Morgan County democrat. (Versailles, Mo.) 1900-1906, 1905-10-13

tial inducements to the investment of
capital, almost every direction from Yer
s%ailles.
At depths varying from two to fifteen
feet the clay is found in quantities un.
estimated. For twenty years clay has
been taken out in comparatively small
lots, the greater portion being shipped to
st. Louis and Granite City, Ill.,, where it
is a principal constituent in the products
of the Niedringhaus plants.
Only when the railroad was built
through did local capital take any inter.
est in the subject Thorough tests had
repeatedly beeu made by experienced
biologists and chemists, and the true
value of the clay was known, but nothing
was done until last winter. In May a
clay-working plant just west OF Yer.
~sailles began operations.
While only but of the experimental
stage, the most modern machinery has
been installed, and an average OF $4,000
fire brick and drain tile is being turned
out daily. Paving brick. building brick
and ornamental brick are the chief pro-
ducts of the force of fifty-fve men.
There is a prospect of the early estab.
lishment of other plants, and there is
room for many which will engage III the
manufacture of various clay products.
Potteries are all immediate possibility.
The latest and most important discov-
cry in this line is the half dozen large
deposits of %fulle,'s earth in the vicinity
of Versailles, and the knowledge that
there are many more such deposits yet
uncovered. Professor II. B. Hilgerman
of st. Louis, a chemist and a clay spec
ialist, was responsible for the tests which
made sure the fact that fuller's earth ex-
listed in the county. He had spent much
time in experimenting with the clays OF
the county and accidentally ran across
the discovery.
Fuller's earth is the greatest purifier
known aud is an absolute essential IN the
great packing houses and in oil refner.
les. At the present time practically all
that is used in the United States is i'm.
: ported from foreign countries. Uutil
this II Missouri was found the output IN
the United States was scarcely noticeable
NJ, ryan County drains into two rivers
!, The Rock Island traverses the crest Of
the watershed from east to west. Yer
, sailles is at the crest and II side OF the
. court house and all to the north drain'
, into the Missouri river; the other side
and the south end Of the county isdrain
ed by the Usage. Numberless creeks
and minute rivers are the component
). parts of an ideal water and drainage sys
TEN,
The agricultural sections Of the COUNTY
q lie to the north of Versailles and in tn
9 Missouri river country. The timbe
q lands and the cattle ranges are :ributar'
to the Usage and its smaller branches.
On the north side the finest crop o
corn and wheat in the history OF tn
q county was grownt this year. Wheat ha
not been grown in such quantities as I
2 make it much of a shipping commodity
The eighty-barrel flour mill in Versatile
absorbs practically all that is grown.
1t Wheat this year averages twenty.fv
bushels to the acre of good No. 2 wheat
II and the price paid at the mill is with
10 cents of the St. Louis market price
Rye grows we'll, but the farmers do nc
It raise it in any quantity. Flax ana hem
have been given q tryout and have SUI
As ceeded splendidlv where they have bee
experimental with.
r. The possibilities in the hardwood tin
10 Der which is found in the Usage bottom
a. have been realized and a big plant Il
Of the manufacture OF ak and hammer hai
re dies 10 in successful operation. Hickor,
H. white oak, and blue ash are utilized
I'd the making, The timbey is made
III work its way through the plant.
,e The logs are dumped at one door ar
ne sawed into the proper lengths for II
o. handles, The sawdust 10 the fuel for Il
IS furnace and there is not the sIighte
waste from the time the ripping say
d. begin operations until the handle: q
at placed in the cars. The output OF Il
tn new plant Is between sixty and sevent
rd Ave dozens OF handles daily,
n rhe greatest part OF the hardwood iii