The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-07-10
RkDrCING 4 COLD BRICE.
Not the lsi ii thnt the Farmers Buy of Strnn-
GER, hut the Oihr" Kind.

About y o'clock FRIDAY morning two men en-
tered tho Mitchell building. on Third street.
and. getting into the elevator. IN ount"d to the
sixth floor. and went straight to the rooms 81
the United states Assay Office. One Of them
carried In his hands bundle the size OF n
thin brick. wrapped in paper He laid it down
on the counter IN the ofllce and slowly un-
wrapped the bundle. II was gold brick. AL
though to an ordinary mortal its sudden un.
yelling might have caused some surprise. tho
clerks face betrayed no change. He
simply took tn" bullion. and. stepping
across the floor. placed it in ono OF
the pans OF large rair II scales. Then he
we Veil. IN the R oho Whsn H bannssd n iS
he went to his desk. took out n blank form;
FULTON had been rSseiysd rom tho St. Louis suis
smelling and refining Works Mt the. United
f Sy 2aS tt tie. tie pss
tho Government takes toward Obtaining pre-
c!nus metal for coming purposes.
1t is extremely interesting, 70 follow this
process OF ass.yins through all the stops until
the Kindness of Assayer Jcwett Republic re-
rWST was sk 'Ms x wa wtnfs nf Il out the recent
Mr. Jcwett explained the marvellous delicacy
Of ot TIE scales Their weiGhiinf eaTacity is
them difference in weight of one, gramme.
To ILLUSTRATE SO that this may BE- Ca, ca55!y
EThsD"tl, TWO ncdNS men cpuIl be IIaEht Ill
the coat, Of one Of them the balance would be
the eSact weight OF the mon owing to the con- on.
stant change i'll mems bodies by perspration
After tho huion's weight was determined
on these scales twas taken to the furnace
5 IY, and placed in black lead crnribe;
CRATE and iire built around it,. The fuel used
Ia mixture Of anthracite coal and charcoal
Vas reanently STREE With nIumbaso pnEer.
to VIII irh gold does not cling.a sample OF the
metal WIS dippet out With AMI, an Ordinary HIM. clay
is made from this. as it takes SO much longer
for The larger quantity to COO. A piece Of the
through roller OF tool steel; looking some
thing like clothes wringer. to make it thin.
Who n aids tho assayer in his W"Fk handed tt"
thin golden strip to him. and then went back
K the r n t6 0on bir to out the molten
and then forming, little lead cornucopias- q
mlisrammes lone sXtieth OF az ounce, Of ac-
curate.Iy weighed gold to be nssayed; Into
lutely pure gold. Enough silver, was then,
added to make the proportion Of silver to gold
2to as thS propHTton is necessary in order ;
There is in all gold a certain amount OF sill
other foreign substances that tho color Of gold
varies. The idea that gold found in California
bT huhtTulu IS OF SucIl u COlOr UccuuS0 lOuDQ
After tho silver had been added the leaden
r2rn o i I we're snIeGzsd up ana each Gne
little cup made OF sheep bones burned to ash.
ground fine moistened. and moulded into a
cup-shaped depression at one end. The cupels
were placed IN a sm4l! furnace with temper;
when heated to- white neat the little metal
chunks were III Inil; hy the aid Of tongs, one in
blel. and then beyun smaller In
about ten minutes they were taken out and
all the lead and foreign substances had been
mea e bss When hese %sre
boiled in nitric acid the silver passed into
pure gold in the ulion
cheek TO any pcculiar conditions Of heat. &c.
Tho assayer knows the constitution. weight
Hh GsGS ErSSy Of the gold used
i it has changed weight. it Is fair to suppose
that it i owing to the conditions Of heat or
have been at work on the assay gold. BY al
lowing for this in tho assay gold u true result
The next step was to find the weight OF the
gold and silver together, The cad cornuco.
Eas were again filled with certain weights Of
When melted in the oupels the baser metals
disappeared as before, and the gold and silver
gold. the exact wsight Of the silver was OBJ
.hincu. N cpputSo' tne pIoportlon Is usuai!y
pay for extracting the Government does not
ray for it and charges nothing for extraction.
Tho entire amount OF gold In the bullion is
portion of the gold. This is reduced to standard
or coin Eo!d by multiplying this amount by
only 80 per, cent. fine. and the depositor is
paid BY tho Government $3.50 per ounce Of
The assay lee is one-cighth OF i per cent, Of
the total value Of fine gold. the melting fee liz
81. and tho alloy charge about one cent on II
hundred dollars. and after this is deducted the
assayer hands check to the owner OF the
gold The entire time occupied by this com
p!cated operation was from . A. NJ until / L.
NJ. only four hours.
RAYS UTy THR RHTD