The herald., 1896-11-20
MARKETS Of THE WORLD
Local, Eastern AMI Foreign
Commercial Dealings
WALL STREET SPECULATION
Increase in Railroad Mail Service fer
the Year
Fluctuations In Prices For Fifty Years.
What Our White Navy Costs-The Rand
Gold Deposit-Silver Demand.

From a report on the operations of the
railway mail service during the last fiscal
year it appears that the expenditures for
mail transportation. inland anGi foreign,
was %9, o23932, an increase of over 81, 500 900
over the previous year. Mail service to the
gold regions of Alaska has been established
for the benefit of miners and others there.
The London Economist takes the average
prices for twenty-five leading commodi-
ties for the five years preceding 1850 the
year when California and the Australian
gold product first began to exert their in
tluence. and reduces them to the uniform
standard of 100, which gives total of 2200
called the index number. The record
shows a rise up to 1857 of nearly one-half,
the total index number of that wear being
2995 against the 200 of the starting point.
Ihen comes a gradual fail. which brings
the index number down to 2023 on January
!, 1896. since which date 1t has fiuctuatecr
both above ana below 22eO having been as
high as 22S5 on s1s sJ1sanuarXo /, 1890, and as low
it stood on the first day of the present
month.
Expenditures on account of the navy last
year amounted TO S25 262. l55 of which Sc :
9l4.435 was paid for the construction of
new ships, the other principal item of ex-
penditure being sl5, ,494. S62 for maintenance
OF the establisflnent, of which 81, ,0g1 90S
was required by +the ships in commission
Ihe cruiser New York was the most eX-
pensive vessel to run, costing SAP S0T for the
twelve months. The Columbia and Mime
apolis consumed over $500, 00J EACH but
when the big battleships have been year
N operation they promise to exceed these
ngures. Over $l1 900 worth of stores
have been kept on hand with great saving
over the old system of ndiscriminate pur-
chases. corrected by Secretary Whitney.
The naval clothing factory has to be con-
siderably enlarged, owing to the growing
demands upon il. all clothing being now
made there for the navy the revenue cutter
service, and the naval militia. The esti-
mated value of real estate improvements
and machinery in the navy years is PLACED
at $6o.00o.000 During the year nearly $5 =
900, 600 was paid for labor-Brads streets
The New York Evening Post recently
summarized the report OF recent explora
tons in South Africa by DIR. George F.
Becker. of the United States geological sur
vey, who made an examination of the
Transvaal gold fields for private Amerl-
can company who says:
within fifteen miles of Johannesburg,
on what is called the main reef series, there
is an amount of gold. practically in sight,
estimated to be worth $500. .000, 900. or
nearly as. much as the entire volume of gold
coin now in the world. I say practically
in sight because the gold is extraordinarily
nary deposit. as shown by shafts which
have been sunk to a depth Of 1900 feet and
diamond. drillings which have gone much
further"
This well-known mining expert saws that.
to the best of his knowledge and belief. the
long-the region now in Sights practical.
ly 1900 miles long. except that in the. rest
of the region later deposits. like coal have
come in over the gold. This. however, will