The Forrest City times., 1909-04-16
miles of Philippine teYr,,o,r staked ont for rninir~

miles of Philippine teYr,,o,v
 staked out for mining claims "su
 In nearly every province tho
 renee of gold is known. but tba osea'' extensive prospecting and onaos most are being carried on in Lenap,aa aaohs guet. Camarines. Mindoro n hen- duque. Masbate and surigao ca a'arin- ores have been found in Lepanto ppe' guet, Pangasinan, Zambales pa.,enf Denf Camarines. Mindoro. Marinduo,a bate and Misamis. Iron ores oo.. Aas Bulacan. Rizal. Camarines and s a gao. and lead ores in Marindnona sa'f bate and Cebu "ss
 Coal outcrops have been ais.. in most of the large islands o, archipelago: in Luzon alone tbor ue known in Cagayan, Lepanto Nu N Vizcaya. Rizal. Tayabas. Cama.,s" " and Albay. The most importan, workings at the present time a,. va the islands of Cebu and Batan r. reservation set aside for the nurna. on Batan island, the quartermas,a, v partment of the United States a. is now carrying on extensive and .- tematic prospecting and develonms'. work under the direction of Cant W,. more of the engineer corps.
 Limestone and shale are yarv mon, and huge outerops are to ha .a served in nearly every province T. some they occur under such fayor.hl. conditions as regards quality ouan,,,s abundance of labor and facilitia. z. transportation to the coast and in no. sible sources of fuel. as naturanv :. suggest themselves as practieat,. sites for the establishment of 4 eemor, manufacturing industry in these |, lands.
 IL is not intended 10 convey the i'm pression that all of the aforems, toned mineral deposits are certain s proving profitable mining investmen,, On the other hand, it is extreme,y probable that valuable ore or oths, mineral deposits exist in these island, that have not yet come to the atten tion of those who could properly ap preciate them. This may be due eitbs, to the fact that the surface outcrous if any exist, are hidden under ,bs thick mantle of soil and vegetation which is such serious ineumbranee to prospecting in tropical countries. a, because the outcrops occur in hitherto unexplored and unprospected terri tory.
 Outside of the cost of machinery and supplies, the operations of mining. or. at any rate, prospecting. can be con. ducted here at greater cost. and, in fact, cheaper Il an in most countries in the world Prospecting shafts to a depth of abou. 80 feet in hard rock have been surk for about s135 per foot. and drifts have cost less than one dollar per foot, ese costs not includ. ing the cost of xplosives. The driy ing of a 5x6 cro. i-cut. fully timberad and Jagged, has recently been let by contract for S259 per foot. Prices
  pared to other 5ts In our western mining camps, ar indicate that for the same amount of capital greater amount of prCspec ing can be done.
 That successful mining can be car ried on in these islands Is abundantly proved by the rapidly growing indus try in Benguet. Ca.narines. Abay and one or two other provinces. and the fact that this list cannot be further in. creased at the present time is due, in my opinion. not so much to the lack Of natural resources as 1t Is to the lack of information. capital and good man agement.
 Copyright. 1908, by Joseph E. Bowles)