The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-08-20
connection with the tenth census. ir

State GeoiOElSt Of Alabama
 connection with the tenth census. in 1880.
 The plant life of the state has been set forth in the monumental work of Dr. Charles Mohr, and there have been reports on animals, birds and reptiles. beneficial or injurious to agriculture.
 The collections of minerals and other specimens, illustrative the varied resources of the state, made by the survey in the course of it's in- vestigations. are deposited in the museum of the survey in Smith hall. which was erected during Governor Corners administration. primarily to house them. Around these as a nu- c.eus have been brought together by exchange, donation and purchase multitude of objects of natural his- tory which make the survey and the museum one of the best of It's kind in the country, unexcelled in some lines.
 A large collection of books, pub 1ished by other state and national surveys, and of books relating to geology and natural history in gem eral. supplements the museum and u IuOSt source of information for students of ge- ology and other phases of natural history. The value of the museum and library Is greatly enhanced by the character of the building in which they are housed and the great care with which they are kept. The architecture Is pleasing, the lighting is unusually good. the method of dis play makes study convenient and easy. Both museum and library arc open constantly to students and vis- itors. As an aid to the teaching and study of geology and allied subjects they are now repaying the university to some extent for the help it gave the survey in the days of it's early years of poverty.
 As Publicity Agent
 Through it's collections here and the volumes of its reports found in most of the important libraries of the country, the survey serves the state most effectively as publicity agent. presenting it's resources to the public in dislnterested, authorita- tive and reliable way Alabamians and others may get from these re- ports and collections information that will aid them in selecting lands IOT 1ODltS anu anu lOI and water power development. Most of the leading geologists of the coun- try have at some time visited the university to avail themselves of the opportunities for study here and to confer with officers of the survey.
 Some of the projects now in hand by the survey are: A geological re- pert of Clay county; study of road building materials, particularly of sands and gravels and of the asphal tic rocks of north Alabama, most helpful at this time of the begin ming of an extensive road building program. which will finally amount, no doubt, to hundreds of millions of dollars, much of which will be spent on building materials, on tke charac- ter of which the cost and value of our roads will finally depend; inves- tigations of bauxite in Chefokee, Talladega, Lauderdale and other counties, significant in view of prob able future developments of water power in the state, and investigations of fullers' earths, moulding sands and sands and gravels for building purposes.
 A very valuable service of pr. Smith as state geologist to both the Htdte ana lHe unlNcioity 5uouiu hce be omitted. When in 1884 the Con gress of the United States made a second donation of 72 sections (40,- 0S0 acres) of public lands to the university in compensation for the buildings burned by the federal army in April, 1865, Dr. Smith. in cooper ation with two other commissioners, located the lands, using his knowl- edge to select wisely such valuabi. coal lands as were still available. Unfortunately. these selections had to be made in disconnected and iso- lated tracts, which has made their development very slow. As yet the university realizes comparatively lit- tie from them, and probably will con- tinue to realize little for many years. But, if wisely managed, the final in- come from these lands will be quite large, much larger than it would have been had the lands been located by one not having Dr. Smiths knowledge of the state and it's min eral resources. Since the university is the property of the state, this one service has been worth to .he state more than the survey would cost in several hundred years. And this. after all is only a minor service.
 All can see more or less intelli- gently what is above ground. The geological survey is the eye of the state and of the people with which they see beneath the surface and search out the vast hidden treasures under the earth.