The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-11-28

could tell whether it had been deposit-
ed there by nature or by some shrewd
swindler.
1t was common practice once upon
a time, according to all stories, to load
a shotgun with tiny pieces of gold, and
then to shoot them into the vein of
ore. This gives the appearance of mi
mute particles of gold in the rocks, but
only the credulOus miner on the scene
during an intense excitement would be
swindled by such process. The train
ed scientific expert would laugh at such
clumsy sailing, and pity rather than
hate the man who attempted the swim
die. 1t is the rule now for metallurgists
to make a great number of behring's at
various places along the line of the
vein of ore. From each boring samples
are taken and shipped to some trust
worthy assay Office. The amount of
gold to the ton of rock that these sam
pies produce generally indicates the
worth of the mine.
For some time after the experts
adopted this system the mine salters
were at a loss how to get even with
them. They could not salt every part Of
the vein and they could not fOretell at
what place the experts would make
their borings. The samples of ore were
usually packed in bags under the eye
of the expert and each bag was mark
ed to show on a diagram from what
place the ore came. The bags were
finally sealed up and shipped away. But
one day a shrewd mine salter took an
ordinary hypOdeTmic syringe and,
thruSting the needle through the bag
ging, injected a strong solution of chic
ride of gold over the samples of rock
and dirt. The operation was so sim
pie and easy that it was not detected.
When the samples We're assayed the
ore showed that the mine would yield
several hundred dollars to the short
ton. The expert metallurgist was de-
ceived, the mine was purchased for a.
big sum and the inventor of one of the
most recent methods of sailing mines
got safely away to parts unknown be-
fore the fraud was discovered.
Since then the chloride of gold
method of sailing mines has varied
somewhat, but experts are always on
the lookout for the trick in some of it's
many forms. At an expense of $50 one
could paint the faces of ore with chic
ride of gold and make a poor mine
produce an excellent showing at the
assay office. Many a man and COM
pany have been swindled by this pro
cess. The assayer's laboratory on the
spot, whose services are freely offered
to the examining expert, has deceived
others time and again. 1t was some
time before a bright metallurgist dis
covered that gold had been introduced
in the bottle containing such reagents
as borax, litharge and soda. Ore OBJ
tanned from rich mines is sometimes
dumped into worthless mines for salt
ing purposes. but the experts are not
deceived by this trick. They insist upon
securing their samples by blasting I'M
der their own eyes.
POOLING THE EXPERTS.
are easily bribed to work in the inter
ests of the mine owner. it is not
difficult thing to salt the mine under
the very nose of the metallurgist. Holes
are drilled into the rocks at places
marked out by the expert. When the
dynamite stick is inserted into the hole
the mud taken from the hole is often
used to lamp it. If a swindle is in
tended small particles of gold are
mixed with this mud when the expert
is not looking, and after the explosion
the gold is distributed through the rock
and quartz in such quantities that the
expert is amazed. The explosion drives
the gold into the rocks and makes it
appear for all the world like natural
deposit. Usually this gold is obtained
from some rich mine, just as nature
put it in the earth, so that under the
microscope it shows no marks that wild
suggest it's coming from gold coins.
There are scores of SwindleS perpetrat-
ed every year in some of these ways.
Another common method is to sell
mine upon it's record. Such mines have
some gold, and the owners begin to es-
tablish a record for it in way that
dazzles some who are not experts The
first output is assayed, and then the
bar Of gold is taken to the United
| States government assay office, where
a certificate is obtained that a bar IF
! gold of such finenesS and value was
! taken from such a mine on such q
| month. When the next aSsaying comes
around this innocent bar Of gold is
melted up with the rest of the gold, and
! does service again. In this way, by
using the same innocent bar scoce Of
] times, a high record Of Outpu- can he
| obtained and certified to BY the United
/ States assay office. Who would cues.
| ton such a certified record2 None,
! probably, except a metauurSiSL vi no
/ has long studied the ways and tricks
| of the mine salter. Some innocent cap
| italist purchases the mine and saves
! the large salary of the trained mine
examiner IN the end he regrets his
! bargain, when it is too late. Many such
| transactions are made every year. III
] view of the many gold mine sWlndlerS
/ on the field, it would seem as II the
mine expert was absolutely essential to
the capitalists who would invest their
money in mines. The sailing Process
| is confined to no particular field or
metal. Some of the largest Sygindles on
record belong to the Tin 2nd copper in
dustry. 1t is easier, sometimes, to salt
these than a gold mine, and the tricks
of doing it areSust as numerous and de-
ceptive as any used in alleged gcld
mines.