The copper era. (Clifton, Graham County, Ariz.) 1899-1911, 1908-04-23
The Ace of Gold.

constant complaint on the part of
shippers throughout the country that
they were unable to promptly get
their merchandise shipped, and min
ing men could not get machinery from
the central supply minis to their
mines. The railroads explained this
by saying there was an unprecedent-
ed shortage of cars, which was doubt
less true. Now it is said there are
standing idle on sidings throughout
the United States no less than $4,000
empty freight cars. This is fair
index of the present stagnation in
the Industrial world. Notwithstand-
ing this there is a most noticeable
impetus in the gold mining industry.
This is not unusual, for in the past
have been witnessed some of the
most active periods of gold mine de-
velopment spring up in the midst of
times of the most serious financial
try we're never more satisfactory
than the past year and everything
seems propitious for the future but
the great middle classes, and those
who are usually in the speculative
class have withdrawn their financial
support from uncertain enterprises
and are holding tightly onto their
money. Many offers are being made
In Wall Street and in the other ex-
changes of the country, which in or
binary times would be considered
great bargains, but the exposure of
the peculiar methods of high finance
has resulted in making towards of
those who are generally willing to
'take a chance" and general stagna-
ton results. When these people, who
possess hundreds of millions of dol
lars in ready cash feel that it is safe
to venture we may expect to see the
same onward march of prosperity
but not until then.
Meanwhile gold mining is prosper
ing and will continue to prosper.
Mining and ! metallurgical methods
are constantly improving and further
improvement and reduction in oper-
aNAhS COoN ~ ohNAOAHoNOO- JOiO-
bearing veins and deposits which in
the past have been too low grade to
be profitable are coming within the
range of successful commercial posi-
bility.
The investor-the public generally
knows that gold is a standard of
value. An ounce is worth S2067 per
Troy ounce. There is no need to fear
depreciation of it's value; indeed,
there is more likelihood of its abso-
lutte value being increased rather
than diminished. At all events it
may be expected to maintain it's pres
emit value in the commerce of the
world, and for this reason gold mines
are in demand. They are always in
demand, for that matter-good ones
but more SO now than commonly.
Just where the next gold fields will be
is a most difficult matter to deter
mine. 1t may be in Nevada, it may
be in California-perhaps in the
heart of Africa. That country has
already given US the greatest gold
| field the world has yet known in the
mines OF the Trausvaal. There NAV
be other Transvaal, there may be
other "Mother Lodes," like that of
California. The High Sierras of
California are rich in mineral of
which comparatively little is known.
Hundreds of millions of dollars worth
of gold still lie buried in the ancient
river channels under hundreds of feet
of lava in east, central and northern
California. The huge dredges now
turning over the gravel deposits of
the Sacramento and San Joaquin will
add other hundreds of millions in
the present methods. When it is re-
membered that these dredges are
only working the top layer, as it
were, of these old estuary deposits
and that, in all probability the deep
er and older layers of gravel are still
richer in gold it is idle to think or
say that the limit of human ingenu-
ity has been reached and men will
never recover this deeply buried gold.
Who would have been ready to say
when the first rude dredge began
operations in California over twenty
years ago, and proved so wholly in
adequate to the operation, that two
decades would see great machines
running smoothly, digging up and
washing at a profit gravel that con-
tanned only seven cents per cubic
yard-handling 5000 cubic yards
every twenty-four hours? Yet, this
has become a commonplace affair
ana no longer exCites more than
passing comment.-Los Angeles Min
ing Review.