Crawford avalanche., 1890-04-03

yliSn made history In Sucn dramatic
fashion that even the most prosaic
story of the state is full OF interest.
The life of Pere Marquette was like a
poem in its devotion to an ideal under
of peculiar terror and
to which at last he succumb-
ed and many others in the early days
were equally heroic and self sacrific-
ing"
"Yet Michigan is generally thought
Of as a comparatively new state.!"
"Yes, perhaps; though, as State,
Michigan is now just as old as was
the old ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
was admitted to the Union.
vas talking, though, about the di-
versifled industries of the Wolverine
State. Let me give you rapidly few
facts. The census of 1880 gives the
of farms under cultivation as
154. .008, containing an average of 80
acres. or |, $50, 072 acres in all, valued
at $499, 103, 1S1. OF these farms 1885,,
597 were cultivated by their owners.
OF course these figures will be very
largely increased by the census Of this
year. A million tons of gypsum have
been mined at Alabaster and at Grand
Rapids since 1916. Michigan manu-
features one-third of all the salt SON.
sumed in this country. Its manufac-
ture dates back only to 1860, yet last
year our output was about 3,500,0
barrels. Copper was mined in the
Northern Peninsula by people whose
era and identity still remain undeter-
mined; centuries ago these Lake Su-
perior mines were worked by miners
with curious implements which seem
to be OF wonderful antiquity; and Bar
on La Bontan described a mass of
Rnf goR vsl ghfa as 9s Barry g as TESS vet only
during the last forty years has copper
mining been a recognized industry with
US. During that time colossal fortunes
have been made, and they are still
making in that business. AS illustra-
tive of its possibilities, may mention
that one single mass of copper which
was forty five feet long, eighteen and
one-half feet wide and nine feet thick.
weighing over 500 tons, was sold for
more than 500, 900!
"The existence Of iron was not sus-
pected until two centuries after cop
per was known to exist. Now we are
producing one-half of the total pro
duct OF this country. The exact date
of its discovery is given as the 10Th OF
September, 1874. and its discoverer
was w. A. Burt, the inventor of the
SUrur cUInpttsS. In Jne thirty yeurs
that iron-mining has been a recognized
industry of Michigan, more than thirty
millions Of tons of ore have been mar
keted. This wonderful Lake Superior
region produces lumber also in great
quantities, and gold and silver, though
the gold is not yet in large-paying
quantities; and in addition to it's
beautiful and durable sandstone and
brownstone, a variegated marble which
is found there is said to rival in utility
as well as brilliancy and beauty the
famous verde antique of ancient
Greece. Our coal product is not large,
but the Commissioner of Mineral Sta
tisIics says of it.: while the deposits
of this mineral are not comparable
with many other States, they are still
of magnitude to possess some value,
and to constitute possible resource
that at future day may avail for
important use.' Our fisheries give en-
ploymcnt to nearly 1900 persons, and
the annual value of the catch is $500,
900.
'The Commissioner of Agriculture
in 1883 stated our production of lum-
ber for that year to have been Ball. :
460, sol feet: shingles, 1855, 251, $50; /;
lath, 295. 9a6,015 This was one-fifth
of the entire lumber product of the
country. lie estimated the uncut
pine in the State at 35, 900, 900, 900 feet.
and said that, at that rate of cutting,
the supply would be exhausted in ten
years. But seven of the ten years
have gone. and there still seems TO be
q pretty large quantity of standing
pine remaining.
Between thirty and forty tons of
sandy are made every working day In
the four Detroit and one Grand Rapids
factories. Port Huron has a some
what limited supply of natural gas,
md Detroit pipes it from Ohio, dis
Sance OF eighty miles, and is using Il |
or fuel purposes. Michigan manu-
'actures one-eighth of all chewing and |
'ne-tenth of all smoking tobacco in |
he United States. The manufacture
Il furniture at Grand Rapids employs
housands Of men, and the product OF
heir skill and iNbor goes to all civilized