The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-02
GOLD IN SIBERIA.
Primitive Methods of Working the
 Mines

Primitive Methods of Working the | Just as Siberia west of Lake Baika has everything to make it grain grow 1 ing region, east of Baikal as far as car
 be gathered, it has everything to make | it another California, or another Klon-
 dike, or another South Africa, or what
 ever you call stretch of country full of mineral wealth.
 1 Most of the mines belong to the Czar, <, and there is much secrecy about their l output. But every American or Eng | fish miner I have come across, and who | has seen how the Siberian gold is
 worked, smiles broadly at the primitive
 methods Maybe he produces an ounce weight nugget that has been lost in the
 washing, and then suddenly grows se-
 rious and says: i've been to Califor-
 mia and the Klondike and South Africa.
 but--well, may have some claims when proper machinery can be set to work"
 All men I have talked to agree that
 the Russian Is something of muddler
 in mining. He lacks scientific training.
 If he sees the gold he can get it, but he
 doesn't know a gold district when he
 Is in 1t.
 About e5,000,C coo worth of gold has
 been officially sent out of Siberia into
 Russia every year, but this Is probably
 not half the produce, for gold stealing
 is rampant. In Western Siberia there
 are over eleven thousand gold miners
 I,, aoIn nv11y some thirty thousand, though the pro-
 duction is nine or ten times as great.
 In Eastern Siberia the men are we'll
 paid, getting 3s 4d. day, which is 8
 high wage for Siberia. The western
 miners, in the neighborhood of Seni-
 palatinsk for instance only gets five-
 pence a day.
 The men work hard from 8 o'clock in
 the morning till 7 at night, recognizing neither Sunday nor feast day, except that of the patron saint of the mine. This continuous work is Insisted on by the government, because the men have far more money than they ever earn obtained of course, by selling stolen gold to some elit-eyed Chinese. who ostensiby purveys tea-and their free days are given up to riotous debauch- cry, sometimes ending in bloodshed. Money is thrown about in the usual mining camp fashion. This recklessness among the miners is now being par tially stopped by government official holding as deposit the amount earned by the men, and only handing it over to them when they go home for the win ter
 The Russian mine owners are all en- ormously wealthy. They make for Irkutsk in the winter, and the man who has the widest orgies and squanders the most money is regarded as the best fellow.
 The government anxious to develop the gold mining industry-for Russia is in need of money-has temporarily re- mitted all duty on gold mining machin- cry sent into the country. All over Si- berla just now is the intruding Kayosh- nix, gold hunter-an English, French or American engineer, sent out usually by a syndicate to inspect places where gold is said to exist A Siberian prospecting party consists of Q. leader. an overseer, eight workmen, ten horses, eighteen provisions and tools, the outlay being about e500.
 When a likely valley is found, the gold hunter seeks in the river bed for pyrites, iron, slate, clay, or quartz coated with crystals. If the verdict on these is favorable, trees are felled and a hut built.
 The thickness of the earth, covering the gold varies two to twenty feet, and | In regard to this should point out that, | owing to the utmost continuously froz- nn state of the soil and the dense for | ests, the gold deposits are protected | against the denuding action of the wa ter. If the tests yield three -fourths of | m ounce of gold to one and half tons | of earth, the result is good. If there l Is less than an eighth of an ounce it is | poor Sometimes as much as half a ! pound weight of gold is found in a ton | and a half of earth. If 1t is found | worth while to mine, two posts are l stuck up, one at each end of the ground l md the place is registered by the con- missioner of police or under an author ty from the director of mines. A gov surveyor next inspects the | ground and prepares map. After that | he finder can borrow money on the se- ,urity of his mine at rate of from 20 O 30 per cent.
 A claim is usually about three miles 1 ong. The breadth is determined by the distance between the two mountains in which the gold seam lies, but it is gen. ,rally from 800 to 1000 feet. No one is permitted to hold claims of more than hree consecutive miles, but if you want O hold more the claims can be entered n the names of your wife, partner or riends. When a mines Is once register d it must be worked If the finder has lot the means he may sell his claim or transfer it. But if it is not worked it is,