Albuquerque evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1911-1914, 1913-08-04

issued by Director Harris of the bur-
eau Of census. department Of COM
merce II was prepared under the
supervision OF Isaac A. Ho1rwich. ex-
pert special agent for mining.
The total number Of iron mines Ia
me United States IN 1898 was fss.
The number % persons engaged In the
industry on December IS. 1908. or
nearest representative date was Sc.
i7e OF whom b2.23O were wage earn
era. The expenses OF operation and
Development amounted 10 &5f.07I.s30.
Of which payments for salaries and
wages constituted somewhat lees than
half.
The production Of iron ore In crude
form was sl,sf1,i2s tons, but some
Of the ore produced IN New York IL
concentrated az the mines, and the
net production. after concentration.
for the country a. a whole was ST.
7i7,s20 tons. The quantity used by
blast furnaces % the mines or shipped
from the mines for use In afiiated
blast furnaces az a distance or for
sale was 50.52l.2OS tons. and its value
% the mine was si06.5as.b7i. besides
which manganiferous ore and other
by-products, TO the value Of tf07.5
we're produced. making the total
value OF products ti0s.sf7.0s2. The
value OF iron ore produced In other
industries (gold and silver mining,
limestone quarrylng, and brick and
tile manufacturing in 1893 was re-
ported az ti75.s6s, which, added TO
the net value OF ore az the iron mines
CtiO6. $40, gives total value Of
iron ore for 1909 amounting 90 $780,
1889.
The Lake Superior district. which
comprises Minnesota, Wisconsin. and
Michigan, and the southern district,
which comprises Alabama, Georgia,
and Tennessee, we're the principal
producing districts. the combined pro-
duction OF these two districts repre-
senting gi.s per cent OF the total ton
mage OF ore used by the operators In
their own blast furnaces or sold IN the
market. The predominance Of the
Lake Superior district Ia the iron min
ing industry IN shown conspicuously.
More than four-nfths Of the ore used
and sold In 1903 came from this dis
trict. and the value of this ore, includ-
ing by-products. represented nearly
seven eishts Of the total for the coun-
try.
Leading states
In 1909 Minnesota led In the output
Of iron ore In the United States with
production Of 2s.si4.7l9 tons. or
IS per cent OF the total output for the
United states. Michigan was second
with II.a24.9s5 tons: AlabaL,t third
with 4.312.36O tons: New York fourth
with i,O24,l73 tons; and Wisconsin
NTH with 1909 see tons. Oiher scat
tering states produced together 5.Ji- >
sal tons
There was an exceedingly rapid in
crease In the iron mining Industry
from 1879 TO 1903 The gross amoGit
Of ore produced was more than eight
times as great IN 1903 a. IN 1879. add
the expenditure for salaries and wages
about three ana half times os grcat.
The production Of ore niote than
doubled between 1879 and 1888, ana
again more than doubled between
1889 and 1909. while between 1899
and 1909 there was an increase Of
AL per cent
Increased Cost OF Mining.
The returns show that Ia the United
: states an whole the total reported
expenses Increased from si16 per ton
In 1899 10 fi.4s per ton IN 1893. not
| withstandng the fact that the ex-
| penses for 1909 included interest.
which was excluded In 1909.
In the United states as a whole the
! average value Of ore per ton az the
| mine Increased from si.S4 IN 1909 TO
sara In 1903. or secs per tOn-an
Increase slightly greater In absolute
! amount than that In the total report
ed expense per ton fO.2O.
land Tenure.
There are wide differences among
the states with respect 90 the relative
| importance of owned land and leased
land. Thus, Of all land controlled by
mine operators In Minnesota more
than nne-third was held under lease,
while in Michigan less than one-ienth
was held under lease and Ia Ge0rga.
| Missouri. New YORK and ohio very
much smaller proportion siill, In
Michigan. Minnesota. New Jersey ana
virginia the acreage Of mineral lana
| held under lease was much greater
than the acreage owned. but In GER
tain other states. except North Caro-
| lima. Tor Wnlcn no nWhFu iNHH N"r
reported, the owned mineral land
greatly exceeded the leasd.
Four operators, each with more
than 10000 acres. controlled over
three.hfihs OF all land connected with
/ iron mines. ana ell other OPERATORS
holding more than 10000 acres each'
controlled nearly one-fourth OF the
total acreage The very large holders
however, usually have a great deaf oi
land not yet proved 20 contain iron
ore. Moreover, Of the known mineral
land controlled by such operatU.s, a
great deal Is held In reserve. the
small holders. on the other hand. are
In general mining out their ore ~ q
relatively rapid rate.
The average value OF the iron-or'
production per aero Of land for th'
several groups Of operators was In tins
main In inverse ratio TO the acreage
controlled per operator The opera
tors who controlled less than 10,
acres each on the average produced
ore valued at nearly $1,000 per acre
Of land COZ all classes )controlled, a.
| compared with sac per acre for oper