The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-11-08
GOLD MINING WITH A STEAM
BOAT.
Getting Metal at the Rate of 800 a
Day From the Bed of RIVER.
From the Helena Independent.

from the Helena independent
Extravagant stories are told about the
wealth of gold sprinlfled throughout the
Snake River country in Idaho. AS gen
eral thing the gold is very fine, the par
ticles being of so light weight as to be
elusive. Save when worked on large
scale it is difficult to make good wages in
recovering the gold. Numerous bars
along the river would prove profitable
could water be commanded for sluicing or
hydraulicing. An adequate supply is
hard to obtain, on account of the slight
and gradual fall of the stream and the
level character of the outlying lands To
overcome this lack of water as well as
insure sufficient dumping ground, big
floating, gold-saving dredge has been CON
structed, and is now at work on the Ida
no bank of the Snake river about ten
miles above Payette.
1t is a stern wheel hatboat propelled
by steam. Substantially constructed, 90
feet long and % feet wide, it is equipped
with a 35-horse power marine engine and
boiler and adapted in every way for navi-
eating Idaho's great waterway. With a
slight alteration 1T could be transformed
into a steam dredge and used to scoop up
sand and gravel from the bottom of the
stream. That has never been attempted
AS in the past, operations are now con-
uuGu 10 WOThlDg OARS OuL OF the ped or
cOannel of the river The method pur-
sued is to anchor alongside one of these
gravel deposits and by the use of scrap
pers bring the material to be handled
within the reach of the gold-washing ma
chinery with which the craft is rugged
The gravel is scooped up by buckets at
tached to an endless chain. There are
fOrty-eiRht of these receptacles on a belt
sixty feet in length and each hasa capacity
nj a hoIrt Yaorpds Of ainf 4, ~
delivered into hopper. This is also an ag-
itator, and the process employed may be
described as a steam rocker, with the ex-
ception that it has an end motion instead
of one sidewise. The gold is caught on
copper plates with quicksilver. The tail
ings are carried of IN sluice boxes by the
force of a stream of water OF $50 mineral
inches, supplied by a China pump, run by
the engine which drives all the other ma
chinery. The gravel is worked so thor
oughly that no gold escapes in the tail
iDgs that are dumped into the river An
average of 100 tons OF gravel are daily
handled, and for this work three men
are employed-an engineer, one 20 work
the scraper, and another one who shoyels
the dirt into a pile so that the buckets
can scoop up a full load
The bar now being worked covers an
area Of ten to fifteen acres. The gold is
on top or close 20 the surface, and will
not pay to handle TO a greater depth than
one foot to eighteen inches. This shows
a value of ~ to 3 cents pan A clean
up is made every night, and the average
of the runs for the first three DAYS was
very satisfactory 10 Thornton Williams,
the owner Of the craft He SAYS he ex-
poets to take out upward of 800 day as
long as he works, which win be until cold
weather sets in. When he has gone over
the bar which now engages mis- attention
he will tackle another.