Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-06-13

tho remarkable achievements of the
system of gold dredging. Mon have
for years and years been delving into
the mountain sides for tho shining
treasure, when all the time the gold
lay at their feet, in thoir river beds,
In their fields Of grain, in their orr
chards and meadows. For centuries
tho mountain streams have been wash
ing down PARTICLES Of the precious
metal until the very dust of the ground
is powdered with 10. and deep In tho
earth layers upon layers of gold have
been deposited by the passing seasons.
Now the time has come when men
have learned 20 turn up this earth and
siit out this golden depositi to lay
hnro their river beds and make use of
the sands yellow with gold. The great
dredges which send their powerful
shovols sixty feet into the ground
come back with more gold gathered in
one SCOOP than the toiling miner can
accumulate In year.
Mr.. r. b. Nrooman of this city, who
has recently returned from @ prolonged
study OF mining conditions in the
/ Northwest, speaks very hopefully of
the enormous results which will I'M
doubtedly bo obtained by this com
| paratively recent development OF gold
dredging, and the rolief it will bring
TO the great body Of miners now work
Ing under such hard, slow conditions
The FIRST use OF the dredger in this
! country, in the upturning OF gold, was
| the result of a chance discovery made
by two farmers In tho Feather River
country OF California, in an old or
ohnrd. Gold was known TO exist there,
but the ground had been worked over
/ without success by the old methods.
| A dredger was put TO work expert
mentally, and that year they harvested
a crop Of gold, as we'll as one Of apples,
among the trees Of the old orchard.
1t makes one recall old Mother Ship
toms prophecy;
"Gold shall be found at the root Of
tree. -
Since then other fields have been
worked, and tho results are beginning
TO make the old methods, which in
volved SO much hardship and such "a
problematioal outcome, look pale and
meaqre in comparison. Even old tielda
which had been worked over four and
five times are responding Co the call of
the dredger and yielding up more gold
than they we're ever thought TO pos
sess and tracts of soil never suspected
OF concealing gold are found TO be full
Of IT, The miners out there are grow
ING to feel that even the dust which
clings 90 their garments is a valuable
asset.
Those who are working with these
dredgos say that the profits are
astounding In New Zealand, where
the process was invented and developed
TO It's present efficiency, a dividend OF
30 per cent on gravel yielding -four
cents cubic yard is being secured.
And the best of 10 seems TO be that Il
is no uncertain proposition. There ].
no working and working for months
only TO find pne's self on the wrong
scent. Down goes your scoop and uI
comes your sand OF your soil, and u
there is no gold there you know it in d
. minute. There generally Is gold, anC
platinum too, and the great fingers
of the dredge will quietly present yot
with one tenth Of / per cent. of what
is there. These great grasping i'm.
gers are made of manganese steel, anc
nothing escapes them.
OF course, the greater part Of th,
dreduina now Is done in river beds
where the gold has been washed dowI
Inv the flow Of the water Alaska
Yukon, and British Columbia graveh
are all giving up mighty proportion
of authentic golden sands. Mr.. Ogil
! vie, the former governor Of the Yukon
believes that eventually the dredge
will be the only gold tiend IN North
west Cnnada and Alaska, for all thl
other proc asses bid fair to be out
! classed. Another territory that is sool
D to be entered With dredgers is th
; Teslin River, near Dawson City, whicl
D has always been the favorite resort O
T miners earning a grub STAKE. VIII
which to prospect IN other heids.
This promises TO be the most lucra
tive tract vet discovered, for govern
n ment officials and mining experts re
n mort that there is an unbrohen strip &
= gold running from one end of u % Ga
: other-a distance Of $50 miles. Nne
2 vou cot ninety seven ounces OF plat
e mum also from one ton Of the blac
n sand in this river and go cents wort
: of platinum, over and above the gol,
'l i'm a mere cupful OF the sand, so
le begin to feel that gold-mining an
platinum seeking become almost
p easy as child's play with bucket an
" shovel.
~ Tremendous enterprises are,
or course. going forward In all these di
y tricis, and it is prophesieo tnat Z,
~ time will soon come when gold worl
: ing will be as safely and confident
&c entered into as any other legiuma
n business venture.