The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-02-03
A Glittering Mystery.

| WHAT becomes of the precious
| metals ?'' asks an Eastern Journal and
| then proceeds to consider the question,
| and succeeds in throwing much doubt
| upon it, or, rather, leaving it in Just as
much doubt as before. The question:
"What becomes of all the pins?" has
| been ottener asked, perhaps, and has been
| answered with about the same nlumina-
| ton. Ferd Ever, many years ago, in
this city, was hugely amused at a 1ues-
ton asked in the Sacramento Union,
| namely: "Where does all the water go?"
To which interrogation the Questioner
proceeded, with the philosophical sobriety
of an owl, to reply through column arti-
| ticle, when it might have been answered
in two words-the ocean. But ii is not so
| easy to answer satisfactorily the question
AS TO what becomes of the precious metals.
| That vast amount has been extracted
from the earth according to an English
| writer, who, of course, must depend to
! great degree upon guess-work, not less
than s. 900, 100000 since the days of
Noah, in gold and silvcr-thcrc can be no
doubt OF this amount he thinks that
So, 200 ,000, 600 have been produced since
the discovery of America. The Christian
world Is credited with having had 50, ,O0N,-
| 100000, most of which has been disposed
of by shipwrccks, gliding, fire and vari-
Gus other ways, as cfcctualIy, we might
suggest, as many of our citizens have dis
posed Of theirs by investing in stocks. He
thinks this loss proceeds at the rate of
SIC, 900, 900 annually, while The production
he puts at $4,000 900, which is m-
doubtedly too low. OAe.haIf of the bal
anCe, $3.50 900 600, he thinks is held in
the form of plate and ornaments. Of the
balance of the three millions in the anti
Christian world, wastes and losses omit
ted, he thinks that over thousand bill
ions have been hidden in Asiatic lands in
different ages of the world, and he con-
tinucs that it is we'll known that Il thou
sand millions were thus hidden in India
and China in the six years succeeding
1851; that is during the time when whole
sale murder and slaughter and wholesale
robbery and dcSpOliation was the business
of the natives ana their enemies. One
would think that China must be carpctcd
with gold leaf, paved with silver dollars,
gIittcring with the precious metals, did
he think only of the vast sums sent there
for hundreds Of years past, little or none
of which ever comes back. But some
how those metals have fate th ere as they
have elsewhere-thcy disappear. Like
many other commodities, they serve their
purpose and disappear. What became of
all the gold with which solomon covered
his grand temple? What became of all
the spanish spoilS in South America and
in Mexico? One might ask such ques-
tiOns forever and be no wiser therefor
Gold and silver serve their purpose and
disappear, as to the human race, and old
boots and all other material things, and
there is none so wise as can tell us ac-
curateiy what has become Of them. When
the faucet is turned, where has the gas
light gone? one mi ght ask, and the qucs-
ton would be as reasonable and perhaps
as difficult to answer We know pretty
well where our little portion of gold and
silver has gone, but that knowledge does
not give us any particular gratticaton.-
ALd Calf0rn1G.