The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-07-11


ting in his office at the treasury de-
partment he can watch this golden
river and. its branches as it flows
throughout the world and can estimate
it's size and the direction toward which
: it is going. s-.aY,..a.. s.s.. =.
Z g CHAT WITH THE DIRECTOR.
1t was by appointment with Director
Preston that 1 called at the treasury
department. this afternoon. 1 found
him in his private office in the mint
bureau with several large sheets OF
figures lying before him. After a word
or so of greeting he said:
81 think that the gold product for
1897 will amount to more than $780,
00O, GOO There is big increase going
on in nearly every gold region of the
world, and the amounts in sight are
row greater than ever. In 1892 the
gold product of the. world amounted to
$3.50. O0O, 900. In 1895 it had reached the
100000 900 point, and this year it will
rise at least $30,000,0O0 more"
In what part OF the world is the
biggest increase, Mr.. Preston?"
asked.
we find that more gold is being
mined everywhere" replied the di-
rector Of the mint South Africa will
turn out more than ever this year
My reports from Australasia indicate
that there will be a great increase
there, and the United States will have
one of the. biggest outputs of its his
tory"
What part of the United States do
you refer tor
ITO almost every gold region of the
country" said Director Preston. I'VE
shall produce at least $60.000,000 worth
of gold during the coming year, and
it is a question whether this will not
be the biggest gold yield OF our his
tory. 1t is Estimated that we produced
SIS, coo, 009 in 1853. That was when the
early gold ®ions of California wei c
at their, baE1. Mbut the means of esti-
mating 1A e4@nounts taken out were not
50 goodNRsshey are now, and l think
that million lilo, was probably bly,
has bees 4bout: $4,000, 900 over that Of
1895, ana We Will have considerable
more of anEHcrease during the coming
saA4d FORNIA IN 1897.
''DoesasaA fornia still yield a large
amour szaf So lP' I asked.
Yes" r@lied the director of the
mint. 1T +aoduces more than any
other stateNm the union. 1t is steadily
increasing its product, and it will
turn out Something like SIS, 900 600
worth of gGld this year The people
there have reduced mining to a science.
They can, / ara told, get the precious
metals out cheaper than the miners of
any part of he world. They do even
better than the operators of the ia
nous Trea dwell mine of Alaska Much
of their gold costs them less than fifty
cents ton. Large sums are invested
III mining operations and the work is
done ON suci1 a big scale that the cost
is cut down to the minimum"
From what part Of California 90 we
row get the most gold?''
THE most Sof it comes from the
Mother Lode" replied the director Of
the mint. '"rhis has always been the
chief mining region of California. It
runs from north to south through the
state in the mountains back from the
sea coast. There are number of diff
ferent regions along this lode which
are being worked at a great profit and
in all sorts of ways. Hydraulic min
ing is being resumed. For a time the
laws were against this, because the
debris made by washing down the
mountains was carried by the rivers
over the. wheat fields, DESTROYING them
Then aHconhmission was organized bv
which The Waste was so taken care Of
that the Wheat fields were saved.
There are Ssevera1 hundred hydraulic
mines BOW 'oeing worked"
THESNE# MINING PROCESSES.
How about the new processes OF
mining2 Do the Californians use them
| to any extent?"
YES" replied Mr.. Preston. "There
are cyanide mills and COLONIZATION
works all over California Many Of the
| old dumps are being worked over, and
l old mines are being reopened, A num-