The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1897-02-20

6M( (sNNs~ma# tended trip through
MV the south in the
10 X8 O interests of his Or
@A@NN ganization, and, in
" speaking about the
mineral resources
oI the southern states, he said:
have passed through nearly all
the mining sections of the south to ex-
anime the mineral products in the in
terests OF number of capitalists, and,
after careful survey of the field, it is
my honest belief that the future min
ing operations of this country will be
IN the south instead of the west 1
found the Appalachian range particn-
larly rich in all the auriferous and ar
gentlferous ores, not only in Virginia.
put throughout it's whole length INTO
Alabama. In Georgia the rich deposits
are we'll known, and companies are now
rapidly organizing to mine the various
ores. In South Carolina the deposits tf
monazite Crystals of rare metal
known as cerium, used only in chemis-
try and worth $3.50 an ounce) have
been found so valuable that a big in
dustry has been built up in the Pied
mont section. It is estimated that this
industry is now valued at several mill
ions of dollars, although it is only a
few years old. When visited the fields
everybody was looking for monazite,
and the business will bring in at least
100000 to the people of the Piedmont
section this year. Owners of appar-
emily worthless land have let it out 10
contractors at the rate of S2'
and these miners are making big prof.
IT'S BESIDES A few years ago the owners
would have been glad to have received
three or four dollars per acre for this
land.
There is more gold in the south
than any man ever imagined. Traces
of it crop up in the most unexpected
places, and there must be some val
liable veins hid away in the mountains
that some lay will be discovered, and
startle the country. Cripple Creek will
be nothing to the southern gold fields
after they have once been located. 1t
seems strange, but the fact is neverthe-
less true, that the south has never BEEN
thoroughly examined for mineral and
gold products. Before the war every
body went west to find gold, and the
south was given over to cotton, tobac-
co, sugar and rice. After the war closed
nothing was done for long time to de-
velop the Industries of the southern
states, but now we are beginning to
realize that a great, undeveloped field
spreads out before us. There are scores
of gold prospectors travelling through
the mountains of the south, looking for
treasures that are sure to come to light
some day. People speak about the fu-
ture supply of gold being found m Af-
RIGA! Why, more gold is buried in the
Appalachian range of mountains than
they will find in Africa in the next lun-
dred years. But the mountains are so
vast, and the region so little known,
that it will take time to locate the best
mines even after the prospectors have
been attracted to the place.
Another thing about the southern
mines is that many Of the most pre-
cious stones have been picked up at vari-
spread out on the surface you can rest
assured that there are others further
down under the ground. For instance,
at Corunna Hill some beautiful sap
phires have been found Here are
some that I secured from miner.
They are not mining for sapphires, but
happened to pick them up while min
ing for ores. Over 100 sapphires have
been found at this place and most of
them are valued at $50 to $100 and up
wards. But sapphires are not by any
means the only precious stones found
in the south. Genuine diamonds have
been found in North Carolina, and one
mine secured precious gem that sold
for $500. In South Carolina and Geor-
gle fine specimens of emerald have also
been taken from the ore mines. In
fact. we have two mines that have re-
Gently been started, for the purpose Ct
digging out the emeralds, for both the
aquamarine and the yellow beryl
are found. In the last five years nearly
twenty thousand dollars worth of
emeralds have been mined and they are
among the best ever discovered in
America. Garnets. of course, are scat
tered all over these rich auriferous
fields, and we pick up such large gem
uine specimens that they prove very
valuable. Ordinary small garnets are
not worth very much, but when you
find them as big as a birds egg you
are sure to find a profitable market for
them. In Virginia garnets of wo1i3r-
full size and brilliancy have been taken,
and the coal fields of Alabama and Ten
nessee also abound in these products.
Small specimens OF diamonds have
been found in Georgia, and there are
undoubtedly whole districts that could
be proftably mined for these precious
stones. E"