The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-06-30

WORK DeIore nlrn-to dig down until he nnds
the vein. Let US suppose that he is success
full and, after several days Of hard labor,
that he lays bare a true assure vein of
metal, lying between a hanging wall aud
footwall, for there must always be "a con-
tact" generally between limestone and
quartz, in order TO have a true vein Of
metal. The reason is svideut-in liquid state
the metal passes through the lime
stone, which stops the chemical process,
caused by the great heat and the
metal is held below in the assures Of the
quartz. 1t will start one inch wide or one
foot, the vein will broaden out or "pinch
out" as it goes deeper, it will sometimes be
faulted, or sometimes interrupted by dyke;
but whether broad or narrow, faulty or
continuous, there the true vein will always
be found between the contact Without
contact there is no emission of goldl With
weary muscles, but thankful heart, our
prospector goes to bed that night, covered
only by his blanket, sleeping warmly in
the chill Of the mountain top, heed
less Of the roar of the mountain
lion or the deep profundo of the
grizzly BEAR His labor has been rewarded,
he is the owner Of a prospect that may con-
tain untold millions. In the morning he
must take the necessary steps pointed out
by the law to make the property his own.
The. things necessary are, first of all,
AOuh-hhOh oQuat VI obdhGf vi WutCu no WIlJos
his name, the date Of discovery, the line or
angle in which his vein runs, and the num-
Der OF feet claimed; the law allows him
i 500 feet on the vein and $50 feet each side
of 1t. In sixty days he has to lay bare a
face Of ten feet and record his claim.
Every year he has to work, in
order to hold his property,
hundred dollars worth OF labor, computed
to be 1915 days at SO per day. When he
h0O dad cE0O 90 Ial3 r.,
property he can get = patent deed that
makes it his as permanentiy and completely
as any other realty. The whole expense
of patenting for his lido feet by 800 feet
will be about sl60, andfi it embraces about
10. 33 acres of land. Let the unwary pros
pector omit any one of the legal steps. how
ever Insignificant, and then will he see his
claim Jumped" by some interruptions
vagabond who hangs around the mining
districts as quickly as the mountain lion
jumps upon the back of the yearling colt.
SPECIMENS AND THE AssAYIsTs.
After the discovery of the prospect, the
next and most anxious step for the discover
is to bring his property to the test of science
TO learn its real value. Assay offices exist
abundantly in every district and charge
uniformly IS for one analysis. Selected
average specimens are sent to the assayist's
table. If the ore contains free gold, that is
gold in its native state, and not in comb-
nation with any other mineral, the assay Is
simple enough. The specimen is weighed.
beaten in a mortar, a stream of water oar
ries the fine ore through net onto a copper
table containing quicksilver-the quicksil-
yer seizss the gold, which is cleaned up from
the table and weighed, and the process is
done. But generally the assay is more
difficult, for the gold comes in COM
bination with other metals. In this
case, as before, the specimen is weighed so as
to know the percentage the resultant silver
or gold holds to the original mass. After
weighing, the orsAaA beaten fine, then
roasted to get rid of the water aud the sal
phides. A second weighing of the redricbd
specimen follows. Then 1t is put in cupAs
cups made out Of bone dust, and into a
retort, where it is reduced to a LIQUID by
means of fiux: the bone dust cup absorbs
the lead and turns all kinds of pretty
colors "a beautiful collection might
be gathered for a tea set, while
a little shining globule of the
precious metals remain in the cup, like a
pearl in an oyster she'll A third weighing
determines the amount Of gold and silver
in this globule in combination. Then nitric
acid is poured on to the drop of metal; it
seizes the silver and leaves the gold free;
weigh it, compare it with the original
weight, and, you have the percentage in
ounces OF gold or silver in ton of ore. Ore
varies exceedingly, low grade ore holding
90, 40, go ounces to the ton, while high grade
runs up into the hundreds. even thousands
of ounces.
When the assay certificate reaches our
prospector he now looks around for a pur-
chaser for his property, as in the majority
of cases he is unable to lay out the large
amount of capital necessary for develop
ment. We will suppose our man IA some
what hazardous suppodtion out here in these
mixed communities to be an honest
prospector, who h is not ''salted" his mine,
that is, put good ore into it that does not
belong there. He has the hardest kind Of
work to find the capital to touch his mine
for, having been deceived so frequently,
eastern capital is very timid about tue whole
subject of mines. And yet careful investi-
cation Of the subject shows there has been
immeasurably less loss from CAPT
tai wisely invested in mines,
and generally far greater profits
than have been realized in any commercial
or manufacturing pursuits, or in railway
stocks or operations With the largest
mineral belt IN the world, unsurpassed rail
road connections constantly enlarging,
ample reducing works, first-class ore mar
ket, and countless veins OF very high
averge value, the Rocky mountains GER
tainly afford the true field for future in
vestment ard rare opportunities Tor sue
cess But the sharks must first be driven
off the ground before capital regains its
confidence And 30, owing TO the
want of capital, our prospector has to let
his property, often very valuable, go
for very little. There are hundreds of op-
portunities that can be picked up for a song
Within the area of two miles there are three
large coal veins coming to the very surface,
can be had for nothing, the owners having
been compelled for want Of money, to fol-
low the vein into the ground to abandon
them. Within six miles is an extensive
iron belt, the ground all colored red, and
the iron ore cropping out on every hill side
At Bonanza, ten miles off, away from a rail-
road, and where there are no
smelling works, large silver veins. gray
copper aud galenium, can be purchased on
shares or bought outright, from 81 900 to
S., 900. Many Of them show rich percent
age of gold and silver at the grass roots
and it is characteristic of true vein to
grow richer as it grows down, and true
vein between the walls, while it may
pinch outn in places, "fault" In others,
"leave ground" In others, is yet very rarely
ever lost Some of the most astonishing
results have come from some of these
prospects. Ex-senator Tabor Che Of the
''silk night-gown" notoriety) "grub-stakedn
two shoemakers with $14, from which his
start in fortune was made. The shoe
makers grew tired Of climbing the noun
tains, and began blindly to dig at one Of
their resting places. The result was the
diaoovarv Of the Tittla PittehurU mine at