The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-01-02

~ while the nseaysr's nsaistsnt n annarSntir
stokipg The charcoal furnace containing Inc
ine ore. Tho furnace Of an sssaysr Sas bean
~ prepared n advance by an interested out
Of sole would melt and drop into the trnciblo
beneath. There are dozens o. ways that cruel,
oies tnsmseiyss have been fixed, unknown to tho
ceodIng richness.
The fake miner. tina. we. most distrust,"
ARE those who claim TO be new process assay,
s snd arc ob IN the hi hire oi mining .harks; They
schemes for the sharks, by which they may
foil honest sssayers into making fiattering cor
soSomS by which tSoy Sn can f nnS r SSyi ssS o 5alSs
pres all At tho same time. Tho aseayer 10 ofton
ibn ronsSt 10 q" Us o9 gSS a w tss, ~ q lO msn SSo ore tb !:
g. SsliOT !, may come n NJ poIitciy Az to 30
pom IN the world cannot keep such a man from
doing something to raise the valuation q the
trick Of some fellow who apparently mover
bles. have known silver ore to be enriched
right through q canvas bag with nitrate Of sill.
low grade orc worth more than 5000 a ton. So
nowndnys / mover allow any one but myself 10
handle my .Sruolblcs Or furnace, and I would
esssyers have been SO deceived BY some lssFer.
have bought stock in gold or Silver mines.
They were dead sure that the ore was valuable,
whereas Il was almost barren Of any rold. Oh,
ness that has so many tricks, and ~deccptions
as mining for precious ores, The bonanza prof.
II its .iInhths business excite sharpers' best ability
y 10 SO easy TO salt q placer mino that one is
s weeSs Of f0d innVsstiRati iae'G and aHy ! sta eafeP @ors SinS.
Placer mines, rs almost everybody knows, arc
s a1SSs, wn ssps. the he S Si1sl is T Sss RiSn tSE,sss,y ,n from the ne
derstand how essiIy gold flakes and tiny mug.
as e defy detection BY the most c%xacting, and,
; Et the h, , next cle%sSn . make a wonderful sIrf ,Ii, show show.
along tho ridiens Of the ssiuiee over. which tho
yold'bearing earth and gravel is run by a stream
gold Is retorted, there 10 not a soul in the world
er the gold is there honestly or dishonesty.
knew tHe Of ' personsily p'sG said q W. %'f E. Warm Sea1hf former 1Sss
y, editor Of the Pomona Times and for year q
placer mine near Dog Run, in Shasta county.
Several tenderfeet from, back East had conf
Of ofPibS buying %ei small p ai% ss" but That they had DC.
cided to leave the purchase to my Judgment.
The Iros SPEC Es, buyers r. s and ! T TS1t 9 9ss.s saw w the
: nine 1s,l IN 6r sass s snd w 1s% Z s % sss away and and
u6N6lOp U Oh, Il hlu tuhJ kldeIluCn as 4
was to give a certificate Of character to the
mine. I wanted to have the miners go entirely
BUYERS SwSs fr smd m aas work ssinf The n piaee ,rt for rh a d RECp0'ed
THE miners agreed and went away early the
next morning, leaving us masters Of the mine
iUs in the cay riffi %e Examined exam GNef the the flsiSssi s't tSsre,
and spent several hours in locking over the
to be- sure ara that hat we 9 We're going to wash out pn.
salted gravel, we shifted the locality OF the
mining: We sluieed all day long and were
lions Of sailing. We saw none. When we ro-
tor.ed the smalgam Of merSury and gSld at
have to report that that wns an honest little
placer, tho buyers themselves, saw IL. The
claim air was bought q lew days later for So;
out as. fast as their horses could carry them
over the mountains. and that claim never paid
p mIde about iaan g.. We used to tsiit i over and
wonder how that property could have been
'al led 1 SnS p 1Sns e Sro Ss y eTsT iG %ea, It Wilson Snt;m and
French, We're swindled out Of q fortune by a
salt"d mine II Amador county, Cal, Is a bit Of
getie: They came from the Troy Polytechnic
come millionaire. Now, young men who
know all about mining, AID have a superior edu-
cation in % net min3y. have AVER, usually Gun See Wi,t the
G INK e aIapsa II fps was % fnoWn eVe syt Where S that they he
dred reputable miners and scores Of sharks
showed them properties. The, young men
a answ su sd sSass el s%aiSe' Finally H n sh IN An i. ms eeu n.
been al work for several years with no capital
and had reached a Rich vein Of ,goid.bearing
rock. The, men needed thousands OF dollars
imm thsir eFop sat s' ana they %syS propose nc POI on selling aih1asp a
nay YOUNG ,n.s, wiis q ' sSd lY f.eas Eff sfr g 81 e i $sp; *
miners gave them permission to go down the
shaft and explore the iaterals all by themselves,
That Was the faifest offer they had had in
weeks, and down they went one day; Toward
evening Even Sot the yossIhis sd men %ItS came apee Sae q, 'o Of m ore'
They spent the next few days in making assays
Of the specimens, One ct the grizzled miners err
furnace fires during the tests. When he car;
ried the sacks Of charcoal Into the improyised
s sss SdM gs cGo%i ho m SsSs eoP Psr@tsalG the IL s WoyE anu
The vanity of the young men 1 was touched;
and they said yes, Of course. The man watched
the a~ssayinR in mute amaZement.. Tho crucibles
were heated to q white heat and the ore was put
into them for melting The miner was chew,
the floor so he occasionally spat into the char
coal furnace. When the cruoibles and the
molten contents were wi in rII n,i from the the fur g.
wanted to have a fair assay, The next day
CAM again TO learn, as he said, how expert as
says were made. He chewed tobacco as vigor-
OuSly as DeIOre. ana Kept lne HoOr ,cioan Nv spiI-
ting into the furnace. That night the young
men found that the quartz was worth more than
$500 a ton, and. when they had secured a writ
ten agreement from the miners to sell the mine
for $50, 600 cash down before further develop
ment was made, and $780, 900 in ninety days,
they went to bod to dream OF the riches that
would be theirs in q few years.
Whom the money came from tho East and
when the deeds were given In San Francisco
the young men started joyfully back to their
Fortunately for them. they were able to coun-
tern.and the order they had given the Risdon
iron Works In San Francisco for STAMP mills
and concoptreters: Two days work showed
OF so low a grade that 1t could not be proftably
mined. It never produced ore worth more
than Sl6 o ton. and 1t was very, refractory.
Ono Of the baokwoods miners, who had sold the
sailed property, was subsequently caught In n
fake mining deal in Idaho. The secret OF the
scheme came out. He said that the assays Tor
the Amador county mine had been made 30
enormously rich BY, the man who Shewod to,
young scientific miners do their assaying.
II seems that when the metal was melting IN
would quickly stun q tiny, ball Of gold dust In
his mouth and spit the gold and tobacco juice
into the crucible. Only a few grains In each