Iditarod pioneer., 1917-02-24
DEVICE FOR SAVING GOLD

One day many years ago. says Portland Ore, dispatch, H. L. Sherwood was mining placer gold on the Feather river, in Cali fornia. The day had been long and hot, the toll arduous the result unsatisfactory. He stood up, wiped the sweat from his lace and contemplated his old-fashloned rocker.
 Why couldn't put half dozen rockers flown there together, fasten 'em with a crossbar and wash six times as much gold n day as l am washing now?" he won !ered
 The experimenting begun by Sherwood that day has resulted in his inventing and building in Portland placer mining ma chine upon which he has been grantel a patent by the United States government. The machine, he says, will take out of gold bearing sand and gravel not only the coarse gold now obtained, but the fine flour gold hat for years has been the despair of every rlacer miner to retain.
 It IS said there Is enough flour gold in he bed of the Snake river alone to pay the British national debt The name of the
 .rson making the calculations has not been announced, but these and other statements indicate that success of the invention would increa-e the annual gold production Of the country by many millions of dollars
 Mir Sherwoods invention Is a kind of 3mphfed rocker, operated by power that pumps the screens over which the sand and
 ravel are travelling against 8 steel buffer .t the rate of 2l0 times a minute.
 By the time the sand has passed through one screen after another, washed and bumped, and has reached the lower con ,entrating boxes, 1t IS 8 wet concentrate, In which the gold and platinum content is as 5reet as possible and the sand content di- minished as much as possible.
 The concentrate IS dried and burned out in big kettle over forge, and quicksilver is introduced, which greedily amalgamates with gold.
 The burning process is for the purpose of dispell!ng the vegetable greases and oils which adhere to the fine gold and make it impossible for the mercury to exert its in Huence. The final step of the process is to dispel the mercury by heat, and that which is left declares the veteran miner, will be all the gold that was in the original sand and gravel.
 Sherwood is picturesquely characteristic of the old type of placer miner. He has been mining in various parts of the West for more than thirty years. Some miners have spent all their days in pursuit of the golden lure of fortune
 Sherwood has placer mined and lost 8 number of fortunes. He lost his savings in Mexico when he was set upon by 4aqul Indians and barely made his escape He lost all that he had in the San Francisco earth quake and fire
 T have the only device that saves the clared at his place on Adams street, which is both home and shop to him, the place where he built his first new machine and where he lovingly treasures his old gold rocker.
 Miners" he continued, "have been trying for generations to save the fine flour gold, but all in vain; it was washed away with too much water and the gravel and muck and silt and clay all in the same box, washed cut the gold Others have been try ing to save the gold on copper plates, and as the fine gold is greasy or coated with silver has no effect on it. Millions of dol lars have been lost in the old way.
 "The concentrator which l have invented is designed to take the place of the old Cali fornia rocker and Alaska Long Tom. It can be taken in on pack trains if there are no wagon roads can be easily and quickly set up. and will work ground too flat for slulcing.
 There are four places to catch the coarse yold and four sets of screens, each s little finer than the one preceding to screen out .he rock and gravel It has an automatic lump car that carries the tailings to any desired point.
 "The entire plant will require about four or five men to operate it per shift with a strong gasoline engine, and it should easily handle 60 to 100 times more gravel per shift than man can with rocker or Long Tom The machine makes the fine gold run rnhill in the sluces"