The San Francisco call., 1909-11-13


The statement in the local papers,
made on the authority OF a state
Official. that it has taken the United
States geological survey 10 months to
complete statistics on only two min
eral substances is entirely misleading.
and very far from the truth. The divi-
sion of mineral resources OF the. survey
reported last year on some IS different
mineral substances, and is doing so this
year, not for single state only, but
for each and every state in the union
where the substances occur. On each
substance of Importance a separate"
report is issued in advance of the main
volumes. and separate reports in
pamphlet form, covering 81 mineral
substances, have already been printed
and distributed this year. some of them
six months or more ago. while others
are yet to be printed Any OF these
reports may be had on application to
the local office of the survey in the
Appraisers building. These reports do
not consist of a single line giving
quantitySand value. as In, state reports,
but the subject is gone into thoroughly
by experts. the occurrences. uses, etc.
noted. not only for each state. but for
each county and district. while the dis
tricts themselves are described in de-
tail All features of interest in con-
nection with the substances are given,
and in most instances from actual field
investigation, not mere correspondence
alone
The publication of these extended re-
ports naturally involves much printing.
and those so far issued this year vary
in size from 200 pages, down TO half
dozen, according to the Importance Of
the subject. When these separates
were bound in the final two volumes
last year, on metallic products and non
metallic products, they comprised 1.640
printed pages. There were also maps,
showing both the gold. copper, etc, and
the coal fields of the entire United
States.
The largest of these Separates" and
the one involving the greatest amount
of work, is that on gold, silver. copper,
lead and zinc. that report alone last
year having been one of ASP pages. IT
covers the production OF these sub
stances in the western states, the CEN
trail and the eastern states and Alaska.
and is again being printed in this form
for this year. In order that the as
sistants in this particular work may be
close to their fields of investigation
suboffices of the survey are maintained
in the cities of San Francisco, Denver
and Salt Lake. The San Francisco
office reports on gold. silver, copper,
lead and zinc for the states of Califor-
MIA, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.
The tabulation and statistical sheets
on Oregon and Washington were for
warded from San Francisco this year
to Waldemar Lindgren. chief of the
gold and silver division, on August Is.
and those for Nevada and California on
September Z. The text matter was sent
as soon after as it could be copied. At
about the same time the reports from
the other suboffices were also for
warded for revision. inspection and
editing.
From the data thus supplied the chief
of the division in Washington writes
his own Introductory report on the
condition of these industries in the
United States. after conference, with
the director of the United States mint
Notwithstanding statements to the con-.
trary, it is fact that this statistical
gold and silver work is carried on by
the United States geological survey in
cooperation with the bureau of the
mint The final figures of production
by states are the result OF conference
and adjustment between the survey
and the bureau of the mint. The bases
of the table are data collected by the
mint bureau of bullion deposits in
United States mints and assay Offices
and by statements from smelling and
refining companies; and the "distribu-
tion" by county, etc, and by states
has to be checked and verified by the
data collected by the United States
geological survey direct from the mines
of the country. This checking insures