Newspaper Page Text
Fitzgerald Leader.
FITZGERALD, GEORGIA.
—published by—
HINAPP * sowr.
The head waiter will have to look to
his laurels, declares the New York
Tribune. The head waitress is dis¬
placing him in certain Now England
hotels. As is usually the case, the
women are doing the work well.
Should any great numbers succeed
in getting into the Yukon region this
fall, the Portland Oregonian predicts,
there will be a tragedy the like of
which hits not been known to the
world since Napoleon's Russian cam¬
paign. _
Superstition still lives in England.
Angill Castle, Westmoreland, which
cost $70,000 to build aud which was
sold some years ago for $10,000, has
now been resold for $3250, because it
is reputed to be haunted by mysteri¬
ous flaming spirits flitting about tho
premises.
Jerome II. Raymond, who twenty
years ago was a newsboy in the streets
of Chicago, is now, at the age of twen¬
ty-nine, President of the West Vir¬
ginia University, at Morgantown. He
left newspaper selling to become an
office boy for George M. Pullman. He
is believed to be the youngest college
President in the United States.
It seems, notes the New York Ob¬
server, that opposition to the singing
of hymns in Scotland has practically
died out. When hymns are given out
worshipers no longer rise from their
seats in wrath and stalk out of church.
During recent years many hymn-books
have been made in Scotland. This
change of ideas has been largely
bronght about by the general singing
of Sankey hymns.
During the American Revolution an
English magazine published nn esti¬
mate of the future population of the
North American colonies. Placing tho
population then at 2,000,000 and as¬
suming that it would double itself
every twenty-five years, the writer
estimated that in the year 1890 the
number would have increased to 04,-
000,000. This may be taken as a most
remarkable prophecy, inasmuch as the
census of 1890 fixes the total popula¬
tion at 02,622,250.
Lord Wolseley, Commander-in-Ckiei
of the British army, has publicly an-
nounced that “the meteor flag of Eng-’
land” will never again be carried into
battle, in land fights at least. In pre¬
senting new colors to a regiment re¬
cently he said: “In future it would be
madness and a crime to order any man
to carry colors into action. You might
as well order him to be assassinated.
The Germans carry the poles on which
the colors used to be, so that they at¬
tract no notice in action. AVe have
had most reluotantly to abandon a
practice to which we attached great
importance, and which, under past and
gone conditions of fighting, was in¬
valuable in keeping alive tho regimen¬
tal spirit upon which our British troops
depended so much. ”
According to the New York Post,
some time ago a movement was quietly
inaugurated to divide the Territory of
Alaska. In May last active work was
begun, and the project is nevy ready
for public attention. Petitions for a
division are in circulation in the in¬
terior along the Yukon River and in
all mining camps, aud should reach
Washington early in September. The
miners heartily endorse the idea, with
its prospect of direct governmental
supervision, land titles and incentives
to good citizenship. Lincoln is the
name suggested for the proposed new
territory, and the city of We.ve, a t
the mouth of the Tauana River, 800
miles from the sea and on the Yukon
River, is favored as the seat of govern¬
ment. Tributary to Weare on all sides
are the great placer-mining gold fields.
There is ample room for two or more
territories, the area of Alaska being
twelve times that of the State of New
York. The proposed territory of Lin¬
coln would comprise 500,000 square
miles of the interior and northern
coast, country, and would embrace
within its boundaries the valleys of
the Yukon River and its tributaries,
and the coast along Bering Sea. After
division there would remain in Alaska
all of the territory along the Northern
Pacific seacoast and the Aleutian Isl¬
ands. This includes all the agricul¬
tural lands in Alaska and that part
of the territory which enjoys a com-
paratively mild and equable climate
on account of the well-known influ¬
ences of the Japan current. It would
retain the coast trade and tho quartz
mines of Douglas Island.
PLACER MINING
• J IN THE KLONDIKE.
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So far all the mining that has been
done in the Klondike country has been
what is known as placer mining. This
is the simplest and oldest form of
mining, and is usually adopted in new
gold fields. In its crudest form,
placer mining is simply the picking up
of a panful of dirt from the bed of a
stream where gohl is supposed to ex¬
ist, the washing away of the dirt and
pebbles aud the gathering of the gold,
which, beoause of its weight, sinks to
the bottom of the pan.
For example, let us follow a pros¬
pector on some stream in our Western
gold fields, where the complication of
eternally frozen ground does not enter
into the question. After traveling
perhaps many weary days he comes
on a stream coming down some moun¬
tain gorge that looks “likely,” as he
says, to his practiced eye. He stops
and examines the pebbles on the bot¬
tom, and finds a good many of them
are of quartz.
This, although not in itself an indi¬
cation of gold, is a good sign, so the
prospector scrapes away the earth and
stones at the bottom of the stream to
the depth of a foot or so, and then
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TWO TYPICAL KLONlftCEIlS IN PULL DBESS
takes out a panful of dirt. The pan,
by the way, is nothing but a broad,
shallow dish of strong sheet iron.
Having done this, he puts in enough
water to make the panful semi-liquid,
aud then gives it a rapid, twirling mo¬
tion. This causes the gold, if there is
any, to sink to the bottom of the pan.
Then the gravel and sand are carefully
washed out until only the heavy resi¬
due remains in the pan. This residue
is carefully examined to see how many
“colors” there are in it. “Colors” is
the term miners give to the "particles
or nuggets, if there are any, of gold
that can be seen at the bottom of the
pan.
But gold is not the only thing that
sinks to the bottom of the pan. Al¬
most always there is found with gold a
fine black sand, which is magnetio iron
ore, and from this the gold has to be
separated. Of course, if the gold is
in nuggets "of any size this is a simple
process, but if it is in fine dust, as is
generally the case, the mercury pro¬
cess is employed.
In this tho residue in the 5 pan is
placed in a barrel with some water and
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SLUICING AT A RICH CLAIM IN THE KLONDIKE.
(From this mine $8000 was taken from a piece of ground 24 by 14 feet in piano dimen¬
sions. It is officially designated us “No. 2, Below,” Bonanza.)
mercury. The gold, when it touches
the mercury, forms an amalgam. After
a quantity of gold has been put in the
barrel the mercury is taken out,
squeezed through a buckskin bag, and
what remains in the bag is heated,
either in a retort or in some other
way, until what mercury is left is va¬
porized, and the gold remains, nearly
pure.
This is placer mining in its most
primitive form, but it is slow work, and
long ago various methods were devised
bo shorten it where it was to be carried
on to any extent.
The first step in advance in placer
mining is the use of the “rocker.”
The rocker looks like one of the old
cradles we find onee in a while in the
attic of some old house up in the coun¬
try. It is a box about throe feet long
and two feet wide, placed on rockers
just like a cradle. A part of the box
is covered with a piece of heavy sheet
iron, placed a few inches below the
top and punched full of holes about a
quarter of an inch in diameter. The
bottom of the rest of the box slants
towards the lower end and is covered
with a piece of woolen blanket. To¬
wards the end of the box slats are
plaoed across, with mercury behind
them, to catch what gold gets by
above.
The miner sets up his rocker near
the stream and piles his gravel on the
the sheet iron, keeping it wet all the
while aud keeping the rocker in motion.
The fine gold and sand sift through to
the blanket, while nuggets of any size
remain on the iron. The finer gold
settles on the blanket and the dust is
caught by the mercury behind the
slats. The blanket is frequently rinsed
in a barrel of water with mercury at the
bottom, and this mercury, together
with that behind the slats, is “roasted”
as in the other method.
But even this method is not used
when “sluicing” is possible, as if* is
when the stroam has sufficient fall. In
sluicing a number of long boxes are
made which fit into each other like a
stovepipe. Across these boxes slats
are placed with mercury behind them,
or sometimes the bottoms are bored full
of holes and mercury placed under¬
neath. A long line of these boxes is
placed at a considerable slant and the
miner shovels his gravel in at the up¬
per end, lets the water run down the
sluice and the gold, if in nuggets, sinks
and is held by the slats, or, if fine, is
caught by the mercury. Three times
as much gold can be washed out in
this way as by a rocker, because three
times as much dirt can be washed.
Aud after the boxes are all done with
they are burned , , and , the ,, ashes , washed , ,
for the gold held by the wood.
These are the various methods of
placer mining aud thus they are prac¬
tised in the Klondike region, hampered
only by the natural conditions of the
country. Let us now look for a mo¬
ment at what these conditions compel
the Klondike miner to do.
Let us suppose the gold-hunter has
passed through the difficult journey
and arrived at the gold fields. He first
goes out and prospects until he finds
a claim where the “colors" in his pan
encourage him to locate. If he should
happen to be early on a new field he
would probably stake out a claim next
to one that was already paying in the
hope that his would pay, too. A
Klondike claim is supposed to be laid
out 500 feet long parallel with the
general direction of the creek, and
666 feet crosswise, the idea being to
give each location the width of the
gravel from rim rock to rim rock.
Most of the creeks up there have a
slight fall with wide bottoms. Bed¬
rock is anywhere from four to twenty
feet below tho surface and pay dirt is
apt to extend clear down to bedrock.
Of course, the great difficulty that
the miner has to contend with is the
fact that the ground is frozen solid
about all the year, and even in summer
thaws only a few inches. This makes
it necessary to thaw the ground arti¬
ficially, ing.” and this is done by “burn¬
Fires are built on the surface and
the ground thawed a little ways. This
is then dug out; another fire is built
in the hole, and this process is con-
tinued until bedrock is reached. Then
fires are built against the side of the
shaft, and drifts and tunnels are
thawed out.
All the dirt thus taken out is piled
outside until the stream opens in the
spring. Then the sluice boxes are set
up and the wintor’s diggings washed
out. Thus a miner is enabled to keep
busy about all the year.
This method of burning out a shaft
and tunnels is by no means new, for it
has been carried on for many years in
the basins of the Amoor and Lena
Rivers in Siberia, where the conditions
are very similar to those in the Klon¬
dike region.
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1. THAWING OUT THE DIRT. 2. DIGGING AND DUMPING.
Plaoer mining in Alaska differs from
placer mining in warmer climates only
in that the dirt has to be thawed out,
and that water for washing can be ob¬
tained there only a month or two in
each year.
And even when bedrock is reached
it is in many cases filled with cracks
and seams which are rich in gold and
well worth the digging out. As to the
value of explosives in this frozen soil
authorities differ. The Mining and
Scientific Press said recently that they
can be used effectively, while the Min¬
ing and Engineering Journal, in speak¬
ing of the Siberian mines, where the
conditions are similar, says their effect
is simply to mat the ground together
harder- For this same reason, says
the latter journal, the ground cannot
be dug with a pick and shovel until
thqwed out.
Lumber, by the way, in the Klon¬
dike country, fit for sluice boxes, costs
from $130 to $150 a thousand feet.
So far - most of the gold found in
placer mining in the Klondike region
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A SLUICE BOX.
has been coarse, and many of the nug¬
gets have been found attached to
quartz. This, according to experts,
indicates that the veins from which it
originates are not far distant from the
alluvial deposits. Plaoer gold is lib¬
erated by the erosive’ agencies of ice,
rocks and water from the rock matrix
in which it is held. It is tougher than
tho rock which holds it and resists
abrasion better. Drawing an inference
from other regions where plaoer gold
has been found in large quantities, it
is reasonable to expect that in the
Yukon country rich gold lodes will be
found.
And this brings us to the subject of
quartz mining in Alaska, for,the gold-
bearing region up there is by no means
confined to the Klondike country. Ac¬
hand-book cording to the recently published
on “Klondike,” written by
L. A. Coolidge, of Washington, there
arc in southeastern Alaska gold mines
which have been worked for the past
twelve years, and which in 1895 added
over $2,000,000 to the gold surplus of
the world. Of this mining region
Juneau is the centre, and its discovery
is shared by Richard Harris and
Joseph Juneau. In 1880 these two
men started out from Sitka—it was in
the summer—and in August discov¬
ered gold in a stream which they
named Gold Creek. Later they ex¬
plored this stream to its source in a
mountain valley, which they named
Silver Bow Basin. Then a town site
was established at the mouth of Gold
Creek, which was at first named Har-
risburg. Later it rvas changed to
Rockwell and then to Juneau, which
name it still holds. This last christen¬
ing took place in 1881.
The next year both placer and
quartz mines were discovered on Doug¬
las Island, about four miles from
Juneau. These are now the famous
Treadwell mines, having been bought
by John Treadwell in 1884, and, says
Mr. Ooolidge, “from these enough ore
has been taken out to pay the purchase
money J of Alaska and more.” The ore
of ... these mmes average only from $2.50
to $3 a ton, but owing to the enormous
scale on which they are worked and
the low cost of extracting the ore
there is a large profit in working them,
All around Juneau and, for that mat-
ter, all along the Alaskan coast, gold-
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miner testing gravel.
bearing , . quartz is . found, „ and in many
places is being profitably worked.
There seems to be little doubt among
mining experts that extensive quartz
mines will be located in this Yukon
country before long. This will mean
the introduction into that , country of ,
all sorts of improved mining mackin-
ery, rock drills, stamp mills and soon.
Just what method wil be employed to
extract the ore from the rock will de¬
pend on what kind of ore is found. It
may only have to be crushed, and
separated by mercury. It may be re¬
fractory ore and have to go through
some one of the various processes now
in use for separating such ore.
As soon as the mines are found
meaus of transporting the machinery
will be provided and the mines will be
started. Mines in rock, of course,will
uot be delayed by the weather condi- j
tions which make placer mining so dif-
ficult in that country, Rock doesn’t |
freeze and the deeper down the mines
go the warmer it will get, so perhaps
this kind of mining^ will be the pleas¬
anter of the two.
Boats Like Big Baskets.
Curious boats which look like big
baskets are used in Busrah, the Ven¬
ice of Turkish Arabia. As a matter of
fact, . they are practically . . -askets, , be-
ing made of wickerwork, plastered to
keep out the water. They are known j
as gophers, aud the European who
boards them feels himself to be muoh
like the three men of Gotham who
went to sea in a bowl. Lntil compara-
tively recent times a boat something
similar in shape and made with the
same material, called coracles, were
used by fishermen on many of the
turbulent streams in Wales. No other
form of a boat could hope to survive
the navigation of those streams, and
1
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WICKER BOATS OE TUBKISH ARABIA.
bumping against bowlders and drop¬
ping over small cataracts in them did
them no material damage.
In China certain literary degrees can
be purchased of the Government for
about $75. Taking advantage of that
fact, some unprincipled person has
lately hoaxed the Celestials by selling
them what purported to be diplomas
which would bring the holders under
the jurisdiction of foreign consular
offices.
FOUNDER OF JUNEAU.
A Kamil Man on Pioneer Exjieiieneo In
Alaska.
I H. Juneau, Dodge City, Kan., who
was the founder of the City of Juneau,
Alaska, in nn interview gave some im¬
portant information regarding the
Klondike gold fields. He said: “I
cannot see the reason for advising
travel by the Yukon River route, a
distance of 2500 miles or more from
Juneau to the Klondike gold fields,
when there is a shorter route, perhap s
more difficult, which is over the Chil-
koot Pass, reducing the distance to
400 miles from Juneau.
“Indians, both men and women, are
employed in making the ascent of the
pass. They carry goods on their
; backs from the head of Linn Channel
to the nearest point where you strike
the Yukon River, a distance of about
seventy-five miles, and oharge $15 to
$20 a hundred pounds. Two weeks;
are required to make the trip. An
Indian will carry 100 pounds besides
his own clothing and provisions,
weighing thirty pounds or more,
Mules and horses are no good in this
mountain climbing.
“Alaska is a country full of disap-
pointments. i People who go there
have no idea of the many discomforts.
The country is covered with moss, a
vine that contains prickles as sharp as
the quills of a porcupine, with barbed
points. These get into the flesh and
stick deep. The barbs break as you
pull them out and a portion remains
in the flesh. The only way to get
them out is to dig them out. The
pricks make a sore. They are about
lj to 2 inches long, and there is ex-
cruciating pain when you pull them
from your flesh.
“Alaska is a country on edge, it is so
mountainous. The basins are mainly
filled with ice. The weather is always
extreme. Where there is no ice there
is moss and devil’s club, the latter be¬
ing a vine that winds, around every¬
thing it can clutch. Persons walking
become entwined in a network of moss
tremely and , difficult. “ But u }P there assa ? is e ti great ex ;
atore ecious mineralsin Alaska
behind these barriers.
“I helped to lay out the town of
Juneau in 1881. I have been there
three times, the last time in 1885. My
cousin, Joseph Juneau, discovered
gold there in company with a man
named Harris. The place was for a
time called Harrisburg, but afterward
the ■ name was changed to Juneau.
There was no law in the country then,
and wo adopted the Washington Ter¬
ritorial civil law aud the United States
mineral laws. One feature of the law
was that the Chinese were to bo ex-
eluded, aud that law holds good in
Juneau to-day.
“Along the sea coast Alaska pre-
sents a grand and picturesque view
from an ocean steamer. Its scenery
surpasses any mountainous scenery in
the world. Ice by acres is constantly
tumbling into the sea, making a noise
like an earthquake and endangering
vessels. Mount Crelion is three miles
high, and stands in pyramid form,
with towers above towers, like a city
of steeples in tho distance. Ice does
not stick to the sides of these moun-
tain peaks, but slides into the water
in great avalauches.
“Alaska is a rich country from many
poiuts of view. It is rich in minerals,
but not much vegetation survives,
though portions of the territory have
extenaive and valuable forests. It is
a country of vast extremes, but it may
ve j. p rove t 0 Ue the richest possession
tbe United States , though all of the
terrors of the country have not been
overdrawn. ”
A New Fuel.
In the future we may be importing
p la3U t instead of exporting coal. Masut
a byproduct in the distillation of
raw petroleum. It is also manufac-
^ured from a cheap, brown coal found
111 * t,ilxo:u y- Tnere nas been, until re¬
oentl y« g raat troub!e m a flu '-
uace for burning it. It is now
bl °'™ b y. Etca “ m to f s P eclal
on tne principle of c the Lucigeu light,
and used without difficulty. It is
forty or fifty per cent, cheaper than
coal, and is twenty per cent, better as
a heat raiser. Steam can be got up
quicker and kept at a high pressure
and more work be done by the ma¬
chinery. From a naval point of view
these are vitally important facts. No
sign of a ship under full steam will be
shown iu tho sky) for masut is a
smo i te ioss fuel. Russia and Italy are
us ; u g jt j.j their navies, and Germany
j las i a tcly made some valuable experi-
mentg At Kie i ; Wilkelnjshaven and
]) atiz ig are tanks from which it can be
p um p@d into ships. It 3 specific grav- of
p y being so much less than that
coa ] ( a ship’s buoyancy is greatly in-
creased when the bunkers are filled
with it. Heavier armor or cargoes
can be carried. The heating capacity
being greater, the ship can travel
faster ' or farther. It is yet to be
learned what improvements the Ger¬
mans have introduced into their fur¬
naces and what are the disadvantages
of masut.
Corn as Fuel.
A bulletin issued by the experiment
station cf the University of Nebraska,
giving results of tests of the value of
corn as fuel, shows that the burning
of corn may be a proceeding greatly to
the farmer’s benefit when the price of
corn is low and that of coal high. The
tests showed that one pound of
screened Wyoming coal, costing $6.65
per ton, evaporated 1.9 times as much
water in a steam boiler as could be
evaporated by one pound of a good
grade of yellow dent corn on the ear,
not thoroughly dry. The following
figures show the value of corn per
bushel as fuel when coal of the same
variety as that used in the tests is sell¬
ing at the prices given: ■
Coal
.per ton.$4.?7 $5.41 $5.95 $G.49 $7.11 $7.57 $8.11
Corn
per 9 HA 11 12 13 14 15
bus,
