462 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



the late Commodore Vanderbilt. The plan of 

 operation is simple, and consists only in esti- 

 mating the stock of the road at a figure greatly 

 above its real value. For instance, when Com- 

 modore Vanderbilt secured control of the New 

 York Central as well as the Hudson River Rail- 

 road in 1868, the combined stock of the two 

 roads was only about $36,000,000. Early in 

 the following year he declared a tremendous 

 dividend of new stock to the stockholders, and 

 raised the estimated value of the two roads to 

 $90,000,000. This action of Vanderbilt was for 

 the purpose of evading a law of the State of 

 New York which provided that when the divi- 

 dends of any railroad corporation should reach 

 10 per cent, the state could declare how the 

 surplus above the 10 per cent, should be ap- 

 plied. This provision, it is plain, was ren- 

 dered nugatory by Vanderbilt's scheme, as, if a 

 railroad can at any time declare stock divi- 

 dends with no reference whatever to the costs of 

 construction and repair, a dividend of 10 per 

 cent, may never be declared, though the road 

 may be actually earning 30 or 40 per cent, 

 upon its actual cost. 



India Rubber. This is mostly obtained 

 from the Seringueros of the Amazon, who 

 sell it for about 12 cents a pound to the mer- 

 chants of Para, but its value on reaching 

 England or the United States is over 50 cents 

 a pound. The number of tons imported into 

 Great Britain and the United States has been 

 as follows : 



18GO. 



United States 1 ,610 



Great, Britain 2,150 



1870. 1880. 1887. 

 4,316 7,529 12,900 

 7,606 8,479 11,800 



The best rubber forests in Brazil will ulti- 

 mately be exhausted, owing to the reckless 

 mode followed by the Seringueros or tappers. 

 The ordinary product of a tapper's work is 

 from 10 to 16 pounds daily. There are 120 

 India rubber manufacturers in the United 

 States, employing 15,000 operatives, who pro- 

 duce 280,000 tons of goods, valued at $260,- 

 000,000, per annum. 



How the Price of Southern Con- 

 federate Money Dropped. When the 

 first issue of the Confederate money was scat- 

 tered among the people, it commanded a slight 

 premium. It then scaled down as follows : 

 June, 1861, 90c. ; December 1, 1861, 80c. ; 

 December 15, 1861, 75c. ; February 1, 1862, 

 60c. ; February 1, 1863, 20c. ; June, 1863, 

 8c. ; January, 1864, 2c. ; November, 1864, 

 4c. ; January, 1865, 2c. ; Aprill, 1865, lc. 

 After that date, it took from $800 to $1 ,000 in 

 Confederate money to buy a one-dollar green- 

 back. 



Facts About Gold and Silver. A 

 ton of gold or silver contains 29,166.66 ounces. 



A ton of gold is worth $602,875 ; silver, 

 $37,704.84. 



The United States money standard for gold 

 and silver is 900 parts pure metal and 100 parts 

 of alloy in 1,000 parts of coin. 



The value of an ounce of pure gold is 

 $20.67 ; 23.22 grains of pure gold equals $1. 



The term carat when used to distinguish 

 fineness of gold means one twenty-fourth , 

 pure gold is 24-carat gold. 



A cubic foot of gold weighs 1,203 pounds, 

 and is worth about $301,808. 



In round numbers the weight of $1,000,- 

 000 in standard gold coin is If tons (3,685 

 Ibs.) ; standard coin, 26f tons ; subsidiary 

 silver coin, 25 tons ; minor coin, 5-cent nickel, 

 100 tons. 



Glossary of Mining and Milling 

 Terms. 



Battery Generally applied to a set of five stamps. 

 Bullion Ingots of gold or silver ready for the mint. 

 Bumping-table A concentrating table with a jolting 

 motion. Cage A mine elevator. Chute A body of 

 ore, usually elongated, extending downward within a 

 vein ; a slide for ore or waste rock. Cobbing Breaking 

 ore for sorting. Concentrator Machine for removing 

 waste matter from mineral. Copper plates Plates of 

 copper coated with quicksilver, upon which the gold is 

 caught as the ore flows from the stamps. Cord A cord 

 weighs about eight tons. Country-rock The rock on 

 each side of a vein. Crevice A fissure, split, or crack; 

 the vein is called " the crevice." Cribbing The tim- 

 bers used to confine wall rock. Cross-cut A level dri ven 

 across the course of a vein. Deposit Ore bodies not 

 confined to a lode. Drift A tunnel; a horizontal pas- 

 sage underground. Diimp A place of deposit for ore 

 or refuse. Feeder A small vein joining a larger one. 

 Fissure-vein A crack or cleft in the earth's crust filled 

 with mineral matter. Float Loose ore or rock de- 

 tached from the original formation. Flume A pipe or 

 trough to convey water. Foot-wall Layer of rock be- 

 neath the vein. Free milling Ores containing min- 

 eral that will separate from the gangue by simple meth- 

 ods. Hanging-ivall The layer, or rock, or wall, over a 

 lode. Ladde'rway That part of mine shaft containing 

 the ladders. Lagging Timbers over and upon the 

 sides of a drift. Ledge or Lead Mineral ores or gangue 

 within fissure veins. Mill-run Atestof the value of a 

 given quantity of ore. Ores Compound of metals with 

 oxygen, sulphur, arsenic, etc. Paystreak The richest 

 streak in the vein. Pocket A rich spot in the vein or 

 deposit. Refractory Resisting the action of heat and 

 chemical re-agents. Shaft A well-like passage into a 

 mine. Sluices Troughs in which ore is washed. Smelt- 

 ing Reduction of ores in furnaces. Spur A branch 

 of a vein. Stamps Weights for crushing ores. Stope 



The part of a vein above or below the drift from 

 which the ore has been removed. Sloping Excavat- 

 ing the ore from the roof or floor of a drift. Stratum 



A bed or layer. Stulls A framework to support the 

 rubbish when sloping. Sump A well at the bottom 

 of a shaft to collect water. Tailings The refuse left 

 after washing ores containing metals not saved in the 

 first treatment. Tunnel A level driven across a vein. 

 Whim A machine used for raising ore or refuse. 

 Winze An interior shaft sunk from one level to an- 

 other. 



Harvest Months of the World. 



JANUARY. The greater part of Chile, por- 

 tions of the Argentine Republic, Australia, 

 and New Guinea. 



FEBRUARY to MARCH The East Indies. 



APRIL. Mexico, Egypt, Persia, and Syria. 



MAY. Japan, China, Northern Asia Minor, 

 Tunis, Algiers, Morocco, and Texas. 



