He informs us that no large
amounts of gold dust or ore were selling at a sacrifice; he does not
believe that one hundred ounces of the gold dust could have been
purchased at the reported rate of eight dollars, the ordinary prices
ranging from ten to twelve dollars per ounce. The weekly receipts of
gold at San Francisco were estimated at from thirty to fifty thousand
dollars, and Lieutenant Lanman knew of one individual who had in his
possession thirty thousand dollars' worth of pure ore and dust. The
current value of gold in trade was sixteen dollars per ounce. There was
a scarcity of coin throughout the country; but when Lieutenant Lanman
arrived at Panama, he was informed that 600,000 dollars had just been
shipped for California by certain Mexican gentlemen, and that the
American consul at Paita (Mr. Ruden) had in charge coin of the value of
118,000 dollars, which he intends to exchange for ore and dust. Peru
and Chili are not behind the United States in regard to the gold
excitement, no less than twenty vessels having sailed from these two
countries within a short time bound to San Francisco.
Pages:
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342