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

tho thickness of the crust on top. IL
this is 20 feet, you may dri1t 'o .eev
with safety, when q new hole or Il snai'
has to he sunk and tho drifting contln'
ued. .,.
In this way tho pay streak is taken
from underneath the surface III the WIN
ter until the water begins running III
the spring, finds its way into the snai's'
and binders operations to such IN G
tent that they are closed. Preparations
for the erection of dams are then maze
and sluico boxes procured with which
to wash the dump.
Sluicing.
A sluice box is about 10 inches Ill
width and IL feet in length, the 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 OF 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 longitudinally 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 q 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 suifi-
cient force to thaw out the surface of
the dump it 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, sane
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 con-
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 SIG, 600 in
money. This seems extraordinary, but
we must bear in mind that the dump
from which this came contained only
$l1O,O 600 and took tho united efforts Of
G,, 80. r,r >~>,, - "a ,A~ -.~~ Coz
upward Of three months, not including
the labor of sluicinS, so that although
it is tremendously rich it Is not exactly
all profit.
I saw the other evening in one of the
papers that q man who OWNS u claim on
FL Dorado and another on Bear creek
has sold out for ST., COO, 600. He went
into the country a poor nan with the
intention Of raising sufficient money 20
pay off the mortgage on his place. Well.
he 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 made
home stakes there than anywhere else in
the world, I do not wish you to look
only Oh 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 one day that if
he could remain in that country from
three to five years and go out with So.
600 he would consider himself In great
luck. He has come out with $52, 600,
and after prospecting his claim at both
ends and a little in tho middle he con.
cludes that there is 81, 500, 600 in it.
Hard Luck Stories.
On the other hand, an old Scotchman
Of the name of Marks has been in ther
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 I 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
never yet made more than a living, and
often that was very scanty. This, of
course, is the opposite experience, but I
could quote scores of similar cases, SO
that | would not have yor. look too
much Oh the bright side.
There are men in that country who
ire poor and who will remain so. 1t has
not been their luck as they call it,
to strike it rich, but ! may say that that
country offers to men of great fOrtitude,
steadiness and some intelligence an op.
p%ortunity to mako moro money in a
given time than they could possibly
make anywhere else. lou have, OF
course, a good deal to contend with.
Your patience will be sorely tried, fo1
the conditions are SO unique that they
have surprised many who have gone in
hopefully and have left in disgust.
There are many obstacles and disagree.
able conditions in prospecting. During
the summer and until September the
mosquitoes are a veritable plague. They
nnnyO 70 $nAI ~> a.