The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-06-27

bade farewell to our host at SGlaiyeer
and set out, in a brisk snowstorm. to-
/ Gavrieloysk. Here We called on the.
"cabinetski' mine officer for the terri.
tory. He was out, but his wife gave
us warm welcome She sent her
pretty little girl dressed in a long
Holland frock, to get me some "kvas.
drink made from fermented mares
milk that is in great demand in the
Russias. 1t is like Hat and slightly
sour cider and a.suages ones thirst.
but IT is scarcely a beverage 10 imbibe
on its own merits.
/ Mrs. Nankin told us a curious tale
about her house. a roomy one story
log bunga ow over 100 years old 1t
was a death house for pets
Animals Went Mad.
Poultry ana ducks never lived for
more than three weeks or so, and
every one OF the many cats and dogs
she had tried to keep had gone mad
within few weeks. At that very
moment a woman who had been a
member of the household was undergo
ing the PGateur treatment for mad dog
bite at Tomsk university up in the
north. Her husband was inclined to
attribute the trouble to the proximity
of long disused silver smelling works
few yar0s away. He thought that
the silver tainted the water YET no
human had experienced i'll effect on
that account.
Mrs. Nankin told Us to come back
to supper at the end of the afternoon
and she saw us off to examine the
gold sluices, a quarter of a M down
the creek Here there were thirteen
washing s'uces, though, owing to the
winter, only three were then in opera.
ton.
First the newly arrived sledge loads
of pay dirt" from the Salaiyeer shafts
are emptied into clay pockets, such as
bricklayers use for mixing their lime
Then water is poured in ana man
chops up the mess with hoe into the
consistency of thick soup. Every now
and then he ladies' some out on to the
five by three foot plate of iron, sieved
with rows of small holes, that is laid
on the plank bed of the uice, in a
narrow channel of the creek. Two men
with hoes then beat it about, crushing
every lump of undissolved gravel.
When all has been washed" or dis
solved in the current of running water
that careers down the sluiCe the water
is damned and the iron sieve plate
lifted. displaying to view a few land
fu,s of blackiah sand that has sunk
through the holes-by its heavy
weight-during the washing. 1t is
among this sand that Turk the tiny
specks of precious metal.
A man squats at the foot of the
smice a little hoe end in one hand
stiff scrubbing brush in the other
Deity he dsturbs the sediment, &c
which a small quantity of quicksilver
= he's been added from a miners phial
r disturbs it in long, semi-circuhI
: sweeps that draw away the pebbles
l and the coarser sand. leaving at last
| childs HANDFUL of fine, dark sand
e This is taken up in tin shovel. Glanc
! ing keen,y into it, you spy, among the
r quicksilver few specks of very min
ute, glittering yellow-the gold.
1t was fascinating to stand watching
the phole process, from the unloading
TO the sledge to the appearance OF the
"fnd"-less bulk of gold than a pin
head, 1t is rather disillusioning. Most
Of Ms get into the habit of picturlne
gold mining as struttng about in a
picturesoue red flannel shirt now ana
again striking the ground with pick
ak and picking up the nugget, as big as
a walnut, that of course, is exposed TO
view.
What do you think these salaiyeer
miners make in the winter months
They work harG from dawn TO DARK
and the division Of gold pans out al
q about twenty kopecks of eight cents
a day! Things are little better IN
Z the summer, and few years ago the
4 men we're making five and seven rub
les CS2.5O and $3.50 day. They i've
on past memories; no one knows what
, may come mp one fine morning from
D New Jersey for more than half an
hour.