The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-06-06
confluence Of those rivers, much .he
larger quantity from the Upper Della

larger quantity from the Upper Della
ware.
That the gold in the clay and gravel
under Philadelphia Is a wash is demOn-
strated by the fact that at places on the
west side of the Delaware, both above
and below the city, an expert with
miners pan can extract gold from the
sand and the gravel, and in a majority
Of trials produce more than a Color"
At Bridesburg native gold in scales can
readily be obtained by an expert "pan-
ner," and at various points it has been
demonstrated that fair placer miner
with pan Of the usual size Containing
when heaped up about one-third of
cubic foot) can make by that plain and
crude method from 30 to So cents per
day.
If the party that had the removal of
the islands in the Delaware opposite
your city had taken the trouble Of pass
ing the material from the steam SHOW
els through gold saving machinery they
would have had q much larger bal
ance to the credit side of the account.
That nearly all. IL not all, the gold
under Philadelphia came. from the
north or northwest is partly verified by
the finding Of gold in, ferruginous
Quartz and pyrite in Franconia town
ship. Montgomery county. and on
Penn's Mount, back Of Reading: also
in copper pyrites near Phoenixville,
and In ores at the Gap mine; also in
the galenite Of New Britain, Bucks
county. Native gold, visible to the eve,
has also been found in quartz rocks in
the mountains northeast of Reading.
A few years ago rock mining for gold
was not profitable, unless containing "a
or more per ton, and, If the ore were re-
fractory, some mines could not be made
to pay expenses where the gold yield
exceeded $40 per ton. That era has
passed. With improved methods, bet
ter machinery and the discoveries of
chemical science numerous gold mines
are now paying handsome dividends
where the average yield is less than 50
In gold per ton, and the material more
or less difficult of reduction. At the
present rate of progress it may not be
long before the known gold veins Of
Pennsylvania will be utilized and that
part of the state lying east Of the Alle-
ghenies become q recognized factor in
the gold-producing areas of the world
AS evidence Of this 1t was shown by
official reports Of well-known Ameri-
can mines that In 1892 hard free milling
gold ores were mined and milled at $125
per ton, and in 1896. at the same mines,
the cost Is less than $l-varying from So
cents to so cents per ton. Within the
last six months ores have been brought
to my Office for analysis from Lancaster,
York, Dauphin and Cumberland coun-
ties, and the precious metals, gold and
silver contained therein found to aver
age about 81. The mining was evident
ly done by non-eXperts and in ma jor-
ity of cases the ore had been taken out
in a hit-or-miss manner. In one in
stance-the ore coming from Manches-
ter, York county-some pieces contained
absolutely no metal, but the whole av-
eraged 0.02 OF. gold, equal to AZ cents
per ton, and 0.35 o. silver. equal to "a
cents per ton, or the whole product 66
cents per ton, counting silver at 67
cents per ounce. The ores from Cum
berland, Dauphin and Lancaster proved
to be better.
Valuable minerals are now frequently
found in Pennsylvania in unexpected
places, in various ways Several years
ago party was digging a deep pit in
q yard on North Sixth street, above
Herr, in Harrisburg, and struck a body
of argentiferous galena that carried
silver and lead, and think little gold,
ha M in, 1,,a t, t,,
ton. This vein undoubtedly passes un-
derneath the most populous part Of
Harrisburg, and at one place within a
stones throw of the state capitol
grounds. Little attention was paid to
the find at the time, beyond the pit
diggers calling the attention of few
passers-by to the shiny STUFF in the
rock, one of whom happened to have
some knowledge Of mineralogy and not
ed the spot.
A few years ago man in Freytown
(now part of York; was digging a well
and threw out over ton of lead ore.
He gave away to friends. but had no
analysis made until recently. Re-
suit: Silver. 1.S7 ounces, per ton, equal,
at 6S cents per ounce, to $1.27; lead,
71.S6 per cent, at 2-10 cents per pound,
$45. .99, or total value of s47.26 per ton.
No gold was found in the galena anal
yzed. The richest vein matter Is about
two inches thick with an almost ver-
tical pitch. and material on each side
containing ore to thickness Of nearly
two feet. This vein has been traced this
year from point near Chickles, in Lam
caster county, to south Of Hanover,