Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-08

use of which is used for the feeding
of cattle. They make more than 50.-
100000 gallons of cottonseed oil a year.
This oil is a valuable food stuff 1t Is
used largely in place of olive oil and
for the making of artificial butter OF
various kinds.
have already written Of the oil
fields of Texas. They will furnish a
vast deal of fuel oil and gasoline which
will go Off to Europe. More than
200.000.000 barrels have been taken out
of Texas since the discovery at Spindle
Top. and they are still prospecting in
finding new fields and. by boring deep
er. getting more oil out of the old
fields. There are 1900 producing oil
wells on the gulf coast, 500 around
Clay field. In addition to oil, the Clay
county field has a vast quantity of
natural gas. which the new processes
can turn into gasoline. The capacity
200.o0o.o0o cubic feet per day.
The gulf oils make an excellent fuel.
Three barrels of them are said to be
equal to a ton Of soft coal. and they
are taking the place Of coal on tho
railroads of Texas. This state also has
workable coal fields, the area Of which
is as big as Massachusetts,. 1t has
Ignite fields. which cover more ground
than the state of Illinois. But neither
has been much developed. The stuff
is here. however. and it should be used
to supply the manufacturing establish
ments of the state.
1 do not know how much fuel tho
factories Of Texas consume. but the
mobilization of. our Industries may
give us the figures. 1t will surprise
many people in the north to know that
there is much manufacturing here, but
the state is making considerably moro
than a million dollars worth of manu-
featured products every day. The fac
tories of Houston alone have $4,000
horsepower created by fuel oil, and
Galveston are all burning this fuel In
their mills of one kind or other. There
are something like 5000 manufacturing
establishments in Texas. and the total
about 100000. Dallas and Houston lead
as industrial centers. Fort Worth does
more in packing meat than all the rest
of the state. -
AS to the future of Texas industrially,
her iron mines and forests have to he
taken into account. She could do much
right now to help the country in ship
building. and she has shipyards which
national shipping board was organized.
She has forests which contain 60,000.-
100000 feet of standing timber, and
5000 square miles of this are composed
of long-leaf pine, which is excellent
for marine construction. Some of the
logs are three or four feet in diameter
and sixty feet long.
Texas now has 500 factories which
are working in lumber of one kind or
other. There. are $4,000 people em~
ployed in them. and in addition the
state has $4,000 carpenters. The two
latter items should form a big indus4
trial asset in our solution of the subI
marine problem.
There is no state in the Union thas
can be more easily modified than
Texas. Two-thirds of the people arc
native whites born of American para
ents. and about three-fourths are naa
tive white Americans. OF the remains
der II per cent are negroes. the most
of whom were born in Texas and arc
enthusiastic Americans. The whole
state is intensely patriotic. and in pros
portion to its population it probably
will furnish as many soldiers and work.
ers for the war as any other part Of
the Union. Only 3 per cent of the
people were born in Europe. and the
sprinkling of MeXicans. which is found
chiefly along the southern boundary. IS
much thinner than is generally sup
posed
The state is one of clubs and organ.
izations. and all of these are now up
and doing along the lines of prepared
ness. Take the food situation. The !
government will be helped Immensely
by the organizations for better farm. i
ing created by the state and the ma
tional government. One of these Is the !
Texas industrial congress. which has
for a number of years given prizes of |
$4,000 in gold to the individuals who |
raise the largest amount OF certain :
kinds OF crops under approved direc-
lions. This congress keeps track of
the demonstration FARMS. and 1t has
done a grent dea! to improve farming
methods. The contestants are num-
hered by thousands, and they havo
more than doubled their yield OF the.r
crops.
FRANK c. CARPENTER.