The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-07-06
SURFACE GOLD MINING
fhe Awful Power and Work Of q Natural
Stream Of Water.
A Mining TraRedy-An Unfortunate
Celestial Who Suddenly Joined
His Ancestors In the King
dom OF the SUM-.

force OF nature, controlled by the
hand of man, that so inspires me with
wholesome respect as the working stream
Of n hydraulic mine says j. Wordlan In
the Philadelphia Times. In all forms OF
placer or surface gold-minine water is the
essential servant of the miner. In very
rich deposits the auriferous dirt is thrown
into a 'rocker," and water is poured
upon il until all the earthly matter has
been washed away, leaving h gold on
the canvas bottom of the rocker. lnas-
much as the precious metal has eight or
ten times the specific gravity Of the dirt
only the finer metal Is washed away, and
the loss of gold is not very great.
When, however, the dirt is too poor To
work in this manner, n 'sluice" or board
trough is constructed, and through this a
stream OF water runs with considerable
velocity. "Rifiles" or cleats are fastened
crosswise to the bottom n fifty pounds
or more of quicksilver are scattered in the
spaces between them. The auriferous
gravel is thrown into the ~sluices, and
agitatcd by the running water, the gold
sinks 10 the bottom and is caught by the
quicksilver. while the dirt is quickly
carried away by the swift current. Al
intervals Of a week or more the water is
uIlltn olls tlt Elftt~ ttntfl hls lit iist
gam of quicksilver and gold removed, and
the latter separated by d~istillation.
0DBut IL the aurifcrous gravel contains
only n small amount of gold, say two or
three cents n cubic yard, il is evident that
the pick and shovel will be altogether in
efficient in handling il, and il is here that
hydraulic mining comes into use 10 cut
away the cliffs and gravel banks.
First "A straan, of watar must Ina ann-
veyed by bitches and fumes 10 some point
not more Than three or four hundred
yards from the mine the place in question
must also be at least one hundred and
fifty feet higher han the base of the bank.
Al this point a small reservoir and pcnt
stock are built. From the latter the water
is conveyed 10 the working level through a
pipe OF sheet iron : TO ~ inches diameter.
light at the top ant very thick at the
bottom. AT the working level the pipe
connects with a jointed d~ischarging noz-
zle, a piece of machinery weighing from
one TO three tons The frame-bcd of the
nozzle must not only he anchored To the
ground, hut IL must also he weighted with
ten on fifteen ton of rock.
The stream of water discharged Though
one of these MOBILES has "A destructive
force that is almost incredible. AZ the
tip OF the nozzle, where IL Is CONSTRUCTED TO
n jet perhaps not more than six or eight
inches in diameter, IL Is as solid as ice. In
my first experience In one Of these
streams l recall trying TO thrust the blade
of n knife into the jet of water. In AN in
slant the blade was wrcnchcd from the
handle. Then ] tried a cold chisel, hut
the chisel followed the knife-blade and
carried one of my finger nails with IL.
At one Of the mines near Dutch Flat
there was a hydraulic apparatus of more
than ordinary dimensions. The head Of
water was about go feet and the water,
conducted 90 the nozzle through two six
teen-inch pipes. was discharged from n
ten-inch tip. The action of this Jet was
one of the most impressive sights I have
ever witnessed. The water. issuing from
the nozzle with a hiss like steam, struck
against the bank with "A oar that could be
n mile away. Huge masses of
gravel seemed almost TO melt
away under the terrific impact.
Many "A time | have seen a pipenian
turn a nozzle against a mass Of rock
weighing half a ton, and the Irresistible
stream would whirl IL along as though ID
were "A child's marble. When the water
was played upon a bank Of cement one
might almost imagine a shell from a ten
inch gun undergoing AN explosion that
was continuous in its effect. Masses of
gravel flew In every direction under the
careless bombardniput, and in "A few
minutes the lower part of the bank would
be cut away. The bank would o be-
come top-heavy and 10y and 10y a hundred
q or more OF gravel would come
tumbling down with "A momentum tina,
crumbled IL almost into powder.
Against this detritus the pipeman would
turn the water and In a few hours nothing
would he left except houldcrs that were
too large To be carried into the sluiccs.
The stream from "a Of these nozzlcs will
remove as much earth in one working
day as 100 men Fan handle, and il will
wash more pay dirt IN the same length of
time han 10,OO men could work ia the
old-fashioned rockers.
One day business called me Ia the mine
i have just described, aud during the
morning strollcd over to the sceue of
operation. There were about forty men
i'm the day shift and Buck Wentworth was
piping down gravel for the boys in a lively
manner. Buck had just moved his ma.
chinery 10 within twenty-five feet Of the
usually hard cement. In doing this he
had turned the pipe AT its joint until the
water must make "A very sharp angle he
fore emerging from the nozzle.
Had the nozzle been properly fastened
there would have been no danger, but urI-
fortunately the careless workman that set
the anchor pins had not set them firmly,
nor had he weighted the frame bed with
sufficient ballast. His carelessness, how
ever. was the price Of his life. for without
warning "A water hammer caused 10y an
obstruction AT the reservoir. loosened the
frame bed and the nozzle AT once began
to 'buck" or sway back aud forth i'm a
that BODIED no good.
The men scattered as best they could.
but unfortunately there was no way Ia get
out of reach Of the stream except by
climbing over a pile ot b~owlders. and this
meant almost certain death, for every
few seconds the stream would strike the
pile and scatter "A pile Of stones around
ms In a peculiarly threatening manner.
Buck and ! made several attempts To- cap
ture the swaying pipe, but onc might as
well nave tried To hold down "A cyclone.
The pipe swept up eightor 10 square yards
tnon m rock nile.