The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-11-22

from one platform to another until the
huge crushing machines are reached;
then the ore is carried forward by
trucks and buckets to the furnaces,
where it is roasted and made porous
for the Hall-Richard chlorination pro-
cess. The ore is now placed in large
barrels and treated with chloride solu-
ton, under high pressure; and after
ward it is discharged into leeching watts,
fitted with sand and gravel filters,
placed directly underneath. After be-
| ing repeatedly washed, it is finally
made to percOlate through perforated
| board work covered with cheescloth,
and next through a bed of charcoal.
| This precipitates the gold, and leaves
! it in shining heaps of fine dust on the
surface. The whole process is full of
intense interest to the visitor. The
grandeur and riches of nature are
there, and also the science and in
genuity of man. More than e1,0O00oO
has been spent on the machinery, the
gigantic dams for the storage of wa
ter, and the workings; about eighteen
hundred men are constantly employed;
and, as the mine is lit UP with electric
| ity, relays of miners continue the work
day and night.
Mount Morgan is somewhat oval
shaped at the base, being about a mile
and a half at it's longest measurement
| and half a mile at its shortest. 1t rises
almost precipitously from the banks Of
| a small river called the Dee to the
height of 500 feet, and attains at its
domelrike summit an altitude of 1,20O
feet above the level Of the sea. There
was nothing in the outward appearance
of the mountain to distinguish it from
the other mountains of the range; it
had the same rugged slopes and gullies,
and the same scrubby vegetation COW
cred its surface as could be seen for
miles around. The farming settler and
the shepherd wandering over this billy
region little dreamed of the treasure
stored beneath They would sometimes
find alluvial gold in the ravines and
J creeks, and pick up bowlder heavily
weighted with the precious metal; but
that there was whole mountains of
auriferous ore waiting to be exploited
by men of energy and enterprise never
entered their minds. The gold was
carefully hidden in stone which, in out
ward appearance differed slightly
from the ordinary metallic structure of
the soil around.
The discovery was made almost acct
dentally. In the early part of settle
ment in Central Queensland, a, Scotch
family named Gordon took up selec-
ton on the slopes Of the Razor Back,
and by additional purchases extended
their run down across creek which di-
vided the slopes from this mountain,
and partly up one of it's sides. They
stocked their land with sheep and cat
tie, and endeavored to win living
from it, but had little success. Among
other misfortunes, large number, OF
their cattle died through eating a pos-
onous weed which grew abundantly in
the neighborhood, and SO their sons
were obliged to leave the homestead
for work elsewhere. One of the sons,
Alexander Gordon, found employment
with the Morgans, mining. spectators
living at Mount Wheelr, a few miles
from Rockhampton. Mrs. Alexander
Gordon was the daughter Of stock
man who had often driven his cattle
over the district, and watered them at
the streams flowing at he base of the
mountain; and she had received from
her father a piece of gold bearing stone
picked up in a creek there. Gordon
showed this stone to the Morgans, who
at once saw its worth, and offered him
EGO If he would show them the spot
wher it was found. This he promised
to do; and the two Morgans, after
equipping themselves in Northampton
with horses and tools for a prospecting
tour started under the guidance OF
Gordon to find this modern Pactolus.
After journeying over the ranges
they reached a creek where the gold
was supposed to be; but their first
days investigations were very discour-
aging, for the stone they crushed
yielded little gold. At night tropical
downpour of rain set in, ands all the
gullies and creeks became flooded and
ran in torrents, so they had to seek a
place of safety on the mountain. Next
morning, as the rain continued, they
were in such a soddened and disheart-
ened condition that they decided to