The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1881-09-01

ton, Black Eagle, Wilder, Salem and Tri.
umph have all done finely. Ives and Con.
cord produce enormous crops and sell
eheaply-from three to ten cents a pound
Whlle the better grapes bring often as high
as twenty-five and forty cents. The Cham
northern Texas, twenty-five cents n ponnd
;, One grape-the Triumph more
than a passing notice. 1t has now grows
lnXnrantly six years, bearing heavy crops
OF the largest Cumbersome WEIGHING n
pound and half-the berries maturing ner-
lectly, attaining the excellence efthe Golden
,ChasselaS, which it much resembles except
BENG much larger in bunch. 1t astonishes
all who see it, and sells at fancy prices, even
when the market is glutted with common
SltGs' here we have the excellence of the
T On Galveston island Mr., Stringfellow has
grown grapes that remind one of the mirac-
ulous pictures seen in old family bibles
where Caleb and Joshua return from "spy-
hng out the land" swinging between them
on pole punch OF grapes as large as a casil
of vine
- Strawberries are perfectly successful.
Wilson, Charles Downing, sharplcss, Minors
tjrolilic, Crescent, Cumberland and Captain
Jack, have been successful.
THE MINERALS.
I The presence Of coal in various localities
and OF more or less valuable quality. has
been long known, but in the absence of
RAILROADS in the districts where the better
qualities have been found, these deposits,
Their extent and definite value, are y. IN
known from want of transportation at
would render mining profitable. Ou'o e.
Gently, on the lines of the Texas & lie
and Central railroads, coal of excellent
quality has been found, and supplies in
part the fuel for those roads
AZ great many points in nearly every sec
flon OF the state, and upon the banks of
Hearly every large stream coal crops out.
and is used by country blacksmiths in their
5l0rges and at some points for fuel. On the
TRINITY, Brazos, Colorado, Guadalupe and
Rio Grande and their tributaries groupings
Iof anthracite and tertiary coal of the camel
variety are found. From the lower Rio
Grande, where large beds are believed to
exist, it Is found at intervals all the way to
ahe northeastern corner of the state, and it
as supposed forms continuous deposit the
whole distance. 1t is highly probable that
i'm the vicinity of the iron fields of Rusk
pwhere the state proposes to develope the
yron ores found in such great abundance,
dhe coal already found will ultimately be
'Proyed valuable in the furnace for making
iron. But as thoroughly reliable scientific
research has not been made by the state,
the value of our coal beds may be merely
isuppositions.
The Texas Trunk railway passes through
q coal field 200 miles long. The American
Almanac estimates the Texas coal fields AT
10000 square miles. Only three states pos
sessng Il larger area.
There is an abundant supply of copper in
Archer, Wlchata, Wilbarger, Baylor, Has
kell, Stonewall and other counties. 1t is
nearly pure sulphate yielding 72.45 pure
metal.
1t is found on the hillsides near the sur
face, -Four persons took out 60OO pounds,
yielding as per cent. of copper in ten hours.
Lead and silvcr ere very abundant in the
western portion &. the state. In some To-
callties the yield has been twenty ounces of
pure silver TO the ton.
Salt is manufactured on the Texas and
Pacific railroad, near Mineola; near the
crossing of the Trinity river by the Inter-
national railroad, in Llano county, and va
rious other points, from saline springs and
wells. Also in southwestern Texas large
salt lakes are found, as well as in Ell Paso
county, from which very large quantities of
salt are taken, the manufacture being by
evaporation produced by sunheat, The
most important of these, and supposed to be
inexhaustable, are the I'll Paso salt lakes.
A large section Of country in Texas, and of
the Mexican state of Chihuahua, derive salt
for all purposes from these lakes. 1t will be
remembered that few years since the po-
session OF these salines caused disturbance
between the Mexicans and Americans
whice was for a while dignifed by the title
ofan international dispute.
The production Of salt in these lakes by
the deposit from evaporation is constant
and rapid in this dry region, and in guam
Titles which must be very renuerative when
the railways being extended through that
country are completed.
Iron abounds in the mountainous districts
OF the upper Colorado and tributaries in
BuInet, San Saba, Llano, Lampasas and
Mason counties, and is less abundant in va
rious localities in other western counties. 1t
is also abundant in eastern Texas in
Bowie, Cass, Marion, Harrison, Rusk,
Cherokee and other counties. In Marion
and Cass counties iron works, have been
established, and limited exper-
lmentS made in other eastern counties at q
time, however, when transportation was so
costly that the ventures were not successful.
The kellyville iron works in operation some
fifteen years, have been profitable, and lat
terly are being enlarged and will probably
at no distant time prove the source of i'm
mense wealth and the rapid development of
that section of country. At Rusk, in Cher
okee county, immense deposits of iron
(hematite and limonite) are found, and the
state, with the intention of developing and
utilizing this great source of wealth, has es-
tahlished the east Texas penitentiary at
that point.
The cost OF producing ton of iron at the |
Kelly works is estimated ut $7;06. Gypsum
Is found in every portion of the state. A
quarter million barrels could be shipped
north every year If there was sufficient cap
ital to develop the industry.
COTTON MANUFACTURING.
AT the base Of the mountains, which cross
Texas from the southwest to northeast,
there is series of springs beginning in Bell !
county of magnificent character, extending, !
ut intervals, TO San Antonio, giving rise to !
the Lampasas, Salado San Marcos, San An |
tonic, San Pedro, Comal, Guadalupe and |
other rivers, which afford en- abundance of |
water power, AT the head of some of them,
ls the San Marcos, the spring gushcs from
The rock and at once forms river large
enough to float q steamboat. There Is |
scarcely one Of these streams which does
not furnish. power enough to turn all tho |
spindlcs OF Lowell-and this power can
will yet come when Texas will contain |
nesting with all their busy
activities besides tho most beau |
tiful rivers Of the world. The water power
fthe Sanantonio river may be given as an |
Within q straight line distance
IF four miles the fall Is 1916 feet. The river |
itself within the same distance Is more than |
IhIee times that length. The volume of !