Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1901-03-08
DREDGING ron GOLD.
How the Work is Done II the Sacra-
mento Valley. =

How the Work is Done II the Sacra-
mento Valley.
ORANGEvALE, CAL, Feb. 18, 1901. !.
EDITOR HERALD: In my last let-
ter 1 spoke OF a dredger on the river
bottoms, digging gold. The Ameri.
can river has been the seat OF an i'm
mense amount Of placer, or hydrau-
lie mining; in fact, on such an ex-
tensive seal. has the system been
carried that it has filed the he'd of
the river, fourteen feet in depth
with sand and drift from the bluffs.
This condition prevails on Fall
streams in the state leading into
the Sacramento river. filing it up
until it not only overflows valuable
land, but has become a menace to
navigation and is prohibited by the
state, and while it is still carried on
to a limited extent, it is done at
night. Mining in this way.is waste
ful, as much gold is lost by being
carried away in the sands, washed
down by the great streams Of water
forced through strong steel pipes
against the banks. This drift has
formed in sandbars along the river
bottom and in these the dredges
spoken of are at work.
There are two within three mites oi
US, and they are built as follows:
After q bar has been prospected and
found to contain gold in paying
quantities, a large f1atboat, or, more
strictly sp aking, a mill, is built.
After the machinery is installed, q
pit is dug all around it and water
pumped in until it floats. The ma.
chinery For dredging is system of
huge elevator cups, each cup bold
ing about four cubic feet of earth.
These are fastened close together on
a great endless chain, forming an
adjustabl Elevator Leg" capable
of beginning at the surface and 60
ing 80 feet below the bottom of the
boat. After going to the bottom in
one place, the boat is moved around
just enough to take another section
and go on around the pit. The mud,
sand and gravel is elevated to the
top of the building where it falls ups
on series o. screens and the refuse
is spouted back into the pit where it
has been worked, while the fine
black sand that contains the gold is
still further treated until the gold,
extracted by repeated washing, is
pure dust ready for the mint.
Dirt that will pay ten cents cubic
yard is mined at profit. Each
dredger averages $50 per day.
Actual cost OF running plant and
keeping machine in repair. is about
$50 per day. leaving net profit of
$50. Sometimes a pocket is struck
which yields several hundred dollars
in a few hours. We must not forget
to mention that there are many
other goldseekers. Scattered along
the bars men are seen busy digging
in the sand. These are Cinnamon,
each With his rocker and mining pan,
patiently working over ground that
an American would note spend a
moment on, and, strange as it may
appear. they are said to make good
wages. 1 suppose most people are
familiar with a miners rocker. but
while l had read a great deal about
it, was a treat to me te watch q
Celestial working one. The e:rocker is
made very similar to an old fashioned
wooden cradle, with the sides quite
low. At the head wire sieve il
placed and an upright lever, about
four feet long is fastened to the
sides. The miner places a spa ]eful
of sand in the screen, then with a
loag-handled dipper he ladies water
on the sand, at the same time gently
rocking the cradle. The stones and
coarse gravel are thrown off the
screen, while the sand settles to the
bottom, and the water passes ofl
over the lower end of the rocker.
This sand is then taken out and ia
washed in small pan similar to an
old fashioned milk pan, only the
sides are more flaring and much
shallower. This last process re-
quires great care to keep tho geld
from going over the edge of the pan
with the sand, which is very heavy.
10, Whi}o wao in tho honE IL =