St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1897-08-13
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
Gold In Kamchatka.-The Worlds Production
of the Yellow Metal.

rectly across from Alaska, on the Aslatlc
side is likely to prove as rich in the
precious metal as our own fields. These
statements create good deal OF interest
here, especially among those who are
following closely the enormous gold de-
velopments of the world which have re-
Gently occurred. An examination of the
map Of North America will show at
glance that the great gold field of Alaska
which is now being developed is part
of the same general line of mountains
which supplied the enormous gold pro-
duction of California, indeed OF the same
general line which produced the gold of
Peru, of Central America, OF the United
States, and now Of Alaska. Take your
map of the world and follow this noun
tain range, and you will find that it
seems to cross from the North American
continent to Asia at the Behrlng Straits,
and that the extension of this general
range across into Asia covers the very
country into which the Russian govern
ment is now pressing gold developments
and the general search for gold. The dis
patch referred to above states that a
Russian expedition has discovered twelve
gold regions in the vicinity of the sea OF
Okhotsk, and it believes that the western
peninsula of the Peninsula ofKamchatka
will develop gold fields which will, as
the dispatch puts it, when opened, "be a
second California"
whether the prediction ofthe Russians
that they are to develop gold fields in
Kamchatka which will rival the early
history of our California gold fields is to
be realized or not" said Marcus Baker,
of the Geological Survey, talking of this
subject, certainly there can be no doubt
that the gold of the world has enor-
mouslv increased and is now increasing
wonderfully. There are two distinct
gold fields today which are producing
gold in very great quantities - South
Africa and North America. The Alaska
fields are, of course, part of the same
general line ofmountains which developed
such wonderful gold deposits in our ter
ritory less than half a century ago, and
whether the mountain of Kamchatka
and Siberia are part of the same gen
eral system or not, it would not be sur.
prising it these reports OF large gold
deposits there should also be confirmed.
The fact is there is greater incentive to
the production of gold today than ever
before. There are two or three reasons
for this: first, that silver is so cheap that
there is less incentive Tor its production
and the people who had formerly given
their attention to the mining OF silver are
now looking for new gold fields; second,
the gold mining and gold production
becomes easier every year as new meth
DDS develop and new discoveries are
made. Take the great gold fields oil
California, which were supposed to be
worked out years ago; the cyanide
process now gives promise of making
them again productive, and it is quite
probable that it will be profitable to work
over all the rejected material which was
thrown away by the men who covered
that great gold field, and produce from
it by this cyanide process great quaint
ties of gold. This is not unlikely to bt
the case further south, in Mexico, Cen
trail America and Peru, where such guam
titles of gold were mined many years ago
Add to this the gold developments o
South Africa, Australia, North America
and prospective Siberia, and it isnot sur
} prising that the gold productions of TIL
, world are more than keeping pace will
= the growth of business. AS evcrybod,
knows, the gold productions of the worl'
have steadily increased during the pas
few years, those OF last year having bee
y greater than any in the known histor.
{ of the world, while all indcasons nov
t point to a still greater increased produe
ton for 1897"
S Mr. Bakers remark that the gold pre-
l.. duction of the world has increased wit
n such rapid strides suggests some inquir
upon this subject. That inquiry show
y that the gold of the world today is nearl
or quite three times as much as so year
u ago. Mulhall, who has been widel
{ quoted in the papers Of the United State
$ in the past few weeks, indicates in hi
It latest dictionary of statistics that til
r amount of gold in the world, coined an
lie uncoined, fifty years ago amounted
:. less than two and half billion dollar
=, Taking his figures for 1890 and addin
:. the production since that time it woul
appear that the gold of the world toda,
- coined and uncoined, is over seven billion
IL of dollars, being nearly or quite thr,
n times as much as it was fifty years ag
Had there been no increase in the pop
a. lation meantime, there would be tn,
st three times as much gold tor each persc
lie now as there was half a century ag
u, But the population of the world h;
. increased about fifty per cent in thu
4. time, so that the amount OF gold for eat
individual is therefore about twice VIII,
. it was at that time. This, howeve
Is relates to the gold in bulk and not go