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GOLD AND SILVER WEST 



NEVER before in the history of the 

 United States has there been such gen- 

 eral and widespread interest and excite- 

 ment in gold discoveries in the West. It 

 extends all over the country, and the cable- 

 grams indicate that it is felt all over the 

 world. This furore is created by the new 

 finds in Colorado alone or the reported 

 new finds in Colorado and if a one hun- 

 dredth part of what is claimed for Cripple 

 Creek, West Creek, Leadville, etc., event- 

 ually pans out, it is all sufficient to startle 

 the world. But the daily papers of the 

 great Central and Eastern cities are not 

 publishing all the news or all the reports 

 from the West. For some reason or 

 other they confine the sensation to Col- 

 orado mining stocks. The newspapers of 

 every Western State and Territory are an- 

 nouncing new discoveries. The Nebraska 

 press announces important new finds of 

 gold and silver and, " a rival for Cripple 

 Creek" is claimed for Fremont county, 

 Wyoming. Utah announces a "world' s gold 

 wonder in the Mercur mines," on "Her- 

 schel" ground; immense shipments of gold 

 are announced from the De Lamar mines 

 in Nevada, gold and opals in Idaho; a big 

 strike of yellow metal in Bill Williams 

 mountains in Arizona; new gold finds in 

 California; a ten-foot solid vein of silver 

 in the Old Dominion mines in Washington; 

 a wonderfully rich gold strike at Monu- 

 ment Rock in the Santa F6 Canyon in 

 New Mexico; a big silver mine in Texas, 

 as well as gold reports from Alaska, and 

 the discovery of an eighty-foot ledge of 

 gold in Vancouver! 



There are skeptics, notwithstanding all 

 the excitement, and they are among the 

 politicians and the investors. These peo- 

 ple are prospecting about to learn the 

 true inwardness of what they are pleased 

 to term tbe ''boom." The politicians of 

 the gold side look wise, and say "I told 

 you so," while the silver men hint that 

 ' ' all this talk of a flood of gold is part of 

 some scheme to silence the silver clamor 

 throughout the country and in Congress, it 

 being taken for granted that the people, 

 believing the reports in full, will conclude 



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that with the bringing out of all this gold, 

 the value of gold and silver must become 

 more equalized." They say it seems to 

 them "as if the boom was intended to be 

 wholly gold, and to be for Colorado alone, 

 but the other States and Territories be- 

 came jealous and ' filed their claims,' the 

 reports of silver from Washington, Ne- 

 braska and Texas coming from newspapers 

 which saw through the conspiracy." 



Investors say that while they have no 

 inclination at all to deny the truth of the 

 reported discoveries in Colorado, they 

 know that for a year past promoters have 

 been preparing to spring the boom which 

 has finally come. 



The Chicago Stock Exchange has refused 

 to list mining shares, but a Chicago Mining 

 Exchange has been determined upon, with 

 men of capital and reputation as its incor- 

 porators. Another institution, perhaps 

 of greater importance, is also to be es- 

 tablished, and such men as ex-Governor 

 John M. Palmer suggest and father it. 

 This latter is a rendezvous where miners 

 and others who have valuable claims but 

 possess no capital, may meet capitalists 

 willing to advance funds for the purpose 

 of developing such properties after an in- 

 vestigation has been made. 



Chicago is going into this Western min- 

 ing development, not only in Colorado 

 but in the other States and Territories, 

 but, so far as the large investors are con- 

 cerned, they will not go into it blindly. 

 As to the Mining Exchange, the opening 

 of the board is actually dreaded, for it is 

 foreseen that excitement and speculation 

 must run wild. Delegations of ladies and 

 clergymen exerted their influence against 

 the listing of mining shares on the Stock 

 Exchange but they have failed in their cru- 

 sade against the Mining Exchange. 



No one doubts the existence of untold 

 gold and other minerals in our Western 

 States and Territories, and if these mining 

 properties are thoroughly worked it will 

 be proved that we have Kaffirs of our own. 

 AVhatever the truth or falsity of recent 

 reports of great new finds, the ''boom" 

 is proving an advertisement that will at- 



