Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-02-14

Hundred and Fifty Tons-LnrEe In
Nestment TO Provide Business Fa-
cilItfes In the sprIng-Ne~ WASH
ing Machine Invented.
A man at Tacoma just out from
Dawson reports meeting between 100
and 200 men going in over the ice, all OF
them bound for Cape Nome by the riv-
er route. After II rest at Dawson they
will continue down the river. Their
object is to reach the new diggingS be-
fore the spring rush by boats from
Dawson or by ocean steamers from
Puget sound. The first steamers will
leave Tacoma May 10.
4 large amount of capital is being
invested this winter in projects which
are destined to provide business facili-
ties for Capes Nome and York in the
spring, says the st. Louis Globe Demo-
crat. San Francisco and Puget sound
men have organized the Bank of Cape
Nome, which will open for business
ut Nome City in June with 5000, 900
capital. Charles u. Lane. the San
Francisco millionaire mine 3ffrator,
will be its president. g. N.Wright.
postmaster at Nome City, telegraphed
from New York recently that he had
raised capital there to the amount of
$150,00O for the purpose of providing n
wharf for Nome in the spring. Ordl-
nary docks cannot be built. because
they would he destroyed when Boring
sea freezes solid in the fall. Mr..
Wright intends to build n dock on lines
suggested by John +. Hartman. Il law
yer and state president of the Christian
EndeaYor society. 1t Is proposed to
drive parallel rows of heavy piling
from the beach out into deep water n
distance of 1000 feet. Between these
protecting rows are to be placed long
barges. which will rise and fall with
the tide. being connected with each
other by wire cables. 1t is believed
that they will rise and fall sufficiently
to prevent their destruction by the
freezing and later by the breaking up
of the ice. The bargeS are TO be built
this winter and taken TO Nome in the
spring.
Late last season the steamer Alpha
of San Francisco shipped $50 tons of
Cape Nome sand in ballast for the pur-
pose of determining by special tests
whether 1t could be made to pay. 1t
was not selected material. The sand
the surf. Although the entire mass
was treated in California and that
some time ago. the secret of the mill
returns has been jealousy guarded.
The fact has reached Tacoma in a
roundabout way that from $50 tons of
sand the sum of nearly $4,000 was
realized, or approximately SO Il ton.
Still more conclusive proof of the val
81 4
is described by AIaskans. has been
obtained at Tacoma. When MeSSrS.
Birkel and Dickman returned from
Sinook, about 90 miles north of Nome,
they brought with them n bottle Of the
top layer of muddy material found i'm
mediately beneath the moss of their
tundra claims. Upon drying it showed
n sandy consistency. Although it was
known TO carry colors. no one suspect
ed that it was pay dirt. Within the =.
past few days n series Of laboratory
experiments have demonstrated that
this so called tundra mud is very rich,
but will require special treatment. The
two latest crucible tests yielded S37
and $50 in gold to the ton. In eight
assays the range Of gold value return
ed has been from $50 to $13O per ton.
The discovery of the high average OF
valUe in the surf and tundra sands
means the inception of new and ex-
tcnsive mining operations ut the Cape
next summer. Before the season opens
experiments will doubtless have deter
mined the most economic method of
treatment for the sand as we'll as the
most eXpedient manner of handling ii
The ordinary methods of placer mining
cannot save the values, as the gold
is too infinitely diffused throughout
the quartz sand.
G. L. Topliff, Tacoma mining man,
has invented n new washing machine
and gold separator which ii is believed
will meet the peculiar conditions at
Cape Nome better than any other ma
chine yet built. Its peculiar value is
that it catches the finest -four gold.
In testing the machine recently 113
grains of fine gold were scattered
through half ton of gravel and sand,
and all was saved but six grains. BY
means of Chinese pump or inclined
water elevator. consisting of a belt |
running on pulleys with buckets at |
tached, the water Is carried up from a
tank or the ocean itself and supplied |
to the machine. Turning a crank |
gives the machine humping or rock |
ing motion, besides elevating the wa
ter. Another valuable feature is that |
the water can be used over and over |
again, making the machine especially |
desirable for use in arid placer dig
gings, such as those Of Arizona and |
southern California. The gold is caught |
by means of system of swinging Ia |
bles. besides plates and blankets COW |
cred with amalgam. With four men |
TO turn the crank and shovel in the ca
pacIty of the machine Is equal to a doz- |
en- rockers. This is but one OF a num-
Der of labor saving machines construct /
ed for special use in working the gold |
en- sands Of Cape Nome during 1900.