Evening star., 1896-01-04

AA0s
s@ only the product of
her own mines. but
also the foreign coin
and gold bars i'm
ported into the country. Hardly any gold
leaves Russia, while she receives annually
from outside $50, 900. 600 to s00.OOO,OO0 worth
of it. Thus she has got together gigantic
heap of specie by draining the channels of
the monetary circulation of the world. The
treasury of the czar now contains about
$3.50, 600, 900 in gold.
Gold in India.
The boarding of gold. which signifies its
withdrawal from circulation, hinders the
flow of the worlds commerce. and is an in
jury to the latter. 1t would be an immense
benefit to all mankind If the stores Of the
yellow metal now held by individuals in In
dia could be made available for general use
Ever since the dawn Of history that country
has been gathering gold and hiding it away.
1t was estimated by DIR. Soetbeer that dur
ing the half century previous to 1885 India
boarded $1.5OO.OOO.OO0 Of silver and gold
nearly one-third Of the total amount Of coin
age in circulation in the world.
Treasures Of almost incalculable value
are possessed by many Indian princes. Re-
Gently the Maharajah Of Burdwan died, and
the stock of gold and silver left by him was
so large that no member Of the family could
make an accurate estimate of it. A report
made to the British government by secret
agent stated that on the estate of the de-
funct potentate were number of treasure
houses, one of them containing three rooms
The largest Of these three rooms was forty
eight feet long and was filed with orna-
ments of gold and silver, plates and cups,
washing bowls, jugs, &c.-all of precious
metals. The other two rooms were full Of
bags and boxes Of gold mohurs and silver
rupees. The doors of this and other treas
ure houses had been bricked up for nobody
knows how long. According to custom of
the Burdwan Raj family. all Of these valu-
ables We're in the custody, Of the mahara-
jah's wife. the vaults being attached to her
apartments, but none Of them was allowed
to be opened save in the presence Of the
master. One vault was filied with orna-
ments belonging to different gods of the
family. ,'fii1if
Accumulating for Centuries.
1t is known that this hoard has been in
process of accumulation for several CEN
turies. Not long ago the sum of $1,15O.OOO
was drawn out Of it for investment in
land, the entire amounts being in Sikka
rupees, none of which Have been coined
since 1885 Gold or other money thus
noardsd ton ,s,a Is not put away wifh any inten-
trary, only pressing necessity can force
the owners to reduce the stock of wealth.
1t is considered a point Of honor not to
break into hoard. The, proprietor will
borrow rather than touch IT,, the hoard be-
Ing treated like family picture, not to be
sold II 1t can be avoided. One native
prince in India is known to be boarding
gold at present at the rate of $3.50, 900 q
year. Every month he sends 10000 or
$4,000 silver rupees to agents in Calcutta
and Bombay, who convert them into gold
mohurs. A mohur is worth about 81.
Hiding Places.
Two other Indian princes, who died few
years ago, left boards amounting to 10000,
600 each. Instead of spending these great
heaps of money their descendants will add
to them year after year and generation
after generation. The natives of that
country generally prefer to invest their
means in ornaments for their. families.
which serve the purpose Of hoard. In
fact, large pat of the savings of the
people are the shape of jewelry: DOVER
les are often composed Of jewelry alone.
The natives commonly bury their boards.
and among the poorer classes a favorite
hiding place Is hole dug beneath the
bed. Disused wells are sometimes em-
ployed for the same purpose. 1t is undoubt-
edly fact that many boards thus deposit
ed are lost forever. 1t is estimated that in
the Bombay presidency alone $4,000 600
worth OF British sovereigns are treasured
up because they bear the design of st.
George and the dragon. and are valued on
religious grounds. India is very religious
country. and the gods take up immense
quantities of gold, silver and precious stones
The temples contain vast amounts of the
yellow and white metals
Century after century the exports of India
have greatly exceeded the imports of that
country, and consequently an uninterrupted
stream of gold and silver has flowed thither
During the thirty-three years ended in 1899
india imported and kept about $625, ,OOO, 900
In gold That is, irdeed, bottomless well
into which stream Of treasure perpetu-
ally flows, draining all the rest Of the world.
1t Is said that there is huge amount Of
hoarded gold at Peking. The Chinese off,
Gals commonly make large fortunes out of
their places, corruption in that country
being the almost universal rule. They are
afraid t. put their money into banks. be-
cause their superiors would discover its ex-
istence and confiscate the whole Of 1t. So
they buy gold bars and secrete them. Con-
sequently, gold always commands consid-
cradle premium at Peking
The Worlds Gold Production.
Meanwhile. thanks to newly discovered
fields and improved methods of mining the
gold production of the world is steadily
growing and will progressively increase for
some years to come. The yield for 1895
has been the greatest in history probably
exceeding s2OO.O0o.OOO. The United States
alone produced about s50,OOO.OOO of this
total-an increase Of s11.OOO.OOO over 1894.
l no new Cripple creek QlStrlct, only -FOUR
miles square, Is shipping $l,0OO.OOO worth
Of gold monthly. This field is as yet in
its infancy. In South Africa are teing
developed the wonderful mines Of the
Rand, which constitute the richest gold
field ever known. 1t has an extent of
forty miles, through which run a number
of gigantic reefs Of ore. These reefs con-
sist mainly Of quartz pebbles embedded in
a matrlx of sand and quartz. There is
no gold in the pebbles. but the material Of
the matrix is sull of 1t. The ore yields
an average of s14 per ton. r..
1t Is calculated that the outpour Of the
Rand mines will have reached by the year
1900 an annual value Of $100,OO0,O 600, and
that within the next half century the total
production of gold from these deposits Will
not fall short Of three and a half billions
Of dollars In 1894 they yielded $4,000, 900,
and In 1898 they have produced about S4O,-
OOO,0OO. At present 10000 laborers are en-
ployed.
No satisfactory theory has been advanc-
ed as to the geological process by which
these beds came to exist. There is nothing
OF similar nature anywhere else in the
world. The ordinary quartz reefs found
elsewhere are merely cracks in the earths
crusts filled in with aur!ferous material: in
the Rand the miner has to do with sedi-
mentary deposits. These deposits belong
to an ancient geologic period. which it was
heretofore supposed could not possibly be
gold bearing. Experts who examined the
Rand fields a few years ago asserted that
thew of value No tnrallv fhav