Evening star., 1932-12-01
ECONOMICS CAUSE
MODERN GOLD RUSH
Depression Cure May Be
Found by World Army
of Seekers.
nv The Associated Press

" the Associated Press.
DENVER, Colo. December Scat
tered In many parts of the globe, an
damy Of men and women has been max
Ing a flank attack upon worldwide eco
nornic disorder in a determined search
for gold
While this concerted effort is bring
ing financial gain to many OF the
searchers, there is always chance that
some discovery may open up. new
bonanza to bring rich flow into the
arteries of trade and add impetus to
widespread recovery. In Canada there
have been seven new gold strikes since
1925. The past two years have seen
gold r1lshes in Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador,
Chile, New Zealand and Africa.
Economies Effected.
Big gold finds in the past-the
startling uncovering of nuggets near
Suffers Fort in California, which LED
to the great Westward migration IN
1849 and the years following; the gold
rushes to Colorado in the late sos, 10
the Black Hills in South Dakota in the
'70s; the great gold strikes in Australia
and South Africa, and the spectacular
stampede to the Kiondike in the late
'90s-all had effect upon the economic
conditions in the periods in which they
occurred Economists have traced re-
coVery from many OF the 0epreSSlonS
through influx of new gold.
Driven by urgent need to pan lew
dollars worth of gold daily from creeks
and worked-over gold fields. or lured by
hopes of wealth. power and luxury TO
prospect in remote and unbeaten wilder
nesses, hundreds of thousands OF men
and some women-have been engaged
with pans, picks and sluice boxes. Many
ronaiyad i1ctTnPtinnS
in goid-mining schools. Some have made
good strikes. many have made wages
and many have failed. Many abandoned
workings have been reopened by operat-
ing companies.
Results of this concerted effort are
attested by the increased flow OF gold
into the United States Mint. While the
total production Of gold in the world
has Increased by about 10 per cent,
there has been a corresponding increase
In this country.
Deposits Doubled.
Individual deposits have doubled at
the Denver Mint, which receives large
share of the new gold produced in the
West For the first 10 months this year
q total of more than Sl2,500,0 600 gold
was received, an increase OF about ST.
000, 900 over the same period in 1881.
For 10 months this year the number OF
individual deposits was 1923; last year
for the same period, 2,610. To encour-
age small operators the minimum de-
posit was reduced from $100 to $40.
One of the notable contributions was
q bag of nuggets worth about $500,
which had been gathered by one
armed Mexican from the Weaver Greek
district in Arizona beside the main
highway between Prescott and Phoenix.
Gold hunters numbering 10000 to
$4,000 operating in the fields of Cali
fornia during the Summer took out be-
tween $400, 600 and $500,000 of the yell
low metal. Walter w. Bradley, Califor-
mia State minerologist. estimated. This
was exclusive of quartz or deep-mine
operated all the way from the deserts in
the South to the oregon line.
The great majority of the California
gold army barely -eked out an existence
during the Summer. Bradley said. in
estimating the average daily earnings
at 40 to so cents. A few of the luckier
ones ran 81 to 50 day, and one or
two picked up nuggets worth $40 to
$50. There was a case of one gold
hunter taking out $500 from one patch
of gravel. Two or three comparatively
rich strikes were made, including one
at Jackass Hill, Mark Twain's stamping
ground in the Bonanza days. Bradley
said one pocket hunter took $4,000 to
$4,000 worth Of gold there in about
two months.
Thousand swarmed the mountains in
Oregon, some of them made their
salt" but most Of them lost everything