Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1915-03-23

this. How can we hll these gaps and
thus make America more truly indie
pendent.
THE catalogue Of the products of
III mines, quarries, and wells Is long.
The list Of what we lack is short. We
are wholly dependent on other coun-
tries for only four principal items-tin
and nickel, potash and nitrate. Among
the minerals of which the United
States he's a deficient supply are man
ganese, platinum, gems and asbestos.
Still other minerals it has heretofore
been more profitable to buy abroad
than to produce at home, such as
chrome ore. barytes, flint pebbles,
magnesite, mica and graphite.
These deficiencies create problems
relating to three different types or
classes of minerals. In the first class,
tin and nickel only seem to present a
hopeless outlook; and as a matter Of
fact the whole world is poor in din.
Especially in this scarcity felt in GER
tain of the countries now at war,
where the shortage due to cessation
Of imports is intensified by the in
creased use of tin in canning army
supplies. But we a look to South
America for tin ore and make its i'm
%portation a foundation for profitable
commerce with Bolivia. For nitrate
We can continue to rely upon Chile,
but we should develop our independ-
ence in respect to this mineral by the
manufactures of. nitrates from atmos-
pheric nitrogen. Opportunities for
cheap hydroelectric development will
invite capital as Dor as congress will
le~gislate. For potash the outlook! is
less certain; thus far only one potash
rich brine has been foupd-that of the
Searles Lake deposits, in California
! where potash occurs in even greater
quantity than that at first estimated
by the Geological Survey, but the
problem of its commercial extraction
has not yet been fully solved by the
chemical engineer.
1.-The deficiencies of the second
class, like manganese and platinum,
are stimulating 10 the g~eoIogist saG
the engineer, the one TO discover, the
ether to develop. The recent find in
southern Nevada of rich platinum.
bearing GOLD ore constitutes a notable
addition 70 the worlds supply Of this
too rare metal.
ffThn fhfnd class 80 0,4r0-olo kIz.1
which 1t has paid better to buy from
foreign producers, probably furnishes
the largest incentive for the effort to
secure neurological independence.
Here especially can the g~eologist and
the engineer cooperate. Magnesite,
nica and graphite. for example, are
common minerals, of which are de-
posts have ben found in th,e country,
yet up to the present time they naye
been large items Of import from Aus.
tria, Canada and India
"As an encouraging instance OF
mi~neralog!eai independence, yus may
recall that only about ten years ago
this country imported It's salphur from
Sicily, whereas now, by Eeason Of the
work Of one engineer. the United
States leads the world IN the mining
of sulphur. Can not further success be
expected In the utilization Of mineral
resources hitherto practically 4.
touched?
THE substitution Of certain miner
ala OF domestic origin for those bought
IN foreign markets will bring us face
to face with the problem OF standard
i~Sstion. Price is not the last word with
the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. This iis q
good time to drop any ideas we may
have of industrial superiority and to
copy for a while the industrial spirit
of Germany, which systematized pro-
ceases and standardized products until
they won markets In every continent
by sheer superiority.
THE outlook for successful endea-
Yor by the American engineer seems
very bright"