
''What else is there that is valu-
| able?"
MANY things. The aprons and caps
worn by the men find ready sale, as
do the crucibles in which we melt the
metal. The latter we never use but
once, then break them up and throw
them into the refuse barrel. A large
amount of gold sticks 30 them, and
they bring large price. y Omaha Bee.