The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1933-07-25
OUR VALLEY
By s. P. WERNER
VIII

mineral resources of the regioh
are. Gold, silver, copper, ron
manganese corundum, limestone
kaolin, pipe-clays, brick-ciayS'
quartz, granite, marble, pure sii-
lea sand, rubies, emeralds, gar
nets all these and more BESIDES
havo been found. The dlstln-
rnisbed financier and capltallSt
ef Asheville, Mr. Burnham 5. Col
brrn has collected in his private
museum an amazing variety ot
minerals from this and adlacene
territory. DR.. Collier GOOD Oh
The state University, is respon-
siblc for the statement that North
Gnrolina is a "good sample case
re minerals and metals; and he
oiso was sceptical about its be-
inc much more. Thereby he may
have saved over-optimistlc pros
nectors and promoters some
money, but he also gave dis-
couraging slant to the possloliii-
ties Of the area which has tend
cL TO retard conservative inves-
tlgatlon.
But it is to be said that the
heavy forest growth has long
been a strong handicap to adequ-
ate prospecting, as compared with
such regions as Australia, South
Africa, and the arid parts of the
American west, where exposed
terrain vastly facilitates eplora-
ton and discovery, as we'll as
mining developments. That vast
mineral wealth may lie untouch.
ed under the feet of farmers and
ranchers is seen from the fact
that the South African Beers
ploughed over the diamond fields
of Kimberly and hunted over the
gold fields Of the Witswatersrand
| for three hundred years before
one diamond or an ounce OF gold
was taken out. But when the
first discoveries were made, the
Iopen and almost treeless veldt
made prospecting by the hordes
lof who rushed in relatively easy.
lIf Ferdinand de Soto had not
| found Western North Carolina
covered with one of the heaviest
ltcmber-growths in the world, he
omight have inspired the Spanish
lgold seekers to give this region
Jsuch a look-over as would have at
| least justified them in going else
where if it did not reward their
Ivort;ons Ever since his day
| the same handicap has prevailed.
! Highly expert biologists may
Indeed draw broad congratulations
based upon fundamental conSld-
erations with reference to def
Unite areas, but there is an old
asaying among miners that gold
lis where you find it," and so
with reference to many other
lmetals and minerals.
| The writer may illustrate this
point from his own experience in
lAfrica. The white men develop
ling the Congo basin largely re-
lstricted their settlements and
lactivities at first-for some 20
lyears-to the banks of the navig-
able rivers, along which grew
ivast primeval forests, in which
grew the rubber trees and vines
they sought, and roamed the ele-
plants whose ivory they coveted.
In the course of time they ex-
tended their sphere of action out
into the high grassy plateaus be-
You'd the forests; and then they
observed diamonds, copper and
radium. Within less then twenty
miles from a trading post on the
river where a friend of the
writer, Ernest Bertrand, had
bought a few thousand dollars
worth of rubber and ivory in the
course of several years, there was
! found in the open grass-lands, a
deposit of diamonds from which
more than thirty million dollars
worth has been taken.
How to prospect a heavily tim
bered country adequately is one
of the big problems of the min
ing industry. The Guggenheims
shifted interest from Alaska to
) Chile partly because it was so
much easier to find things in
the dry treeless lands of the lat
ter country than in the mighty
forests of the former.
Of course it would be senseless
and wicked to destroy a great for
est on the gamble that it covered
mineral wealth. But happily now
there are being rapidly developed
methods of detecting mineral and
metal wealth underground by spe-
cial instruments with which the
, forest does not interfere. Then
too. in the case of forests being
scientifically cared for, the con-
struction of roads and trails, and
:, the creation of artificial lakes, to-
I, gether with the presence over the
!, area of men whose expenses are
T met already but who could be in
structed to be on the alert and to
report finds any suspicions-these
advantages in the search for min
!, eral wealth under the leaves and
| roots are becoming distinctly val
, liable.
f For example, take the case of
=, an artificial pond or lake in for
est, put there for water-supply,
flood-control, fire-prevention, and
power. In the course of time, the
vegetation under water dies, if it
! is not cleared off at first. If the
dam is so designed as to facilitate
complete dewatering, the bottom