The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1914-05-22
VERMONT SECOND
IN TALC OUTPUT
And Is Also Among the Leaders in
Production of Virginia
Is the Big Producer of Latter.

| America leads the world in t@~ pro
duetion of tale and soapstone, and YET
most Americans are far from appreciat
| ing how much of the Joy and comfort
as well as the success of life depends or
the use of tale to smooth the rough
places and lessen friction of all kinds
The cool and soothing toilet powder used
by nearly everybody from the cradle to
the grave is made of tale, which also alb.
serbs grease from silks and other fabrics
bleaches cotton cloth, and cleans up
things generally.
The demand for tale is steadily grow
ing in the United States and the pro-
duction has responded. The largest
amount of tale is used in the manufac-
ture of paper of many kinds, from roof
ing to writing paper, not simply to give
it body and weight but to improve the
quality of the paper, give it smooth
finish, and make it better adapted to re-
ceive printers ink.
The total output of tale in the United
States in 1913 was 1927 tons, valued
at 81 ,2s0,020, gain of nearly II per
cent. in quantity and more than l6 per
cent. IN value as compared with that of
1912. New York is not only the banner
state in the production of tale. but in
1918 it had the largest output of its his
tory, exceeding by 10000 tons the largest
previous annual production.
With the exception of small amount
t925 tonsl produced in California, the
entire output of tale in the United States
comes from comparatively narrow belt
of crystalline rocks running through the
Atlantic states from New York to
Georgia. Vermont ranks next to New
York in production and Pennsylvania is
third. followed by North Carolina, which
produces both tale and pyrophyllite.
Virginia, Massachusetts,, New Jersey, and
Georgia are next in the order of produc-
tion.
These statements are based on a report
by J. S. Diller just issued by the United
States geological survey as part of
"'Mineral Resources, 1913" The report
gives special attention to the recently in
vestigated tale deposit of California,
which is remarkable for its whiteness.
Like the tale of New York, that of
southeastern California is in large meas
ure derived from tremolite schist asso-
ciated with limestone, but the indica-
tions of present developments do not JUS
tify the belief that the California de-
posits are as extensive either horizontal
iy or vertically as the deposits in New
York.
Soapstone is used for saking laundry
tubs. griddles, and ths ~e, and the in
dustry is for the most part distinct from
the tale industry, although one company
in Virginia produces both soapstone and
tale. Four states-Rhode Island, North
Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia-pro-
duce soapstone, bit Virginia, with six
producers, has an output many times as
large as all the others combined. The
total output of soapstone in this coun-
NV in 1913 was 26,562 tons, valued at
.ss,077. This is a gain of 5sl tons in
quantity and sls.597 in value over that
of 1912. There are no exports or i'm
ports of soapstone, but some tale is i'm
ported from Canada and small amount
is exported. With large supplies of tale
and soapstone and an increasing demand
the tale and soapstone indust- Is likely
to- experience continued expansion for
some time to come, although keen COM
petition is greatly reducing the profits.