The San Francisco call., 1898-01-23

tai gold product of the whole world was s606, ,314,5OS, an average of S0'OoS'Ooo per an-
 In the eighteenth century the gold product was S1 262, ,S06. 400, the annual average being s12. .e2S0 064.
 In the nineteenth century, from 1851 to the end of IS47, the annual average pro- duction of gold in the whole world was little over S11 GOO .000. From 1S49 to 1880 inclusive the annual gold production for the whole world averaged the enormous total of. in round numbers, s134, 900 .000 During this same period the average an- nuaI production of California was not
 ID to the wear 1897 the gross gold prod uct of California was fully Sl, 400, 0,OOO. being an average annual production of S2S 900 900 since the discovery or Sold In
 The maximum gold yield Tn California for any one year was SS50Oo.O 900, and the minirnuu s11 OO0.0 900, this decline follow ing on the cessation of hydraulic mining.
 During the past four years. however, under the wise administration of the United States Mining Commissioners: this. with the renewed interest in gravel and quartz mining, has resulted in a gradual increase in our producCon or gold. When the figures for 1897 are all in we will doubtless find that our pro- duction for that year was not less than SIS 900 900.
 The discovery of gold in California was harvest which followed in this State, but also on account of the stimulus which 1t gave to the search for gold throughout the whole world Even the long neglect ed and almost forgotten gold mines of Great Britain were reopened as a result of this stimulus, and they are producing some gold even down 10 @ tile present uine;
 The most important result which flowed from this however, was the discovery on the Australian continent, where the results from placer mining nave exceeded those of our own state, ana even Tn quartz mining they are pressing us hard for supremacy 70 . who, in the search Tor t6p gTi1 + m SInet lT- lode, which has yielded us S4oo OOo VoO: 40 per cent of which, 1t must not be for gotten, was in gold
 ersed every foot of Nevada. and to their energy is due the enormous silver dis coveries in Pioche, Eureka and other dis tricts At Eureka, too, they solved for the world a new problem in metallurgy- the economical treatment of low-grade lead ores.
 These resolute miners spread still far ther out and invaded Utah, Montana, Idaho and Colorado, with results which are part of the worlds history. In these remote regions they did not hnd: 1t IS true. the golden nugget of California, but found the precious metals combined with baser ingredients, and to separate these has been productive of an enormous ac, tiytty among the brightest sclentlnc and mechanical minds of the world.
 As a result of all this pioneering the gross gold product of the United States for the past year was not less than $55,- 0OO.OOO. 1t must be remembered, too: that the skill and experience or the California miner has been extensively utilized in the gold uelds of South Africa. and that the Transvaal. for the area mined. is the largest gold producer in the world;
 Taken as a whole the gross gold pro- duction of the world during 1897 was fully s26O GOO OOO and it Is safe to predict that bv the end of the century the annual yield will be quite $500 900 900.
 Even these figures may be largely ex- ceeded if the recent discoveries in Alasha fulfill anything like the expectations built upon them. The miner whose ex- perience has been confined to California will find many new difficulties to meet and overcome in inhospitable Alaska There will be frozen ground to blast and only ice for sluicing purposes during al least nine months of the year.
 California despite the fact that 1t has been mined for half a century, has really Been prospected only. in part, and il stands still unrivaled in extent of gold hearing area and facilities for economi- cal mining-facts which should be remem- bered by those who are casting yearnins glances toward Alaska