Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1898-07-16
MINING MATTERS.
THE SWAN PLACERS.


Summit County.
One Of the most stupendous enter
prises ever undertaken In this district,
says the Summit County Journal, and
the only thing of the sort ever at
tempted In the state, is assuming 81
gantic proportions and is working with
such unfailing regularity and such
consummate skill that the Journal
considers it its duty to make the pub
lie acquainted, so far as is possible.
with the methods of its operation.
we refer to the North American Gold
Dredging Company's placers.
The immense dredges which have
attracted so much attention, now be-
ing employed by this company, are
working with astonishing success, and
to an extent which is a source of graf
ification and even a surprise to the
management. A representative of the
Journal, through the courtesy OF Mr..
Ben Stanley Revert, the general man
ager of the wonderful placers on the
Swan. received carte blanche this
week and made a thorough Inspection
of the prodigious monsters which
force the rocks and sand from their
long resting place and save the
precious metal they conceal
The dredges have now been working
two weeks and give evidence of doing
even greater work than was at first
| suspected. There are two dredges
working night and day, each one OF
which removes about 1900 yards OF
dirt per day. Owing to the unex-
/ pected amount of frozen ground en-
| countered, bedrock has not yet been
4 reached, but even now colors are be-
\ ginning to appear on the rifles. These
dredges, which are ninety-six feet
| long and thirty feet wide, float upon
the waters of the artificial pond which
/ the company has constructed. and are
| anchored to the shore with strong
wire cables. which, upon being loos-
1 ened, permit the scow to be moved
/ from place to place, as the occasion
may require. A dredge is operated
| by 10o-horse power engine, propell-
ing the machinery, which, in the first
place, carries a system of heavy
buckets on an endless chain. each one
OF which in its turn scoops its full ca
pacity of earth from the bed of the
pond and carries the burden in its reg
! ular course on an incline TO the rear
of the dredge. where its load is de-os-
tied in the grizzly, which, revolving at
tremendous speed and keeping up a
continual spraying Of water. ELECTS
the heavy boaiders into what is
known as the stacker, which. also re.
volying on an endless chain at an an.
gle of about forty-five degrees on the
present workings, carries in pockets
about two feet square, of which there
are twenty-five, all heavy matter no,
intended for the rifles to the dump.
The grizzly and the small pipe with
in 1t are perforated. and during the
revolutions the gold is projected
through the myriad of openings into
the rifles. which are located on either
side of the grizzly. Work never
ceases night or day, three shifts being
employed. The duty of the wench
man, who sits in the tower. is to see
TO the condition of the buckets. dip
ping them lower when they fail te
bring up their full quota of soil.
On another portion of this propert,
two Evans hydraulic elevators are be
Ing put in place. 1t takes one mile oi
pipe TO conduct the water from tn,
ditch to the seat of operations. ane
Mr.. w. b. Shepherd, the civil engines
in charge, expects TO have the exca
vators working within a week. TIL,
water will come from the pipes ans
through the giants with such tremen
dous force that all the solid matte
will be disintegrated before 1t fall
back. even the clay giving up an,
gold 1T may contain. After returnin;
to terra tirma the soil will be run
through sluices. Returns surpassin:
all expectations may be expected from
these operations.