The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-03-21

One OF the pes. known men IN oksnogsn
county is Capt. Henry Finch. formerly
steamboat man on the Great lakes. Ills
fertile brain has conceived a scheme that
bids fair 20 win aIn fortune. and results
already achieved SHOW II 20 be anything
p1t cnimericaL The mountains banking
the Strz4ikzmeen river are rich IN gold.
TIE water has worn .ts way across mineral
beds for centuries. collecting in its gravel
ly bed, as in treasury vault. nuggets
worth from ) cents 10 81. These Capt
Finch has planned 20 obtain. He has q
machine which sucks riches from the river
bottom.
The device consists OF a centrifugal
dredger with number OF Capt Finch's
ideas embraced therein. II is placed on a
craft that IS self propelling. 100 feet over
ali and & 2o-foot beam. and fitted up with
lodging quarters. In testing il at Wenat-
chez last fail Il lifted boulder that
weighed S6l2 pounds and deposited IL in the
sluice box II has a capacity or handling
1D cubic yards of coarse gravel and sand
Per hour on any kind Of favorable grounds,
making lca cubic yards in ten hours. The
cost Of running this plant will not exceed
S25 per day. Capt. Finch found in his pros
pecting number of lodges that We're cut
by the river ten feet below the surface OF
the water. and samples show that the gold
Is Of recent wash. Capt Finch being a
bedrock and crevices therein with a
smaller suction pipe.
The claims being worked cover about
twelve miles OF the Similkameen river.
commencing at Oroville, where the SimIl-
kameen river empties into the Okanogan.
and run up stream, comprising in all forty
full claims. The main part Of the claims
lie about four miles from the international
boundary line.
Capt. Finch is now in the East looking
for more machinery. The St. Paul Globe
prints the following story of his venture;
Capt Harry Finch. one of the best
known men on the Great Lakes was a
caller at the Great Northern yesterday.
The captain is on his way East 10 buy
some heavy machinery, which he will use
In mining in the far Northwest. For the
past two winters the captain has been
engaged in placer mining on the Similka-
meen river, in Okanogan county. Wash.
and ne has found ii so profitable that he
VIII buy additional facilities 10 work the
deposits.
There are few lake captains who will
not remember Capt Finch. He has been
in every position in the lake service, from
cabin boy 10 captain, from scrubman to
the captain OF a lfe-saving crew, and. on
top or all, he has been a submarine diver.
and winds up with being miner The
captain Is now operating manager OF the
Similkameen Mining Company. and hopes
TO grow rich of this venture
Capt: Finch says he was born in Os-
wego, " y, and for long time engaged
in the coast trade He then came West
and went into the lake service. For
twelve years he was a master of a lake
boat. and then Joined a life-saving crew
at Manistee. Mich, and year later he
was made captain OF the crew. In 1857 he
was transferred TO Michigan City, Ind.
where he remained captain for many
seasons. During his term as a life saver.
the captain assisted seventy vessels in
distress and aided in saving $50 people
who were In peril He has been in the
submarine diving business for twenty
years. and Is an expert in this line.
The stories of gold in the Western
waters induced the captain 10 leave his
station at Michigan City two or three
years ago. He went into the Okanogan
country and iinmeC lately realized that
the immense masses of disintegrated gold
quartz which have been IN the process OF
disintegratio1 for centuries. must be in
the river bottoms, and he knew that he
could use his submarine diving outfit in
searching the bottom Of the river He
began in a small way and the first week
he brought up gold nuggets worth all the
around on the bottom OF the river for
while the captain collected his nuggets
ana came back East 10 collect some ap-
aratus he had been thinking about for
months. He secured a boat fitting 1t out
with hydraulic pumping apparatus with
which he expected to suck up the gold
bearing dirt in the bottom OF the river.
The captain discovered that the bottom
OF the Similkameen was full of holes into
which vast deposits OF sold had been
washed by tho water. The problem OF
getting the dirt out was simplifed by the
Invention Of the pumping apparatus. Capt
Finch had some difficulty In getting his
beat up into the wild country. He solved
the problem by sailing up the Columbia
river from Wena tchee. and from the Co
lumhia he turned UP the 0kanogan at
Virginia City. He forced his way up this
river until he struck the Similkameen,
where he commenced operations al a IA
vorable point. The captain believes that
with his improved machinery he will be
enabled TO suck up thousands of dollars
worth OF nuggets from the bottom OF the
river. The entire eastern flank OF the
Cescsde range is composed OF low grade
gold-bearing ore and for centuries this
ore has been washing down into the
streams. Capt. Finch believes that the
bed or the river is a ycritable mint
Eyctn TN rnnf.