The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1919-01-24
MISSOURI A GOLD
PRODUCING STATE

jefferson City, Mo-, Jan. 16.-Mis-
souri, has been officially recognized as
gold-producing State, today an
nounced the Bureau of Labor Stats
tics. While the quantity recovered
and marketed is only Is ounces, worth,
at $50 an ounce, $500, yet the locality
where the gold was found may pro-
duce more, but probably not in guam
titles sufficient to excite the world and
bring on a repetition of the days of
'49 when it became California or
bust" for thousands of sturdy pion-
GERS in search of wealth and adven-
ture.
The Director of the United States
Mint is the authority which was Of
ficially recognized Missouri as a gold
producing State, states the bulletin of
Labor Commissioner William H. Lew
is, dealing with this interesting sub
ject. This official has written to the
mint headquarters in Washington, d.
c., to learn just where the Is ounces
of gold originated and gain other par
ticulars relating to the finding of this
precious metal in this commonwealth.
That the lead ores of st. Francois,
Madison and other Southeast Missou-
ri counties are producing silver in
quantities sufficient to make it pay to
recover this precious white metal has
been known for many years, and has
been regularly heralded by the Bureau
of Labor in its bulletins constituting
advance information from its annual
Missouri Red Book
In the last decade rumors have re-
peatedly reached St. Louis, Kansas
City and other money centers from
remote sections of the State that trac-
es of gold had been encountered, and
now comes the first official recognition
given Missouri as a gold-producing
commonwealth by United States au-
thorities. The first available fact is
that the fifteen ounces of gold in ques-
ton were purchased at one of the
branch minis with the statement from
the seller that the same had originat-
ed in Missouri.
In research work in recent Federal
publications to unearth statistical in
formation relating to Missouri, Su-
pervisor of Statistics A. T. Edmonston
Of the State Department of which
Commissioner Lewis is the head, found
that the 1918 report of the Director of
the United States Mint, in table on
page SO, which carries the caption
Production of Gold and Silver, Unit
ed States, calendar year 1917, by
States, gives Missouri credit for a
1917 production of gold amounting to
fifteen ounces with a total value of
$500 No further official information
concerning this Missouri gold is given
in the publication enumerated.
The silver output of Missouri in
ounces and the total value of the an
nual production, United States Mint
information, since 1910 and up to the
close of 1917, the figures for the latter
year being the latest available, hav-
ing just been completed, are: year
1917, 1894 ounces, total mint worth,
S52 200; year 1916, banner year in sill
yer production for Missouri, 128,860
ounces, total mint worth, S84 900; year
1915, 55,534 ounces, total mint worth,
$27,700; year 1914, $4,000 ounces, to-
tai mint worth, $33, 200; year 1913,
$4,000 ounces, total mint worth, $685.
500; and year 1910, $4,000 ounces,
commercial worth, $17,38S.
In dealing with Missouri's 1917 sill
yer output, the Director of the United
States Mint, in his 1918 report, an
nounces, in substance, as follows:
"a few ounces of silver were re-
covered from copper ore mined in Mis-
souri,, but nearly all the output, 3d.
344 ounces, were derived from TO-
222 tons of lead concentrates which
were desilverised that year by East
ern smelters and refiners."