Tonopah bonanza. [volume] (Butler City [i.e. Butler], Nev.) 1901-1909, 1904-10-08
GOLDEN BAIT.
Clever Swlndles in Mine Sailing
--HOW 1t Is Done.

CACFt ~ hhAA ~
--How 1t Is Done.
To salt a gold mine, as is alleged
to have been done recently in the
case of the Boulder Deep mine at
Kalgoorlie means to prepare the
samples of ore taken for assay so as
to make it appear that the mine con
tains more metal than is really there.
The swindle is as old as gold mining
itself, though the methods vary as
the experts learn the W tricks.
Every man who has a mine for sale
is anxious to make the samples look
as well as he can, and the lodges
which have been devised to put gold
dust into the tested ore constitute in
themselves a chapter in the romance
of gold.
How important is the effect Of
getting into the samples the smallest
particles of dust may be shown by
a simple explanation. A mining en-.
gineer put it thus: 81 take a soft
lead pencil and write the word ''bul-
lion, using moderate pressure, and
in the ordinary size of my handwrit-
ing, | weigh the bit Of paper before
ana after, and find that the writing
weighs one-tenth of a miligram. The
difference of the weight Of that pen,
ciled word in an assay for gold would
mea So 30 per ton in the ore. That
is a temptation which few men with
mines to sell are able to resist.
A BATTLE OF BRAINS.
The miner has to deal with men as
clever as himself, and it Is a contest
Of wits when he meets the expert.
But the resources Of the miner are
endless. One of the Oldest tricks
was to scatter gold pellets and flakes
OF dust on the face Of the reef with a
shotgun. That is now out Of date.
Less than three years ago Mr., Cham
berlain, as colonial secretary Of Great
Britain, warned investors Of the
k%navery being practised IN the mines
Of West Africa, where sailing was in
full vigor. The natives had been
trained to the practice of scattering
gold dust into the ore with a blow
pipe till they had become perfect
artists. In this way practically bar
rem ground was made to look rich
and sparkling with gold till someone
bought it.
In the old American and Australian
days the miner was satisfied with
comparatively simple ruses to get
the dust into the samples. He would
secrete it 10 bis long finger nails and
wash it into the sand as he was break
ing down the ore in the pan for the
Inspector, and lol there would APP
pear a bright deposit Of yellow metal
when the washing was done. When
this plan became known he would
carry dust in his matted beard and
stroke it into the pan while telling
the inspector a funny story, Or he
might carelessly drop the ashes Of
his pipe or cigar into the sample, or
blow gold particles from his mouth.
The cigar o. pipe had been carefully
loaded with gold.
When the experts began to put
their samples into bags and seal
them while in the workings the task
Of Sailing became more difficult.
The miner went to work and found
that il he could get within reach Of
the bags he could inject dust by a
sort Of syringe, or, still better, he
could inject chloride OF gold in liquid
form. There was no appearance on
the bags, and the seals were intact.
This plot was worked in South Aus.
tralia half a dozen years ago, and.
as it happened, many members of the
colonial parliament suffered by the
swindle.
VALUABLE BAGS.
The danger to the ''salter" lies in
OVERRIDING the trick, for the expert
enced mar has a good guess how the
samples should turn out before he