Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1900-05-16

main in the assaying offics,so that the
entire process, from grinding the saih;;
plies down to the weighing of the gold
residue, could be carefully witnessed
and overlooked by him. For, as Mr..
Hadley- Benton must realize, assaying
such valuable ore as that of the 'tEs-
peranZa'' was serious matter, partic-
ularly where, as III the present case,
there were no other assayers to check
against, and one mans results had to
be accepted.
This was "quite in order," MI. Had
ley-Benton stated, and with his own
hands he undid the seals that he had
placed on the jute sacks containing
his precious samples, and watched
pompously the while Mr.. Simpson
heated up his furnaces, deftly ground
up the samples, weighed the pulp care.
fully, and then poured it into the cru
cibles containing his gold fux, first
insisting that the Englishman test the
fux itself, to prove that it was abso-
lutely free from gold, so that any pos
sible Sailing" might be prevented.
With all of this MI. Hadley-Benton
declared himself content.
The final parting of the silver-gold
buttons was done with the greatest
possible care and slowness. And we'll
that it was, for the results given by
each and every assay were SO exceed
ingly high that Mr.. Hadley-Behtoh
might have been intredulous had he
not watched the process from first to
last. There were Is different assays
on which each duplicate checked its
original; there was no discrepancy OF
any sort, and the total average gave
result in gold of eleven and two-tenths
ounces to the ton!
Would the "Esperanza" pay to
work? Mr.. Simpsons results proved
that question very conclusively, and
Hadley-Benton fairly flew to the tele-
graph Office, where he, after much diff
fculty and serious struggles with the
Spanish tongue end telegraph clerks,
sent cablegram to his London d.
rectors and stockholders, authorizing
them to boom the "Esperanza Gold
Mines, Limited" for all they were
worth, to ship out at once the con-
templated stamp mill and cyanide
plant (cost one quarter of million)
and to draw upon him for any and all
extra funds desired.
So much for the "Esperanza Gold
Mines, Limited, of London and Mex
leo, and SO much for poor Mr.. Hadley-
Benton, N. P, whose reputation and
private fortune were alike lost in the
venture. Because, long after the plant
and stamp mill were installed, and
more money than care to name ire
trievably sunk in the "Esperanza," it
was found that the ore of the mine
ran, at very highest estimate, exactly
one-tenth OF al ounce in gold, or not
even high enough to pay working
charges. Truly '.poor Mr.. Hadley-
Benton, for he had taken the SAM
pies, watched and approved the max
ing of assays therefrom, and he alone
itwas upon whom the wrath of stock
holders and directors fell when it was
discovered that the "Esperanzs" was
dead failure, not to say the greatest
.swindia ofsmodern tines ssa "a: =
No one, not even Hadley-Benton
himself, can account for the matter.
No one ever offered any explanations
as to how such fabulous results were
secured from utterly worthless ore.
Even the assayer, Mr.. John Simpson,
processes himself Us lost in amazement
at the way the 'Esperanza" turned
out. But of course, as everyone real
ICES and comedies, he had nothing to
do with the matter, and cannot there
fore be held responsible. But, all the
same, Mr.. Simpson knows-even as
we do-that hypodermic syringe can
be used successfully for more purposes
than one, and, unluckily for Hadley-
Benton, chloride of gold is soluble, and
may be injected through the heaviest
of iute sacking.-San Francisco Argo.
naut.