The A B C of Mining: A Handbook for Prospectors

Veins, lodes, or ledges, may be found in stratified or unstratified rocks, and in the former they generally cut the beds at an angle. Veins are bounded by walls. The rock in which a vein is found is a country rock. Smooth walls are called "slickensides." The upper wall of an inclined vein is the hanging wall; the other the foot wall. A layer of clay between the veins and wall is a selvage. A mass of rock enclosed in the vein is a horse. The vein stone, or gangue, is all that part of a vein that is not mineral.

The throw of a fault in a vein is measured by the amount of vertical displacement. When the miner comes to a fault, he should follow the greater angle in his attempt to recover the lode. For instance, on mining along A B to the line of fault X Y, the exploration will be continued downward, because the angle A B Y is greater than the angle A B X.

Mercury that has been "sickened," that is to say, has lost its brightness and power of amalgamating, may often be cured by washing with an extremely weak solution of sulphuric acid and adding a little zinc.

As regards the comparative merits of chlorination and cyanization, it may be said the one is the equal of the other. Under certain conditions, chlorine gives a higher percentage of gold; under others the same may be said of cyanide. A description of either process would be out of place, however, in a simple elementary work.

Handed down through the centuries, the primitive arrastra is still useful in certain contingencies. It is like a cider mill in its principle, and was probably suggested by recollections of that machine, or else of the Spanish wine-press. A circular, shallow pit, a dozen feet or more in diameter, is first paved with hard, uncut stones of granite, basalt, or other hard rock. This pavement is a foot thick, and beneath it is a bed of puddled clay 6 inches deep. A vertical shaft with an arm, or arms, revolves in the center of the arrastra. Grinding blocks weighing 400, or perhaps even 1,000 pounds, are fastened to the arms by chains or rawhide strips. The forward part of each stone is raised a couple of inches off the floor. Mule, horse, water or steam power may be used, the speed ranging from 4 to 18 turns a minute.

Nothing can be simpler, less expensive, or save a greater proportion of the value in the ore than the arrastra. Its limited capacity is its worst fault. An arrastra 10 feet in diameter will treat 500 or 600 pounds of ore at a charge, and handle one ton a day of 24 hours. Ores that were so poor they yielded nothing to the stamp mill have paid well with the arrastra.

This humble device may be used to advantage, probably in some of the poorer gold-bearing cemented gravels of the Northwest. The ore should be crushed to pigeon-egg size. Small quantities of mercury, about a tablespoonful to every five tons of gravel, has been found a satisfactory proportion in California.

In a permanent arrastra a layer of neatly-dressed and pointed stones is laid in hydraulic cement. A fair-sized arrastra will require 50 pounds of quartz to charge it, and the material must be broken into pigeon-egg size. After the machine has been started, and a little water added from time to time, little else need to be done for four or five hours, and this is perhaps one of the reasons for which it has always been so favored in indolent Mexico. At this stage, the quartz and ore will be very finely pulverized, and water should be added until the pulp is as thin as cream. Quicksilver must now be added in the proportion of 1¼ ounce for every supposed ounce of gold in the ore being treated. Two hours' further grinding is given, and water then admitted until the paste is quite thin, the speed of the arrastra being reduced at the same time so as to allow the amalgam and quicksilver to sink to the bottom. A half an hour of this treatment suffices and the thin mud is run off, leaving the gold and amalgam on the floor of the arrastra. A second charge of broken quartz is put in and the operation repeated, the clean-up not taking place oftener than every ten days, and sometimes only at intervals of a month or so. The rougher the bottom the longer the interval between clean-ups, as all the stone work must be taken up each time and all the sand and mud between them must be washed carefully. The arrastra is extremely valuable to the poor man who, having discovered a gold-bearing vein, wishes to transfer some of the metal into his own pocket, at the least possible outlay. Its cheapness places it within reach of all, while a stamp will cost a good deal. Then again the amalgamation being more perfect in the arrastra than in any other mill, it is particularly suited for the poor, lean ores. It is, however, only adapted to those that are free-milling, others not being suited to this form of apparatus, nor, indeed, to any save very costly plants. Some arrastras have been built to treat old tailings, and have paid well when water power could be used. Free-milling gold and high-grade silver and gold ores are those usually treated.

The flagging should be of tough, coarse rock; granite, basalt or compact quartz are all good. This flagging should be at the very least a foot thick. When the arms of a 10-foot arrastra are revolving 14 times a minute, the outer stone is traveling 400 feet a minute. Round holes closed by wooden plugs, or a side gate, lets the liquid mud out. Some mill men use chemicals in the arrastra; potassium cyanide, and wood ashes or lye are probably the most useful, as the latter cuts grease and the former gives life to the quicksilver. Rich silver ores are treated with blue stone and salt. When the pulp has been ground sufficiently, quicksilver is added, sometimes 250 pounds being put in a single charge. A 12-foot arrastra will never treat more than two tons a day, and often no more than one-half that. One man a shift can look after a couple of arrastras, and the owner, in case of one arrastra that is working on tailings, often does everything himself. Overshot wheels, or turbines, or hurdy-gurdies, furnish the power in many cases. A simple mule-power arrastra may be built for $150.

A side hill should be chosen for the site of a battery. Ample water power is necessary, though provision may be made for saving it in catch basins should such a course be desired. Moreover, there must be plenty of room below the mill for the tailings, as it may be desirable at some future time to put them through a second course of treatment.

Automatic ore-feeders are always put in by good mill men. In cold climates the water that goes through the mill should be heated, and this may be done by the exhaust steam, but care is necessary that no grease get into it, as it would prevent the gold from amalgamating. The stamps for a light mill may be 3 or 5 in number, and weigh from 700 to 850 pounds. Tables must be water-tight, with half an inch to one inch drop to the foot, according to the fineness of the gold. Below them tables, having the same inclination and covered with blanketing, are used to retain specks of gold that have passed over the plates without amalgamating.

After the concentrated materials, always spoken of as the concentrates, have passed over the tables, they are often roasted to get rid of the sulphur, arsenic, etc., and afterwards treated with quicksilver in the pan, or tin, with chlorine or cyanide. These processes belong, however, to the domain of the professional chemist and metallurgist, and require the knowledge and experience of an expert to stand a chance of success.

The coarseness of the mortar screens is subject to infinite variety, according to individual preference. The number of holes to the square inch ranges between 60 and 800 in Australia, and between 900 and 10,000 in the United States. The holes, when round, agree in numbers with those of sewing-machine needles, from 0 to 10. When slots are preferred to holes, they are generally 3/8-inch in length and No. 6 diameter. Russia sheet iron, or sheet steel 1/32-inch thick is the material of which they are made. It should weigh one pound to the square foot, be very soft and tough, have a clean, smooth surface, and show no rust or flaws. In Australia 1/16 sheet copper is preferred. The holes in any case must be punched in the sheet so that the rough edges are turned, and thus any pulp that finds its way into one of the holes is certain to get out again and not clog. A battery may require 13 sets of screens a year; each screen having a surface of about 1½ square feet. Russia iron screens endure 15 to 40 days. As the work a stamp can do depends entirely upon how much pulp can escape through the screen in any given time, the latter is evidently a very important detail of a battery.

Prospecting stamp batteries differ from ordinary batteries, chiefly in being of light build and weight.

Amalgam coming from battery stamps is often mixed with all sorts of rubbish. After being gathered, it is dried with a sponge, foreign matter picked off the surface and clean quicksilver added. Soft unglazed paper thrust into the mercury removes the last vestiges of water, and then a card is drawn vertically or a piece of blanket horizontally across the mercury to clean it of iron. After squeezing, the amalgam is retorted.

All the amalgam is placed in one large kettle and, if possible, the latter is put on a strong table having an inclined surface with a groove and hole at the lower end to catch any stray globules of quicksilver. Sodium amalgam, one ounce to each 75 pounds of mercury, is put in the amalgam kettle and the whole stirred. This sodium amalgam is not absolutely necessary, but is desirable. After some minutes, water is poured on the mercury and the whole stirred. All dirt rises to the surface and is removed with a sponge. The cleaning is continued until the mercury seems absolutely free from any impurity, when it is dried with a sponge. It is next turned into pointed bags of stout canvas and force applied until most of the quicksilver has squeezed through. The amalgam remains behind. The quicksilver still contains some gold, but it had better remain if the mercury is to be used again, as gold attracts gold; it can always be recovered by retorting.

Sodium amalgam is best made by the miner himself, enough for one clean-up at a time. Metallic sodium and quicksilver are the necessary ingredients; the former being kept in a wide-mouthed bottle covered with coal oil. A frying-pan makes a useful mixer. It must be dry and clean. Five pounds of clean mercury is poured into the pan, and dried with a sponge, and heated beyond the boiling-point of water, but not much above, or there will be a sensible loss of mercury. A piece of sodium is wiped dry, cut into ½-inch squares and placed with a long pair of tongs in the center of the warm quicksilver, which, by the way, is now off the fire and in the open air, the operator meanwhile keeping religiously to windward of it, unless he courts salivation and all its attendant ills. As soon as the sodium touches the mercury a flash and mild explosion will follow, but after a few cubes have been introduced into the frying-pan, always in the center, this will cease. As soon as a solid mass of amalgam forms in the middle of the pan, the contents must be stirred slowly, and a little more sodium added. The whole mass now crystallizes out, and if put into closely-stopped bottles it will keep without further protection for a little time. Once opened, each bottle must be used. Observe all these directions faithfully, then there will be no danger of inhaling mercurial fumes nor of being blown to atoms. After the amalgam is once made, it is safe as sugar.

In retorting amalgam never fill the flask too full, and apply the heat gradually, and always from the top of the flask downward.

The rocker is a box 40 inches long, 16 inches wide on the bottom, sloped like a cradle, and with rockers at each end.

A hopper 20 inches square and 4 inches deep, having an iron bottom perforated with ½-inch holes, occupies the top. A light canvas-covered frame is stretched under this, forming a riffle. Riffles, and occasionally amalgamated copper plates, are placed in the bottom. The gravel is fed into the hopper, the cradle being then rocked by one hand while water is fed by a dipper with the other.

The cradle must be placed on an inclination while being worked, and under the influence of the continued side-to-side rocking the dirt is quickly disintegrated, passes through the riddle and falls on the apron. From the apron it is conveyed to the inner end of the cradle floor, from which it flows over the riffles, or bars, and out at the mouth. The difference in level of the floor is generally about 2½ inches, but this may be varied according to the nature of the dirt treated. Large stones in the riddle or hopper must be thrown out, but smaller ones assist in breaking up the lumps of dirt. Every little while the pebbles are turned out and looked over for nuggets. Clean-ups are necessary two or three times a day. The hopper is taken off first, then the apron is slid out, and washed in a bucket or tub containing clean water, and finally the gold and amalgam are collected in an iron spoon from behind the riffle bars, and panned out. Gravel requires at least three times its own weight of water to wash it. The most convenient way is to lead the water from a stream through a pipe discharging directly over the hopper, but this is, of course, impracticable in some places. More often the water is led to a little pit on the right hand side of the operator, from which he ladles it up as required. One man can wash from one to three cubic yards daily according to the character of the dirt, but every time he stops the machine to feed it with gravel or to empty the riddle, the sand will pack, and must be removed before washing can go on. Two men can wash nearly three times as much dirt in a day as one man. But in any case, the rocker is only a primitive machine, having a capacity but one-fifth as great as that of the Long Tom, and but one-tenth that of a very poor sluice, but as it is cheap, requires but little water, and saves a high percentage of coarse gold, the rocker will continue to be used in many districts.

The Long Tom was invented many years ago by Georgia miners.

It is a trough 12 feet by 15 to 20 inches at the upper end, and 30 inches at the lower, and 8 inches deep. The grade is usually 1 in 12. A sheet iron plate forms the lower end of the trough. These figures refer to the upper trough. The lower or riffle-box is 12 feet long by 3 feet wide, with a fall equal to that of the trough and a sufficient depth to keep the material and water from spilling over the sides. It should have four riffles. For this means of saving the gold, to work satisfactorily, the metal must be coarse and the water plentiful.

Every sluice is an inclined channel through which flows a stream of water, carrying away all the lighter matter thrown into it, and separating it from the heavy. When the operations would not be permanent enough, or sometimes for other reasons, a ground sluice is preferred to the ordinary box sluice made of boards. Ground sluicing requires, however, six times as much water as does a box sluice to do the same amount of work. It is simply a gutter in the bed rock, and if the bottom is hard and uneven its inequalities will arrest the gold; if not, a number of boulders too heavy to be moved by the stream are put into the sluice to act as riffles. No mercury is used. The water is turned off and the collected coarse gold washed in the pan.

Sluice boxes may be any length, from 30 to 5,000 feet. They vary in width from 1 to 5 feet, though generally 16 or 18 inches. The grade is proportioned to the fineness of the gold, varying from 8 inches to 2 feet to the 12-foot box or length. The bottom should be of 1½ inch plank, and the sides of 1-inch boards. The boxes are made 4 inches wider at the upper end than at the lower, so as to telescope.

The best method found yet for arresting fine gold is the copper plate amalgamated with mercury on its face. These plates are never used at the head of a sluice or other situation where there is much coarse gold, as they would be superfluous in such a situation, but are placed some distance down the sluice and are most efficacious in arresting the "flour," or excessively fine gold. Plates are always of copper above 1/16 inch thick, and may be 6 feet or more long, and of a width suited to the capacity of the sluice. When treated with quicksilver, they become as brittle as glass, and must be handled with care. The copper plate is first washed with a weak solution of nitric acid, and then mercury that has been treated with a weak nitric acid solution is rubbed on the plate. As this surface of quicksilver wears off, it may be replaced by a little fresh mercury. Any green slime on a plate is an evidence of copper salts in the water. It must be scraped off and the spot rubbed with fresh quicksilver. Gold attracts gold, therefore the plates should not be cleaned up too often.

Copper plates may be freed from gold by heating them over a fire and causing the quicksilver to evaporate slowly. The plates, after being cooled, are rubbed with dilute muriatic acid and covered with damp cloths for one night. They are then rubbed with a solution containing salt peter and sal ammoniac, and once more heated over some hot coals, but not allowed to get red hot. Soon the gold scale rises in blisters; the plates are then removed from the fire and scraped. Those parts of the plates that have not yielded up their gold must be re-treated and fired until they do so. All these scales of gold are then collected in a porcelain dish, the base metals are dissolved out with nitric acid, and the gold is then smelted. Corrosive sublimate should be placed in the crucible as long as any blue flame is seen to come from it.

Some mill men prefer to amalgamate their copper plates with silver amalgam, claiming that silver-coated plates save a higher percentage of gold. To amalgamate in this way take some silver bullion, or silver coin, and dissolve in weak nitric acid, only just strong enough to act upon the silver. (If you use too much nitric acid you will waste mercury and make the amalgam harder than it should be for the best results.) After crystals have formed, quicksilver must be added, heating gently meanwhile, until a thick, pasty amalgam has formed. Let this new compound stand for some hours, and squeeze through chamois as usual. The proportion of silver may be about 1 ounce to the square foot of copper to be plated.

In facing new copper plates with this amalgam, they should be washed first with dilute nitric acid; then in clear water; the ball of amalgam being rubbed over their surfaces, some little force being applied. Plates should not be used for 24 hours after coating. Porous copper plates of the best quality, and not too heavily rolled, should be used. Follow the amalgam with a swab, and rub the alloy well into the plate.

Zinc amalgam (preferable when mine water containing sulphuric acid is used in the battery) is applied to the plate after it has been cleaned with a moderately dilute mixture of sulphuric acid and water. The zinc-quicksilver ball is rubbed in and applied while the plate is still wet. Zinc amalgam is prepared as follows: Cut zinc-sheet into small pieces; wash in weak sulphuric acid; and dissolve in mercury. When the quicksilver will take no more zinc, squeeze through chamois and rub in. Zinc-coated plates should stand a week before being used. Very weak sulphuric acid will always clean these plates of any scum that may form before they have received a gold coat.

Sometimes the miner will be troubled with impure gold after retorting. If the metal is very dark this shade may come from the presence of large amounts of iron. A heavy proportion of mineral salts, such as chloride of calcium (CaCl), sodium (NaCl), and magnesium (NgCl₂), in the battery water sometimes accounts for this. In such cases amalgamate, retort, pulverize and roast. Then smelt with borax, the iron passing into the slag. If necessary smelt a second time, when the gold should be pure enough to dispose of. In extreme cases, the gold may weigh but one-fifth of the amalgam treated.

In districts where sufficient water for sluicing is not procurable, dry washing is resorted to. Nothing but rich, coarse gold can be worked by this method, and the dry washer rarely delves far below the surface for his gold. In the Mexican deserts the dirt is laid on raw hide, all the large pebbles picked out and the sand rubbed as fine as possible between the hands. The sand is placed in a batea and winnowed by tossing in the air, the lighter material being blown to leaward and the heavy gold falling into the batea. A form of winnowing machine has been patented, which may be driven by horse or hand-power, which is said to give satisfaction. It works by forcing a strong blast of air from a fan through a canvas screen. The inventor claims that it will do the work of three men, and work dirt for 2½ cents a cubic yard. When there is a tendency in the material to cake, dry washing is impossible.

  CHAPTER VI.

CAMP LIFE.

The Indian truthfully observes: "White man make heap big fire; keep far off. Indian make little fire; get close. All same." The small fire does best in the circular tepee tent, made of canvas or leather, in use on the plains. The tepee is quite an institution, but it is generally as full of smoke as a kitchen chimney, and for that reason cannot truthfully be recommended. In theory, the smoke should all pass out of the opening in the top.

By using no second skin and carefully excluding all air from around the lower rim of the tepee, it will become an admirable place to cure hams, fish, etc., by the original smoke-dried process. The Scripture declares that he that tarrieth over the wine cup has red eyes next morning, and so has he that sleeps in a smoky tepee. Properly made, however, the tepee is the thing where wood is scarce.

Some original spirits are said to have started for Dawson City, N.W.T., a few years ago with bicycles and push carts. If these means of transport had sufficed, the world would have learnt something, as heretofore a canoe and a sturdy pair of legs were supposed to help the wayfarer in that region better than anything else. That is in summer; in winter, the dog-train is the quickest mode of travel. In the western states and in British Columbia pack horses or mules do the most of the prospector's freighting, and in the far north he either carries his outfit on his back or else transports it by canoe in summer, or by dog-train after the rivers have frozen.

No amount of written instructions will teach a man to throw a diamond hitch, or handle a canoe in swift water. A lesson or two from an expert will, however, set his thoughts in the right direction, and in time he may become proficient. Canoeing, freighting and chopping are three things that are best begun in boyhood; no one ever yet became marvelously proficient in any one of them that began after reaching adult age.

Dog teams are made up of from three to six dogs; a full-sized team dragging a load of 200 pounds forty miles a day for a week at a time. In the Hudson Bay region the dogs are harnessed one behind the other, but on the Yukon each pulls by a separate trace, and the team spreads out like a fan when at work.

After Christmas the snow-shoe is generally a necessity in the north. Without "paddles" on the feet the explorer could hardly make his way through the woods, while with them on he sails along gayly, making a bee-line over frozen lake and water courses, and taking windfalls and down timber in his stride. The shoe in vogue in the forest is short and almost round, and flat, while that of the plains is very long, upturned at the toe, and narrow. There is a reason for these modifications, as the tyro will soon find out should he substitute the one for the other in the native habitat of either. But the loop by which the shoe is fastened on the foot is always the same. The string is made of moose hide; stretched, and greased before use. Caribou, or reindeer hide, makes the best filling, but horse or bull hide will do at a pinch. The frame is usually of ground ash, or some other tough, hard wood.

A camp kit of cooking utensils often begins and ends with a frying-pan and tin kettle. Certainly when traveling light, these things should be the last to go, as with them all things are possible, even to amalgamating and retorting the precious metals. The frying-pan must have a socket instead of a long handle, as the latter may be cut from a bush at any time. A low, broad kettle boils in less time than a deep, narrow one of the same cubic capacity.

All provisions should be kept in canvas bags. Matches in a leather case or safe, or in a corked bottle. Blankets are never kicked off if sewn up at foot and side into a sleeping bag.

The existence of the prospector being passed in regions where the so-called benefits of civilization have not penetrated, he is generally a healthy, happy, hopeful man. Especially, hopeful. I do not remember ever meeting one that was not brimful of expectation and trust in the future. Possibly prospectors that have become pessimistic drop out of the ranks.

Now the man who elects to dwell with nature has only himself to thank if he does not like his lodgings. He can be comfortable or wretched, according to his knowledge of woodcraft and wilderness residence.

Whereas the tyro starts out with the avowed intention of "roughing it," the veteran is particularly careful to take matters as smoothly as he may, being well assured that in any case there will be enough inevitable discomfort in his lot to satisfy any reasonable craving. It is just the same in other walks of life; the sailor, the trapper and the soldier each learns to look after his own comfort and to seize every opportunity of making life as pleasant as possible.

The three prime wants are food, clothing and shelter, and their importance is in the order named. Now, food is something that is painfully scarce in many parts of the world, and one of the great problems of wilderness travel is to provide transport for the supplies that must be carried from civilization. A rigorous northern climate necessitates a large consumption of strong, heat-producing food, while in the tropics the explorer gets along very comfortably with rice or an occasional skinny fowl, with plantains for dessert, and plenty of boiled and filtered water. Compare such a diet with that of Nansen, the arctic explorer! He and his companion lived and waxed fat on a diet of lean bear's meat three times a day, washed down by draughts of melted snow water. Moreover, although government expeditions, provided with every canned and potted luxury the stores contain, have suffered the ravages of scurvy, these two adventurous Norwegians, living on the food their rifles had provided, did not know what sickness meant.

Other travelers have found that they fared better by copying to some extent the manner and customs of the natives. Fat seal blubber gives wonderful resisting power against cold, it is said; while a mild, unstimulating diet of rice suits the liver better under the Equator than the Bass ale and roast beef galore.

On this continent the working man found out long ago that pork and beans suits him nicely. The lumberman says: "It sticks to the ribs," by which robust, if not classical, phrase he means that he can chop longer without feeling hungry on pork and beans than on almost any other food. The laborer having found by experience that the side of a pig and a sack of beans was a good combination to have in the larder, the man of science after a couple of hundred years or so of deliberation confirms the discovery by announcing that the flesh of a swine mixed with the fruit of the bean contains all the carbo-hydrates, etc., necessary to sustain life. The moral of all this is that pork and beans must not be forgotten when outfitting. A few other things being desirable, the following list may be consulted to advantage by the prospective prospector. This list should suffice for feeding one man for 12 months:

The dictates of fashion being unheard on the mountain side, and beneath the pines, dress resolves itself into a mere question of warmth and comfort. Cut is of importance truly, but only insomuch as it allows free play to the limbs; to the arms in digging, and to the legs in climbing the stiff side of a canyon. Home-spun, heavy tanned duck, corduroy or moleskin, and flannel underclothing should be the mainstays of a miner's wardrobe. Rubber boots and slickers are also necessary to his comfort, while for winter use a heavy Mackinaw overcoat, or even fur, for the extreme north, is advisable. When actually at work the miner is more often in his shirt sleeves than not, and cold indeed must the day be if an old woodsman is caught traveling through the forest with his burly form encased in furs. For arctic conditions akin to those found on the upper Yukon an outfit such as the following should be chosen:

• 2 heavy knitted undershirts.
• 2 flannel shirts.
• 6 pairs worsted socks.
• 2 pairs overstockings.
• 1 pair miner's boots.
• 1 pair gum boots.
• 2 pairs moccasins.
• 1 suit homespun.
• 1 horsehide jacket.
• 1 pair moleskin trousers.
• 1 broad-brimmed felt hat.
• 1 fur cap.
• 1 Mackinaw overcoat.
• 2 pairs flannel mitts.
• 1 pair fur mitts.
• 1 muffler.
• 1 suit oil slickers.
• 2 pairs blankets.

In cold weather the feet, fingers and face require the most care. The first should be stowed into two pairs of wool socks, and a long pair of knee-high oversocks be drawn over these. Boots must be replaced by moccasins. A pair of thick worsted mitts, and a pair of leather mitts outside, keep the hands warm enough even at 20 degrees below zero. At 50 degrees below put on an extra pair—or go home until the weather moderates.

The favorite style of architecture in the wilderness is neither Doric nor the Gothic nor yet the Renaissance. It is called the dugout. The beauty of the dugout is its extreme simplicity. A hole in the side of a dry bank, a few sods or logs for roof, and there you have it. A veteran miner goes to earth as easily as a rabbit, and, like bunny, is never at a loss for an habitation.

Next to the dugout the log cabin deserves mention, while the wattle and daub or 'dobe certainly secures third honors. The only drawback to the pre-eminence of the log cabin is that to make it you must have logs—just as the cook always insists on pigeons before she makes pigeon pie—and logs are in some districts only known as museum specimens. Now, the dugout or the 'dobe only require a gravel bank, or one of those deposits of argilite that the vulgar persist in calling clay; were it not for this fatal ease of getting, every miner and prospector would doubtless prefer living in a snug log hut, there to await in peace, comfort, and dignity the arrival of the representative of the "English syndicate" to whom he is destined to sell his claim.

Napoleon found, after fighting his way across Europe and back again, that his troops were more healthy bivouacking in the open than sheltered in tents. In truth, the tent is a very uncomfortable and unhealthy make-shift; cold, hot, and damp, by turns, and often badly ventilated. A simple lean-to shelter, and a roaring fire are infinitely preferable where wood is abundant. But it takes a lot of wood to keep a bivouac warm on a winter's night; as much perhaps as would feed a fair-sized family furnace for a month.

The trappers' fire is a most regal blaze. Two back logs; a pair of "hand junks" and a "forestick" are the foundation upon which the structure is reared, but the edifice itself often consumes a tall, full-limbed rock maple, or a stately birch between the setting of the sun and the rising of the same. There are three ways of making a fire; the first is suited for a "wooden" country; the second is used by "Lo," and other prairie travelers, where fuel is scarce.

If overtaken by storm in any wild northern region, do as the animals and Indians do under like circumstances: seek the nearest shelter and lie close until the weather has moderated. The secret is to conserve your energy, not to fritter it away fighting a power against which you may make no real headway. A shallow, brush-lined gully; the lea of a bank, or small clump of trees; these and other seemingly slight protections sometimes mean life instead of death. The experienced woodsman never leaves camp without matches in his pocket; and in winter he carries a few pieces of dry birch bark in the bosom of his hunting shirt, as he knows how vitally necessary it is on occasions to be able to kindle a blaze at very short notice.

A tent should never be pitched loosely, as no matter how fine the evening the weather ere morning may be tempestuous in the extreme, and the unpleasantness of having a tent come down about one's ears in the dark must be experienced to be realized. Also, never pitch a tent with the doorway toward the northwest in winter, because that is the quarter from which comes the cold.

In summer, from June until mid-August, the mosquito, the black fly and the midge or sand fly, make life a burden in the north. The best remedy for the mosquito and black fly is a mixture of tar and olive oil, of the consistency of cream, rubbed on all exposed parts of the person. A dark green veil will also keep the insect pests out of the eyes, mouth and ears, and in winter is better than snow goggles to avert blindness. But, unfortunately, it interferes with the enjoyment of the pipe, and hence is not in much favor with woodsmen.

To make good bread it is not necessary to take either yeast cakes or mixing pan into the wilderness. An old hand thinks himself rich with a few pounds of flour in his sack, and soon has a batch of bread baking that would turn many a housewife green with envy. He proceeds in this fashion: A visit to the nearest hardwood ridge shows him a green parasitic lichen growing on the bark of the maples (lungwort). Some of this he gathers, and steeps it over night in warm water near the embers. In the morning he mixes his flour into a paste with this decoction, using the bag as a pan. The dough is next covered with a cloth and set in a warm corner to rise; a few hours later it is re-kneaded and baked. The result should be delicious bread. Some of the leaven, or raised dough, may be kept, and will suffice for the next batch of bread, and so on ad infinitum.

Making bed takes longer in camp than in the city, but the result is just as satisfactory. Nothing more comforting than a couch of fir boughs has been devised by man. Choosing a level spot the woodsman cuts several armfuls of the feathery tips of the fir balsam. These he places in layers like shingles on a roof, beginning at the foot and laying the butt of each bough toward the head. If sufficiently deep, say a couple of feet or so, such a bed will be soft and elastic for a night or two, when it will require re-laying. Fragrant it always is, with the delicious aroma of the fir balsam.

The white man stretches himself instinctively feet to the fire; the Indian just as instinctively reclines with his side to it—and his way is the most philosophical.

Strange as it may seem, the greatest danger the wanderer runs is on his return to civilization. Land surveyors, engineers, and others whose work calls them into camp for months at a stretch, dread their first night in a feather bed. They find by experience that they are lucky if they escape with nothing more serious than a heavy cold. Hot, stuffy air, and poor ventilation cause the trouble. Leaving the window wide open will almost always prevent these evil consequences, and allow the constitution to become once more tolerant of a lack of oxygen. In the wilderness, notwithstanding, wet, cold, and exposure, such ills as consumption, pneumonia, bronchitis, etc., are unheard of.

Boat building and net making are two arts that the prospector will do well to master. A few weeks passed in a building yard, and a half dozen lessons from an old fisherman will teach him all that he requires of these simple but extremely useful accomplishments.

The best food for sustaining life in the north is pemmican. It was once made out of buffalo meat, but now the flesh of the moose, or caribou, or of the deer, is substituted. The meat is cut in thin flakes and air-dried; then a mixture is made of one-third dried meat, one-third pure haunch fat, and one-third service berries (A. canadensis). These are rammed by main force into a bag of green hide, and pounded until as solid as a rock. Such a solid mass of food will keep for years in a cool climate.

Perhaps the reader may be inclined to exclaim: "Why so much about the North; why not more about the East, South or West?" My reply to such would be: Because the great finds of the future will surely be made in the North. Dr. G. W. Dawson, the best authority on the subject, has said there are 1,000,000 square miles of virgin territory in Canada to-day, and no doubt a very large proportion of it contains mineral deposits. This 1,000,000 square miles he divides into sixteen separate areas, some half as large as Ireland, others half that of Europe, and in none of them has the footfall of a white man yet been echoed.

  CHAPTER VII.

SURVEYING.

A man, to make a success of prospecting, must have what is known as "a good eye for a country." Given that faculty he will readily pick up the little knowledge of surveying that is sometimes almost indispensable. A tape measure, and a prismatic or surveying compass, are all that he is likely to require in laying off to his own satisfaction the extent of his claim, or any similar simple operation. The surveying compass has two fixed sights, and a Jacob staff mounting, into which a wooden support is inserted. The north end of the compass is always pointed ahead, while the needle, which of course indicates the magnetic north, gives the bearing of the line run toward that north. Now, magnetic north is not by any means the same thing as true north, in fact in very few localities on the earth's surface are they the same, and then never for long. In the extreme east of the United States the needle points some twenty degrees to the west of true north, and in Alaska it points thirty-five degrees to the eastward of it. There is therefore one meridian somewhere in the central valley where the true north corresponds with the magnetic north, but as the magnetic pole is always shifting this never remains true of the same meridian for long.

When there is no local magnetism from iron ores, or rocks containing magnetite, the needle is fairly reliable, though never perfectly accurate, but when such attraction exists the compass is unsatisfactory. Such areas of attraction, however, are usually limited, and by squinting back, taking what is known as a "back sight," a local attraction may be detected, and in that case ranging by rods must be resorted to until the compass needle once more seeks its true position. To range by rods the course of the line having been determined by retracing the route followed to the last reliable mark, a stake is driven in at that point, and the surveyor standing some little distance behind it on the correct line directs an assistant to place another rod in such a position that the first hides it from view. It will then be on a prolongation of the line, and this operation being continued the surveyor will, in due time, find himself beyond the reach of the local attraction that deflected his needle and can resume compass work.

A chain is 66 feet long. Oftentimes in mountainous or brush-covered countries a half chain of 33 feet, made of light wire links, is preferred. Two men do the chaining, which could of course be done by means of an ordinary tape measure in an emergency, the leader carrying ten pins of iron or wood, and the rear man taking one up as each chain is measured off. When all are used, ten chains (1/8 mile) have been covered. The men exchange pins and the tally man, usually the hind chainman, calls out "Tally one," and cuts a notch in a stick. Careful chaining is the essence of good surveying. The chain must always be kept horizontal, or else an allowance made for the inclination at which it was held when the measurement was taken, otherwise the results will be misleading, for all surveyors' measurements of areas are theoretically on a flat surface.

To ascertain the height of a tree, tower, etc., fold a square of paper across, and glancing along the hypothenuse (longest side) of the right angle so found, ascertain at what point your line of sight just catches the top of the object. Then its height is the same distance as the distance from where you stand to its foot, or the length of a plumb line falling from its summit, together with the height of your eye above the ground, added.

Another method is to measure the shadow of the object on a level surface, next measure your own. Then

As your shadow is to your height so is the shadow of the object to its height.

The area of a square is equal to the square of one of its sides.

The area of a triangle is equal to the base multiplied by half the height.

The areas of figures containing more than three sides may always be found by resolving such figures into a series of right angled triangles.

Very frequently the surveyor is called upon to measure an inaccessible line. There are many ways of solving such a problem, but one of the simplest is as follows:

Supposing the required distance is that from bank to bank of a river (Y-X). Then lay off the base line Y-M, driving stakes at each end; make M-P at right angles to Y-M. Sight from P to X, and drive in a stake at Z. Then:

Z M : M P :: Z Y : Y X.

While these simple surveying problems are easily solved, the prospector should never forget that mine surveying requires skill, experience and accuracy. He will do well always to call in the service of a mining engineer should his "prospect" ever become a full-fledged mine, as little errors of direction are particularly costly mistakes when they occur underground.

Should you wish to lay off a certain acreage as a square, proceed as follows:

As there are ten square chains to one acre, multiply the content in acres by 10 to reduce to square chains. Then find the square root of this number of square chains, and that will be the length of a side of the square required. For instance:

To lay off 25 acres as a square:

25 times 10 equals 250 square chains.

Whose square root is 15.81.

Ans. The plot must be 15 chains 81 links square.

Seventy average paces is almost exactly equal to the side of a square acre.

If you know the content and length of one of the sides of a rectangular figure it is easy to lay it off. Thus:

Given a claim 10 chains long, how wide must it be to cover 5 acres?

5 times 10 equals 50 square chains.

10 divided by 50 equals 5.

Ans. 5 chains wide.

  CHAPTER VIII.

FLOATING A COMPANY.

Should the prospector discover mineral that increases in amount as the mine is opened, and shows that it is likely to prove a profitable deposit, he will have little difficulty in selling out to some wealthy syndicate. But if his mine is likely to become a big producer he should try rather to organize a company, of which he should be a shareholder—the controlling one if possible—as then the output of the mine will probably make him a rich man. It is rare that a prospector selling outright obtains anything but a fraction of the value of a good mine. Nor is it reasonable to suppose he should. When he sells, the profits of the buyers are all in the future, and may never materialize. They take all risk, and consequently insist upon a bargain.

The more money a prospector can invest in the development of a good mine the better price he is likely to get when he sells. Business men dearly like to see great masses of ore in the shafts and cuts, and are always more willing to pay a handsome price when they know something distinctly promising about the purchase.

Let the prospector, therefore, lay open his prospect as thoroughly as he can with the means at his disposal, and if he has faith—as he should have—in the mine he is selling, let him take a good big block of stock in part payment.

He must see to it, too, that sufficient working capital is provided, as there are very few mines that pay expenses from the start. Sometimes, when the shareholders are very timid, and but little money has been paid into the treasury in the first instance, they become restive after a call or two and refuse to honor further demands. This has been the ruin of many a promising venture.

Supposing, however, that this mistake has been avoided, and that sufficient funds are in the treasury to meet all likely, legitimate drains upon it, the question of officers remains a weighty one. The board of directors should be level-headed, shrewd men, with common-sense, business ideas; the secretary should understand his work; and the mining engineer placed in charge of the mine should be one whose professional knowledge is equal to the demands of the position. The secretary must have such a knowledge of the proper price of labor, and material, as to detect any extravagance on the part of the manager.

At least one member of the board of directors should understand mining. Good salaries paid to the mining engineer or manager, and to the secretary, will be money well spent, provided they are competent. Cheap men have no business in such responsible positions, where the handling and wise expenditure of large sums of money necessitate brains and special training.

As to the mine manager, he should be a miner, surveyor, metallurgist, assayer, bookkeeper and half-dozen other things rolled into one, and that one an honest man. Very low grade ore would probably pay in the hands of such a paragon of perfection—but he must be sought for long and diligently, and even then he may not be found.

New processes are to be shunned until they have proved their worth and ceased to be new. No sooner is a mine floated than all sorts of knaves and fools appear on the scene, with new and wonderful appliances for saving 99.9 per cent. of all the value in the ore. Be rude to them. Drive them away with sticks and stones if necessary, but as you value your salvation do not hearken to them. Let some one else do the experimenting; when you know a process is good, the time will have come to spend money on it. There are at the present moment thousands of tons of costly machinery rusting in lonely Rocky Mountain canyons that were in their day "novelties," warranted to save all the values in the ore, while the unfortunate shareholders, whose misspent money freighted these things to their final resting place, are now, perchance, "touching" the belated Chicago or New York pedestrians for a nickel.

The only real guide to the economic value of an ore is the treatment of a large bulk of it in the mill.

Plenty of ore should be kept blocked out ahead of the workings. The more ore in sight the better for the future of the mine.

Lastly, remember that thieving sometimes takes place on rather a large scale, and be on the watch to detect it.

But there is a bright side to mining as well as a dark, and those fortunate men who paid 3, 5 or 8 cents for the stock of a mine that now sells for $7 can see it quite plainly; and there are many such. Mining is not a gamble as some would have the world believe, but a legitimate occupation, demanding great nerve and skill, and sometimes great patience, but not infrequently rewarding the possessors of these admirable attributes by wealth almost inexhaustible.

  CHAPTER IX.

MEDICAL HINTS.

Miners as a rule are a healthy, hardy lot of men, but nevertheless they are occasionally taken ill, and there is very seldom a doctor near at hand. Moreover, by the very nature of their work they are particularly liable to accidents.

The so-called miner's consumption is caused by want of fresh air. The miner passes most of his life in places where there is a great deficiency of oxygen. Deep down in the mine the air is usually very bad, being full of smoke and damp, and the hut in which he sleeps is too often overcrowded, while the places in which he seeks his amusement, should he live in a mining camp, are usually little better. The remedy for this state of affairs is to get all the fresh air possible, then consumption is not to be feared.

Should poison have been swallowed, an emetic ought to be given as quickly as possible. Mustard, or salt and warm water, are tolerably efficacious, but a dose of 60 grains of ipecac is more effectual. While the emetic is acting, the patient should drink freely of warm water or warm milk.

In case of apparent drowning the body should be stripped down to the waist, rapidly dried, placed on a flat surface with the head and shoulders raised a little, and hot bricks applied to the feet. Breathing should be imitated by raising the arms above the head and turning the body on its side; turn the body back on the face and press the arms down to the side. Do this about sixteen times a minute, and keep it up half an hour if necessary.

In case of a wound which bleeds freely, a distinction must be made between blood issuing from a vein and blood issuing from an artery. In the first instance, it will be nearly black, or at least very dark; in the second, it will be bright red and spurt forth. When from a vein, bleeding must be controlled by pressure below the wound, that is, farther away from the heart, while in the case of an artery, which is always more dangerous, immediate pressure must be made above the wound on the line of the artery between the wound and the heart. A pebble rolled up in a handkerchief and tied around the limb, with the stone directly above the artery, and tightened by twisting a stick in it, is a good rough-and-ready means to stop bleeding. Sometimes a pad should be placed between the handkerchief and the artery.

Anything that excludes the air, such as wheat flour, or olive oil, or boiled linseed, or grated raw potato, is good to spread over a burn. If any considerable surface is burned the patient is in great danger, but small burns are rarely fatal, although they may be very painful. The best application of all is linseed oil and lime water.

Scurvy is a disease that is very much to be dreaded whenever fresh meat and vegetables are scarce. It is now thought to be a condition of acid-poisoning, and the remedy is alkaline salts, such as carbonate of soda or carbonate of potash. Lime juice is also an anti-scorbutic. In cold weather a diet of almost exclusively fresh fat meat will keep off scurvy.

Pneumonia is usually most fatal in crowded camps, where the men do not get a sufficient amount of pure, fresh air.

  CHAPTER X.

DYNAMITE.

Dynamite should be stored in a magazine which must be dry, cool, and well ventilated. Bricks are best, but when built of wood, the frame should be covered inside and out with boards allowing the air to have free circulation between the walls, so that the inner wall may not be heated by the sun.

Do not store your caps with your dynamite.

If powder was well made, it is as good a dozen years afterwards as it was on the day it came from the mill.

Most accidents occur in thawing dynamite. Dynamite freezes between 40 and 45 degrees Far., that is, 10 degrees above the freezing point of water, and although it does not explode, if heated slowly, until 320 degrees Far. is reached, yet the quick application of dry heat may explode it at 120 degrees Far. This makes it so dangerous, for a stick of powder hot enough to explode under certain conditions may be held in the hand with little inconvenience. Powder should be thawed by placing it in a water-tight vessel and the vessel set in hot water. It should never be placed on or under a stove, or in an oven, or on a boiler wall to thaw out, as is so often done by the unthinking. Frozen dynamite is especially liable to explode from heat quickly applied. Nevertheless, reckless men will continue to blow themselves to pieces by foolhardy carelessness.

Frozen powder is unfit for use. It will burn or smoulder, and some of it may be left in the drill hole to explode when it is not wanted to.

  CHAPTER XI.

ATOMIC WEIGHTS.

The atomic weight of a mineral is the proportion in which its elements are united, i.e., they represent the weights of the different atoms in the minerals. Hydrogen, being lightest, is made the unit.

Supposing it becomes desirable to find the proportional weights of the elements of any substance with a known chemical formula. Multiply the atomic weight of each element by the number of atoms of such element, and add these products together; this will give the weight of all. The proportion of each is arrived at by a simple calculation.

For instance: How much metallic silver is there in 100 pounds of Argentite, or silver glance, whose composition is Ag₂S?

Then

Ag equals 108 times 2,—216.
S equals 32 times 1,—32.

So that in every 248 pounds of the glance there are 216 pounds of metallic silver, and by proportion we find its percentage is 87.1.

The following tables give the symbols, atomic weights and specific gravities of certain abundant elements. Rare elements are omitted:

  CHAPTER XII.

ODDS AND ENDS.

MINER'S INCH.

A miner's inch of water varies in different States, and is, therefore, not a fixed quantity. In some States it means the quantity of water that will flow through an orifice one inch square on the bottom or side of a box under a pressure of four inches. Under these conditions a miner's inch will discharge 2259 cubic feet, or 17,648 gallons every twenty-four hours, which is at the rate of 12 gallons a minute. Fifty of these miner's inches are equal to a cubic foot of water discharged every second. One cubic foot of water a second would be sufficient to supply the wants of seven thousand city dwellers.

In calculating the amount of water required by a stamp mill it is usual to allow 72 gallons for every stamp, 120 gallons for every pan, 75 gallons for every settler, 120 gallons for every Fruevanner, 30 gallons for a concentrator, 350 gallons for a jig, and 7½ gallons for every horse-power of a boiler each hour. If the water after passing through the mill is impounded and used over again, the loss will be about 25 per cent.

LUMBER IN A LOG.

To Find: Multiply the diameter in inches at the small end by one-half the number of inches, and again multiply this product by the length of the log in feet; this product divided by 12 will give the number of feet of one-inch boards the log will make.

HORSE-POWER OF BOILERS.

For horizontal, tubular and flue boilers, divide the number of feet of heating surface by 15; this will give the horse-power. A cord of pine wood weighing 2,000 pounds is about equal to 1,000 pounds of soft coal for steam purposes. Each foot of grate should burn 20 pounds of soft coal, or 40 of wood, per hour, with a natural draught.

HORSE-POWER OF AN ENGINE.

Multiply the area of the cylinder in square inches by the average effective pressure in pounds to the square inch, deducting three pounds per square inch for friction. Multiply this remainder by the speed of the piston in feet per minute, and divide by 33,000. The quotient will be the true horse-power.

HORSE-POWER OF PELTON WHEEL.

The Pelton wheel is in high favor with California miners. When the head of water is known in feet, multiply by 0.0024147 and the product is the horse-power that one miner's inch of water will give.

ASSAYING.

The muffle furnaces of the Morgan Crucible Company of Battersea are favorably known. The most useful size is that taking a "D" Muffle, 8½ inches by 5 inches by 3¼ inches.

A CHEAP "TESTING" OUTFIT.

Sometimes the pioneer is forced to attempt a good many investigations with very simple apparatus. Should he possess the following, he can achieve much: A spirit lamp, candle, blow-pipe, magnet, a bottle of hydrochloric acid, quart glass jar, three test tubes with corks, two feet of glass tubing (hard glass), copper wire, two square inches of tin plate, forceps and test paper. Such an outfit could certainly be bought for $1.

WEIGHT OF EARTH, SAND, GRAVEL, ETC.

• A ton of shingle averages 23 cubic feet.
• A ton of pit sand averages 22 cubic feet.
• A ton of earth averages 21 cubic feet.
• A ton of river sand averages 19 cubic feet.
• A ton of coarse gravel averages 19 cubic feet.
• A ton of clay averages 18 cubic feet.
• A ton of marl averages 18 cubic feet.
• A ton of chalk averages 14 cubic feet.

WEIGHTS OF ORES AND ROCKS.

Quartz, 162 pounds a cubic foot; silver glance, 455 pounds; ruby silver, 362; brittle silver, 386; horn silver, 345; antimony glance, 287; cinnabar, 549; copper pyrites, 262; gray copper, 280; galena, 461; zinc blende, 249; iron pyrites, 312; limestone, 174; clay, 162.

CALIFORNIA PUMP.

A very useful pump, in regions where transportation is a problem, is the California pump. It is a rough chain-pump. A box 10 inches by 3 inches, inside measurement, and 10 feet to 30 feet in length, according to requirements, forms a tube reaching from the water to be removed to the level at which it is to be discharged. In this an endless band of stout canvas or leather works, passing under a roller at the lower end, which is immersed in the water. At the higher end the belt passes around a drum worked by water, horse, or manual power. On the belt are wooden or metal projections that fit the box, forcing the water upward as the drum revolves.

HYDRAULIC DATA.

The prospector, and more especially the miner, will do well to commit the following figures to memory:

• An Imperial gallon of water weighs 10 pounds.
• Gallons multiplied by .1606 equals cubic feet.
• Cubic feet multiplied by 6.288 equals gallons.
• Gallons multiplied by 277.46 equals cubic inches.
• Cubic inches multiplied by 0.003604 equals gallons.
• Cubic feet multiplied by 62.8 equals pounds.
• Pounds multiplied by .0166 equals cubic feet.
• Gallons multiplied by 0.004464 equals tons.
• Tons multiplied by 224 equals gallons.
• Tons multiplied by 35.97 equals cubic feet.

A head of 10 feet gives a pressure of about 41/3 pounds to the square inch. Let H represent the head of water in feet, and P the pressure to the square inch. Then:

H equals P times 2.311.
P equals H times .4326.

A FIRE LUTE.

To make a fire-proof joint between the lid and body of a retort, or crucible, use the following as a lute:

Mix and temper like mortar.

CONTENTS OF A VEIN.

To find the number of cubic feet per fathom of matter in a vein, multiply its thickness in inches by 3. Great care is requisite in estimating the ore in a vein or the amount of mineral in sight. Very clever men often make grave mistakes in such calculations.

A MAKE-SHIFT FLUX.

Rough smelting may be done with powdered white glass, though either borax or carbonate of soda is better. As soon as the gold is melted and the flux fluid and still, remove the bulk of the flux with an iron spoon, and pour the metal into a clay mould. Crush the flux for gold.

SAVING BLAST SAMPLES.

Place a quantity of spruce boughs over a hole before firing the shot, and very few stones will fly.

A SIMPLE RETORT.

Squeeze the quicksilver amalgam containing gold through a chamois skin or piece of cotton until it is as dry as you can get it. Then take a large potato, cut off one end and hollow out a piece of it large enough to receive the amalgam. Heat a shovel or a piece of sheet iron red hot, hold the potato up and press the shovel to it, covering the amalgam. As soon as the potato sticks fast to the shovel, turn it over so that the potato is on the top and place it over the fire and keep it red hot until the retorting is finished. As soon as it cools, loosen the potato with a knife, and the gold will be underneath and the quicksilver in the potato. The quicksilver may be recovered by bruising the potato to pulp in a cup with water.

CLEANING AMALGAMATED PLATES.

A very simple plan for getting the gold off an amalgamated copper plate is as follows: Take out the surface dirt for the depth of nine inches over an area a little larger than the plate to be scaled; place six bricks around the excavation as supports for the plate. Make a brick fire, and let it burn down to red hot embers. Lay the plate on three iron bars resting on the bricks, and cover the face with strips of old blanket soaked in a strong solution of borax. Keep the blankets wet with the solution, and when the amalgam is white, remove the plate and scrape.