Mower County transcript., 1894-09-12
COINING' > JE WELR
ONE OF THE MANY SECRETS oFsTtii
PAWNeRo RokERs, TRADE. & Il

ONEGCF&I6Ef MAlNY NYgSECHEI8sOfSTf
PANNsRso s okERs' I TRADE.
~ ~
A Little Dark Room n the Rear q : Chi OH
cago Loan Omos, Where Many Golden
Heirlooms Are Melted and Cast Into Bars
Which Arc Traded For Good Coin. II
Looks funny, doesn't it2 All the
same there are dozen Of those ma.
chimes going at least once aWeek In this
city that the public never heard about
before. When you understand it, you
will be able to tell your friends what
becomes Of the gold and silver they
leave with their uncle and never re-
deem. sOn the dead now, don't give
me away, and will tell yon some Of
the secrets of the paWnbrokers trade. a 4
The remark was made in q little dark
room in the rear Of one Of the big loan
offices not far from Madison and Dear
born streets. The proprietor went on to
say the reports show that 10 to 15 per
cent Of all articles placed il .'hock'"'. oe.ls' :.
are never called for. Then often gold
and silver are purchased outright BY
the pennyweight or ounce, and in one
way or another large amount Of the
precious metals is accumulated. To
turn old style goods into ready cash is
the problem that confronts the loan
broker. Bankrupt stocks Of new designs
and fresh goods fill the cases in the
counters and show windows, and the
old material goes into new golden eagles,
with Uncle Sans stamp upon them.
On the floor Of the back room, reach
ed after setting half a dozen electric
alarms going and the pressing of nu-
merous buttons, was a peculiar contriv.
ance looking like a 6 inch tile stood
on end, with brass barrel covered with
pipes by it's side A copper pan, some
iron tools and some bowls. that looked
like common fowerpots lay on the floor.
''This copper barrel, said the pro-
prietor, sis filled with naphtha- These
pipes lead to this tile or furnace. This
handle here is for the forcing of air be-
hind the naphtha SO it will make a
strong blast. These pots are crucibles.
Into the furnace we place the cruoible;
into the crucible goes the gold Hot,
isn't it? So hot that we are compelled
to wear colored glasses to see what's
going on. But that's nothing to the way
the thing is done in Uncle Sans fur
naces. Now, here goes to fill the oruci-
ble.'' ~ . .g.l@.. ,.-s:$
Into the stone jar went gold watch
cases and chains with family histories,
crests and initials, souvenir spoons and
- 1o%o r,ep hot
could have spoken Of wedding bells and
birthdays in the long ago, golden
charms, soarfpins with the jewels re-
moved and odds and ends collected in 9
weeks trade The estimated value Of
the hatful Of stock was 81, 900 in pure
gold Into the melting collection went q
lot of borax. This was to make the gold
flow when sufficiently melted. There
was no smoke, nothing but q siokly
smell of naphtha, the noise Of the blast
and the glittering whiteneas Of the cru.
chile. n5earsSs sz@z sf ,i Il
To get a closer look at the melting
gold a pair Of green eyeglasses was fur
nished. AS the broker stirred the con-
tents of the crucible with an iron poker
black bubbles would come to the top and
pieces of ooarser metal would be seen
struggling to the surface only to sink
back into the yellow gold now turn
ed to fluid. The broker lifted the oruoi-
BILE out of the furnace and poured its
white hot contents into an iron mold.
The mold rested in q pan Of water. All
the gold settled into the mold, and the
borax, turning black as it hit the water.
staid on top In few minutes the
borax was knocked off and out fell q
bar Of gold weighing several pounds,
eight inches long and probably three
fourths of an inch square. After clean
ing the bar was laid aside for shipment
to the treasury. r,at3its.<2 -. ;f.., :,s#5
"We do this once week." said the
proprietor as he shut of the valve to the
naphtha barrel 9 From here the bars 20
to Washington by express. Before it's
value is returned we will pay out near
ly 81 on 81, 900. At Uncle Sam works
the bar. will be remelted by flercer
heat. Then the melted mass will be
poured into. water, where it will form
into shot or pellets Of gold and silver
and copper. These pellets are then plac-
ed in acid and the different metals sep
arated. No, you can 7 fool the govern
ment for a minute. Science does the
work in good shape. After this process
the treasury ships gold eagles for the
gold and silver coin for the silver
metal contained in the bar. So, you
see, the old, battered watch case,
broken chain or out Of date orna-
ment comes back in new coin Of the
realm. Over $2o0, 900 worth Of gold
: bars is annually sent from Chicago bro
kers in this way, and not one person in
10000 ever sees how the melting is
done. Of course many gold coins are
made into jewelry and in course Of time
are sent back through our crucibl once
more. This Is on aoeount Of change Of
style in gold ornaments Of all kinds
which is constantly going on. Any
profit? Oh, yes We figure all such
things. An article pawned means to Us
only it's weight in the cruoible with a