Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1909-03-19
THE GOLD OF
SOUTH AFRICA.
Last Year the Output of the
Transvaal Mines was $780,
100000.
Johannesburg Correspondence of
The Kansas City JonrnaI.l

the Kansas City Journal.)
Take out your watch. hold it to
your ear and listen to the ticks. For
every one of them 81 worth OF yellow
gold is now coming out of the great
mines 1nder my feet. That is the
measure of the stream, and it goes
on second after second, minute after
minute, hour after hour, day and
night, all the year through. The
steady output of the gold mines of
the Rand is now 81 per second, S240
per minute, more than sl4, 200 per
hour and over $500, 900 per day. In
1907 the product was more than $780,,
600, 900, or more than 81 1000, 900,
worth OF the yellow metal every
month.
In all history there has been no
such golden flood as that which Is
now pouring forth from the Trans
vaal The mines of India, of Croe-
sus and of Solomon we're as nothing
beside it.. The treasures of Mexico
and Perm in the times of Cortez and
Pizarro dwindle in comparison, and
Australia, Alaska and California have
had nothing like unto this. The
mines of the Rand are now produc-
Ing more, than one fourth Of all the
new gold in the world. They we're
discovered only little more than
twenty years ago, and they have
already turned out more than 81, 000,-
600, 600 worth OF bullion. This is
equal to one twelfth of all the gold
from the mines of all the world since
Columbus, discovered America. In
weight it is'Sust about 1900 tons, or
so much that il you loaded it on two
horse wagons at ton to the wagon it
would take line of teams twelve or
fifteen miles long to carry it all.
More than this, these mines promise
to continue pouring out gold for
gen erations to come. They could pro-
duce twice as much today if they had
the labor, and they could treble that
amount and keep the mines going for
years. The gold reefs, in which the
precious metal lies, have been proved
for length of more than sixty miles,
and experts say that they can be
worked to a depth of 5000 feet. IL
they were worked to 1900, the
amount sc far taken out would be just
about per cent of the whole, and at
that rate there are from 1000, 900, 600
to 100000 900, 900 of the precious
bullion left.
The production has been increasing
by leaps and bounds ever since gold
was discovered here. In 1884 the out
put was about $50, ZOO, and ten years
later it had jumped to S3S, 000,000 per
annum. 1t steadily increased to about
$50, 00O,0 900 which was the annual
product at the beginning Of the Boer
war. 1t then fell to almost nothing
for a year or so, but in 1904 it was
again $50, 100000. In 1905 it reached
500, 900, 600; in 1906 it was more than
Sl20, 600, 900, and in 1907 the vast sum
of S136, $50, 600. These amounts are
uncomfortable, but they are about
what the mines are producing to-day.
The aggregate dividends last year
we're S35, 200, 900. and the mines which
paid them are capitalized at over
sl20, 900, 900. l have before me a
newspaper which gives the products
of a dozen of the leading mining
companies during the past month.
None of them has paid less than
81 300 for every day of that month,
and some have run as high as SIS, 900
per day FOX the thirty days. Talk
about gold. Where will you find it
elsewhere as here?