The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-08-16

'"'ufa or the north to cicne.as of the
south, have long since given mn the;r
store OF yellow metal. The pan, the
longtom and the flume exploited them
o1ter which the hydraulic recovered
fortunes from tailings or from gravel
100 poor to work by the more expeo-
sive method.
h"t the desert is rich in auriferous
gravel. There are thousands of
square miles in the Mojave 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 a erub
stake proposition.
-, water Is not, but there is wind.
lhe dry washer is merely a rude bel.
lows of the familiar blacksmith nat-
tern. 1t forces a current of air
through sheet of muslin set on an
inclined plane and crossed at rich.
angles by sticks Of woods called rifles.
Ihe gravel is made to run down this
muslin incline, while the bellows lifts
IL over the rifles. The gold being
heavy IS caught and held under the
cross pieces; pebbles and sand are
eJected at the bottom,
Various forms Of the dry washer
nave been patented, but the simplest
type remains the best; an old soap
DoX, few yards of tarpaulin, half a
yard OF fine muslin and a little bal
ing wire are all the material required
Tor It's construction. The whole an.
paratus need not weigh over twenty
pounds and the prospcctor can pack
1t from place to place on his back.
Down III southwestern Arizona the
Mexican is credited with the inven-
ton of the dry washer and nothing
else. 1t is the last resource of the
proSpector who cannot yet grub
stake. For miles around Yuma on
either side Of the Colorado, one may
count on taking out an average of a
dollar day with this crude appliance
and rs - will grub stake man for a
month there is little excuse for being
flat broke.
For twenty miles north of the con-
flucnce of the Gila and the Colorado
the barren gulches are honcycombed
with the work Of the dry washer The
work of the white man is easily dis
tinguishable from that of the chula.
In places the bedrock has been ex-
posed for hundreds Of feet along the
bottom of the shalloy gulch, the ce-
ment strata swept clean with whist
broom, since pay dirt is found most
ly al the bottom. This is the work of
the American. The Mexican seldom
lays bare more than a square yard
and from that, so the envious Gringc
asserts, he gets what he is after.
y still more simple AID primitive
method Of dry washin" is indicated
by innumerablc basin-like dcpressions
! along the sides Of these gulches. From
each has been taken about a bucket
full of sand which is placed, handful
at time, in an ordinary gold pan, a
russia iron basin a little larger than
the-ordinary tin wash BASIN.
This, by dcxterous turn of the
wrist, the Mexican throws into the
air, at the same time blowing through
it. AS il falls he tilts the pan, al
lowing it to run in thin stream over
the edge. His bead-like eye Is caught
b .t,I Of i'll l.
sand and concentrates on the opposite
edge of the pan. In half an hour he
IS solvent, and the placer ground will
know him no more until run Of hard
! lack at cockfi"htin@ or monte sends
him back to the band nature has pro-
vidcd for him.
IT i, confidently asserted through
out the southwest that the Mexican
possesses a sixth sense which enables
him to locate infallibly the pockets
| which white men either miss altogeth-
cr or rnly stumbl" upon by accident
Men have carefully studied the
| natural features Of these spots, but
arc unable to discover the indications
which ,.,int them out to the native.
II is ma,ldening TO work ten days un-
der blazing sun for few dollars
worth Of dust aHd nuggets, and then
to see Il lazy Mexican walk directly
to Il spot few rods away, pan a
nucketful Of dirt and siouch off after
Eaif an hours work with $50 worth
Of the yellow metal Knnttcd up in his
gaudy handkerchief