The Arizona sentinel., 1896-03-28
NUMBER 10.

A3SG9asg ygEE.Y EegyDE

as t comes from the shaft and aut0-
 matically dumped into the rock break
 er bin from which 1t gravitates to the
 mill ore bins from which the seiE
 feeders deliver 1t to the battery. To
 q stranger one phase of this is extreme.
 ly interesting This is the "g. lzzly y':--
 a cOntriyance whereby the line ore IS
 separated--run through bars-from the large rocks as it is raised from the shaft and the large ones are sent to
 the rock crusher from where it falls
 a powdered mass-into the ore bin.
 The capacity of this bfn Is 3G0 tons
 and the lifting capacity of the new
 hoist engines is GOO tons 300 feet per
 day. The self feeders which are
 automatically operated are mounted
 on rollers just behind the battery.
 This battery is a wonderful machine
 and resembles nothing so much as E 
 does gigantic church organ. There arc twenty pile drivers or stamps" as the miners call them and which would answer to the pipes in the organ. These work up and down falling upon what would be the keyboard in the organ. Each one weighs 1850 pounds, a total of 27000 pounds and each one drops 100 times minute. Not count. ing the momentum gained inits five inch fall this makes 2,7O0O00 pounds of bar steel dropping every minute upon forty pounds of the rock which is distributed along the keyboard by the self feeders, thus treating 70 tons of rock every 24 hours.
 All of this is accomplished by . 1OO-horse power engine, which is in turn operated by two 80horse power boilers, the water for which is brought through finch pipe from point in the Gila Valley l2 miles distant.
 To force the water 12 miles and up an elvation of 600 feet above the point of starting, compound double pumping engine and $22, 1000 was re- Quired. This is not yet completed and water is selling in Fortuna at $3 per barrel. In two weeks the. pumping plant will be finished and water will be supplied the residents at greatly reduced rates.
 But to return to the battery CT stamp mill. Each one of the pile drivers or stamps falls upon the rock as 1t comes from the bin and as it lies in little trough covered with water. the impact of 1850 pounds plus mo mentum force crushes it to a fine powder and splashes it-for it im- mixes with the water through fine wire screen and upon quicksilver coated plates. Those plates extend from what would the keyboard of the organ but what is the discharge" of the battery, 9 slo0ing feet to trough or trap from where 1t again runs over 9 more feet of plates before 1t is run into the taiIing pond. Between quicksilver and gold there IS chemical affinity and the gold being so much heavier then the particles of rock or of any other min 9ral that there may be in the solu- ton invariably falls to the bottom and is instantly seized and held by -he quicksilver. This is the reason .or covering the copper plates with that metal. The idea of having 1t 'un over two sets of these plates in stead of over one as in most mills is 0 avoid losing any fine particles that night be carried on wave crest and hus over the first set. The ''tailing pond" is where the refuse runs after his treatment.
 This Is all 1 saw and I 'an assure you that two eyes were most industriously used for the two lays. It is a pretty camp, prettily ituated. The men from the Super ntendent to the black smith or the cook are gentlemen and rarely have I lad a more enjoyable trip than the one l took few days ago over the dry wash to the camp among the foot nils of the Gilas.
 LEONARD FOWLER.