The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1894-06-02
xxben Baby was sick. We gave her Castor
when she was Child, she cried for Castoris-
When she became Miss, she chung to CassorA'
Vaen she ha,. Children. she gave Them Castc-sA

| have made ie possible to work low Grade
ores. When the first reduction works were
| opened, they seldom touched any ore worth
less than $50 per ton. In short, they took
only the richest skimmings. Now there
are literally scores OF places where ore
yielding only 81 per ton can O5 worked at
profit. Here, for instance, are late re-
ports of the Homestakc, Caledonia and
some other companies at Deadwood which
! say that they can mine and mill their ore
at total cost OF So per ton, and this, OF
course, leaves big profit on 81 ore-that
is if they can get enough OF the ore, and
the supply seems to be ineyhaustible. One
more fact you must know, as it has been
several years since you left the mining re-
gions, and that is that in districts where
the earth's crust is very much broken up
they are finding rich deposits of gold ore
in formations where biologists had declar-
ed it could not be. In South Dakota, for
instance good ore has been found in what
looks like rotten sandstone and in South
Africa it is found not only in beds of com
pletely broken and conglomerated rocks,
but in a material that looks somewhat
like a waxy, yellow clay turning to stone.
For all these and many other reasons es-
innate that the gold yield of this country,
which has stood for some years in the
neichborhood Of S33, coo, coo, will increase
to SIS, 0C0, 900 for the current year and so
On rapidly till it equals, that of the old
California days, and that the worlds an
nual production, which was only $3.50, 000,-
600 in 1892, will increase in like proper
ton"
Gold Production In the Past.
Mr. Preston continued with many inter
esting details of the work OF his Office ana
the methods at the mint, but these have
been presented in many popular works
The point l want to get at is the proof Of
his general statement by comparing his
forthcoming report with those of previous
years. The old tables present many Gu
rioUs facts, and perhaps the most curious
is this: That from the establishment of the
mint in 1871 till the close of 1884 the en-
tire amount of gold produced in the Unit
ed States was only Sl4 900, 600, and of sill
yer there was not enough to count.
In the next 10 years the silver was $780,
600 and the gold 81, 500 coo, after which
the yield ran down so rapidly that in 1S47
all the gold produced in this country COIN
ed but $3.50, oS5. Then the boom begaI.,
the wonderful, truly marvellous boom. In
1913 the yield of gold was $40, 600, 600, in
1S49 il was $40, 900, 600, and SO on till
1853 when it was $65, 600, 600. One year
later-to wit, in January, 1S55-wheat
sold in New York city at s.. 60 per bushel.
This was the maximum for both. The
gold yield slowly declined to $46, 600, 900
in 1854, then revived suddenly and contin-
ued largo till 1873, when the yield was
$51, 600, 900, after which it fell rapidly to
$50, 600, 600 or whereabouts and has SO con-
tinued. Nevertheless it will be seen, as
Mr.. Preston says, that the total product of
gold from our mines since 1860 has been
much more than twice that in 1S5060.
Increase In Production.
The second fact of interest is that the
worlds product of gold has been slowly
increasing for over 20 years until by lib
eral estimate it amounted to S13S, SCI, 600
in 1898, and Mr.. Preston thinks it may
reach $3.50, 600, 600 within year or two
In many countries the officials are so slow
that estimates only can be made for recent
years, and it is three years after the close
of their so called fiscal year before the de-
tails can be verified. In exactness and
promptness ustralasia-Australia and
its related islands-leads all other nations
and now produces almost exactly one
fourth of the gold of the world. The Unit
ed States comes next and has sometimes
equaled Australasia. Russia has stood
third for some time, having produced in
1892, according to Minister White, $24,
SOC, 200 in gold These three have pro-
duced for many years considerably more
than two-thirdS Of the worlds gold, but
all the experts look to Africa to exceed
Russia for the current year and probably
all other countries in 1895. And now the
important question arises How much of
this gold goes into money and how much
into the arts and ornaments? And here
must say that the old tables look to me
little mixed, perhaps because / am not
quick in figures. The latest are for the
year 1892 and state that the government
Offices furnished bars to manufacturers to
the value of $40, 500, 4S6, that private re
fineries furnished Sc, 263, lis and that this
makes the total. Another table, however,
gives various figures on the amount of old
gold coins melted down for manufacture
and says that in the year 1892 the total of
United States gold used in the arts and Or
naments was SIG, 329, 900. So. if this be /
correct, 81 per cent of all our gold yield
goes into the arts and ornaments, and ]
there are reasons for thinking that the per-
centage is increasing.
Losses In Gold.
The amount of gold in the country Is |
estimated on this plan: All that in the /
bank vaults and in the treasury in 1872 !
was added to the SEQ, 600, 900 supposed to |
be circulating on the Pacific coast. and this /
made the initial sum. To it has been add
ed the imports and coinage for each year, 4
and from it has been subtracted the exports l
and the amount OF old coin supposed to be /
Withdrawn for the arts and known TO be I
brought in for recoinage. 1t is manifest /
that IN 22 years this table would become I
very defective, fer it takes no note of the /.
amount lost by fire, shipwreck, abrasion 4
or otherwise. Who knows how much gold /
went in the great fires at Chicago, Boston, /
Portland, etc, or in the numerous vessels 1
which have sunk, or how much has been /
lost by individuals or hidden / think il 4
extremely doubtful if there are $500 o0O-
O0o In gold in the United States TODAY 1
Nor does the tabulated coinage of the world 4
give us any true guide, for no distinction
Is made between the old gold recoined and
the product OF the current year. Mr. Pres 4
ton estimates the worlds coinage of gold !.
for 1889 at Sl69. 600, 600. for 1890 at Sl49.- |
600, 600 and for 1891 at SlI9, COO 600, but /
adds that these figures are of little value 1
because every country not only recoins its 1
Old coins, but even the new coins of other
countries imported into il. After figuring I
on six or seven tables nv own guess is 1
that something like one-half of the years I
product is added TO the worlds coinage /
and that would he this year almost exactly :