The Washington herald., 1909-03-21

been considerable talk or renewing opera
ton on large scale. and q large pump
Ing plant has recently been Installed
Two companies are at work In the G
& g shaft, one OF which employs about
100 men and mines about 200 tons OF ore
o week. which runs from $50 TO so ton
The ChOllar groupings produce nearly 300
tons a day. but the ore Is Of poor quality
and hardly pays expenses. Considerable
mining is being done in the vicinity of
Virginia City outside % the COmstock
mines. mostly In the neighborhood Of Si-
yer City and toward Gold Hill.
The Kelsey copper fields. near Lake
OsoyoOs, in Washington. is a district
whose Importance as mining field is as
yet somewhat problematical but the in
dications are most promising. The area
OF the property Is about 800 acres. BOr-
ings of leo feet in depth have shown
zones Of copper bearing sediment aver
aging 1000 feet in length and 200 IN
width The average assay has not yet
been fully determined. Practically the
same conditions were found at the depth
OF 100 feet as exist on the surface. the
quality Of copper being constant In
stances Of concentration In a minor de-
OF concentration on a larger scale az
greater depths
WnshtnGtOn'- Coal.
The coal mines Of Washington are
growing in value. although the Califor-
MIA market for their product has been
somewhat impaired by recent discov-
cries OF fuel oil IN that State. The coal
fields are in the central and western
parts Of the State and are FIVE in num-
Der: the north Puget Sound fields. in
cluding mines in Skagit and Whatcom
counties the south Puget Sound fields IN
the counties OF King and Pierce, the
Puget Sound basin east OF Seattle. the
ROslyn field in Kittitas County. and the
southwestern field In Lewis and Cowlitz
counties. The grades run from Ignite
70 bltuminous and cOklng coal, some nat
ural coke and anthracite being found.
The coal bearing public lands OF New
Mexico were withdrawn from entry about
two years ago pending an examination
as TO their value by the United States
Geological Survey. In the last few
months extensive coal fields in the vlcin-
fly Of Ration have been examined and the
coal found 20 be Of high grade bituminous
and cOking quality The town Of Ration
itself is built upon Shale whose dark
color has led many 10 look for coal in H.
This shale. known as the Pierre shale,
contains no coal. however.
Sandstone Above ShaIe.
Above the shale is a white sandstone.
the Trinidad sandstone, which sometimes
contains thin layers OF carbonaceOus shale
and coal The sandstone underlies the
real carbonaceOus beds Near the noun
tains these are from 80 20 80 feet thick
The carbonaceous formation. however
was subject 20 a long period o. erosion
and consequently IN some localities is
entirely lacking allowing much later
geologic strata 90 rest directly upon the
Trinidad sandstone.
The Ration coal formation IS overlaid IN
many places with q COuglOmerate sand
stone which uerges above into shales
and huev sandstone containing beds OF
coal almost as valuable as the lower
Ration beds. These upper sandstones and
shales vary from few feet 20 hundreds
OF feet I'm thickness
In some localities. especially along the
Red River Valley. owing 20 volcanic
activity igueous rock has been intruded
into the coal beds. Transforming the coal
into coke and graphite 4 detailed re-
port on the Ration fields IS expected early
In the spring
Asphalt in Oklahoma.
In Oklahoma the most extensive asphalt
deposits I'm the United States have been
found. that IS rock impregnated with
asphalt rather than asphalt in the viscous
state in which II Is found in Trinidad
Most OF the deposits are in the southern
part Of the State. Il IS found along fault
lines, there has been a slipping or the
eaTth's crust. formations on one side OF
The fssure going down hundreds OF feet
IN relation 20 the continuation OF the same
formations on the other side. and at some
unknown depth the fssure has penetrated
beds OF heavy petroleum which impreg-
mated the neighborinE rocks 10 the depth
of from two 20 fifty feet forming the
rock asphalt Limestone. sand. or shaIe
asphalt was formed according 20 the
nature Of the rock bordering the deposit
Many Of these deposits have been
worked and several mills built 10 take
care Of the product; there Is a mill at
Gils0uite one az the Brunswick mine
near Dougherty. and one al Ardmore
The rock has been used for paving IN
Kansas CITY. Fort Worth, Ardmore. and
Shawnee
Cost Il Too Great.
The facts that transportation ot the
rock involves considerable expense and
that methods OF refining the product on
the ground have proved unsatisfactory
have 50 far prevented any extensive utiIj-
Eation OF the Oklahoma asphalt. but the
deposits are there, and in a quantity 50
great as 10 insure a supply for several
years when the demand makes Il market
able.
With our mineral products so varied
and so widespread, and with q growing
sense OF their value and limitations. It
seems more than probable that in spite
OF the immense production OF mineral
wealth in recent years We shall continue
20 hold the place we have gained in the
race OF nations. II We do not even forge
ahead Of some who now surpass US In
certain products.
The mines have had eight months in
which 10 recover from the low prices
reached by their products. Business is
picking up in every line all over the coun-
try. II viii not be long before the de-
mand for metallic products OF all kinds
mines In all parts OF the country are pro
ducing nearly II not quite up TO their
average output
Suburban House Brings $1,000.
Willige. Gibbs & Daniel have sold for
Frederick J. Miller the large cottage. No.
e36 Longfellow street, between Ninth
street and Cyaorvfa ar-a0r,a Do-fbr-oz+ II, d.,