El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-11-03

TLBBING. MINI, Nov Come
ri with me TO Minnesota and take
Il = a look at an industry upon
which depends our success or failure
in the great war IN Europe. We are
In the center Of the most important
iron mines on the globe. All about
Us are mighty pits, some as big as a
good sized farm. from which they are
taking out ore for the making OF
steel for srmor plates. motor trucks,
railway tracks. airplsnes and shells
and proiectilss- The most OF The work
is done with dynamite and steam
shovels- and the base metal is hardly
touched by mans hand from the time
II comes out OF the earth until il has
passed through the furnaces and gone
forth in ships, cars and in guns and
other munitions Of war.
IL worlds Greatest supply Point.
There is no other place in the world
where iron is mined so efficiently. and
none where il is found in such guam
titles More than three-fourths OF
all the iron ever produced in the
United States has come from tins Lake
Superior region The amount is so
great that we cannot comprehend il.
The ore carried down the lakes last
year was 5000, 600 tons. enough to
have filled a train OF S. ton cars.
reaching from san Francisco 70 New
York. and from there across the At
lautlc 20 where our soldiers are using
steel guns made Of that ore on the
battlefields Of France. Moreover. the
product steadily grows In the year
1900 II was 100000 tons BY 1906
II had doubled and by the output this
year IL will probably be doubled again.
Since the war In Europe began the
demand has leaped. and our govern
meHt is now pushing the miners TO do
more than ever.
This region contains the most and
best OF our iron deposits We know
that 10 be so for the scientists OF the
geological survey recently went over
The United States and took account
Of our resources They put all our
iron into two classes. One was the
available ores or those that are so
rich that they can be easily and profit
ably mined at this time The other was
the unavailable ores. or those which
have a smaller percentage Of iron. but
which II may pay TO save for use in
the future. All Of the available iron
Of the United States was then esti-
mated al a little over five billion tons,
and Of this three and one-half billions
we're shown 10 be in the Lake Superior
region. The remainder. a little less
than oue-third OF the whole. is IN the
eastern states, the lower Mississippi
valley and in the Rocky mountains
and the Pacific slope
As 70 the lean ores which may be Of
value in the future, our reserves Of
that kind are about 100000 tons
Of which 100000 are located in the
Lake Superior region.
German ore Of Poor Grade
The rest Of the globe, so far as is
known, has no beds Of iron TO compare
with these Of Lake Superior. Germany
has, all told, something like two bill
lion tons Of ore and the iron in Il IS
20 small thar much Of II would be
Clzssed as unavailable here Russia
has perhaps a billion and a half tons
still In the ground France has an
eU"e1 amount and Austria Hungary
and Great Britain have each about one
billion tons. Spain has about five
hundred million tons and Sweden has {
Uerha ns a billion tons OF iron ore re-
serves. The ore OF the two latter I
countries IS OF excellent quality.
AS 70 the ore reserves OF Africa, ]
Asia and South America, those CONT I
nents are largely unprospectsd. and I
no definite knowledge Of their iron
deposits IS 20 be had There is con-
siderable iron IN Asia and small de-
posts here and there in Australia
America ] vas told that there was
something like two billion tons in
central Brazil. ana I know that the
Bethlehem Steel company has g long
lease on an iron mountain In Chile. I
None Of these countries has anything
which equals the resources Of the
United States, and there is no doubt
that we are bound 70 hold our su-
premacy in the steel markets OF the
world The indication is that we shall
have 10 furnish the bulk OF the steel
for our allies in Europe. and thai,
when the war Is over. that continent Z
VIII be, for the most part, rehabiH- /
rated by products made from Ameri- I
can ore.
These great iron deposits lie on the (
south and west sides OF Lake Su-
7srior- The first TO be discovered {
were on the south They are in the 4
1Isnominee. Marquette and GOEebic
ranges. IN the states OF Michigan and 4
Wisconsin. They have produced up /
70 last year about so, 600, 900 tons Of I
ore The mines at the west OF the /
lake are ali in Minnesota, and they Z
make that state the great iron state I
Of the union.
The availa BILE reserves are over . I
eeO. 0O0. 600 stous and the royaltie (
which Minnesota will get from them I
are enormous. The state is now col /
lectiuC a large part Of its revenues
from its taxes on iron II IS shipping
q bout tvo-tHirds Of all the ore used in 4
and most Of this comes from
the Nesahi mountain range, where 7 /
am writing The remainder is from j