The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-06-24

sions at $15.eoe 90 am told that
he first bought every luxury he could
tnank OF. building a great palace.
which he filled with pianos and
canary birds to such an extent that IL
Wa known as the house of song. He
Also became charitable. and one
CHRISTMAS day gave away lee. Gee
silver dollars. piling the money On a
truck and scattering il about among
the poems Of Parrai. hi is the
same man Who once said ne would
give s1o.eee.se te the poor Of his
country. He even offered to pay the
national debt.
| another zine took out SIS
600. 0 ounces of silver from one mine
IN twelve years and then went To Eu-
rope to spend it. He lived as e~xtrava-
gantiy as he could. but left something
like sixty millions for his heirs to fight
over.
Stories q Lost Mines.
me extent OF the mining territory
here IS so great that you can get ira
ditionS of lost mines from all parts
or the The mining regions
are to De found in almost every
state. but h principal ones are in
central and western Mexico. They.
run from the border of the United
States as far down as oaxaca. a dis
lance as long Is from New York to
Oklahoma City. and they go from
there westward as far as from New
y ork to Boston. The best mines are
On the western slopes Of the noun
tains at from a half a mile TO a milt
and a half above the sea-level.
Gold is spread over a vast area o.
the Sierra Madre, and there are piac
ers in Sonora a elsewhere. The
~prospecter's best chance is to take en-,
of the diS1Sed workings or lost mines
and follow it back to the origina
vein. | am told that there is a l2,oee
acre ranch in Sonora. every squar'
, yard of which gives color to tn
, prospector's plan. h source of thi
: gold was looked for for generations
and was finally found in a hill te1
; miles away. but the vein has beel
worked out. Some day the old rancl
$ may be run through the mill for tn
J scattering bits Of -four gold it con
{ tains.
In another mining region a pros
pecting party picked up a piece {
. ireck weighing two tons, which W.
!" streaked with native silver. 1t We
. broken up and reduced, and foun
= to contain $1,000 worth OF metal. Tt
= ~proSpectors organized q company an
searched the whole neighborhood. 1
na11y concluding that the great ma
had in some way been carried dow
stream from a mining territory for
a mikes distant
n There are a number OF old Spani:
u mines which are worked out ar
u others which cannot be located. o.
r ct these is the Tiaopa. which the Pin
n Indians claim was. ence the create
. mining property ef all time. but
~ (which the records show ne existent
10 Wonderful stories are told OF the S.
q Nicolas mine, in Tamaulipas. whi
70 was abandoned at the time OF I
IA struggle for independence. Accor
o1 ing to tradition this mine was SO ri
that the streets Of the town we
ID DAved with silver. on special acc
a. siens. and silver bullets were cut fro
the ore.
ae Rock Heaps Sprinkled With Gol<
q. There is ne doubt but that the {
- methods Of mining have left fertuE
OF ia silver and gold OF the duml
Many OF the mines were far away
the mountains and transportation y
fy SO costly tina only the best ore cot
rs be worked. The were rue
~ the ere being crushed between gr'
D. stones, and the metals taken out
IN the patio process. These methe
are still used in some OF the mil
worked by the natives.
X I have seen them getting cut sill
or by the patio process. The ore is n
an ground to a powedr n mixed W
f. Wa1NT dHC4A II 10flxaS q Tx VI O La
n Then q Hixture Of yitriol. salt q
quicksilver is added and six or els
in bl~inAfcaded mules are driven areu
through the mad for hours unra
quicksilver has eon through ev
is part of it. AS the quicksilver teuc1
the particles of native silver in
Grs lore it sucks the silver into itself, q
"a: When it is drawn of, it has the gre
&C. e part Of the silver and gold IT
,er the mud or cr6shed ore. The dai
SILVER is then put into a n 8
VA i~evaBorated, the silver itself remain
In urnace.
"a As l saw the mules trottiag aret
ato in tfese big vats or silver mud, |
n.y., marked upon their sorry apDeaTaf
pi- and was told that only the oldest
1poorest Of stock were used Tor
1DarDoSe. The reason is tae quick
er- yer and vitriea rots oil the hoofs.
latter a year or SO the animals have
IA Ne killed.
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