The Van Buren press., 1899-08-26
.P|L|NG UP THE RICHES
Mineral Production Of the United
States Nearly Doubles In
Twenty Years.
THE YEAR 1898 WAS 4 RECORD BREAKER.
All th. Metals Erespf zfetsi show q
Large Gain Ia The Years t1Esr
--OmetsI Figures Of the prcdse-
tfon and Ya3us Of al Of Our Min
srpl Resources.

Washington, Aug. 2s.-The ofbeial
repDrt on the mineral production Of
the United States fer Is9s was made
public to-day by fhe geological tEir-
vey. II shows that since 1880 the total
value of the mineral production of the
United States has increased from s56s.-
31B. 900 20 ses7. .s80. .9o2 II 1853, nearly 20
per cent. The normal increase dedueed
from this record Of 3 Fears il NJ he
rate Of s1s, 900 900 annually, but during
The I've years, since fag3, lie rate Of
increase mas been nearly 81. 5.D00. 800 an
nuaDy. While the normal rate Of in
creass NAV lie somewhere between
these figures the totals ire marked by
great irregularities. Prom 1884 70 1895
The increase was nearly s409.9to, ,00s,
and In the following Tear the increase
was little over 8 90. .D0o, while from
1sp2 10 1ses there vas decrease. Ow-
ing 70 the business depression. Of oEer
S121. 600 .D0b Prom IF . n the in
crease was about > .9oo. 800, about ID
per cent. while from g v s. the in
crease was s5s .g7n .5s<. The 1875 total
product was the lnrgesf N history, ex-
eeeding that Of 1852. which held The
record prior 10 1sgs. by nearly 500
gDQ. 600. This is due 20 a general in
crease all along the linz Of nainsrsl
products. al Of the most important
q these showing larger increases, and
almost every one showing some gain.
The value Of al metallic products IN
Isgs, was ss44. .0s5. .158. as compared
with 500. .1gs ,502 IN 1857. : gain Of ST.
sq7 .gzs. All the metals. except nickel.
made large gains copper. lead. zinc,
aluminium and anfImonF reaching
their maximum il both production and
value. but while The smounf Of pig
iron produced in 1sgs VAS greater than
IL any other year. ret the value Of this
product was considerably less than in
1890 or 1892 though il increased s9l.-
zs4.TD1 over 1877. this being more than
cne-baf the total increase IN the lae-
fsllic products from 1877 10 ls9s. The
i.on-nefallic products increased from
Ss27,710, ,S66 in 1897 10 ss5z. .7ss.s72. a
gain Of 5.O72. .s0d- The largest con-
tributor TO this gain was bituminous
coal. which increased from sllq.567 :
224 in 1897 20 sf32. .5ss.3 .31s in lsss, 4
gain of sl3.01e.0ss. The value of antbra-
cite, however. fell of nearly s4.Oo0..
600. The other products showing i'm
portsnt gains were stone. petroleum,
natural gas and mineral waters.
The ofieial hgures Of production
and value Of the principal products
follow: Iron and steel-pig iron, IL
773, ,e34 long tons; Bessemsr steel in.
gotE, 6.e09,ol7 tons; open hearth steel
2,230, ,290 long tons iron ores. ls,2Ts,.
go long tons, valued az S22,bl2. SAP;
gold, value, $e4. .463, ,00o, an increase il
product; silver, -. .43s 900 ounces. coin
ing value. 70,3s4 AS, or commercial
valHe, sl7.345I75; zinc, 1922 shor-
tons, value, SIT ,3s5 80; quicksilver
81 ,o92 TASKS, value, s1.716 900; metallic
sntimony, 1.lz0 short tons, value sls4,
90, 80 per cent. being derived from
imported ores; manganese. 1895,
long tons, value, s129. .ls5; nickel, l3.
1ll pounds. Fuels-Coal, combined
product of anthracite and bi.uminous
l95, ,405, ,953 long tons, equivalent to
2l9. .974,667 short tons, a ek per cent
increase. OF the total, 1is,742,s7:
long tons, were bituminous; coke, 16,.
047 ,2O9 short tons; crude petroleum
5j,354,233 barrels; natural gas. value
sl4,7j0,000; stone, s3e. e.607 ,26s in value;
elays, SI0,O00,O00 value; Portland ce.
nent, 3,692,2s4 barrels; natural roeb
cement, s76,42I barrels; corundGm and
emery, s275,064 value; product, 4O6i
tons; phosphate rock. eoO,s94 long
tons, S2,673,202 value; gypsum, 29l..
635 short tons, value S755,2So; salt. IT..
6l2,634 barrels of $50 pounds, s6,2l2,.
554; borax, l6,O00,ooo pounds, sl,12O,.
900; pyrite, 1854 long tons; pre-.
cious stones. s160,e2o in value; asphal.
tum, 76,337 short tons, s675,649; lime
tone for iron fux, 5,275,s19 tons
worth S2,63sO0o; mineral waters, 2s..
s53,4e4 gallons sold. worth ss,o51 ,s33
I