GOETHE
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GOLD COAST
the Colvert canals in the Tennessee River. He was made Chief Engineer of the First Army Corps in 1898, and later Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal and Chairman of the Isthmian Commission. He was appointed first governor of the Canal Zone.
Goethe (ge'te), Johann Wolfgang, was born at Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, Aug. 28, 1749. His boyhood was passed amid pleasant surroundings in study and play until 1765, when he was admitted to Leipsic University. Here his time was given, not so much to the more serious studies, as to art, music and drama, and his first drama in verse. The Humors of a Lover (1767), was dedicated to the girl whom he loved. In 1768 he returned to Frankfort sick, and for almost a year he remained an invalid. He sought the consolations of religion, and began the study of alchemy during this illness, continuing this study after his arrival at the University of Strassburg. He received his degree, returned to his native city, but could find no pleasure in the practice of law. While at home he wrote The Wanderer and Wanderer's Storm-Song. In 1773 he finished Prometheus and in 1774 Erwin und Elmire, his wonderful work The Sorrows of Werther and the tragedy Clavigo. He removed to Weimar upon the invitation of the young Duke of Weimar, and in 1776 was made a member of the privy council. After ten years of public labor, during which he wrote very little, he went to Italy for rest, only revising his former work, and Egmont and Iphigenia were completed, besides some touches being added to Faust. The first part of Faust was published in 1808. He was greatly interested in science, and among his works are many essays upon botany and other scientific subjects, which are of permanent value. He died at Weimar, March 22, 1832. Goethe is the greatest of German authors, and one of the grea,t poets of the world. His Faust has been ranked by scholars with Hamlet and Job — "the three greatest tragedies." Goethe was a noble-looking man both in ^outh and in old age. His influence has touched every civilized people, and seems still growing. See Life (in English) by Diintzer, by Geo. H. Lewes and by Bielschowsky.
Gog and Magog, names several times used in the Bible and given to the famous figures of the two giants in Guildhall, London. In Genesis Gog is mentioned as the son of Japhet, and in Ezekiel he is spoken of as prince of Magog, united with others against Israel. In Revelation they appear as standing for all enemies of the Kingdom of God. Those in the Guildhall are supposed to be the images of the last two of a race of giants who were conquered by Brut.
Golcon'da, a fortress situated in Hyderabad, India, near which are the ruins of the capital of Golconda, which fell about 1687.
The fort is held by a small garrison and serves as a treasury of the Nizam. Golconda is popularly famous for its1 diamonds, but as a matter of fact they were only cut and polished there.
Gold, on account of its beautiful color and since it does not become tarnished or corroded in use, is considered the most precious of metals and is used as the principal basis of value throughout the civilized world. It has been known from time immemorial, and is found in many parts of the world.
It is usually found in the metallic or native state in the form of nuggets or smaller particles, in sand or gravel or distributed through rocks or veins. Nuggets weighing as much as 1,000 ounces have been found. Native gold always contains some silver. The metal is also found in combination with tellurium as telluride ore, and it frequently accompanies copper ores and iron pyrites. The extraction of gold from sands or gravels, called alluvial or placer mining, is accomplished by washing with water in various ways. The heavy gold sinks to the bottom when the material is stirred up with water, and mercury (quicksilver) is usually used to amalgamate the gold and hold it. Solid ores have to be reduced to powder by stamp-mills or other devices before the gold can be extracted, and sometimes they must be heated to redness (roasted) to drive off tellurium or other things. One of the modern methods of extracting gold from ores consists in dissolving out the metal with water containing potassium cyanide. This is known as the cyanide process. Gold is the heaviest of all the familiar metals except platinum. It is more than 19 times as heavy as water. In malleability it stands first among the metals, being capable of being beaten to a thickness of ^s^.Wo °f an inch rnd dactile enough to be drawn into a wire 500 feet long and weighing only one grain. It may be alloyed with other metals to change the color for designs. The best known alloy of gold is that with copper, which is used for gold coins. The chief gold-discoveries have been in California, 1848; Australia, 1851; British Columbia, 1858; New Zealand and Nova Scotia, 1861; South Africa, 1868; West Australia, 1870; South Australia, 1886; Alaska and Klondike, 1896. In 1909 the world's production of gold was 454 million dollars, of which the U. S. yielded 99 millions in value.
Gold Coast, a crown-colony of Britain lying along the Gulf of Guinea, on the west coast of Africa, of an area, including Ashanti and the protectorate, of about 82,000 square miles and an estimated population of 1,502,899. It has a coast line of about 350 miles. Ashanti (capital Kumasi), part of the protectorate, formerly gave the English great trouble to pacify the natives.
