The leader., 1895-10-29
NATURES WEALTH.
q uutold Treasures Are Hidden Away
to Be Unlocked by Degrees
tsiii Arp cites Same Cases-He tsed 10
wonder what Csrtain Pebbles Were
Good For-Now Glass ID Made
Of Thems

The older grow the moro am con.
vinced that everything in this world
was created for some wise and benefi-
cent purpose and all for the good Of
Gods creatures. There is no waste, no
surplus, no meaningless things. Ma
ture's storchouse is unlocked by de-
grecs. The doors have combination
locks and here and there all along the
years man Is found who Is smart
enough to study out the words and
make key that will open the door. l
remember walking over the hills OF
Tallapoosa-the hills that were covered
with thousands of shapeless pebbles Of
glittering quartz They were sign of
poor land and wondered what they
were made for. In few years after
there was glass factory built there,
and all these pebbles were gathered up
and made into French plate. Shortly
utter the war old Father Noble, the
iron patriarch of Rome, asked me to
| take ride with him to Kingston to
look at some iron property that was for
sale. l was no expert in that line, but
came along as company. He had half
dozen strong-armed negroes with picks
and shovels, and they dug little pits on
the hillside and got down to the ore
beds and threw up boulders for him to
inspect. He crushed them with his
hammer, and after careful examination,
shook his head and said: mo good;
more manganese than iron" Ten years
afterward that same old man was hunt
Ing for manganese property and bought
all he could find. Mr.. Bessemer had
unlocked door and found that man
| ganese was worth ten times as much as
iron, and through Its chemical combi-
nations steel rails that were $50 a ton
were reduced to $50. One day while we
were tramping over the barren hills we
found curious clay that had the shapes
soEe Of IL to Philadelphia, and 1t was
pronounced aluminium clay or beauxite,
and now it Is being mined and shipped
and manufactured into the strongest
and lightest and bright st of metals.
| Another door has beon unlocked. A
few years ago man of science, while
perusing this region, observed deposit
of earth that we called yellow dirt. He
said it was yellow ochre, and soon after
no formed company and bought up all
they could find and put up mill, and
then another mill, and the manufac-
tured ochre is shipped from here all
the year round to Northern markets,
and pays good profits. Then there is
tale and tripoli and graphite snd mica
and vitrified clay that we have walked
over and stumbled over for years and is
now wanted for industrial arts. For
years and years we have valued the
lowlands and counted the hills as moth
ing. II man sold his farm the low
| lands were valued at so much an acre,
and the hills were thrown in for good
measure. But now when man sells
he reserves the mineral interest IL he
san-or half Of it anyhow.
| About year ago Mr.. Laramore, one
OF our citizens, was prospecting near
Tunnel Hill for ores, mainly for man.
ganese, and found himself walking on
remarkable piece of road. 1t was so
| firm, so smooth and so old that he
stopped at farmers house and asked il
| that road was natural or artificial. lie
learned from him that it was graded
thirty years ago from deposit of nat
ural concrete nearby and had never been
| worked on since. The more he looked
at it the moro he thought about it, for
| he is one of natures close observers.
He procured some Of the deposit and
| sent it to his chemist and 1t was pro-
nounced natural concrete OF hornstone
| and was used in France for roadbeds.
The chemist said it was OF the best
| quality and roadbed made of it would
last a century, for water solidfied it and
| then it became impervious to rain and
neither wagon tire nor horse shoes
could wear it away. This was revela-
tion to Mr.. Laramore. As it was quite
near the railroad he got Mr.. Thomas to
| give him side track and now he is
mining and shipping in large quantities
and has already beided and graded sew
| eral miles of highway near Atlanta and
the county commissioners are extending
the line of grading. / travelled over it
| and found it luxury and far more
pleasant than belgian blocks or cobble
stones. 1t does look as If our Creator
placed that deposit there to be used in
due time and the due time has come.
Tie road congress- is TO meet soon in
Atlanta, and no doubt will investigate
| this concrete and commend it to the peo-
pie, for 1t abounds in ibis region and
the railroads will build spurs to the de-
| posits. Just think how much the rail-
roads add to the volume Of our timber
and minerals and products Of every
kind. But next to railroads the farm
ers are interested in having good wagon
roads leading from every market town.
Rome has been wise in this regard. and
now has eighty miles Of good macadam
roads reaching out for the country trado.
Cartersvi'ls Is doing the same thing and
will use this new discovery when 1t can
bs as eheaply procured. Mr.. Laramoye
Is going TO bed out principal streets
with It as IN experimenk Tor II ne1er
wears out nor has u = pafnhed
or repaired. All the rains of the
past summer fail upon that broad
way that leada from Fourteenth
street down To the expositIoa rates and
nover affected Il and ~ more travel
the firmer II beeouos. x ~ that u
Stained for II Il true tho road problem
| II solved. hops ~ ooperosS vii In