The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-13
NNN0NNNO1G9p its

always pressing in, and without tim
bers the mine would not last for an
hour. The force is so great that it
sometimes grinds these great pine logs
many of which are as. large around
as your waist-to powder. Some Of the
hlghest-priced men employed in the
mines are those who take care of the
llmbers, who walk through the mine
daily looking out for weak spots The
best of timebr is required, and that
used in the Ontario mine comes from
the forests of Oregon.
A DYNAMITE EXPERIENCE.
And so we go along from tunnel to
tunnel. Now we climb into one of the
slopes and watch the men ut work
We have candles in our hands and we
crawl along almost bending double, the
water dripping down upon us. At last
we enter cave. Here a half dozen
miners are working. Some are taking
the ore out with picks Their wire
candlestlcks are stuck into the rocks
beside them as they dig away at the
pile OF stone, which has been blasted
out by dynamite. Some are loading
ore. They push it into the chutes with
long-handled Shoyels and we hear it
roll down and strike the iron bottom
of the car beneath. In other places
men are drilling in order to blast
They cut out holes by means of dia-
mond drills. compressed air furnishing
the force which turns them There
they have the work done and a half
dozen holes are ready for the explo-
sives. Note how carelessly the miner
seems to handle that dynamite! He
picks up one of those dynamite can
dies, cuts it in half with his knife and
slices it down at one end. He then
puts fuse as big around as a lead
pencil and about three feet long into
10 or I rt1L,o
die into the hole in the rock and fills
what is left of the hole with mud and
dirt, pounding it close in about the
fuse, handling his tools with great
care. A strike too hard might send
off the candle and blow him into eter-
nifty. Other holes are prepared In a
similar manner, and the charge is now
ready for lighting The miner hands
me the candle and tells me 10 start
the explosion. [ hang back a moment,
but finally consent and touch the can
die to the end of the fuses The pow
der at once begins to fiz and the
miners as well as ourselves run for
dear life. We get just around the cor
ner and into a chamber or Stope when
| there is an immense report. 1t is dull,
heavy and cannon-like. 1t blows out
our candles and following it we hear
the falling and crushing of ore. We go
back to the scene of the explosion.
The dynamite has torn the rock out
Of the earth and a great mass of sill
ver-bearing ore has been loosened from
the sides Of the mountain. AS we stop
the miners show us the vein. 1t runs
from six inches to forty feet In width,
the average being fifteen feet, and
the ore streaks ranging from two and
a half to three feet in width.
ONTARIO SILVER MILL.
But let us follow the ore to the mill.
1t is 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 it Is run through
crusher, which chews the rocks be-
tween its teeth, until they become no
larger than pebbles, and fits them for
the driver The ore as it comes from
the mine Is wet, and the drying is done
by means Of an immense iron cylinder,
about 100 feet long, through which a
stream of fire runs. The cylinder is
inclined at g. short angle. The ore Is
put in at the top, and as 1t slowly re-
wolves the pebbles of silver are rolled
over and over until they come to the
lower end, perfectly dried by the
flames. The ore as 1t comes from the
dryer looks much like gravel IT must
be made much finer. This is done by
|
$50 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
-four. 1t is now mixed with salt by
means of machinery, and then carried
by an elevator, made like that which
carries the -four in a mill, to the top
of furnace and dropped into the
flames. This furnace is so arranged
1 fha+ 1~rol II III.
down in millions Of tiny dust-like par
ticles The furnace is thirty nine feet
deep. 1t is filled with flames, and it is
kept at such a heat that the ore is
roasted, but not melted, by the time 1t
falls to the bottom. In falling the salt
brings about chemical action by
which the ore has been changed from
sulphide to a chloride Of silver, the
only form in which 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
outside, and left there for about TWEEN
ty hours, druing which this chemical
action is perfected. When I entered
the furnace room I 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 sand.
They appeared, indeed SO inviting
that boy-like, 1 was tempted to Jump
into them. The manager, however,
pulled me back. and. handingAme a
long-Eandled shovel, told me to stir
the sand. l did SO, and saw that it
was red-hot ore. Putting your finger
into it would be like sticking it into
molten lead. The yellow crust was of
the thickness of q Der, while ALI be-
meath was Of the temperature Of the
Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego
furnace.
WONDERS OF QUICKSILVER
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
100 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
I she has been locked for ages After
the sand has cooled it is carried into
what is known as the pan room, and IS
thrust into great pans of iron, each
of which holds about 5000 pounds.
Water is introduced and the pans seem
filed with thick brown mush. Now
into each of them through a little pipe
, is poured 300 pounds of quicksilver,
sud stirring machinery is set at work
Mich moves about through the ore,
mi$Ng the quicksilver with it, The
sand Ms warm and the quicksilver by
the Yae&1th becomes active, and by
the mi1\ divides into globules 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 globule