The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-08-04
DRY WASHING IN THB DESERT
COLD RUNrING AFTER TINE ON
MEXICAN PLAN.

Lsssads Of IIss.y STRIKES In the ssuphwest
the Mextcan's steady Source q In
csms-vast Quanutaes n Geld which
No Msn Can Get at Fsr tho Time Being.
The desert country Of the Southwest is
rioh In legends Of lucky strikes made by
dry washers. And tho dry washer 10 Dos
q laundry utspsGl designed for use where
water 10 too scarce to b used other than
internally. II 10 tho sole mechanical In
vention with which the native Mexican 10
credited, a means OF taking placer gold
from the aand In which wind supplies the
place Of water.
Given Q good head Of water and the man
with the hydraulic giant will wash a for
tune from auriferous gravel that carries
. few cents worth OF gold to the square
yard. The fellow 18th the pan must find
SO cents worth or better in the same area
TO make wages, but the dry washer regards
the ground az barren II he does not flnd q
dollars worth Of the yellow metal on his
rifles after screening the same amount OF
sand.
There was old man Cusbenberry, whose
haunt was south Of Casa Donna, that curl
BUS volcanic plateau which Is visible for a
: hundred miles around Yuma. He was in
his chronic condition Of hard luck whom q
shovelful Of sand left the rifles OF his primi-
with dust and nuggets.
In half an hour he had taken out 4 1000,
and In tho following six months he had
spent every vent Of il in an Intellectual
effort to raise water from the Colorado
for more extensive operations. He novel
found another pocket.
Down around Yuma, when you talk OF
dry washing. they will also tell you Of the
ditched hobo. A Southern Pacific brake
man elected him from a side door Pullman,
and no sought the waterfront. which was
an institution then. celebrated from the
nsllss to the Ysaui country.
aThe Front" was q narrow strip OF shore
just below the old Government corral,
where by ancient usage was established the
eslth Of tho dead broke. Every
thing was owned In common. They had a
Mayor and an unwritten code. enforced by
a kangaroo court. In earlier days no loss
Of caste attached 20 residence on Tho
Front" to-day's lnsolvent was frequently
to-morrow's magnate. Gradually. how
ever. the hob element came to be pre-
dominant, and tho city marshal abated
the sanctuary as a nuisance.
But TO return to the ditched hobo. He
told the Frontiers q hard luck story that
would a few years ago have insured aid,
comfort and Incidence. The tanning Of the
Apache INC the extension Of the Santa Fe
and tho Southern Pacific had, however.
made them familiar with his kind, and
his case was promptly disposed OF. A
grubstake was made up and he was advised
70 accompany a couple OF msn who were
Just starting on . dry washing expedition
up the river.
That same day tbs outfit uncovered a
ledge that was shot and spsckled with free
gold. and the hobo's share brought him
$50 1000. All hoboland preserves traditions
Of the period OF plenty that followed. In
~cidentally not one OF the trio that struck
the lode was alive a year later.
But as to the dry washer and tho ma
who operates IL. The tourist who crosses
the sand and alkali wastes in a Pullman. or
10 whlrled la an automobile to the bonanza
to look at the good thing the superintendent
has framed mp for him ssss neither.
The desert prospector Is the brother OF
silence. q silence 30 profound and pervasive
that when . vagrant wind raises a level
jet Of sand and move It a yard or two the
silken swish Of its tran sit is audible for
furiongs.
The amp Of the horned toad fills the
void corridor OF the ear. the football Of the
sad eyed burro is persuasive. Only at
night. when the coyote lifts a 9 a muzzle
to the bland moon lie the stiffness shattered
as infinite desolation finds a voice.
Another sound there is that speaks OF
mans presence In the heart OF the waste.
miles from the railway and equally re-
mote from wood and water. there may be
heard . recurrsnt popping that 10 not to be
COMPOUNDED with the Earring rataplan Of the
stam . mill.
II 10 like the pop-pop-popping Of a gaso-
lene launch. and the tenderfoot might
fancy that the ship Of the desert had been
brought up TO date and equipped with
those mysterious appliances Of which the
motor enthusiast loves to discourse.
Approach the sound and o will come
upon the man and his machines sun
Drowned and solitary man, the corners OF
his eyes wrinkled like an apple that has been
frozen and thswed by the instructive con-
traction Of the lids against the glare Of
He 10 the last Of the placer miners. the
survival Of a type displaced by the by
draulio giant that levels hills and fills valleys
by a magic that would disturb the rest OF
the mighty wizard, Michael Scott.
The water ways, from the frozen tundra
OF the north to &enegas Of the south, have
long since given up their store OF yellow
metal. The pan, the longtom and the
fume exploited them. after which the ny
draulic recovered fortunes from tailings.
or from gravel too poor to work by the
moro expensive method.
But the desert 10 rich in auriferous gravel.
There arc thousands Of square miles In the
Moiave and the Colorado that yield placer
gold In such quantities that. given water.
the output OF Cripple Creek and Tonopah
would be made to look like q grub stake
proposition
Water is not. but there 10 wind The
dry washer lie merely . rude bellows OF the
familiar. blacksmith pattern It forces a
current of air through a sheet Of muslin
set on an inclined plane and crossed at
right angles by sticks OF wood called
rifles.
The gravel 10 made TO run down this
muslin Incline. while the bellows lifts It
over tho rifles The gold, being heavy.
10 caught and held under the cross pieces;
pebbles and sand are elected at the bottom.