The Portland daily press., 1897-05-11
An Ingenious Method of Extracting Gold
from a Rivers Bed.
(From the Boise Statesman. J

tgteooSSA'%eeAAJ
A most valuable and interesting enter
prise In the shape of gold boat is now
IN progress on the Snake River, about
Tour miles below Montgomery Ferry,
on the road from Minidoka to Albion,
winch is likely to open up new field of
operation. This boat belongs to Louis
oweetser and George Burroughs of the
cattle urn of Sweetser & Burroughs. 1t
mas been constructed by and is under the
personal supervision of George Bur-
roughs. This boat and it's machinery are
the product of the genius and experience
of Mr.. Burroughs
The boat is los feet long and 20 feet
wide, the extreme length from the nose
OF the suction to the end of the tailings
elevator being $50 feet The gravel is
| lifted by rotary pump, driven by a
seventy-fve horse power engine, the sue
ton pipe being 80 feet long and u inches
! in diameter. There are two other en-
gines, one of which is used to move the
boat and the other to drive a scraper and
elevator by which the coarse material is
delivered at point some distance back
OF the boat. Power is furnished by two
flfty horse power boilers. The boat is
worked backward and forward across the
river, the nose OF the suction being kept
against the bank of gravel and the boat
WORKING ing up stream. Everything is taken
up. Ihe material is mostly ordinary
gravel, but occasionally boulders come
| through, some of which weigh fifty
pounds y
The material thus mined from the bot.
tom OF the river is delivered into a sluice
on board the boat. The upper end of the
slu1ce is about six feet above the floor Of
ehe noat' and the pitch is very steep. The
slu1ce is eighty feet in length and foul
feet wide. The gravel is sent over griz
zles, all the coarse material being carried
to the end of the sluice, where it il
rammed out by series of steel scrapert
running on an endless chain and deliv
cred upon belt that carries it in back o.
the boat and drops it again into the river
| The sand carrying the gold dropssupo
| burlap tables. sOf these there are eight OF
each side. They are IS feet long and
feet wide, standing at right angles to the
slulce, and reaching some distance ovel
the sides of the boat. The black Sane
and gold gathers on and under the bur
lap. When the tables are cleaned up the
concentrates are rocked over copper plates
| bHo Solu DelnS anlalgamated.
The pump delivers 200 yards of grave
an hour. The boat has been built owe
three times. 1t has been success from
the start, and during the past year it hal
been greatly enlarged. 1t would cos
from s15, 900 to 900 to duplicate tn,
plant. The operating expenses are in tn,
neighborhood of $50 day At presen
| the boat runs only during the day, bu
| with force Of seven men it could be KEEP
in operation throughout the twenty-fou,
hours. Thirteen men are now engaged il
| gathering fuel. Some are hauling cellar.
while others are cutting and balins
! sagebrush. The latter makes the bette
fire, but it costs little more than tn
cedar.
Mr.. Burroughs says there is no othe
method than 1.-THE burlap by which TIN
| gold can be saved successfully. He ha
been operating on the river since tn,
spring of 1894, and has the credit of beins
the only person to make success of am
extensive plant for saving the -four gole
that is found in such abundance aions
the great river for hundreds of miles
His views, therefore are entitled to the
| greatest weight. The gravel he is work
ing is worth at best only ten cents yard
and he is greatly interested, in the Other
sections of the river, where the value |:
said to run to 81 a yard and above.