El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-10-28

7 might almost say. eats and drinks
gold You see So much gold in the
mines and the banks. that you feel like
the beggar boy with his nose flattened
against the glass window Of the candy
store There is plenty TO be had We're
il not for the barrier between you and
the taking.
At the cleauups OF the camps 7 have
handled gold nuggets as one handles
shelled corn, and at the assay offices
I have held uD $4,000 worth ot pure
gold in one brick While at Dawson
/ saw 100000 worth or bricks wheeled
about on a truck. such as you find at
a country railroad station. The gold
bricks were heavy They were worth
from $4,000 to $4,000 apiece At the
same place ! saw a ton or amalgam
consisting Of quicksilver mixed with
gold. which VIII be shipped out TO be
reduced to gold bullion. The amalgam
IS put into furnace. a gallon or so
at time An intense heat IS turned
on. This melts the amalgam and turns
quicksilver TO a vapor. which passes
off into a coil where il cOndenses and
runs out as quicksilver again The
pure gold alone remains IN the furnace
Has Melted S5O.OOO.OOO in Gold.
~ I met here AT Fairbanks "A man who
has melted more than S50,000.000 worth
Of gold dust and nuggets, and who is
now making bullion to the amount of
S3.000.0O0 a year This Is g. E Be
r. I'd, the asSayer Of the First National
bank He Is a chemist and metallur-
gist Of note. and was the government
aSSaVer at Dawson when they were get
ting out gold by the millions
All OF the banks here buy gold, and
each has its melting pots where the
dust and nuggets are turned into bricks
for shipment outside. You see these
gold bricks on the bank counters. Some
are as small as a cake Of sweet chOcO-
late and others are so large that II one
fell on your toes II would crush them
The assavine and melting is usually
done outside the bank Mr.. Berauds
shop is a rude zinc shed not much bet
ter than the portable houses used for
automobiles. It contains little Iur-
mace and the various implements Of the
assayer. including mOlds, bone-ash and
scales. The scales are so delicate that
they viii weigh pencil mark on a
sheet Of fine tissue paper or single
silky hair Of baby.
Mines and Their Foxes.
The gold dust is brought in to the
banks by the miners in bags Of buck
skin as big around as your arm ana
about a foot long. Such bags are called
pOkes The banker takes the poke and
pOurs the metal out on the scales. and
then either pays cash outright Tor the
gold according TO weight OF gives inc
miner a credit slip which entities him
TO its actual value after IL has been
turned into bullion. The gold dust Is
Of different values some is mixed with
silver and is not worth more than Sl3
worth $50 an ounce When the dust
comes 10 Mr.. Beraud II is assayed-
that is, il is melted and its gold con-
tents tested
Early Days in Dawson.
asked Mr. Beraud about his early
experiences IN Dawson. He described
those days when fortunes were made
in week, detailing some Of the eN-
travagances OF the mines. Said he
The gold came so easily that they z
almost threw it about The miners
would go with their gold from saloon b
10 saloon treating the crowd, and I!
throwing the poke 10 the bartender TO +.
weigh out the amount Of each treat {
They were so careless that A man '
might take out double the quantity and
not be detected
"A miner might have thousand dol .
lars worth Of gold in his bag, and +
spend il all in an evening Now and 4;
then one would come into a dance hall 1
and taking his seat in the gallery, call E
one OF the girls TO stand under him +
while he poured gold dust into her
hair A dance hall girl might thus .
clean up $50 in a single shampoo.
Buys Bride by Weight in Gold Dust
I remember miner named Hauser.
who fell in love with q girl and got
her to marry him by paying her what
she weighed in gold dust She stepped
Dn the scales and kicked the beam at
-35 pounds averdupois- She weighed
over POO ounces, which. at SIS an
ounce. cost him over s3S.0O0"
Similar extravaganza prevailed here
AZ Fairbanks when the camp was in i
he height Of its glory. Miners are
always generous and a community like