Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-10-29

worth $40 an ounce. When the dust
comes to Mr.. Beraud it is assayed-that
tested.
The assay is made after the gold n
cast into bricks. From each brick
corner is cut off with a chisel the
amount taken being about the size Of
a marrowfat pea This is hammered
out on an anvil and run through rollers
until il is as thin as the newspaper on
which this letter is printed. A little
strip of this gold leaf is then taken
off and weighed on the fine scales above
spoken of. 1t is SO treated by melting
in a furnace that the impurities are
taken out and little button OF pure
gold is left This button is weighed
and its weight is subtracted from the
weight OF the strip before it was melt
ed. The result shows the. amount Of
pure gold in the brick; and there are
tables giving its value in dollars and
cents.
asked the assayer whethershe did not
covet the metal he handled. He replied:
Il never think of the value. / have
been working in gold SO long that the
stuff seems to me just like corn or oats
in the hands of a farmer. 1t is like the
raw material used IN machinery. l. was
different when l first began to assay at
Dawson. | had never seen gold dust and
nuggets in quantity before and almost
went crazy. 1 liked the look of the gold
and / bought nuggets and had gold pins
and chains made of them. l wore mug
get as a searfpin and had nugget cum
buttons. After time l grew tired OF
them and gave them away"
l asked Mr.. Beraud about his early
experiences in Dawson. He described
those days when fortunes were made in
a week. detailing some of the eXtrava-
gances of the miners. Said he:
.,Nf1 anna ell taaf fho1v O l.
most threw il about. The miners would
go with their gold from saloon to saloon
treating the crowd and throwing the
poke to the bartender to weigh out the
amount OF each treat They were SO
careless that 3 man might take out
double the quantity and not be detected.
A miner might have thousand dollars
worth of gold in his bag. and spend it
all in an evening Now and then one
would come into dance hall, and taking
his seat in the gallery. call one of the
girls to stand under him while he poured
gold dust into her hair. dance hall
girl might thus cleanup 500 In a single
shampoo. L RENE mber miner named
Hauser, who fell in love with girl and
got her to marry him by paying her
what she weighed in gold dust. She
stepped on the scales and kicked the
beam at 1876 pounds averiupois. She
weighed over Zoo ounces. which at SIS
an ounce cost him over s3S. 600
Similar eNtravaganCeS prcN allied here at
Fairbanks when the camp was in the
height of its glory. Miners are always
generous and community like this is
lar more charitable than those of a long
settled country. Said Ar. l.. L. Erwin.
the United States marshal at Fairbanks.
to me the other day:
"The people here are the most generous
on earth. 1t is no trick to raise $500 to
send d sick man or woman outside. Only
a few months ago man WAS aiken outside
with trained nurse, and enough money
was sent along to pay his hospital ex-
-, 10 I f,,t ia AlaC
eighteen years, and in all that time l
have not seen one person begging.
x
I'VE have. you know. many unsuccsss
full men," the marshal continued. Min
ing is to a large extent gambling, ad
where one man succeed there are hun
dreds who fail / remember an instance
of man who came to Fairbanks to make
his fortune leaving his wife and family
outside. He found gold and finally fell
sick and died in cabin on one of the
creeks. When the miners looked over his
papers they found a letter that had just
come from his wife. who lived in littls
town in Massachusetts,. The letter was
full of news about the baby that had been
born since the father had left and inside
it was one of the babys stockings. The
miners stood around the dead body in the
cabin as the letter was read. and when
the stocking was shown the tears ran
down their faces. One Of them reached
out and took the stocking He pulled
forth his poke and poured in enough gold
dust and nuggets to fill up the toe. An
other miner poured in more dust, and this
kept on. the stocking passing from hand
to hand until it was filled. But all had
not yet contributed. The gold was then
poured out Of the stocking onto the table:
lump this and start over again In the
md 1t was passed around the whole oanR
With the result that 5000 worth OF Oo11
lust was collected and the money thAI66oR
vent to the widow"
FRANK G. CARPENTER