Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1891-10-06
EAR'TH'S INTER -; =,
Thought to Be Stored with Pre-.
ciouS Metals.
Schemes OF Congress to Investigate
..-- the. Matter by Boring. for tho
Minerals Work in
Progress.

n Sclentlnc scheme OF much lmpOr-
! tance has been agitatcd in Washington
recently, says the Star. During the
last two congresses there have been a
number of representatives and two or
three senators who have used their in
fluence in favor of an appropriation for
boring hole in the earth several miles
III depth. 1t has long been recognized
that an inconceivabl amount of value
in the shape of precious metals and
other mineral substances is locked up
out of reach beneath the crust of this
planet. All the riches dug ont of it rep
resent merely the most superficial and
! ineffective scratching of the surface.
! Once render accessible the internal re-
! ccsscS of the sphere and it is plain that
| every human being might be thousand
| times Monte CriSto.
| Biologists are agreed that the int.
| rior of the earth is largely composed of
metals Whereas the surface matter of
the planet weighs only about two and
one-half times rs much as water, it is
| known as {; fact that toward the center
the average weight of things is eleven
| times that of water. This is due to the
| circumstance that while this subluncry
| orb was cooling and condcnsing the
heavier PARTICLES sought the middle.
Therefore it is probable that the great
mass of the sphere is iron. But there
arc other metals more heavy than iron,
and these would naturally form an ac-
emulation immediately about the CEN
ter of the globe. Among them may be
mentioned most important gold. Geolo-
! gist Gilbert, of the geological survey,
l,oD 10 fl,t I,
| expect to find 4 vast accumulation of
| gold at that point than anywhere else,
| his notion being that such of the yellow
metal us is found on the surface of the
earth is only an accidental detritus.
| However. there are two or three sub
| stances known even more weighty than
gold, anG one of them is platinum,
| which has doubled in market value
| within the last year or two, owing to
the increased cost of production.
So it is not unreasonable that certain
members of congress and other persons
| of keen Judgment should consider the
ndvisability of boring hole in the
earth for. the purpose of extracting
| some of it's metallic contents. For
scientific purposes n pit has recently
been sunk at Spelling, in Germany. to
the depth of a mile. Unfortunately,
| water has been struck, and no results
which add very materially to human
| knowledge have thus far been obtained.
| Another well has been driven at Wheel
| ing, w. Va, as far down rs thrcc-punr-
tiers of n mile. 1t is dry and the boring
process is proceeding at the rate OF
about ten feet a day. The management
will be Disguised if oil or something is
not struck before the hole comes out nj
the antipodes and somebody tumblcs
into it at the other end.
No really scientific person has been
so foolish as to imagine that possible
results, commercially speaking, could be
secured without digging much farther
than this. Estimate is made that a
twenty miles from the surface Of the
earth every known substancc-metal'
rocks and all--bacomcs fused ant
liquid. Once let this point be reached
and naturally whatever is below mus
spout up of its own accord, without OK
pense of mining. Immediately the
price Of metals in the market would bt
reduced to little or nothing and Il new
age would dawn upon civilization. 1.
has been suggested that such an arti
fetal conduit would be, to all intcnts
and purposes, n volcano, but any Gln
gers which it would otherwise threaten
might bc obviatcd easily by establish
! ing the works on an open prairie.
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