The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-23
The Treasure Vaults of the Andes Mountains

ialter in Bolivia. Both are largely owned 2 rs Amerieans, and the first entirely so 1..s ihcaoro has. believe some Bo- ,.,.. ss.h capital invested in it. but the afost or It's stock is held in inc United states. and one of the chief owners and president of the company is Horace c knoWies. who was formerly United States minister to Bolivia The vice nrasidenf anu manager is David c. Brlcker a well known American miner, who discovered the famous Olla de Orc mine and the treasurer is Thomas w. Miller inc score tafy Of state of Delaware Mir Knowles telis me that this mine promises to pay beyond the hopes of it's owners Hel showed he four go,d bricks that had teen iu- nrd cut last montn and allowed n-s to phe oslarn him wiril two of the of-ei.S in ---s "a-ns Each of the brieSs N E =i.s. Il saou.d judge, about s0 poiine-. s-t. $ sofsn n the neighborhood of st,oo. blI lA oNies says the mine is rapidlv de- Seiap.ns, and that he believes t Will wi,h-n Short while produce 100 pounds or lire gold per month. 1t is eoujpped vita an American plant, and has one of the most modern and efficient mining in- staiiations of all South America In addition to his work for this mine. Mir Knowles has organized company for the general development of the min- eIal resources of this part of the Andes. He thinks that Bolivia is the great un- opened treasure vault of the world a,kl rightly says it has never been prospected The company of which he is the presi- dent. is known as the Bolivian DeveIop- mcnt and Exploitation company. and it's capital stock is held both here in Bolivia and in the United States The list of stockholders includes President Ismael Monies, ex-President Villazon, the presi- dent of the Bolivian Senate most of the members of the cabinet, as well as sev eral other leading statesmen and commer- cial men of this country. He tells me that great deal of the stock is held in tho United States it's investors being scat tered from Boston to Los Angeles. Thb plan of this company is to send out en- gineers and prospectors over this vast mineral territory, and to investigate what they find through a corps of competett engineers, headed by Prof. Francis Church Lincoln of Boston, well known geologst and metallurgist. If the mines stand the test of this examination they are then to be submitted to the American stock holders, who will purchase O. sell them at such prices that the parent company will get back about four times what 1t puts in, and at the same time retain 9 per cent of the stock of the operating com pany.
 
 latlon Is well known in the United States, but 1t is new in Bolivia and is popular. I understand that the company has al- ready on it's lists of either examined or to be examined properties a number of gold silver. tin, tungsten and copper prSs- poets and mines. It is also Investigating, certain quafries of marble and alabaster' that MT. Knowles says are so fine that the stone should find a market at high prices all over the world.
 The plan, as far as can see, is an ex- cellent one. and especially so considering Its connection with Bolivian statesmen and capitalists The great danger, how ever, Is as to the securing of mining titles that cannot be disputed This has been a vrey serious matter in the past as to afl Bolivian properties, although President Montes Is now attempting to have enacted new mining laws and regulations that will remedy these dangers and materially aid ii the opening up of the country in mineral way.
 I have been much interested in hearing MT. Knowles express his great faith in the mineral possibilities of Bolivia. He says that this country was the originsH source of the gold of the Incas, and th:% II Is bound to become a second Transvaaa. He has curious theories regarding gold discoveries and gold booms, concerning the reliability or which l am not Well enough posted on the history of such matters to judge. He says the great gold discoveries of the world come in cycles, and that the same number of years elapsed between the great finds in California; Australia, Colorado, South Af- rica. Alaska and Nevada. For instance, in 1849 the time for one of these periods came, and we had the gold of California. There was rush from all over the world to San Francisco, and a flood of yellow metal was poured into the markets. After that fixed number of years passed and we had the gold discoveries of Australia, with a rush to that island continent Then the wheels of time turned round Just so many revolutions and gold wae found in Colorado Another twist of the wrist of Dame Fortune and up came the gold of the Transvaal, and so it was for Alaska and so for Nevada. Now the requisite number of years has again gone by and this time Mr. Knowles says the gold is to come out of Bolivia. A little in- vestigation as to the actual dates of these events will demonstrate whether this the ory is based upon fact; and if so the judgment of the would-be miner or ln- vestor must decide for him whether the same rule will hold good in the future. At any rate. the theory Is an interesting