The Newtown bee., 1904-05-27

on their fingers, aloud. They began two or three fingers held up meant two or three added, four fingers drop ped meant four subtracted, etc. They went at the top of their lungs, as fast as they could speak, what would be translated something like this, IS, g, 27, 26, 30, 25, P, 2S, etc. Of course great manual deXterity was required for the number added or subtracted in every case must be indicated by the correct number of fingers and in the correct position, and in a few seconds, one or the other would make mis- take, either in count or motion. We quarters of an hour. We got out and started for home about half an hour after midnight.
 San Francisco, Cal,
 March ', 1904.
 San Francisco has been noted for it's bad weather, but it has been fairly kind to us so far, though there was a clear until between and 10. We be- gan the day by going through the United States mint here. There are only two others now running in the country-the one at Philadelphia and the one at New Orleans. The one at Carson City has been discontinued and the one at Denver is still uncOmpleted. The one here coins most of the gold coined in the United States, though it turns out considerable silver. It makes nothing smaller than the dimes. (All the cOpperS and nickelS are coined in Philadelphia): They were making double eagles this morning, and we were able to see most of the processes. The gold is first taken to the refinery, and as most is more or less mixed with silver, it is separted. Then it comes down to be melted a second time and is cast in ingotS about the size of a brick, worth several thousand dollars. Then it is melted third time, with the amount of alloy used, and run into bars 12 inches long and One-half inch thick. These bars are then put through great rollers that putting on many tons weight, gradually lengthen the strips till they are just the thick ness of $2O gold pieces. Then these long strips in half dozen lots are an- healed by heating and water to make them both tougher and softer, the them from rubbing, and sent to the machine that cuts the round dollars out. What is left of the strip is sent back to the melting room, and the embryo gold eagles are next sent where the edges are milled. Then they are cleared of the wax that may cling to them, frightened and last of all stamped with the surface figures they are to bear. In the weighing room, where any pieces that are overweight are filed down, no visitors are allowed, lest some stray particle of gold should cling to them in some way. A couple of months ago the carpet in this room was burned, and though every possible precaution had been taken to prevent waste of gold, the government realized S9, 900 from that carpet. A new carpet replaced the old, and will be burned in a short time, with like results. Over 10000, 900 coins of all descriptions have been turned out of this mint during the last year.
 After we left the mint, we went up to Chinatown to make one or two pur- chases we wanted, and to see how it looked by daylight, and by that time it was noon and so we went into a They brought us the most delicious tea l ever tasted, and little round cakes that looked like thick sugar cookies, which looked better than they tasted, a dish of Chinese almonds and another of Lii Gee nuts, and three or four dishes of preserves, that l don't know what they were. One was pre- served ginger (net crystalized), but in a rich syrup. Another was tiny oranges about the size of hickory nuts I have seen them fresh in the mar kets), cooked whole, in rich thick syrup. Another preserve was small f11 Ci1 nd ,f plums, strung four or five on a fine splint, and still another was some kind of melon, about the size and shape of a medium sized cucumber pickle, like wise preserve, slightly favored with ginger. In the afternoon we went down to the mining exhibit and the Chamber of Commerce rooms. The mining exhibit is collection of almost all the gold, silver and copper ores, and sands, etc., in the state; also speci- mems from the granite and marble uuarries, and in fact everything per