Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-06-15

! FROM the Boston traveller.
Silver.
Silver, next to iron and gold, is the most
extensively-diilused metal upon our globe. 1t
Is found frequently in natural state, though
never chemically pure, being invariably mix
ed with gold or copper, or sometimes anti
| mony, arsenic, bismuth, quicksilver or iron.
Native silver IL found in masses. and in ab-
crescent and ililorm shapes, in veins OF
quartz and other rocks. 1t is distinguished
by its whiteness, its brilliant lustre when
polished, its malleability, and its Indifference
| TO atmospheric oxygen. 1t is readily chrys-
| tallizable, and always assumes one or more of
| the symmetrical shapes, such ~ the cube or
octahedron. 1t is remarkable for its beauty,
and is ten times heavier than water. 1t does
not appear to have been in Use before the
deluge. Moses does not allude to it before
| that event, but mentions only brass and iron.
| But IN Abraham's time it had become COM
mon, and traffic was carried on with it, He
| was rich III silver and gold, and bought
| sepulchre for his wife Sarah for four hundred
| shekels of silver" 1t was not coined, but
| circulated only in bars AID ingots, and was
always weighed. Silver takes precedence in
the Scriptures, whenever the two precious
metals are mentioned con njunctively. ''Silyer
| and gold have | none," said Peter to the i'm
Fortunate beggar, "but such AZ | haye, give
unto thee" Silver is first mentioned in
Genesis xii. j., but where il WAS first found
Is unknown to us
The relative value Of silver TO gold, in the
days of the patriarch Abraham, was eight to
one; at the period Il. c. 1000, it was twelve
TO one; B. c. juu, 1t Was eighteen to one; at
the commencement of the Christian era, it
was nine to one; A. d. 500, it was eighteen
to one; A. d. 100, it was eight to one A. D.
lJllO il WAS eleven to OOa- A ~ l11l IL wag
two to one; A. ID. 1900, ii was eleven te one;
A. ID. 1913, it was thirteen to one; A. d. 100,
it was fifteen and q half to one; A. ID. 1916.
1t was fourteen TO one: A. ID. 1877, 1t was
again fifteen and half to one; in July, 1876.
it was twenty-one; and at the present time it
Is seventeen to one.
In the earliest times the Greeks obtained
silver from the Phocaans and Sauarians. The
chief mines We're in Siphnos Thessaly, and
Attice. In the latter country, the silver
mines of Laurion furnished an abundant sup
ply, and We're generally regarded Us the chief
source of the wealth Of the Athens. They
ceased to be worked in the second century of
the Christian era. The Romans obtained
nebst OF their silver from the very rich mines
of Spain, which had been previously worked
by the Phu-nicians and Carthagenians, and
which. though abandoned for those of Mexi- |
co, are still not exhausted. The most i'm
portant use of silver, among the Greeks, was
for money. At Rome, on the contrary, silver
WAS not coined until b. C. 2G9
The richest silver mine in the world is |
Potosi. Ii is situated on an elevation sixteen |
thousand feet above the sea level. in d region |
of perpetual snow 1t has always been work |
ed IN very rude manner, yet it has already |
produced two hundred and fifty millions of |
dollars. and shows no signs OF exhaustion.
The product of the South American silver
mines, to the present time. has amounted to
one thousand millions of dollars. The silver
mines of Mexico were wrought long before
Cortez revealed them to the eyes of Europe
in 1913. Their product, to the present time
had amounted to twenty EIGHT hundred mil
lions OF dollars. In 1850, Nevada was not
reckoned among the silver-producing coun-
tries of the world In 1867 she proudly
pointed to product of thirteen millions of
dollars; the product of the present year will
probably be thirty millions. The total pro-
duct of silver in Nevada from 1861 to 1876
has amounted to two hundred and forty five
millions of dollars. India has often been
represented as destitute of silver. but We
have statements from Sir Roderic Murchison
that the kulu valley is so rich in silver ore
that it could yield u large product for future
ages. The SILVER county of Nasours COM
prises the mountainous region between the
Beas, Sainji and Parbutti rivers. The mines,
though previously worked, are now almost
forgotten. Tho same is the case with the
Manikarn mines, hitherto known to be in
calculably rich.
Silver, in performing the function of mon
ey, Is o. great antiquity, Asia WAS COM
mercial country when Europe was wilder
ness and M the East has not changed her
habits from the remotest ages, silver alone is
ban nt Asia la, |
principal silver com among the Greeks. con-
tanning sixty-six grains OF pure mntal, worth
about eighteen cents. Ii furnished the type
OF the Roman dendrItS, containing hity-eight
grains of pure metal, worth about fifteen
cents. The silver marx was introduced into
England from Denmark, by Alfred in A. ID.
$50; the penny was next issued, in 1910, gr,tdtS
followed IN 1920, then came the shilling, III
l0U3; and the cruirn made its first appear
ancc i'll 1907. The earliest silver coin issued
in France wns the lure which appeared in
1900. the value Of which WAS eighty cents.
1t steadily deprecated, until. in 1913, it was
worth only sixty cents; it then fell rapidly
until the epoch of the Revolution, when its
value was only nineteen cents. and the franc
took its place. The hslui was issued i'll lUl2; |
the teStpH appeared IN 1893; and tho cOurO,uie
followed III 1910 The first silver coin issued
in the United States was III 1862 by the colo ,
nv ut Massachusetts, i'll the shape of pine
RE- shilling. Silver coins were also issued ut
, Inter period by the colony of Maryland ,
silver hdlf-tiigtS were issued by tho United |
States mint in 1872; danes appeared in 1893,
mi the hdit dollars followed III 1874.
From the earliest times to the commence
ntnt of the Christian era. the amount of
'ilyer obtained from the mines OF the earth :
VAS three Thousand millions of dollars, from |
he date of the latter event to the discovery /
If America five hundred millions were OBJ II
aimed; thence. to the close of 1872, Sly I
hnusaud millions weTu obtained, thence, To /
he close of 1876. owing to the additional t
upply from the Nevada mines. fifteen hun c
ircd millions were ndded, making IL grand l.
otal of eleven thousand millions of dollars. u
Ihe average loss by abrasion of com is estl- t
mated To be one per cent. per annum; and 4
lie loss 10y consumption IN the arts and de d
tructon by fire und smpwrrck, ut five mil g
IONS of dollars per nnuum. A cubic inch of $
liver is worth. nt one hundred and two cents v
'er ounce. eleven dollars; II cubic foot. h
Nineteen thousand siN hundred and eighteen o
ollnrs. and cubic yard, five hundred and /
wenty y-uiIs thousand My hundred und eighty il
hree dollars. v
The amount OF silver III existence. ut the II
commencement ct the Christian era. was q
me hundred millions of dollars. at tho Pc G.
Iod ut the discovery ut America, 1t had Ill y
hlnished to one hundred and thirty five mil h
IONS, after the occurrence of tho event. 1t Il
,Tndully increased, und in 1863. it attained K
- three hundred and nInety-ono millions; in l.
700. tu fourteen hundred millions; in 1900, b
u thirty sin hundred millions, i'll 1919, To b
vc Thousand millions; and at the present D.
lmo, the amount OF SILVER III existence ~ 81
fly two hundred millions. which melted h
nto one mass could los contained in n cube u
1 SINty-iuur feet Ot the amount now in 81
Nistcncc thirty two hundred millions es- h
Imnted to bc m com and bullion, ono thou
and millions IN watches, and the remainder Il
a plate, Jrwelry. and ornaments k
The annual product uf SILVER, Mt the com IL
lrncement OF the Christian ern, was four I,