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Three of the pick-heads were now fastened to their handles, and taking these, a couple of shovels, two of the tin basins, a sledge hammer, and some steel wedges, and the peculiar wooden platter, in shape somewhat resembling a small shield with an indentation in the middle, called a vanner, and universally used by prospectors, the five whites and Leaping Horse started from their camp for the spot where Harry had found the lode.
I lately learned that the principle of one of our newest concentrating machines, the Frue vanner, was known in India and the East centuries ago; and we have it on good authority that of Pliny that gold saving by amalgamation with mercury was practised before the Christian era. It will not be surprising then if, ere long, some one claims to have invented the Korean Mill, with improvements.
He gave a gentle motion to the vanner that caused its contents to revolve, the coarser particles being thrown towards the edges while the finer remained in the centre.
The water was poured away and the rougher particles of gravel and sand swept off by the hand; fresh water was then added, and the process repeated again and again, until at last no more than a spoonful of fine sand remained in the centre. A sideway action of the vanner caused this to slope gradually down towards the edge. At the very bottom three tiny bits of yellow metal were seen.
The only faults with the vanner are first, it is rather slow; and secondly, though so ingenious it is just a little complicated in construction for the average non-scientific operative.
Their loss affected the whole country, as each part of Wales had one or two of them Tintern, Margam, Neath, and Whitland in the south; Strata Florida, Cwm Hir, Ystrad Marchell, and the Vanner in central Wales; and Basingwerk and Maenan in the north. The Reformation brought the poorer classes in Wales, not only insults to their national and religious feelings, but material loss.
It was not until the obvious mistake of using a machine which permitted the finest, and sometimes the richest, parts of the ore to escape had been for many years ineffectually admitted, that the "vanner," or moving endless band with a stream of water running on it, was invented with the special object of treating the finer stuff.
The vanner, as well as the jigger, will become an instrument of precision; and in combination with rushing appliances operated by cheap power in almost unlimited quantities it will materially assist in multiplying the world's supply of metals. This again will aid in promoting the further extension of machinery.
There is a society in Sweden known as Svenska Folkdansens Vänner for preserving the Swedish national peasant dances and for encouraging their use in the higher circles of society in preference to the French dances. There are several fine museums and picture galleries in Sweden.
"Thorpe is waiting in a high-powered car a few doors away, Vanner in a taxi, and Daly is on the job until I get back. He won't take a step to-day without being tailed," the operative answered, confidently. "Here's the cigarette box, sir. I opened it as soon as I got in the restaurant, to see if it was the real goods and not a plant, as you instructed. It's the straight tip, all right.
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