The Nome daily nugget., 1911-04-14

It is said that 6J per cent Of the traffic of the railways in the United States originates in the mines and that 2,0O0,OOO wage earners are con stantly engaged in mining operations The miner declares that, after all his work is the foundation stone of Amer ican progress; that without the pro- ducts of the mine, the factories of the nation would stand still for lack of fuel; that the railways never could have been built or operated because of lack of coal and steel; that the agri cultural machinery of the country there would be no metal to manufac- ture them. He, therefore. places him self at the head of the list of Ameri' can workmen.
 Many of the most important opera tions in mining gold are of American origin. One of these is the hydraulic process which originated in California in 1852 By this process creeks and even rivers, are diverted into huge reservoirs where their waters are inn pounded. When a sufficient head is obtained, the water is conducted through large pipes to point where the mining operations are carried on and is there concentrated on the soil to be broken up. Thousands of acres of soil are thus washed out and the gold bearing rock separated.
 The tremendous force of the stream of water played upon the spot where the operations are being carried on, is illustrated by the fact that an eight inch nozzle has been known to release a pressure of water sufficient to move a two-ton boulder at a distance of 20 feet, and throw 50o-pound rock as easily as man might cast a 20-pound weight.
 Another gold mining operation that is the result of the ingenuity of the American mining engineer is that of dredging. A dredge resembling the old French ladder, dredges used on the Panama canal, is fitted with a centri- fugai pump. It costs about s52,000, and its equipment s12,5oo. The ex- pense of operating one of these dredges is about s16,oOO a year. during which time 1t will dredge 10 acres of water covered ground to a depth of 30 feet. The huge stamping mill, which is used 70 break up gold bearing rock is also largely an American invention.
 One of the most valuable inventions for the recovery of gold is known as the cyanide process, the first patent for which was granted to J. w. Simp- son of New Jersey. By this process gold may be secured from sources that could not be worked profitably in any other way. The rock first is crushed into a pulp by huge stamping machines, and this pulp is mixed with cyanide of potash a chemical for which gold has a strange affinity. The mixture is then poured into sheetiron boxes containing zinc shavings. This causes the gold to break away from its first affinity and make friends with the zinc. IL is then treated to a washing which re- covers a goodly portion of the gold and then small quantities of sulphurie acid are added to it and this produces zinc suIphate. This is washed out with boiling water and the gold residue Is placed in a furnace with soda. boraS and sand. When heated. these form Aux which allows the pure gold to set tie to the bottom.
 The demands upon the coal mine in the United States are so heavy ths' every sort of mechanical appliance for the mining of coal is now in use. The pneumatic drill, driven by compressed air, is able to do the work of a dozen men. From the figures of Mulhall as to the working power of the averas human being. 1t appears that the coa taken out of the American mine T years time is, even under present wasteful conditions capable of doing as much work as could be accomplished by every man. woman and child on thf whole earth in five years. Many n the inventions for the separation ol coal from slate and otlleI wastes have been brought out ny Americans one of these is a coal wasAer Fuses oi water are thrown up through sieve containing the coal, and the slate. Tn coal being lighter than the slate i' forced out with the strcaIt of wat T and is thus separated iron; the unusa' ble material. It is the belief of many mining experts that the day will come when coal will be transferred into cleo trieity at the mine and carried to the user by giant transmission plants.