The Elk Mountain pilot., 1912-04-11
"Eoo!'s Gold"

llsllllc Oh alllIlltIii toliI ljOstNt VI lioli
and sulphur in almost the proper
ton of onchalf iron and onchalf
sulphur; actually 4G.7 iron and
50. 5 sulphur. The chemists call
this mineral iron sulphide or snl-
phidc of iron; the geo.ogists call it
pyritc. or pyrites, iron Of pyrites.
When at all pure it has Il bright
yellow color that might readily be
mistaken for the color Of gold.
Stores have been told of ship
load being taken to England in the
carly days of the country, and it
would be hard to estimate the cost
in time and effort OF the pits, tun-
ncls and shafts that have been dug
after tll- will-o'-thc-wiSp. OF still
another. class arc'such stories as that
of the man i'm Kentucky, ,who. thou
ght hc had found god in crossing
the land of widow with seven
Children, and kept quiet about his
discovery until lic had landed the
widow. And yet pyrite il not with
out its uses and values.
If the pyrite in tlc specimen is
at all abundant it will usually be
observed T. at it projects out OF the
rocks in little cubes ike dice from
ne hundreclth part Of an inch a
,iag to one fourth of an inch ON the
dyes. Sometimes tn" Whole sur
ace is composed If little corners
Just projecting. Often only ON little
SQUARE faces are seen. In many ca
ecs these corners and faces are SO
small that they cannot lie detected
rithout "A magnifying glass. Where
re faces are large it may he noticed
Il at there are usually lines like
smootLcd ont scratches running
parallel to one edge. These cubes
or partial cubes are the crystalline
form of pyritc. Sometimes the py
rite is in the shape of round balls
ike marbles, which may show the
cube corners ON tie outside, but
which, when broken open, look like
bail of needles, all radia,iug from
central point. In these cases,
while the inside of the bal! may be
yellow, the outside is usually n rus
ty brown due to the mienral having
hanged from iron sulphides to iron
oxide, which is the s,,mc iron rust
In come eases the pyritc occurs as
seperatc cubes, often up to an inch
or more in diameter. These cubes
often weather ou' of shaleS so rs To
strew the surface, and when so found
are usually changed to the rusty
oxide ali through.
If>a specinan of pyrite be com
pared wit: some true gold, 1t may be
noticed that the pyrite has brassy
yellow color, whereas the gold usu-
ally will show in nature what Is
termed an old gold cclor.
The pyritc can neither be cut or
flattcned out 10y pounding; on the
contrary, the gold, if it occurs in
large enough flakes or nuggets to
test in that way, will he found toi
be soft and to cut readily, or to
flatten out when struck with al
| hammer.
When struck with hammer,
pyritc:will send out sparks as readi- |
ly us flint. 1t will sometimes be-
noticed in digging out round masses
where they occur in limcstoncs,
that the effort produces II shower
of sparks like miniature fireworks.
Gold. will not strike fire with any
thing,
If pyrite be rubbed against =
milestone or Il piece of unglazcd
porcelain, or similar article with al
slightly rough surface, it will be
found to leave black streak, while
gold, if in large. enough grains to
test in that way. gives Il golden yel-
low mcttalic mark.
Finally, if little of the pyritc
be coarsely pulvtrized, put in Il
stove shovel and roasted over a fire ]
r.ll