The Scranton chronicle. (Scranton, Miss.) 1897-19??, 1900-11-10
MUCH GOLD SHORT.
Treasury Statistieians Unable to
Account for II.
Disappearance of 5000
oOo,OOO since ts8n--intrresttnE
Facts Related bs Chi
cage IeNetcr.

"The present census | understand Is
expected to yield information which
will go TO dispel the mssters as 10 the
Disappearance of s4oa.aoo,0o0 OF gold"
said manufacturing leweler, accord
ing TO the Chicago Tribune. THE
treasury department experts have fig
urcd out that out of the amount OF
gold coined since is6o just about Ssoo.
100000 is missing. They have examined
and allowed for the amounts which
would be absorbed in all known chan
nels ana stll run mp against a short
age OF 100000. .o00. which they can't
account for. Several OF my friends
have had inquiries about IL.
"I haven't the 500 GOO, ,o0o." he CON
linued, "and ! don't know anyone per-
sonally who has. Although | could
give no figures. II doesn't seem much
Of mystery to me. Nowadays a man
ufacturing ieweler buys the ingot gold
he uses from large establishments.
whose sole business Is TO buy up jew
elers' scrap and sweepings, old jewe,ry
and bullion. and melt and refine II into
bars. Some of these concerns do q
business OF S5oo0 900 TO 81 .ooo, 900 n year.
Five or six years ago, and before
that, when jeweler wanted gold he
drew his check, sent over 10 the bank
got the coin and ehnelted IL into a
erucible. | wouldn't dare estimate the
number OF coins | have used that way.
IL was the universal practice OF the
trade for years. II is easy 10 see that
millions OF dollars were removed from
the circulation this way. The bangle
bracelet craze of Is or 20 years ago
was responsible for the removal OF mill
lions OF dollars from the current medi-
um. pretty girl in those days with
lot OF young men running after her
melted serious amount of coin mutiia-
tion. | remember one girl brought
into my place a bracelet with 25 $40
gold pieces bang'ed on II. She wouldn't
let anybody give her less than $40
bangle. / repaired another bracelet
that was weighted with 500 in gold
or course, the greater part of the
bangles were silver coins. but jewelers.
talk 10 this day OF the bangle craze
and the gold coins II sent ultimately 10
the melting pot. for that's where they
went.
81 can't but think the treasury stat.
isticians don't take into sufficient ac
count the amount of gold that is hoard
ed. ! have been manufacturing Jew
eler 40 years, and | have handled golt
in all forms throughout that time. Blu
] never get gold coin without want
ing to hide IL 10 look a. occasionally
I've got pocket piece that have car
ried for ten years. One of my friendi
has carried a $40 piece for more thar
that number OF years. Another. wh,
has always kept n bank account. tal,
me one day he had handful nf golt
pieces at his home, and had kept then
there for years. II nil the gold which
is boarded away could be suddenl,
brought to light the people who pro
duced u would astonish you. Up II
the Black Hills, where the money IL
circulation is largely gold. bnnl
cashier last summer told me the banki
knew approximately the amount II
circulation, the amount OF gold whiei
had come into the bills during tht
year, and the amount of gold coir
sent out. The figures showed thai
about 100000 disappeared annually
Where did IT go? The miners. some oi
whom live In cabins, save II and hide 81. >