The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-08-20
COMING JEWELRY.
ONE or THE MANY SECRETS or THE
PAWNRRokERs' TRADE.

r." E ID" .EH@@E %SEEe& #EMEE&3&
A Little Dark Room I'm the Rear os ! b
cage loan OHice, Where AEany Golden
Heirlooms Are Melted and Cast Into Bars
which Are Traded For Good Coin.
Looks funny, doesn't it2 All the
same there are a dozen Of those ma.
chimes going at least ono q week In this
city that the public never heard about
before. When you understand ii, you
will be able TO tell your friends what
becomes Of the gold and silver they
leave with their uncle and v re-
deem. On the dead now, Nhit give
me away, and ! will tell you some of
the secrets Of the pawnbrokers' trade
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 lis per
cent of all articles placed In shock
are never called for. Then often gold
and silver are purchased outright by
the pennyweight or ounce and Ia one
way or another q 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 all the cases In the
counters and show windows, and the
old material goes into new golden eagles,
with UnoAe 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 q peculiar contriv-
ance looking like a 6 inch tile stood
ON end, with q brass barrel covered with
pipes by its side. A copper pan. some
iron tools and some bowls that looked
like common fiowerpots lay ON the floor.
"This copper barrel, = said the pro-
prietor, lis 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 1t viii make a
strong blast. These pots are crucibles.
Into the furnace we place the crucible;
into the crucible goes the gold. Hot,
isn't it? So hot that we are compelled
to wear colored glasses TO SEQ what's
going ON. But that's nothing to the way
the thing is done in Uncle Sans fur
naces. Now, here goes TO I'LL the cruel
| BILE"
Into the stone jar went gold watch
cases and chains with family histories,
crests Rqd initials, souvenir spoons and
breastYaans Of forgotten dates, rings that
could have spoken of wedding bells and
birthdays in the long ago, golden
charms, scarfpins with the jewels re-
moved and odds and ends collected in q
weeks trade. The estimated value of
the hatfnl OF stock was 81, 600 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 b sickiy
smell of naphtha, the noise Of the blast
and the glittering whiteness Of the cru
cible.
To get q closer look at the melting
gold q 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 coarser metal would be seen
struggling TO the surface only 10 sink
back into the yellow gold now turn
ed to fluid. The broker lifted the cruci-
BILE ont Of the furnace and poured It's
white hot contents into am iron mold
The mold rested in O pan of water. All
the gold settled into the mold, and the
borax, turning black as it hit the water,
staid ON top. In d few minutes the
borax was knocked of 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.
I'VE do this once o week." said the
proprietor as he shut of the valve TO the
naphtha barrel. From here the bars go
to Washington by express. Before It's
value Is returned we will pay out near
" "a on 81, 900. At Uncle Sans works
the bar win be remelted by a fercer
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't fool the govern
ment for o 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 ont Of date orna-
ment comes back in new coin OF the
realm. Over $500, 900 worth Of gold
bars is annually sent from Chicago bro
kers In this way, and not n person in
10, 600 ever sees how the melting Ii
done. OF course many gold coins are
made into jewelry and In Of time
are sent back through our crucibles once
more. This is ON account 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 les weight In the crucible with Q
profit deducted. This profit may be 9
or it may be 10 per cent. a chain
weighing SO worth Of gold we buy for
So. 30 or some less. The 81. so lii for
r~rnk Anulfsrw ar1 %ha rick Vas &kes