The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1893-12-06
STEAMBOAT MINING.
Rich Returns Of Cod from the
Bed OF Snake River.
A Sos,sI nezns Of Working the Bars OF
Idaho's Grest WaterSay-The Colo
Caught on Copper Plates with
OulckslIYer.


Frtrsra~ant stories are told about
The wealth Of gold sPrinkled through
out the snake river country IN Idaho
Aga general thing, says the Helena
Inseosadent, the gold Is very Ane, the
uzrtieles being Of 50 light weight ss %
h eIusire. save when worked on
large scale II IS difficult 70 make good
z-ares n recovering the gold AumeT-
ms fsrs along the river would prove
7,-astable could water be commanded
- sluieiu- OF hvdraulicing. An sde-
quate supply Is hard 70 Obtain, on &C
count Of the slight and gradual iail OF
the stream and the level character OF
e. outlving lands To overcome this
F.clr NJ water As well as insure suizi-
cont dumping ground. = big floating
s-.ls-savfng 6redge has been con
st-neted and IS now al work on the
Idaho bank Of the Snake river about
ten niles above PaYette-
Ttwa stern-wheel fatbOat propelled
bv steam. Substantially constructed,
sixtv-fre feet long and twenty-five
feet wide. il Is equipped with thirty
five horse power marine engine and
boiler and adapted II every way Tor
navigating Idaho's great waterway
With a slight alteration il could be
Transformed into a steam dredRe and
us.d 70 scoop up sand and gravel from
tie bottom % the stream That has
never been attempted As IN the past,
operations are now confined 20 WORK
ing bars ont Of the bed or channel OF
the river. The method pursued IS 20
anchor alongside one Of these gravel
deposits and by the use Of scrapers
hiring the material 70 be handled with
in the reach of the gold-washing ma
chfner- with which the craft IS rigged-
The gravel Is soOoPed up by buckets
attached 10 an endless chain. There
are fortv-eight Of these receptaeles on
a belt sixty feet in length and each
has a capacity Of about twenty pounds
Il dirt. which Is delivered into hop
uer. This IS also an agitator, and the
process employed may be described as
a team rocker. with the exception that
II has an end motion instead Of one
siaewise. The gold IS caught on cop
rer mates with quicksilver The taxi
ms are carried OF in sl1iee boxes By
+ha force OF a strean Of water OF one
hundred and fifty mineral inches, sup
pi;ed bv 4 China pump, run by the en-
zine which drives all the other ma
chinerv. The gravel Is worked 50
thoroughly that no gold escapes IN the
t-ilinrs that are dumped into the riv-
er. An average OF one hundred tons ot
gravel are daily handled, and for this
work three men are enPloyed-an en-
rineer. one TO work the scraper, and
another one who shovels the dirt into
nile 50 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 OF. close to the surface and
wiz not pay 70 handle 70 a greater
depth than one foot 10 eighteen inches,
This sbo--s a value Of one and one-half
70 three cents a pan A cleanup Is
made every night, and the average Of
the runs for the first three days was
very satisfactory 10 the owner OF the
craft. he says he expects 10 take out
upward Of one hundred dollars day
az long as he works, which VIII be IN
III cold weather sets in When he has
rone over the bar which now engages
his attention he viii tackle another