“See the drunkard in the tavern
Stemming gold to make ends meet”

I know we have discussed this many times, but now I think I’ve come up with an answer that I’m really happy with. ( What is Stemming gold ? )

On my recent holidays I visited a “Crushing battery”, in Charters Towers, Northern Queensland, where they mined gold for over one hundred years.

The tour guide whom I guess had been there for everyone of these years, explained that once the rock had been very finely crushed, mercury is added which attaches itself to the gold dust to form “amalgam”. Water is then added and it passes through a cradle into a spinning drum, where the amalgam being heaver then any other rock falls to the bottom and everything else is removed. The amalgam is then removed from the drum and heated in a mould until the mercury is vaporised off, this then leaves the gold ingot.

Once the Amalgam is removed from the drum, a very small amount is left, it was the habit of the drum operator to run his finger around the rim of the drum and any amalgam picked up was stored in his pipe. This happened a number of times during the working day, so he would end up with a reasonable amount of amalgam in the “stem” of his pipe at the end of his shift.

The owners were aware of this type of thing happening so they made everyone light their pipes before they left work, mercury vapours in the lungs weren’t very pleasant. But the practice continued with the workers going straight to the Tavern ( Bar, Pub or whatever ) . Once they reached the bar they would tip their pipe upside down and a small gold nugget would fall out. The Tavern owner would keep the gold on account against the workers drinks, no money changed hands and the gold could only be used for drinks.

Because of the manner in which the worker obtained the gold they couldn’t dispose of it in a legal manner.

So I guess they soon became drunkards.

I hope you all like this story, ( and didn’t fall asleep before the end. )

Keep Smiling.. Ron.

I like that story, it certainly makes sense. Thanks Ron. (did you stem any gold while you were there?)

geeze - my grandfathers were both gold miners in North Ontario (Timmins - home of Shania) - but ended up with gold in their lungs only....they smoked 'roll your own' cigs...no pipes.
one had a good drinking habit tho!
lol
makes sense to me Ron!

good to see you back, catman.... been a while

No Deb, I wish I had, at $650 an Ounce it would pay for my holiday.

Thankyou Joveski ( fellow Victorian ), it's good to have something to say.

All the best Ron.

Wow Ron, you were doing your homework on this one. I might have been the one who brought this topic up a year or two ago.

Ron, this explanation sounds like the best one yet, but I wish someone would ask GL what his explanation would be.

Interesting read....Thank You

Wes

catmanraon: That is the most verifiable definition for the time period I have heard.

One other that I recall, unsubstantiated at this time was allegedly per Gord's research when he wrote the song. I recall this vaguely from alt.music.lightfoot around '97 - '99 and when I've a little more time will look it up.

The word purportedly, from a member attending a concert and asking Gord if I recall (which of course does not make it correct) was from drunkards crawling under tavern floors on the ground, across uneven terrain where stones were used to support a (more) level foundation.

Supposedly the gold-seeker would pick up gold coins dropped through relatively wide cracks in the floorboards by drunkenness or fumbly-fingers (that'd be me LOL). No explanation given for the term's origin that I recall, other than the offerred definition from unknown reference material, but per the member that gave it, it was what Gord had found it to mean somewhere.

I find catmanron's better-substantiated definition more reliable now than my memory, but I hope it adds to the thread :)
geo Steve

ps my dentist calls the silver/alloy fillings "amalgam" so this term alone may be a more general term in metals. I friend of mine is a metallurgical engineer so I will ask if he has anything to add and report back, too.

Great interesting story, Catmanron. This is my first contact with you, I hope not the last. :rolleyes:

Cat and Joveski, both being from Australia, can one of you, please answer me, about a particular subject. :rolleyes:

I have a contact, that I email, from Australia, every now and then. He once told me, that a person can actually go up on the sails, of The Sydney Opera House, as a tour. Is he speaking the truth, about this? :(

Have you ever seen Gordon Lightfoot, in concert? If Im not mistaken, in the 70's or 80's, he played at that magnificent venue... Jesse. :)

[ August 03, 2006, 14:31: Message edited by: Jesse -Joe ]

Not wishing to steal the thunder too much from those hooligans down under, it is a fact that I have a wonderful VHS video of the "World Tour Of Australia" travels of the foul mouthed "Big Yin"
the Glaswegian Billy Connolly. unless my memory is failing me one of the memoriable events shown is Billy scrambling up and on one of the sails.
But it looked like a special event not a regular tour as such, and akin to a walk up the Golden Gate Bridge's cabling supports. Now there is a thought.Can you get up on the cabling of he Sydney Harbo(u)r Bridge too?
John
P.S.per
http://www.lightfoot.ca/1974.htm
1974
September 19 Sydney, Australia Opera House
etc

[ August 03, 2006, 09:13: Message edited by: johnfowles ]

Thanks John, Must be a great view from up there.

you can go up anytime. to climb right up the top like billy connolly costs about $250 i think... and you need harnesses and stuff.

to climb the pylon, like i i did only costs $9 and loots to only be 20 meters short of the top!

Thank's a bunch for the info, Joveski. That's very interesting to know...Jesse. :)

Thankyou Wes, It's something that I have wondered about for a long time, maybe one day Gord will tell us what the meaning is, if he can still remember. Geo, I think maybe the name of Amalgam for dental fillings may date back to when people had gold fillings. ( or is it a combination of metals ? )
Jesse, I'm not sure about climbing the Sydney Opera house but you can climb the arch of the Harbour Bridge, not the cable John, it's an arch bridge not a suspension bridge like the golden gate. Or as us Melbournians call it "the coat hanger".

Keep Smiling.. Ron.

welcome back catmanron, must be time for another contest. I've got gold in my mouth and it's real gold. Very good for teeth but somewhat pricey...

Catmanron, Joveski replied, apparently it's true...Jesse. :)

Hey BillW, What about that concert. Anything to report? Gord is still the main man? ;) :rolleyes:

Catmanron,

Turns out, I think,we were both right in a sense on the aside subject of "amalgam". I suspected my dentist's usage came from a common root origin of the old generic company name used in old movies alot - "Amalgamated". I looked it up the Microsoft analogue LOL dictionary, because I have found their definitions of technical terms more reliable than say "wikipedia" on-line.

in brief,amalgam N 1.a combination of elements or characteristics N 2.a substance used for filling tooth cavities. And, amalgamate: Vti, combine into a unified whole. (like the old companies that merged. Amalgam noun definition 1 looks to be most relevant short of a report by my friend the metallurgist, but I've no doubt the info given you at the tour was of course correct.

So, looks like our suspicion was right in general terms on amalgam. It all makes sense with the tech definition in Microsofts encarta dictionary, supporting what you said completely, and the guess we both had that its also a general term of mixture (of metals in this case, or epoxy and silver if i recall my dentist correctly). I am still curious to ask my friend if he ever came across stemming in his historical studies; but the pipe-stem definition sure makes sense to me.

Maybe most important of all to me is the historically-rich usage Gord had buried in his music, for all the terms we run to the dictionaries for.

Like all the old threads on "navvie" in CRT, which interestingly , despite the well-verified and Gord-confirmed answers by common report from his own research; I still found another istorical definition from rail alignment.

The one I found did not make as much sense as the old old thread everywhere on this turned up and there's no need for here again. I guess a contraction and colloqiualism (historical) is likely to have multiple definitions anyway.

GL's music is so rich in these historical usages. Maybe thats why what would otherwise be tedious and mundane to look up is so fun, as are sounds in his music. ohhh noooo OK ok LOL I'll not go there on that old one for ole' telekidd's digestion. Thanks for the interesting info, catmanRon
geo Steve

Thankyou Bill, my Harmony CD is still working beautifully. !!!

Thankyou geo Steve, I would also be interested to hear what your Metallurgist friend has to say on the topic. The words hidden in GL songs are certainly something which adds to the poetry of the man and his music.

Termonology used in the mining industry particularly gold mining is very similar in Australia and Canada, and is mostly based on US miners who followed the gold rushes around the world in the 1800's. One of the most notable being the former US President, Hubert Hoover, who worked for a number of years in Australia as a mining Engineer.

All the best keep smiling
Ron.

Hey Ron,

Great to be able to assist, and make a great song even more enjoyable for you, and the people lucky enough to hear you perform it.

All the best
Ron.

just dug these pics up... (sorry, off topic but this is what you $9 will get for you on the harbour bridge)

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...neybridge1.jpg


notice the people climbling the edges here...
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...neybridge2.jpg


looking towards the city..
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...neybridge3.jpg


and the opera house..
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...operahouse.jpg

hmm, Joveski for $9.00 on the Harbour Bridge, seems fair to me......I'll buy him.

can i rent him???
lol
what a fab view....I've got to get to Australia one day...it's on my list of things to do.....
;)

ah, but wait till you see the price for postage/handling! :D

Oh, come on now. Bulk/advertising class can't cost all that much... :D

Thanks Joveski, for sharing your pics, thats an amazing bridge, and the people climbing the edges do look like mice...Jesse.