Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-01-09
pound of gold even is found to 100 pools
stalking on a Claim.


be worked TO some extent, or it is forfeited
TO the crown. me owner, however, may
sell II If ne Pleases, but II must not remain
idle.
Ina latter part OF the third days jour-
ney to the Inlnes was made on horseback
through TINS uenSe forest over one of the
most rugged aid broken bride paths 1
have ever lad occasion 10 follow. This
pain is used Oily LII summer when the rap
ids iii the river render the waterway I'M
passabie. During the winter all transport
Is mace over Inc frozei, surface of the
river we reached our uestIAation just at
dusk without any serious misnap.
Was Treated eaily TIE next morning to
ali inspection of the workI..S of mines.
1 was surprised .i--u 40 underground
work going Oh, no di+aL.S Of holes anu
Sending up 10 eartu washed; but the
whu-e surface nao oeen i.Id bare and cut
into a series OF TERRACES. There were q
number OF primitive carts urdWn by Siber-
Ian horses and meD win pickaxes and
shovels Hing .nem. Tine extraction of the
aurlferous Said lii heariy all the mines of
siberia Is Conducted l.. t.lIs simple manner
by means OF these i'm li, men.S Explosives
are used only in the Oien i.i,!isk Mining re-
gion OF eastern Siberia. When full, the
carts were drawn up an incline to a plat
form ana emptied into one end of large
IRON cylinder resembling a coffee rooster,
with holes all around IL.
rms was made 10 rotate by water pow
en- ana the large stones and pebbles were,
by the formation and turning of the cylin-
der, tumbled out at the end. Here tney
were duly watched so that no nuggets
should be overlooked.
In order that l might see how the gold
was washed, my host caused some of the
sand which had passed through the differ
entlatlnS process to be emptied onto an in
cllned plane of clean wood, raised at either
end, and over which ran equally and slow
Iy a stream Of clear water. The mud was
soon washed away. the man who perform
ed the washing having a wooden scrape
IKE tnat OF scavenger, with which he
pushed back the grains of gold. This was
repeated till about 2OU pounds of washed
earth had been placed On the board. After
the mud and sand had been allowed to roll
away, brush was used instead of the
scraper, and there remained behind per-
maps small teaspoOnful of gold dust or
as much as was roughly valued at from SO
10 Sl5 The gold was then placed in a min
iature frying pan and held over a small fire
to dry.
Novelty In Transporting Gold.
The gold thus gained is eventually pour
ed into bags of coarse linen, which, after
having been stamped with the brand of
the mine. are sewn in leather sacks. Each
bag contains about fifty pounds of gold
ana Two OF them constitute load for one
horse To the two bags are fastened a
large cord ard piece of dry wood so that
IN the event, of the horses burdens baine
washed away while crossing a swojia1
river, the floating wood will indicate tie
whereabouts of the sunken treasure In
the middle of June, or at the end Of the
season, the departure of loads of gold
from the mine is accompanied with nistoi
hrins ana the booming of cannon and
cheers and blessings bid the caravan hon
voyage. ~ "o'A
All gold obtained by private individua1s
IN Siberia has to be sent by them 10 The
government smelling houses. of which
tnere are two. one for western Siberia al
Iomsk, and one for eastern Siberia at
Irkutsk. The gold is there smelted and its
Gesree of purity determined by ASSAY. The
metal Is then forwarded to the ST. Peters,
Durs mint 10 be converted into money and
the GOLD merchant is given bills of credit
OF assiSnatS, payable in six months In gold
or silver coin or gold ingots These bills
may be cashed at the government bank al
discount OF Z per cent per annum Thus
an the gold found in the country is claim
60 Dy the government, and it Is unlawful
1or any person to have gold dust in his
possession unknown to the authorities.
me exploitation of gold over the whole
OF Russia Is carried on upon the basis of
the statute of the private gold Industry.
published in 1870. According to this stat
ute the gold miners working upon proprie-
tary lands pay tax upon the yield Of
pure gold to the government. The gold
miners In the Oleminsk region as the rich
est, pay 10 per cent: In the province of the
Amoor, 8 per cent: in all the remaining
parts OF Siberia and European Russia, 5
per cent.
Present State and Prospect of Gold
inning.
AS yet there has been no attempt to ex-
tract Veinous or quartz gold In Siberia ex-
cept in the Yensei region and that in very
small Quantities. The method of extrac-
ton used was extremely imperfect and a
large amount Of gold was lost Some ex-
periments have been made to apply chem
ical processes for the treatment Of the gold
ores at one OF the deposits in the Trans
baikal province, but they have not been at
all successful.
In general the chief hindrance to the
development of the exploitation of yeinous
gold in Siberia Is the absence of mec hanicaI
works where the necessary machines could
be constructed and repaired, as at present
such machines have to be brought from
the Urals at great cost. In this particu-
lar the completion of the Trans Siberian
railway will no doubt have an immediate
and effective influence upon the Siberian
gold mining industry. An extended applica-
ton of the chlorine methods of treatment
in Siberia has also been hindered by the
cost of me materials requisite for the pro-
dIction of chlorine from bleaching powder
OF all the methods of extrao ton of gold
that by means of electrolysis would, it
seems 10 me, be the most practica as the
use of the turbines, which Is already be-
ginning at many OF the Siberian gold
mines, would give the possibility of hav-
ing a mechanical motor during the whole
year ard of thus treating a sufficient
amount of ore to bring in a profit.
In concluding this cursory sketch of the
SIBERIAN gold mining Industry l would refer
only briefly to the vast influence 1t Is al
ready exerting upon Siberia in general and
upon its large towns in particular.
Beyond the 10000 miners employed at the
mines themselves, the Siberian gold in
dustry gives occupation to a considerable
population in the transport of goods to the
mines and other auxiliary works. Indeed.
1t Indirectly aids the development Of agri-
culture in the neighboring districts, and
presents a profitable market for their pro-
duce.
In the East Siberian gold fields alone
the wages derived directly from the mines
amounted to s5.OO0,O0o, and the cost of the
chief articles consumed was over 5000 900.
These figures give an excellent idea Of how
vast an amount of money the gold industry
distributes over the entire region and how
it supports its population. trade and in
dustry. THOMAS G. ALLEN, Jr.
Carol singers.
Phil Nay in London Punch.