1melted out, and further, the
solidified juices also impede the smelting of the
metals and cause loss. The rock which lies contiguous to rich ore should also be
broken into small pieces, crushed, and washed, lest any of the mineral should
be lost. When, either through ignorance or carelessness, the miners while
excavating have mixed the ore with earth or broken rock, the work of sorting
the crude metal or the best ore is done not only by men, but also by boys and
women. They throw the mixed material upon a long table, beside which they
sìt for almost the whole day, and they sort out the ore; when it has been
sorted out, they collect it in trays, and when collected they throw it into
tubs, which are carried to the works in which the ores are smelted.
metals and cause loss. The rock which lies contiguous to rich ore should also be
broken into small pieces, crushed, and washed, lest any of the mineral should
be lost. When, either through ignorance or carelessness, the miners while
excavating have mixed the ore with earth or broken rock, the work of sorting
the crude metal or the best ore is done not only by men, but also by boys and
women. They throw the mixed material upon a long table, beside which they
sìt for almost the whole day, and they sort out the ore; when it has been
sorted out, they collect it in trays, and when collected they throw it into
tubs, which are carried to the works in which the ores are smelted.
The metal which is dug out in a pure or crude state, to which class belong
native silver, silver glance, and gray silver, is placed on a stone by the
mine foreman and flattened out by pounding with heavy square hammers.
These masses, when they have been thus flattened out like plates, are placed
either on the stump of a tree, and cut into pieces by pounding an iron chisel
into them with a hammer, or else they are cut with an iron tool similar to a
pair of shears. One blade of these shears is three feet long, and is firmly
fixed in a stump, and the other blade which cuts the metal is six feet long.
native silver, silver glance, and gray silver, is placed on a stone by the
mine foreman and flattened out by pounding with heavy square hammers.
These masses, when they have been thus flattened out like plates, are placed
either on the stump of a tree, and cut into pieces by pounding an iron chisel
into them with a hammer, or else they are cut with an iron tool similar to a
pair of shears. One blade of these shears is three feet long, and is firmly
fixed in a stump, and the other blade which cuts the metal is six feet long.
A—MASSES OF METAL. B—HAMMER. C—CHISEL. D—TREE STUMPS.
E—IRON TOOL
SIMILAR TO A PAIR OF SHEARS.
SIMILAR TO A PAIR OF SHEARS.