The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-05-19
poun,He GOLD. RN

which might be Of value in the placer mines
OF our Western States. and also in the gold
sands Of Alaska and the Pacific Coast. We
have a great deal Of -four gold in our West
ern rivers. gold SO light that It floats away
on the surface Of the water. 30 light that
the most Of 1t cannot be saved, although all
sorts Of processes have been attempted to
save 1t. The same kind Of gold Is found in
New Zealand. and some Is caught there ty
the plush-covered tables OF which I wrote
in a former letter. By this new invention
the ore dust is foated over inclined iron
plates. which have little ridges upon them.
so raised that the gold is caught as it goes
over them. Professor Martell told me that
90 per cent of the gold was saved by this
means. The gold dust sticks to the iron.
while the lighter dust is carried on by the
| water. At Intervals the plates are turned
! up, a hose Is applied and the gold washed
off. The machine could be built. I should
! Judge. for less than 500. and would seem to
+; me to be fitted to the Idaho. Washington
and others Of our gold fields. 1t Is used for
| all sorts of free milling gold. I saw o;e
crushe I'd to a powder and run through a
screen which had $500 holes to the square
inch. holes SO small that you could not prick
your udEu WlNl q PIN tuEOu8h hsicAAAs -
! dust was run through these holes n over
: the plates with the result of q savins Of 50
per cent Of the gold. as I have described.
During my stay in Ballarat I have visited
some Of the mines. They are very carefully
managed. but seemed to me dirtier than tho
big quartz mines OF our country. The tim
| bering IL not SO well DONE. and some OF the
machinery Is antiQuated.
Ballarat In 1901.
The Ballarat Of to-day IL not like the Bal
| larat Of nifty years ago. Then It was a city
] Of tents. Now It has perhaps less people.
] for its population II only 5000. but It 10
I as we'll built as any city Of its size any
where: 1t is typically Australian. The
! streets are as wide and we'll paved as those
| Of Washington. The chief one Is lined. with
| marble statues, and there are statues scat
tered throughout the large park in Its sub
| urbs. It has good stores. banks and public
buildings. II has a theater which will seat
1000 people. an art gallery containing some
fairly. good paintings. a stock exchange and
a mechanics' institute with a library Of q
900 volumes. 1t has four other free libra
| ries. and churches of every Christian de-
nomination under the sur. 1t has flour
mills. wooden mills and iron foundries. 1t
has good public schools and many very
comfortable homes. Its hotels charge e a
day. and are good. On one edge Of the
town is a lake of 600 acres. and another
feature is the horse cars. which jolt you to
pieces as they take you about It.
Ballarat II surrounded by a rich pastoral
and agricultural region. It IL seventy-fve
miles from Melbourne by rail. and on the
main road from Melbourne to Adelaide.
o They Celn Gold In Australia.
Speaking Of the gold production Of Aus
tralia. ! went through the mint in Mel
bourne, where for thirty years they have
been turning the dust and bullion into
sovereisns. Already more than go, 0OO. 900
have been coined. an amount equal to more
than 400. 900 gold dollars. The mint DIFF
fers from our mint in that It coins only
gold. no silver or copper heing handled.
The gold come here from different parts
Of Australia and after coming IL shipped
chiefly to London. A few 30 gold pieces
are made for the Indian ratahs, but the
greater part Of the metal goes Into sover.
eisns and half sovereigns. worth s and
$50 each.
1t was with the director I vent through
the money mill. We FIRST watched the gold
as It came in. Much Of It was in the Shape
OF the little dull yellow grains which have
been washed out. Of the streams, and much
in. the bullion bricks from. the shelters.
AZ II was handed over the counter the
clerks weighed II. using scales 20 fine TINT
they will accurately weigh q lump Of gold
AZ big as your head or one as small az the
point Of q pin. After weighing a memo
randum OF the amount is given. to the de-
positor. The goid is assayed and later on