The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-07-30

L
1t appears that the greater part of
the stockholders in the concern that
proposed TO ladle out gold from the sea
according to the secret process of Par
son Jernegan, are New Englanders. OF
the class of shrewd and thrifty people
who have before now demonstrated a
paradoxical leniency toward visionary
schemes and have figured as the
| choicest nibblers at the gold brick and
| greengoods gentry of thewicked metrop-
oils. The western prairies are fertil-
lied with New England money, but
many of them are growing only scrub.
They were New Englanders who tried
more than once to raise the British
| treasure ship "Hussar" from the mud of
He'll Gate, and the Klondike schemes
have proved wonderfully attractive to
our peope-especially such of the
fakes. Now it is New England money
that Parson Jernegan has In his satchel.
that though the promoter of the scheme
has gone that the scheme itself is all
right. They will hang desperately to
this delusion. It's a way stockholders
have when the bottom drops out. HUI
man nature is responsible for this kind
ly dispensation. 1t makes the blow fall
the more softly. Already we hear Of
chemists" and directors" who have
seen the gold works work-though they
all admit that they have not been in
formed as to the secret process" that
makes them work.
We heard the other day, from Boston.
of a machine that turned out 5-cent
nickes from pieces of lead. You could
feed the lead into one slot and the
nickels would come out at the other.
At least one man bought nickel-mak-
ing machine. For while he poked In
chunks of lead and the nickels came
tumbling out all right. When they
stopped coming the man took the ma
chine apart to find out what was the
matter with the machine. or course he
found one receptacle filled with the lead
he had put in. while another compart-
ment that had contained a modest store
OF scent pieces was empty.
An investigation of Rev. Jernegan's
wonderful machinery is likely to result
in an equally simple explanation of
where the gold from the sea water
came from.
Scientists figure that to every ton OF
sea water there is about cents worth
of gold. This is doubtless fact.
In all the oceans there are estimated
to be upwards OF two trillion tons of
water, which would represent more
than ten million tons of gold. There is
no reasonable ground for doubling
that all the yield of the centuries has
not been anything like so much gold as
Father Neptune thus holds.
Another thing may be demonstrated.
namely, that If there is sufficient gold
in the sea water, an electric current of
low voltage passed through the water
will cause n deposition of the gold"--by
the process familiar to electricians Of |
"selective electrolysis."
with all these facts and factors at |
command the Rev. Jernegan was able |
to secure capital for his gold ladling ]
scheme. There was the ocean--no doubt |
about the ocean-everybody. especially |
New Englander5. could testify to the |
presence of the ocean--and for others, |
well, If old Bill Jones were alive he |
could prove that there was an ocean. |
Four cents worth of gold to the ton |
doesn't seem large. but when you talk
of millions of tons OF gold in all the |
oceans that IS more inviting. How TO
get 1t out remained the only problem.
Science figured that the process of elec-
trolysis would precipitate II. providing
there was enough, although science
doubted IL. with only cents worth TO
the ton, II would pay TO fish for It. And
this is where the Jernegan secret
process came in. II was a glorious
scheme-for its promoter
Is another battle Sunday TO be ex-
pected, this time in Porto Rico?