sensational. The spring wheat people themselves are as a class optimistic; the speculators here naturally pessimistic. The temperatures have of late been cool, and that has alleviated the lack of moisture. There is a half-admission from the Northwest that a high mercury would decidely change the view up there. The dry weather has lasted long enough to now show a cumulative effect on the speculator. Each day from this on with no rain in the Dakotas and Minnesota will increase the vehemence of the drought motive. It has probably not yet gone to the length that a good rain. would not put an end to the whole drought excitement. Stocks are now in strong hands, and passing liquidation only entrenches securities more strongly in control of substantial capitalists. The outlook cannot be considered especially favorable for people who "go long" of stocks on small margins, but it is interesting to note that commission houses are not carrying many stocks for small traders, while the proportion of the stocks owned outright is larger than ever before recorded. of At the close of the week the rumors a gas war settlement had a most favorable effect upon prices, and it is possible that the actual settlement of this trade trouble, which has now been brought about, will be followed by a further sharp advance in values. The statement of foreign commerce for March proves couclusively that gold exports have not been due to intenational trade conditions. New York is the cheapest money market in the world, and gold is going abroad because foreign financial centers need the metal and can get it more easily here than in any place. Easy money is forcing it out of the country, and loans go begging at almost nominal rates. The bank statement for last week shows that gold exports have been offset by treasury payments and receipts from the interior, and the growing ease in foreign discounts suggests that future shipments of the metal will be too light to have any effect upon local bank holdings. * * * The electrophone is rapidly gaining favor in England. SIMPLY THIS ...THE... WILLAMETTE CORN CURE Allays pain, removes the corn, and leaves a natural skin in its place This is guaranteed. Think about it, if you have a corn. You can get the Willamette Corn Cure from any druggist, for 25 cents a bottle, or from the manufacturers— Boericke & Runyon 303 Washington St. Portland, Oregon. MENTION THE PACIFIC MONTHLY WHEN PURCHASING. Mining Of the thousands who are rushing to Nome in the search for gold it is safe to say that nine out of every ten will meet with bitter disappointment and return. poorer in pocket than when they left. So mad is the rush that many even risk their lives in venturing forth in rotten. schooners that are overloaded with both passengers and freight, and are wholly unfit for any service, save, perhaps, that of carrying reckless adventurers to a watery grave. In There is no doubt, in my mind, of the vast wealth of Alaska, and as the coun'try opens up and becomes more and more settled, its industries and commerce will receive more attention. order to bring this about, emigration is, of course, necessary, but it also follows that "the faithful," as always in a new country, shall endure much. In my opinion this rush to these northern goldfields, so full of hardships for the pioneer, and which promise such slow returns for all the labor and talent and capital bestowed upon it, is unwarranted when one-fourth of the energy expended and capital invested in these expeditions to Alaska, put forth in developing the mines of Oregon and Washington, would yield more gold than will ever be realized from this frozen northern land. even as a prophet is without honor in his own country, so are our home gold fields considered of small account in the estimation of many, when weighed in the balance with those that are so hard to work. It may be that herein lies the charm. But There is but one cure for "Nome fever," and that is Nome, itself. Those suffering from this malady remind one of a flock of sheep, in that they are more or less blind followers of leaders more or less blind. Some few have "struck it rich." Very few, however, as compared with the many who honestly tried and failed. But it is characteristic of mankind generally, that they must all rush to the scene of good fortune of the few. 'One man succeeds in catching a big fish Of the thousands who go to Alaska Notwithstanding the many disadvantages of the country, many millions of dollars will be taken from the Alaska placers, but all such alluvial deposits of gold are short lived because it is in a more available form than in quartz veins, which hold the greater mineral wealth of Alaska, and which will be worked by large capital and great corporations for hundreds of years to come, not only for gold, but for silver, copper and lead as well. This will call for a large amount of skilled labor and a thorough knowledge of mining in general. Oregon and Washington are equally rich in a variety of metals. At a point on the Cowlitz River there is a large body of lava rock that is worth from 2 to 3 per cent in metalic copper in finc grains. Many such samples have been brought to me for assays, and because it proves to be worth only 2 to 3 per cent copper it is discarded as worthless and not paying ore. This rock is the cause of the late excitement at Kalama. The 1ock was crushed and panned out and was said to be worth $12.00 per ton in gold, when, as a matter of fact, it was not gold at all, but a fine-grained metalic copper assaying from 2 to 3 per cent, and equals about 40 pounds per ton. It requires but little knowledge of mining to prove this to be paying ore. An abundance of a 2 per cent metalic copper ore, worked by a 10-stamp mill crushing the rock sufficiently to pass it through a 40-mesh screen, will crush 20 tons of such rock in 24 hours. At this rate the ten stamps would yield 400 pounds of metalic copper every 24 hours. J. H. Fisk. |
