The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-07-18
REDUCING A GOLD BRICK.
Not the Kind That the Farmers Buy OF
Strangers, but the Other Kind.
From the st. Louis Republic.


From the ST. Louis Republic
About O'Clock Friday morning two
mon entered the Mitchell building, on
Third street. and, getting into the elevator
mounted to the sixth floor. and went
straight TO the rooms of the United States
assay office. One of them carried in his
hands bundle the size of q thin brick
wrapped in paper He laid 1t down on the
counter in the office and slowly unwrapped
the bundle. Ii was gold brick. Although
to an ordinary mortal It's sudden unwilling
might have caused some surprise, the
clerks face betrayed no change. He
simply took the bullion, and, stepping
across the floor, placed ii in one Of the pans
of large pair Of scales. Then he closed
the office windows and placed some weights
i ! the other. When 1t balanced nicely he
went to his desk, took out a blank form and
wrote to the effect that 400 ounces of gold
bullion had been received from the st.
Louis smelling and refining works by the
United States assay office to be assaYed ,
This was signed by Z. @. Jewett, the esssyer
in charge and the men went away. This is
the first step the government takes toward
obtaining precious metal for coming pur-
poses.
1t S extremely interesting to follow this
process of assaying through all the steps
until the value Of the gold is determined and
the governments cheek given for it Through
the kindness of Assayer Jewett Republic
reporter was allowed TO witness it.
While Clerk Rex was filing out the receipt
MIR. Jewett explained the mar velous delicaoy
| of the scales. Their Weighing capacity is
B 900 ounces, and it is possible to indicate by
| them difference in weight of one Rramme.
To illustrate so that this may be easily
grasped, two heavy men could be placed in
one of the pans, and by removing pin
from the coat of one Of them balance would
be changed. Still, it would be difficult to
obtain the exact weight Of the men owing
| TO the constant change Ia mems bodies by
perspiration and other causes.
After the bullion's weight was determined
on these scales it was taken to the furnace
room and placed in black lead cruolble
| This was set on a friedrich resting on
CRATE and fire built around it. The fuel
used is a mixture of anthracite coal and
charcoal After an hours melting, during
which time it was frequently stirred with
a plumbago poker, to which gold does not
cling; sample OF the metal was dipped out
with an ordinary clay pipe and poured into
small mold. The assay is made from
this, as it takes 80 much longer for the
larger quantity to cool. A piece OF the
sample was out OFF, pounded aud then rolled
through a roller of tool steel, looking
something like clothes wringer. to make
4 u
German who aids the assayer in his work,
handed the thin golden strip to him, and
then went back TO the furnace room 30
pour out the molten Thousands into the big
mold.
Mr.. Jewett cut the strip into small pieces,
and then, forming little lead cornucopias of
uniform weight dropped into two Of them
500 milligrammes tone-sixtieth of an ounce
of accurately weighed gold to be assayed.
Into two others he put the same quantity
OF absolutely pure gold. Enough silver
was then added to make the proportion of
silver to gold to l, as this proportion is
necessary 10 order that the gold should sep
arate from the silver whom boiled in nitric
acid.
There is In all gold certain amount of
silver, and it is owing to its presence and
certain other foreign substances that the
color of gold varies. The idea that gold
found in California or Australia Is of such
color because found there ia mistaken one.
After the silver had been added the
leaden cornucopias were squeezed up and
each one placed Ia what is called cupel
A cupel is q little cup made of sheep bones
burned to ash, ground fine, moistened and
nodded into a mold an inch long, an inch IN
dia neter, with a cup-shaped depression at
one end. The cupels were placed in q small
furnace. with a temperature at about
1,l00' centigrade, and when heated to a
NnlLe neat Lno lltCie metal Cluuk6 were
laid, by the aid OF tongs, one In each oupel.
They melted, sputtered and dubbed, and
then began to grow smaller. In about ten
minutes they we're taken out and all the
| lead and foreign substances had been alb
sorbed by the cupel. leaving only the noble
| metals In little ronnd balls. When these
were boiled in nitric acid the silver passed
into nitrate Of silver and the gold was left
Ia its pure state. By this was found the
| ratio of pure gold in the bullion
The weighings of pure gold are used as a
check to any peculiar conditions of beat
etc. The assayer knows the constitution
weight and specific gravity OF the pure gold
used When it is weighed after the heat
ing process, IL il has changed weight it is
| fair to suppose that 1t Is owing to the cons
| ditions Of heat or strength Of acid, and