Omaha daily bee., 1896-12-26
TRAILING PRECIOUS METALS
The Mysterious Manner in Which They
Vanish lffom View.
VAST QUANTITIES USED IN THE ARTS
Demands of the Ehst-Losscs by ABB
rnrion, Fire nnd shipwrcck-
The world's Tooth nm Ex-
pnnding Gold Mine.


l sc In the world at various times, says the
st. Louis Globe Democrat, has often been
made matter of controversy not much light
being thrown on the subject by the some
what vague statements that have come down
in the pages Of early writer's. who may or
may not have possessed exact information
1t is, for example, stated that the booty
Cyrus acquired in the conquest of Croesus
amounted in our money to over $40 000
while AleXander's plunder from the Persian
empire exceeded $4OO 600 600 When julius
Caesar assumed the office of dictator his
first care was to seize the Roman treasury,
and in the annals of that day it 10 recorded
that he possessed himself of 250 tons of gold
and 200 tons Of silver an amount 50 large
as to excite the suspicious of gross eXaggcra-
tion. Estimates have been made by Jacob,
Tooke, Newmarch and others OF the worlds
stock of these two precious metals at diff
ferent dates since the beginning OF our era,
but 1t 10 extremely doubtful whether the
figures given by these eminent financial au-
thorities have any more value than so many
conjectures, since 1t Is plain there were no
reliable means of arriving at exact informa-
tion. Since the discovery of America, how
ever, the governments of civilized powers
have devoted considerable amount of labor
to the collection of statistics bearing on the
subject, and there is reason to believe that
the figures given for the production OF both
metals are at least approximately correct.
Mulhall estimates tlat between 1i92 and the
present time the world has produced IL, ,436
tons of gold and 215293 tons of silver, and
as Mulhall stands at the head OF the statls-
teal authorities his assertions are worthy
of serious consideration, for they are never
made without honest attempts to arrive at
the truth
WHAT BECOMES OF IT?
1t is not unreasonable to believe that, in
the last 400 years, gold to the value OF be-
tween SS 900 600 900 and $4,000, 100000 and
the same of silver have been extracted from
the earth and stone of the gold and silver
producing cOuntrieS but even by the most
liberal allowance there Is not one-third that
sum today to be found among civilized ma
tionS in the form Of coinage. and the ques-
tlon, what has become of tho remainder, be-
camos of curious interest Gold and silver
are not recklcssly thrown away, but on the
contrary, whenever man comes into the
possession of either he treats 1t as most
precious property to be carefully kept,
bearded and used only in case of need. As
men will do anything to get 1t, so they VIII
do anything to keep the precious metal after
II mas been obtained. Notwithstanding the
fact, however, that gold and silver are the
most valuable kinds of property, 1t Is Singh
lar that at leas two-thirds of the entire
amount unearthed since the discovery of
America have, in one way or another, dis
appeared as completely as though the metal
had been swallowed up by the earth whence
1t came. For long time the fact was known
before adequate explanations were offered,
and thus. of course. many theories for the
mysterious disappearance OF the precious
metals were propounded. Some were sensi-
bic, some the contrary some were oddly IN
dicative Of the superstition OF the age whlch
originated them. A German scientist named
in hn- In OF
the mysterious manner in which gold and
silver vanish. and, unable to explain II 9TH
erwise, accounted for ii on the suppositlon
that as all gold and silver mines were well
known to be under the special protection OF
Satan, this parsonage was ever on the look
out for the precious metals, and being a
skillful thief as well as greedy miser, un-
tremendously appropriated all he could,
without detection lay his hands on and car
ried 1t off to his own place.
MORE RECENT THEORIES.
The diabolical explanation of the disap-
pearance of the worlds gold and silver is
now rejected as untenable, for the investiga-
tions OF sociologists and financers have dis
closed so many means by which the precious
metals vanish from sight that there Is no
longer any necessity to appeal to the super
natural Thd collection of statistics by gov
ernments boards of trade and amateur statis-
ticians in various callings has been reduced
to an exact science, and though, OF course,
no small quantity OF the precious metals still
vanishes of which no account can be given,
the mystery has been explained, the Veil
lifted from the secret and we now know
what becomes OF the greater portion that an
nually goes out OF the worlds supply.
Speaking absolutely, this amount Will seem
enormous to those who are accustomed to
consider the only use of each metal to be that
of q medium of currency. So far from this
being the case, IL seems from the statements
of experts that only about one-half the
worlds gold and even less than that per-
centage OF silver, finds it's way to the minte,
the balance being employed in other direc-
tions, large part of II being, in the end,
utterly lost to the world. From one point
OF view, 1t seems dscouraging that men
should go on year after year digging gold
and silver, only to see 1t vanish, but then the
same result is seen in all other lines of pro-
duction at far more rapid rate; the shoe
makers shoes being socn worn out, the
clothes made by the tailor disappearing
even more rapidly. while the vegetable
products OF the earth vanish almost as soon
the gold and silver miners do not tire OF
their business. but are content to keep on
producing while the world consumes. no one
has any right to complain.
TO INDIA.
Ever since there has been commercial in
tercourse between Europe and the east a
steady stream of gold and silver has flowed
India and China are therefore responsible
for the disappearance of enormous sums.
1t Is estimated by Mulhall that of the f1,-
461 100000 of precious metals mined since
the discovery OF America, not less than
f439. 900, OIL over one-fourth has gone to
the east. During the last fifty years, or
since the collection Of statistics has been
made matter of scientific research, 1t is
known that 55S tons gold and 900 tons
OF silver have gone east and been distributed
among the 40O.000,O0O people OF China
and the $50, 900 of India. There this
enormous amount has disappeared from
sight as completely as though thrown into
the sea. What becomes of 1t there Is not
difficult to ascertain A great part is
boarded for from time immemorial the Orl-
entail has had dlstrust Of banks. bankers
and governments. and when he acquires
little money, hides It in the earth. 1t is
probable that the soil Of India con-
tains more gold and silver than the soil OF
any one OF our mining states, for this method
of boarding has been in vogue from the
earliest times. How much is thus slowed
away, never again to see the light Is a
matter OF pure conjecture, for, of course
no possible information can be gathered.
Besides what is boarded, another consider
able portion OF the gold and silver absorbed
by both India and China is used for per-
sonal ornament. Indian and Chinese girls
must have dowres ere they can get hus-
bands and when the parents OF brides pros |