The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1898-01-01

this is 20 feet, you may drift ao lee'
with safety, when a new hole or Il snai'
has to be sunk and the drifting con'in'
ued.
In this way tho pay streak is taken
from underneath the surface in the WIN
ter until the water begins running III
the spring, finds its way INTO the sha1's'
and binders operations to such IN en-
tent that they are closed. Preparations
for the erection Of dams are then MADE
and sluice boxes procured with when
to wash the dump.
%Sluicing.
A sluice box is about 10 inches Ill
width and IL feet in length, tho boxes
so made that they fit into each other
like the joints Of a telescope. In these
are placed what arc called rifle bars,
which are strips of wood about ] inch
square and s or 10 feet long, nailed to.
gether at their ends SO as to be parallel
with each other and about one-half to
three-uuarterS of an inch apart. These
are placed lo%ngitudinally in the sluice
boxes, which are set up so as to have
an incline of 2 or 3 inches fall per foot
Of their length. Into this system OF
boxes a stream Of water is directed,
which must be Of sufficient volume to
carry with it the gravel and dirt that
are in the dump.
AS soon as the sun has attained sui1i-
cient force to thaw out the surface OF
the dump il is shoveled into these
sluice boxes. The water carries down
with it to the tailin2s, as it is termed,
the refuse-that is. the gravel, sand
and other matter which is not wanted.
The gold and the black sand, which is
simply pulverized magnetic ore, owing
to their much greater weight, fall be.
tween the rifle bars and are held there.
AS soon as the rifle bars are filled, SO
that there is danger Of the gold passing
over and downward to the tailings, the
flow of water is stopped. and what is
called the clean up is made-that is, the
rifle bars are lifted ont and the O II
tents of the sluice boxes gathered and
the black sand and other refuse sepa-
rated.
Extraordinary Strikes.
In one instance so avoirdupois pounds
Of gold were realized from a single
clean up, representing about SIC, 600 in
money. This seems extraordinary. but
we must bear in mind that the dump
from which this came contained only
$llO, 900 and took tho united efforts Of
five or six men at 81. so per hour for
upward Of three months, not including
the labor of sluicing. SO that although
it is tremendously rich it Is not exactly
all profit.
l saw the other evening in one of the
papers that a man who owns a claim on
FL Dorado and another on Bear creek
has sold out for 81, coo, 600. He Wen,
into the country a poor man with the
intention of raising sufficient money e
pay off the mortgage on his place. Well,
be has done so. He has not only paid
off his own mortgage, but the mortgages
Of his neighbors.
Although these creeks are rich, and
as l have told you more men have mad,
home stakes there than anywhere else in
the world, l do not wish you to loob
only on the bright side Of the picture.
An American from Seattle came in
June, 1896, to the Forty Mile with
his wife, with the intention of lettering
his condition. They went out again last
July with $52, 600. Twas we'll acquaint.
ed with this man. a very decent, intel.
ligent chap. He told me M day hat il
he could remain in hat country from
three to five years and go out with So,
600 he would consider himself In grea,
luck. He has come out with $52, 600,
and after prospecting his claim at both
ends and a little in the middle he con
cludes that there is 81, 500, 600 in it.
Hard Luck Stories.
On the other hand, an old Scotchmar
Of the name Of Marks has been in the,
for II years. I have known him well,
and once when he was sick last fall
happened to ask him how old he was.
Sixty-three years, he said. Then l ask.
ed him how long he had been mining.
His reply was AZ years, in all parts OF
the world except Australia. In answer
to a question as to whether he had new.
er made his stake he told me he had
yet made more than a living, and
often that was very scanty. This, OF
course, is tie opposite experience, but ]
could quote scores of similar cases, SC
that would not have yo-. look toe
much ON the bright side.
There are men in that country whc
ire poor and who will remain so. 1t ha.
not been their luck as they call it,
to strike it rich, but may say that tina,
country offers to men of great fortitude
5teadlness and some intelligence an Oh
p%ortulity to mako moro money in :
given time than they could possibl,
make anywhere else. You have, o.
course, a good deal to contend with
Your patience will be sorely tried, fol
the conditions are SO unique that they
have surprised many who have gone j,
hopefully and have left in disgust
There are many obstacles and disagree
able conditions in prospecting. Durin,
the summer and until September tn,
mosquitoes are a veritable plague. They
seem to feed on smoke. And as to fire
they appear to revel in it. The onl,