Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-02-04

worked out. So with zinc, which is
needed for utensils, for the preserVa-
ton of iron and steel by galvanizing,
anda an alloy of copper for the MAX
ing of that very useful metal, brass,
and for paint. Lead is the basis OF
a very important industry, is widely
consumed as paint, and is almost es-
sential to many Jobs of work which
we should scarcely know how TO dis
pense with. And even the new metal,
aluminum and manganese, vana-
dunn. mercury and lot more, most
" with names ending in 'um," from
the precious platinum to the unfa-
lniliar molybdenum, are all usefui
and yearly becoming more so as we
find out moro about their properties
all are important, but We need not
worry about the stores of them be-
ing exhausted from that thin SKIN
of the crust Of the decks OF the
Good Ship Earth. which we can pen
citrate and search and subject to our
service.
We need not Worry--because they
are not so essential to civilization as
are iron and coal; nor TO life, as is the
soil. We need not worry for the adj
ditional reason that the same moral
uplift that carries us to the height
of looking after the iron and coal and
forests and son will bring us to the
point Of looking after these subordi-
nate good things which God placed
in the bullkers of the Good Ship
Earth for the use of all the passen-
gers alike. $50
But must mention two metals. be-
cause they are of such wonderful in
terest to the world for the reason
that they have been taken as meas
ures of value for other commodities.
Though not extraordinarily useful in
themselves, they exert an influence
upon our prosperity which would be
iucomprehensible to person brought
up outside their sway. / mean silver
and gold.
These metals are useful-in fact, If
they were plentiful they would take
the place of the baser metals in many
of the arts Like zinc, copper, lead,
nickel platinum and other of the
rarer metals, there is no way of tell
ing how much of them the earth con-
tains. We keep looking for them and
the. supply varies from4 century to
century as we have good fuck or had
luck. When Columbus discovered
America he led the way to the mines
and gold and silver treasures of Mex
leo and Peru. For a hundred and
fifty years the precious stream flowed
into the worlds strong boxes at a
rate never before equaled Then 1t
dwindled. With the opening of the
mines of California. the fountains
were again set flowing. Australia
liberated her great output. Then
came other new finds in the Rocky
Mountain regions. and in South
Africa with a tonnage of gold equal
toS any of these. !, Lastly comes
Alaska. And all the while the science
of the world has labored to make the
methods of extraction more efficient
until the output of gold and silver
+, has become greater than ever before,
and seems TO promise continuous
supply.
Now this has a great influence on
prosperity, strange to say For gold
and silver owing to their beauty
have been for ages devoted more to
the processes of boarding than of
consuming 1t is as if the squirrels
paid so much attention to the hoard
ing Of nuts as to forget that the real
object of saving is eating We hui
man squirrels do eat gold and silver
when We consume them in the arts
--but mostly we have always boarded
them up in bars or ingots or round
pieces called coins, and by this hoard
ing have created permanent scare
ity Of them which appears to have a
great deal of effect upon their value
as compared with other things OF
value. These gold and silver nuts we
human squirrels store in minis and
national treasures and banks and
safe deposit vaults and use them as
things by which to measure the value
of all other commodities.
In past ages gold and silver were
both used and still are in some coun-
tries; but latterly the world, at the
request Of the financiers, has rapidly