Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-26


i ia % the American visitor meets a
I 1lNA MI fellow citizen the cut of
IIK Vel whose jib reminds him of the
assA9&4I kind of westerner that in
spired the pen of Bret Harte
In the fifties to create a new type in
fiction. He is a bronzed, well-set-up
man who looks as if he leads an out
of-door life close to what the poets
! call The pulsing heart of nature" He
plays a good game of billiards or cards,
and disposes of a few bumpers of
ardent spirits without showing i'll eff
fects from the indulgence. He is one
| of seVenty-t1Ve or a hundred American
miners brought to Korea by American
capital to direct the work of Koreans
| in copper, gold or graphite mines.
The American miner in Korea does
not greet the man from the states as
| stranger" nor does he wear a huge
'hip cannon" a heavy cartridge belt
or the costume that made the miners
of the Hoyt comedies famous, but ne
suggests in general appearance the
westerner of the period when every
| thing beyond the Mississippi was west,
and when everything beyond the crest
of the Rockies was primitive. Here in
Korea he is the pioneer of a mining
movement that promises to- develop
into a very considerable industry. Be-
yond the vanguard of what 'Tennes-
! sees Pardner" was wont to call the
| civilization of the "effete east the
/ American miner of a generation ago
explored the least settled parts of the
| newest west. He has now come to the
| oldest part of the east. In it's remote
| ness from the concomitantS of mod
ern civilization the interior of Korea
| is much like the American west was
| before the continent was belted with
| coast forecast railroads, and a miner
in Korea feels very much at home
At present the United States has
only 10 per cent of the import trade
with the Land of the Morning Calm"
while Japan has SO per cent and Great
Britain and China 16 and 10 per cent,
| respectively. But for a dozen years
Americans have conducted the only
successful gold mining ventures in this
country. At the expense of about
$500,000 in cold cash and a deal of hard
head work, an American firm recently
| defeated an effort of the Japanese to
get possession of a mine prospect that
bids fair to become one of the i'm
portant copper properties of the world.
During the lats decade about $12,-
100000 worth of gold has leen dug from
the American mines, and at present
the group is producing more than
100000 a month. American machinery
is used in the mines, and high class
American miners direct the labor of
5000 Koreans who swing the pick The
output, so far, has been what Is called
five-dollar ore, but the supply of pay
dirt" seems to be plentiful and the
yield is substantial, although not sem
sational. A good return is made on
the capital invested Shafts now run
ming 1000 feet below the surface are in
creasing in productiveness, and in this
lies good augury for Korea's future
as a mining country.
The greatest returns up to the pres
ent time have come from the shaft
, mines, but placer fields have been dis
covered which resemble the Alaskan
regions, where deposits of coarse gold
and nuggets are found. American in
terests have recently taken over the
Yalu river gold quartz property known
as the SAX Ju mines, and secured an
interest in the Ham Heung province
placer mines, which 1t Is believed will
yield handsomely. These holdings are
situated at Tai Dong, on the east
coast. large number of American
stamp mills are now being installed
by Americans who have bought out the
holdings of EngliShmen in an Anglo
American syndicate that located these
gold fields some years ago.
While Americans are taking the lead
in developing Korean mining proper
ties other countries are taking an in
creasing interest. The British are
second in activity, and good deal of
London capital is flowing toward the
Korean gold fields. chiefly through
British who are interested with Amer
leans, and other capitalists who be-
lieve in the future of this country and
are willing to finance ventures. The
most important English acquisition
recently made was the purchase of the
Chicksan mines, quartz and placer
properties, within twenty-five miles of
Seoul. The German, Italian and
French concessions have not proved
satisfactory up to the present time,
but London, looking over the situa-
tion as a whole, from the standpoint
of a capitalist, holds the view that
Korea will become the successor of
Australia and South Africa as a gold
field, and Americans predict something
of a Klondike. and, within a few
years, rush"
While Prince Ito was resident gem
eral he removed the export duties from
the products of mines and the import
duties from supplies used in their OPP
Grafton. Against the wishes of the
extreme advocates of Korea for the
japanese" he also improved the min
ing laws so that 1t Is now as easy for
the other nationals to secure mining
properties and effect transfers as it is