The Pacific tourist:

TOJT. 187
springs heretofore spoken of, and a band of redskins who had an innate hankering after the stock
of the said party of emigrants. The losses of
this battle are said to have been quite severe on
both sides, considering the numbers engaged. It
is generally conceded, however, that the redskins
got the worst of it, though they say "A heap
white men killed there."
The opening, or valley directly opposite and
north of Battle Mountain, is without water in its
lower portion, and is a desert of sand and sage
brush. The range of mountains at whose base the
town is situated, and south of it, on the west side
of Reese River Valley, is sometimes called the
Battle Mountain Range, and sometimes the
Fish Creek Range, from a creek that rises in it
about 25 miles south of Battle Mountain, and
runs into Reese River Valley.
About 25 miles south of Battle Mountain, are
some very fine hot springs. There are nearly
60 of them, covering about half a section of
land. The largest one is about 60 feet long by
30 feet wide, and at times rises and falls from
three to five feet. These springs are on the
stage road to Austin, and are something of a
wonder to travelers in that direction.
How Ore is Redutceds.-We visited the reduction works of the Lewis District, and to those
who are not familiar with the way in which ores
are handled, the following account may be of
some interest. The ore from the mine in this district is neither free milling nor smelting ore. It
has to be dried before it can be.milled, and then
roasted before it can be separated and amalgamated. The following is our account of the
process in taking the silver from the ore: The
ore, as it comes from the mine, is first run through
a crusher-a machine which has two heavy pieces
of iron coming together like the human jaws in
chewing. It is then passed either onto drying
pans, heated by a fire from some furnace, or into
a revolving dryer where all the moisture is extracted. From this dryer it passes through a large
iron tube or pipe into the milling hoppers below.
These hoppers, holding the crushed and dried ore,
are similar to those seen in old fashioned gristmills, and from them the ore runs on to the stamp
mill. The stamp mill is a series of upright iron
shafts with a heavy iron'or steel hamrnmer on the
lower end of each shaft. By machinery, these
shafts are lifted up very rapidly and dropped-a
process repeated by each one from sixty to ninety
times per minute. As they fall, they stamp or
crush the ore to powder. In fact it leaves this mill
pulverized like dust, and is conveyed by a hori zontal screw to an adjoining room, where it is
taken by elevators, just like those used in flour ing mills to a bin or tank above. In the room
where this elevator and bin are, is the cylin drical roaster and furnace. From the tank the
pulverized ore is taken as required, through an
iron pipe into a large horizontal revolving
roaster. About one and on e-half tons of ore
dust are required to charge the roaster, to which
is added from eight to ten per cent. of salt. The
he at and fir e from the furnace pa ss through
this ro as ter as it slowly tur ns around, the ore
now mixed with salt, falling of course, from side
to side at each revolution, across and through
the flames. It is kept in this place about seven
hours, or until it is supposed to be thoroughly
chloridized. It is a sulphuret ore as it comes
from the mine, but becomes a chloride ore by
passing through this process. It comes out of
the roaster at a white heat, is then wet down and
cooled, and taken to an amalgamating pan which
is agitated with a muller, which revolves in the
pan from 60 to 70 times per minute-iin other
words, it is a stirring apparatus. One and a
half tons of ore are put into these pans, to
which is added about 350 lbs. of quicksilver.
Water is then turned in and the mixture stirred
a little, to the consistency of thick paste. Then
hot steam is let in upon the mass, and while in
process of agitation it is heated to a boiling heat.
The pulp, as it is now called, is kept in this pan
and constantly agitated or stirred for about
seven hours. A plug is then drawn from the
bottom of the tank or pan, and the pulp passes
into " a settler " or is separator " where it is
again agitated in water —the amalgam, meanwhile, settling to the bottom of the " settler," the
quicksilver —with the silver-being drawn into
a little receiver, from which it is dipped into
sacks and strained. The quicksilver being thus
nearly all taken out, the balanc6 is called dry amalgam, and this is taken to an iron retort, cylindri cal in shape, about five feet long and 12 inches
in diameter. This cylinder is charged with
about 900 lbs. of this dry amalgam, then
thoroughly sealed, after which it is heated from
a furnace underneath. The quicksilver remain ing in the amalgam,volatilizes under the action of
heat, and passes through an iron tube sur rounded by cold water, where it is condensed and
saved. The quicksilver being expelled by the
action of the heat, leaves the crude bullion
(silver in this case) in the cylinder. The dry
amalgam remains in the retort some six or seven
hours,-requiring two or three hours additional
to cool. The base bullion is then taken out, cut
into small pieces and placed in a black lead
crucible, and melted over a charcoal fire. While
in this crucible the dross of course rises to the
surface of the molten metal and is skimmed off.
In the crucible it is thoroughly stirred with
a long iron spoon, and a sample poured into
cold water for assaying purposes. This is done
just before the hot metal is poured into
the molds and becomes bars. The assay deter mines its fineness and value, which is stamped
upon it, and it is then shipped and sold. It goes
into the mill ore from the mine, and comes out
silver in bars.
VMS Pacific TOURIST.
187
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