“There’s Millions in It”

MILLIONS in what? In Georgia’s Crown Mountain, where gold had already been found. According to the story, the cry “There’s millions in it” was uttered by Dr. Stephenson, an assayer of the U.S. Mint, from the Dahlonega courthouse steps in Georgia, U.S.A., back in 1849. Why did he make that assertion? When the 1849 California gold rush started, the gold miners from Dahlonega and nearby Auraria started to leave to go west in search of more abundant gold. But the doctor believed there was still gold in northern Georgia. After all, as a historical plaque states, “between 1829 and 1839 about $20,000,000 in gold was mined in Georgia’s Cherokee country.” But the lure of the West was too great; all that is left today of old Auraria are the scattered relics of a former mining town.

A similar fate befell the Empire gold mine in Grass Valley, California. After 367 miles [591 km] of tunnels had been dug, penetrating a mile [1.6 km] deep into the earth, the mine was closed in 1957. It was no longer profitable. Today the mine is a state historic park.

Gold has had its lure for mankind for thousands of years. Yet, its value is artificial and arbitrary, changing with the whims of the stock exchange and the international gold market. Still, there is “gold” that never loses its value and is readily available to all who sincerely search for it. What is it? “Happy is the man that has found wisdom, and the man that gets discernment, for having it as gain is better than having silver as gain and having it as produce than gold itself.” (Proverbs 3:13, 14) Yes, wisdom and discernment, based on knowledge of the true God and his purpose for the earth, are of more permanent value than gold. If you would like to know more about the God of the Bible and the new world he has promised for obedient mankind, please contact Jehovah’s Witnesses at a Kingdom Hall near you or write to the publishers of this magazine.​—See addresses, page 5.

[Picture on page 32]

An abandoned hotel in the old gold-​mining town of Auraria