Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-07

of the ocean to equal the present mighty
yearly output of the Rand.
The Dangers Of Mining.
have been in many gold mines. but in
none where the dangers are greater than
in these great slanting caves of South
Africa. The walls dip that you have to
take a rope or chain to hold on to. as you
move through the Slopes. and slip would
send you rolling down over the rocks for
hundreds of feet The accidents are so
many that visitors are required to give a
pledge before they enter the mine that n"
action will be taken against the company
in case they are injured during the jour
ney The mines are not timbered. as the
rock is solid. but nevertheless the blast
ing frequently cracks the walls and
masses fall down into the tunnels upon
those who pass through. There are also
cars whizzing along. the ore rolls down
the planes and rocks weighing tons ny
this way and that.
Big Mills Of the Transvaal.
But let us go to the surface and walk
through this mighty gold factory The
mines of the Transvaal have machinery
equal to the finest used in America, and
the Simmer and Jack has $40 stamps,
which work away day and night. crush
ing the ore for the mercury plates and
cyanide watts.
AS the rock comes to the surface it Is
in Jumps of all sizes from that of my fist
to a half bushel measure or larger. 1t Is
of a blush color. and 1t looks much like
the limestone we use for fixing the turn
pixies There is not a CLINT of gold to be
seen anywhere and when crushed the rock
looks lust like the dust on the roads
The rock is first sorted by machinery
that the larger pieces may be broken
before they go into the crushers. Ihey
are then ground UP after the same fash
ion that our grandmothers ground conee'
save that these crushing mills will chew
to pieces rocks the size of peck meas
ure. .
When the ore Is comparatively fine 1t
is dropped down into the stamps and
pounded by them to dust. These stamps
are great bars of steel, which are always
dropping upon the gold-bearing rock.
There are 800 of them. and as they
fall they make noise like that of Vic
toria Falls or the rushing OF Niagara
The din is SO great that the workmen
have to stop their ears with cotton to
keep from losing their hearing. Indeed.
| found myself putting my hands to the
sides of my head to shut out the sound.
When the rock comes from the stamps
it is a fine flour of gold ore. 1t must be
fine enough to go through wire mesh
with holes MOI much larger than the
point of a needle. 1t is now carried by
water over tables covered with mer-
curry. which catches the gold and allows
the sand to go on. After this the refuse
is treated to a bath of cyanide Of potas-
SUM and water. which takes up such
gold as Is left. The processes are about
the same as those used in our great
mines of the west. and as result prac-
tically all of the gold is saved.
With the Assayers.
was much interested in going through
the assay Offices of this great mine. The
ore has to be tested again and again to
know just how the mine is working and
to be sure that nothing Is lost. Some
thing like a thousand different assays
are made every day. A very little bit OF
ore is taken each time, but the gold and