The times., 1897-07-29
Weight. Fineness- n

Juy 10 6.......... H3o ......--..--.--- 1000
Totals 7uSi 500 O5
The fineness and value of the last ingot,
which was turned in at the Assay Office
only on Monday, have not yet been deter
mined, and the value asst igned is an esti-
mate Andrew Mason, superintendent OF
the Assay Office, says that its appearances
would indicate about the same grade of
frneness as that possessed by the other
ingots,
The Joke OF 1t alIis that the Argentauruu
is so DR.. Emmens claims, made from the
nuch-derided Mexican silver dollars, which
We're held up during the last national cam
paien as horrible example OF biinetal-
/ ism.
Cold and impact do the work of trans
muting the cheaper Inetalinto the precious
standard of all values. Lots of cold and
plenty OF impact, Dr.. Emmens says. How
they are applied is his secret.
1t must not be understood for moment
that Supt Mason is willing 10 coneede
that this gold is produced from silver by
transmutationor or any other alehemical proc
ess. All he knows is that Newton W. Em-
mems, who brought the tngots to the as
say office, says that his father made them
out of Mexican dollars, and that the tests
showed them to be composed principally
of gold. Mr.. Mason said:
Prof. Emmens claims TO have discovered
the substantial identify OF metals which
have always been held TO be distinct ele
ments. DE does not disclose the process by
which this result is attained. Under tho
circumstances we feel at liberty to doubt
his claims"
Mr.. Mason said further that there is IA
certain Small quantity of gold in Mexican
dollars. d mere trace He did not know
exactly how great the proportion was,
probably not SO much as one part in 600.
A man who took enough of the dollars
| nj ght certainly produce from them aningot
OF gold Mr.. Mason did not say that Dr.
| Ernmens has produced his gold in this
way, but thought that, in view of the
doctors claims, iJ was an interesting cor
relative proposition. He said:
II was called To Washington in May by
| the director of the mint to help investigate
the claims OF Chicago man named Brice,
who mad applied for patent on a process
for making gold ont Of ba SCR metals. Others
who shared III the invest gaton were the
superintendent OF The Philadelphia assay
office and the chemist at Washington.
we could not discover that there was
any basis for Mr. Brice's claims, and his
application was, I believe, denied We
found that there was a certain amount of
gold in The antimony he used in his expert
| ments He Certainly succeed ed in extract
ing that, but that is different thing from
| making gold out OF antimony''
But DR. Emmens claims to make his gold
out of silver, and silver and gold belong to
the same chemical group. That is a diff
| ferent proposition from making it out OF
| antimony," ventured.
MIR Mason did not see 1t that way. He
said Or. Eulmens' claims Were interesting,
| but was plainly skepticai about them
DR.. Emmens is not annoyed seriously by
| skepticism. Although a scientist of ac-
knowledged high attachments, he does not
ask scientific acknowledgment OF his pres
ent undertaking. In letter written by
| him to Prof. William Crookes, F. r. S., Dr.
| Emmens said:
The gold producing work in our Argen-
tauruin laboratory is a case of sheer nam
| Inon-seeking. 1t is not being carried on
| for the sake of scieno e, or j n PROSECUTING
| spirit No disciples are desired and no
| believers are asked for
New erthle ess DR.. Eumens' scientific
| achievements are such that serious I'm
portance must be attached to his state
| ments. His reputation must certainly dts
pei the notion that he has been deeeiv Ell
| by the results of his own experiments, as
| it is alleged, was Brice, the Chicagoan.
| DR. Emmens is a member of the Amer-
| can Chemical Society, OF the American
| Institute Of Mining Engineers, and of the
| Societe Internt tionale des Electriciens. He
| is the inTentor of Emmensite, the United
| States official explosive, adopted aud used
/ In the Army and Navy. He has been
almost continuously employed by the War
| Department as an expert He is eminent
| as u pure theorist, as well. His work on
nickel took a first prize at the Worlds
| Fair His work on ordnance is published
| by the United States Naval Institute He
is the author Of a book on logic, and
| of certain erudite considerations respect
ing th Newtonian theory of gravitation.
| II w be seen that this man is one fully
| competent TO estimate the value OF bis
| discoveries. He is not man to be
fooled by a trace of gold in the Mexican
| dollars with which he works Prof. En-
mems claims to have made his Argen-
taurum gold from silver, and the only way
to escape the conclusion is to impeach his
| veracity. And what reason has he for
| deception?
| Dr. EmInens believes that his claim will
ultimately befoundmore profitable th an any
staked out In the Klondike region. Under
/ the circumstances he cannot be blamed for
| wishing to keep his processes a secret
/ Moreover, concerning the amount Of sill
| yer required to produce the Argentaurum
gold, various things said and written by
him lead to the conclusion that he claims
to transmute the whole ma SIS of silver Mex
| ican doilars) into the product sold at the
| United States assay office. EIe says that
Ii Is not the cost of material Int the tirfe