The Philipsburg mail., 1898-07-22
SALTING GOLD MINES
THE WAY OGUES SELL WORTH
LESS PROPERTIES.
Great Ingenuity and Perseverance,
ShOwn-SOme of the Great Sailing
Frauds on Record-The Mount Huxley
Mine In Tasmania.

What is known as the ".alting" OF
mines is much more common than most
people imagine. 1t is practiced in
every mining district in the world with
more or less success. The methods of
sailing adopted are almost as various
as the mines doctored. The simplest,
and probably one of the earliest means
OF sailing in the case of gold mines,
is what is known as the nail trick"
IN this the prospector, who is washing
a dish of alluvial or crushed quartz,
has concealed in his finger nails some
hne particles of gold. Soon after start
ing to wash he finds it necessary to
puddle the dirt with his hands in order
to break up the clayey substances, and
OF course while he is pudding the gold
is freed and goes into the prospect.
eventually making that pretty corner
which the speculator so likes to see
Perhaps, however, the nefarious pros
pector has his nails too short for this
Trick, and he will then resort to the
expedient of shooting fine gold into the
dish from his mouth whenever he gets
an opportunity of doing so without be-
ing observed. Or he will raise hand
to put his hat straight, and at the same
time shake into the dish some gold
dust from his hair. But sometimes the
speculator or expert present, whose
good opinion OF the property is wanted,
resolves to wash dish or two him
self; and then the prospector has to
resort to other tactics He will. how
ever. probably have provided for the
contingency, and will be pretty sure
to ind some means Of sailing the new
sample or the dish before the water
touches it. Supposing that circum-
stances are against him in this, then
he Will have recourse to pipe or cigar
properly prepared for the occasion.
! The chances are that the washer will
not notice the apparently accidental
falling of tobacco ash into his dish, and
the trick will haze succeeded. The
sailing of prospects while under
process of dishing is, however, fast dy-
ing out, prospectors preferring the
more solid business Of sailing the earth
or rock, as It lies in stu, or of bringing
stone from other mines and preparing
an ingenious pack. Formerly the most
common method of sailing barren
reef was to fire gold dust into it from
shotgun; and many mine has been
sold for good figure on the strength
OF reef faxed in this way. But the
shooting process is unsatisfactory for
many reasons. The art of salting is
carried to it's highest pitch of perfec-
.tion in the process known as stack
ing This is performed by building
up portion of a reef at the end of
drive. which has been run under
ground along the line of the reef. OF
course the built-up portion must be
made to look like unbroken ground;
but this is sometimes a most difficult
task to accomplish. Usually the stack
ing has a depth Of from four to five
feet, though in exceptional cases it is
considerably greater. A well-known
London mining engineer discovered a
depth of no less than ten feet in
stack prepared for him in Colorado.
Pastmasters in the art of stacking hail
usually from the States, but Australia
has produced two or three prime eX-
amples. Stacking is usually perform
ed IN isolated mines, where the opera
tions OF the salters are not likely to be
watched or interrupted In cases where
here are several mines in the same
neighborhocd the salter generally re-
sorts to doctoring the experts samples.
after perhaps judiciously peppering the
workings with damp gold dust. Oc-
casionally the expert is one who treats
every man at a mine as possible
salter and hence successfully guards
his samples; but usually he takes only
ordinary precautions, which are of no
earthly avail against an experienced
salter II he sends his samples I'D the
shaft open in bucket, having someone
On the surface to look after them, gold
dust is blown into it from an intermedi-
ary drive as it is rising, or gently let
fall into it from the top just as it
reaches the brace. If the expert takes
his sample bags down the shaft, with
the intention of sealing them up un-
derground, he will not notice with the
falling dust from the top and sides
of the shaft fine shower Of gold dust
following him down, lodging on his
hat and over his clothes: and if for one
minute he loses sight of those sample
bags when he has returned to the sur
face. they will be judiciously primed
by means of sharp injectors, which
leave no trace of their work. OF course
all this is supposing salter is on the
watch. Should the salter fail alto
gether to tamper with the samples, or
to deceive the expert underground, his
only chance is to fake the samples |
at the ASSAY Office to which they are |