Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-03-05
GOLD IN THE MUD.
Will the Mineral Pay For the Panama
Canal2

Will the Mineral Pay For the Panama
Canal2
Steps are being taken by the Panama
canal commission to see whether the
canal will not pay for its own digging
This looks like a pretty wild specula-
ton on the face Of 1t: yet 1t is within
the range Of possibility. 1t also opens
the question Of how much, If any, the
contractor supposing the canal Is dug
by contract, may be allowed to bene-
At by the facts discovered. This Is
matter that is entirely in the hands OF
the commission, and it is said that the
interests Of the government will be
amply protected.
There Is q wide range Of possibili-
ties as to the value of the materials
that may be found in the canal zone
There have been three geologists sent
to the zone by the commission, one OF
them, Mr.. Howe of the geological sur
vey, being due to arrive this week
These experts will be expected to GO
over all of the ground and report on
the presence of sand, gravel, rock suit
able for cement making, coal and oil,
II there are any, and, finally-and this
will be one Of the most interesting
phases of the investigation to the gen.
eral public-whether or not the ma
terial actually excavated in digging
the canal cannot be worked to advan-
tage for gold and other metals. Ar
rangements are being made now for
having samples Of the dirt, sand and
gravel from various sections Of the
zone sent to Washington for analysis.
That there is some gold in the canal
zone is a matter Of historical record,
and with the modern appliances for
working 1t that have been developed In
the past few years even a very low
grade Of gold land can be worked at
such a profit that II the deposit is
extensive it may go largely toward
paying the expense of canal construc-
tion. =.
This, Of course, is a rather sensa-
tional view to take Of the situation;
but in view Of the work that has al
ready been done in this line by the
government 1t is within the range Of
possibility. The question naturally was
raised with the commission as to
whether or not If the ground proved
valuable 1t would mean anything to
the contractor who was doing the
work. But it was started in reply to
this inquiry that the rights Of any
mineral found would still be vested in
the United States whether the work
were done by contract or not. The
United States government owns the
ground and 1t is simply paying the
contractor for doing the digging and
it does not lose it's title to a spadeful
of the dirt that is dug. This was the
statement Of Gen. Hams Of the canal
commission, when questioned on the
subject. He said that there was not
much prospect, either, Of trouble with
Panama over the rights to any min
erals that might be found. The treaty
by which the canal zone Is ceded to the
United States provides specifically that
the strip passed to the sovereignty Of
the United States as though it had ac-
quired the ground by purchase, and
the sovereignty of this government
over the land and all it contains is
just as complete as it is over any 9TH
er part of the United States.
One of the things that aroused the
interest of the government in the gold
bearing possibilities Of the ground was
the fact that on some of the old French
maps there were references to placer
ground. Then there are old Spanish
records of the ground having been
worked for gold toward the summit Of
the Culebra cut. This was the route
over which the Spaniards brought back
the immense treasure that they looted
from the west coast. But they were
not overlooking any chances for gold,
and they went over most of the 18TH
mus with a fine tooth comb. The fact
that they found some placer workings
indicates there was gold there, and
with impressed Indian labor they
would naturally have been able to
work it at a profit, even if the values