Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-02-06
WEALTH IN MERE DIRT
HOW UNCLE SAM MAKES MONEY BY
 LOOKING AFTER LITTLE THINGS.


 LOOKING AFTER LITTLE THINGS. How Gold and Silver is Lost ard Found
 Again in the Assay Ofice - Methods Employed for the Recovery of Escaped
 Metal.
 During the year 1886 over s4S, 900, 900 in gold and nearly s7,OOOOOO in silver passed through the assay office in this city to be re- melted, refined and cast into bars. All this vast quantity of metal is passed through O complicated process to separate it from alloys and baser metals, and even to separate the gold from the silver. It is melted in fur naces, treated with acids and chemicals, re- duced to liquid state, washed in many waters, cast into molds, baked in ovens and carted from one portion of the building to another dozen times before the process is completed that turns the golden and silver grains into bars of standard fineness, on which is put the government stamp of the number, weight and value. In the course of this long process some particles of the metal are nec- essarily lost at different stages of the work. While ill the powdered state some of it will sift out upon the floor; in the liquid condi- tion it will evaporate and float away in the air; and in the melted state portions will be carried up the furnace chimneys and out of doors.
 Tho actual loss is of course but small per- centage of the whole amount handled, but in the aggregate amounts to a considerable sum, and every possible effort is made to re- duce the amount of loss to the lowest possi- ble figure. The care that is taken may be understood by the fact that every day or two tne floors of the assay building are swept thoroughly and the sweepings, placed in bar rels until a sufficient quantity is gathered to put it through process to extract such DOT tion of the metal as is possible without too much expense But, even after that the ra- fuse, or tailings, is not thrown away, but sold to what are known as sweep smelters, men who purchase the sweepjngs from jew elry workers, as well as the assay office, akd by their more expensive, but perfect, method of fusion, are able to extract even another small percentage from the unpromising ma- terial.
 LOST IN THE DRAINS.
 Another means employed to obtain escap- ing particles is by the drains running fror, the buildings All the branch drains and conduits are conducted into one large main drain pipe, which is provided with a series of IS" traps, containing a deep settling
 
 als fall by force of gravitation. All the water used in the building, from the washing of the metals to the scrubbing of the floors, even that in which the employers have performed their ablutions land it is one of the regula- tion; that every employe shall carefully wash his hands before leaving the building), passes through this drain. The settling pockets are cleaned out once or twice year, and the recovery from this source amounts to several hundred dollars-even as high as S1, 200 to Sl, 300 year. Still some of the lighter particles escape the traps, and pass out into the main sewer, and find their way into the East river, where no doubt quite Q mine, or placer digging, has been formed at the mouth of the sewer,
 But the most important operation for the recovery of escaped metal is the annual clean ing up, when every old crucible and the fur naces ill which the smelting is done, and even 0 large part of the fues and chimneys are taken down, ground up, and such of the metal as had adhered to them is extracted But even in this case there is still a propor tion that is carried out ill the open air, ant natural settles down on the adjacent roof: and streets. Occasionally the roof of tho assay building is swept off, but this more as matter of curiosity to see what amount o1 gold and silver that may have been lost could be recovered from that source. A little gold and still more silver is always found ir these deposits, but not enough to pay for the trouble of gathering.
 DIRT FROM THE ROOF CUTTERS.
 The other day, however, while some repair. were ill progress at the sub-treasury building it became necessary to clean out the roo gutters that had become somewhat clogget with the dirt and dust that had gathered fol the two three years preceding Tn. worlzmen shoveled the dirt down into tn. alleyway between the two buildings, whe1 Assistant Superintendent Martin, of the as say office, who is always on the lookout fol leakages and possible recoveries, caused { sample of dirt to be assayed, and found it tt be worth something over $50 per ton. Ther, was about half a ton of this earth, which wa at once conveyed to the barrels where tn. sweepings are thrown, and the government is just about SIS ahead on the transaction Other buildings in the neighborhood whicl have not been cleaned off in years, doubtless contain pay dirt even richer than that iron the sub-treasury building.
 MT. Andrew Mason, superintendent of the assay office, laughed when he was asked i there was not enough of the metal on tn, streets by this time to pay to sweep it up ant work it, and replied that even if all tha had fallen for years still lay on the ground the amount would be so small in com parison to the trouble and expense O gathering and refining it that it would no be a paying undertaking. Moreover, tn ordinary street cleaning operations had take, most of 1t off and the rain had washed mos of the balance into the sewer. But still little could always be found. The percentag of loss is inflnitesimal, he said, but the aggre gate for several years would, he thought make quite presentable sum.-New Yorl Commercial Advertiser.
 Pooling with the Language. II Col Carthagena Smith arose to make n,