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About The Sumpter miner. (Sumpter, Or.) 1899-1905 | View Entire Issue (June 8, 1904)
Wednesday, June 8, 1904 THE SUMPTER MINER ANCIENT EGYPT ORE TREATMENT I smooth surface, whioh, however, does' j not lie lint, tint bus n slight inoll-1 ' nation. On this tahlo they rub with their hands the dust mixed with water, first lightly and then with' greater pressure. Hy this menus the i earthy patticles aro dissolre and'llow jdowu tho slope of tho table, but that' Thousands of Condemned ' whloj la hTy Hn worth Hythnjir ! 1 remains on tho wood. And when the Selaugous has frequently rlused tho! matter out with water, he handles tho dust lightly with soft, thick I sponges, and pressing lightly from timo to time he absorbs from tho tablo and throws away that which is 'soft and light, entangled iu thu web I of the sponge. There remains to the 'Selaugeus separated on tho table that whioh is heavy and ' shines, and I tl' III ()ll 1111 Illlllllll llf f Itu ixitliltlt Iu ...,.u.., .,.. ,..,.,, , ,n iivim, in Men And Women En gaged in The Disa greeable Work. iMost of the gold mines of Ancient Pnvnl urn uttll In 11 fulii uliifn tf ., w, 41 1 1 1 not easily movable, preservation, and tho method of work' ..,. . . .. . . , ,, .. "This ho tiansm ia uiieuy uuiijuuiiiiLMi. uuiiuimiy Hpuakiug, the conditions observed , are in accordance with the descrip tion of Agat'iiarduhides, who wrote 1111 H. C. The following is a free translation from the text of Muller: "Tho metal hearing rooks which are called gold-bearing are intensely black, but among them is produced a stouo than which nothing is whiter. Of those mountains, those which are rugged and have an altogether hard' nature they burn with wood, and when they aro softened by llr they experiment on them and cut the loosened Htones into small pieces with, an iron chisel. Hut the principal work is (hat of the art Ulcer who is skilled in stones. This man shows to the diggers the track of the metal, and apportions the whole work to the needs of the wretched men in the following manner: Those whole in strength and age break the places stone with m its to the cooks, , who, immediately they receive it by weight, put it. into a clay pot, and iu proportion to its quantity they add a lump of lead, some grains of salt, a little alloy of silver and lead, and hurley bran. The pot's mouth being cat of ul ly covered and luted round, , ihey cook it live days and live nights consecutively. On the following day. j when the burnt, materials are cooled, , they pour them into another van). They Unci none of the things which were put iu together, but only a mass of molten gold, little Icsh by weight.1 than the original matter." 1 It. is doubtful whether the histo rian's description lel'ersto the period of the Ptolemies or to an earlier epoch of the 1'liaraehs: but. the .things of which he speaks ate therein j evidence teday: the iron cutters and i stouo mortars of the men; the mills' at which the women toiled; the tables i , of the skilled fciolangouH; the furnace I , of tho "cook"; the pots in which ho fused his gold; the slags therefrom, where shiuea the white iron cutting hammers. fPli nun iirtt ulslll ftuit Itnitik ... , . ' i i ,and eveue tho vory charcoal of his ferce: and thus drive in tho rock1.. ... . . . , . , , , i re an ro ii ere, an save lie, many galleries, not straight, but , ,, 4 , , , . ... i . .. , ii it ,i i.i n miserable wretches who wrought thsi branch ug in all directions hkotho,.. . . . . ,. 7. , , o i 1 41 1 iiui uiimiiiii uirm, nun in li rill iinnu m . roots of a tree, wherovor the stouo . . ' ... , : , , . ... ,, 1t , no tale except the multitude of low y pregnant with gold may diverge.' . . ' . ... . . . J 1 .... ., ... , , , mounds which mark the last rest tig These mon, thus, with candles bound , , , ,, , , , 4,, ,4i place of man mid woman and on their foreheads, cut tho rock, the white stone showing the direction for their labor. Placing their bodies iu every conceivable position, throw the the fragments to tho ground not each accordnig to his strength, but. under the eye of tho overseer, who never ceases from blows. Then boys, creeping into the galleries dug by the men, collect, with great labor the stones which have been broken oil' and carry them out to the mouth of the miiio. "Next, from theso a crowd of old and sickly men take the stone and lay it before the pounders. These are strong men of eomo thirty years of age, and they strenuously pound the rock with an iron pestle in mor tars cut out of stone, and reduce it until the largest piece is no bigger than a pea. Then they measure out to others the pounded stone iu the same quantity as they have received it. The next task is performed by women, who, alone or with their husbands or relations, are placed iu enclosures. .Several mills are placed together iu a line, and standing there together at. one haiidlo, tllthy and almost naked, the women lay to it at the mill.-, until the measure handed to them is cuinpletely in duced. And to eveiy one of thoFo who bear this lot death is prefer abllo to life. Others, called Selnngeu?, takn from women the powder thus produced. ' Those are I ho artificers, in whom liesi the power uf carrying to tho end this ' work of royal utility, fhey pour 10. L. Kinnon, Whitney, Oiegon, the stone alruady milled on a table, ! lumber, sath, doois, feliingloB, build, rather broad and poiifched with a, ing material, mining timbers. P child. Of these people Diodorusl writes: j "The kings of Kgypt condemn j vast multitudes to the mines who are : notorious criminals, prisoners of war1 and persons convicted by false 110- i 1 ciisatiou--tho victims of resentment. 1 And not only tho individuals Ihein-i selves, but even whole families 1110; doomed to this labor, with the view of 1 punishing the guilty and prolitiug by, their toil. The vast numbers em- ( ployed are bound iu fetters and com- .polled to work day and night with out, iutei mission, and without tiope of escape, for they set over them barbarian soldiers, who speak a for eign language, so that, thuro is no 1 pos ibllity of conciliating them by persuasion or through familiar inter-! course. No attention is paid to' their poisons; they have not even a piece of rag to cover themselves, and so wretched is their condition that . all wlio witness it deplore the exces sive mihoiy ouduicd. No lest, no in torinission fiom toil is given either to the sick or maimed; neither the weakness of age nor woman's, intii mi ties are icgardcd; all are driven to their voi;l with the lash, till at last, overcome uith the intolerable weight' of their aiMictious, they die iu the midst of their toil. Ho lhe.se mi- , happy creatures always expect worse to come 'than they enduie at the 1 present, and long for death as pieter able to lite." Mining Jleporter. FOR SALE $2,000 Ten Roomed Residence. One of the Best Locations in town. $2,000 Home. Completely Furnished. Location and Grounds Delightful. Piano, Large Range and other valuable Furniture included in this. Barn and Outbuildings. New Six Room Mouse and Lot, nicely lo cated. Easv terms. $250 Choice Resident Lot near center of town. $50, $75, and $IOO Buy Choice Resident Lots not far out. $300 Buys Mouse and Lot with Barn. A Com fortable Little Home. LAUNDRY BUSINESS I am instructed to sell the Steam Laundry business, of Sumpter, which is the Best Pay ing Business in town for the amount of capital required to handle it. Call ana see me and get figures. 20,000 Acres now under irrigation in one of the best localities in Oregon. Are you interested in securing a home of this kind, from 40 to 160 acres. 'Ihese lanos in three years will be worth three times what they canbe bought for at the present time. Call and see maps and get prices and terms on this property. PLACER PROPERTY Do you want something good in a PLicer Proposition? We have rich placer ground near Sumpter, and an opportunity to .secure an abundance of water for long season's work. Here is an opportunity for a person with small capital, to secure a proposition with such merit as will increase on investigation in the estimation of the most critical ex aminer. If interest. d, call and see us and get particulars. 1.280 ACRES One of the most attractive large bodies of land in Burnt River Valley. Level as a meadow. vll can be irrigated. Can be sold in size tracts to suit the purchaser, at $15 and less per acre. INLAND EiMPIRE INVESTMENT CO. JESSE HOBSON . . MANAGER HOTEL SUMPTER cS I J fl & Ii