San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-11-11
MAKING GOLD BRICKS.
The Kind That Con5a ms the Genu-
inc Metal
How the Klondike Nuggets and Dust
Are Turned Into Convenient
Form for Handling in the
Market.

The bulk of the gold brought down by
the Portland was shipped away the
other day to San Francisco and Helena,
but considerable amount of it found
it's way into commercial channels of
this city through the process of melt
ing down into bars and its purchase by
the banks. All day long Joseph Mayer
was casting bricks, and the process was
as simple as that of the same applica-
ton to running off lot of plowshares
or firebacks for stoves, only indefinite
ly more interesting.
The casting was done in the shops
fronting on Cherry street, and during the
day about $4,000 was handled. In the
Second avenue window of the concern
was pen containing $1,000 worth of
dust and nuggets, and a curious crowd
passed around the yellow display until
it was finally removed, to be converted
into bright lump nine or ten inches
long, three-eighths of an inch thick,
and three inches wide. These pieces
We're worth 81 roo each.
The room. where all this casting was
| done was blistering hot. 1t was above
the main floor of the Wholesale depart
ment. The floor is covered with iron.
Along one side are canopies of iron that
look like the tops of bakers ovens.
These canopies may be closed in front,
and rest ON platforms of iron in which
are countersunk the places for the re-
| ception of the crucibles. The fuel is
gas and air under pressure. 1t attacks
the vessel of clay in which the plumbago
crucibles repose with a roar that can
be heard block away. A faint glow
at first colors the clay pot, over which
has been placed a cover, also of clay;
then it becomes red and then white,
while greenish and blue flames play all
around it. 1t is necessary to turn off
the blast before the crucible can be
looked into, so fierce is the heat.
Down in the bottom Of the white mass
there is line that indicates where the
gold ends and the vessel begins. When
it has become homogeneous COM
| pound, by an instinct born of experience
the operator lifts the cover; then the
blast is withdrawn. a pair of tongs
| Illus duOluST cover lTODl JIS CTuclDle IL
self, and then the mold is lifted into a
pan standing on the iron platform. The
tongs are brought into requisition, and
the crucible is turned above the mold.
A thick lip or red metal protrudes it.
self, and from under it, in q thin, white
stream, runs the gold into the iron
mold. a thick cloud of vapor arises
from the contact of the melted gold
and the grease with which the mold
has been smeared. By this time the
clamps are loosened, the brick has set
and is lifted, black and unattractive
rectangle, into basin of water. It is
soon cooled, and is scrubbed with a
brush and soap. Then it looks not I'M
like so much brass. 1t is cleaned
thoroughly, the dirt that may have been
mixed with it is removed, and the bar is
weighed.
That is all there is to it. When the
dust and nuggets are brought in they
are simply turned into the crucible, the
rest of the process is described above.
The bars are stamped 81. NJ. & B." in
dozen places on both sides, and the pay
ing for it completes the deal.-Seattle
| Post-Intelligencer.