Evening star., 1896-09-12


IL now little more than lot Of rocks. 1t is
put into the steel cars, raised to the surface
and carried in wagons to immense frame
buildings further down the mountain. First
1t is run through crusher, which chews
the rocks between its teeth, until they be-
come no larger than pebbles. and fits them
for the dryer. The ore as 1t comes from
the mine Is wet, and the drying is done by
means of an immense iron cylinder. about
100 feet long, through which Q stream of
fire runs. The cylinder Is inclined at q
short angle. The ore Is put in at the top,
and as 1t slowly revolves the pebbles of
silver ore rolled over and over until they
come to the lower end perfectly dried by
the flames. The ore as II comes from the
dryer looks much like gravel. 1t must be
made much finer. This is done by means
of stamps. each Of which weighs 80 pounds.
and which drops on the gravel at the rate
Of ninety-two times per minute. This
pounding reduces the gravel to dust, and IT
soon becomes a flour. 1t is now mixed with
salt by means of machinery. and then car
ried by an elevator, made like that which
carries the four in a mill, to the top OF q
furnace and dropped into the flames. This
furnace Is SO arranged that the ore dust
mixed with salt falls down in millions of
tiny dust-like particles. The furnace Is 80
feet deep. 1t Is filled with flames and 1t is
kept at such heat that the ore is roasted,
but not melted. by the time 1t falls to the
chemical action by which the ore has been
changed from a sulphide to a chloride Of
silver, the only form in wrich It can be
acted upon by the mercury. which is to
SUCK the silver out Of the rock. After fall
ing to the bottom the ore is drawn from
the furnace and piled up on the floor out
side. and left there for about twenty hours
during which this chemical action is per-
fected. When / entered the furnace room
/ saw perhaps a dozen Of these great piles
of ore. They did not seem to be hot and
they looked for all the world like piles of
sond. They appeared, indeed, so inviting
that boy-like, / was tempted to jump in
to them. The manager, however pulled
me back and. handing me long handled
shovel. told me to stir the sand. / did so,
and saw that 1t was red-hot ore. Putting
your finger into 1t would be like sticking
1t into molten lead. The yellow crust was
OF the thickness of paper, while all beneath
was Of the temperature Of the Shadrach,
Meschach and Abednego furnace.
The Wonders of Quick.ilver.
After the silver-bearing sand has thus
lain for twenty hours 1t Is ready for its
marriage to the quicksilver. The union
Of the two metals makes me think Of the
prince who broke through the hedge and
kissed into life the princess who had been
sleeping for a hundred years. 1t is the
quicksilver prince in fact, who kisses the
sleeping silver-ore maiden into life and
carries her away from the palace of rock
in which she has been locked for ages.
After the sand has cooled 1t Is carried into
what Is known the pan room, and Is
thr :st into great pans OF iron, each OF
which holds about 5000 pounds. Water is
introduced and the pans seem filled with
thick brown mush. Now into each of them
through a little pipe is poured 800 pounds
of quicksilver, and stirring machinery is
set to work which moves about through
the orc, mixing the quicksilver with IT.
The sand was warm and the quicksilver by
the warmth becomes active, and by the
mixing divides into globues the size Of the
point Of pin or needle. The mixers shove
these about at the rate of sixty revolutions
a minute and send these little globules
flying about through the sand. AS they go
they seek out the particles Of silver. They
seem to become alive, and each giobule
which touches an atom Of silver embraces
1t. and with amorous lips sucks 1t out OF
the sand. This travelling Of the globules of
quicksilver is kept up for eight hours. at
the end Of which time all Of the silver in
the sand has come into contact with and
been absorbed by the quicksilver.
The two metals have united, and the
marriage Is complete. The quicksilver Is
now taken out Of the sand by drawing the
sand and quicksilver into a big tub. known
as the settler, and running cold water upon
it. As the cold water touches the mush 1t
congcals the quicksilver. The little glob-
ules run together, and having grown heavy
finally fall to the bottom. More cold water
Is put In to wash off the sand. and in four
hours the sand has all gone, and you have
bucket full or so Of quicksilver. con-
tanning the silver This is drawn Off into
cone-shaped amalgam sacks Of canvass, the
meshes Of which are so small that the sill
yer cannot go through them. Much of the
quicksilver drains out and that which Is
left Is thick, pasty amalgam, containing
the silver
D1EOrcfng the Quicksilver From the
Silver.
Dat
urfted together. The marriage was all
right. The next question is to get them
apart. The marriage was by water The
divorce is by fire. The quicksilver and sill
yer amalgam ia now taken to a furnace
room where there are six great retort..
Each retort 10 Of cast iron. It il q
great iron pipe fourteen inches in diameter
and about six feet long. 1t will hold 2 400
pounds Of quicksilver or about a washtub
full of this amalgam. This much ama.gam
has 4Oo pounds OF pure silver. 1t Is carried
In wheelbarrow into the furnace room,
and the precious stun is shoveled into the
retort with what looks much like a fire
shovel The retort is now tightly stopped
up so that not even the vapor can escape,
except by means of a pipe at one end Of it.
The fire is made hotter and hotter. until at
last the quicksilver, which vaporizes at 20O
degrees, goes Off in the form of steam or
vspor. 1t flows away into the pipe. and is
SohueHSeo Aui taei oh ny tie cooi water
passing over the pipe. 1t then flows of
into a reservoir outside the furnace. and
is ready for second chase after other
silver maidens in the pan room. The pure
silver does not vaporize at all. After :he
quicksilver has left 1t it melts, and whe:
the retort Is allowed to cool IL is found II
the bottom, looking for all the world like
piece Of old plank covered with ashes.
II is silver Stag or impure silver bullion.
l. Is now broken up into pieces, remelted
In a smaller furnace and cast into bars. 1t
is not yet ready for the market, but must
first be shipped to refining furnaces in
other parts Of the country, where by
means Of chemicals 1t Is made pure and
ready to go to the mint 20 become silver
dollars. FRANK G. CARPENTER.
The Report L. True.
not- Eroa