The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1920-03-11

Ger camp in the world is cluttered up
with this kind of junk. and in almost
every instance they have all proved
failures. They have contributed their
share to the deplorable truism that
more money has been spent on gold
mining than has been taken out of the
ground. In Dawson, all around the
Klondike. you can see thousands of
tons of scrap, much of it packed in
over that back-breaking. heart break
ing Chilkoot or White Pass, almost
worth its weight in gold when it
reached the gold fields, but destined
never to extract an ounce Of gold.
In this connection l must say that
not everything mounted on a floating
hull has been a success. Far from it,
Suction dredges have proved a failure
as gold diggers in every case I know
Of clam shells, submarine boats. the
pneumatic caisson, the vacuum
dredge as we'll few floating steam
shovels or dipper dredges have enjoy
ed a small measure of success under
certain conditions But the history of
gold dredging in the United States
really starts with the bucket elevator
dredge with its continuous chain of
buckets digging and elevating the gold
bearing material This is the only
type that has been financially sue
cessful on a large scale in California
or any other place
Little advantage would result from
nararting in detail the history of the
early failures in gold dredging. Dredg- /
ing has become an established and |
important part of mining and with
the information available the early |
failures should not be needed to warn |
careful investors against similar mis-
takes yet l saw in Idaho last summer,
within a radius of 10 miles, three
pitiful monuments to dredging failure
Two of these dredges had been con-
structed within very recent dates
when anyone could have received up
to-date information from one hun1
dred reliable sources, yet these ma
chimes were about on a par with the
ancestor of the modern dredge, which
consisted of a bag laced to a round
iron frame secured at the end of a
long pole, and drawn along the bot
tom of river by a native in a canoe!
There is no reason for such out
and-out failures today Dredging is
almost an exact science; examinations
by experts can determine the invest
nent possibilities as a rule much clos
ar than for any other branch of min p.
ng. The element of risk is reduced =
10 a minimum. Every property should
nave its dredge designed to fit the To-
al conditions. But to make a gold
iredging proposition an economic sue
cess, experienced judgment must be
brought to bear on every phase Of the :
work, from the examination to the
construction and operation of the >
plant
History of Dredging. .
Construction of the first practical
gold dredge in California in 1898 by w.
p Harmon and Thos Couch marked
he beginning of a new era in gold
mining. The dredging industry as
umed greater proportions in Califor- =
Tia than elsewhere. Here followed the
improvements and enlarged construc-
ion, which make the California gold
redge today the model after which L
ther countries pattern. Capacity has
increased from buckets which we car 7
led off for desk paper weights, soon
p to ~ to cubic feet, until now we 2,
ave the IS cubic foot monsters in -
he Yuba field and elsewhere which 2,
ig nearly 100 feet below water and t.
o many things that we never dream ~
Of 80
lg the government in controlling the fC
ood waters at the same time they q
ecover the gold. Also dredges are a.
esigned to return the material in 81
s original state, with the soil on top Is
eady for planting. In probably no "
ranch of mining has such rapid pro- ca
ress been made-2O years ago dredg- DE-
lg was in its infancy.
But this is getting ahead of our u
DRY. Even as early as 1S49 a ma F.
line was shipped around the Horn
ON New York to San Francisco to Oh
,oOp up the gravel from the inacces-
bic beds Of the gold bearing streams,
1t it sank Immediately upon trial in Tn
alifornia Previous to 1898, of the
any unsuccessful attempts at In
-edging in California and the west,
e only one approaching success, NJ
as a double lift bucket elevator TOT
edge operated at Grasshopper ST.
eek, Montana, in 1894. 70,
Although the modern type of st,
edge was developed Independently ella
this country, New ZEALAND may be IN,
nsdered the birth place Of dredg- es-
-- un
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