The Washington times., 1894-05-20
TRICKS OF UNCLE'S TRADE
How PawnbrOkers Get Coin from Old
Gold and Silver.
MACHINES FOR THE PURPOSE
They Are Used Once Week, After Which
Your Uncle Ships Millions to His Uncle
sam-Extent of This Profitable Business
in Chicago-Kow 1t Is Done.

there are dozen OF those macnlneS going
at least once a week in this city," says the
Chicago Tribune, ''that the public never heard
about before. When you understand 1t you
will be able to tell your friends what becomes
of the gold and silver they leave with their
uncle and never redeem. 'On the dead,
now; don't give me away and will tell you
some of the secrets OF the pawnbrokers'
trade
The remark was made in little dark room
in the rear OF one of the big loan offices not
far from Madison and Dearborn streets. The
proprietor went on to say the reports show
that 10 to is per cent. of all articles placed in
"hock' is never called for. Then often gold
and silver is purchased outright by the penny
weight or ounce, and in one way or another
large amount of the precious metals is ac-
cumulated. To turn old-style goods into
ready cash is a problem that confronts the
loan broker. Bankrupt stocks OF new design
and fresh goods I'll 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. reached
ulleT setting utll Il upZtu tItctrlC kO>
ing and the pressing Of numerous buttons,
was peculiar contrivan"e looking like six
inch tile stood on end with a brass barrel COW
cred with pipes by its side. A copper pan,
some iron tools. and some pots that looked
like common flower pots lay on the floor.
This copper barrel" said the proprietor,
.is filed with naphtha; these pipes lead to
this tile or furnace; this handle here is for the
forcing of air behind the naphtha so it will
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 see what's going on. But that's
nothing to the way the thing is done in Uncle
Sans furnaces. Now here goes to fill the
crucible.'
Into the stone jar went gold watch cases
and chains with family histories, crests and
initials, souvenir spoons and breastpins Of
forgotten dates. rings that could have spoken
of wedding bells and birthdays in the long
ago. golden charms. scarf pins with the jew
els removed. and odds and ends collected in
4 weeks trade. The estimated value OF the
hatiul OF stock was 81 900 in pure gold. Into
the melting collection went n lot OF borax.
This was TO make the gold flow when suffi-
GENTLY melted. There was no smoke, nothing
but sickly smell of naphtha. the noise OF the
blast. and the glittering whiteness Of the
crucble
To get a closer look at the melting gold a
pair of green eyeglasses was furnished. As
the broker stirred the contents of the crrci-
ble with an iron poker black bubbles would
come TO the top. pieces OF coarser metal would
be seen struggling to the surface only to sink
back into the yellow gold now turned to fluid.
The broker lifted the crucible out of the fur
mace and poured its white hot contents into
an iron mold. The mold rested in pan OF
water All the gold settled into the mold,
k,r hvs
stayed on top. In few minutes the borax
was knocked of and out fell a bar of gold
weighing several pounds, eight inches long,
and probably three-fourths of an inch square.
After cleaning. the bar was laid aside for
shipment TO the Treasury.
s.We do this once a week." said the proprie-
tor as he shut off the valve to the naphtha
barrel. From here the bars go to Washing
ton by express. Before its value is returned
We will pay out nearly "a on $1,000 At
Uncle SANS works the bar will be remelted
by fiercer heat. Then the melted mass will
be poured into water, where it will form into
shot or pellets of gold, silver, and copper.
These pellets are then placed in acid and the
different metals separated. No. you can't
fool the government for a minute. Science
does the work in good shape. After this pro-
cess the Treasury ships gold eagles for the
gold and silver coin for the silver metal con-
tanned in the bar. So you see the old bat
tered watch case, broken chain, or out-of-
date ornament comes back in new coin OF the
realm.
"Over 100000 worth of gold bars is
annually sent from Chicago brokers in just
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 timesare 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? o,
yes, we figure all such things. An article
pawned means to us only its weight in the
crucible with the profit deducted. This profit
may be or it may be ~ per cent. A chain
weighing SO worth of gold We buy for So. so
or some less. The S1.50 is for profit. han
ding, and the risk. Yes. it's quite business,
and many family history has been told in
the golden heirlooms that have fallen into
loan brokers crucible.''