The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-18

lost to circulation. Not long ago two
native princess died in India, each leav-
ing, 1t is supposed. about $780, 900
worth of gold. One Of these princes,
who had his twenty millions stored up
in his vaults, borrowed from the gov
eminent of India something like ST.
600, 900 to carry on his establishment
He preferred to pay interest to going
back on his pile. and when he was ask
ed if he could pay his loan on demand,
he replied yes. and that they might call
for it at any time. -'-
Another gold hoard was discovered
not long ago upon the death OF the
Maharajah of Burdwan This was
opened UP on the death of the marha-
raiah. 1t consisted of seven rooms fill
ed with gold and silver and precious
stones Three of the rooms were locked
and the doors bricked up. One room.
As feet long, IA feet wide and 10 feet
high, was filled with gold plates and
cups, gold and silver ornaments and
precious stones. In nearly all of the
rooms vaults were found containing
money, and in one vault there were
ten thousand gold mohurs. All Of the
vaults were so protected that It was
not possible for the government to find
out exactly how much they held, and
even the exact number of the vaults Is
not known. This treasure is now in
the hands of the maharaJah's descend
ants.
THE GOLD IN CHINA.
There is undoubtedly vast amount
of gold in China There are mines in
. different. parts of the empire, and a
great deal of gold is brought down
every year from Siberia. 1t comes to
Picking and Is there melted down into<
small bars Of about the size of the lit
tie cakes known as lady fingers tt
iS alTr1nSf often i,aC
twenty karats In fneness 1t is cast
in this small shape in order that it
may be boarded and easily passed from
hand&to hand The officials, who in
many cases make fortunes out of their
office, buy these gold bars and secrete
them. They do not dare to put their
money into the banks for fear that
a their.~brother, officials may discover
their wealth and confiscate it. The
aresult is that such gold bars will bring
two per cent more in Picking than they
viii in Shanghai. There are said to
be more than 100 places in China where
gold is found In Mongolia there are
a number of mines. and in the SOUTH
western part of the empire there are
gold workings which are 100 feet deep.
The Chinese cannot understand the fall
of silver I was often asked as to it
during my stay in the country two
years ago-the Chinese many times
10 lie lulS QUESTION tH IuGlT
queer pigeon English: What for makee
gold so dear%' They did not speak Of
the fall of silver but Of the rise of gold.
At the time silver was just about as
low as it is now. [ carried my money
In drafts on New York and usually
received about $3.50 in silver for each
500 of American money 1 cashed.
b see from the Japanese newspapers
that there is some possibility of that
country establishing a gold basis. If
this scheme is carried out Japan will
Rave to get its gold from other cOun-
tries, as it's own production is less than
s1O0O,O0) a year. Its gold rnines are
worked by Japanese 1abOrerS who wear
shoes or sandals of straw, the soles of
which are about as thick as Jour little
finger. These sandals wear out very
quickly, and the laborers then throw
them away During my stay IN Japan
I heard of queer gold speculation
in connection with these~eld shoes. A
man living near the mines had for"
years collected all the old shoes he
could find and stored them away.
After a long time he burned them to
ashes and panned the result, getting
& large amount of gold from them.
The story was told for truth, but, like
many Oriental statements, it sounds
rather fishy.
COREA,S GOLD FIELDS. sa
A great part Gofs the gold of both
Japan and China comes from torea.
The CoEean mines are saidsstO be very
rich. Corea is mountanouS, and near
~ all OF its mountains contain minerals.
During my visit tosthe country eight
years ago our American minister told
ne that he believed the gold product
amounted to- s., 100000 a year. Gen
Clarence Greathouse, 'sthe American
foreign adviser to. the king, described
the mines as very valuable, and for
e;gn merchants showed me quilts Of
gold dust and little nuggets which
had been brought4to them by the peo-
PIE. SO far nearly all of the gold got
ten out of Cofea, has come from placer
Washings. There: are a few quartz
mines, but these are worked in the
crudest of ways. The loose rock is
pried out with picks or crowbars. When
such means fail fire is built upon the
rock, and when it is hot cold water
IS thrown upon it to crack it. After
the ore is gotten out it is crushed be-
tween two stones, the under stone be-
ing fiat and the upper somewhat round,
so that it can be rolled backward and
forward over the ore, crushing it.
After it is crushed, the metal is saved
by hand panning,, No pumps are used,
and blasting powder and dynamite are
practically unknown. There is no
quicksilver to gather the gold, and in
all probability the most of It goes to
waste. The mines are the property Of
the king, but those who work them
product. A number of foreigners are
now trying to get possession of the
mines, and within. a few years they
will probably be- owned by English.
Americans and Russians
Frank G. Carpenter.