Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-04-26
BILLIONS IN BORAX
Mr.. Smith of Oakland Finds
Himself Three Hundred
Times Millionaire.
CAN BE EASILY FIGURED OUT
Owns Mount Blanc, Solid Boracic Mass
Which is Worth 500
Per Ton.

According to 4 newspaper bearing |
the picturesque title of the Death Val
ley Chuckwalla, published somewhere !
in the vicinity of California's famous
Death valley, "Borax" Smith is fai
and away the richest man in the world |
If all his wealth which :.5w lies stored
In a bOraX mountain were convertell
into actual cash or securities he would
be 300 Rockefellers rolled in one. with
an equal number of Carnegies added
and enough Harrimans thrown in tOI
make up full regiment.
Mr. Smith, if the Chuckwalla's fig |
ures are accurate. is worth $500 0G0- |
000.0O0. The following is copied from
a recent issue of the Death Valley
Chuckwalla:
Today we know that the rainbow of
wealth has its ends in the biggest pot
of gold that man ever dreamed of.
Mountains of gold. mountains of sil.lr.
mountains of copper and of lead and
precious stuff have ceased to be Il Vi.
sion for dreamerS to write about. Al
few facts about Nevada and the DEATH
valley country will substantiatc this
The mountains of precious metals are
no longer n vision for drcamerS. They
exist in reality and have been found,
located and recorded with the mineral
recorders of this country. Location
monuments are dotted over them
Wealth in such fabulous sums that it
staggers the imagination has fallen in
to the hands of individuals. Even the
resources of John u. Rockefeller ap-
pear insignificant when compared with
the resources of "Borax" Smith or
the copper kings that have acquired
the best holdings in Death valley land.
Mont Blanc. approximately 1880
feet high and two miles in diameter is
| a mass Of pure boraX. 1t is the proper
ty of one man. Frank NJ. Smith of
Oakland owns this mountain absolute
| ly and thereby controls the visible sup
| ply of horaX in the world The mar
| ket value of this deposit OF bOraX
where It lies Is something over 500 n
| ton. Experts estimate that the noun
| tain has at least 5000 100000 IONS of
| boraX in It. At 500 per ton the value
| of this mountain can be computed in
| billions by any one who will multiply
| 100 by 3. This mountain. standing
at the north end of the Funeral range
| within stones throw of Death valley
makes "BoraX" Smith easily the richest
| man in the world from point of re-
| sources. But this bOraX deposit Is
merely lining for the pot of gold that
rests in the Funeral range.
Nitcr at Other End.
Some nifty miles south of Mont
| Blanc. at the other end of the Funeral
range. are inter- deposits The full ex-
| tent of this deposit of inter no one ap-
| pears to know. All of it is claimed by
prospectors. These inter hills cover an
| area Of many square miles. 1t is near
| ly the pure stuff that these hills con
| tain. and United States government
| biologists say that it is the largest
inter deposit in the world. The powder
trust owns all that the government has
| left Of this inter and declines to make
| an estimate of its value
Between these billions upon billions
Of dollars worth of borax and of inter
NlN IilC copper tltbVSlts III TIE L ulltTIl
range. Already these copper deposits
are known to cover 500 to 600 square
miles.
East of the Funeral range are noun
tains of silver and OF lead. The Skull
| mountains are made of these metals.
even as the Funeral mountains are
made of copper. And in the opposite
direction, across Death valley In the
| Panamint mountains, have been locat-
ed lodges of gold. The Almighty's
| treasure trOve for which the sons Of
Adam have sought since the old man
left Eden has been found in the desert
by Death valley.