Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-03-20
NINE Sailing ACT.
TRICKS ADOPTED by swINDLERs
TO DECEIVE INVESTORS.
Firing GoId-Dust from a Shotgun
The Canada Tin-Mine Fraud-"COI-
Do Not Always Escape Punishment.
Chambers Journal.)

WUdL Is hnOWn DIS tnt SdlllH6 VI
mines is much more common han most
people imagine. 1t is practiced in every
mining district in the world, with more
or less success, and it Is hardly too much
to say hat fully 10 per cent. Of the for
eign n Colonial mines sold to London
companies are purchased on sailed work
ings or samples.
The methods of sailing adopted are al
most 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 mail
trick" In this the ~prospector, who is
washing a dish of alluvial or crushed
quartz, has concealed in his f~nger-nails
some fine particles of gold. Soon after
starting to wash it he finds it neces-
sagy to puddle the dirt with his hands,
in order to break up the clayey sub
stances, and of course while he is pud-
ding the gold is freed and goes into the
prospect, eventually making that pretty
corner" which the Spectator SO likes
to see. Perhaps, however, the nefari-
Gus prospector has his nails too short
LUZ llllS tIlCh, dllu III VIII tLNh iNSOAN W
the expedient Of shooting fine gold into
the dish from his mouth whenever he
gets an opportunity Of doing so without
being observed. Or he will raise a hand
to put his hat straight, and at the same
time shake into the dish some gold-dust
from his hair. But sometimes the spec
ulator or expert present, whose good opin-
ion Of the property is wanted, resolves
to wash a dish or two himself; and then
the prospector has 10 resort to other
tactics. He will, however, probably have
provided for the contingency, n will
be pretty sure to find some means of salt
ing the new sample or the dish before
the water touches it. Supposing that
circumstance are against him in this,
then he will have recourse TO a pipe or
cigar properly prepared for the occasion.
The chances are that the washer will
not notice the apparently accidental fall
ing Of tobacco ash into his dish, and the
trick will have succeeded.
The sailing Of prospects while undo
process Of dishing is, however, fast dying
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 inge-
NOUS pack. Formerly the most common
method of sailing a barren reef was TO
fire gold-dust into It from a shotgun;
and many a mine has been sold for a good
figure on the strength OF a reef faxed
In this way. But the shooting process
is unsatisfactory for many reasons. In
the first place, it only answers at all for
certain classes OF rock; then the reef
into which gold has been fired has a
patchy appearance, which is not a favor
able sign; and again, much Of the gold
fired is lost, while the explosion Of the
gun in a narrow drive or cross-cut Is LA
BILE to bring down a lot OF the ground.
All these are serious objections; but
what chiefly brought the shooting prac-
tice into d%isrepute among salters was the
fact that the prospective buyers Of the
mines, or their representatives. gradually
became suspicious of fair faces, and often
insisted upon taking their samples a foot
or so back from the face. The biggest
coup on record effected by the shooting
trick was brought off in Tasmania, where
nearly half an acre of sandstone was
fusilladed, and a great deal of money
by the salters, the purchasers be-
that they had really acquired the
biggest gold-mine in the world.
The art of sailing is carried to its high !
est pitch Of perfection in the process (
known as stacking" This is perform
ed by building up a portion of a reef at
the end of a drive which has been run
along the line of the reef.
OF course the built-up portion must be
to look like unbroken ground; but
is sometimes a most difficult task to
accomplish. Luckily, however for the
few of the best gold-reefs are
very numerous fractures. and,
indeed, they not infrequently look like
bands of mullock held together by a
clayey substance impregnated with iron
oxide. Such reefs, which are not I'M
in Western Australia, are much
easier To initiate than the hard,v white
reefs Of Ballarat, or the wide, gold bands
Of South Africa. Usually the stacking
has a depth OF from four TO five feet,
though in exceptional cases it Is con-
greater. A ~wef-known London
engineer discovered a depth OF
no less than ten feet in a stack prepared
Tor him in Colorado. 1t need hardly be
said that when only the end OF a drive
stacked, 1t is found necessary to tim
Der the roof and keep a judicious supply
IF water and loose pianks on the floor,
while, of course, the original reef is
out for it's entire width. Past
masters in the art OF stacking hail
from the States. but Australia
las produced two or three prime ex-
implies.
Stacking is usually performed in iso-
ated mines, where the operations of the
are not likely TO be watched or
Interrupted. In cases where there are
everal mines in the same neighborhood,
salter generally resorts to doctoring
experts samples, after perhaps ju-
iciously peppering the workings with
amp gold-dust.
Should the salter fail altogether to tam
err with the samples, or 10 deceive the
xpert underground. his only chance is
fake the samples at the assay Office to
'hich they are taken. This requires a
and Is usually very difficult.