The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-02-26
Urged Usefulness of Petroleum
By-PrOductS Years Ago.
IRON SUPPLY NOT EXHAUSTED
Enough for All Time, Accord
ing to Early Expert.
But There Should Be No Waste,
Holland Says.

I
can body under the name of the
American Institute of Mining Engin-
GERS. Its annual business meetings
have since that time been held in va
flous cities in the United States and
the meetings in the aggregate have
| covered the entire country. During
the week just ended the institute has
! neId its annual business meeting in
/ this city, and the occasion was one of
! especial interest and importance, part
| ~ IN view of prevailing business con-
dltlons and partly because almost eV-
| cry part of the United States was
| represented at this meeting The ad-
dresses and papers that were read re-
| fleet conditions in the mining indus
tries in the United States as these exist
at this time, and some of the papers
were of unusual interest, since they
describe mining districts in the coun-
try or which little up to this time has
been Known, at least authoritatively
and from the point of view of science. |
In 1875 the institute elected Abram |
s Hewitt president. The extraordin- |
airy range of Mr.. Hewitt's information. |
his intellectual powers, which were !
both keen and subtle and yet very |
broad, so that he was able to look at |
questions with the vision OF a states |
man as well as that of a man of pure |
science, caused him speedily to make |
his influence felt not only in the in
stltutiOn, but through the institution /
in congress, of which he was mem
ber and upon the country.
At the meeting of last week Direc-
tor Smith of the United States geologf- |
cal survey spoke most appropriately of !
the services of Mr.. Hewitt. 1t was due
to him and also to the profound inter
est he took in the American Institute
of Mining Engineers that the present /
geological survey bureau st Washing
ton was established. Some of our
larger business men of affairs, espec-
tally those whose vocations have iden-
titled them with mining Industries.
speak with enthusiasm of the assist
ance which the federal geological sur
Vey bureau has given to those who
have undertaken to develop some of
our more important mineral indus
tries.
Just at this time it seems to the
members of the Institute of Mining
Engineers especially appropriate that
reference should be made to the ser
vice done by Mr. Hewitt as far back
as 1876 and from that time on until
the close of his life, with respect to
the conservation of the mineral and
other natural resources of the United
States. To him more than to any
other one man is to be traced the in
fluence which carefully nurtured, has
aroused national sentiment 50 greatly
as to justify the hope that our natural
resources are hereafter to be well con-
served Mr. Hewitt was an unflinch-
ing opponent of waste, and even be-
fore the day when the Standard Oil .
people QlSCON e1eu the lildt !
lurked in byproducts formerly re- :,
garded as waste Mr.. Hewitt had point
ed out the wealth that really existed
in the waste products of the petro- {
leum industry. 1t was mir. Hewitt. too ,
who was the first to advocate legis-
lative measures for the protection of
life of those who work in the mines.
Recently apprehension has been ex-
pressed lest the iron ore deposits of p
the United States be exhausted within
the lifetime of the present generation
or certainly within that of The rising |
generation. Many persons thought :
they detected in the testimony given
by James ]. Hill before committee
in Washington few days ago intima- j
tons that he is persuaded, or at least
fears. that with the next 25 or 30
vears the United States will have eX- I
hausted its iron-ore deposits unless |
here be serious curtailment in the Z
of iron and steel commo +
1ities
Mr. Hewitt's View.
Up to the time of his death a few O
years ago, Mr. Hewitt was persuaded
hat the iron-ore deposits of the United
states are practically inexhaustible. in :
speaking of that to the present writer. =
Mr. Hewitt said that he did not mean
han never would the iron ore deposits
If the United States be exhausted. He
lid mean that within any time the
limits of which we'll informed bust
Tess men can look-that IS to say, a v
OnU way Off-Ile OnlIeU states WOuiu
urnish all the iron ore needed for its
manufactures. however great these may
lecome. That was the idea Mr. Hew-
tt expressed in a speech he made "
ONE twenty-five years ago to the Brit n
an Iron and SteS- association. Ia e
hen predicted that early in the TWEEN "
ieth century the United States would n
ave gained pre-eminent place. sur o
assing Great Britain in the iron and "
feel industry. Mr. Hewitt, however. ls
%Jak xxr,ttI6 "a a naH1 ~
f careful conserving of the iron re- !.
ources of the country, mining the ore -
nd converting it into marketable prod
cts by the highest scientific and most
processes, if we were to es-
ape the danger of serious diminU-
ion of our iron ore deposits. 1t was
ne C. his purposes in advocating the
rganization of the geological survey VI
nder the authority of the federal gov
rnrnent to cause constant and exhaus-
We explorations to be made. so that
ne people of the United States could r
e constantly and we'll informed re- NJ
oecting the nature and extent of their Y
lineral resources u
In some informal conversation among OF
lefnbers of the American institute last 10
eek reference was made to the work ,
one under the auspices of the federal
D. ernment recently in New York state.
hese researches served to show that n
there ever comes danger of serious
Impairment to our iron ores all that
i'll be necessary will be to call in of
lie aid of science for the purpose If ri
oening up the enormous stores of iron in
e which are deposited in various ma
arts of New York state. At pres m
II these ores can not be procured 70 ar
numerical profit since the vast beds So
2 many feet below the surface. but ~
le researches of the United States e
Biological department made some three e.
ears ago in New York state justify I'll
e opinion that If the emergency arises
is state and parts of Pennsylvania De
ad possibly portions Of western Con- til