Galveston County, Texas - The whole text, 1895 (part 6 of 26)

Apatite, which is a phosphate of lime, has as yet been found only in very small quantities in Texas. Its value as a fertilizer is due to its contents of phosphoric acid, and if it can be discovered in any quantity will be of very considerable value in connection with the greensand and other marls in sandy lands low in tlmt essential element. Phosphate of lime is also the chief constituent of bone, and any deposits of this character will also prove of value. As yet known, no deposits rich in phosphatic material have been found in Texas.

£at guano, as a fertilizer, occupies a place secona '^n notliing, except it be the Peruvian guano. Its great value as a fertilizer is due to its salts of ammonia, potash and phosphorus. It is found in caves in Williamson, Burnet, Lampasas, Llano, Gillespie, Blanco, Bexar and other counties of Texas in gnat quantities. It varies greatly in quality. Many of the caves are so situated that water has access to the beds, and parts of the valuable salts of ammonia are dissolved and carried off. In others, fires have by some means got started and immense bodies of the guano burned. Many analyses have been made from different caves, and large quantities of it have been shipped, but the present lack of railroad facilities in the vicinity of the deposits has prevented their successful working.

Gi/j^sum, as a top dressing for many crops, is of great use, and when ground for this purpose is known as land plaster. Ground gypsum is also an excellent deodorizer.

Texas is abundantly supplied with this material. Not only does it occur in immense deposits in the Permian beds west of the the Abilene-Witchita country, but all through the timber belt beds it is found along the streams and scattered through the clays as crystals of clear selenite, often miscalled '-mica" or "isinglass." It is of all degrees of purity, from the pure selenite to an impure gypseous clay. So far it has been little used for this pui'pose in Texas.

Gr^.ensand marl is a mixture of sand and clay with greensand, and often contains quantities of shells. Greensand, or glauconite, as it is often called, is a mineral of green color composed of silica (sand) in chemical combination with iron and potash, and usually contains more or less phosphoric aciil, and the shells furnish lime. Where it occurs in its original and unaltered condition it is is of a more or less pronounced green color, due to the color of the greensand in it. Where it has been subjected to chemical action the greensand is gradually decomposed and the iron unites and forms liydro\is oxide of iron, or iron rust. This alteration gives rise to a great variety of color in the different beds of the material. When it is fully altered in this way it forms the led or yellow sandstone so much used in east Texas.

Numerous analyses have been made of these marls, both in their original and altered conditions. They contain, in all the samples tested at least, lime, potash and phosphoric acid, just the elements that are required to fertilize the sandy soils and to renew and increase the fertility of those that have been worn out. These elements occur in the marl in variable amotnits, and less in the altered than in the unaltered material. In nearly every instance, however, the amounts were sufhcient to lie of great agricultural value to every held within hauling distance of such a deposit. It often happens, too, that these beds of marl lie in closest pro-Kimity to the very soils on which they are most needed, and all the farmer has to do to secure the desired results is to apply it as a fertilizer.

If any proof is wanted of the adaptability of these marls, and of their great value on just this character of soil, it is shown in New Jersey, where exactly similar conditions exist. In that State there were large areas of pine-land soils which were, like ours, of little agricultural value, because of the small amounts of potash, phosphoric acid and lime contained in them. There were, however, large deposits of greensand marl adjacent to them, and its use has been of the highest benefit. This is fully attested bijth by the agricultural and the geological reports of the State. It gives lasting fertility to the soils. No held that has once been marled is now poor. One instance was fonnd wheie poor and sandy land was marled more than tliirty years ago and has ever since been tilled without manure, and not well managed, wliich is still in good condition. Fruit trees and vines make a remarkable growth and produce fruit of high flavor when liberally dressed with this marl. Although the greensand marls of east Texas are not as rich as those of New Jersey, they are nevertheless rich enough to be of the same use to our lands. Nearly 200,000 tons of greensand marls are used yearly in New Jersey.

Tlie greensand decomposes and is dissolved very slowly, and the tiner it is powdered the more rapid will be its action. It should also be spread evenly and uniformly over the ground. It is ordinarily wet when first dug, but after a certain amount of drying it can be easily pulv(?rized, or it can be dried more rapidly and rendei'ed more friable by the mixture of a small amount of quicklime with it. It could also be improved by composting it with barnyard manure or guano. Owing to the <lifKculty with which the greensand is dissolved, the effects are not always so apj)arent the first year, but it is a lasting fertilizer, as is shown by the quotations given above.

The amount required will of course vary with the composition of the soil and tlie quality of the greensand. From three to teii wagon loads per acre would, perliaps, be the usual amount required, although some soilmight need even more.

Calcareous J/i?/7.y. - Lime is already use I to a large extent in agriculture, and will be used more largely still. Its uses are to lio-hten clay soils ami to make sandy soils more firm, while sour soils or swamp lands are sweetened by its application. In addition to this the chemical action brought about by its presence in the decomposition and rendering soluble of other constituents of the soil is very great, so that its action is l)oth chemical and physical. Its use is perhaps most beneficial when composted with organic manures or the greensand marls.

When the calcareous marls are soft enough to be easily powdered they may be applied as they are, and in this condition the action of the lime is much more gradual and of longer continuance. When they exist as harder rocks they will have t') be burned before applying them.

Among the rucks of tlie (cretaceous series are many deposits wiiicii are especially ailapted for use in this vvav. Localities are numerous in the divisions known as tlie Austin chalk and the Washita limestone which will atioid a soft material well suited for tlie pni-pose.

It often happens tiiat in the greensand beds themselves there are large deposits of fossil shells still in their original form a-^ carbonate of lime. Where these occur the marl is of great value, as it contains that which will render it most valuable on such sandy lauds as ueed it.

Clays. - Some of the clays of east Texas will prove of value as fertilizers on account of the large amount of potash they contain - as high as five and six per cent, in certain cases. While it is true that much of tlie potash is in chemical combination with silica, and therefore soluble only with difficulty, if composted with quicklime this substance will be rerulen d more soluble and prepared for plant tood.

Fr'Tile Jiatkrials

Texas has not yet begun to take that ])lace among the inanufa/turers of pottery and glassware which the character, quality and extent of the materials found within her borders render possible. For pottery-making there exist clays adapted to every grade, from common jug ware and tiling through yellow, Rockingham, C. C, white granite or ironstone china, to china or porcelain of tl e finest quality. Glass sands are also found of a high degree of purity, and many other materials of use or necessity in the manufacture of these various grades of goods are found here.

Among the clays of the division known as coast clays are some that will answer for the coarser stoneware, such as jugs, flower pots, drain tile, etc., and others which from their I'efractory character are well adapted for the inanutacture of charcoal furnaces, and possibly of sewer pipe.

The coast region contains beds of light colored clays, many of which are pure white. These beds of clay not only underlie and overlie the middle beds <>f P'ayette sands, but are also found interbedde<l with that series. The excellent qualities of these clays were first stated by Dr. W. P. Kiddell, of the first geological survey of Texas under Dr. Shumard. His specimens were olitainel from the Yegua, in Washington county, and in tlie vicinity of Hempstead. Since that time many analyses have been made of clays of various portions of these beds, and while some of them are too high in alkalies or fusible constituents, others are well suited to the manufncture of all grades of earthen ware below that of porcelain, or French china as it is called. Clays of this character have been secured in various localities from Angelina to and below Fayette county. There are beds in the Fayette sands that will be of value in glassmaking. Some of the beds are composed of clear angular quartz grains without tinge of iron, having only an occasional grain of rounded red or black quartz.

In the timber-belt beds there are other clays and sands well suited to the manufacture of earthenware and glass. Most of the lieds of pottery clays of this division examined so far in eastern Texas are, howevei', only suited for the coarser grades of eartheu- kaolin. - In Robertson county, not far from the town of Alexia, tliei-e is a deposit of sandy clay which is readily separated by washing into a kaolin of excellent quality and a perfectly pure quartz sand. Tiiis kaolin has been tested practically and produces a good porcelain.

Potteries have been erected in various parts of the State witliin tlie limits of tlie Fayette and timber-belt beds fur the manufacture of common cai'thenware, ttower pots, etc., and several are now in successful operation. Among localities of potteries may be mentioned Lavernia, Wilson county: Atiiens, Henderson county; Kosse, Limestone connty; Burton, Washington county, and othei's.

In addition to the kaolin already mentioned in Kobertson county, kaolins of excellent quality are found in Edwards and Uvalde counties. These are pure white in color, somewhat greasy to the touch, and are infusible in the hottest blow-pipe flame. Ijeing practically free from iron, they are adapted to the making of the best grades of china. They are free from grit and every other objectionable impurity. A comparison of the analyses of these kaolins with those of established reputation more fully show their value.

Of the other materials needed in the manufacture of pottery, -we have deposits of feldspar well suited for glazing; gypsum for the manufacture of plaster of paris for molds; clays suitable for the saggers, and cheap fuel in abundance.

Building Materials

is so great that it will be impracticable to allude to them in any other tiian general tci-ms. They will therefore be grouped under general headings.

O'/v/iitcs occur in widely separated portions of the State. The tirst Inrality is what has lieen termed in tlie reports the central mineral region, the second is in the extreme west, or trans-Pecos Texas. Tlie granites of the tirst or central region are of different colors. The best known is the red granite, such as was used in the construction of the cajiitol building. The color is red to dark reddish-gray, vai'ying frum tine to rather coarse grain in structure, and susceptible i>f high polish. The outcrop of the granite, which can be quarried to any desired dimensions, covers an area of over 100 square miles.

There is a quarry now in ojiei'ation on the portion from which the granite was taken for the building of the capitol, on account of which it was originally opened, the nnitci'ial used iiaving been donated by the owners, Colonel Norton, Dr. Westfall and George W. Lacy.

Eesides this particular granite tliere are many others in this region which will prove as usefid. In the northern part of Gillespie county there is a brownish granite of very grain which takes a beautiful polish; and in addition there are found in various portions of the region granites varying in color from light to dark gray, which are well adapted for building purposes, and in some instances will prove of decided value for ornamental and monumental purposes.

The granites of trans-Pecos Texas, like those of the central mineral region, are well suited' both for building and ornamental purpo^e<. The weslern granites, however, lack the variety of color which is found in those of the eeiifral n'oion, l)eiiig for the most part a lighter or (hii-kor gi'ay, the feldspar being very li^ht-colored in all of tlicni. They are adjacent to railway transportation, however, as the Southern Pacific Kailway passes very near their outcrop in the Qnituian mountains and directly by them in the Fianklin mountains, near El Paso, and will sooner or later come into market.

Porphyries. - Among the most beax;tifnl and indestructible of our building stones we must place the poi-phyries. Their hardness, however, and the difficulty of quarrying and dressing them, often prevent their takiiiLc the place in actual use that their good qualities would otherwise secure for thenj ; but where the elements of durability and beauty are sought their worth must be properly recognized.

Porphyries of almost every shade and color abound in trans-Pecos Texas. There are in the State museum specimens taken from the outcrops in the Quitman Mountains alone, which are readily divisible into twenty or more shades. These vary through light grays, yellows, reds, purj>les and greens to black, and their p<ilislied surfaces are especially rich. The quantity and accessibility to railroad transportation must prove sufficient inducement for their development.

Marhles. - The deposits of the marbles, like those of the gi'anites, are found both in the central mineral region and in trans-Pecos Texas. In addition to these deposits there occur in numerous places limestones more or less altered from various causes which are locally called marliles, and are sometimes both beautiful and useful when properly dresed. Among such deposits may be niiticed what is known as the Austin marble, a stratum of the Cretaceous which has been altered until its fossils have been cliauo-ed to calcite. The body of the stone is, when polished, of a light yellow color, and the tracings of the contained shells in pure calcite, which gives a very pretty effect, although their fragile character detracts greatly from the usefulness of the stone. Otiier deposits of similar semi-marbles of various colors are found among the Carbonil'erous limestones of the northern portion of the State The marbles and semi marbles of the central mineral region are tlie altered limestones of the Silurian and older l)eds, some of whicli are of tine texture and capable of receiving an excellent polish. The ma'bles of the Silurian beds found in San Saba, Eui'uet, Gillespie and other counties, which are known as " Burnet marbles," ai'e both of S(j]id color and variegated. They are fouiKl in beautiful pink, white, buff, blue and gray shades, and although not true marbles, are well adapted for many uses.

The marbles belonging to what are called the Texan beds, a formation older than the Silurian, are, however, real marbles. They are found near Packsaddle moiiutaiti. Enchanted Peak, and in the Comanche creek region of Mason county. They are often snowy white in color, of even grain, and among the deposits are found strata of medium thickness. They are not, however, as extensive as the deposits of the semi-marbles.

In trans-Pecos Texas marbles belonging, as is supposed, to the same geologic age, exist in great abundance, and for beauty in color can not be surpassed.

From the Carrizos to the Quitman mountains outcrops occur in the vicinity of the railroad of marbles which are certain at no distant day to become the basis for great ccmmercial industry. They are found banded or striped and clouded, as well as pure white. They are fine-grained, and can be quarried

Tlie 11)11 ('><t(i>u'-'< 'A IVxa;^ wiiicli are suited for liuilding purposes are ahiinilant and widespread in their occurrenee. The Cretaceous formation wdiieh covers fully onefourth of the entire area of tiie State abounds in limestone well adapted for structural purposes. In addition to tins we have the limestones of the CarhonilVroiis, Permian atid Silurian sys-tems, so that tlie total area is largely increased.

The limestones of the Cretaceous occur both in its ujiper and lower divisions. In the Austin ciialk there ai'e beds which furnish excellent stone which is quarried for use in many places, but a large portion of it is too chalky and not tirm enough for general use. The best limestone of this formation is that contained in the Fredericksburg and Washita divisions of the Lower Cretaceous. These limestones are of color varying from white to yellow, very rarely darker, and are often somewhat soft wdien first quarried, becoming harder on exposure.

Among the materials of the Clear Fork division of the Permian formation ai'e some even-bedded limestones of square fracture, tiiie, even grain and good color, that will prove valuable as building material. These were observed in the northwestern part of Shackelford county, and will also be found north and south of that locality along the outcrop of these beds. Seymour and liallinger show buildings constructed of these limestones.

SaiuL-iioiii'x and Qi!'rrt.~'iles. - The sand- !-tones are fully as widely distributed as the limestones, beino- found in nearly all districts in greater or less quantity. In the I'ayette sands are found beds of indurated sands of light color which have been used in various localities along their line of outcrop for building purposes. Kock has been (jnarried from these deposits for many localities, principally at Rockland, Tyler county; Quarry Station, on the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad; Rock Quarry, on the Houston ife Texas Centi-al Railway, in Washington county, and in various parts of Fayette, Lavaca and other counties to the southwest.

In the timber-belt beds the altered (and even the unaltered) greonsand marls are sometimes so indurated as to be nseil for bidlding purposes. In addition to this many of the hill-cappings of sandstone, which at times replace the iron ore, are valuable building stones.

In the Cretaceous area north of the Colorado river there are no sandstones of any particular value so far as our examinations have extended.

The area of the central coal field abounds in excellent sandstone for building purposes, some of which has been extensively quarried and used in the construction of buildings fiom Dallas west to Cisco. It is of good color, quarries well, and presents a handsome appearance in the wall. It is so generally found in this district that it is impossible to name the localities.

In the Permian there are some sandstones which vvill be of wide application in the buildings of the State. East of Pecos City, at Quito, on the Texas & Pacific Railway, a company has recently opened a quarry in a compact, well jointed red sandstone wdiich is probably of Permian age. It is of a beautifid red ctdoi', uniform in texture and color, easily worked yet durable, and in every way adapted to the best uses in building. The company in boring a well at the place have passed tlirongh more tlian 100 feet of this red sandstone, thus proving its unlimited quantity. It will compare favorably in every way with the sandstones formerly im- |)iirteil into the State for the fronts and trimmings of buildings.

Beyond the Can-izo and Dialiolo mountains there is a tine-gi'ained red sandstone wiiich is destined to Ije one of the finest building stones of the State. It is a little darker in color than the Quito stone, finer-grained, firmer, of even texture, and will lend itself to almost any character of decoration.

Slate. - The two areas in which the older recks are found both give promise of furnishing slate suitable for roofing. In the central mineral district several kHailtics have been examined which on the surface give indication of furnishing good roofing slate, and in the vicinity of the Carrizo mountains, El Paso county, similar indications are found.

It will of courfe require some actual work in opening the quarry sufficiently to ascertain the condition of the material below the surface to fully decide the value of the de- ]i0sits, but the indications are very tavoi-able and warrant such an attempt at development.

Clays suitable for brickmaking, terra cotta and drain tile are lound in all the different formations occurring in the State. All are not of equal value, and indeed the brick made from some few are quite inferior, but the majority produce good, serviceable brick. The colors of the brick vary from yellow or cream color, such as are made at Austin, through vaiious shades of browns and reds, according to the character of the clay. In eastern Texas, as well as in the carboniferous area, the brick ai-e usually mottled from the amount of iron in the clays. Selected clays, however, in these localities produce brick of excellent color. The importance of this industry will be seen by the following statement of the aggregate of brick production for the year 1889, which was received from the operators of the brick kilns in answer to inquiries, namely, 95,000,000.

Many of the clays of the Tertiary examined during the past year are well suitfd to the manufacture of terra cotta and drain tile. -These are found in the region covered by the timber-belt beds, as well as among the Fayette clays. Those of the other areas have not yet been examined fully enough to determine their availability for these purposes, l:)ut it is probable that nniny carboniferous clays will prove well adapted foithem.

Lime. - As is well known, the lime made from the rocks of that horizon of the Cretaceous formation known as the Caprina limestones (which is the most persistent bed ot all the foi'niation) is unsurpa.sed for quality. The fame of the Austin lime is well established. Other beds of the cretaceous will answer well in lime-making, although some ( f them contain too much clayey matter, or are otherwise unfitted for this use. Lime italso made from the limestone of the other deposits, but none of these have been so successfully operated as those above mentioiied. The reports received for 1889 gave a total production of 190,000 ban els.

Natural, or hydraulic, cement is made from certain clayey limestones, whicli, when Imrned and ground, have the property of setting mbecoming hard under water. Portland cements are of similar character, but are made by artificially mixing tiie limestone and clays in the proper proportion.

Materials for both chai-acters of cement exist in abundance within the State. The limestones of certain beds of the Cretaceous are clayey enough to make cement when properly calcined and ground, and the same properties are claimed for some of those found in the Tertiary, hut our tests have so far failed to hear out the claim. Some of the limestones belonging to the Clear Fork beds of the Permian might answer if the percentage of magnesia was not too great.

The materials for Portland cement are, however, more abundant, and the product of so much hetter quality as to render the natural cement a matter of comparatively small importance. The Austin chalk is rather widespread in its distribution and adjacent to clays of almost any required grade.

The entire practicability of the manufacture of Portland cement has been shown by tlie two factories which have undertaken it, one at San Antonio, the other at Austin. The former supplied much of the cement used in the erection of the present capitol building, and it was of very excellent quality. Plaster of Paris is produced from gypsum by driving out the percentage of water which is chemically combined with it. Its manufacture on any desired scale is entirely practicable in the Permian region of Texas, where many beds of gypsum of great purity occur.

Saiul for mortar, plaster, etc., is found in many places. The Cretaceous is jierhaps the area in which it is scarcest, and it can be brought in from either side. The locations will be more fully discussed in the descriptions of counties. ^

Metals And Okes

Beginning at the Louisiana line with a breadth of nearly 150 miles, stretching southwest in a gradually narrowing belt and probably fading out in Caldwell county or just beyond, theie is found a series of hills of greater or less elevation which are capped with ferruginated material, varying from a sandstone with a small amount of oxide of iron in the matrix, to limonite ores of high grade. Of this division only a few of the counties of east Texas have been fully examined, but enough has iieen done to show the probability that the gi-eater amount of workable ores of this belt lit- ea!>t of the 96th meridian, although there may be localities west of that line at which ores of value occur. These ores are associated entirely with rocks of the Tertiary and later periods.

In the Cretaceous no iron ores of any consequence are known except in the extreme where deposits of ochre seem to occur in connection with strata belonging to the Fredericksburg division of the Lower Cretaceous series.

There are only a few ores of any value found in the carltonifeious area, and those of the Permian are not of much importance. The central mineral region, however, contains, in connection with its deposits of older rocks, larce deposits of very valuable ores, including magnetite, red hematite, a'ld various hydrated ores. Finally, in tians- Pecos Texas iron ores of the heniiitite and iiingnetic types arc found in veins of considerable thii-knt'SS.

The oi'es of east Texas all belong to the class of linionites, or brown hematites. They have been divided aceordir.g to their physical structure, due to the manner of their formation, into four general classes, - laminated ores, geode or nodular ores, conglomerate ores, and carbonate ores.

The laminated ores are brown to black in color and vary in structure from a massive to a higlilv laminated variety in which the laminae vary from one-sixteenti> to one-quarter of an inch in thickness, frequently separated by hollow spaces, and sometimes containing thin seams of gray clay. The average tliickne.-s of the ore l)ed is from one to three feet, although it may exceed this in places. This class of ores is most extensively developed south of the Sabine river. The ore bed is generally underlaid by a stratum of greensand marl from ten to thirty feet in thickness, and overlaid by from one to sixty feet of sands and sandstones.

The nodular, or geode ores, which aie best developed north of the Sabine river, usually occur as nodules orgeodes, or as sandyclay strata. This ore generally occurs in nodules or gcodes, or as honey-combed, botryoidal, stalactitic and mammillary masses. It is rusty brown, yellow, dull reil, or even black color, and has a glossy, dull, or earthy lustre. The most characteristic feature of the ore is the nodular or geode form in which it occurs. Some of the beds are made up of these masses, either loose in a sandy-clay matrix or solidified in a bed by a ferruginous cement. The ore lies horizontally at or near the tops of the hills, in the same manner as the brown laminated ores to the south of the Sabine river. The "beds vary in thickness from less than one foot to over ten feet, the thicker ones being often interbedded witji thin seams of sand. The ore-learing beds are immediately overlaid by sandy or sandyclayey strata.

Conglomerate ores consist of a conglomerate of brown ferruginous ptbbles one-quarter to two inches in diameter and cemented in a sandy matrix. Sometimes a few siliceous pebbles are also found. The beds vary from one to twenty feet thick, and are generally local deposits along the banks and bluffs and sometimes in tiie beds of almost all the creeks and streams in the iron-ore region just described. Sometimes they cap the lower hills. They are generally of low grade, but could be concentrated by crushing and washing out the sandy matrix. They usually contain more or less ferruginous sandstone in lenticular deposits, and are much cross-bedded.

The investigations of the survey in east Texas show an aggregate iron-bearing area of a thousand square miles. This is not all a solid bed of commercial ore, but the area within which commercial ores are known to exist. If even one-fourth bo taken as productive iron land, and the bed be estimated at two feet in thickness, both very safe estimates, we have a total outputof 1,500,000,000 tons of iron ore. The quality of the ores varies from that adapted to the manufacture of steel, or " Bessemer ores. " to that of low grade.

Hi Story Of Texas

A great quantity of Iifmniiii' irdiixfuiK' is ivported to occur in tlie beds adjacent to tlie W'aidrip-Cisco division, which, if it equal the sample analyzed, is a very valuable ore.

The iron ores of the central mineral region aie of tliree classes, magnetites, hematites, and liydrons ores, eacli of which has its own nlaeeand mode of occurrence. The magTieiites lie in the northwest trend in the Arclisean rucks, MJiich for practical purposes may be c'Mifined between nortliwest-soutliea,--t lines drawn through Lone Grove town upon the east and throuo-h Enchanted Rock upon the ue^t Thisl)locks out a district twenty miles wiile, and extending perhaps thirty niiles in the direction of the strike. Within this Held, however, various structural features have prevented, in many places, the outcropping of the iron-bearing system, so that probably two thirds of the area is not in condition to yield ore without removing thick deposits of later origin. Assuming that one-third of the territory, in scattered patclies, will show the Fernaudan beds at surface or at depths that may be considered workable from an economical stand]ioint, it must be understood that only a small fraction of the thi(d-;ness of these strata is iron ore. Keeping in mind al.-o the folded condition of the rocks, it is evident that the chances for mining will bo dependent largely iipon the character of the erosion, it being premised that the iron lied, if such it be, is not very near the top of the system to which it belongs.

The general section of this system of rocks shows tliat the magnetite, sometimes associated with hematite, occurs in a bed usually about fifty feet thick at a definite horizon in it. The investigations of the survey show that

Tlie nitist eastern of the^e is the llabyhead belt, and the outci'ops follow a line bearing southeastward, west of Dihyhead jiostoth'ce and Lone (^rove, and coming out southward very near tJie Wolf crt)ssing of the Colorado river. Probably the best exposure of this belt is the Babyhead mountains, and its northern boundary does not cross the Llano county line. To the southeast good results may be expected as far as Miller's en ek.

A second belt west of this occupies the area between Packsad'He and Kiley mountains, and stietches northwestward by Llano town toward Valley Spring. Ores of value have been found in many places in this belt, the surface indications of the underlying beds of magnetite being hematite orlimonite. The third, or the Iron mountain belt, is that on which the greatest amount of work has been expeiuled, and in two places in it large and valuable masses of magnetic iron have been exposed. The bed is most persistent, and can be traceil for miles. At Iron mountain a shaft lias been sunk down the side of the iron outcrop to the depth of fifty feet, and across-cut of twenty-two feet cut in the lead. The quantity of magnetite and hematite exposed here is very great. About three miles south of Llano City considerable prospecting has been done by drilling with a diamond drill, and also opened by a shaft, disclosing iron almost identical with the Iron mountain jiroduct.

The most western of these belts lies between the Riley mountains and Enchanted Rock in the south, possibly having also a greater width to the northwest. While it is covered in places by later rocks, the indications are good for the discovery of important I masses of iron ore in it.

In quality the magnetites are high-grade Bessemer ores, heiiitr low in silica, phosphorus and sulplmr, and very high in mi-taUic iron. The hematite ores seein to be cliietiy derived from alteration ofthe magnetites. They usually crop out along portions of the northern Ijorder of the magnetite area, and are chiefly segregations in sandstone, and although none of the exposures have yet been worked, valuable deposits will be fonnd following the trend of the magnetite beds. These segregations are to be found chiefly in tlie red sandstone of the Cambrian system. Tliey will be of vhIuc as I!e-;t-emer ores.

The hydrated iron ores embrace many different varieties. These appear almost exclusively in veins, for the most part in the older rocks. While they are not abundant enough to sustain any industry by themselves, they may become valuable in addition to the other iron ores.

Taking the iron ore deposits of the State as a whole, and considering their wide distribution, their excellent quality, their relation to fuel supply and other necessaries for smelting and manufacturing them, no doubt can remain of the magnituile which the iron industry is bound to assume in this State, and that Texas is destined to become one of the great iron and steel producing centers of the world.

The copper ores of Texas are of two characters. Those of the central mineral region and trans-Pecos Texas occur in veins, while the ores of the Permian are found as impregnations and segregations in the clays.

The copper ore of the Permian division was first described by Captain li. B. Maicy in his report on the exjjloration of Red river in 1852, when he found specimens of it in Cache creek. In 180-1-, Colonel J. B. Barry sent a party with Indian guides to Archer county and secured a considerable amount of ore, which was shipped to Austin and part of it smelted and used for the manufacture of percussion caps for the Confederacy, under the superintendence of Dr. W. De Kyee. After the war several attempts were made to develop these deposits, hut lack of transportation facilities and the fact that the highgrade ore bodies were in pockets and irregularly distributed prevented the success of the undertaking. Still later General McLellan and a strong company made an effort to utilize the deposits of Hardeman and adjoining counties, but it seems that the true nature of the deposits wei-e not fully appreciated, and the result was the same as those of earlier <late.

As has been stated, these ores occur as impregnations or segregations in the clays at certain definite horizons in the formation They are not in veins, therefore, but in beds, and are not to be mined by sinking shafts to lower depths, but more after the manner of coal deposits. There are three (and possibly a fourth) of these horizons, one in each division of the Permian. The Archer county deposits belong to the lower or Wichita beds, the California creek bed to the Clear fork beds, and the Kiowa Peak stratnin or strata to the Double mountain beds. The general manner of occurrence is the same in all. The o.res are found in a bed of blue clay from three to four feet thick. It is sometimes found in a pseudomorphic form after wood, in whicii case the oxide of copper has replaced the material of the woody fibre in the same manner as is done by silica in ordinary petrified wood. In other places it occurs in rounded nodules of different sizes, "like potatoes in abed," us it is graphically described. In addition to this the stratum of clay is impregnated with ' copper to the extent of forming a low-grade ore in places. Analyses from vurions localities of average sjieciineiis of these copper clays yield from l.ti to 4.5 per cent, of copper. In any successful attetnpt to utilize these ores the work muf-tbe undertaken with a view of recoverino; the copper from the copper clays l)y lixi\-iation as the yjrincipal ohject. The extent of the deposits and amount of copper contained in tliem in places seem to warrant this character of development, and the proliability of finding many rich pockets, such as have been found in nearly all the workings so far attemptod is additional inducement for the erection of such works. Some of these pockets have yielded as much as 6,000 pounds <>£ ore assaying si.\ty per cent, copper.

The general lines of tlie outcrop of copper I'lavs are as follows: The lower bed appears at Archer, and from there northeast to the mouth of Cache creek, thi. onginal place of discovery. The ne.xt bed is found in a line running from Paint creek, in Haskell county, northeast through the northwestern part of Throckmorton county, and crossing Baylor county west of Seymour, and Wilbarger county east of Vei'uon into Indian Territory. The upper bed appears at Kiowa and Buzzard Peaks, and passing through tiie northwestern ]«irt of Hardeman is finally found on Pease river west of Margaret.

In the central mineral region copper ores are known principally from the surface indications of carbonates and sulphides, which are found in outcrops and scattered through the rocks in various localities. The principal outcrops are confined to the Babyhead district, extending westward from the Little Llano to the head of Pecan creek. A few others are found still further westward in Mason county, and some in Llano, but all are apparently connected with the same series of rocks.

The ores at the surl'ace are largely caibonates, bdtli Aziirite ami ,^^alaclllte occurring, but the latter pie<lomliiatiiig. Tetrahedrite is more or le-s conmion, a;:d sometimes cai'- ries considerable siher. Clialcopyrite is aho present in small (puintifies, and in some places Bornite occurs.

The various prospecting works which are scattered through this area, beginning at the Houston & Texas Central Railway di^.girigs on the east, includes many trial shafts and pits sunk by Captain Thomas Ct. McGehce on Little Llano. Yoakum and Wolf creeks, Hulibard Mining Com])any on i'ecan creek, others by the Houston Mining Company on Wolf creek, and the Miller mine, also on Pecan. Further west in Mason county similar prospecting works are founil. In addition to these some prospecting has been done in the vicinity of Llano, and also southeast of that city. Specimens taken from the different localities by different members of the survey assayed all the way from one per cent, to forty-five and six-tenths per cent, copper, in silver from nothing to 107.8 ounces per ton, and of gold from nothing to one-filth ounce. There have bien (-everal attempts at development, but there are no mines in successful operation at present. The work that has been done on the different outcrops has not been carried sufficiently lar, nor has it been of such a character, as to make it possible to speak with certainty reganling the existence of extensive bodies of copper ore in tiie dis trict. What has been done, however, takei in connection with the outcrops and assays and our knowledge pf the geological formation of the country, suggests the accumula tion of ores of considerable importance below, and will justify a much larger expendituro for the purpose of developing them than has yet been made.

The copper ores of trans-Pecos Texas have been known for many vears, and eonsiiJei'able prospecting lias been done on them. Tliere is, however, only one mine in operation at present - the Iljizel mine in the Dialiolo mountains, near AUamore, El Paso connty. This mine is situated at the foot of the Sierra Diabolo on a lime-spar lead cutting through a red sandstone. The principal ore is copper glance or sulphide of copper, at times carrying a good (leal of wire silver, and occasionally rich pockets of grey copper. This pay streak runs in a vein from a few inches up to ten feet in width, in a gangue of strongly siliceous limestone, which is also impregnated with the ore. The wiiltli of this gangue is in some places as much as thirtyiive feet, and the material is a low grade ore of about $15 per ton.

In the Carrizo mountains and further soutii in the Apache or Davis mountains are other good copper prospects, in addition to the many outcrops in the Quitman mountains and Sierra J31anca region which show copper at the surface.

Lead and Zinc. - AYhile many finds of lead ore have l)een reported in many portions of the State, all those outside of the central mineral region and trans-Pecos Texas have proved to be merely float specimens. In the central mineral region the lead ore occurs sparingly in veins in the older rocks, under similar conditions and within the same area as marked out for the coppei- ores, but it is principally found in the rocks of the Cambrian or Silurian age under circuint-tances similar to those m which it is found in JMissouri.

Perhaps the most extensive "digging "on any of the veins of galena was tliat of the Sam Houston Mining Company, who wmked in the Riley mountains. This shaft, which followed the irregular course of the vein, was 160 feet, or possibly more, in depth. There was a string of galena, sometimes widening out and sometimes almost entirely missing, but enough ore was not secured to satisfy the owners and work was stopped.

The deposits which occur in the hoi-izon of an age apparently corresponding to that of the Missouri galena ores have been prospected, chiefly in Burnet county. The principal work is at Silver Mine Hollow. The galena is not only scattered through the sandy, ferruginous vein material, but is found abundantly in the adjacent dark gray to green magnesian limestone. Its original source is probably tlie '' cavern limestone " of the Silurian, but up to the present time there has not been sufficient development to make it possible to speak with any degree of certainty regarding tiic exact locality of the ores.

In trans-Pecos Texas ores of both lead and zinc are very abundant and contain silver and gold in variable quantities. The prospects of the Quitman mountains and vicinity are the best known. These mountains are crossed by numerous vein outcrops and indications of ore, and wiierever prospecting holes have l.ieen suidc there are promising indications, and even distinct veins of leadcarrying silver, most of them at least having traces of gold. Occasionally, also, tin is present. The outcrops are generally com posed of iron silicates, with probably some carbonate and oxide of iron, usually containing a little silver; a few feet below the surface the copper stain begins; deeper down the quantity of copper increases and traces of lead appear with the cop] er. This becomes stronger the lower the shaft is sunk.

and shows zinc and bisniutli in greater deptlis. The zinc sometimes amounts to 30 per cent, of tlie whole, anci even pure argentiferous zinc ores are tound. One fact observed is that on tlie northeast slopes of the mountains uranium is found in connection witli tlie ores, while on tlie southwest slopes this metal o-ives place to molybdenum even on the same vein traced across the crest of the monntain.

Several mines have, however, made shipments of ore, the principal being from the Alice Kay and Bonanza mines, both of which are on the same vein. Their ores have an average value of $00 to $G5; but owing to the fact that they contain 25 to 30 per cent, of zinc and that the El Paso smelters are not prepared to properly treat such ores, it has not been found possible to work them profitably after paying for roasting tlie zinc out of the ores in place of receiving pay for it. The Bonanza is the best developed mine in the Quitman range. The lead runs about east and west, dipping almost vertically in a contact between granite and porphyry. A shaft ninety-five feet deep is sunk to a drift below, running on the vein and about 350 feet in length, which shows a seam of galena from two to ten inches in thickness. This carries an average of about thirty ounces of silver, although it sometimes reaches as high as sixty ounces, to the ton. The shipping average of this ore is about 30 per cent, of lead, 25 to 30 per cent, zinc, and thirty ounces of silver, to the ton, and abont 500 tons have been shipped. From tlie drift a winze is sunk 110 feet deep.

into the sume lead. This mine is 5,01)5 feet above the sea level, wliicli, when compared with the deepe-l b"dy of the Bonanza, shows an ore body 450 feet in height by about 4,000 feet long. The ore body of the Alice Ray, like that of the Bonanza, is a well defined vein of galena, running fr(.)ni two to eight and ten itiches in width.

Besides the ores of this district, ores are found in districts on the east and south. The Chinati region is, however, the only other one in which much ]H-o>;iecting lias been done. Here iher'. are a great many prospecting shafts, as well as sonie well developed mines. The ore on the river side is galena, the outcrops bi'ing strongly ferruginous streaks, similiar to tin if e of the Quitman mountains. Some outcrops show carbonates and sulphides containing both bismuth and silver. An assay of one of these outcrops gave silver ten ounces, bismuth three and five tenths, lead forty and fivetenths per cent. On the eastern side thecontacts between the porpihyries and crystalline limestones are very clearly marked, and it is on these that the most satisfactory prospecting work has been done. These yield both fine milling silver and galenas.

In the other ranges examined to the south and east similiar ores also exist, but they are at present so diflicult of access that little work has been done on them.

Qold. - The precious metals occur in connection with the ores of copper, lead, and zinc, as has already been stated under those heads. They occur also in a free state. Small amounts of free gold have been found by panning in the Colorado river and in some parts of Llano county, but the amount found is too small for profitable working. In the Quitman inoiintaiiis some of the quartz and fernigiiuius outcrops show traces of goiil, and l)y using the pan colors of gold are fre- (juently found in the gravel and sand. A small piece of quartz found near Finhiy assayed eleven ounces of gold to the ton. Taking this evidence, with the general geologic features of the Quitman and surrounding mountains, the presence of gold is estaldished, although theprohahle quantity is still uncertain. Free gold has also been observed in certain ores received from Presidio county. The best developed mine in this region is generally known as the Shafter or Bullis mine, and is owned and operated by tiie Presidio Mining company, who are now workinotwo mines - the Presidio and Cibolo. In the former, which was discovered in 1880, tlie mine consists of pockets and bunches of ore of irregular shapes and sizes, generally isolated from each othei-, imbedded in a limestone country rock, thus forming ciiamber deposits.

Tlie Cibolo has the same general character, but, in addition, has an ore body situated in a well defined fissure, and is a contact deposit. This company work their own mill and sliip their product as bullion. The mill, wdiich is of ten stamps of the common California pattern, is located on a hillside, so that the ore from the crusher falls to the autdmatic feeder at the stamps, from which the pnlp is lifted to the amalgamators. The amalo-am is freed from the excess of quicdisilver by straining, as usual, when retorted and fused. This mill averages from thirty to thirty-five tons of ore per day, which yields from forty to forty -five ounces of silver per ton. The motive power is an eighty-horse power engine. There is an ample water supply in Ciliolo creek to permit an increase in tlie size of this mill and the erection of others a< well, aiK^ there is also good opportutiit)' to build storage reservoirs along it. There are other locations being worked up, many of which promise good returns, and there is no doubt that this district must soon become one of the centers of the mining industry in Texas. Silver. - Native silver has not yet been reported. In trans-Pecos Texas, hov. e^er, the conditions are more favorable; and there are two mines now working a fre '-milling silver ore in Presidio county, and m;iny trial shafts have been put down in thesurrounding region. A considerable amount of silver bullion has already been produced, and shipped to San Francisco.

Tin. - The occurrence of tin was reported, doubtfully, in the central mineral district in 1889, and it was also found in conntction with lead ores in trans-Pecos Texas. In November, during the examination of specimens collected by members of his party. Dr. Comstock found some excellent pieces of cassiterite, or oxide of tin, and made a special trip to decide the reality and manner of its occurrence. This resulted in the discovery that it occurred not only as cassiterite, but in small quantities in connection with other minerals in the rocks of a certain portion of the Burnetan system extending from the westerii part of Burnet to the eastern part of Mason county, a distance of fifty miles, and having a width of eight to ten miles. In this belt the tin ore has been found at four or five localities. It occurs in a quartz of somewhat banded appearance, and when pure may often be recognized by its weight, being of greater specific gravity than the iron ores.

Near the divide between Herman creek and tributaries of the San Saba river, in Mason county, are the remains of two old furnaces, and considerable slag which carries

While it is impossihle to speak positively of tlie proliable quantity of ore, the indications are favorable for its existence in anicniiits sufficient to be of economic valne.

Mercury. - Like tin, this metal has been reported from several localities, l)ut up to the present we have not succeeded in verifying any of the reports or of linding any traces of it.

M<infjanese. - Tlie only workable deposits of manganese yet defined by the survey are those of the central mineral region. Tlie^e deposits are both in the form of manganese ores and of combinations of iron and manganese ores in different proportions. The Spiller mine, south of Fly Gap, Mason county, is the only known occurrence of the manganese ore on an extensive scale anywhere in the region, although surface croppings wei'e traced, which seemed to indicate companion belts to the one which has been opened at the locality mentioned.

The ore is rather siliceous psilomelane, with patches of pyrolusite and more or less black wad, filling cavities and crevices in the vein, which is three or four feet wide. The ore seems to lie as an intei'bedded vein, and numerous borings were made on it with a diamond drill, presiimably for the jmrpose of prospecting in the direction of its di]i.

Manganese ores are found under similar circumstances in the region between Packsaddle and Riley mountains, and specimens are reported both from <4ille~pie and Blanco counties. Manganese also occurs as an ingredicn.t of tlie various linionitic ores, and in one instance such an ore was found to contain as much as eleven per cent, of this irn-tal.

Bismuth occurs in small quantities in connection with the ores of the Quitman range, and inone vein examined in the region of the Chinati mountains as much as three and onehalf per cent, of this metal was found in the ore (galena).

Buhrstone. - In the Fayette sands are found stones of excellent quality for use as millstones. In Jasper and other counties millstones which have given perfect satisfaction in use have been cut from certain horizons of these sands.

G'tindMones. - (Certain sandstones in the Carboniferous and older formations furnish excellent materials for grindstones, but up to the present they have been utilized only locally.

No whetstones have yet been manufactured in Texas, although excellent material exists for such a puipose. The Fayette sands probably furnish the best of the material, and son]e specimens from Fayette county are now in the State museum. Other material suitable for the purpose is found in the central mineral region and in the central coal field.

Several localities of deposits of infusorial earth are known in Hopkins, Leon, Polk and Crosby counties. Very little has been mined for shipment.

Among the gem stones may be mentioned lieryl, smoky quartz, rose quartz, silicified wood, garnet, agate, moss agate, anaethyst, jasper, sardonyx, tourmaline, and others.

Quartz. - The clear wliite variety, wliich is known as crystal, is sparingly found in masses of a size suitable for use. Clusters of crystals are found whicii form liandsoine ornaments, but the greater part are stained or milky.

Stnolij Qutii'tz. - The central mineral region produces fine crystals of smoky quartz of deep color. Bari'inger Hill, Llano county, is one of the best localities.

Amethyst. - Gillespie county furnishes some amethysts of fair color, but tlie deepercolored ones have so far been found only in the Sierra Blanca or Quitman region.

Thetis Hair Stone. - This variety of limpid quartz, with line needles of actinolite scattered through it, is found in the northern part of Gillespie county, near Enciianted Rock.

Garnets are abundant both in the central mineral district and in trans- Pecos Texas. Fine cabinet specimens showing both large and attractive crystals are in the museum, but no systeuiatic work has been done in working the deposits. There are sovfr?il colors - brown, t)lack, and green - and they occur in abundance. Among tlie localities may be mentioned Clear Creek valley on the Burnet and Bluffton road, Babyhead, l\ing mountains, and similar areas in Llano and Gillespie counties, in the Quitmaii mountains and other localities in trans-Pecos Texas. In Llano county fine crystals are also found of idocrase, or Yesuvianite, wliich is near the tjai'uet iu character.

£Iach tourmal'ine is abundant in certain granites of Llano county, and will be useful for all purposes for which it can be employed, although there is no prospect of specimens of value for cabinet purposes being found.

Chalcedony. - Some fine specimens of chalcedony have been found in Travis county in the neighborhood of the disturbances caused by the Pilot Knob eruption. They alo occur in Presidio county and other portions of west Texas.

Sardonyx. - Beautiful specimens of sardonyx are found in the trans-Pecos region in El Paso or Jeff Davis counties. A number of specimens are now in the State museum.

Jasper. - In this same region are found handsome varieties of plain and banded jasper, but, like the other deposits, there has been no attempt at development, and only a few specimens have been collected by persons happening on them. Pebbles of jasper are also abundant in the drift as far north as the Staked Plains.

Agate. - Tiie occurrence of this biautiful stone has been mentioned in the former reports of this survey. It is found al)tindautly in several parts of west Texas and occasionally in the river drift of the Colorado. In west Texas they are found in a schistose material and scattered over tlie surface in large quantities, from fragments to boulders of considerable size. The colors are rich, and the banded and fortification agates show beautiful bandings and stripes. Moss agateare also plentiful, and there is ample room for the establishment of an industry in this niaterial, even if they are only collected for shipment abroad. Tiie average price paid for rough agate for manufacturing purposes at Idar, Olileiihurir, Germany, one of the principal man ufacturinj; citits of this material, is about 25 cents jier pound, an<l tlie beauty of the varieties occurring in Texas would add materially to that price.

Pudding Stone. - Of equal beauty with the agates are some varieties of metamorphosed pudding stones brought from the lower mountains by Prof. Streeruwitz. They take fully as tine a polish, and the variety of color and shape of the inclusions are very pleasing.

Serpentine. - Some of the serpentines of west Texas will be valuable as ornamental stones. So far no "precious terpentine" has been found, but some of the red and green varieties will come into use as the region is developed. Central Texas also affords varieties wliicli may be utilized.

Al'dhi.-itri'. - Alabaster of tine grain and translucencv occui's both among the rocks of the Ci'etaceous formation and in the gypsum I'egion of the Permian. Its uses in vases ami statuai'y are well known, and material suitable for any of tliete pui'[)uses can be secured in any desired quantity.

Pearls. - Texa- is one of the principal pearl-producing States of the United States. Mr. Kunz, in "Gems and Precious Stones," mentions one from Llano valueil at $95, which was sohJ in Xew York. The jiearls are found in the Unios, or fresh-water mussels, which abound iu the Colorado, Llano and Conclio rivers, and many other streams in Texas. They have been collected in lai-ge numbers, and in collecting them great numbers of the shell tisli have been dcstrnyed. In order to avoid tin's wholesale destruction and leave the animal to projagate more valuable progeny, it is rec'immended that in- Btrument.5 similar to thdsc us( d in Saxony and Bavaria be introdurcd here. One of these is a flat iron tool, the otiier a pair of sharp pointed jjliers, both fashioned for the purpose of ojiening the shells for examination without injury to the animal, which, if no pearl is found, is replaced in the shoal.

Siiii'ifed Wood. - While the greater part of the silicitied wood of the State is not of much value as an ornamental stone, there are certain horizons in the Fayette beds in wdiich the wooii lias been o])alized and presents a pleasant variety of color and banding. These will probably be used quite largely for various purposes in ornamental work so soon as their beauty is properly shown.

Refractory materials, or those which will stand very high degrees of heat without injury, are of tiie highest importance in manufacturing. They enter into the construction of all furnaces for iron, or steel, or pottery, or glass, or the various other products of high temperatures, and are an absolute necessity in the proper development of such manufactures. Of such substances tire clay is doubtless the most important. The essentials for a good tire clay ai'o not so much the proportions of silica and alumina, although the larger the percentage of silica the greater its refractory power seems to be, but its freedom from materials such as lime, soda, potash, magnesia, or oxide of iron, wiiicli could unite with the silica and form a glass, and thus cause fusion.

Fire Chnj.^. - Of our Texas fire clays only two or tliiee have had any decided or extensive trial. These are from the beds found in Henderson, Limestone and Fayette counties. The tir.^t two are found in connection witli the tinilier-l>c!t beds, the third in the P'ayette beds. In use the brick made at Athens from the Henderson county clay have proved to be of excellent quality. They have stood the severe test of the iron furnace at Eusk and of some of the lime kilns, and are highly recommended for their good qualities. The brick from the beds of Limestone county are also of good quality, and proper care in their manufacture will make them fully equal to any. The Fayette clays which have come under my notice, which are classed as lire clays, seem to be somewhat high in fluxing constituents, but more careful selection of the clays may entii'ely obviate this difticulty.

The fire clays are found usually in connection with the lignite beds, and in the central coal field directly undeidying the coal seams. They are therefore found scattered over a wide area of the State, but only a few of them have been examined by the geological survey. These are nearly all from eastern Texas, and were collected during one field season. While tiiey have not yet been fully studied, numerous analyses have been made, and it is found that many of them are too "tat," or contain too much alumina for use in the strtte in which they are dug, but require a lai-ge mixture of sand to correct the excessive shrinkage that would otherwise take place in drying them, amounting in some specimens to one-fourth of their original bulk. Otiiers, however, are of excellent quality, and careful selection of localities for mining will yield very favorable results, and clays be secured suitable for brick for furnaces, kilns, ovens, tire-boxes, retorts, saggers, and the many other similar articles.

Graphite., or Plumhago. - In the central mineral region are deposits of limited extent of an impure graphite in shales and schists. In view of the larger deposits of pure material in other localities it is not iirubMble that this will be of much value.

Soapstone.' - T\\\& highly infusible stone, which is used as firestone in stoves, hearths and furnaces, is found in large quantities. One of the best exposures is about two miles south of west from Smoothing-iron mountain, aiul the most favorable districts for its furthei occurrence are that between Honse and Smoothing-iron mountains and the King mountains, and to the west of that area in Llano and Mason counties; also southeast in Llano, Gillespie and Blanco counties. As a lining for furnaces and other purposes which do not require a very firm texture this material is fully ade(juate, and it can be cut or sawed into blocks or masses of any desired shape, with a perfectly smooth surface if desired.

Mica. - While mica is a very aliundant mineral in botli the central and trans-Pecos regions, it is not commonly of such transparency and size as to be commercially valuable. Specimens are in the museum, however, from both localities which combine these requisites, and it is entirely probable that workable deposits may be found. It is used in stove fronts, lanterns, etc, also in the manufacture of wall paper and as a lubricant.

Asicstos. - Asbestos has often been reported from the central region, and many specimens have been received bearing that name. Upon examination this is found to be fibrolite, and may answer for many purposes for which asbestos is used as refractory material, but not for the finer uses in the manufacture of cloth, etc.

Eoad Materials

Among the various materials suited for road-making are the large gravel deposits whicli are found in many portions of the State; some of the quartzitic sandstones which occur in the Fayette beds (coast region, from the Sabine to the Eio Grande, and from 40 to 150 miles wide); the eroded flints of the Cretaceous; some of the tinner limestones of the lower dixisions of the Cretaceous and the Carboniferous areas; the basalt of such areas as Pilot Knob in Travis county; some of tlie sandstones or siliceous iron ores of the Ir ..i region of east Texas; the granites and other tough rocd^s of the central region are especially valuable, and similar rocks and the qnartzites and porphyries of west Texas will also prove of value wlien transportation charges will a<Jmit of their use.

Tlie occurrence of asphaltnm in various portions of the State has already lit^rn noticed, and its use as paving material is well known. For the construction of sidewalks, in addition to the material above mentioned, flagstones are found in various localities.

Materials Foe Paints

Ochre is a liydrated oxide of iron, usually containing more or less clay or sand and giving various sliades of yellow, red and brown, The most valuable is that which on preparation furnishes tlie color called Indian red. Ochres are found in connection with the geode and nodular ores of east Texas, forming centers of the geodes, and also deposits of limited extent. It is reported at many localities in the area covered by the timber-belt beds. In the Ci'etaceons area good ochres occur in Uvalde and Val Verde counties, in the latter of which one locality has Ijeen developed to some extent and the material shipped. Other deposits have lieen

Sulplntr. - Specimens of native suliihiir of a high degree of purity liave been receiver) from Edwards county, but up to the present no detailed examination has been made to ascertain its quantity or the condition of its occurrence.

8alt. - Like many of the otiier valuable deposits of Texas, the occurrence of common salt is widespread. Along the coast to the southwest are lagoons or salt lakes from which large amounts of salt are taken annually. Besides the lakes along the shore many others occur througli western Texas, reaching to the New Mexico line, while northeast of these in the rermian region the constant recurrence of such names as Salt fork. Salt creek, etc., tell of the prevalence of similar conditions. In addition to the lakes and creeks from which salt is secured by solar evaporation we have also extensive beds of rock salt.

That which is at present best developed is located in the vicinity of Colorado City, in Mitchell county. The bed of !-alt was found by boring at 850 feet, anil proved to have a thickness of 140 feet. A vein of water was struck below it which rises to within 150 feet of the surface. This is pumped to the surface and evaporated, and the resulting salt purified for commerce.

In eastern Texas there have long been known low pieces of ground called "salines," at which salt has been manufactured by sinking shallow wells and evaporating the water taken from them. At one of these, Grand

Saline, in Yan ZMiit county, a well was sunk, and at 225 I'ctt a. lici of rock salt was strnck, into which they have iiaw dug 300 feet witiiout getting through it. Jfany otlier similar salines are known in eastern Texas and «'e.-tern Louisiana, and the great deposits of rock salt developed at Petit Anse and Yan Zatidt under practically similar circumstances is certainly warrant enough for boring at the other salines for similar beds. Some of these localities are in Smith and Anderson counties.

In the Carlionifei'ous area many of the wells yield salt Mater, sometimes strong enough to rendei- them unfitted for any ordinary purpose, but no attempt has been made at their utilization. There are also brine wells in limited areas in central Texas.

Alkalies. - The source from which the salts of potash and soda can be obtained in Texas are: The alkali lakes, where there is a large pei'centage of sulphate of soda (Glaixber salts) deposited by the evaporation of the water. Its impurities consist of some sulphate of lime, or gypsum, and common salt.

Alum. - The best material for the manufacture of alum is found in the clay of the lignitic portion of the timber belt, or Fayette beds, which contain both pyrites and lignitic matter. Nearly all the material used in the production of alum in this country is imported.

Strontia. - Two minerals having this earth as a base (celestite and strontianite) are found in the lower magnesian rocks of the Cretaceous of central Texas. It is found at Mount Bonnel near Austin, and in the vicinity of Lampasas, and can be expected to occur wherever the proper horizon of the Cretaceous rocks containing it are found at the surface. It is not only used in the form of nitrate for fiiewnrks, but also in the manufacture of sugai-.

Ep><inii'(te. - Crystalline masses of Epsom salts aVe found in the same series of beds that contain the strontianite and celestite. It is extremely doulitful. In iwcver, whether it can be made commercially valuable.

Artesian water is rain water which has fallen on some porous bed or stratum of eaith and has followed the sloping course of this bed between other beds, v\hich were sufficiently impervious to confine it until ir has found an opening to the surface, either natural or artificial, at a lower level than its original source, through which it rises and flows of¥. When this opening is a natural one, it is a spring; when ai'tificial, it is an artesian well.

The artesian-water conditions of a region are dependent upon its geology, tojiography and its rainfall. The geologic conditions are that there shall be a continuous porous stratum enclosed between two strata that are iirjpervious. Topographically it is necessary that the exposed portion of this porous stratum - the "catchment" basin - be at sufficient elevation above that of the mouth of the wells to force a steady iiow of water by hydrostatic pressure; and finally the rainfall must be sufficient within the area covered by the catchment basin to secure the steady supply of water. Unless all of these conditions be favorable there can be no constant supply of flowing water obtained.

For the purpose of this discussion, Texas is readily separable into three divisions, - the Gulf Slope (Cenozoic), the Central Basin and the Western Mountain system.

The area covered by tlie Gulf Slope includes all the region east and south of the western and northern houndai-y of the Grand Trairie plateau, which stretches si.mthward from the Red river to the (Colorado, and thence westward to tlie Rio Grande. In area this comprises fully one-half of the iState and hy far the most thickly settled portion.

The Central Uasin includes all that portion of the Stale west and north of the Grand Prairie, extendi iitr to the Gandalupe mountains on the west.

The Gulf Slope is in a certain degree a continuation of the tupographic aiid geologic features of the States eastward which border upon the Gulf, hut in some ways its differences are as pronounced as its resemblances. Thus, with the excejition of a little marshy ground in tlie southeastern corner, there is none along the entire coast. Differences in amount and character of rainfall and of temperature have also resulted in the production of a somewhat different topography, especially toward the Rio Grande, and tlie soils of certain formations are of far greater fertility than those derived from rocks of siitiilar age in the other States, owing to peculiar comlitions of formation.

The different sediments which now appear covering the surface of this area wei'e laid down by the waters of a great sea, which in its present restricted basin we call the Gulf of Mexico.

Beginning at the coast in low and almost level prairies the ascent is gi-adual toward the interior, in many places not exceeding one foot per mile for the first fifty miles. Through this comparatively level plain, \\liich comprises the exposure of the strata embraced under tlie general name of " coast clays, " the streams move sluggishly in tortuous channels, and for the most jiari through an t)pen jirairie country, the only timber be iug ah.ing such water courses and in i^cattered motts or islands. As we pass inland this is succeeded Ijy other belts which, having liee'i longer subjected to erosii)n, show a surface more and more undnhiting as we recede from the gulf. The ascent is also more rapid, and some ele\-ations of as mucli as 700 feet are found, as at Ghent mountain, Cherokee couDfy; but such are unusual south ol the Grand prairie. This cliaracter of country is continuous from the gulf to the western scarp of the Grand prairie, east of the Brazos river. West of the Colorado river the undnlating country ends at the foot of the southern scarp of the Grand prairie, which is a line of elevations known as the Balcones, from the top of which the Grand prairie stretches away north and west to the Rio Grande. The eastern portion of these Ixdfs is heavily timbered, but throughout the irreater portion - west of the ninety-sixth meridian - the quantity of timlier rapidly decreases and the prairie conditions become almost universal. The general elevation east and south of the Grand prairie is less than 500 feet.

The Grand prairie itself is a great 2)lateau, preserved in its present extent by the resistenee to erosion afforded by its capping of limestones, and is a marked topographic feature of the State. Beginning at lied river it extends in a gradually widening belt to the south, until its western border meets the Colorado in Lampasas county, from which point it is contracted ra])idly until it finds its narrowest exposure in crossing the river in Travis county north of Austin. From this |)oiiit west it broadens rapidly, until it is mero-ed into the mountainous trans-Pecoe legion. Its heiglit above the country on either side is variable. On its eastern hornier, from Red river to the Brazos, there is not that abruptness of separation which distinguishes it at other phxces from the upper and lower forniatinns. In the nortlierii portion this plateau begins with an elevation of from GOO to 1,200 feet above sea level. West of the Colorado its northern edge reaches a height of 2,300 feet in the I'idge which forms ihe divide between the water flowing into the Colorado and that flowing south. The southern border is, however, hardly ever more than 700 feet in heiglit, and usually not so liigli. The western and northern edge of the Grand prairie is, generally speaking, topographically higher than the eastern and southern, and the dip of the beds is very gentle toward tlie southeast.

The break between the Grand praiiie and the Central Basin region is equally as decided as that between the undulating country and '- Balcones' country " on the south, and were it not for its intimate relations, geologically, with the " Coastal Slope, " the topographic features of the Grand prairie would entitle it to be considered a division by itself.

Both topographically and geologically this area piesents a gradual fall from the interior toward the gulf coast, but the average slope of the surface toward the southeast is less than the dip of the strata in the same direction, and as there has been no disturbancesof sufficient magnitude to complicate tliegeology except the uplift which brought up the Balcones (and that of i'llot Knob and similar areas if it be later, as it possibly is), we find the outcrop[)ing edges of the beds of earlier and earlier age as we pass from the coast to the interior. These various beds are exposed in bands of less or greater width, which are, in a general way,parallel with the present gulf coast.

The coast clays, which are the most recent of these, and which form a part of the present floor of the gulf, are very impervious, variously colored, calcareous clays, which often form bluffs along the bay shores and river banks. The level belt of this formation varies from 50 to 100 miles in width.

The Orange sands underlying these are mottled red and white sands which are well exposed below Willis, on the International & Great Northern Kailroad, and at other places. The Fayette beds, which underlie these, are made up also of sands and clays, but of entirely different character and structure. The sand greatly predominates, especially in the center, where great beds of sand and sandstone and millstone grit occur.

The clays, instead of being massive, are usually thinly laminated and of very light color wherever exposed to the air, and are found both underlying and overlying the sands, as well as interbedded with them. They extend along the line of the Houston & Texas Central Eailway from Waller to near Giddings. A study of these beds in the vicinity of Ledbetter showed nearly 400 feet of sandy strata included between the two series of clays.

The dip of the sti'ata toward the gulf is not much greater than that of the suiface of the country. For this reason the exposure of the sand-bed on the surface is very wide - a circumstance of greatest imjjortance, as it gives an immense catchment area for the rain-water.

Tiiese Fayette sands form a range of liills and give rise to the most striking topographic feature of the coast region. Every river in its passage to the gulf pays tribute to and is deflected by them. Many smaller streams have their course entirely determined by them, while the coast rivers, of which the

San Jacinto and Buffalo are types, have tbeir (iricrin on tlieii- southei-n slope. At liockland, in Tyler county, and alon^ tiie various^ railroads that cross the ai-ea ot tlnse sands, as shown upi.m the map, typical sccti(jns can be seen. The base of tlicse beds are sandy clays and sands, with some lignite.

The tiinber-l)elt b.'ds are composed of siliceous and ajauconitic sands with white, brown and black clays, and have associated with tlicm iii^-nite beds t-omctimcs as njuch as twelve feet in thickness; ir(.in pyrites, gypsum and vario'is bituminous materials also occur. Carboi.ate of lime is also widely disseminated througii .'Ut the beds, sometimes as limestone, but nioi-e often as calcareous concretioTiS or in calcareous sandstimes.

The basal clays are, as tiie name imjilies. beds of stratified clays and cimtain masses of concretionary limestone and large (|iuintities of gypsum.

The Upper Cretaceous is composed in its upper members of great beds of ciay somewhat similar to the basal clays aI)ove, which were doubtless derived from these. This is underlaid by the Austin chalk, iiolow which we find another series of clay shales overlying the lower cross timber sands.

The rock formation of the Grand prairie belongs to the Lower Cretaceous series, and consists of a great thickness of limestones and chalks - magnesian, arenaceous and even argillaceoTis in places - which is underlaid by a great bed of sand and conglomerate, known as the Trinity Sands.

We have in these formations, therefore, well marked and definite sandy or porous iieds, which are enclosed by i.)tbei-.'^ ])racticallv impervious. Some of these are the Orange sands, the middle portion of the Fayette beds, the lower cross timber sands and the upper ci-oss timber or Trinity sands. On thelowri Kio Grande there occurs a rock known a> the Cari'izo sandstone, the geologic age which is not yet exactly determined, liut which must l)e included among the other water bcai'ing lieds.

That these beds are indeed "catchment" basins and fully capable of supplying the belts nearer the gulf with flowing water has been amply verified by actual and snccessfnl boring. In tiie coast-clay belt artesian water has been secured in many places, as at Houston and vicinity, at Galveston, at Velasco, at Corpus Christi, and at various other points. Tiie shallowest of tliese wells is at Yorktown, De Witt county, where artesian water was secured at a depth of a very few feet. At Houston water is obtained in wells from 150 to iW feet deep, aiul the water is practically free from mineral matter. At Galveston, fifty miles southeast, the wells are from 600 to 1,000 feet deep, and yield water carrying salt, etc., in small quantities. The flow at Velasco is reported to l)e good, but at Corpus Christi it is highly charged with mineral matter. The (piantity of mineral matter contained in the water seems to vary witii the depth and distance from the outcrop of the " catchment " basin.

It can be stated, therefore, from our present knowledge that thronghout the coastclay district artesian water can be obtained where the topographic conditions are suitable, but that it may be more or less impregnated with mineral matter leached out of the containing stratum.

While the timber-be!t beds are not classed as artesian beds, it is nevertheless the fact that favora'vle conditions exist in numerous localities, and, althougii no great flows have been secured, still flowincr water has been found in several |ilaces; for example, vai'idiis localities in Robertson connty and at Livingston, Polk county.

The lower cruss timbers form the second -' catchment "' basin, but from their location I'.ave not been found to yield as good a flow as can be obtained by going deeper, to the Trinity sands.

The Cai-i-izo sandstone outcrops along a line drawn at a point on the Nueces river south of the town of Uvalde to a point ten miles west of Carrizo Springs, and ten miles north of tjiat point, on the ranch of Mr. Vivian, produces a stream of excellent water four inches in diameter from a well 175 feet deep. This stratum of samlstone ought to be reached at Laredo at a depth of fiom 500 to (jOO feet.

Tiie thii'd and possilily best explored collecting area is that of the Triiuty sands. This bed, the Trinity or upper cross timber sands, is the base of the Lower Cretaceous s) stem, and is the great water-bearing bed east and south of the central basin. In its many exposures and from the material l)rought up from it in boring, its composition is shown to be clear white grains of quartz, slightly rounded to tnucli worn, containing a few gi-ains of red and Ijlack chei't. It is for the most part practically free of Soluble mineral matter, and the water derived from it is often of excellent quality. From its position, character and extent it forms a most important member in the geology of Texas. The water which falls upon the exposed edge of this belt is carried under the limestone of the Grand prairie plateau, and part of it breaks forth in a system of great springs which extend from Williamson county by Austin, San Marcos and N"ew Braunfels, toward the Pecos. These spidngs are natural artesian wells, which owe their existence to the fault lines caused by the disturbances, already alluded to, wdiich fortned the Balcones. The remainder of the water continues its course below the overlying formations, and can be reached at almost any point east and south of the Grand prairie to the border of the basal clays of the Tertiary. AVells are very numerous and vary in depth with distance from catchment area from 100 to 2,000 feet. They can not be named in detail here, but the principal boring has been at Fort Worth, Dallas, Waco, Austin, Taylor, San Antonio, and in Somervell, Coryell, Hood and Bosque counties. These prove that artesian conditions exist, and there can be no doubt that wells bored in suitable localities will prove snceessful.

West of the Grand jirairie plateau we find the central basin region, which is principally occupied by strata of the Paleozoic formations. The eastern and southern bolder of this area is plainly marked bv the scarp of the Grand prairie. Its western border is not determined further than that in Texas it is terminated by the Guadaloupe mountains in El Paso county. In its topography it sliows a gradual elevation toward the west, most usually, however, in a series of steps which rise one above the other, liaving the ascent facing toward the southeast and a long gentle slope toward the west, the average rise being less than eigiit feet per mile.

At the edge of the Staked Plain, which is a newer formation superimposed upon these, there is an abrupt elevation of from 200 to 300 feet in places, and a continued rise toward the west to a height of 3,100 feet. West of the Pecos the rise is much more rapid, being about fifteen feet per mile. The dip of the strata, which on the east is toward the northwest not exceeding forty feet to the

The western extension of this sunthem border has not heen eNaniined. We timl the northern Imrder of onr hasin in the Wichita monntains in the Indian Territofy, where the edi;e of the Sliirian rocks is again exposed at a higher altitude than the interior portion of our region. This region is, therefore, of a hasin form of structure, with the exposed edges of its lower niemhers and the underiving rorks to|)ograplneal!y higher on the noitlie;ii, w .-tern and southern borders than on the eas^t or in the ceiitei-.

The formations which occupy fliis basin, if we except some oveilying cretaceous and the plains formntion, are alnio.-t entirely confined to the Carlionil'en.ius and Permian systeuis. These consist of beds of limestone, sandstone, saiids, clays and s]iale=;, with coal, gypsum and suit as associated dej)o-its. The general dip of all the strata in the eastern portion of the basis is to the northwest, but its elevation along tiie eastern border is less than in al-nost any other portion of it; consequently there can be little hope of finding artesian water from any catchment area on this side, although some r)f the ^tratH (the lowei' sandstone tind shales) are well adapted for carrying water, and where suitable topographic conditions exist do furnish artesian water. An instance of this is found in the flowing well at Gordon, but such cases are Uie exception and not the rule. The saine series of i-atid-toues and sh^des are exposed on the southeastern border, and the flowing wells at and around Trickha'n atid Waldrip liiul their siijiply in them. The conditions are very favoi-able in the valley of the Colorailo and some di--tanco north, l>etween the 99th and lOOtli meridians, bir similar wells The rocks of this .age are covered by later deposirs in the Wichita mountains, and it is therefore iin|iossible to judge of the possibility of their water-bearing character there. Similar rocks are e\[)osi.'d on the western border of this ba-in, in the vicinity of Van Horn and further north in the Ciiiadaloupe monntains. They are reached by a well 832 feet deep at Toyah, some seventy miles east of Van Horn. This well has an abundant fl(.)w. AVe have, therefore, in the lower members of the Carboniferous rocks of this basin I water-bearing strata, the exposetl edges of which on the southeast and west are sutHciently elevated to furnish artesian water to portions of the liasiiis in tiieir immediate vicinity.

"We do not know what iiiterru]itioiis to the subterranean flow may exist in the way of dikes or fissures, and therefore the areal extent of this portion favorably situated cannot be given until the topography and geology are better known. The quality of the water from every well thus far secured in this basin, which has its origin in this series of rocks, is highly saline, and it is safe to assume from this and from the character of tiie deposits that no fresh water can be obtained from this source. Therefore, if tlie supply be general over the entire region, it will only be adapted for limited uses. In addition to tliis, this water-bearing Ijed can be reached in the greater portion of the region only after passing through the entire series of Permian strata and those of the up- pennost Carljoniferoiis, amounting in all to 2,000 or 3,000 tVet, or evcni more in places. If there lie any other hope tor an artesian water sujipiy in this region, the catchment ;irei mut-t he either in the pre-Carboniferous roeks of the central mineral region and the Wichita mountains or in the Guadalotipe and ciniD'Cted ranges. That each a catchment area exists on the south is fully proved by the powerful springs at Lampasas and in San Saba county, all of which have their origin below tlic rocks of Carbonit'erous age. Some of these springs, such as the Lampasas, have their vent through rocks of this period, but they belong to the very lowest strata, and the temperature of tlie water proves that it comes from still greater depths. All such water is highly n)ineralized, but much of it feems suitable for general uses after exposure to the air has dispelled the sulphuretted hydrogen. Others of these springs, like that at Cherokee, San Saba county, spring through rocks below the Carboniferous, and these furnish water of an excellent quality. The dip of these rocks is much greater than tlie overlying Carboi)ifei-ous, and the water su]i]ily would therefore be rapidly carried beyond the depths of ordinary artesian borings. The conditions of outcropping strata are simi'ar in the "Wichita mountains to those of Llano and San Sal)a counties, but we have no such evidence in tlie way of springs to prove their value, and no boi-ing has been carrie 1 far enough to test the matter, although preparations are now under way to do so. No rocks of similar age liave been observed in the Gua'-laloupes. We must therefore conclude that while the artesian conditions of the central basin are not unfavorable, the prol abilities are against securing an adequate supply of water sufficiently free from mineral matter to be of use ibr general purposes, unless it be from the sandstones of the Guadaloupe mountains, which would require sinking to impracticable depths in most places. All exceptions will be of purely local extent and will require much local topographic and geulogical work for their designation.

There still remains the area of the Staked Plains formation to be discussed, but oui' knowledge of its geology is too limited to permit anything but the most general statement. The upper portion of these plains is composed of strata of later Tertiary or possibly (Quaternary age, underlaid by a conglomerate and sandstone of earlier date than tl e Trinity sands, dipping southeast. It is this bed that furnishes .the surface water of the plains, and from it gush the headwaters thai form the Colorado, Brazos, and Red rivers The beds underlying this are probably Per mian on the southern border, but newer for mations may intervene toward the n^rth. It is possible that this conglomerate" bed may yield artesian water near the western border of the State, and it is said tliat one such well has been secured. It is the opinion of the State Geologist, however, based on such knowledge as he can obtain, that the probabilities of artesian water on the plains are rather unfavorable than otherwise. It will require a considerable amount of work in western New Mexico to decide the matter finally.

The well at Pecos City most probably belongs to the series newer tlian that described under the Grand prairie region, and therefore gives no clue to the area north of it.

The trans-Pecos mountain district from tlie Guadaloupe mountains to the Eio Grande consists of numerous mountain ranges and detached peaks which rise fi-orn comparatively level plains. These plains are composed of loose material which has been derived from the ei'osion of the nionntains an<! sutnetimes has a thickness of over l.UUO feet, a^ i- proveil by the wells along the Texas raeiti.' I'c Son them Pacific railways. The geologic fdi-niatioiis (if the mountains them-^elves consist of granites, sandstones, schists, ami qnartzites and Silurian, Carboniferous, and Cretaceous limestone?. The whole area is faulted, broken, and cut by intrusive porphyries, basalts, granites, and other eruptives.

These conditions of strncttire prevent any (ither than a general unfavorable report on the district, although in cei'tain lucalitie^ conditions may, and probably do, exist favural)le to the securing of artesian water.

Mineral springs are to be found everywhere in the world, the financial success atten<lingthe management of them deiiendinir mainly upon advertising and equipment. It is therefore unnecessary to detail liere the springs and wells that are frcijuently visited for medicinal purposes. The mineral elements of such waters generally comprise conimiin salt, sulphur, magnesia, soda, iron, salts of lime and potash anil traces of a few other minerals, and often of organic matter. More or less of these elements are also to be iVmnd in nearly all artesian water.

Caves are very numerous in the limestones of the Carbonifei'ous, and some of them are very extensive. Very few of them have been explored for any purpose other than idle curiosity. '-I entered only one of them," says a member of the geological staff, '-and traversed it abnut three-fourths of a mile. Sometimes the roof Would be high overhead, and then again to crawl upon our hands md knees. There were lateral openings it different places, but the main ojieninc.

Most of the way the bottom was dry, but here and there a jiool of water would be found standing in a basin of calcareous rock. StalagMiite^ covered the floor and stalactites hung from the ti^ip. We came to a place wliere there \\a> a descent of the bottom of the cave for several feet, and, lowering our candles into the upeiiing, found on account of the gas they would not burn; so we retraced our way to tiio entrance. This cave is in the massive limestone, three miles down the Colorado river, on the \\e>t side from the Sulphur Spring, and just below the mouth of Falls Creek."

Ctlier eaves have large (piantities of guano in them, deposited iiy the bats. Some of these deposits are twenty feet thick, and are of unknown e.xtent. These cave^ will, in the near future, no doubt, be fidly explore:!, and their valuable beds of guano put upon the market.

Trans-Tecos Texas

That portion of western Texas lying west of the Pecos river is called "trans-Pecos Texas." The mineral deposits of that region are proved to be extensive and of great richness:

All of these disadvantages except the third can lie removed by proper legislative action, and the country opened to prospectors in earnest, and as easy terms ottered as those by Mexico and other sister States. When this is done, and not sooner, may we expect to see trans- Feces Texas take that position among the mining countries of the world which the richness of her deposits so surely warrants.

While western Texas has been regarded as perfectly valueless, and its value doubted even now, because it is not settled by farmers and stock-raisers, and the fact is that it is not and will not be tit for farming and stock-raising without water reservoirs and irrigation, there are in the mountains mineral districts of uncommon value. The question arises, why have these resources not been developed?