GOLD WORKS IN ENGLAND.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XVI, Issue 72, 5 December 1857, Page 3

GOLD WORKS IN ENGLAND.

In a remote corner of Cheshire — pregnable only to firm railway tourists — an establishment exists, not only for the conversion of American quartz into ounces and ingots of the precious metal, but which purposes to extend its auriferous researches among the mountains and quarries of England. The Chancellorsville Company, as it is called, has been at work now only for a short pt iod, though long enough to found at Frodsham a tolerably extensive factory, where all the various processes necessary to the production of the circulating medium from exceedingly dirty looking stones goes on daily. The operations were on Saturday put to an experimental tesi in the presence of the assnyer to the Mint, the assayer to the Bank of England, Professor Henry, and a large number of gentlemen of scientific standing. After inspecting the crushing process, these gentlemen proceeded to watch the mode of extraction of the gold. This is done at these works by the chemical process of amalgamation with quicksilver. The quicksilver is distilled into a retort, and takes up the gold from the matter. An amalgam is formed, from which the gold is easily separated. On its passage into the retort the matter is subjected to magnetic action, for the purpose of taking up the iron. The most valuable stones commonly contain the gold mixed with sulphuret of iron, known as iron pyrites, and sometimes sulphuret of copper. The result of the trial was to produce one ounce, seven pennyweights, seven grains of gold from the ton of materials — a large and profitable return. The quartz operated upon comes from Virginia, in the neighbourhood of the river Rappahanock. This soil has long been known for its aureal wealth ; but the difficulties of labour and fuel prevented it being worked on the spot, and the estate was purchased by the company. Its works are on the banks of the Weaver, so that the water carriage is complete, with the exception of a few miles from the mine to the Rappahanock, across v.nich a plank road exists, and a railroad is in course of construction. The Virginian rock is thickly schistose, of a colour varying from light brown to deep red ; it is friable, and contains much lead, some silver, and sufficient sulphur to j pay, it is said, the working expenses of the company. Besides these supplies from America, the company are about to enter into arragemeuts for a supply of Australian quartz. The enormous expense of coal and labour at the Australian diggings makes it unremuneiative to crush j gold quartz bearing less than six ounces to the j ton, just as the rule is there not to smelt cop- , per ore of less than 24 per cent., though here the cooper ore of 5 aud 6 per cent, commands a good price. — English Paper.

A Marvellous Journey in China. — " The three Burmese ladies placed themselves upon one elephant, and I was directed by signs to seat myself upon the other. This being done, the Indians whispered some words into the ears of the elephants, and off they set side by side, going over the ground very fast and very steadily. We had no driver or guide, or attendant ; the three ladies and I were quite alone with the elephants. I felt as if * erched on a crow's nest on the top of a tree. The elephants trotted on without slackening their pace, or changing their step, or stopping, through all the rest of the day, and all night long. It was bright starlight, and I saw that we were passing over a fine level country. At daybreak we crossed a hill, and came into another plain, and travelled across it, until, about twenty -four hours after we had set out, we came to an indigo plantation, aud saw a good many huts, and a comfortable-looking dwellinghouse. The elephants, of their own accord, stood still at the door." The same thing went on the next day till they reached the ladies' abode ; there she slept a night, saw the town, and then returned in the following style :—": — " I asked the Lascar's leave to pick a flower ; and, with that ia my hand, was hoisted again upon an elephant. A man was placed upon the other, words were whispered in the elephant's ears, aud off we trotted. The man who was my fellow traveller spoke not one word to me, nor I to him, ail the way to the Parsee-house, where I had halted with the ladies. I was treated there with the same civility and attention as before ; and I occupied the same little chamber that night which I had previously slept in. At daybreak the head- waiter aroused me, and I found" my breakfast ready. I saw the man, who had come thus far with me, set out with two elephants to retrun to the home of the Burmese ladies. Two other elephants were brought to the door for me. Four men brought the palanquin, and lifted me into my perch. The second elephant had nothing on his back. Words were whispered in their ears, the elephants said ' Pha !' and off they trotted, one under me and one by my side. Not a creature ia either of the two Parsee-

houses had touched even my fingers' ends, or the hem of my "garment, and none but the Lascar had spoken a word to me ; but I did not feel quite so lonely there, or in the former stages of this journey, as in the last, when, all day and all night long, I travelled quite alone with two elephants. At five o'clock in the morning, the elephants stood still at the block beside the boat-house inn, from which I had started a few days before." — Autobiography of a Balaklava Nurse. The next characters taken were the Flying Stationers, or Ruuuing Putterers, men who hawk murders and songs in the streets. They get their name from professiug to describe the contents of the papers they vend as they walk, and they seldom or never stand still. They sell accounts of murders, elopements, explosions, deaths of popular characters, and songs ; but murders are the chief commodity. These are of two kinds, real murders, and what are termed " cocks" (probably from the Cock-lane ghost affair), namely, pure inventions, intended to gratify a taste for the marvellous and the horrible. In reference to the latter article one of these men said, "That 'ere Chigwell-row is a trump to this day, Sir ; I could go out now with a dozen and yearn a supper off it this werry night. Sarah Holmes of Lincoln is another. That 'ere has been vorked every winter this five year, and there aint one worJ of truth in it I'll give you my honour [laughter]. Some of these 'cocks' has been in workin' for twenty years. The Scarborough murder has been worked even longer. It's all a lie from beginning to end, but werry affectin'" [laughter]. On inquiry, it was found that Greenacre's murder did not command a very good sale. Daniel Good was "slap up," ! and would have been much better if it hadn't been for " that Madame Tosod ;" she went down and bought up the togs for two guineas, "so in course when gentlefolks can go and look at the real things — the werry identical togs in the Chamber of Horrors — why they won't look at our accounts on 'em" [laughter]. Mr. M. wanted to know whether "cocks" sold better than "real murders?" " Why no, sir ; in general an out and out murder beats everything. Now there's Rush, I lived on him fora month or more [laughter]. I worked my way down to Norwich with a "sorrowful lament" of his, expressly written by our St. Giles's poet. Then on the morning of the execution at Norwich we beat all the newspapers out of the field, for we had a true*, full, and particular account done for us by our own express. We gets it printed several days before the day comes off, so for early and correct information that beats the Sun or the Moon either, hollow" [laughter]. When murders are scarce they devote themselves to the sale of yards of popular songs. A celebrated vendor of these compositions was Dick Fardener, so called from his crying, "Two 'undred and fifty poplar songs for one fardener." He was the original in the popular farce of the Wandering Minstrel. He was accustomed to cry his songs, running the names together something after this fashion — " Oh, ruddier than the cherry, Jolly nose ; " the Maids of merry England, Who's yer hatter ? Adieu my native land, If had a donkey ; I dreamt that I dwelt in marble halls, with the King of the Canibal Islands ; Oh, say not woman's love is bought — for the small charge of <yie ha'penny" [laughter]. Sometimes songs would give place to small books of riddles, which were cried along the streets, and • as the wrong answers were frequently given to the questions put, the effect was somewhat amusing. — Mayhem on London Street Life,

Troubles of an Inspector at an Indian School. — The inspector enters ; all the boys rise, put their right hand to their forehead, and shout " Salaam, sahib !" The teacher, an olive complexioned man, with smooth, shining black hair, with a curling moustache, with a bristling beard, with a white rope buttoned on the left-hand side* comes forward, and makes the nearest approach to Eastern prostration which his Western superior will allow. The English inspector returns the salute of the boys, and disposes of that of the teacher with an action rather than a word ; the action implying partly " I am very much obliged to you for your civility ;" partly, " Stand up ; I also am a man." The salutations are over ; business commeuces. Let us adopt the dramatic notation, and endeavour thus to exhibit what follows : — Inspector : "Mulvjii, let me see the register of attendance." — Karim Caksh, teacher of the school : " Sahib, it is here." — Inspector : " I see you have 100 boys in daily attendance; that is very good." Teacher : " This number is entirely to be attributed to your good fortune and your personal excellence." — Inspector : "I shall now call over the names. No boy is to speak whose name is not called. Let each boy as he is called answer "Here." — Omnes: "Yes, sir, Here !"— Inspector : " Silence ! No boy is to speak whose name is not called." — Omnes, each to his neighbour : " You are not to speak till your name is called." — Inspector : " Silence!" — The first five boys answer to their names ; the sivth is absent. — Inspector calls his name : " Shir Singh !' — Several voices : " Shir Singh is ill. — Inspector : "Silence. Did I not tell you that only the boy whose name is called is to speak 1 If a boy is absent, let me know it by his silence. Nobody is to answer for him. I shall begin again." — Inspector calls over the first five names with the same success as formerly. He approaches that rubicon, Shir Singh : " Now, take care," no one is to answer; Shir Singh !" — Small boy : "Shir Singh is ill." — Inspector: "Who said that?" — Omnes : " Please, sir, Ramlall," — Inspector reads Ramlall a serious lecture. He impresses the duty of silence, and emphatically demands that no boy shall speak till he is spoken to. — before he has finished, the two neighbours of the culprit turn round and enforce the inspector's remarks by desiring Ramlall to hold his tongue : " Why does he interrupt when the sahib is speaking?" — Inspector turns round to the fresh interrupters, and upbraids them : " Yes, but you are committing the same fault ; why do you talk without orders? AU are to be quiet till they are told to speak." Chorjs of many voices, each boy addressing his neighbour: "Be quiet; why do you speak without orders?" — Inspector despairs. He struggles through the roll-call as he may, and feels that he is met at the outset by the first great Asiatic difficulty — incontinence of speech. — i F razor's Magazine for June.-- '