The Bay State Monthly, Vol. II, No. 6, March, 1885 by Various

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Gold was discovered in Russia in 1743, near Nertschinsk, alluvial
deposits having been observed in that year in the Ural mountains. The
mines extend over that parallelogram of the earth's surface, comprised
between the parallels of 50 deg. and 60 deg. of north latitude, between the
Volga and Amoor rivers. They were not generally explored until 1810. In
1816 their product was but $80,000; at the close of 1823 there was a
large development. In 1830 the annual product was $4,000,000. About that
time the deposits of Siberia were discovered, and at the close of 1840
they yielded a greater production than those of the Ural. In 1843 the
total annual product of both regions was $18,000,000. In 1853 it
attained to $36,000,000, but since that date it has gradually declined
to $22,000,000. The total product of the Russian goldmines has amounted
to $805,000,000. The annual product of gold in Europe is $24,000,000.
The total product of gold in Europe, from the earliest times to the
present day, has amounted to $4,145,000,000.

Gold was discovered in Australia by Edward Hammand Hargreaves, on the
twelfth day of February, 1851, in the Bathurst and Wellington districts,
and the mines extend from 18 deg. to 38 deg. of South latitude. Their annual
product has decreased from $75,000,000 in 1853 to $26,000,000 at the
present time. Their total product has amounted to $1,453,000,000. The
finest gold was obtained at Ballarat, and the largest nugget was dug up
at Donolly, and weighed 2,448 ounces, valued at $46,000. The New Zealand
gold mines were discovered by Messrs. Hartly and Reilly, on the
twentieth of August, 1861, in the Otago district, on the Molineux river,
on the 45 deg. of South latitude. Their annual product has decreased from
$10,000,000 in 1863 to $4,000,000 at the present time. Their total
product has amounted to $176,000,000. The annual product of gold in Asia
(including Australia, New Zealand and Oceanica) is $32.000,000. The
total product of gold in Asia, from the earliest times to the present
day, has amounted $2,065,000,000.

Gold was considered bullion in Palestine for a long time after silver
was current as money. The first mention of gold as money, in the Bible,
is in David's reign (B.C. 1056) when that king purchased the
threshing-floor of Oman for six hundred shekels of gold by weight
($4,500.) The Lydians were the first people who coined money. The word
"_money_" is derived from the temple of Jupiter Moneta, where the Roman
mint was established. Croesus (B.C. 560) coined the golden _stater_,
which contained one hundred and thirty-three grains of pure metal.
Darius, son of Hystaspes, (B.C. 538) coined the _daric_, which contained
one hundred and twenty-one grains of pure metal; it was preferred for
its fineness, for several ages, throughout the East. It is supposed to
be mentioned in the Old Testament under the name of _dram_. Very few
specimens have come down to us. Their scarcity may be accounted for by
the fact that they were melted down under the type of Alexander. Next
were some coins of the tyrants of Sicily; of Gelo (B.C. 491), of Helo
(B.C. 478), and of Dionysius (B.C. 404). Specimens of the former two are
still preserved in modern cabinets. Gold coin was by no means plenty in
Greece, until Philip of Macedon put the mines of Thrace into full
operation, about B.C. 300. There are only about a dozen Greek coins in
existence, three of which are in the British Museum; and of the latter,
two are _staters_, of the weight of one hundred and twenty-nine grains
each. About B.C. 207, a gold coin was struck off at Rome called
"_aureus_," four specimens of which are in the institution before
alluded to. Its weight was one hundred and twenty-four grains.

Gold coins were issued in France by Clovis, A.D. 489. About the same
time, they were issued in Spain by Amalric, the Gothic king; in both
countries they were called "_trientes_." The "_mouton_," worth about
nine dollars, was issued in 1156. Gold coins were first issued in
England in 1257, in the shape of a "_penny_," of the value of twenty
pence; only two specimens have come down to us. "_Florins_" were next
issued in 1334, of the value of six shillings. The "_noble_" followed
next of the value of six shillings and eight pence; being stamped with a
rose, it was called the "_rose noble_." "_Angels_" appeared in 1465, of
the same value as the latter. The "_royal_" followed next in 1466, of
the value of ten shillings. Then come for the first time the
"_sovereign_," in 1489, of the value of twenty shillings. The "_crown_"
followed in 1527, of the value of ten shillings. "_Units_" and
"_lions_," were issued in 1603; the "_laurel_" 1633, and "_exurgats_,"
in 1642; all of the value of twenty shillings. The "_guinea_," of the
value of twenty-one shillings, was issued in 1663, of Guinea gold. In
1773 all gold coins, except the guinea, were called in and forbidden to
be circulated. The present sovereign was issued in 1817. The United
States "_half eagle_" was issued in 1793.

Gold, to the amount of $2,171,000,000, was obtained from the surface and
mines of the earth from the earliest times to the commencement of the
Christian era; from the date of the latter event, to the discovery of
America, $3,842,374,000 was obtained; from the date of the latter event
to the close of 1847 an addition of $3,056,000,000 was obtained; the
triple discovery of the California mines in 1848, the Australian in
1851, and the New Zealand in 1861, has added, to the close of 1884,
$5,558,626,000; making a grand total of $14,628,000,000, of which
$5,818,626,000 has been obtained since 1843. The average loss by
abrasion of coin is estimated by Professor Bowen at one-twentieth of one
per cent. per annum, and the loss by consumption in the arts, and by
fire and shipwreck, at $4,000,000 per annum. A cubic inch of gold is
worth, at 3L 17s. 10 1-2d., or $18.96 per ounce., $193; a cubic foot,
$333,504; and a cubic yard, $9,004,608.

Gold to the amount of $1,081,000,000, is estimated to have been in
existence at the commencement of the Christian era. At the period of the
discovery of America it had diminished to $135,000,000; after that
event, it gradually increased, and in 1600 it attained to $154,000,000,
in 1700 it reached $398,000,000, in 1800 it amounted to $1,156,000,000,
in 1853 it attained to $3,332,000,000, and at the present time the
amount of gold in existence is estimated to be $8,166,000,000; which, if
melted into one mass, could be contained in the basement of Bunker Hill
Monument, which is a cube of thirty feet. Of the amount of gold in
existence $6,000,000,000 is estimated to be in coin and bullion,
$1,000,000,000 in watches, and the remainder in plate, jewelry, and
ornaments. Of the amount of gold in existence $2,374,000,000 is
estimated to have been obtained from North America, $1,739,000,000 from
South America; $1,858,000,000 from Asia (including Australia, New
Zealand, and Oceanica), $945,000,000 from Europe, and $1,250,000,000
from Africa. The amount of the precious metals now in existence is
estimated to be $13,670,000,000.

Gold, as compared with former periods, in regard to its annual product,
has attained, within the last forty-two years, to enormous proportions.
At the date of the discovery of America it was but $100,000; after the
occurrence of that event it gradually increased, and in 1800 it was
$17,000,000, and in 1853 it reached its acme, when it was $236,000,000;
it soon afterwards gradually decreased, and now it is but $98,000,000.

Gold has changed places with silver as regards coinage. Since 1726 the
gold coinage of the French mint has amounted to 11,400,000,000 francs,
of which 8,200,000,000 francs have been issued since 1850. Since 1603
the gold coinage of the British mint has amounted to L409,000,000, of
which L253,000,000 have been issued since 1850. Since 1792 the gold
coinage of the United States mint has amounted to $1,357,000,000, of
which $1,257,000,000 have been issued since 1850. Since 1664 the gold
coinage of the Russian mint has amounted to 900,000,000 roubles, of
which 630,000,000 have been issued since 1850. The twenty-five-franc
piece of France contains 112 grains of pure metal; the sovereign of
England, 113 grains; the new doubloon of Spain, and the half-eagle of
the United States, 116 grains each; and the gold lion of the
Netherlands, and double-ounce of Sicily, 117 grains each. It was
proposed, a few years since, to adopt a uniform system of coinage
throughout the world, so that the coins of one nation may circulate in
any other without the expense of re-coinage, "a consummation devoutly to
be _wished_." The gold coinage of the principal countries of the world
has increased from $77,000,000 in 1848 to $300,000,000 in 1854; in 1876
it declined to $250,000,000, since which it has continued to decrease,
and is now but $90,000,000. The gold coinage of the United States mint,
since 1849, has amounted to $1,281,420,038. In proportion as the wealth
of a country increases it requires a currency of higher value. Gold,
owing to its greater supply, and more convenient portability, is
steadily gaining in the channels of commercial exchange upon silver.

Gold, in view of the large amount which has been thrown into the
monetary circulation of the world since 1843, and the little influence
it has exercised upon the money market and prices generally, has
falsified the predictions of financial writers, a generation ago, upon
both sides of the Atlantic. The following statement will exhibit the
wholesale cash prices in the New York market, on the first day of
January, in the respective years, of six of the principal articals of
commerce:

1860. 1872. 1885.
Beef, per barrel $10.75 $10.00 $11.75
Pork, " " 16.25 14.00 12.25
Flour, " " 5.25 4.12 2.55
Rice, " 100 lbs. 3.87 8.44 5.62
Corn, " bushel .93 .81 .48
Cotton, " pound .11 3-4 .21 1-4 .11 1-4

War is the great enhancer of prices. During the Civil War in the United
States (1861-1865), the prices of the above articles were more than
doubled.

Gold, in the midst of its sudden plethora, was a perplexing problem to
the financial prophets of a third of a century ago. M. Michel Chevalier
(Revue des Deux Mondes, November, 1857) predicted,--"that a decline
would occur in the price of gold, equal to one-half of its former value;
that a period of peril was impending, full of inquietude, instability
and damage to a great variety of interests; that the value of gold would
be diminished, and that consequently wages and prices would be doubled;
that the duties on imports, and the interest on the debts of the
principal nations of the world, must necessarilly follow the same
course; that it would inevitably involve a re-coinage of all the
existing gold coins of the world, from time to time, in order to conform
to the price of the metal; that the value of the twenty-franc piece
would be reduced to 19 1-2, 19, 18 francs, as the depreciation
descended; and he, therefore, recommended a cessation of the gold
coinage until the lowest point of depreciation is reached; that the new
gold fields were likely to prove as productive as at first for several
generations; in no direction could new outlets be seen sufficiently
large to absorb the extra production in such a manner as to prevent a
fall in its value. It might fall until nineteen francs would correspond
only to the amount of well being which could then be obtained for five
francs." Poor man! He lived to see the utter failure of all his
predictions; to behold France become the largest coiner of gold in the
world; an exporter of the precious metals to the amount of $43,000,000
annually during a decade; the rise of the standard of gold from 15 1-2
to 18, as compared with silver, and involving a decline from 62 3-4d. to
52d. per ounce; great fear of a gold famine come upon the Directors of
the Bank of France, and also of the Bank of England; the annual product
of gold to attain its acme, four years before his predictions; its
gradual decline, until it had descended to one-half; a new gold-field
opened in New Zealand; and silver demonetized by his own country,
Germany, and the other principal countries of Europe. M. Emile de
Lavelaye (Ninteenth Century Review, September, 1881), states, "that the
present annual supply of gold is no more than sufficient to meet the
requirements of the expanding commerce of the world. The scarcity of
gold has induced so great a fall in prices that they are now lower than
in 1850. It is estimated that North America has contributed L14,000,000
of the stock of gold in the world." We have already shown that the
annual product of gold has increased, at one period, thirteen fold, and
is now, notwithstanding its rapid decrease, five fold greater than at
the commencement of the present century; that prices have not been in
the least degree affected by the increased supply of gold; and that
North America has contributed $2,374,000,000 of the stock of gold in the
world.

Gold has faithfully performed for the last forty-two years, and, in view
of its abundance and prospective increase, will continue to support its
_role_ of a fixed standard of value, and a firm basis for the bank-note
circulation of the principal countries of the civilized world, which is
evidently growing gradually metallic, as a comparative statement of the
amount of bank-note circulation issued, and the amount of specie held by
the Bank of England, the joint stock banks, and the private banks of
Great Britain the Bank of France, the State banks, and the National
banks of the United States, at different periods, will exhibit:

---------------------------------------------------------------------
1840.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
| GREAT BRITAIN. | FRANCE. | UNITED STATES.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Circulation | L34,976,524 | 220,005,695 francs. | $87,872,171
Specie | 8,751,342 | 225,406,807 " | 35,207,690
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1850.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Circulation | L34,948,765 | 481,552,000 francs. | $118,984,112
Specie | 19,843,026 | 458,820,000 " | 45,379,345
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1862.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Circulation | L39,574,862 | 725,417,563 francs. | $126,599,167
Specie | 22,917,846 | 324,915,234 " | 102,507,559
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1885.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Circulation | L37,215,968 |2,912,386,475 francs. | $112,027,858
Specie | 28,146,893 |2,065,937,158 " | 139,747,080
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Gold has robbed silver of the _prestige_ claimed for it two centuries
ago by Locke,--"that it is the instrument and measure of commerce in all
the civilized and trading parts of the world, and its normal currency."
Gold has maintained its present price for one hundred and sixty years,
while silver has declined twenty-two per cent. within thirteen. When,
owing to scarcity, gold advances in price, then we may fear, that, what
the late Mr. Bagehot use to call the "_apprehension point_," is close at
our heels. The amount of gold in existence has increased from
$1,975,000,000 in 1843 to $8,166,000,000 at the present time; while
silver, owing to the great attrition of coin (estimated by Bowen at one
per cent. per annum), has increased from $5,040,000,000 to but
$5,504,000,000, during the same period. Of the two hundred and twelve
millions of dollars of the precious metals annually produced,
ninety-eight millions are furnished by gold.

* * * * *

MY MOUNTAIN HOME.

BY WILLIAM C. STUROC.

Down in the valleys, where the grasses grow,
And waves the gold-rod and the meadow queen;
Where peaceful streamlets, with a languid flow,
Are calmly shimmering in the noonday sheen--
There may be peace, and plenty too, I ween;
But on the mountain's elephantine height,
Where thunder-drums are beat on bassy key,
And lightning-flashes glisten through the night;
And forests groan with storm-chang'd melody,
There let my home, 'mid lofty nature be--
That, near the stars, and near the sun and moon,
My eyes may gaze upon the book of space,
And learn the lyrics that are sung in tune
As rolling orbs their constant journeys trace.

* * * * *

General Knefler to General Wallace:

INDIANAPOLIS, February 19, 1868.

GENERAL. Upon reading the "Life of Grant," by Colonel Badeau, I
was much surprised to see his version of your conduct on the
first day of the battle of Shiloh. As I was present with your
command on that day, as Assistant Adjutant General of Division,
I desire to make the following statement of facts, as I can
remember them at this time:

The position of your division, on the morning of the sixth of
April, 1862, was as follows: Headquarters of the division and
camp of the First Brigade at Crump's Landing; Second Brigade,
two and a half miles from Crump's Landing, on the Purdy road, at
a place, if I remember right, called Stony Lonesome; Third
Brigade, two and a half miles from the camp of the Second
Brigade, at Adamsville, on the Purdy road, and five miles from
Headquarters of division at Crump's Landing.

When the cannonading was first heard on Sunday morning 'you
issued orders' at once, for the concentration of the division at
camp of the Second Brigade, at Stony Lonesome. The baggage, camp
and garrison equipage was ordered to Crump's Landing, and
detachments were made for its protection. "_These orders were
given before you heard from Headquarters_."

About 9 o'clock General Grant passed up on the Tigris and in
passing the boat upon which were your Headquarters, had a
conversation with you. I did not hear what was said, but you
immediately mounted, and accompanied by your staff rode rapidly
to the camp of the Second Brigade. It was, perhaps, two hours
before any order arrived. I know you were anxiously looking for
orders, and finally despatched one of your aids to ride to the
landing to ascertain if any one had arrived with orders, and
conduct him to you. Shortly after that,--it must have been 12
o'clock, M., Captain Baxter, A.Q.M., arrived with orders, and
brought the very cheering intelligence that our army was
successful. I cannot tell at this time what the particular
language was. The order was placed in my hands as Assistant
Adjutant General, but where it is now, or what became of it, I
am unable to say; very likely, having been written on a scrap of
paper, it was lost after coming into my hands; a matter which I
much regret, as I feel confident that its production now would
conclusively demonstrate that you obeyed the command contained
in it. I remember, however, distinctly, that it was a written
order to march and form a junction with the right of the army,
which was understood to be the right of the army as it rested on
the morning when the battle began. Suffice it to say, that the
division marched at once, and took the road which had been
previously ascertained as leading to the right of the army, in
the position it occupied on the morning of the sixth, and
previous to that time. The road was then patrolled and picketted
by cavalry detachments of your command. By your permission, I
was marching with the advance guard, comprised of several
companies of the Twenty-fourth Indiana Volunteers, Lieutenant
Colonel Berber, commanding. We marched very rapidly, and to
judge from the sound of the battle, we were approaching it fast.
The advanced guard had reached the crossing of Snake Creek, near
a mill, or some large building, where a bridge had been
constructed, and from that point we could see the smoke
overhanging the battle-field and distinctly hear the musketry,
when an order was received, to retrace our steps, and work our
way to the head of the column. We marched back at once, almost
to our starting place, where we found the column was marching
through the woods where there was no road (not even a trail
appeared) to save time and distance. The troops were marching
very fast, and I did not come up with you for perhaps two hours
after the advance guard received orders to countermarch.

When the column was put in motion on the river road, which must
have been after 4 o'clock, we were met by some staff officers of
General Grant, Major Rawlins and Colonel McPherson, and another
officer whom I did not know. They had some conversation with
you, and then, for the first time I learned that our troops had
been repulsed, and that we were then marching to join the right
of the army, in its new position, at Pittsburg Landing. After
some hard marching over execrable roads we reached our position
about dusk.

The road the division first marched on led directly to the right
of the army in its position as stated above, and we would have
joined it, had it not been repulsed, before 3 o'clock P.M.

Having conversed with many of the division who were present on
that day, it is the general impression that we marched between
fifteen and eighteen miles. Now, considering that we had troops
not inured to hard marching, some of them on their first march,
the condition of the roads, almost impassible, and part of that
distance through woods, without any road, at all, it certainly
ought not to be intimated that you did not do your whole duty in
endeavoring to reach the field.

I am General, very respectfully, Your obedient servant,

FRED KNEFLER.

Late Colonel Seventy-ninth Regiment Indiana Volunteers.

* * * * *

REUBEN TRACY'S VACATION TRIPS.

BY ELIZABETH PORTER GOULD.

II.

"O mamma, did'nt we have a good time at the Isles of Shoals last
summer?" said Reuben Tracy to his mother one evening last July as they
sat together on their piazza. "Did'nt the boys stare though when I told
them all about it in our geography class. Ned Bolton said that I knew
more about it than the geography did; and afterwards he asked me if I
had ever seen a mountain. How I wish I could see one and climb to the
very top of it. Oh my, would'nt I look!"

And the boy's eyes looked as though they would look to the satisfaction
of the most devoted teacher.

"Well," my boy, replied Mrs. Tracy as she drew him nearer to her in
loving admiration of such enthusiasm, "only yesterday I received a
letter from your uncle in Northampton urging me to take you and come to
make him a visit, and I thought then what a good opportunity it would be
for you to see your first mountain. Now do you know what one I mean?"

"Oh yes," answered Reuben; "but you mean two, do'nt you? Mount Tom and
Mount Holyoke. I learned that in my geography. I can see it now in my
book where it says that Mount Tom is twelve hundred feet high, and Mount
Holyoke one thousand feet high." But Bob Phelps said that there were
lots of Rattlesnakes on Mount Tom, so I should not dare to go there--but
then--"

"Visitors don't go on Mount Tom proper, as there is no accomodation for
them," interrupted Mrs. Tracy, "but on Mount Holyoke there is the
Prospect House, which your uncle said last summer was a very well-kept
house. Why, it is thirty-five years ago that I was on top of that
mountain, when, as a young girl, just a little older than you, I went
with my father and mother. A Mr. French had just taken the house. I
wonder if he is there now. He seemed determined then to do what he could
for the place. I can hear him now telling my father that a spot which
had been such a favorite one for over two hundred years must have some
superior claim upon the people of his day. I really would love to go
there again. It is one of those places which once seen is never
forgotten, and then I could'nt choose a better spot for your
introduction to a lovely mountain view. But, my child, it is getting
late and time for you to go to bed. Run along and I will write to your
uncle to-night and accept his cordial invitation."

"And tell him" added Reuben, "that I wish every boy in this world had
such a boss mother as I have. Ned Bolton says so, too;" with which
unique expression of love and gratitude he kissed his mother "Good
night" and went off to bed to dream of, well, what do you think? Of
rattle-snakes, of mountains, or even of geography? Oh, no! only nothing,
for he was a healthy boy who said he couldn't spare the time to dream.

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