The Meeker herald., 1897-03-27
THE SOUTH A GOLcONDA.
IT. Moansains Teesn with Precious
eeooa0 and NesalA
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nay - OpsssA 50 Ea<seA tAS
Csaassy-An KaoAa ~ 0s0s
KnoWo - naAanAQ,

One OF ths minenlogical experts OF
large mining company recently re-
turned to New York after an extended
trip through the south in the interest
nf his organization, and. In speaking
about the mineral resources Of the
southern staten. he said:
II have passed through nearly all
the mining sections Of the aDuth 10 ex-
anime the mineral products OF the In
.ercsts of . number Of capitalists, and,
.ftcr q careful survey Of the field, II
> ny honest belief that the future min
;Dg operations Of this country will be
IA the south, instead Of the west
found the Appalachian range particu-
!nply rich in all the auriferous and ar
;:cntifcrous ores, not only in Virginia.
out throughout the whole length into
.iinbaina. In Georgia the rich dcpos-
It's are well known. and companies are
now rapidly ogGanixing to mine tho
.3osits Of monaxite (crystals of q rare
'actul known - cerium, used only In
hemistry, and worth $16o an ounce)
.ave been found 70 valuable that q big
Industry has been built up in the Pied
mont section. It is estimated that this
.ldnytry Ia now valued At several mill
.ons OF dollars. although it is only u
cw years old. When I visited the fields
cerybody woA looking for monazite.
nL the business will bring in Mt least
100000 to the people OF the Piedmont
section this year. Owners Of apparent
u worthless land have let it out to con-
h. NJ com a >, nnpo ps,d
,hese miners make big profits besides
\ few years ago the owners would have
hcen glad to have received three OF four
dollars per acre for this land.
There is more gold in the south than
any man ever imagined. Traces Of it
,rop up in the mort unexpected places,
md there must be some valuable veins
hidden away in the mountains that will
some day be discovered and startle the
country. Cripple Creek will be nothing
to the southern gold fields after they
,ave once been located. It seems strange.
nut the fact In nevertheless true, that
the south has never been thoroughly ex-
amined for mineral and gold products.
Before the wor everybody went west
to find gold. and the south WINS given
over to cotton, tobacco. sugar and rice.
After the wnr closed nothing was done
for a long time to develop the indus
tries of the southern states, but now we
are beginning 70 realize that q great,
unticveloped field spreads out before us.
There are scores Of gold pro<pectors
travelling through the mountains OF the
south, looking for the treasures that
are sure TO come to lighA aome day. Poo
toid .h s.ax .s%. soaI If IN f9Xt' X's. inpP9sh wy. e.
more gold y buried In the Appalachian
range Of mountains than they will find
in Africa in the next 100 years. But
he mountains arc so vast, and the re-
ZION so little known, that it will take
inc to locate the best mines even
Tier the p:oepectors have been attract
4 to the place.
Another thing about the southern
mines is that many Of the most precious
tones have been picked up at various
oints, and where such jewels are
read out on the surface you can rest
-s,Ircd that there arc others further
own under the ground. For instance,
It Corundum Hill aome beautiful sap
hires have been found. Here ore some
,.lat l secured from . miner. They
we're not mining for aapphires, but hap
pened to pick them up while mining for
ores. Over 100 sapphires have been
found at this place, and most OF them
are valued At $50 to 800 and upward.
'sThe fact y that We have . country
capable Of producing all the precious
tones known TO science. but 10 much
attention has been given to the mining
Il iron, coal, oil, silver and gold that