LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 GIFT OF 
 
Report of Proceedings 
 
 -OF THE 
 
 AMERICAN i 
 
 MINING 
 
 CONGRESS 
 
 Session 
 
 Pittsburgh, 'Penn,, December 2-5, 1908 
 
 Published by .th< 
 
 At the Office of tl 
 
Report of Proceedings 
 
 of the 
 
 American Mining 
 Congress 
 
 Eleventh Annual Session 
 
 Pittsburgh, Penn., Dec. 2-5 
 
 1908 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 Published by the American Mining Congress 
 
 At the Office of the Secretary, Denver, Colo., 1909 
 
 Copyright, 1909, by the 
 
 AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 
 
 DENVER, COLO. 
 

 
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 Eleventh 
 
INDEX 
 
 Page 
 
 Accidents in Coal Mining, report of committee 28 
 
 Alaskan Mining Laws, report of committee 28 
 
 Auditing Committee, report of 113 
 
 Communications 
 
 E. H. Harriman . 89 
 
 John Hayes Hammond 89 
 
 George P. Huff 90 
 
 Mine Inspectors Institute of America 103 
 
 W. H. Taft 105 
 
 Credentials Committee, report of 60 
 
 Delegates, list of 60 
 
 Directors, election of 118 
 
 Financial Statement of Secretary 112 
 
 Forestry Committee, report of 36-88 
 
 Government Testing Station at Pittsburg, session at 53 
 
 Heinze Pickle Company, The H. J., visit to . . -. 90 
 
 Independent Smelters, encouraged 34 
 
 Law for Preventing Mining Frauds 60 
 
 Members, annual meeting of 112-118 
 
 Members, list of 72 
 
 Nominating Committee, report of 118 
 
 Prevention of Mining Frauds, report of committee 31 
 
 Resolutions Committee, list of 22 
 
 Resolutions Committee, reports of 
 
 41-43-46-47-53-59-60-61-87-88-99-100-109-110 
 
 Revision of Mining Laws, report of committee 32 
 
 Safety in Coal Mining Operations, report of committee 28 
 
 Smelter Rates, report of committee 34 
 
 Telegrams 
 
 E. H. Harriman . . 89 
 
 John Hayes Hammond 89 
 
 Vertical Side Line Law, report of committee 28 
 
 ADDRESSES. 
 
 Page 
 
 Address of Welcome, by Lee S. Smith 9 
 
 Address of Welcome, by Congressman J. F. Burke 11 
 
 Response, by President J. H. Richards 13 
 
 Response, by Prof. Victor C. Alderson 16 
 
 Response, by Hon. John C. Chaney 17 
 
 Response, by Dr. H. Foster Bain 18 
 
 Response, by Prof. Chas. J. Norwood 19 
 
 Response, by Dr. E. R. Buckley 19 
 
 Response, by Dr. Chas. N. Gould 20 
 
 Response, by Hon. H. H. Lang 21 
 
 Response, by Gov. A. B. Fleming 24 
 
 Response, by Mr. J. L. Steele 26 
 
 Response, by Dr. A. H. Purdue 27 
 
 The Mine Inspectors Institute of America 103 
 
 COMMITTEES. 
 
 Page 
 
 Committee on Alaskan Mining Laws, report of 28 
 
 Committee on Credentials, report of 60 
 
 Committee on forestry, report of 36-88 
 
 Committee on Nominations, report of 118 
 
 Committee on Protection to Mining Investors, report of 31 
 
 Committee on Resolutions, list of 22 
 
 203316 
 
4 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Committee on Revision of Mining Laws, report 32 
 
 Committee on Safety in Coal Mining Operations, report of 28 
 
 Committee on Smelter Rates, report of 34 
 
 Committee on Vertical Side Line Law, report of 28 
 
 SUBJECTS OF RESOLUTIONS. 
 No. 1 Amending the By-Laws of the American Mining Congress, by 
 
 Wm. P. Daniels, of Colorado. 
 
 No. 2 Tariff Duty on Zinc Ores, by Col. H. H. Gregg of Missouri. 
 No. 3 Relating to the Method of Shot-Firing in Coal Mines, by 
 
 Peter Hanraty, of Oklahoma. 
 No. 4 Tariff Duty on Lead Ores, by Col. A. G. Brownlee, of 
 
 Colorado. 
 No. 5 Loss of Life in Coal Mining Operations, by Geo. J. Bancroft, 
 
 of Colorado. 
 No. 6 Work of the Geological Survey, by Geo. J. Bancroft, of 
 
 Colorado. 
 No. 7 Standardizing Electrical Practice in Mining, by David B. 
 
 Rushmore, of New York. 
 
 No. 8 Co-operation Between American Mining Congress and Amer- 
 ican institute of Mining Engineers, by D. B. Rushmore, of 
 
 New York. 
 No. 9 Coal Tax for Benefit of Injured Miners and Families, by 
 
 J. G. McHenry, of Pennsylvania. 
 No. 10 Revision of Coal Land Laws in Alaska, by Geo. M. Esterly, 
 
 of Alaska. 
 No. 11 Legislation to Prevent Accidents in Coal Mines, by H. 
 
 Baumann, of Pennsylvania. 
 No. 12 Prevention of Mine Accidents, by T. Wilson Henderson, of 
 
 Pennsylvania and M. Duffy of Oklahoma. 
 No. 13 Prevention of Frauds in Mining, by W T m. P. Daniels, of 
 
 Colorado. 
 No. 14 Government Inquiry Into Rates on Coal, by J. W. Dawson, of 
 
 West Virginia. 
 
 No. 15 Prevention of Mine Accidents, by David Ross, of Illinois. 
 No. 16 Method of Disposition of Public Lands, by William Ben ton, 
 
 of Wyoming. 
 No. 17 Federal Aid for Mining Schools and Departments, by A. H. 
 
 Purdue, of Arkansas. 
 No. 18 Asking Support for Government Testing Stations, by W. F. R. 
 
 Mills, of Colorado. 
 No. 19 Prevention of Accidents in Coal Mining Operations, by John 
 
 G. Ross, of W T est Virginia. 
 
 No. 20 Resolution of Thanks to Officers and Directors of Mining Con- 
 gress' Citizens of Pittsburgh, Committees, etc., by Senator 
 
 Charles Dick, of Ohio. 
 
 Resolution Introduced by Page 
 
 1 W. P. Daniels. . . .41 
 
 2 H. H. Gregg 43 
 
 3 Peter Hanraty... 4 3 
 4 A. G. Brownlee.. 4 6 
 5 Geo. J. Bancroft.. 46 
 6 Geo. J. Bancroft.. 4 7 
 7 D. B. Rushmore. 4 7 
 8 D. B. Rushmore.. 47 
 9 J. G. McHenry. . .53 
 
 10 Geo. M. Esterly.. 5 9 
 
 11 H. Bauman 60 
 
 12 T. W. Henderson. 60 
 13 W. P. Daniels. . . .60 
 
 RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 Reported page Di position 
 
 93 & 114 Referred back to Congress. 
 
 93 Adopted. 
 
 108 Referred back to Congress. 
 93 & 101 Adopted. 
 
 93 Adopted. 
 
 93 & 100 Adopted. 
 
 101 Adopted. 
 
 93 & 101 Adopted. 
 
 109 Referred to Board of 
 
 Directors. 
 
 101 Adopted. 
 
 108 Referred back to Congress. 
 
 108 Referred back to Congress. 
 
 109 Referred to Mine Fraud 
 
 Committee. 
 
SPEAKERS. 5 
 
 Resolution Introduced by Page Reported page Disposition 
 
 14 J. W. Dawson. . .61 
 
 15 David Ross 62 108 Referred back to Congress. 
 
 16 Mr. Ben ton 87 
 
 17 A. H. Purdue.... 88 101 Adopted. 
 
 18 W. F. R. Mills. .. .99 109 Adopted. 
 
 19 John G. Ross... 100 108 (Made a part of record as 
 
 a statement.) 
 20 Jno. C. Keighley.109 Referred to Committee on 
 
 Forestry. 
 
 Resolution of thanks by Senator Dick of 
 Ohio, Page 110. 
 
 SPEAKERS. Page 
 
 Alderson, Prof. V. C 16 
 
 Bain, Dr. H. Foster 18-28 
 
 Beard, J. G 103 
 
 Brown, Dr. John 39 
 
 Brownlee, Col. A. G 36-37 
 
 Buckley, Dr. E. R 19 
 
 Burke, Congressman James Francis 10-16-56 
 
 Callbreath, J. F., Jr 106 
 
 Chaney, Congressman John C 17 
 
 Daniels, William P 94-114-116-119 
 
 Dawson, J. W 51 
 
 Dempster, Alexander 54 
 
 Douglas, Dr. James . 48 
 
 Fleming, Hon. A. B 24-91-92 
 
 Fulton, H. F 38 
 
 Garfield, Hon. James R 45-53 
 
 Gould, Dr. Chas. N 20 
 
 Hammond, John Hayes 89 
 
 Harriman, Edward H 89 
 
 Harrison, George ta 87 
 
 Holmes, Dr. J. A 51-110-122 
 
 Muff, George F 89 
 
 Ingalls, W. R 32 
 
 Knight, J. W 39 
 
 Lang, Hon. H. H 21-92 
 
 Malcolmson, James W 118 
 
 Mitchell, John 51 
 
 Norwood, Prof. C. J 19 
 
 Parker, Dr. Edward W 49 
 
 Richards, Judge J. H 13-114 
 
 Rockwell, I. E 37-38-41 
 
 Ross, John G 90 
 
 Scholz, Carl 52 
 
 Smith, Lee S 9 
 
 Springer, J. A .' 49 
 
 Steele, J. L 26-40 
 
 Taft, Hon. William Howard 105 
 
 Taylor, Samuel A 9 
 
 Walker, John H 49-101 
 
 White, Dr. I. C 97 
 
 Wood, Dr. John R 40 
 
 TITLES TO PAPERS PUBLISHED IN PART II. 
 
 Page 
 
 Annual Address of the President, by J. H. Richards 7 
 
 Relation of the Federal Government to Mining, by Chas. Dick. ... 18 
 
 Transportation of Mineral Products, by Edward H. Harriman.... 38 
 The Importance of Arbitration as a Factor in the Advancement of 
 
 the Mining Industry, by Carroll D. Wright 52 
 
 The Duties of the Federal and State Governments in Relation to 
 
 the Mining Industry, by George Harrison 57 
 
6 ROSTER. 
 
 Page 
 
 Conservation in the Mining Industry, by Frank M. Osborne 66 
 
 Transportation in Its Relation to the Mining Industry, by James 
 
 Douglas 71 
 
 Federal Government in Its Relation to the Mining Industry, by 
 
 James Rudolph Garfield 88 
 
 Problems of the Coal Mining Industry, by J. A. Holmes 98 
 
 Some Utah Mineral Deposits and Their Metallurgical Treatment, by 
 
 Robert H. Bradford 101 
 
 Mining and Mineral Resources of Arizona, by Frank Cox 119 
 
 The Mineral Resources of Virginia, by E. A. Schubert 124 
 
 The Mineral Resources of Arkansas, by A. W. Estes 146 
 
 Conservation in the Coal Industry, Protection of Life and Preven- 
 tion of Waste, by Glenn W. Traer 152 
 
 The Barren Zone of the Northern Appalachian Coal Field and Its 
 
 Relation to Pittsburgh's Industry, by I. C. White 166 
 
 Needs for Conservation of Our Coal Deposits, by J. V. Thompson. .177 
 
 Conservation of Mineral Resources, by J. B. Zerbe 181 
 
 Conservation in the Coal Industry, by John Mitchell 185 
 
 Installation of Electricity in Mines, by W. A. Thomas 196 
 
 A Brief Statement of the Rising Importance of the Rare Elements, 
 
 by Herman Fleck . 204 
 
 Tariff on Zinc Ores, by S. Duffield Mitchell 212 
 
 Arbitration as a Factor in the Mining Industry, by George Gray. .230 
 Arbitration as a Factor in the Mining Industry, by Thos. L. Lewis. 23 5 
 
 Problems of the Coal Industry, by Alexander Dempster 239 
 
 Distribution of the Nation's Mineral Wealth, by George Otis Smith. 2 47 
 Science as the Basis of Commercial Success, by Joseph Buffington. 251 
 The Duties of the Federal and State Governments in Relation to 
 
 the Mining Industry, by W. F. Englebright 255 
 
 Alaska and Its Mineral Resources, by Alfred H. Brooks 258 
 
 OFFICIAL ROSTER 
 
 of the Officers and Committees of the American Mining Congress 
 
 19O7 
 
 OFFICERS. 
 
 J. H. RICHARDS President 
 
 THOMAS EWING First Vice President 
 
 E. R. BUCKLEY Second Vice President 
 
 E. A. COLBURN Third Vice President 
 
 J. F. CALLBREATH, JR Secretary 
 
 DIRECTORS. 
 
 J. H. Richards Boise, Idaho 
 
 Thomas Ewing Vivian, Arizona 
 
 E. R. Buckley Rolla, Missouri 
 
 E. A. Colburn Denver, Colorado 
 
 George W. E. Dorsey Fremont, Nebraska 
 
 C. M. Shannon Los Angeles, California 
 
 John Dern Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 A. L. White Lima, Ohio 
 
 W. F. R. Mills Denver, Colorado 
 
 COMMITTEES 1907. 
 
 PROGRAM. 
 
 Dr. E. R. Buckley, Rolla, Missouri; T. A. Rickard, San Francisco, 
 California; E. Lyman White, Denver, Colorado. 
 
 TRANSPORTATION. 
 
 W. F. R. Mills, Denver, Colorado; Col. A. G. Brownlee, Idaho 
 Springs, Colorado. J. F. Callbreath, Jr., Denver, Colorado. 
 
ROSTER. ? 
 
 WAYS AND MEANS. 
 
 John Bern, Salt Lake City, Utah; Col. Thomas Ewing, Vivian, Ari- 
 zona; Col. George W. E. Dorsey, Fremont, Nebraska; F. Wallace White, 
 Cleveland, Ohio; Judge E. A. Colburn, Denver, Colorado. 
 
 AUDITING COMMITTEE. 
 E. Lyman White, Denver, Colorado; E. G. Reinert, Denver, Colorado. 
 
 MINING TEMPLE BUILDING. 
 
 Governor Henry A. Buchtel, Denver, Colorado; Hon. Meyer Fried- 
 man, Denver, Colorado; Hon. J. H. Richards, Boise, Idaho. 
 
 PROTECTION AGAINST MINING FRAUDS. 
 
 C. J. Downey, Denver, Colorado; R. L. Herrick, Scranton, Pennsyl- 
 vania; Hon. A. W. Mclntire, Everett, Washington; Hon. H. C. Beeler, 
 Cheyenne, Wyoming; Judge W T illiam F. Clark, Glover, -Vermont. 
 
 SMELTER RATES. 
 
 E. A. Colburn, Denver, Colorado (Chairman); E. M. DeLavergne, 
 Colorado Springs, Colorado; George W. Riter, Salt Lake City, Utah; H. 
 S. Joseph, Salt Lake City, Utah; Dr. L. D. Godshall, Needles, California. 
 
 VERTICAL SIDE LINE LAW. 
 
 James D. Hague, New York City; John A. Church, New York City; 
 R. A. F. Penrose, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Charles J. Hughes, Jr., 
 Denver, Colorado; Hon. Thomas Kearns, Salt Lake City, Utah. 
 
 PREVENTION OF MINE ACCIDENTS. 
 
 H. Foster Bain, Urbana, Illinois; F. W. Parsons, New York. H. H. 
 Stoeck, Scranton, Pennsylvania; B. F. Bush, St. Louis, Missouri; 
 Herman B. Hesse, Frostburg, Maryland. 
 
 GENERAL REVISION OF MINING LAWS. 
 
 W. R. Ingalls, 505 Pearl Street, New York; J. Parke Channing, 42 
 Broadway, New York; J. R. Finlay, 71 Broadway, New York; John 
 Hays Hammond, New York; Dr. James Douglas, New York. 
 
 OFFICIAL ROSTER 
 
 of the Officers and Committees of the American Mining Congress 
 
 1908 
 
 OFFICERS. 
 
 J. H. RICHARDS President 
 
 THOMAS EWING First Vice President 
 
 E. R. BUCKLEY Second Vice President 
 
 JOHN DERN Third Vice President 
 
 J. F. CALLBREATH, JR Secretary 
 
 DIRECTORS. 
 
 J. H. Richards Boise, Idaho 
 
 .Thomas Ewing Vivian, Arizona 
 
 E. R. Buckley Holla, 1 Missouri 
 
 E. A. Colburn Denver, Colorado 
 
 L. W. Powell Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 John Dern Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 W. F. R. Mills Denver, Colorado 
 
 Alexander Dempster Pittsburg, Pennsylvania 
 
 Geo. W. E. Dorsey. Fremont, Nebraska 
 
 ADVISORY BOARD. 
 
 L. W. Powell Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 A. W T . Mclntire .Everett, Washington 
 
 W. J. Elmendorf * Spokane, Washington 
 
 Duncan MacVichie . . Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
8 ROSTER. 
 
 COMMITTEES 1908. 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 
 
 E. A. Colburn, Denver, Colorado; W. F. R. Mills, Denver, Colorado; 
 Col. Thomas Ewing, Vivian, Arizona. 
 
 PROGRAM COMMITTEE. 
 
 J. F. Callbreath, Jr., Denver, Colorado; Alexander Dempster, Pitts- 
 burgh, Pennsylvania; Dr. H. M. Payne, Morgantown, West Virginia. 
 
 COMMITTEE ON ALASKAN LAWS. 
 
 James J. Godfrey, Seattle, Washington; John H. McGraw, Seattle, 
 Washington; Watson Allen, Seattle, Washington. 
 
 AUDITING COMMITTEE. 
 
 E. G. Reinert, Denver, Colorado; W. E. Bridgman, Denver, 
 Colorado. 
 
 PROTECTION AGAINST MINING FRAUDS. 
 
 C. J. Downey, Denver, Colorado; Hon. John J. Lentz, Columbus, 
 Ohio; H. J. Cantwell, St. Louis, Missouri; Hon. H. C. Beeler, Cheyenne, 
 Wyoming; Maj. F. C. Vincent, Kansas City, Missouri. 
 
 SMELTER RATES. 
 
 E. A. Colburn, Denver, Colorado, Chairman; Geo. W. Riter, Salt 
 Lake City, Utah; E. M. DeLa Vergne, Colorado Springs, Colorado. H. 
 S. Joseph, Salt Lake City, Utah; Dr. L. D. Gods-hall, Needles, California. 
 
 VERTICAL SIDE LINE LAW. 
 
 John A. Church,, New York City; Chas. J. Hughes, Jr., Denver, 
 Colorado; R. A. F. Penrose, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Hon. Thomas 
 Kearns, Salt Lake City, Utah; Geo. E. Collins, Denver, Colorado. 
 
 PREVENTION OF MINE ACCIDENTS. 
 
 Dr. H. Foster Bain, Urbana, Illinois; H. H. Stoek, Scranton, Penn- 
 sylvania; F. W. Parsons, New York; B. F. Bush, St. Louis, Missouri; 
 Herman B. Hesse, Frostburg, Maryland. 
 
 GENERAL REVISION OF MINING LAWS. 
 
 W. R. Ingalls, 505 Pearl Street, New York; J. R. Finlay, 71 Broad- 
 way, New York; J. Parke Channing, 42 Broadway, New York; John 
 Hays Hammond, New York; Dr. James Douglas, New York. 
 INVESTIGATION OF THE NATIONAL FOREST SERVICE AND ITS 
 
 EFFECT UPON THE MINING INDUSTRY. 
 
 A. G. Brownlee, Denver, Colorado; George J. Bancroft, Denver, 
 Colorado; E. A. Colburn, Denver, Colorado; William P. Daniels, Den- 
 ver, Colorado; W. F. R. Mills, Denver, Colorado. 
 
 Officers for the Year 19O9 
 
 PRESIDENT, 
 
 J. H. Richards. 
 
 VICE PRESIDENTS, 
 
 E. R. Buckley, John Dern, 
 
 W. F. R. Mills. 
 
 DIRECTORS, 
 
 J. H. Richards, Boise, Idaho. 
 Thomas Ewing, Fenner, California. 
 E. R. Buckley, Flat River, Missouri. 
 George W. E. Dorsey, Fremont, Nebraska. 
 W. F. R. Mills, Denver, Colorado. 
 John Dern, Salt Lake City, Utah. 
 Samuel A. Taylor, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 
 H. Foster Bain, Urbana, Illinois. 
 A. G. Brownlee, Denver, Colorado. 
 
 SECRETARY, 
 James F. Callbreath, Jr., Denver, Colorado. 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, 
 
 John Dern, A. G. Brownlee, 
 
 W. F. R. Mills. 
 
OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS 
 
 HON. J. H. RICHARDS 
 
 President 
 Boise, Idaho 
 
 W. F. R. MILLS 
 
 Third Vice President 
 
 Denver, Colorado 
 
 JAS. F. CALLBREATH, ,JK. 
 
 Secretary 
 Denver, Colorado 
 
 IHt. i:. II. BUCKLEY 
 First Vice President 
 Flat River, Missouri 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 
 
 COL. A. G. BROWNLEE 
 Denver, Colorado 
 
 COL. GEO. W. E. DOUSE V 
 Fremont, Nebraska 
 
 JOHN BERN 
 Second Vice President 
 Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 SAMUEL A. TAYLOR 
 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 COL. THOMAS EWIJNG 
 Fenner, California 
 
REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Eleventh Annual Session of the American 
 Mining Congress 
 
 Held at Pittsburgh, Pa., December 2 to 5 Inclusive, 1908 
 
 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1908. 
 Morning Session. 
 
 The opening session was called to order at 10 o'clock, a, m., by Mr. 
 Samuel A. Taylor, Chairman Local Executive Committee. 
 
 Invocation by Dr. S. B. McCormick, Chancellor of the University of 
 Pittsburgh. 
 
 MR. TAYLOR: Gentlemen, you have come to our city at the invi- 
 tation of the Chamber of Commerce, which represents the business inter- 
 ests of this city and community, a city which is proverbially known as 
 the industrial center of America, whose pay-roll amounts to practically 
 one million dollars per day, and whose tonnage exceeds the four greatest 
 sea-ports of the world. It is to such an industrial hive as this that you 
 have come at the invitation of the Chamber of Commerce. It is fitting, 
 therefore, that your welcome should be extended by the president of the 
 Chamber of Commerce, who also represents at this time the mayor of 
 our city, who is obliged to be absent and, therefore, unable to meet with 
 us at this time. 
 
 I have the honor of introducing the president of the Chamber of 
 Commerce, Mr. Lee S. Smith. (Applause.) 
 
 MR. LEE S. SMITH: Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: After 
 I had been asked to represent the Chamber of Commerce and welcome 
 you to our City on its behalf, our mayor, the Hon. George W. Guth.rie, 
 sent me a communication asking me to represent him also, as he could 
 not be present on this occasion; so I take great pleasure in appearing in 
 this dual capacity. 
 
 I suppose, for some reasons, as representative of the mayor of the 
 city, I ought in accordance with historical custom to tender to you the 
 keys of the city, but I do not think that is proper on this occasion for a 
 number of reasons. In the first place, we have no keys and we have 
 no gates, and if we had we would throw them all off their hinges to 
 admit the American Mining Congress within the walls of our city the 
 center of such great mining interests. And then, too, if we did close 
 our gates against gentlemen of your ability, skill and talent, you would 
 mine under the walls and come in anyhow. So on behalf of the mayor 
 of the city I just simply say, you are a thousand times welcome within 
 the borders of greater Pittsburgh. 
 
 I am not going to take up your time by enumerating the items of 
 our greatness. You already know them. And I am not going to take 
 up your time in extolling the mining interests and your great calling, be- 
 cause what I do not know of them would make a very large library, and 
 Keep you busy all the balance of your lives in studying the subject out. 
 
10 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 You are welcome to the city. On behalf of the Chamber of Com- 
 merce of Pittsburg, I want to say just a word or two, because we have 
 the Honorable James Francis Burke, M. C., here to extend 10 yon an 
 address of welcome, and we pay him for his addresses and he is always 
 ready with them. (Laughter.) For this reason I wish to say just a 
 word on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburg. In the first 
 place, Chambers of Commerce are of very ancient lineage. We find that 
 the first one was organized about the beginning of the fifteenth century 
 in Marseille, France. The movement spread over France, and finally 
 got over into England, although that great commercial nation was very 
 slow to 'take up the matter. But tracing the history of Chambers of Com- 
 merce of the past, we find that they devoted their time and attention 
 almost altogether to the interests of their individual members, and not 
 for the general good; so much so did this exist in France that they were 
 suppressed on several occasions. But finally they have come to realize 
 that they have a higher and nobler calling than simply looking after the 
 commercial interests of the members of the Chambers, and that is to try 
 to do something lor the community, for the state and for the nation, and 
 I assure you candidly that the Chamber of Commerce of Pittsburg, (like 
 some of its co-laborers throughout the United States), is devoting about 
 nine-tenths of its time to public interests of civic, state and national 
 character, and, therefore, on behalf of this Chamber of Commerce, which 
 has extended to you an invitation to come to our great city, I want to 
 say to you, welcome, thrice welcome. We hope that your deliberations 
 here will be not only beneficial to yourselves but to our city as well. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 MR. TAYLOR: In connection with what has already been stated I 
 wish to say that there are some things other than commerciol ends at- 
 tained in this city. I wish to read an original poem by Judge Joseph 
 Buffington, of our United States Court, which was written a short time 
 ago, and delivered at a meeting of the alumni of the University of Pitts- 
 burg, entitled, "The City of Pitt." 
 
 City of Pitt, to thee,. 
 Set by the rivers three, 
 
 Washington won. 
 From France's lillies torn, 
 To Saxon freedom sworn, 
 Spot where the West was born, 
 
 We be thy sons. 
 
 Mine rich thy rugged hills, 
 Girdling thy thousand mills, 
 
 City wealth blest. 
 Teach us, Great God, to know. 
 That as we reap we sow; 
 Let not wealth bring us- low, 
 
 This our behest. 
 
 In home, in church, in school 
 In lives wihere virtue rules, 
 
 These shape thy fate. 
 Not what is sold and bought 
 In what is lived and, thought 
 That for which life is fought 
 
 These make thee great. 
 
 We have asked you to come not only to the City of Pittsburg, but 
 to the great "State of Allegheny County," as Lincoln termed it. We 
 have also asked you to come to our state of Pennsylvania. We have not 
 as a state much to boast of along the line of precious metals; but we 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS ii 
 
 have one of the greatest iron ore mines in the United States located 
 within our borders, as well as great coal mines. Tihe statistics of the 
 United States Geological Survey show that of the entire amount of coal 
 produced in the United States from 1814 to 1907, inclusive, which was 
 6,865,097,567 tons, Pennsylvania produced 3,777,579,574 tons, or prac- 
 tically fifty-five per cent, of all the coal that has been produced in the 
 United States in this period of time. In 1907, of tihe 480,363,424 tons of 
 coal produced in the United States, Pennsylvania produced 235,747,489 
 tons, or practically fifty per cent. We, therefore, can reler with some 
 pride to Pennsylvania as being a mining state. It is fitting, therefore,- 
 that you should be welcomed here by one who represents not only Alle- 
 gheny County, but the State of Pennsylvania as well. 
 
 We have with us at this time a man whom Pittsburg delights to 
 honor, and who has been sent, after a successful career in our midst as 
 an attorney, to our National Congress to help to legislate not only for 
 this state but for the Union. I have the pleasure of introducing to you 
 Honorable James Francis Burke, Congressman from thie 31st district of 
 Pennsylvania. (Applause.) 
 
 CONGRESSMAN JAMES FRANCIS BURKE: As a Representative 
 of the United States government and as a citizen of the richest and most 
 resourceful valley in the world, I sincerely rejoice in your meeting and 
 extend you a hearty welcome and wish you unmeasured success in your 
 great mission, 
 
 Lesson of a Tragedy. 
 
 As if it were designed to lend a frightful significance by its cruel 
 coincidence, a terrible tragedy has made doubly impressive the necessity 
 and the timeliness of this convention. 
 
 The angry messenger of death has again impressed us with the fact 
 that the miner's lamp still burns in a chamber of unmastered mysteries; 
 and that the hidden dangers of the chamber of horrors still await to be 
 driven out by the savage searchlight of an all conquering science in 
 whose cause you have come together from every section of this Republic 
 today. -, ; ;> 
 
 From the lips of every mi^er, from the grave of every victim whose 
 life has been offered as a .sacrifice upon the altar of an undeveloped 
 science, there will come to ;fp,ur proceedings a heartfelt benediction. 
 
 As earnest crusaders in an earnest cause it is eminently fitting that 
 you should assemble in a community in which the very atmosphere is 
 surcharged with a sincere interest in your work. 
 
 Duty of the Government. 
 
 A considerable portion of your proceedings will be devoted to the 
 matter of enlisting governmental co-operaticn and in this I shall mani- 
 fest a profound interest. 
 
 While other governments may excel us somewhat in their accom- 
 plismentsi in the matters to be discussed here, I still believe that no 
 other government on earth in a given length of time has ever accom- 
 plished more in the development of its resources, the enrichment of all 
 its people and the enlightenment of the world than this sturdy -republic, 
 which was baptized in Pensylvania a century and a quarter ago. 
 
 Criticism Unprofitable. 
 
 If there be those who believe she h^s been remiss in some things, 
 let us not weary the world with frowning co? the faults of yesterday, but 
 brighten the pathway of man by picturing the more pleasing prospects 
 of tomorrow. 
 
 Let us remember that those who turn their faces toward the sun 
 cast all their shadows behind, while those who turn their backs upon 
 it never place their footsteps where a shadow does not fall. 
 
12 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 A National Bureau of Mines. 
 
 One of the pictures I feel justified in hanging in prospect before 
 you today for unveiling within sixty days is that of a well manned and 
 adequately equipped Bureau of Mines in the Department of the Interior 
 of the United States government. 
 
 To the man who calls this paternalism let ir.ie say that that same 
 cry was raised when the Bureau of Agriculture was projected, which has 
 since developed into a Department whose work is commanding the con- 
 fidence and admiration of the world: 
 
 Our mineral industry ranks second only to agriculture, its output 
 exceeding two billion dollars annually. 
 
 Our manufactures, with $14,000,000,000 annual output, have their 
 Department of Commerce and Labor. 
 
 Our agriculture, with its $7,500,000,000 annual production, has its 
 Department of Agriculture, its Chief a member of the President's Cabi- 
 net, while our mineral industries' with an output of over two billion dol- 
 lars annually, has not even a bureau. 
 
 From 1880 to 1900 our gold production more than doubled; oil 
 trebled; coal quadrupled and copper increased tenfold; and in the course 
 of this production it is safe to say that the waste of material and sacri- 
 fice of life have been greater than im any other country in the world. 
 
 The Irreparable Sacrifice. 
 
 The tragic and permanent character of this sacrifice is revealed in 
 the realization that a human life once destroyed is gone forever, and 
 that minerals once removed from the earth are not renewed by growth 
 as are the crops that cover the fields or the forests that crown the hills. 
 
 To prevent this waste is a matter in which the details are for indi- 
 vidual effort, but the primary researches and fundamental experiments 
 are the logical and proper functions of the general government. 
 
 Purposes to be Served. 
 
 There are three purposes to be served by these efforts: 
 
 First, the prevention of the sacrifice of human life. 
 
 Second, the conservation of our known resources. 
 
 Third, the discovery and development of unknown resources for the 
 nation's enrichment. 
 
 Under the first classification we need only recall the appalling list 
 of increasing fatalities here and the correspondingly diminishing de- 
 struction of life and property abroad, to impre&s upon us the need of 
 concerted action. 
 
 Frightful Fatalities. 
 
 During 1907 over 1,000 miners lost their lives in a single month. 
 
 During the same year 3,000 miners were killed, an increase of 50 
 per cent, over 1906. 
 
 Our federal safety appliance and employers' liability laws were en- 
 acted as a result of the awful slaughter of railroad men, year after year, 
 yet while for each 1,000 railroad men 2% are killed annually, for every 
 1,000 miners 3% are sacrificed 1 . The number of miners killed or injured 
 in 1906 reached the awful total of 7,000. 
 
 That this appalling loss of life can be diminished by government ex- 
 periment and aid has been proven by both France and Belgium, where 
 they have decreased 1 the mortality in such cases fully two-thirds. 
 
 The states in the exercise of their police power and the federal gov- 
 ernment in its control of interstate commerce should provide and en- 
 force the most rigid rules regarding the manufacture and sales of ex- 
 plosives, and wherever the word "flameless," or "safety," or kindred 
 labels are improperly attached, or old titles given to new and more dan- 
 gerous explosives, the punishment should be prompt and severe. 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 13 
 
 The same general strictness should be required in labeling explos- 
 ives as are required in labeling poisons.. 
 
 Under the second classification it is a notorious .fact that the per- 
 centage of light, heat and power derived from the present manner of 
 converting our resources into commercial value are infinitesimal com- 
 pared with what might be derived through scientific methods. The pos- 
 sibilities in this regard in the matter of electricity, the consumption of 
 coal and lignites are too vast to permit of detailed discussion by me. 
 
 Under the third classification, there is the possibility of the ultimate 
 discovery of vanadium, the most precious and valued of all alloys in the 
 making of steel. When wie import it we pay to the enterprising gentle- 
 men who have discovered it in other countries $10,000' per ton. For 
 want of knowledge we do not produce it, but many believe we shall at 
 no distant futune date. 
 
 Radium, the rarest of all minerals, a government of small area but 
 of a scientific turn of mindi has developed, and today when we make 
 known our needs of it, we must ,beg practically every atom of it from 
 Austria, which has also a virtual monopoly of its associate mineral, 
 uranium. 
 
 We have discovered in this country many of the same minerals and 
 geological characteristics that mark the vicinity of these precious min- 
 erals in Austria, and it is believed by many that with a bureau continu- 
 ously investigating the properties and potentialities of these minerals 
 and the elements surrounding them the discovery of the more precious 
 ones will follow. 
 
 Your great work is still in its infancy, but in the prosecution of your 
 researches and experiments I know of no surer way of insuring success 
 in solving the perplexing problems that now baffle the miners of the 
 land, to prevent the destruction of human life, to conserve the known 
 resource's of the nation and promote the development of new elements 
 of enrichment than to be animated and inspired by that spirit of, un- 
 daunted courage and never-ending hope which has 'marked the whole en- 
 chanting story of that prince of the world's great adventurers the 
 American miner. 
 
 The word "fail" never found a lodging place in his lexicon, whether 
 he was leading the hosts of civilization from where the waves sobbed on 
 the shores of the Atlantic to where the winds moaned their miserere 1 in 
 the wilderness of the Alleghanies; whether he was breasting the current 
 of the Mississippi or blazing the white man's pathway through virgin 
 forests to the lead mines of Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin; 
 whether he was trailing across the plains to the Rockies or from the 
 snowstorms of the mountains to the sun-kissed ihills and valleys of the 
 Golden Gate, where his dreams at last came true; where his sacrifices 
 and successes, his tribulations and his triumphs made fiction common- 
 place in the presence of fact; baffled the poet and compelled the world 
 to recognize a new standard of values in manhood as well as money. 
 
 With such an example to inspire there need be no fear of failure 
 by those who follow in his footsteps. 
 
 MR. TAYLOR: Before turning over the gavel to your honored 
 president, I wish to state to those who have the advance programs that 
 they will find upon them a list of the various committees in connection 
 with the Congress, and if there is anything which you desire, which you 
 do not know where to secure or find out about, if you will make your 
 wants known to some member of these committees), he will endeavor to 
 supply your needs. 
 
 I now turn tihe gavel over to your president, a man who needs no 
 words of introduction from me, Honorable J. H. Richards of Boise, 
 Idaho. (Applause.) 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It seems that the .. committee on pro- 
 gram have arranged that I should, in a measure at least, respond to the 
 generous welcome which has been extended to the delegates and mem- 
 
14 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 bers of this session of the American Mining Congress. You can readily 
 understand the embarrassment that one in my position would feel in 
 coming after the gentleman whom you have just heard; but in all sin- 
 cerity I will say that I am willing to come after such men .because I 
 naturally fall into that slot. 
 
 We have had demonstrated to us here this morning that this section 
 of our great country not ony produces the greatest industrial develop- 
 ment the world has ever seen, but is producing the greatest men the 
 nation has ever beheld also, and they extend to us the ideas which propel 
 us on, and the ideas that rule this nation today and set in action those 
 forces that accompliS'h the purposes of men, and as we gather ihere from 
 the north and the south and the east and the west, we come to this 
 great industrial center with a message of good. We hope by the ex- 
 change of ideas here, by the great mining experts of the nation that we 
 may be able to set in motion those intelligent forces which will lift the 
 pall of mourning from the broken hearts of the miners' homes, and let 
 in the light of hope that intelligence and science can reveal to them 
 and give them confidence in coal mining in the future. It is these ideas 
 which propel us on, and make the measure of good that we would do in 
 this world. We come here from all over this broad land to sit for a few 
 hours at the feet of these great giants of industry at Pittsburg. They 
 are constructive geniuses that we find here. Put a man from Pittsburg 
 anywhere in this great country and he goes to work to construct an 
 empire. Bring your Kuhns out into the great valleys and deserts of 
 Idaho, and there they replace the wild animals which have for ages oc- 
 cupied those deserts with >happy childhood, homes, temples of worship, 
 and temples of learning by reclaiming the desert. Drop other men from 
 Pittsburg out into the State of Idaho, and they develop the great mines 
 like the Trade Dollar; and not satisfied with that victory they 'harness 
 the great Snake river to the wheels of industry and lift a part of the 
 burden of toil from the shoulders of the miners. Not satisfied with 
 that, such men as your Guffeys and Barnsdels from this great state go 
 to building railroads and interurban lines. So they are sent to that em- 
 pire that is being builded out there. And when I listened to the Chan- 
 cellor of the University of Pittsburg and he and I were young men to- 
 gether, and to a large extent our hopes were cast in the same mold I 
 find that he is called back here from the great West to construct and 
 demonstrate to this state the highest fruitage of civilization, yea, the 
 crowriing glory of the civilization of this nation, a great university. It 
 will not be ten years under his direction until that will be heralded as 
 one of the greatest institutions of learning in this broad land. 
 
 Wherever you follow a man from this section of industry you will 
 find the constructive forces which will speak well for his commonwealth. 
 
 These are great thoughts, and they are worthy of our consideration 
 because they enter into the very well-being of our nation. We might 
 dwell .on these things a long time, but it is better perhaps that we pro- 
 gress. However, I am reminded that I am also called upon to respond, 
 perharps, in behalf of the lady delegates to this Congress. We have been 
 taught from the dawn of our national life that we all stand on a perfect 
 equality before the law. Out in that young State of Idaho we have e&- 
 tabished that perfect equality. There the husband and wife stand hand 
 in hand, side by side, facing the conflict of the future on a perfect equal- 
 ity. And wie believe the time is coming when you will recognize that 
 the mother thought is a cleansing thought at least in municipal affairs. 
 (Applause.) They have that influence in our country, and I do not hesi- 
 tate to say here today that that little city of Boise is largely governed by 
 the mothers of that city, and today it is the best sewered, the best 
 paved, the best sidewalked, the best watered, the best shaded and the 
 cleanest city of its size between the two oceans. It is the effect of this 
 larger housekeeping that the womanhood of the West have upon our 
 growth and progress there. 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 15 
 
 We come here as men interested in national affairs. I have no 
 doubt that this nation will meet any emergency that it may be called 
 upon to solve, ,but we do believe that on these great questions of mining, 
 as was expressed here, the unsolved mystery, (cause of mine explosions) 
 that our nation will meet it when it understands that the mining men of 
 this nation demand assistance at the hands of the government. It 
 always has co-operated with the constructive builders- of this country 
 and it always will when it knows* that its help i needed. The miner is 
 always the pioneer. He is the man that started the trails of civilzation 
 across these great western deserts, opened up the great territory of 
 Alaska; it is thie miner who lays, the legial foundation 1 of progress and 
 industry in our country. Then when 'the miner calls upon the govern- 
 ment to co-operate with him in solving the great national questions, the 
 government will respond if the mining men of this country will but get 
 together in a national organization and let the government at Washing- 
 ton know that the miners of this country need the aid of the government. 
 The government always has responded and it always will respond and 
 we just heard from this platform a few minutes ago that Congress will 
 grant thie request that this organization has been making for years, and 
 give us a bureau of mining. 
 
 I have faith in our government, because I have faith in the man- 
 hood of my country. When the manhood demands that those who repre- 
 sent us at Washington co-operate with us, they will respond in kind. 
 
 I was talking with one of your leading mining operators here the 
 other day, and he was afraid of government interference, but I said, "Do 
 you not recognize, sir, that since this great disaster has come over this 
 community which, if it had happened in war would have put this whole 
 nation in mourning, that legislation will come whether you demand it 
 or not, and it is about time that the leading mining men of this great 
 land get together and let Oongriess know the character of laws that we 
 need to advance the mining industry and place it on a plane worthy of 
 its importance?" He said, "Yes, I recognize that." 
 
 And that is the message we bring to you here, from the West. The 
 West is being converted into a vast empire by the men from Pennsyl- 
 vania and Ohio and Indiana. We come back here and tell you that we 
 meed to nationalize these thoughts, and not have them too local. 
 
 So in response to this* generous welcome and the gracious words 
 that have been spoken to us, I wish you to feel that we come here with 
 a message that will help you, as well as the wonderful instruction which 
 we receive when we come into this great city, will help us. Wise co- 
 operation, co-ordination and conservation must he the key note to Ameri- 
 can future industrial development. Intelligence must guide it, and in 
 order that we may have the laws which should always be the expression 
 of the highest wisdom of the people, that we may have that and have 
 it rest upon the needs of the mining industry, it is necessary that the 
 miners let Congress know the character of laws that will best serve 
 this country and this industry; and then let the courts interpret those 
 laws in the light of the conditions to which they are intended to apply, 
 and victory will come. 
 
 I do not know how to express the gratitude which we feel for the 
 greeting that the people of Pittsburg have given to us. I know no better 
 way to express it than by the work that we do here, to show them the 
 sincerity that we feel in the mission, that we feel this great national 
 organization has to perform in bringing to mining the best that can be 
 brought out of the mine and out of the miner. (Applause.) 
 
 The committee on program have arranged a number of responses. 
 I will read the names as they are given on the program. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I omit Dr. Alderson, by his request. 
 
 DR. VICTOR C. ALDERSON, President Colorado School of Mines 
 Golden, Colorado: My dear Judge, I want to say a word. 
 
16 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Dr. Alderson, come to the platform and 
 say it. This Congress is always glad to hear from Dr. Alderson of Colo- 
 rado. 
 
 DR. ALDERSON: It is net very often that I am anxious to say a 
 word, but I am at this moirent. I want to say just one word for Colo- 
 rado, because, while we feel under the greatest obligation to your con- 
 gressman for his assistance in passing this bill, I feel that I must cor- 
 rect his facts in regard to the production of tungsten and uranium and 
 vanadium. (Applause.) My friends from Colorado knew the moment 
 they heard those facts expressed that I had entirely recovered. If the 
 manufacturers of steel in Pennsylvania want tungsten, they can get it in 
 Colorado by the ton. If they want uranium and vanadium they can get 
 it in Colorado in commercial quantities. It may be interesting for the 
 gentlemen to know further that our investigations there along the lines 
 of these rare metals is an investigation surpassed by none others in the 
 whole wide world along these lines. During a trip through Europe last 
 summer I found that the investigations made by our people in Colorado 
 concerning uranium and vanadium and tungsten wiere so complete that 
 they were looking to us for the most advanced and up-to-date information 
 and experimentation. (Applause.) 
 
 We love to think of Pennsylvania, however, and we like to compli- 
 ment her by saying that we have a PittS'burg of the West, a form of com- 
 pliment that certainly is sincere. We love to think that in the north- 
 western part of our state there is an undeveloped empire, and we love 
 to compare the deposits of coal found there with the great deposit in 
 Pennsylvania, and we love to say "second only to Pennsylvania." We 
 love to think, in the same line, when we were digging for oil, we turn to 
 Pennsylvania for the latest improvements. We like to think that ours 
 is at least a "seven-metal" state, gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, coal, 
 iron, making it a state that can be recognized as representatively and 
 distinctly mining in all its forms, so that when we reply here and answer 
 for Colorado we feel that we are justified in taking that broad view of 
 mining as a whole, the whole grand industry, that lies at the founda- 
 tion of all of our life and of all of our prosperity, the basis of industry in 
 Pittsburg and Pennsylvania, an industry without which we could not 
 exist. (Applause.) 
 
 CONGRESSMAN BURKE: Dr. Alderson, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and 
 Gentlemen: Just a word. I see here my friend Congressman Chaney, 
 who led the fight for the bureau of mines and mining. I hope Dr. Aider- 
 son is not under misapprehension as to what I said. I agree with every 
 word that my friend says with reference to the progressiveness of Colo- 
 rado, and I only wish that every ouier state in the union were doing as 
 much, and my contention is that now for the first time in the history of 
 this government, the United States government which has been asked 
 to participate in these developments, has taken a hand and proposes to 
 assist the various state governments of the United States in accomplish- 
 ing what Colorado has already so admirably accomplished within the 
 limits of her borders, So far as tungsten is concerned, of course they 
 are producing tungsten, and we are using tungsten, and because we are 
 using it we are adding to the glory and the wealth of Colorado as well 
 as Pennsylvania, so that proves that with a combination like Pennsyl- 
 vania and Colorado you can beat the world. (Applause.) 
 
 But let me say this, that so far as vanadium is concerned, we are 
 importing it, and so far as uranium is concerned, it was developed 
 primarily, as the Doctor will tell you, in other countries, and that in- 
 spired the miners of Colorado and the scientists of Colorado, leaders of 
 thought and action such as my friend is on this platform today, to do 
 what they are doing in Colorado and other western states, and I say, 
 God speed them. 
 
 But in addition to that I wish to say that with my assistance and 
 with the assistance of other gentlemen on the floor of Congress inter- 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 17 
 
 ested in this work, we propose to give the helping hand of the Federal 
 government to you in doing in your state what you have no power to do 
 beyond the limits of your state, because Colorado has 110 jurisdiction in 
 Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania no jurisdiction in Alamaba or Calitornia, so 
 that you are confined within the limits of your borders, under the con- 
 stitutions of these states. The power given to the Federal government 
 is only -to bring about a universal harmony in the association of these 
 great things, and I am anxious to see the Federal government aid in 
 bringing about that harmony, in the accomplishment of the one great 
 purpose in which my friend from Colorado and I myself are equally in- 
 terested. (Applause.) 
 
 PRE/SIDENT RICHARDS: A miner likes this free exchange of 
 thought. If there is any individual on earth who expresses himself 
 freely out in the western country it is the American miner. Even a 
 mule can understand him. (Laughter.) 
 
 We have next on the program Hon. John C. Chaney, Congressman, 
 Sullivan, Indiana. 
 
 HON. JOHN C. CHANEY OF INDIANA: Mr. Chairman, Ladies and 
 Gentlemen: I have .been already mentioned as one who led the fight for 
 the eatablisment of a bureau of mines and mining in the lower house of 
 Congress, and for the appropriation of $150,000 by which the govern- 
 ment testing plant in Pittsburg was authorized. And I am very glad to 
 say that I have been very much interested in the establishment of a 
 bureau distinctly in the interest of the mining industry of the United 
 States. 
 
 I certainly agree with Congressman Burke in his statement that the 
 government itself may be of some assistance in the great development 
 of the United Stales, and yet not become paternalistic. It is not neces- 
 sary that the government shall have charge or shall own any of the 
 great enterprises of the United States in order to be of assistance in 
 their progress. (Applause.) It is, therefore, proper and very pertinent 
 indeed that the government should lend its aid in every direction which 
 can be conducive to the best interests of the people of the United States 
 in whatever branch of effort they may be engaged. It can supplement 
 the states in \v.hat they seek to do in these lines. 
 
 I live in a part of the United States where there is a great deal of 
 coal mining. We have in Indiana seven veins of bituminous coal. We 
 also have the block-coal. The thinnest one of these seven veins is 
 four feet nine inches thick. The thickest of these veins is eight feet in 
 thickness. Up to a very few years ago we did not pursue very scien- 
 tific methods of coal mining, but the state itself has taken up the work 
 and has done a very great deal of good. We occasionally have ihad 
 some of these terrible disasters in our mining enterprises which have 
 caused everyone to look for a remedy and to try to ascertain what is 
 the cause of such great catastrophes. 
 
 There is not so much gas or fire damp or dust in the mines of In- 
 diana that we should be particularly interested more than others. These 
 dangers come, however, to all of the various coal mines of the country, 
 and demand our attention. We can all speak with pride of the develop- 
 ment of the various states of the Union, and I am glad to hear that Colo- 
 rado has found that we have many of those minerals which we have had, 
 as Mr. Burke has stated, to import from other countries. We live in a 
 land favored in all useful and valuable natural resources. 
 
 I believe that in the United States we will find everything that will 
 be needed for the great development of the people of the country, and 
 all we need to do is to find and develop them. This bureau of mines 
 and mining, in my judgment, will enable us not only to conserve the 
 natural resources in the mineral productions of the United States, but 
 it will also enable us to ascertain how to develop them with safety. 
 Human life is above all other things of the first consideration. I do not 
 know but what this great disaster out at Marianna, Pennsylvania, a few 
 
18 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 days ago, has come at an opportune time, if it had to come. It causes 
 every one of us to feel in serious earnest about this great question of 
 how mining can be done safely, and to endeavor to prevent the terrible 
 catastrophes which have occurred in coal mining. I am sure this con- 
 vention can do no better service than to pay some attention to the scien- 
 tific and practical study of these terrible disasters. 
 
 Over in West Virginia some time ago, I believe something like 350 
 men lost their lives in a few moments, from a cause which has never 
 yet been absolutely ascertained; and I believe it would be difficult to as- 
 certain with the information which we now have what was the cause 
 of this great Marianna disaster. But at all events the American people 
 have that earnestness and enthusiasm in what they undertake, and have 
 that scientific turn of mind which will cause them to study these ques- 
 tions and endeavor to ascertain what the causes are, and thereby to pre- 
 vent sudh disasters in the future. 
 
 I would not undertake to say anything to this convention of men 
 today about mining, for I am not a practical miner. I never dug but one 
 wagon load of coal in my life, and I knocked more skin off of the 
 knuckles of my hands doing that job than coal miners would in a life- 
 time. So my experience has not been ,so pleasant in that direction. At 
 all events not of the scientific kind. 
 
 I think we are entitled to a mines and mining bureau, within the 
 interior department. Some of those in Congress are anxious that it shall 
 be a department of the government which will have a cabinet officer 
 who shall sit at once in the councils of the President. But you know 
 how such things have to develop. I believe eventually it will result in 
 that, but we can do a great deal of good through a mines and mining 
 bureau, as we did in the agricultural bureau when it was originally 
 created. The agriculturalist, you know, sings the song of the seasons, 
 and we can sing the song of the development of the earth's riches under- 
 neath the surface. 
 
 I want to say to you that not only did the large majority of the mem- 
 bers of the House of Representatives vote for this bill to establish the 
 mines and mining bureau, but their sentiment is all in the right direc- 
 tion. I belong to a party that put into its platform assurances that the 
 Senate of the United States would pass that bill at the coming session 
 of Congress. And I see one of the Senators here, Mr. Dick of Ohio, and 
 I am sure that he will promise us now that this will be done. 
 
 I very much appreciate the attendance here this morning. I am in- 
 terested in what you shall do here. I am glad to have a chance to take 
 a part in this great convention with you, and I hope I may be of some 
 service, and I hope also to learn much more than I now know about the 
 needs and business of mining. I thank you. (Applause.) 
 
 DR. H. FOSTER BAIN, State Geologist, Urbana, Illinois: I am very 
 glad to say a word for Illinois this morning, and I might say that since 
 oil has been discovered in our state and so many Pittsburg people have 
 moved over there it is almost like coming home to come here to talk 
 about mining. Our state has been very fortunate, particularly in the 
 character of men who have developed our resources. When oil and gas 
 were discovered a few years ago in Illinois, the oil fraternity took hold 
 of the proposition promptly, and I want to say that I do not know 
 whether it was due to the character of the state and our past history, or 
 what it was, but the development has taken place with as little of false 
 promotion as any quick development I have ever known. It has been 
 done with the same friendly spirit of co-operation which characterizes 
 our w.hole mineral industry, and while we migiht brag a good deal about 
 the size of our industry and the variety of things we produce, we are 
 much more pleased to speak of the spirit of co-operation which has so 
 far characterized our whole development. 
 
 In our section, as you perhaps know, both our miners and our opera- 
 tors are thoroughly organized. They have tested each other's strength 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 19 
 
 so many times that they have come to the conclusion that the best thing 
 to do is to work together. Indeed, I think we have perhaps the most 
 complete system of working together that miners and operators have 
 anywhere in America. We are developing that same spirit all through 
 our mineral industry, and it is a thing of which we are proud. 
 
 I might say something about the great size of our output. We have 
 some 75,000 coal miners. We produce some fifty million tons of coal. 
 We are second only to Pennsylvania and Ohio in the total mineral pro- 
 duction. We produced last year about twenty-five million 'barrels of oil, 
 and this year we will run something over thirty million barrels; it may 
 run up as high as forty million barrels. All such statistics as these 
 invite retaliation and I am inclined to be modest, particularly with my 
 friend from Colorado present. When he stood here waiting for Con- 
 gressman Burke to get through I was reminded of the case of a minister 
 who was called in to preach the funeral sermon of a man of whom he 
 knew nothing. Being anxious to learn something concerning the char- 
 acter of the deceased iSO that he might say appropriate things, he called 
 the man's son out and said: "Were you present when your father died?" 
 the son said he was and the minister asked him what the last words of 
 his father were. The boy replied: "There were no last words, because 
 mother was there to the last." So I hardly dare venture :say anything 
 more. (Applause.) 
 
 PROFESSOR CHARLES J. NORWOOD, Chief of Department of 
 Mines, Lexington, Kentucky: 
 
 Kentucky is here, and wishes to say that she is glad of the oppor- 
 tunity of being here. I must say that we have no vanadium or tungsten. 
 Kentucky, I believe, has the reputation of being boastful when it is 
 away from home, but I am not going to say that we have tungsten or 
 vanadium. And I am not going to say that we have not got them either. I 
 know we have some radium I saw some the day before I left. 
 
 Those of us who have the good fortune to live in Kentucky of late 
 years have come to think of two phases of the state, old Kentucky and 
 new Kentucky. Old Kentucky represents to us the homestead, the place 
 where the wandering son is fond of returning to and being welcomed by 
 the lovely women to the beautiful home; .and the new Kentucky which 
 represents the industrial desires, the industrial ambition, and Jr. may say, 
 the industrial progress of the state. When I left home I was told by old 
 Kentucky to,invite you all to come there and inspect our industries. I 
 was told by new Kentucky to be sure to hustle about and get some capital 
 to come down there and help us develop the state. In behalf of both 
 phases of our state I thank you for the welcome that has been accorded 
 to her delegate, and invite you to come there next year and we will 
 endeavor to show our appreciation of your hospitality. (Applause.) 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We have with us the first life member 
 of the American Mining Congress, a man who has had a very large part 
 in laying the foundations of its future importance, Dr. E. R. Buckley of 
 Flat River, Missouri. 
 
 DR. E. R. BUCKLEY, OF MISSOURI: Ladies and gentlemen, it is 
 such a very common occurrence for me to respond in behalf of Missouri 
 that I think it is becoming very much of a joke, especially to those who 
 have attended these sessions from year to year. 
 
 Missouri, of course, is my adopted home, and if anyone has a father- 
 in-law or a mother-in-law that they think more of than I do of Missouri, 
 why I shall be very glad to meet them. 
 
 I do not think that it is necessary for me to praise or extol the 
 virtues of that greatest empire of the west. It is not necessary for me 
 to tell you that Pittsburg and Pennsylvania have had a large share in 
 the development of our wonderful mineral resources. It is unnecessary 
 for me to say that perhaps some of the citizens of this great state of 
 Pennsylvania have been richly rewarded for their investments in the state 
 of Missouri, and that some of them may have been wondrously disap- 
 
20 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 pointed. There is no mining state in the union that does not disappoint some 
 people as well as reward some. Missouri, as you know, is one of the 
 greatest -producers of lead and zinc in the United States. I want to state 
 more specifically, that there is no state in this union of states that has a 
 larger production of lead or a larger production of zinc than the state 
 of Missouri. She ranks first today in the production of both. Her re- 
 sources in this regard exceed those of any other state in the union, and 
 probably will for years to come. We are very glad to receive the people 
 of Pennsylvania, the people of Pittsburg, into our state, and we shall be 
 very glad to have them bring their capital with them. We can provide 
 a place for both. We are both lead lined and zinc coated, and we will 
 neither rust nor tarnish, and you will be perfectly safe within the borders 
 of pur state. 
 
 I wish at this time to mention one object of the American Mining 
 Congress which I think has not been sufficiently amplified at this session 
 so far. I wish to say that several years a,go this American Mining Con- 
 gress took the position that there is perhaps as much danger, that there 
 are perhaps as many widows and orphans, as a result of fraudulent 
 mining promotion in the United States as result from the fire damp that 
 lurks in the coal mines of Pennsylvania; arid this American Mining 
 Congress ha taken the stand once, twice, thrice, at every session she has 
 taken a stand in opposition to all methods of fraudulent mine promotion 
 in the United States or elsewhere. (Applause.) And we expect that the 
 United States will co-operate with the honest, industrious, conscientious 
 mine owners and operators of these United States in stamping out that 
 most vicious of crimes which now afflicts our country. 
 
 I wish to say to the people of Pittsburg and to the people of Pennsyl- 
 vania that we are very glad to be here. My own state, and more espec- 
 ially the city of Joplin, had the pleasure of entertaining the Mining Con- 
 gress a year ago. We received a benefit, we received a reward, and 
 I trust that the people who reside in Pittsburg and in Pennsylvania will 
 derive from this session as great profit and as great benefit as did we 
 in Missouri from the meeting a year ago. (Applause.) 
 
 DR. CHAS. N. GOULD, Director Oklahoma Geological Survey, Nor- 
 raan, Oklahoma: 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen, I represent the baby. We are only a year 
 old down our way, and consequently we have not very much past, but 
 we have a tremendous future. We are just beginning to find out what 
 we have, and we may perhaps be excused if like all babies we are a 
 little proud of our possessions. With your indulgence, in the very few 
 minutes that I shall speak, I shall try to enumerate some of the resources 
 of this, the youngest state in the union. 
 
 It is unnecessary to speak of agriculture. We can raise everything 
 that is raised between Minnesota and the gulf, or between Maine and 
 California, better corn than Iowa, better wheat than Minnesota, better 
 cotton than Mississippi. But it is not generally known that the state of 
 Oklahoma possesses as large a variety of minerals, in as large quantities, 
 as perhaps any other state in the union, not that Oklahoma possesses 
 everything, but she has a very large number of valuable minerals. 
 
 Our coal fields are just beginning to be developed. We only produced 
 three million tons last year, tut we have in the state something like 
 eight or ten billions of tons of coal undeveloped. Last year we led the 
 United States in the production of oil, forty-four million barrels, I be- 
 lieve, and the development is rapidly .increasing. Our natural gas re- 
 sources are practically inexhaustible. We have no means of knowing 
 how much natural gas is contained in the state. Dozens, scores, hun- 
 dreds of wells are reported to produce all the way up to forty or fifty 
 million cubic feet a day. Our showing of natural gas is such that it 
 is sold in many of the cities of Oklahoma for manufacturing purposes 
 at two and three cents per thousand cubic feet. So it will be seen that 
 Oklahoma possesses a very large amount of valuable fuel. 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 21 
 
 Our asphalt deposits are very extensive, perhaps as large as those 
 of any state in the union. The western part of Oklahoma has enough 
 salt water, a saturated solution of salt brine, going to waste to make a 
 hundred car loads of salt a day, and not a gallon of it is being manu- 
 factured. We have one hundred and twenty-five billion tons of gypsum, 
 enough to keep a hundred mills, each manufacturing one hundred tons 
 per day, busy for thirty-five thousand years. (Laughter and applause.) 
 And if the gypsum were all manufactured and placed in cars and the 
 cars were strung end to end in a train, that train would reach around 
 the world twenty-four hundred times at the equator, so we think we have 
 gypsum enough for local demand. 
 
 The only metals we are producing now are lead and zinc. We have 
 no means of estimating the amounts of these rnetals, but from all re- 
 searches that have been made we are safe in making the statement that 
 within a few years Oklahoma will at least rival Missouri in the produc- 
 tion of lead and zinc. Of glass sand, of granite, of Portland cement rock, 
 marble, sandstone, clays, shales, things of that kind, all of high grade, 
 we have inexhaustible quantities. And then we have iron novaculyte, 
 tripoli. volcanic ash, perhaps a little of gold and silver and a little copper. 
 At the present time not one-half of one per cent of Oklahoma's mineral 
 resources are developed. 
 
 Oklahoma is now sometimes called the Pennsylvania of the West. 
 I wish I could be reincarnated a hundred years 1 hence. I would like to 
 come back, I would like to see if my prediction is not true, that, in a 
 hundred years from now, a certain little state at the head of the Ohio 
 river will be known as the Oklahoma of the East! I thank you. (Laugh- 
 ter and applause.) 
 
 HON. H. H. LANG, Mayor Cobalt, Ontario: Mr. President, ladies 
 and gentlemen: I have looked over the program, and if I mistake not 
 I am the only Canadian taking part in your congress. I might say that 
 for this reason and for others I consider that I am doubly and trebly 
 honored in coming here from a sister nation to take part in a congress 
 made up of men that I am sure represent the best material that your 
 nation can produce. 
 
 Before going further I wis'h to thank the officers of your congress 
 for the invitation to take part in its deliberations. When I first received 
 the invitation I had hoped that I would be able to select some expert 
 mining man or men from our Canadian Institute, of which I am, a mem- 
 ber. I am a layman, however, though I have had some practical exper- 
 ience in mining, particularly in the Cobalt district. Now, I am, as I say, 
 very pleased indeed to be with you, and to give you some idea of what 
 we are doing in the north. 
 
 As you understand, Cobalt is situated about 720 miles north of where 
 you are sitting. I did expect on coming south here to find warm weather, 
 but I find that the weather here is colder than at Cobalt when I left. 
 I had some difficulty in getting here this morning. When we were within 
 about two miles of our destination our engine ran off the track, or at 
 least jumped the rails, and that delayed us for a little while. However, 
 we got in; but I do not know whether the majority of your citizens have 
 the idea that you have only one building in this city, but they seemed 
 determined that we should go to the Carnegie institute and we went there, 
 and we found that we had to come back, and then when we got to the 
 last corner they were still bound that we should go back iu the other 
 building. (Laughter.) However, we got here. 
 
 I will not take up much of your time, but I will proceed to give you 
 some iclea of what we are doing at Cobalt. In the year 1903 the dis- 
 covery of silver was made in what is now practically the townsite of 
 Cobalt. IK 1904 the shipments from the Cobalt camp mines working at 
 that time were 191.55 tons. In 1905 they were 2,336; and in 1906 they 
 were 5.836.59 tons; and in 1907, to the end of the year, 14,851.34. For the 
 first nine months of this year there have been produced of silver, 12,- 
 
22 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 223,834 ounces. To the end of 1907 our returns for the silver from that 
 district were $11,C85,695. Now, I might say that for the last year the silver 
 production of Cobalt was about one-fifth of the total production of the 
 world. The total production of the world was approximately 185,035,000 
 ounces. You people of course are perhaps more familiar with your own 
 statistics in regard to your output, but we have it at about 56,825,000 
 ounces, and the output of Cobalt in practically its fourth year is about 
 9,000,000 ounces. The mining done in that district so far has been to a 
 large extent very crude. A great many of the mines now, however, are 
 getting down to what might be called practical mining. I might tell you, 
 however, that about the deepest shaft that we have is four hundred and 
 ten feet. We have several formations there, and the mining engineers 
 have their own ideas of what we are going to find in depth. We have to 
 go along for some time yet, as it were, in the dark, before we will have 
 very much knowledge about it. 
 
 But I may say this, that up until ten years ago in Canada agriculture 
 was the chief industry of the nation. We have now come to the con- 
 clusion that mining is going to be one of the foremost industries of the 
 country, and perhaps like yourselves we will have to come to realize that. 
 Such bodies as this mining congress and our Canadian Mining Institute 
 will conclude that the sooner we get down to a commercial, systematic 
 way of mining the better it will be for all concerned. 
 
 I will not take your time further, but I assure you that I feel highly 
 honored to be here to, take part with you in this great mining congress. 
 I thank you very much for this privilege. (Applause.) 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We are going to reserve for you, as we 
 think, a treat immediately after the noon hour, in the shape of an ad- 
 dress by one of the great men of the state of Ohio, who represents that 
 state in the United States Senate, and is chairman of the Committee on 
 Mines and Mining, and has in charge the bill for the creation of the 
 bureau of mines. I know that everyone here would like to hear that 
 gentleman after lunch. At the present time' the secretary has some 
 notices which he desires to give before adjournment. 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: Under th'e by-laws the president 
 must announce the committee on credentials at the opening session. The 
 committee as appointed consists of Mr. J. W. Wardrop of Pennsylvania, 
 Mr. E. J. Walters of Boise, Idaho, and Mr. J. W. Malcolmson of Kansas 
 City. 
 
 The committee on resolutions, which is the most important committee 
 in the body, is selected by the delegations from each of the several states. 
 The names are to be announced before the convention at the opening of 
 the alternoon session. It is therefore requested that every delegation will 
 convene during the noon hour and select its member of the committee 
 on resolutions. 
 
 Thereupon a recess was taken until two o'clock p. m. 
 
 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1908. 
 Afternoon Session. 
 
 The Congress was called to order by the president. 
 The membership of the committee on resolutions was thereupon 
 announced as follows: 
 
 Committee on Resolutions. 
 
 Alabama Edward H. Cox 
 
 Alaska J. L. Steele 
 
 Arizona W. L. Clark 
 
 Arkansas A. W. Estes 
 
 California 7. Ross Clark 
 
 Colorado.. . .W. F. R. Mills 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 23 
 
 Delaware , Dr. C. L. Reese 
 
 District of Columbia George P. Mernll 
 
 Florida F. C. Clapp 
 
 Georgia Meldrum Thompson 
 
 Idaho A. A. Meggett 
 
 Illinois H. Foster Bain 
 
 Indiana John McFadyen 
 
 Iowa Dr. Samuel Calvin 
 
 Kansas Dr. Erasmus Haworth 
 
 Kentucky C. J. Norwood 
 
 Massachusetts Donald D. Mitchell 
 
 Maryland C. H. Smith 
 
 Michigan F. M,. Stanton 
 
 Missouri Dr. E. R. Buckley 
 
 Montana C. H. Bowman 
 
 New Jersey Henry B. Kummel 
 
 New York. W. R. Ingalls 
 
 North Carolina Frank R. Hewitt 
 
 Pennsylvania George Wihyel 
 
 Nevada Jos. H. Hutchinson 
 
 Ohio J. B. Zerbe 
 
 Ontario H. H. Lang 
 
 Oklahoma Dr. C. N. Gould 
 
 O'regon B. A. Sessions 
 
 South Dakota Howard Worth 
 
 Texas H. F. Happer 
 
 Utah J. Will Knight 
 
 Virginia B. A. Schubert 
 
 Washington G. Smith 
 
 West Virginia John B. Ross 
 
 Wisconsin E. C. Holden 
 
 Wyoming ;Wm. Benton 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: The committee on resolutions will 
 meet in a room in the basement of this hall, which will be ample for that 
 purpose. It is understood that the committee on resolutions elect its own 
 officers.- I would suggest that the first meeting of the committee be held 
 directly following this session. 
 
 I desire also to announce that the photographer is very anxious to 
 make a picture of this assemblage, and he has requested you to assemble 
 in front of the building for that purpose at the close of this meeting. 
 
 There will be a meeting of the National Association of State Mining 
 Schools tomorrow morning at nine o'clock in Parlor L of Hotel Henry. 
 All representatives of mining schools who are here are requested to be 
 in attendance. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We will now proceed with the program. 
 
 We had with us this morning, and I hope he is here now, Hon. A. 
 B. Fleming, of Fairmont, West Virginia. He is ex-Lieutenant Governor 
 of "West Virginia, and I understand has an ownership in a mine that has 
 passed through a disaster similar to the one which has recently taken 
 place in your midst, and I know you will all be glad to hear from him 
 if he is present at this time. 
 
 HON. A. B. FLEMING, O'F WEST VIRGINIA: With your permission, 
 I will keep my place here. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I know they would all like to look into 
 your pleasant face. 
 
 MR. FLEMING: Thank you, but you embarrass me. The reason I 
 so much dislike to come forward is that it looks as if I were expected to 
 say something. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: If you were a lawyer we would expect 
 modesty, but not being a lawyer, we do not expect it. (Laughter.) 
 
24 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 MiR. FLEMING: I did not know I would be called upon until I saw 
 my name on the iprogram after I entered this hall. Nevertheless, not 
 presuming to make an address or speech, as I am down representing 
 the great state of West Virginia, I must say something with reference 
 to her progress andi her mineral resources. West Virginia is one of the 
 newest and youngest of the states, born amid the throes of civil war in 
 great distress, and was looked upon with a great deal of prejudice for a 
 great many years. She did not for twenty-five years have credit for what 
 she had, either in mineral resources or people, within her borders. For 
 a long time it was not known how much coal we had. It was certainly 
 not known how much oil and gas we possessed, and it took a long while 
 to convince the people of this country that the coal of West Virginia 
 would burn. (Laughter.) We had a great fight to introduce the coal 
 to the consumers in this country. Our more favoredi competitors well, 
 we were scarcely competitors those days, way back twenty-five years 
 ago in Pennsylvania with the same vein of coal that we have, up at 
 the head of the Monongahela river, this beautiful stream which empties 
 into the Ohio just here, thought that they had all that was good, at least 
 that we did not have it; they certainly felt that our coal was not equal 
 to theirs, and disparaged us. Their coal this side of the state line sold 
 for some ten times as much by the acre as the coal on our side of the 
 line. This condition existed until within twenty or twenty-five years 
 ago. I do not blame our neighbors; I am only speaking of this condi- 
 tion for the purpose of showing what a hard time we had in introducing 
 our coal. At that time we had only one trunk line railroad, and there 
 was so little coal to ship on that railroad that they did not like to stop 
 their trains to pull out the coal cars. They preferred to look for through 
 freight. West Virginia until recent years has had to rely upon the 
 pluck and energy of her own people to get out what they had and to 
 prove to the world the value of what they had. 
 
 I am told that it is an actual fact that when the oil operators traced 
 the oil belt down from New York into Pennsylvania and over here to 
 Mt. Morris on the line between Virginia and West Virginia, that they 
 drilled all along on the Pennsylvania side, and he was a dare-devil who 
 first drilled on the West Virginia side. (Laughter.) Our oil (production 
 increased from 119,000 barrels in 1888 until last year we produced a 
 little over ten million barrels, worth $15,000,000. Until recently we had 
 but little or no gas in West Virginia natural gas. (Laughter.) In 1888 
 the gas produced in our state is reported to have been worth $120,000; 
 in 1898, $1,304,000. That is a tolerably rapid increase. Last year we 
 produced 121,200,000,000 feet of gas, worth $15,000,000; and another thing 
 I desire to say to the credit of West Virginia is, that nearly one-half of 
 all this gas is used within the limits of West Virginia, at a cost to the 
 consumer of $4,000,000, while the remaining half a little more than half 
 is piped out of the state to the great cities of this country on the 
 lakes and east of us. Many of Pennsylvania's largest factories, including 
 the Carnegie works, are fed from the gas fields of West Virginia. The 
 gas piped to points without the state sold last year for $10,000,000. Of 
 course that included the cost of transportation. The abundance of cheap 
 gas shows West Virginia to be a most favored place for manufacturing. 
 
 As to coal, we were second in the production of coal two years ago. 
 Last year we lost our standing by one, Illinois having passed us, and we 
 were third. I do not know what the figures are for this year. We are 
 second, and! have been for a number of years, in the production of coke. 
 The coal mined in 1883 amounted to 10,000,000 tons. We now have single 
 corporations in our state which mine something near that quantity. In 
 1907 we mined 48,000,000 tons of coal, and have scarcely touched our 
 coal fields. 
 
 We have, geologically speaking, sixteen thousand square miles of 
 coal in West Virginia. I do not think I am mistaken in saying that 
 this is the largest area of coal in any state of the union. We have in 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 25 
 
 addition to that one vein upon another; in many parts of the state, three 
 workable veins, running from three feet to fourteen feet in thickness. 
 Our coal supply would seem to be almost inexhaustible. 
 
 "West Virginia," I take this from the advance sheet of the geological 
 survey, and I give you my authority for fear you would not believe me, 
 and if I did not have some authority for it I would not believe it my- 
 self "West Virginia's mineral product sold last year for $92,000,000." 
 We have but a small state, and it seems to me that we are doing very 
 well when we produce $92,000,000 per year in mineral resources. 
 
 This being the case, gentlemen, West Virginia is largely interested 
 in the work of this Congress. No state in the union perhaps is more 
 interested. 
 
 W'e'have had our share of accidents, perhaps more than our share, 
 and yet I believe we have as careful and as good a set of operators and 
 employees as there are anywhere. It has been said that our mining laws 
 are lax, but I deny it. They need improvement, I admit, but they are 
 up-to-date and as good, I believe, as they have in any state in the union. 
 Nevertheless, we have had these accidents. Our president re- 
 ferred to the fact that I have been interested in mines that have 
 suffered from an accident, the worst perhaps that this country 
 has ever seen. I will say that the Monongah mines, about which 
 you have read, because of that accident, were the best of forty that 
 the Fairmont Coal Company had. If the explosion had occurred in any 
 other of their mines there would not have been so much surprise because 
 these two mines, Monongah 6 and 8, were the newest, were laid out, 
 planned, ventilated and operated without any reference to cost so far as 
 safety was concerned, yet we had that awful explosion, in which 361 
 people lost their lives, and today we do not know what caused it. It 
 was an explosion. What atmospheric condition, what natural or unnat- 
 ural condition existed there that caused an explosion in what we supposed 
 to be a mine as safe as it could be made with money and with care, we 
 do not know. We used to think that ventilation was the great thing. 
 If there was any fault in that respect in those mines it was because the 
 ventilation was too great; for I really believe that there is such a thing 
 as too much ventilation in a mine. We have been studying, and we 
 have had one of the most eminent geologists in the country employed 
 to determine how to make these mines safer. I do not know but what I 
 am going too much into detail, but your president suggested that 1 
 should say something about that explosion. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have the floor. 
 
 MR. FLEMING: It is very difficult to wet a mine with water. Water 
 and dust won't mix, as you know, any more than oil and water. We 
 are now making the experiment of putting steam jets into the intake 
 of the air. This dampens the atmosphere of the mine, which we think 
 will make our mines safer. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I know that every gentleman here is in- 
 terested in that far-off mineral region known as Alaska. Alaska has a 
 delegate here, and I am sure you would like to hear a response from 
 Mr. J. L. Steele on behalf of Alaska. 
 
 MR. J. L. STEELE, OF ALASKA: Ladies and gentlemen, I am very 
 glad) to meet again with the American Mining Congress, and I have just 
 a few words to say on behalf of Alaska. Very few people know the min- 
 eral resources of that great land, and very few people know the size of 
 that great domain. 
 
 Come with me a few moments, if you will, and let me describe to you 
 briefly the size of that country. Following its sea coast from end to 
 end, following each line, it will be found that there is more than 26,000 
 miles, or more than would reach around the world with a lap of nearly 
 a thousand miles. It comprises 650,000 square miles, more than two times 
 the size of the state of Texas, and nearly as large as the portion of the 
 
26 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 United States lying east of the Mississippi river. Place a map of Alaska 
 over a map of the united states, drawn on the same scale, and its most 
 northerly point will be about St. Paul, Minnesota, its southerly point 
 near New Orleans, while its eastern boundary would be at Savannah, 
 Georgia, and the most westerly point will be west of Los Angeles, Cali- 
 fornia. In this vast country, of which so little is known, there lie the 
 great mineral storehouses of the world. 
 
 Take, for instance, one district, if you will. Place your dividers 
 upon the summit of Mount Wrangel. Stretch 'them out until they cover 
 according to the scale, a distance of forty-five miles; strike a circle 
 from that central point and you have within the boundaries of that 
 circle the greatest, the largest, the most wealthy copper district in the 
 known world. One single company is spending more than .$6,000,000 
 for the purpose of building a road into that copper country, for the 
 purpose of carrying out their own ore, and probably very little other. 
 
 Alaska stands not only high in the production of copper, but in its 
 copper resources. This territory which I have mentioned is only one 
 portion ; there are many other_ places that (produce a great deal, or will 
 in the future. But unless I am mistaken it stands second in the gold pro- 
 duction of the United States. I believe Colorado is first, Alaska second 
 and California third. 
 
 While we are small in population we are looking forward to a time 
 when we will have legislation whereby we can have some word to say 
 in regard to the laws that we are endeavoring to live under. We are 
 looking forward to a time when these things will be made facts, as well 
 as a thought of the dim future. We also look to the American Mining 
 Congress to assist us in bringing about such legislation, and I want to 
 say right here before I forget it that, on behalf of Alaska, I want to thank 
 now the American Mining Congress for the interest which it has taken 
 in the past, and I want to say again that among the dearest words that 
 I ever heard spoken were spoken by Mr. George Roberts, at that time 
 director of the mint in Portland, Oregon, when he said, "I have just 
 returned from Alaska. I know an orphan when I see one, and I hope 
 the American Mining Congress will be a foster mother of that orphan," 
 and let me say I want to thank the American Mining Congress because 
 she was, and assisted us largely, more largely than any other source, 
 in gcttirg the Congress of the United States to allow Alaska a delegate 
 to her halls of Congress. 
 
 While we are large gold producers from the placer mines, we also 
 have the greatest quartz mines and the greatest quartz mills in the world. 
 We have the most economical quartz mine, I believe, working the lowest 
 grade ore of any place in the world, and at a profit, the Trimble mine, 
 employing from four to eight thousand men, according to the season of 
 the year. They have one thousand, two hundred and sixty stamps drop- 
 ping twenty-four hours each day nearly every day in the year, I think 
 the largest stamp mill in the world. 
 
 Up and down the coast, when it comes to scenery, there are places 
 people should visit, instead of going across the water to Switzerland; 
 they should see their own country. You may go for more than a thousand 
 miles through the mountains rising sheer very often five thousand to 
 seven thousand feet. We invite you to come to Alaska. I thank you. 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I am sure we will all like to hear Mr. 
 Joseph H. Hutchinson, of Nevada. 
 
 MR. JOSEPH H. HUTCHINSON, OF NEVADA: Mr. President and 
 Members of the Mining Congress. I am reminded by the speakers who 
 have preceded me of an incident which occurred some time ago. I was 
 a delegate at one time to a convention in Salt Lak City, Utah. They 
 appointed guides to show us that most beautiful city, and my companion 
 upon a sight-seeing tour was Patrick Henry Winston, attorney general 
 of the state of Washington. We wound up in front of that magnificent 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 2? 
 
 temple, and the guide after explaining the early history of the pioneers 
 of Salt Lake, pointed up at the figure on top of the temple and said: 
 "That is the figure of our angel Maroni. You will notice that he has 
 in his hand a horn; and immediately in front of the temple is the grave 
 of Brigham Young. We believe in the final day that our angel Maroni 
 will blow his horn and one of the reasons why Brigham Young's grave 
 has been placed so near the temple is that he will be the first to hear 
 the horn." Mr. Winston said: "Why, that does not differ so much from 
 my belief that the angel Gabriel will blow his horn; and as far as I am 
 concerned, I do not care who blows his horn, as long as somebody 
 blows it." (Laughter.) And I think perhaps that I follow in the foot- 
 steps of my predecessors and proceed to blow my horn. 
 
 W T hile we do not want to say anything about the "baby state," 
 Nevada was not always a baby state. There was a time when the greatest 
 president of this Republic needed to have the precious metals so that 
 the spread of human freedom would make it possible for us to have a 
 united nation; and Nevada's silver made it possible when Lincoln 
 brought it into the union to save the union. (Applause.) 
 
 And so I propose in my own humble way before this convention 
 closes to call attention to the fact that the man who was spoken of by 
 the congressman this morning as the pioneer of adventurers has finally 
 wound up in Death Valley in the vicinity of Goldfield, whence I came, 
 and that without this money of ultimate redemption in gold that your 
 gas and your oil and all would amount to naught, and we propose to 
 show you that Nevada produces the gold and the lead from its quartz 
 mines (not from its placers), and that the future of this country turns 
 on Nevada, and we want you to know that while we have been a Cin- 
 derella we are going to ask you to give us the golden slipper from the 
 American Mining Congress. (Applause.) 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We have with us Dr. A. H. Purdue, the 
 State Geologist, Fayetteville, Arkansas, whom I know you would like 
 to hear from in response for that state. 
 
 DOCTOR PURDUE: It was only at a very late hour that I learned 
 that I was on this program at all, and being one of those peculiar persons 
 who for twenty years or more has endeavored to work himself up to 
 a scientific attitude of mind cannot paint the mineral resources of Ar- 
 kansas, as they deserve to be painted, but in a very few words will 
 endeavor to give you a little idea of what we have down in that state. 
 There are very few states in the union that have a greater variety of 
 mineral resources than the State of Arkansas, and there are very few 
 states in the union in which the mineral resources are so poorly developed 
 as they are in that state. 
 
 We have in the northern part of the state a large area that produces, 
 or some time will produce, lead and zinc, and especially zinc. The de- 
 velopment of the zinc of Arkansas has only just begun. What the future 
 will have to say for it we can only tell after the development comes. 
 But it is certain that Arkansas, in the course of time, and I hope in the 
 near future, will be one of the leadirg zinc-producing states of the United 
 States. We have in this same area of northern Arkansas hundreds of 
 square miles of as fine marble as there is anywhere in the country. And 
 we have unbounded amounts of as fine glass sand as can be produced 
 anywhere in the world. Then we have in the Arkansas valley a consid- 
 erable area of coal, not so big as the West Virginia area, still it is con- 
 siderable, and it is of a fine quality. We have also in the Arkansas 
 valley the beginning of the production of natural gas only the beginning. 
 We used in the city of Port Smith last year about 3,000,000,000 cubic 
 feet of gas. We could produce a great deal more if we had any imme- 
 diate demand for it. The vicinity immediately around Little Rock prom- 
 ises to be a gas-producing locality within the near future, as there are 
 several individuals there from the state of Pennsylvania seeking the 
 gas. Of course, inasmuch as they are from Pennsylvania we have all 
 
28 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 reason to believe that they are going to find gas. All of the Arkansas 
 valley in all probability will be a gas-producer before very many years. 
 
 We have large amounts of bauxite or "boxite," as it is called in the 
 trade, that are only beginning to be worked. We have very fine de- 
 posits for the manufacture of Portland cement. Probably no state in the 
 union surpasses Arkansas in its clays. It is said by one of the leading 
 authorities of the United States in clays, a man who has given this 
 subject special attention, that Arkansas should be the leading clay-pro- 
 ducing state of the United States. This, for three reasons. First, we 
 have all varieties of clays from the coarsest to the finest. Second, we 
 have the fuel at hand with which to manufacture these clays, and, third, 
 the climatic conditions of Arkansas are such as to be greatly to the ad- 
 vantage of the manufacture of clay products. They should be manu- 
 factured there much cheaper than they are manufactured in St. Louis, 
 because of the favorable climatic conditions which prevail in Arkansas 
 throughout the year. 
 
 These, gentlemen, are just a few of the facts relating to the mineral 
 resources of Arkansas, and I will not consume your time further than 
 to tell you that after you have looked about over the country elsewhere 
 for places to invest your money and are discouraged, come down to 
 Arkansas. (Applause.) 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The secretary calls my attention to the 
 reports of the committees for this afternoon. The custom has been for 
 resolutions to be introduced, read by the secretary, and without debate 
 referred to the Committee on Resolutions for its action. 
 
 We have the following standing committees to report: Report of 
 Committee on Alaskan Mining Laws, Honorable James J. Godfrey, Seattle, 
 Washington. 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: The Seattle delegation has not yet 
 arrived. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Report of Committee on Vertical Side 
 Line Law, Dr. John A. Church, New York City. 
 
 THE SECRETARY: I would say that the death of Dr. J. D. Hague, of 
 New York City, during the last summer made vacant the chairmanship 
 of this committee. Dr. John A. Church was very recently made the 
 chairman of that committee, so recently that no report can be expected 
 at this time. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARD'S: Report of Committee on Prevention of 
 Mine Accidents, Dr. H. Foster Bain, Urbana, Illinois. 
 
 DOCTOR BAIN: The secretary of the committee will make the 
 report. 
 
 The report is as follows: 
 
 Report of the Committee on Prevention of Mine Accidents. 
 
 Soon after adjournment of the last session of the American Mining 
 Congress a series of unusually disastrous explosions in the coal mines of 
 West Virginia, Alabama and Pennsylvania called the attention of the 
 general public as well as of the mining fraternity to the subject of acci- 
 dents as it has never been called before. Consequently, much attention 
 has been given to the subject during the past year both in the public 
 and in the technical press and a large amount of experimental work has 
 been carried on by individuals and by corporations since the close of the 
 last session of Congress. These accidents probably also hastened the 
 establishment of a Government Testing Station, and assisted in the secur- 
 ing of an appropriation for the investigation of mine accidents in the 
 United States by the Technologic Branch of the United States Geological 
 Survey. 
 
 As a result of the widespread publicity given to the subject of acci- 
 dents through the public and the technical press, and through various 
 mining organizations, together with the organization of a testing station 
 and the development of a distinct organization to investigate accidents 
 by the Technologic Branch of the United States Geological Survey, .it 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 29 
 
 was unnecessary for your committee to attempt to carry on work along 
 the lines for which it was originally appointed as the work would have 
 paralleled that already being done by others. 
 
 As it is entirely prooable that this work both public and private will 
 continue, we recommend the discharge of the committee, and in so doing 
 would make the following comments: 
 
 We believe that the prevention of accidents depends upon (1) a reali- 
 zation of the relative importance of the various known causes to which 
 accidents can be attributed, so that suitable preventive measures can be 
 adopted to minimize as far as possible the accidents due to these known 
 causes. Under normal conditions in coal mining from 50 to 60 per cent, 
 of the accidents are due to falls of rock and coal, about 16 per cent, to 
 explosions of gas and dust and an almost equal number or about 14 per 
 cent, to mine cars. Owing to the large number killed at one time by ex- 
 plosions, this cause of accident has attracted more than its due share of 
 attention, and while not wishing to minimize in any way the importance 
 of the attempts made to lessen the dangers due to gas and dust, we most 
 earnestly urge that more attention be given to the great cause of mine 
 fatalities which is every where present, namely, falls of slate, coal and 
 rock. (2) The scientific investigation of the problems connected with 
 mining both theoretical and practical and which are now only partially 
 understood should continue. The most important of these are probably 
 the choice, handling, and use of explosives; problems connected with ex- 
 plosive gases and dust in coal mines; better supervision and more care- 
 ful timbering to prevent the great loss of life and the accidents' due to 
 falls of rock and coal. 
 
 The training of vast numbers of emigrants from southeastern Europe 
 who are so rapidly replacing the former mining population and who come 
 to us with no knowledge of mining is one of the serious problems affect- 
 ing the accident condition in this country. 
 
 Attention is called to the efforts that have been made in the anthra- 
 cite field to improve the condition of the mine workers through courses 
 of lectures upon mining subjects by means of night schools carried on 
 under the auspices of the anthracite mining companies. 
 
 The conditions under which American mines are operated must be 
 kept distinctly in mind and the vast differences between European and 
 American conditions must be remembered in comparing the statistics of 
 accidents abroad and in American mines. 
 
 We believe that the mine laws now on the statute books if enforced 
 and respected by employer and employe alike are sufficient in many cases 
 to greatly reduce the number of accidents. There are, no doubt, instances 
 where the laws can be modified to advantage to conform to present 
 knowledge and conditions, but these modifications should be made by 
 persons familiar with the conditions under which American mines must 
 be operated, and who also understand the theory and practice of such 
 new forces as electricity, compressed air, etc., that now play so important 
 and necessary a part in mining. A greater uniformity in the mine laws 
 of the different states where the conditions are similar would be ad- 
 vantageous. 
 
 We believe that experience in one state should be allowed full credit 
 in another for a person applying for a certificate as mine foreman, man- 
 ager, etc., provided he can satisfy the requirements of examination as 
 provided for in the state in which the application is made. 
 
 We would also call attention to the fact that several persons are in- 
 jured for every one killed, and we believe that a very useful work can be 
 carried on in assisting those injured about the mines through the use of 
 intelligent first aid measures. The various devices used in case of 
 rescue work after an accident will undoubtedly be tested at the Govern- 
 ment Testing Station as has been done abroad, and as the result of these 
 tests become known it is to be expected that more adequate means for 
 rescue in case of explosion, fire, etc., will be installed at many of the 
 
30 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 mines. The circumstances requiring such apparatus are, however, fortu- 
 nately comparatively rare, while every day men are being injured more 
 or less severely about the mines. The rendering of efficient first aid to. 
 such men while awaiting the arrival of a physician may mean in many 
 cases the saving of life or the prevention of permanent deformity. We 
 would, therefore, especially call attention to the very thorough first aid 
 organizations which have been developed in the anthracite mines of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. H. V. Hesse, whose name appears as a member of the committee, 
 found it impracticable to accept his appointment as a member of the 
 committee. Respectfully submitted, 
 
 H. FOSTER BAIN, Chairman. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Heretofore, upon the making of reports 
 of these committees, if anyone wants to discuss the matter it is always 
 open for discussion or suggestion. What is your pleasure as to the re- 
 port which has just been made? 
 
 DOCTOR BUCKLEY: I move you that the report be accepted, and, 
 as requested, the committee be discharged. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have heard the motion; all in favor 
 of it 
 
 SENATOR CHARLES DICK, of Ohio: I would move to amend in 
 that the report be printed with the proceedings of the convention. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Under the by-laws of the organization 
 that necessarily follows. Are you ready for the question? 
 
 (The question was called for.) 
 
 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of that motion 
 
 WILLIAM P. DANIELS OF COLORADO: I do net know that I <im 
 sufficiently familiar with the subject that has been given consideration 
 by the committee to express an opinion in contravention of their recom- 
 mendation, but on first thought I am inclined to doubt as to whether it 
 will be wise for this Congress to dispense with a committee of that kind. 
 I certainly should like to hear a little further from some of the gentlemen 
 better acquainted with the subject than I before I vote to discharge the 
 committee. I am very glad to vote to accept the report, but, as I say, 
 Mr. President, lack of information makes me inclined to think this Con- 
 gress ought to continue that committee, either with its present member- 
 ship or some other. 
 
 DOCTOR BUCKLEY: Mr. Chairman, I think I might state for the 
 benefit of Mr. Daniels that the United States Geological Survey is now 
 carrying on those investigations with much greater detail and with much 
 greater efficiency than can any committee appointed by this Mining Con- 
 gress, and that as soon as the United States government takes up any 
 field of investigation in the manner in which they have taken up this 
 subject, this Congress may very well let loose of it and let them have full 
 charge of it. 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: I would like to state in behalf of that 
 committee that its work was very influential in securing the appropriation 
 which has enabled the United States government to conduct these in- 
 vestigations. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: And Mr. President, if I may be -permitted again, it 
 is because of the influence that that committee has had and because 
 there is such action on the part of the government that I -believe we 
 ought to continue the committee or a committee, at least, with that mat- 
 ter in charge. I believe it is quite possible quite probable that there 
 may be opportunities for a committee of that character to again exercise 
 a very great deal of influence on these very experiments by the govern- 
 ment, and certainly this American Mining Congress can have no better 
 means of obtaining information than through a committee of that kind, 
 who will give it particular attention and report to us. 
 
 MR. HAWORTH, OF KANSAS: I certainly agree with Mr. Daniels. 
 The great burden of the talk which we have had here this morning is 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 31 
 
 that one of the main functions of this Mining Congress is to try to better 
 the conditions regarding mine accidents. Now, right on the face of that 
 fact and the talk on this subject, for us to dismiss the only committee 
 we have in that connection at all, it seems to me certainly would be a 
 mistake. I do not know and I do not care whether it was in the minds 
 of the members of this Congress at the time the committe was created to 
 have them do experimental work. They do not have to do experimental 
 work during the coming year, or during the coming four or five years, but 
 it does seem to me that one of the great fields of labor that we might 
 engage in is to have a standing committee on this subject and let them 
 do whatever conies up to be done, and for my part I think it would be a 
 very great mistake if we are at any time within the next five or ten years 
 without a standing committee on that subject, and I hope that we may 
 keep a committee of that kind during all the future time that we exist 
 as a Mining Congress. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Any further discussion? If not the ques- 
 tion is to accept this report and discharge the committee. Are you ready 
 for the question? 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I move to amend the motion by striking out that 
 part which provides for the discharge of the committee. 
 
 The motion was seconded. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It has been moved and seconded that the 
 motion made be amended by striking out the latter part of the original 
 motion, which provides the discharge of that committee. Are you ready 
 for the amendment? The motion is now on the amendment. 
 
 The motion was put and prevailed. 
 
 P'RESIDENT RICHARDS: The question now comes on the original 
 motion as amended. 
 
 Such motion was put and prevailed. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: TTie next is the report of the Committee 
 on Protection against Maning Frauds, Mr. C. J. Downey, Denver, Colorado. 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH read the report of the committee, which 
 is as follows: 
 
 To the Members of the American Mining Congress and the Delegates of 
 the Eleventh Annual Session: 
 
 At the ninth annual ses'sion of the American Mining Congress, held 
 at Denver, Colorado, provision was made for a committee of five to con- 
 sider means of preventing the fabrication of fraudulent mining schemes. 
 At that session, the Congress adopted a measure very similar to a law 
 on the statute books of California and recommended its passage by the 
 legislatures of the several states. This law was designed to punish mis- 
 representations in letters and prospectuses issued for the purpose of aid- 
 ing the sale of corporation shares, and it was adopted the following winter 
 by various states in the East and West. The delegates at Denver, how- 
 ever, considered that the effect of this measure was limited to punishing 
 misdeeds after they were committed, and that it was within the province 
 of the American Mining Congress to suggest methods of a preventative 
 nature, designed not only to deter men from indulging in false finance, 
 but to aid stockbuyers in protecting themselves. It was with this idea 
 that the committee of five was provided for.- 
 
 That committee was composed of Charles J. Downey, of Denver, 
 chairman; Henry C. Beeler, of Cheyenne, Wyoming; R. L. Herrick, of 
 Scranton, Pa.; A. W. Mclntire, of Everett, Wash., and William F. Clark, 
 of Glover, Vt. It reported at length to the tenth annual session of the 
 Congress-, at Joplin, Missouri, last fall, and this report will be found in 
 full in the proceedings of the Joplin session. In brief, it recommended 
 the adoption of a law by the several legislatures, more especially those 
 of the West, requiring the filing of extensive information of a vital nature 
 by all corporations falling under the description of those sought to be 
 reached. It was designed to take cognizance of the prospect character 
 always present, in a greater or less degree, in mining property, and by 
 
32 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 reference to the notion of prospect value, to make its use dependent upori 
 the proper certification of facts to the secretary of state; also to take 
 cognizance of the stock prospectus and to provide what measure of in^ 
 formation should be set forth therein. 
 
 The committee also recommended the universal adoption of the cumu- 
 lative voting privilege for minority stockholders and suggested other 
 means of educating the investing public with respect to the best means 
 of protecting itself against unworthy mining stock offerings. 
 
 Lastly, the committee recommended that a standing committee of 
 five be provided for, to be appointed from year to year by the president, 
 this committee to contain at least three lawyers and to be known as the 
 Committee on Corporation Legislation. 
 
 The report was unanimously adopted, and the present committee was 
 subsequently named. 
 
 As the important recommendations of the Joplin session concerned 
 the presentation of proposed legislation to the general assemblies of the 
 states, and as none of these has met since the recommendation was made, 
 by the very nature of the situation the legislative suggestion of the former 
 committee stands where it did, it being the expectation that the matter 
 will be brought before the lawmakers of the states at their sessions this 
 winter. 
 
 No member of the committee has proposed anything additional to 
 what has already been done, as it is evidently feit that some disposition 
 should be made of the recommendations already pending. In the nature 
 of the case, therefore, a meeting of the committee, during the present 
 year, was hardly necessary, and the chairman contents himself with sug- 
 gesting, without authority from the committee as a whole, that the presi- 
 dent of the American Mining Congress select a member from each state 
 where there is no subsidiary branch of the organization, to offer the pro- 
 posed measure for the consideration of the local legislature, leaving it to 
 the subsidiary branches, where they exist, to submit the measure to the 
 lawmakers of their districts : The corporation laws of the several states 
 are not uniform; therefore, it is not possible to present a uniform law to 
 them with the assurance that it will accord with local judgment. 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 CHARLES J. DOWNEiY, Chairman. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: What is your pleasure with the report? 
 If there is no objection 
 
 MR. DANIELS: In case this report is accepted now will there be an 
 opportunity to bring up any matter in connection with it later on? 
 
 PRESlDEiNT RICHARDS: Certainly; you may present a resolution 
 at any time. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I am not ready just now to do so, but I want to 
 later. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARD'S: It will be on file for that use by this 
 body. If there is no objection it will be filed with the secretary. 
 
 The next report is the report of the Committee on General Revision 
 of Mining Laws, Dr. W. R. Ingalls, New York City. 
 
 MR. W. R. INGALLS, O'F NEW YORK: Mr. President, I regret that 
 this committee has nothing to report but progress. It has been giving 
 its consideration to the subject during the year, but the subject is one 
 that requires a great deal of time, and I anticipate that it will be several 
 years before the committee will be able to make a final report. It has 
 been suggested to me, however, by our esteemed secretary that the meet- 
 ing would be interested in a few words of explanation as to the purposes 
 of the committee, and if you will excuse, me for taking your time, I will 
 make such an explanation. 
 
 This committee was appointed at the meeting of the Mining Congress 
 at Denver two years ago, its purpose being to prepare a modern law gov- 
 erning metalliferous mining with a view to its adoption by the American 
 Mining Congress and recommendation to the various states of the Union 
 
THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF 
 
 AN MINING CONGRESS 33 
 
 for its passage as a uniform law, replacing existing laws which in the 
 best cases are more or less imperfect and out of date. The advantages 
 of a uniform law among all the states are so obvious that no discussion 
 of them is necessary. 
 
 It is well to explain, however, that the work of the committe per- 
 tains only to the laws regulating quarrying and mining from the stand- 
 point of public safety, which regulation comes within the police powers 
 of the states, and in no way extends to the laws which determine the 
 titles to mining lands and the ownership of mines. The investigations 
 of the committee were limited to quarrying and metalliferous mining be- 
 cause conditions governing coal mining are so special in character that 
 they can be met properly only by special laws. 
 
 As a first step the committee addressed letters to the governors of 
 all the states to find out what laws they had. The replies to these letters 
 developed that many of the states in which mining is done have no laws 
 at all pertaining to the subject. Other states have elaborate laws gov- 
 erning coal mining but not applying to metalliferous mining. Some " 
 states have fragmentary laws, that is to s-ay, laws aiming to prevent 
 some limited classes of accidents, the enactment of which has been 
 prompted by the occurrence of some accidents of that sort. It appears 
 that Colorado, Missouri, Montana and New York are the only states which 
 have formulated general mining laws of broad scope. It is particularly 
 noteworthy that states in which the mining industry is so important as 
 California and Michigan have no such laws. 
 
 In Idaho Mr. Robert M. Bell, the State Mining Inspector, has been 
 for years endeavoring to secure the passage of a general law. It appears 
 that the laws of that state have clauses governing only a few special 
 cases. 
 
 Summarizing briefly the present status of this matter, the following 
 states have laws which apply to collieries only: Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, 
 Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The following states 
 have a general law applying to metalliferous mining: Colorado, Mis- 
 souri, Montana and New York. The following states have special laws 
 pertaining to metalliferous mining, but with few provisions as to salety: 
 Arizona, Idaho, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, 
 Idaho and Wyoming. 
 
 Most of the other states have no laws, although underground mining 
 is or has been conducted in many of them. Tennessee has an elaborate 
 law as to the inspection of mines, but it contains few provisions as to 
 safety. Michigan also has a law providing for mine inspection. The 
 other states either have no law or have provisions governing the subject 
 so incorporated in other laws as to be not readily available and conse- 
 quently remain generally unknown. 
 
 The elaborate factory laws of many states contain some provisions 
 that apply in mining and metallurgical work, but only to surface opera- 
 tions in so far as mining is concerned. 
 
 The committee has during the year prepared a digest of the more 
 important laws, and is causing them to be published with the hope that 
 they will draw out discussion and suggestions as to the provisions that 
 should be incorporated in a complete modern law. 
 
 Consequently, Mr. President, the committee is able to report only 
 progress, and to ask that it be continued. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Is there any discussion or suggestion on 
 the report just made? If there is no objection, the committee will be 
 continued as requested. Hearing none, it will be so ordered. 
 
 Report of committee on smelter rates, Honorable E. A. Colburn, Den- 
 ver, Colorado. 
 
 The report of this committee was read by Secretary Callbreath, and 
 is as follows: 
 
34 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE MUTUAL RELATIONS AND 
 GRIEVANCES OF ORE PRODUCERS AND CUSTOM SMELTERS. 
 
 To the President and Members of the American Mining Congress: 
 
 This report is intended to recite the progress made by your com- 
 mittee, and should be considered as supplementary to the report sub- 
 mitted to the Congress a year ago. 
 
 The work of the committee has been in the interests of ore pro- 
 ducers in the regions between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific 
 Coast, whose ores are valuable for one or more of the four metals; gold, 
 silver, copper and lead. In the former report, your committee urged 
 mine owners to join one another in independent enterprises for the treat- 
 ment of ores, and with this idea in mind it has been the aim of your com- 
 mittee to gather and disseminate accurate information bearing on the 
 commercial s.de of smelting and refining, rather than to act as profess- 
 ional advisers to each dissatisfied ore producer having only his own in- 
 terests in mind and wishing only to drive a better bargain for himself 
 with the smelting concerns already in the field. 
 
 Although many owners of gold mines are able to work their ores by 
 wet processes, and although many of the large copper mining companies 
 have smelting works of their own, the majority of ore producers are 
 obliged to sell the output of their mines to so-called custom smelters. Be- 
 cause of the unsettled conditions of the country's finances and the slump 
 in the prices of all metals, and because of set-backs to existing smelting 
 concerns through litigation brought by hostile farming communities, the 
 conditions prevailing in the smelting industry during the year just past 
 were far from normal, and the relations between ore producers and ore 
 buyers were strained more than ever before. When the slump in metal 
 prices began, the smelting companies found themselves carrying an over- 
 stock of metals which the market would not absorb. In order, therefore, 
 to avoid piling up additional metal stocks, the ore -buyers sought a means 
 of curtailing ore shipments. Being obligated to receive all of the ores 
 shipped from mines whose output had been contracted for in advance, 
 the curtailment, fell on producers who had no contracts, and from these 
 the ore buyers would accept no ores except on terms so unsatis- 
 factory to the producers as to be a matter of general public com- 
 ment. This attitude of the ore buyers, whether justified or not, gave 
 impetus to the movement for independent smelters, and resulted in wider 
 investigation and discussion of the commercial side of smelting. 
 
 Wje are pleased to record the rebuilding of the Golden Cycle gold 
 mill at Colorado City, and the completion and blowing in of two new in- 
 dependent smelting plants, the Panhandle smelter at Ponderay, Idaho, and 
 the Tintic lead and copper smelter at Silver City, Utah. Other inde- 
 pendent enterprises have been held in abeyance by the late financial 
 disturbances. 
 
 The successful operation of a smelting plant calls for a number of 
 conditions: 
 
 1. Ample capital. 
 
 2. Competent operating talent. 
 
 3. Location conducive to economy of operation. 
 
 4. Satisfactory transportation facilities and fair freight rates on 
 ores, fuels and smelter products. 
 
 While the first three of these essentials are usually within the con- 
 trol of mine operators, the fourth is a matter calling for careful considera- 
 tion and tactful treatment. Many ore producers appearing before your 
 committee have presented evidence intended to sustain the charge that 
 railroad freight rates from mining districts are made in such a way as 
 to favor the old smelting regime. It is pointed out that the American 
 Smelting and Refining Company maintains a traffic department, at whose 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 35 
 
 head is a corps of competent, experienced, high-salaried traffic men; and 
 it is claimed that these officials have a large hand in the making of such 
 freight rates on ore and bullion as are published by the railroad com- 
 panies, and that these freight rates are made in a way to favor the large 
 company rather than the smaller competing concerns. However, the mat- 
 ter of freight rates on ore is a separate problem for each state and for 
 each mining district. Wherever any state legislation is needed to pre- 
 vent unjust discrimination, the communities affected should organize to 
 obtain redress 1 . Too frequently, it happens that the parties clamoring 
 for reform measures are undisciplined and unorganized, and are torn by 
 petty jealousies and personal interests; and unless the reform movement 
 is backed by deep feeling and headed by a disciplined organization, it 
 will be of no avail as against a foe well organized and strongly intrenched. 
 Following the suggestions made by your committee in its report of last 
 year, mine operators associations have been formed in some states and 
 many district organizations have been formed. These organizations 
 have not only done good work in modifying and regulating local condi- 
 tions, 'but are lending much assistance towards obtaining needed national 
 legislation. We recommend that the mine operators in each mining state 
 form and maintain permanent state organizations along lines on which 
 the various mining interests of the state can be harmonized. 
 
 First place in the custom smelting industry is still held by the 
 American Smelting and Refining Company, which, with its" allied con- 
 cerns, is commonly called "the smelting trust." Several years ago, this 
 company 'had a virtual monopoly of the custom smelting business, and 
 because of this it could buy ores on its own terms, from which there was 
 no appeal. That this company has found the smelting business im- 
 mensely profitable is not denied; the simple arithmetic of dividing the 
 probable number of tons of ore treated by this concern into its total net 
 earnings, is enough to show an ample if not more than ample profit on 
 the ores bought. 
 
 Rumors have gained currency during the year of a foothold gained 
 by "Standard Oil Interests" in the American Smelting and Refining Com- 
 pany, some rumors even crediting these interests with virtual control. 
 These rumors, taken in connection with the control already held by the 
 American Smelting and Refining Company in many large mines, have been 
 disquieting to many small ore producers. In the judgment of your com- 
 mittee, however, these rumors, even if true, should create no new alarm, 
 since the reputed business methods of the alleged new interests are not 
 essentially different from those of the old regime. In western parlance, 
 the men at the head of the smelting trust have always wanted "four 
 aces before the draw," and have generally refused to "sit in any game" 
 where they had no advantage at the outset. These men have been ore 
 buyers, not miners; and whenever pretending to develop mines, as a 
 rule they have merely been buyers of ore already developed buying 
 from parties willing to sell the ore in the ground for less than its real 
 value in order to save the time and the trouble of mining the ore and 
 delivering it. 
 
 No field of human industry calls for more pluck and good judgment 
 than the development of metal mines, and for this 'reason the large 
 prizes in metal mining will always be distributed among the daring. And 
 since the smelting industry hinges so closely on the development of metal 
 mines, no concern can hope to monopolize the field permanently. The 
 main safeguard lies in fair treatment at the hands of transportation com- 
 panies. With fair freight rates on all ore and supplies shipped to a 
 smelter, and on the bullion, etc., shipped away; with no discrimination 
 in favor of the large smelting concerns and against the smaller ones, the 
 independent smelter should always be able to hold its own. 
 
 In conclusion, we desire to express our thanks to those mining opera- 
 tors who have given us their assistance, and to those familiar with the 
 inside history of smelting who have generously contributed from their 
 
36 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 store of information. We recommend that a new and stronger committee 
 be appointed to continue the work of this committee, and that the new 
 committee be so constituted as to coyer a larger area and give repre- 
 sentation to important mining states not at present represented on the 
 committee. Respectfully submitted, 
 
 E. A. COLBURN, Chairman, 
 
 GEO. W. RITER, 
 
 L. D. GODSHALL, 
 
 H, S. JOSEPH, 
 
 E. M. DELAVERGNE. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: What is your pleasure with the report 
 and recommendations as read? 
 
 MR. STEELE, OF ALASKA: I would move you, sir, that this report 
 be accepted and filed: 
 
 The motion was seconded and prevailed unanimously. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The next is the report of the Committee 
 on Investigation of the National Forest Service and its Effects upon the 
 Mining Industry, Colonel A. G. Brownlee, Denver, Colorado. 
 
 COLONEL A. G. BROWNLE, OF COLORADO: Mr. President, Ladies 
 and Gentlemen: The National Forest Service Committee is one of re- 
 cent appointment. About two months ago, during a convention of mining 
 men in Colorado, a letter was received from Mr. Pinchot, the Forester 
 of the National Service, requesting that a committee be appointed to act 
 in conjunction with a committee to be appointed by President Richards 
 of the American Mining Congress, to confer with the national officers in 
 regard to complaints which were being received by the Forest Service. 
 At that time a committee of three resident operators of Denver was ap- 
 pointed. About thirty days later Mr. Richards, the president of the Amer- 
 ican Mining Congress, added two other names to the committee, which 
 is now composed as follows: A. G. Brownlee, E. A. Colburn, Geo. J. Ban- 
 croft, Wm. P. Daniels and W. F. R. Mills. 
 
 The committee has had several meetings in Denver, studying the 
 rules and regulations of the Forest Service in connection with the mining 
 laws of the country. This question is one of such great importance that 
 the committee recognized that it must gather a great deal of information 
 in regard to specific abuses, and through the medium of the press they 
 sent out a call asking that such reports be sent to the committee in order 
 that they might be properly considered. A number of complaints have 
 been presented and the committee is now at work upon them. It will 
 probably require some time before all the specific cases of complaint will 
 be received, assorted and considered, so as to determine the hardships 
 and injury which it is alleged is being placed upon the mining industry 
 by the National Forest Service. 
 
 We have been in conference with the officers of the Forest Service 
 in Colorado, and they have extended to us all the help they can in con- 
 sidering the question. 
 
 As the reports are received, they are getting the consideration of 
 the committee. Naturally, it will be some time before a sufficient num- 
 ber will have been received to enable the committee to determine along 
 what lines any injury is being done. The Forest Service acknowledges 
 that it is deluged with complaints, many of which it claims to have in- 
 vestigated, some of which they say are well founded, and most of them 
 unfounded. Naturally, the committee appointed by the Congress is going 
 to consider the complaints very carefully in connection with the laws, 
 and it will be some time before it will be ready to render a report to this 
 Congress, which will be of any real service. I know it was generally 
 understood by the forest officers that a conference was to be had at this 
 Congress with the forest officers in connection with this work. The com- 
 mittee is not even prepared for them, because it has not enough informa- 
 tion at the present time. 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 37 
 
 Mr. Riley, the gentleman in charge of the forestry office in Denver, 
 called on me a few days ago and asked that he be furnished copies of all 
 the complaints so far received. It would be almost impossible to furnish 
 those, and if we are to furnish the Forestry Service with the complaints 
 which the committee has received, I think, on the other hand, that the 
 Forestry Service should also furnish the committee with the complaints 
 it has received. 
 
 The committee is now present at this meeting of the Congress, with 
 the exception of one member, and it is going to hold a meeting tonight 
 in the Henry Hotel. If anybody has any information in regard to hard- 
 ships, injuries or abuses which the Forest Service has placed upon the 
 mining industry in any way, the committee would be glad to hear from 
 these gentlemen, and if possible have the complaints reduced to writing, 
 in specific form. It is facts that we want. We have had a great many 
 arguments presented, ,but those are things which the committee cannot 
 consistently entertain. We want to get the facts so that we will find 
 out where the injury lies. The Forest Service is a new thing in our land. 
 Mr. Pinchot recognizes the complaints which are coming in as statements 
 of facts that are troubling him a great deal, and the matter is going to 
 be taken up and investigated thoroughly, so that when we are prepared 
 to report, we will also be prepared to go before the Forest service and 
 discuss matters intelligently. Until that is done, it would be unwise to 
 make any recommendations in the matter. (Applause.) 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I think we have reason to feel grateful 
 to these standing committees for the diligence they have shown in the 
 work placed in their keeping, and the care which they have exercised. 
 
 MR. ROCKWELL, OF IDAHO: I rise for information. Would it be 
 proper to ask of this committee which has just reported a question? It 
 refers to the matter of purchasing mining timber from the government 
 through its agents of the Forest Reserves. 
 
 In my territory the Forestry Service is charging an excessive price 
 to mines for timber. It is a price equivalent to from $10.00 to $15.00 per 
 thousand, board measure, while it charges the saw mills from $1.50 to 
 $2.50 per thousand, board measure. The Forest Reserve in my territory 
 has compelled us in felling our timber to cut the logs on a basis of six 
 inches at the small end. Much of the Douglas fir, which grows in large 
 quantities in the State of Idaho, tapers so gradually that on a recent pur- 
 chase of mining timber about 25 per" cent, of that timber tapering away 
 from the butt, running from 8 to 22 feet in length, carried the proscrip- 
 tion of the Forest Reserve as to six inch small end. Now a six inch 
 piece of mining timber is all right for fence posts for a sheep pasture, 
 but there are none of us who want to put any of it in a drift in swelling 
 ground. Notwithstanding that fact, the government charges one cent 
 per lineal foot, 5 to 7 times as much as timber for commercial purposes, 
 and threatens to increase the charge! It is a very important matter, it 
 seems to me, and one that should be taken up by this Congress, through 
 the committee which is now in consultation with the Forest Reserve 
 officers. On this very important matter of the aggression of its agents 
 toward the prospector, it has within the last season, come to me very 
 forcibly that here is also a position the Forest Reserve is placing the 
 mining operators in that should be given immediate attention. And so 
 I would like to inquire if it is proper to load this committee, already en- 
 gaged in a very useful and important work, with instructions to receive 
 specific information as to grievances such as I have spoken of. And I 
 should like to hear from any other Operator in the Congress who has had 
 similar experiences in the purchase of timber on the Forest Reserve. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 COLONEL BROWNLBE: We have received some complaints along 
 the lines that the gentleman has just mentioned, and we believe that it 
 might be unwise to delay action in connection with the use of timber on 
 mineral claims. If timber is being sold in the manner which the speaker 
 
38 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 has just spoken of, we would be glad to have a conference with him in 
 regard to it. 
 
 Some members of our committee have thought it wise to introduce a 
 resolution at this Congress asking that the Forest Service refrain from 
 cutting any timber on mineral claims that have >been located, whether 
 they are patented or unpatented. We are in receipt of complaints that 
 timber is being sold by forestry officers from claims that are being 
 worked by bonafide locators, the miner thus being denied the right to 
 use timber which properly belongs to him and which he should have to 
 properly develop his claim. We would be pleased if the gentleman who 
 has just spoken will meet with the committee tonight, and assist in pre- 
 paring proper resolutions asking for temporary restraint of the alleged 
 abuses until the complete investigation is made by the committee. The 
 question of the wisdom of selling any timber from mineral lands, in or 
 near forest reserves, is a serious one that should be carefully considered, 
 and perhaps it might be wise if this Congress made some recommenda- 
 tion in regard to this important matter. 
 
 GEORGE J. BANCROFT, OF COLORADO: I would like to ask the gen- 
 tleman from Idaho, so that the information may come before the Con- 
 gress as a whole, whether or not the Forest Reserve officers have done 
 any forestry in Idaho, in tree planting, or in cultivation of the forests, 
 which warrants them in keeping this charge on mining timber? 
 
 MR. ROCKWELL-: I will say to the gentleman, not as far as I 
 know. That is, they have not done so in the Sawtooth Reserve, which 
 is in the country where I am operating. They are extraordinarily officious, 
 quite drastic, severe, and have put us to a lot of trouble in getting any 
 timber at all. I will say, however, that after taking their own time in 
 inspecting, scaling and stamping the timber you are finally able to get 
 your logs cut. Every tree is stamped before it is allowed to be cut. To 
 a very large extent, we have literally been robbed and are being robbed 
 today, and they admit it. Think of paying a cent per lineal foot for min- 
 ing timber, on the theory that while they charge a price of $1.50 to $2.50, 
 board measure, per thousand to saw mills, the mines, theoretically, are 
 supposed to require the best timber in the reserve, which is the reason 
 they give for charging us an excessive figure. They select the timber 
 themselves, and yet 25 per cent, of the total selected is a kind of timber 
 that would make reasonable fence posts for a sheep pasture, but not a 
 foot of it would be worth anything under any circumstances for mining 
 use, except for wedges. Well, gentlemen, we do not like to pay a cent a 
 foot for wedge lumber. (Applause.) 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I had a telegram from Mr. Pinchot want- 
 ing to know if it would be possible for our committee and myself to meet 
 him and the Service in Washington after this session. I told him I could 
 not answer until I had seen Mr. Brownlee at Pittsburg, and possibly, at 
 the convenience of Mr. Brownlee, we had better notify him by wire our 
 conclusion in the matter. 
 
 Is there any further discussion on this question? 
 
 H. F. FULTON, OF OHIO: I have been up against these Forest Re- 
 serve propositions myself this season. I made a visit to Washington in 
 May, and talked some with the Forest Reserve people, and I found this 
 situation down there. I think they are feeling their way. As nearly as 
 I could discover they seemed to have no specific law under which they 
 act. They were simply making the most strenuous possible effort to hus- 
 band every foot of timber that could be husbanded, regardless of the 
 rights of others. I happened to get into the management of a proposition 
 that had cut some timber a year ago this fall, to the extent of 50,000 or 
 60,000 feet, upon their own claims, claims upon which they had done 
 work for the past six years, which to my mind gives them an ownership 
 of those claims, every year's work being made a payment on that prop- 
 erty when you want to get it patented. You are required to do so many 
 years' work. 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 39 
 
 I find that the Forest Reserve officers were feeling around to find out 
 just about how much the mining interests would stand. I believe that if 
 a committee from this Congress will meet with the Forest Reserve in 
 Washington and go over the entire ground and show them where they 
 are mistaken in many of their decisions, that there will be no trouble in 
 reaching an arrangement that will be satisfactory to all. 
 
 I took this matter up with an attorney, who at one time was con- 
 nected with the Forest Reserve, and he assured me that many of the 
 requirements they put upon the miners were not supported by law, and 
 that the necessary thing to do was to get together with the Forest Re- 
 serve people and influence them, and bring them down off their perch. 
 They were feeling a little bit cocky in regard to the Forest Reserve, and 
 their rights, and as the gentleman from Idaho has said, there is so much 
 red tape that you cannot accomplish much. I asked for a permit to cut 
 a new road through some timber a few weeks ago. The permit was 
 granted me and the statement was made that in three or four or six 
 weeks perhaps some agent of the Forest Reserve would go with my men 
 up there, and he would mark trees we might cut up. I expected to have 
 all that done before we got the usual three feet of snow, but the red tape 
 has made it necessary for me to put that matter off until next spring. 
 My suggestions to this Congress would be in the line with what the presi- 
 dent has said just now, that if he and this committee will meet the 
 Forest Reserve officers in Washington and state their grievances, and 
 you know the situation and you do not need to get very much informa- 
 tion, state the grievances and come right down pat with those people 
 and say that you want your rights and you will get them; and you won't 
 get them until you do. (Applause.) 
 
 MR. J. W. KNIGHT, OF PROVO, UTAH: I wish to say just a word on 
 the question of the Forest Reserve interfering somewhat with the mining 
 industry of our different states. 
 
 I find in Utah where we are patenting a great many claims that 
 these patents are unnecessarily delayed until the government sees fit to 
 send us a man to go and inspect our ground to see if it is mineral ground. 
 
 Now, as a general rule, what does a forester know about mineral 
 ground? Upon what theory can they ride over our ground and determine 
 intelligently whether we should be permitted to go to patent or not? 
 Why, we may have already spent over $500.00 worth of work on the claim 
 and are all ready to go to patent with them. Besides, we are paying $5.00 
 an acre, the highest price asked by the government for this class of land, 
 and yet we are delayed by the forester, but if we do not get the inspec- 
 tion done the year we undertake to patent, we are obliged to do the as- 
 sessment work on the claims for another year, being thus put to a great 
 deal of expense. 
 
 It is a great hindrance to the mining industry of the western country 
 where the mountains are covered with timber, and it is necessary to see 
 a forester in order to patent ground. I think that something should be 
 done in this line as well as concerning the use of the timber. 
 
 Elven to lay a pipe line from an air compressor to a tunnel some dis- 
 tance away, we have to be delayed until some one comes and makes an 
 inspection which has caused delays that have been very expensive. 
 
 I think something should be done to avoid all this "red tape" about 
 such small matters. 
 
 DOCTOR JO'HN BROWN, OF NEW JERSEY: Mr. President, Ladies 
 and Gentlemen: I am not very familiar with the question of forest re- 
 serves in the western country and its relation to mining timber, but I 
 know some things that I wish to call to the attention of this Congress 
 and to the attention of the committee, that is to confer with the gentle- 
 men of the western states about this matter and with the gentlemen of 
 the Forestry Service. It was stated by one of the gentlemen preceding 
 me (I do not remember just which state he came from, but he asked the 
 question whether the government and the Forestry Service had done 
 
40 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 anything towards reforesting in the western states on lands where they 
 sold the mining timber) that timber is sold to them for mining purposes 
 at prices perhaps ten times as high as it is for saw mill purposes. Now 
 I wish to state, as far as my experience goes in forestry, that whether 
 the timber and lumber are cut for saw mill purposes or for mining pur- 
 poses, the reforesting will cost just as much,, and that does not explain 
 the difference in price between timber cut for mining purposes .and that 
 cut for saw mill purposes. I recognize that mining timber should be of 
 the first-class, and strongest timber that could be possibly gotten, yet I 
 think a difference in price of ten times over saw mill timber is absolutely 
 excessive, and it will be a very good thing if this Congress and if this 
 committee reaches a determination and a decision with the Forestry 
 Service which will equalize this difference. (Applause.) 
 
 MR. STEDELE 1 : I come from the land of snow and Esquimaux 
 (Alaska), and I am operating in the largest forest reserve under the 
 American flag. We have a grievance up our way, though perhaps not 
 as great as that of my friend from Idaho. I do not think our condition 
 is quite as bad. For instance, we consider in our locality that to a cer- 
 tain extent we are public benefactors. We have been led to believe that 
 the forest reserve people are there to assist and to promote in every 
 way possible the mining industry. I wish to mention one matter which 
 we are doing, and that is we maintain a salt water wharf. We charge no 
 wharfage whatever to anyone, all of our neighbors use the wharf as 
 freely as we do ourselves, except that they must remove their goods 
 when they come in our way. Our forest reserve man comes to notify me 
 each year, as we have to rebuild every year on account of conditions 
 there, that we must make an estimate of the amount of growing timber 
 that we want to cut before we are allowed to go in. If we do not make 
 that eseimate our timber will cost us probably double what it would cost 
 us if we got in our estimate beforehand. We also make an estimate 
 of the amount of timber that we have to cut for road building. Fortu- 
 nately, I let him go and make the estimate; I did not ask about it at all 
 until we got it cut; if we had we would not have gotten the timber yet. 
 Our mine timber costs us more of course than our wharfage timber. But 
 we maintain that so long as we are public benefactors, maintaining a 
 wharf at our own expense to assist not only ourselves but to help our 
 neighbors, that we should be charged nothing whatever. We think that 
 we should be allowed that timber free. W!e are doing a great deal more 
 for the public good in that country than Uncle Sam is for the mining in- 
 dustry. We are paying money into Uncle Sam's treasury every day in 
 the way of licenses and every other way that they can collect it, and I 
 can say to you now that we are pretty sore on this deal. (Applause.) 
 
 MR. JOHN R. WOOD, OF COLORADO: I thought as the gentleman 
 from Alaska was speaking that if there are as many forestry agents around 
 in Alaska as there are in some portions of Colarado that there would 
 have been a process served upon him before his road was done. (Laugh- 
 ter.) Now, there is no one, I take it, more desirous of preserving the 
 timber than the miner. He knows the need of good timber. And he 
 knows the care that is required to preserve the timber, and we are all 
 anxious for the proper conservation of the timber resources of our min- 
 ing districts. But we also are well posted, as is shown here, as to the 
 difficulties which are beginning to hamper us. We are being shackled 
 on all sides and we are finding it almost impossible to get relief when 
 we should have relief. We feel, as has been suggested by the gentleman, 
 I believe, from O'hio, that while there is an honest desire at Washington 
 to get at the justice of these things, it is impossible, as it seems to some 
 of us, that justice can be done to us in the metalliferous region at least, 
 except by withdrawing such regions from the forest reserves. (Ap- 
 plause.) It may be that before we get through with this session this 
 matter will be brought to you in the form of a resolution, or some sug- 
 gestion asking the committee to present this matter at Washington. We 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 41 
 
 wish you would talk it over among yourselves. We wish you would get 
 it in your mind whether or no this would be the proper settlement of 
 these difficulties, so that if the matter does come on in some such form 
 we may take it up and put it through speedily. (Applause.) 
 
 M!R. ROCKWELL: I wish to say to this Congress that we in Idaho 
 have had a great deal of difficulty with the timber questio'n. We have 
 been arrested and hounded and chased. My distinguished friend from 
 Boise, that great jurist, Judge Beatty, of the Federal bench, and also a 
 friend of our president here, after his famous ruling in those timber cases 
 in the Coeur d' Alene and in the central part of the state, said to me per- 
 sonally in response to a visit which I made to him, after the government 
 agent had been in our country checking up our timber which we had cut 
 on government land without permission before the reserves were estab- 
 lished: "I rendered my decision on the basis that you were mining on 
 government land for precious metals which the government desired to 
 have mined, and for which it had granted you the patent. The govern- 
 ment knows that you cannot mine precious metals without timbering 
 your drifts and stopes. It is impossible to open a mine, ordinarily, with- 
 out the aid of timber. Timber grows on government lands almost ex- 
 clusively, therefore I maintained in my decision that all timbers cut on 
 government land for use underground in mining should belong by right and 
 by law to the mine owner, and that Uncle Sam ought to cheerfully con- 
 tribute the amount of timber required for the mining industry under- 
 ground without charge." 
 
 Of course that decision was reversed, and I presume that our presi- 
 dent here will tell us just how. I am not a lawyer. The forest reserves 
 were born after that and we are all now under its influence, and we are 
 treated as though we were usurpers. They are as jealous of the reserves 
 as a mother is of her babe. 
 
 They seem to consider that as mine owners we are large capitalists, 
 who ought to contribute a large amount of money for its support; hence, 
 in my opinion, this outrageous charge which one of Uncle Sam's learned 
 servants agrees to be ours by inherent right. It appears to me that the 
 hardships and enormous expense incident to preparation for deep mining 
 are now so great as to tax capital to its uttermost, and should not also be 
 yoked to this additional burden. 
 
 My desire in speaking on this question again is to call your special 
 attention to the opinion of one of the greatest jurists on the Federal bench 
 on the question of timber for use in mining. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Are there any further remarks? I want 
 to call especial attention to the program for this evening. I have had 
 the pleasure of listening to Dr. Douglas before, and I consider him one of 
 the best informed men on any subject that he pretends to understand, 
 that I have ever heard address this Congress. I know that you will miss 
 a treat if you fail to hear him tonight in this hall. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I believe the introduction of resolutions is in order. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: At any time. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I would like to present the following for reference 
 to a committee. It is somewhat in line with the recommendation made 
 in the report of the Committee on Smelting: 
 
 Resolution No. 1. 
 (By W. P. Daniels, of Colorado.) 
 
 Whereas, The American Mining Congress has by amendments to 
 its laws, provided for the establishment of branches of the Congress 
 wherever fifty or more members desire the establishment of such a 
 branch, looking to the ultimate establishment of state and local organi- 
 zations to be governed by a national body consisting of representatives of 
 such local and state organizations, and 
 
 Whereas, The present laws of the Congress did not originally con- 
 template a delegate or representative organization with subordinate 
 
42 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 bodies, self-governing within the provisions of the laws of the Congress, 
 and the amendments providing for the establishment of branches is not 
 in harmony with the original plan or the present laws; therefore be it 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of three members of the Congress bo 
 appointed by the president whose duty it shall be to prepare and report 
 to the next annual session of the Congress, such amendments or such ft 
 revision of the present laws as will provide for a representative na- 
 tional governing body with state and local bodies subordinate to and 
 under the jurisdiction of the national body, and it is the sense of the 
 members of this session of the Congress that all life members of the 
 Congress who are or may become life members under its existing laws, 
 should be made life members of the national Congress with all the rights 
 and privileges of the representative or delegate members that may be 
 provided for in such report. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The resolution will be referred to the 
 Committee on Resolutions. 
 
 The secretary has some announcements to make. 
 
 The secretary announced the names of the members of the Com- 
 mittee on Resolutions; also calling attention to desirability of members 
 registering, receiving their badges, etc. 
 
 MR.- LANG, OF CANADA: While speaking this morning I omitted to 
 state to this meeting that I had with me several reports by Arthur A. 
 Cole, mining engineer, of the Northern Railway. In this report will be 
 found details of what we have been doing at Cobalt. I should like to se 
 these reports distributed as well as possible. I might say this, that any- 
 one desiring a copy of this report may get the same by writing to Mr. 
 Cole at Cobalt. 
 
 I wish to say, too, Mr. President, while speaking, that I have enjoyed 
 immensely the discussions of this afternoon, particularly in regard to tim- 
 ber. I can quite understand your troubles, and I am interested in the 
 discussion. I have enjoyed it very much. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Any other matters before we adjourn? 
 
 MR. KNIGHT: Just one more word relative to forestry regarding 
 water. If a man files on water for mining power purposes it is necessary 
 to get a permit from the forester, and in the permit it is stated that the 
 permit may be cancelled at any time. You can readily see how that 
 places the operator. He goes to the expense of putting up a big power 
 plant and at any time the Forestry Department has the right to cancel 
 the permit. And yet we spend our money to develop the country and 
 we are held back in this way. I desire to bring this before the committee 
 along with the other complaints. 
 
 MR. BROWNLEOE: Before we adjourn I would like to say that the 
 Forest Service Committee will meet at eight o'clock to-night in Room 
 215 at the Hotel Henry. Anybody who wishes to communicate with them 
 will find the full committee in session at that time and place. 
 
 COL. H. H. GREiGG, OF MISSOURI: I would like to ask all gen- 
 tlemen interested in zinc mining from Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, 
 Colorado and any other states to please remain here a little while after 
 the adjournment of the session this afternoon that we may talk on some 
 matters pertaining to that. 
 
 Thereupon an adjournment was taken until eight o'clock p. m. 
 
 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1908. 
 Evening Session. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I take great pleasure in introducing to 
 you Dr. James Douglas of New York City, who will speak to you on "The 
 Mining Industry as Influenced by Transportation." 
 
 Dr. Douglas' address will be found on page 71, Part II., of this report. 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 43 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I know we shall all be gratified to have 
 the opportunity of hearing Dr. George Otis Smith, Director of the United 
 States Geological Survey, Washington, on the Distribution of the Nation's 
 Wealth. 
 
 Dr. Smith's address will be found on page 247, Part II., of this 
 report. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The Mineral Resources of Alaska, by 
 Dr. A. H. Brooks, Chief, Alaskan Division, U. S, Geological Survey, Wash- 
 ington, D. C. 
 
 Dr. Brooks' address will be found on page 258, Part II., of this report: 
 
 Thereupon the Congress adjourned until 10 o'clock Thursday morning. 
 
 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 19C8. 
 Morning Session. . 
 
 The Congress was called to order by President Richards. 
 
 The secretary read an invitation from the Engineers' Society of 
 Western Pennsylvania, tendering the use of their club rooms to the 
 members and delegates. 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: I desire to make announcement 
 with reference to the luncheon which is offered to the members of the 
 Congress, delegates and visitors at the H. J. Heinz pickle plant, which 
 can be reached in ten minutes or less from this hall by the cars. The 
 desire is that all of us shall go there in a body at noon; luncheon will be 
 served at 12:30, and a chance given to visit the largest pickle works 
 and pure food establishment in the world. This is a very pleasant and 
 courteous invitation, and the management is very anxious that you shall 
 go. It should be known in advance how many will take advantage of 
 the invitation in order that proper preparations may be made. Tickets 
 will be furnished to those who desire to go, and it is desired that you 
 secure tickets not for the purpose of gaining admission but for the pur- 
 pose of notifying the Heinz company as to how many people will be 
 present in order that suitable preparations may be made. I know you 
 will all be pleased when you get there. This establishment does not do 
 things by halves. Tickets will be distributed at the door. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read Resolution No. 2, introduced by Colonel 
 H. H. Gregg, of Joplin, Missouri, as follows: 
 
 Resolution No. 2. 
 (Introduced by H. H. Gregg, of Missouri.) 
 
 Whereas - It is evident that the free importation of fv reign ores is 
 not only inimical to the direct interests of the miners of zinc ores in the 
 United States, but also fruitful of wasteful methods of mining; and 
 
 Wlhereas, The principle of protection has been applied to spelter and 
 unrefined zinc products; therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, By the American Mining Congress that the Congress of 
 the United States be urged to impose such a duty on the importation of 
 all zinc ores as will protect the interests of the miners and cons'erve this 
 most important mineral resource. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read resolution introduced by Mr. Peter Han- 
 raty, Chief Mine Inspector of the State of Oklahoma. 
 
 Resolution No. 3. 
 
 (Introduced by Peter Hanraty, of Oklahoma.) 
 
 Whereas, The number of fatal accidents in the mines of the United 
 States is gradually increasing, and 
 
 Whereas, Thousands of men are being employed to work in the 
 mines of our country who know nothing about the dangers incident to 
 the business, thereby causing the death of hundreds of human beings 
 and the destruction of thousands of dollars worth of property; there- 
 fore, be it 
 
44 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 Resolved, That the delegates to this Mining Congress held in the 
 City of Pittsburg, Pa., December 2, 1908, do hereby agree to work to the 
 end to have incorporated in the mining laws of our respective states the 
 following: 
 
 That in all mines where explosives are used to blast the coal, that 
 shot firers shall be employed to fire the shots. Said shots shall be fired 
 at the end of each shift, but not until all miners and other employees 
 working therein are out of the mine. All holes shall be tamped by the 
 shot-firers with fire clay, and it shall be unlawful for the shot-firer to 
 light the shots in more than one working place at any one time in any 
 one split of air. And be it further 
 
 Resolved, That if the mine inspector finds any matter, thing or prac- 
 tice in or connected with any mine to be dangerous or defective, so as in 
 his opinion to threaten or tend to the bodily injury of any person, such 
 inspector and each of his assistants shall have power to immediately 
 stop the operation of any mine or part thereof where any dangerous 
 conditions are found. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: One of the great questions now attract- 
 ing the attention of the thoughtful men of the country is how best to 
 conserve the great coal interests of this country. Wle have with us this 
 morning Mr. J. B. Zerbe, of Cleveland, Ohio, who will speak to us upon 
 that subject. 
 
 Mr. Zerbe's address will be found on page 181, Part II., of this report. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: In my short journey through life I have 
 necessarily come in contact with one of the great questions that has 
 been welling up from the human heart ever since the dawn of modern 
 civilization, if not a long time before that. It is this inhumanity of man 
 to man that raises that question so pre-eminently at this hour. And as 
 I have come in contact with that thought, wholly irrespective of whether 
 right in their ideas or in their methods, still, as I see it, underneath it 
 all is a cry for justice; and if that is true then it devolves upon you and 
 upon me to help solve that question, that justice may be done. 
 
 We have with us this morning the greatest exponent perhaps of 
 that thought today in the civilized world. I know that you will be glad 
 to hear from him upon that great question and. upon its relation to the 
 subject under discussion Mr. John Mitchell. (Applause.) 
 
 Mr. Mitchell's address will be found on page 185, Part II., of this 
 report. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I would like to ask Mr. Mitchell a question. 
 
 DOCTOR BUCKLEY: May I make an announcement first? I wish 
 to announce that the Resolution Committee will meet at this time in the 
 basement of this building. At this meeting a special committee will .be 
 appointed, and such resolutions as have already been introduced" will toe 
 taken up and considered. I wish also to request that those desiring to 
 introduce resolutions do so not later. than tomorrow noon. If resolutions 
 are introduced later than that time, there is a liability or possibility 
 that they cannot receive adequate consideration by this committee or by 
 the Congress. Such has been the experience at previous meetings, 
 
 I wish also to request that you be as careful as possible in framing 
 these resolutions. A great many errors creep in which tend to put a 
 different construction upon resolutions than is intended by the person 
 introducing them, so kindly be cafeful in the wording and construction 
 of these resolutions. 
 
 I wish also to announce that anyone who desires to be heard upon 
 these resolutions should notify either the secretary or myself, and a time 
 will be set when you may be heard upon any resolution before the Com- 
 mittee on Resolutions. The purpose of sending these resolutions to the 
 Resolution Committee is to relieve the Congress of at least a good part 
 of the discussion, if not all of it, and thus to facilitate business. So be 
 kind enough to notify either the secretary or myself if you desire to be 
 heard upon resolutions introduced before this Congress. 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 45 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I would like to ask Mr. Mitchell if he can give us 
 any data as to the comparative cause of explosions in coal mines from 
 missed shots or faulty shots or from other causes. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Are you asking the question of Mr. 
 Mitchell? 
 
 MiR. MITCHELL : I did not understand the question. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: You referred to the cause of explosions as being 
 very largely from faulty shots what you call, I believe, "blow-outs." I 
 want to ask if you have any data as to the comparative causes of ex- 
 plosions from that and other causes. 
 
 MR, MITCHELL: I have not with me but they are given in the re- 
 port of the Geological Survey. They give the causes of them all, of all 
 deaths; but I haven't them with me. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I am sure if this Congress accomplishes 
 no other purpose than to send out the great thoughts that have been sug- 
 gested under the discussion of this topic this morning, our time has been' <' 
 well invested. 
 
 I have the pleasure to announce that Mr. J. V. Thompson, of Union- 
 town, Pa., is present with us, and will speak to you on the question, "Tne 
 Needs for Conservation of Our Coal Deposits." 
 
 MR. J. V. THOMPSON, OF PENNSYLVANIA: I have prepared a 
 paper on the conservation of coal, which I wish to have read by' our secre- 
 tary, Mr. Callbreath. 
 
 Mr. Thompson's address will be found on page 177, Part II., of this 
 report: 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It affords me pleasure at this time to 
 simply announce that we have present with us Secretary Garfield. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 HONORABLE JAMES R. GARFIELD, SECRETARY OF THE! IN- 
 TERIOR, WASHINGTON, D. C.: I shall not weary the Congress at this . 
 time with any remarks. I am very glad to have been here in time this , 
 morning to hear some of these discussions on the question of conserva- 
 tion of resources and methods for greater safety in the mines. I shall 
 take occasion this afternoon to go with you to the experiment station 
 which the government has started in this city, and I hope that we may 
 all see what the government is attempting to do toward the accomplish- 
 ment of these important purposes. 
 
 The purpose of these experiments is not in any way, as I think you 
 realize, to interfere with the necessary and proper activities either of 
 individuals, corporations, or the state. But the federal government de- 
 sires to be in active co-operation with all the other agencies which are 
 studying these present day important problems of mining. The field is 
 big enough for us all. These questions are not bounded by state lines, 
 or by sections, or by different kinds of mineral industry. They affect 
 the industrial life of the nation, and so it is that the national govern- 
 ment has started on the investigation, examination, and study, in a scien- 
 tific and technical way, of these' questions, which you gentlemen are 
 working out practically in the mines. 
 
 It affords me a great deal of pleasure to have met during the last 
 few years with many men who are leaders in the mining industry, those 
 who are guiding the financial side of it, those who are doing the active 
 labor in the development of the mines. It is by such conferences as 
 these that both sides are able to express their views frankly and fairly 
 and find out the point of view of the other side, to the end that we may 
 by such exchange of ideas discover the wisest and best methods for 
 action. 
 
 I was very much impressed with one remark this morning in regard 
 to the need of immediate action. It is true th<?se are oroblems that can- 
 not be postponed with safety to the life of our nation's Industry. They 
 are matters of such pressing importance that those of you who are ac- 
 tively engaged in the development of these industries cannot afford to 
 
46 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 postpone for a year even the first long steps that must be taken for the 
 improvement in conditions. 
 
 The questions of conservation affect not merely the conservation of 
 the material resources, but they affect as well the conservation and the 
 preservation of the lives of the men who are engaged in these great in- 
 dustries. We must not forget that in the development of society the 
 individual constantly loses his so-called right of individual action and 
 assumes greater obligations towards society with which he is working. 
 In' other words, what I as an individual may seek to do so long as it 
 affects only myself is quite a different proposition from what I as an in- 
 dividual have assumed as obligations upon my shoulders when I am in 
 co-operation with my fellow-men. 
 
 And it is this sense of obligation that is now being brought home to 
 every man who is studying the industrial life of our nation. Elach one 
 of us, whether he is working with his hands or working with his head, 
 has assumed obligations that cannot be fulfilled by the clamor for sup- 
 posed rights. In other words, we must recognize that with the growth 
 of society the individual must abandon much that he has claimed for 
 merely himself, and must now so work in co-operation with others that 
 the dangers, hazards and risks of his work, too great for the individual 
 to bear alone, shall be fairly borne by the entire community or industry. 
 
 I hope that, as a result of these investigations, and of your confer- 
 ences and inquiries here, we may immediately arrive at some definite 
 conclusions, some definite line of action, that will appeal to the sound 
 common-sense of the legislators of our state and nation, so that they can 
 intelligently make such changes in our laws and regulations and methods 
 of mining as will best accomplish what you here may determine to be 
 the right steps in the safest and wisest development of this industry. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: This closes the program that was placed 
 ; n my hand for this morning. I now await your further pleasure. The 
 Secretary has some resolutions which he will read: 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read 
 
 Resolution No. 4. 
 
 (Introduced by Col. A. G. Brownlee, of Colorado.) 
 Resolved, That it is the opinion of the American Mining Congress 
 that any reduction in the present tariff on imported ores containing lead 
 will render a hardship upon our American miners and will certainly re- 
 sult in a disastrous calamity to our lead industry, and be it further" 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be sent to the Wjays and 
 Means Committee of the House of Representatives at Washington, D. C. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read 
 
 Resolution No. 5. 
 (Introduced by George J. Bancroft, of Colorado.) 
 
 Whereas, By the frightful disaster in the coal mine at Marianna, Pa., 
 whereby 152 miners lost their lives causing desolation in scores of homes 
 by the loss of the bread-winners within them, be it 
 
 Resolved, That the American Mining Congress is deeply grieved at 
 this awful disaster, that its heartfelt sympathy goes out. to those who 
 have been bereft, and that it is cognizant of the added responsibility en- 
 gendered by this concurrence in its endeavors to hasten the time when 
 such accidents will be impossible. That it hereby publicly tenders its 
 sympathy to the living wh/>se loved ones have been lost, and to the town 
 whose citizens have been torn away, and to the Pittsburgh-Buffalo Com- 
 pany whose faithful employees were sacrificed on the altar of duty. 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 47 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read 
 
 Resolution No. 6. 
 (Introduced by George J. Bancroft, of Colorado.) 
 
 Be It Resolved, That the American Mining Congress hereby ex- 
 presses to the U. S. Geological Survey its appreciation of the splendid 
 work it is doing for the advancement of the science of mining. The 
 topographical maps prepared by the survey are most accurate and ex- 
 tremely useful. The geological work is of great importance to the miner 
 of metal, coal or oil. The experimental work in fuels has shown great 
 results already and has contributed in the best way possible toward 
 conserving the natural resources. 
 
 That the work of the U. S. Geological Survey should be continued 
 and augmented and that adequate appropriations should be made by 
 Congress for continuing its work. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read 
 
 Resolution No. 7. 
 (Introduced by David B. Rushmore of New York.) 
 
 Whereas, the use of electricity in mines is increasing rapidly and 
 numerous small bodies are attempting to independently standardize the 
 practise regarding its use and as this subject can be best handled by 
 a national body working in harmony with all the different interests con- 
 cerned, therefore be it 
 
 Recommended, That a standing committee be appointed by the Pres- 
 ident of the American Miining Congress to standardize as far as possible 
 and make recommendations concerning electrical practice in mining 
 work, said committee to consist of seven members, as follows, viz: one 
 electrical engineer, two representatives of the manufacturers of electrical 
 equipment, two representatives of the labor organizations and two mine 
 operators. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read 
 
 Resolution No. 8. 
 
 (Introduced by David B. Rushmore, of New York.) 
 
 Whereas, the best results can be accomplished in any given line 
 of work by co-operation between the different parties interested in such 
 line and 
 
 Whereas, it is possible that some of the work of the American Min- 
 ing Congress can be better effected by co-operation with the American 
 Institute of Mining Engineers, therefore be it 
 
 Resolved, That the officers of the American Mining Congress be in- 
 structed to invite the co-operation of the American Institute of Mining 
 Engineers to the end that a larger service may be afforded the members 
 of both organizations and the public. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Are there any further suggestions before 
 we adjourn? If not, we will stand adjourned to meet at the Government. 
 Experimental Station this afternoon promptly at 2:00 o'clock. 
 
 DOCTOR J. A. HOLMES: I would suggest that we have an hour 
 at our disposal before noon, which we cannot afford to spare. We are 
 here for conference and discussion, not in the spirit of criticism, but 
 of helpfulness. We all need that. None of us know very much about 
 these great problems connected with mine disasters, and there is only 
 one way we can learn anything, only one way in which we can formulate 
 definite and wise policies, without those drastic measures which would 
 do more harm in the long run than they would do good, until we have 
 the information upon which to base action. 
 
 We are here, and I sincerely trust that these gentlemen who know 
 so much about this subject will in a friendly way take advantage of 
 
48 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 the opportunity and help in the discussion to bring out the results which 
 we all want. Let us feel then that this is an opportunity and that a 
 duty is upon us that we shall discuss these things to help arrive at the 
 wise course to be pursued in connection with this matter in the future. 
 
 While I am on my feet let me say that we ought to adjourn shortly 
 after 12 o'clock because it is important that by a little before 2:00 o'clock 
 sharp we shall be inside the grounds at the old arsenal, so that the 
 inauguration exercises of the afternoon may begin promptly. But we 
 ought not to lose the three-quarters of an hour intervening before the 
 noon hour, when there is much which we all want to learn from the 
 gentlemen here who have had the actual experience in mining operations. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: As suggested by Professor Holmes, we 
 would be glad to hear any remarks from anyone in this hall at this time 
 
 DR. JAMES DOUGLAS, OF NEW YORK: I take pleasure in cor- 
 roborating Mr. Mitchell's estimate as to the cost of electric firing. Wie 
 have introduced it, after some opposition from our miners, in five of 
 the mines of the Dawson coal fields, and it costs us about two cents 
 a ton more than the old method. With regard to the general cost of 
 coal, I agree perfectly with Mr. Mitchell that the cost is low, and that 
 certain provisions to ensure safety can only be made through an increase 
 in its cost to the public. One such method undoubtedly is through in- 
 creasing the number of bosses, and raising their qualifications, both of 
 which conditions will increase the cost of superintendence. Taking the 
 mines of the country at large, we cannot expect to get enough thoroughly 
 trained miners, and even if we could, the trained miner is often willing 
 to run a risk which the inferior miner is afraid to take. The number of 
 deaths from falling roof is appalling, and in almost every case those 
 are duo to the neglect of necessary precaution. I know as a fact that in 
 several instances in our own mines the foreman has distinctly instructed 
 the miner to put in a prop, but he preferred to break coal instead of 
 obeying an order looking to his own protection, which he thought un- 
 necessary, and fatal results followed. When dealing with that class of 
 labor the foreman ought to see that his orders are absolutely carried out. 
 Such a system involves an increase in the force of foremen, and therefore 
 and increase in the cost of coal. 
 
 Quite apart, however, from the extra cost of precautionary measures 
 to ensure safety, the cost of mining must inevitably increase as we pro- 
 ceed further from the outcrop. Whoever has a large area of coal, es- 
 pecially when there is a sudden demand, cannot resist the temptation of 
 starting a new entry, and using up his outcrop coai. This expedient, 
 however, can be at best only temporary; and therefore the cost of mining 
 coal is bound to go up all over the country, and the public has to pay 
 the increased cost, for the balance between cost and average selling 
 prices is as low, if not lower, than it ought to be. 
 
 As I remarked yesterday evening, the freight rates on fuel are low 
 in comparison with the rates on high-class commodities. A rise in the 
 rates of fuel might slightly affect certain of the prominent industries 
 of the country, but they can stand it, but even if their fuel and the 
 transportation of their fuel should cost the large manufacturing interests 
 a little more, this would be a small evil compared with the feeling of 
 antagonism against the railroads in the mind of the public at large, 
 which originates very largely in high "class" rates and the very low 
 rates which the public know are charged on commodities. 
 
 There are a great many other phases to this subject which one cannot 
 elucidate in a few cursory remarks, and some of you I know have had 
 a great deal more experience than I have had in both railroading and 
 coal mining. But during my somewhat limited experience as a railroader 
 and during my still shorter experience as a coal miner, these are the 
 conclusions I have come to. 
 
 Looking back over the last two or three years, there is one other 
 conclusion I believe we must all have come to, and that is that "booms," 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 49 
 
 so called, are extremely expensive and extremely dangerous. It can 
 hardly be accidental that since the boom burst there have been hardly 
 any railroad accidents, and that while the boom was in full swing rail- 
 road accidents were of almost daily occurrence. How could it be other- 
 wise? The traffic of the country nearly doubled up. We have a certain 
 number of skilled railroad workmen. They were not able to handle the 
 increased traffic, and therefore firemen had to be promoted to be engi- 
 neers and brakemen had to be made into conductors, with the inevitable 
 result of accident after accident. That was the cause of many of the 
 accidents, quite apart from another still more prevalent cause, which 
 was that all of us, whatever position we occupied, whether we were 
 workmen or on the executive staff, were all more or less demoralized. 
 I am sure that we ought to pray that another boom may be deferred for 
 just as long as heaven will be willing to protect us from such a disaster. 
 
 MR. J. A. SPRINGER, OF WEST VIRGINIA: I desire to say, from 
 the standpoint of the miner at least, that there have been some state- 
 ments made relative to the causes of explosions that I citmot afford as 
 a miner to let go without entering my challenge or procesr. That state- 
 ment is that the cause of the terrible explo-sions that we have had is 
 a mystery or unknown. I am not sure that this is the proper time, how- 
 ever, to offer or give reasons of the miner for these explosions. But for 
 the statement to go out that we do not know the cause, and that the 
 cause is a mystery, I for one, do not wish, and I want to say now that my 
 deliberate opinion as a miner is that the cause is known, and that cause 
 is the dry condition of the mine. For one I am convinced of that fact. 
 How to remedy that condition is another question altogether. But I 
 am fully convinced that the cause of explosions in our state is and has 
 been the dry condition of the mine. I hope it will be the pleasure of 
 those men who have in charge this matter to bring out before this con- 
 gress in a way which will give some satisfaction, the cause of these 
 explosions and the remedy-to be applied. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Dr. Holmes' suggestion has proved fruit- 
 ful. We have a little more time yet, if you wish to occupy it. 
 
 DR. E. W. PARKER, OF WASHINGTON: We had the pleasure of 
 listening last night to Doctor Douglas and also this morning he gave us 
 one or two illustrations of mining at Dawson, New Mexico. What he 
 said last night and this morning is certainly too modest, and shows Dr. 
 Douglas' rather modest disposition. I think that the mine operators 
 of Pennsylvania, of West Virginia, of Illinois and of other states could 
 learn a great deal if they could visit the mining operations at Dawsou. 
 I had the pleasure of visiting that mine only a few weeks ago. The 
 precautions taken there for the safety of the miners are certainly about 
 the acme in the United States. I have visited coal mine operations 
 throughout every state in the union, I think, and I have not zeen any 
 mines so well equipped for the safety of the miners as the plant at Daw- 
 son. As Doctor Douglas has already stated, the shots are electrically 
 fired. They are not fired by shot-firers in the mines. E^ery miner, every 
 employe, is out of the mine. The openings are closed by steel gates, and 
 the shots are fired when it is impossible for there to be any loss of life, 
 as the result of the firing of the shot. 
 
 I should also like to state in regard to what Mr. Mitchell has already 
 said, that I corroborate his statement that our coal is too cheap. We 
 have been making our material advancement, of which we are so proud, 
 by the cheap fuel and at the cost of human life. The precautions to be 
 taken for greater safety in the mines can only be taken at an increased 
 cost, and I, as a consumer of coal, would be willing to pay my share for 
 the increased cost of coal mining if it would produce the desired results. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 MR. JOHN H. WALKER, OF ILLINOIS: There is one. point that has 
 been referred to a good many times this morning which it might not 
 
50 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 be out of the way for me to give you our experience in dealing with, 
 and that is the question -of cheap coal. You will recall Mir. Mitchell said 
 that the price of coal to the large consumers should be increased; with 
 that statement I wholly agree. As a member of the miners' organization 
 we have found that there is danger in having the price of coal generally 
 increased, when there is a systematic method used for the purpose of 
 discrediting the work of those who are making it necessary, for some 
 humane or just reason, to have that added cost put on the price of coal. 
 
 In almost every instance where any action, at least of the organiza- 
 tion, has made necessary the increase of the price of coal to the consumer, 
 the increase has been made to the general public, the small consumer, 
 away out of proportion to the necessary cost for the employer to meet 
 the necessities of the occasion. That is to say, if he has 10 cents a ton 
 added to the cost of coal production there will be practically no cost 
 added for the large consumer who buys it, but there will be about 25 
 or 30 cents or 50 cents added for the small consumer, and he generally 
 resents that sort of thing, and it has a detrimental effect, at least as 
 regards the men who are making that increase necessary at all. We have 
 found that if you own a railroad and you want to buy a half million tons 
 of coal you can buy it for anywhere from 75 cents to $1.00 on the flat 
 at the mine. If you are working on a farm, in a machine shop, on the 
 street, as a laborer, getting $1.50 a day or $4.00 or $5.00 a day, it will 
 cost you $2.50 or $3.00 a ton for that same coal. As the great majority 
 of consumers are small consumers, and public sentiment in th:s country 
 is created by the great majority, who are the small consumers, that 
 action has the result of creating public opinion against the action mak- 
 ing necessary that increased price. In the work of the Congress I think 
 if you have any opponent to any necessary, humane, protective measures 
 you will find that that phase of it will be used to the detriment of the 
 Congress in its efforts to bring about such reforms. 
 
 There is one other phase of it that I wish to point out at this time. 
 The certainties, the actual conditions, that exist can be taken care of by 
 a systematic, well-directed organized effort either on the part of the 
 government or our organization or both combined. The uncertainties 
 are the things that are the cause of most troubles. One of them, faulty 
 or blown-out shots, has been a large element in bringing about the ex- 
 plosions in the recent past. If you can put yourself in the place of a 
 miner at the face, drilling a hole, it does not matter very much what the 
 risks are, from the powder not being able to do the work, whether it 
 is as the result of not being sufficient powder, or whether the hole was 
 placed in a way that the shot could not do the work, the result will be 
 a blownout shot. The wrong placing of the shot can be provided for, but 
 if you have been accustomed to using powder of a certain strength and 
 velocity and there is a change made in the powder without your knowing 
 anything about it whatever, either in reducing or increasing the strength 
 and velocity, there is an uncertainty that every miner in that mine has 
 got to deal with, and any one of those conditions might be the means of 
 blowing that mine up. In these -Javs of competition it is immaterial gen- 
 erally to the operator whether he makes his money out of the profits in 
 the sale of coal, or, as he generally sells the powder, whether he makes 
 his profits out of the sale of the powder. Powder manufacturers in their 
 fierce competition with .each other may reduce prices and give inferior 
 grades of powder, and make it attractive to the operator to buy those 
 lower grades, and that has prevailed the last two years particularly, so 
 that when a miner gets a keg of powder he does not really know \vhat 
 that powder is going to do when he starts to use it in his blasting. This 
 is one of the things that this experimental bureau along these lines can 
 eliminate. But my experience indicates that they will have to deal with 
 the question by legislation; they will first have to standardize the 
 powders, create a formula of ingredients, giving the strength that they 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 51 
 
 must have, and by law compel men who sell powder to conform to those 
 formulae provided by statute. (Applause.) 
 
 MR. J. W. DAWSON, OF WEST VIRGINIA: I should like to men- 
 tion for the information of the Congress how difficult it is, under some 
 circumstances at least, to increase the price of coal to the large con- 
 sumer. For instance, I might name a railroad, which, when you intend 
 to develop a piece of coal property tributary to it and before they furnish 
 you the necessary facilities, requires you to enter into a contract with 
 that railroad to furnish them at least one-third of your product for their 
 fuel purposes at a price fixed by the railroad. Under those conditions it 
 will be rather difficult, of course, to increase the price of coal to some 
 of the large consumers, at least. 
 
 In addition to that I have often heard stated, as by Mr. Mitchell 
 this morning, that most of our fatalities in the mines are the result of 
 inexperienced miners. If we increase our product and there is, as we all 
 know, little or no surplus of experienced miners, I should be glad if Mr. 
 Mitchell will explain to us what, in his judgment, is the most practical 
 method of instructing inexperienced miners, so they will be experienced. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 MR. MITCHELL: There is a sufficient number of experienced miners 
 in the United States at the present time to produce all the coal that is 
 required. One-third more men are employed as miners than are needed 
 to produce the amount of coal we consume. That additional one-third, 
 or that surplus of men, are the inexperienced men. You probably do not 
 know that the average number of days the coal mines of America work is 
 only about 200 annually, and that the men are idle one-third of the time; 
 so that instead of employing this large number of surplus men, if the 
 work were given to experienced men, they could produce all of the coal 
 required, and work one-third more time. Of course I understand that the 
 natural increase in the number of miners that is to s'ay, the miners' 
 sons who learn to mine with their fathers and thus become experienced 
 miners has not been sufficient to keep up with the vastly increased out- 
 put of coal year by year, so that the mines must depend upon outside 
 sources for some of their labor. But there could be a system of apprent- 
 iceship that would prevent or prohibit responsibilities being given to the 
 inexperienced men, who probably last week were doing farm-hand labor 
 some place in continental Europe. For instance, in the state of Illinois 
 under the present law an inexperienced man must first be employed for 
 a period of two years as a company day laborer or he must work under 
 the supervision of an experienced man mining coal, before he is qualified 
 to mine upon his own responsibility. Of course these accidents, these 
 great disasters, usually occur from some act of the coal-miner. A day 
 hand rarely causes an explosion in a mine. An explosion is often the 
 result of a blown-out shot. It occurs by the act of some man who is work- 
 ing at what we call the face of the coal. And it is that sort of accident, 
 the accident that comes from explosion, that the employment of exper- 
 ienced men would prevent. (Applause.) 
 
 MIR. DAWSO'N: I do not quite agree with Mr. Mitchell in that the 
 employment of an inexperienced man as a day laborer would fit him for 
 the shooting and mining of coal as an experienced man. The reason for 
 asking the question I did was to get information for myself and others 
 who might desire it. I represent the organized portion of West Virginia. 
 Now that state has been frequently referred to as an unorganized state. 
 It is against the spirit if not against the rules of the organized men for 
 a man to work as a helper, or what is known as a back-hand, or to do 
 a piece of work and to employ others to help him to do it. Wftth those 
 rules in effect I cannot quite grasp how we are going to train inexperi- 
 enced men without letting them go in a room by themselves. I am really 
 anxious to get that information. 
 
52 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 MR. CARL SCHOLZ, OF ILLINOIS: The question of the price of 
 coal and the advance thereof is one of competition, which is largely 
 regulated by the question of supply and demand. As long as coal mines 
 can be developed as cheaply as they can in this country we cannot 
 expect to have a system of operation such as exists in Germany, Belgium, 
 France and other places referred to by Mr. Mitchell. Anyone who has 
 been in those countries and is familiar with the method of mining by 
 that class of people, appreciates that the conditions they are working 
 under are quite different from ours. We have the question of farm labor 
 to contend with. We have mines in Oklahoma where ten to twelve 
 different languages are spoken. It is difficult to administer discipline 
 under those conditions; whereas, in the foreign countries usually only 
 one language is spoken, and rarely more than two or three. 
 
 The question of saving lives in the adoption of safety measures is 
 one which goes hand in hand with mining. One gentleman a while ago 
 stated that dust is one of the great causes of explosion. I think he is 
 right. Dust is largely created by solid shooting, and solid shooting has 
 been the effect of a lack of system; therefore, co-operation of the miners 
 with the operators would reduce the death rate in the mine. 
 
 Mr. Mitchell stated that the explosions in West Virginia are due to 
 the miners at the face. One of the most destructive explosions that I 
 know of occurred in the middle of the day, when it must have been due 
 to causes other than shot-firing or the miners. I have been carrying on, 
 in behalf of our company, for the protection of our property and for the 
 protection of our men, a series of investigations, ana have recently con- 
 cluded that nothing is more beneficial than the introduction of water, 
 in the shape of sprays. 
 
 It is a well known fact that most of our explosions occur in November, 
 December and January. Therefore, I believe that it behooves us to 
 ascertain the conditions which exist at that time. The very same mines 
 which explode in these cold months seem comparatively safe, or are 
 safe, because they do not explode, in June, July and August. During that 
 period of the year it is noticed that there is a heavy deposit of sweat 
 in the mine, under the roof and walls, and the coal dust is fairly moist. 
 It seems to me that what we have to do is to ascertain what the actual 
 condition is of the atmosphere which enters the mine at that time, and 
 try to bring about the same condition in the winter. It has been stated 
 that the introduction of water in a mine is detrimental to the health of 
 the employee, as shown by. experience in England. I am not concerned 
 about conditions that exist in England. I am confining myself to the 
 problems that we have to solve in- this country, and in fact I know from 
 my own observation, from experience that I have had, that the introduc- 
 tion of water in the shape of sprays cannot be carried to excess with the 
 temperatures existing in the United States, or in any of the miners that 
 I have visited, and I think I have been in nearly all of them. For these 
 reasons I cannot recommend too highly the investigation of this subject. 
 
 I have prepared several papers which have been read before various 
 interested societies, and as yet I have to hear any evidence which I 
 cannot contradict. As far as health is concerned, our office buildings 
 are now equipped with sprays in order to remove the dust and inject 
 the water which is necessary for health and comfort. As far as the 
 effect on the roof is concerned I know that the roof of the mine is affected 
 by a change of climatic conditions, the change from wet to dry causes 
 the roof to decay, and to maintain it constantly wet or constantly dry 
 removes that danger, and there is no doubt that the dust can be settled 
 by water sprays, and I cannot urge too strongly that investigations be 
 made at the experiment stations and at mines during the safe period as 
 well as during the danger period. (Applause.) 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 53 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read Resolution No. 9 as follows: 
 
 Resolution No. 9. 
 (Introduced by Congressman J. G. McHenry, of Pennsylvania.) 
 
 Whereas, Notwithstanding the ceaseless efforts upon the part of 
 mine operators to equip and operate their mines with every known 
 modern and scientific equipment for the protection of their employees 
 and property, the frightful loss of life to mine workers continues unabated. 
 
 Whereas, While we are pursuing our scientific investigations for the 
 prevention of future mine accidents, and which should continue without 
 interruption, and an earnest effort to secure uniform and effective legis- 
 lation, we believe that some steps should be taken to alleviate the suffer- 
 ing due to unavoidable mine accidents. Therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That we recommend to the favorable consideration of the 
 legislatures of the various coal mining states, that a tax not exceeding 
 one cent per ton on bituminous coal or one and one-half cents per ton 
 on anthracite coal, be levied and collected for the purpose of alleviating 
 the buffering of injured miners and their families. 
 
 Resolved, That we respectfully request the governops of the various 
 coal mining states to urge the prompt enactment of their protective leg- 
 islation. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the governors 
 of the coal mining states. 
 
 Thereupon an adjournment was taken until 2:00 o'clock p. m. 
 
 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1908. 
 Afternoon Session. 
 
 FORMAL OPENING OF THE GOVERNMENT STATION FOR INVESTI- 
 GATION OF MINE EXPLOSIONS. 
 
 The session of the American Mining Congress convened at the gov- 
 ernment arsenal ground, Fortieth and Butler streets, Pittsburg. 
 
 HONORABLE JAMES R. GARFIELD, Secretary of the Interior: 
 Gentlemen: As you know, the United States government has established 
 this station for the purpose of beginning this great work of experimenta- 
 tion. You here in Pittsburg and the surrounding district are, it is need- 
 less to say, intensely interested in this kind of technical and scientific 
 work. We fortunately have this area here, owned by the government, 
 which we can use for this purpose. 
 
 I have no doubt but that with the co-operation of the War Department 
 we will be able to extend the use of -this ground in accordance with the 
 needs of this growing service. Just how that may be accomplished I 
 do not now know, but I am confident from the conferences I have had with 
 the Secretary of War we will find no difficulty in making the r best use 
 possible of this ground, which is so well adapted for these purposes. 
 I wish at this time to express our appreciation of the hearty co-operation 
 which all of you gentlemen engaged in the mining industry have given 
 to our work in the development of this new station. 
 
 We need the heartiest kind of co-operation. We want this station 
 here to be used by all those who are interested in the mining industry, 
 and when I say that, I mean those who are laboring as well as those who 
 own the mines. We can only accomplish the best results by having the 
 earnest and intelligent support of men engaged in all branches of the min- 
 ing industry. 
 
 This technical work more than ever will be found to be the basis of 
 industrial prosperity. We can no longer in competition with the other 
 nations of the world attempt to carry on any great industry by the rule 
 of thumb. We must know the facts. We must understand intelligently 
 the conditions by chemical and physical analysis, by careful and pains- 
 taking experiment; we must find out what the conditions are under which 
 
54 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 the thousands of men in our country are working, and it is for that pur- 
 pose that this station, starting small, will become one of the great experi- 
 ment stations of the world. We need here and now to understand that 
 many mistakes will be made in the early days, upon which criticism will 
 necessarily follow, but I ask that unfriendly critici&m be withheld until 
 our men have the opportunity of finding cut what the problem is, and how 
 it best can be studied. We need helpful criticism of every active opera- 
 tor, and we need helpful work and suggestion, and criticism of our repre- 
 sentatives in Congress, to the end that they may understand that these 
 hundreds of thousands of dollars which have been appropriated, and the 
 money that will be appropriated, are not frittered away in idle experi- 
 mentation, but we desire to make every dollar count for some practical 
 good in the development of the mining industry. (Applause.) And so, 
 my friends, I simply now formally declare this station opened, and I trust 
 that it means many years of useful endeavor for the mining industry. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 DR. HOLMES: I introduce Mr. John Mitchell who really needs no 
 introduction. (Applause.) 
 
 MiR. MITCHELL: The formal opening of this station marks an 
 epoch in the mining history of this country. It is the beginning of a new 
 day. It is the point from which we start to diminish the number of acci- 
 dents in the coal-mining industry. It is my hope and my belief that from 
 this time forward the country shall not be shocked by a recurrence of 
 these terrible catastrophes through which tnousands of men are hurled 
 into untimely graves. Gentlemen, what is needed to supplement this 
 work is a bureau of mines at Washington. (Applause.) And if we who 
 are interested in the preservation of human life will give our aid, I feel 
 confident that the coming Congress will pass a bill creating a bureau of 
 mines, under whose supervision the mining industry may be relieved of 
 accidents and death. (Applause.) 
 
 DR. HOLMES: I now introduce Mr. Dempster, the dean of the coal 
 operators of this Congress. 
 
 MR. ALEXANDER DEMPSTER, OF PENNSYLVANIA: This his- 
 toric ground that was once made sacred in the preparation of war ma- 
 terials for the preservation of our Union, is now dedicated and conse- 
 crated to the arts of peace, (Applause) and not for the killing of men, 
 but for the preservation of life. There are no persons in this country who 
 are more interested in the success of what may be produced here than are 
 the operators of Pennsylvania, and of the Pittsburg district. So far, Mr. 
 Secretary Garfield, as the operators of this district are concerned, you will 
 have the hearty support of every one. It is said that "corporations have 
 no souls," but there are men who constitute the corporations whose feel- 
 ings flow in the channel of sympathy for the suffering, of those who are 
 bereaved by the accidents which have come. And I would say, Mr. Con- 
 gressman Burke, that we hope to be in communication with you as our 
 channel of communication with the government whereby we may express 
 our thoughts, our opinions and our feelings, and if necessary we will give 
 such friendly criticism to Brother Holmes and his coadjutors at every 
 opportunity as we deem of importance. As Secretary Garfield has said, 
 friendly criticism, criticism in sincerity, criticism with the aim in view to 
 bring out the best that can be done, will be given by the operators and by 
 all those who are really in sympathy with this movement. 
 
 Wlhen those foreign lights were brought over here from Belgium, 
 Great Britain and Germany by our government and came to Pittsburg, 
 we said to them that this bureau would te as a beacon to shine from any 
 depths of the earth to which its investigators would go and would shed 
 the results of their investigation, and the light of intelligent knowledge, 
 throughout this country, so that every state in the Union, and every dis- 
 trict that operates mines, should have that knowledge and that informa- 
 tion, and then the operators would have the will to apply it, so that from 
 now on it depends on our government to supply the information which 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 
 
 55 
 
56 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 may be disseminated throughout this country, and then it will be for the 
 operators to make the application of the means that are devised and dis- 
 covered to be the best for the prevention of accidents. For the welfare 
 of the miners of this district, as well as others I speak for, all will be 
 interested in the promotion of whatever may be deemed for the best in- 
 terests of the miners in their employment. 
 
 And let me say, in this work there should be no antagonism between 
 labor and capital. There should be no antagonism between the miners, 
 whom Mr. Mitchell so ably represented for so long; but instead of antag- 
 onism, there should be the united effort to go forward in the pathway of 
 duty according to the laws of supply and demand, and according to the 
 laws of equal rights of one to the other. We should go on in that har- 
 mony of feeling and in that channel of reciprocal relationship that will 
 put the United States, and its mining interests, away ahead of the world. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 DR. HOLME'S: *I introduce Honorable James Francis Burke, in 
 whose Congressional district this station is located. 
 
 MR. BURKE: Dr. Holmes and Gentlemen: I want to say with ref- 
 erence to what our distinguished friend the Secretary of the Interior has 
 just adverted to that this district, which I have the honor to represent 
 in the American Congress, is making me prouder every day of my life. 
 From the hour I entered Congress it has been my good fortune to come 
 home and see many new buildings erected and new institutions estab- 
 lished in the district, and today there are more temples of art, shrines of 
 religion and institutions dedicated to the development of science being 
 created and brought to perfection in this district than in any other Con- 
 gressional district in the whole United States. (Applause.) It is a happy 
 coincidence, I believe, that the opening of this institution here today, its 
 formal dedication at the hands of Secretary Garfield, should take place 
 at a time when men engaged in a great scientific work and a great indus- 
 try all over the republic are assembled here in Western Pennsylvania. 
 
 But there is a great piece of work still to be done. It cannot be ac- 
 complished with ease; that which has already been done has not been 
 wrought without encountering the usual amount of criticism. There 
 never was a great movement instituted in the world's history that did not 
 meet with its adversities as it traveled along its pathway, and, gentlemen, 
 I want to say to the members of the American Mining Congress when 
 they go back to the various states whence they came, that they should 
 say to the representatives from those states in the American Congress 
 that it is their duty to insist upon encouraging the men engaged in this 
 work and in the development of this great enterprise. 
 
 As my friend Mr. Dempster has said, this tract upon which you stand 
 today was dedicated to the arts of war. It has been controlled and is 
 today properly under the control of the War Department of the United 
 States government, but I say to you as a member of the Committee on 
 Military Affairs of the American Congress that while I do not blame the 
 War Department for clinging with the tenacity that characterizes every 
 other department to anything that it has, (laughter). In this particular case 
 my loyalty to the War Department is going to be made secondary to my 
 loyalty to the Department of the Interior in the promotion of this enter- 
 prise. (Applause.) And I say that without any fear of working any 
 detriment to the federal government, because I believe now that the dedi- 
 cation of this tract to the development of the science and the perfection 
 of the work of this department of the government will be of far greater 
 importance to this country and to the world than that it should remain 
 dedicated to and be utilized for the original purposes of the War Depart- 
 ment. 
 
 In order to accomplish the desired result legislation will be required, 
 and over that legislation the Committee on Military Affairs of the Con- 
 gress of the United States will have primary jurisdiction at least by refer- 
 ence to it, and I say with confidence in the intelligence and the patriotism 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 
 
58 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 of my fellow-members on that committee, that anything that they can do, 
 I believe, will be willingly and promptly done by them during the coming 
 session of the American Congress. (Applause.) And once that is done, 
 you will have an institution here to which pilgrims from the whole wide 
 world will come, as we have pointed the pathway today. All roads lead 
 to the arsenal, and all roads hereafter will lead hither the men engaged 
 in the development of this science and the ascertainment of the facts 
 that have so much to do with the work in which you are engaged. Be- 
 cause of all this; because of the prospects and because of the reality I 
 see before me, I again repeat, that I hope my friend, Mr. Mitchell, and 
 all these other gentlemen here, and especially my friend Senator Dick, 
 who is on the other side of the capitol of the United States (and some- 
 times a Senator has a little influence my friend Senator Dick having 
 derived his because he used to be a member of the House) will exercise 
 their influence in lining up the members of both Houses in bringing 
 about the proper and permanent establishment of the institution which 
 we all have in mind today, a Bureau of Mtines and Mining in the Depart- 
 ment of the Interior of the United States. 
 
 DR. HOLMES: At the meeting of the American Mining Congress 
 tomorrow morning, Senator Dick will reply to the address just given you. 
 I see before me a great many persons who have been foremost in leading 
 this great movement, such as Mr. Englebright, of California, and others 
 whom I know you would like to hear, but this platform on which we stand 
 has explosives under it that are reached by clockwork, and I arn told by 
 my associates that exactly at 2:30- o'clock, which is only a half minute 
 off, the performance underneath will begin! 
 
 All of you have been handed programs as you entered the grounds, 
 and you will find on the program a list of tests which will be made here 
 today. 
 
 (During the afternoon, a series of informal tests was made at the 
 explosives testing station, showing conclusively that coal dust was 
 highly explosive. Tests were also made showing the disruptive force of 
 various powders used in blasting.) 
 
 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1909. 
 Evening Session, 8:30 O'Clock. 
 
 Meeting was called to order by Yice-President Dr. E. R. Buckley. 
 
 CHAIRMAN BUCKLEY: It gives me great pleasure to introduce to 
 you this evening the Hon. James R, Garfield, Secretary of the Interior. 
 (Applause.) Mr. Garfields address will be found on page 88, Part II., of 
 this report. 
 
 MR, W. F. R. MILLS, O'F COLORADO: Mr. Chairman, I think it is 
 proper, and I move that a special vote of thanks be tendered to the Hon- 
 orable James R. Garfield for his address this evening. 
 
 This motion was seconded and unanimously carried by rising vote. 
 
 CHAIRMAN BUCKLEY: Please give attention. The secretary has 
 a resolution which has been introduced into the Congress. With your 
 permission we will dispense with the reading of it and return it to the 
 secretary to be transmitted to the Resolutions Committee. 
 
 There being no objection it was so ordered. 
 
 CHAIRMIAN BUCKLEY: I take great pleasure in calling upon Judge 
 Buffmgton to address the members and delegates to this American Mining 
 Congress and their guests here this evening. (Applause.) 
 
 Judge Buffmgton's address will be found on page 251, Part II., of this 
 report. 
 
 CHAIRMAN BUCKLEY: I have had the pleasure at several ses- 
 sions of the American Mining Congress of introducing the next speaker, 
 and I have always wished that I was sufficiently gifted to properly eulo- 
 gize the great service which he has rendered the mining fraternity of this 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 59 
 
 country. I think no member of the American Mining Congress, no man 
 who has taken any interest in the welfare of the mining industry of this 
 country, has devoted so much of his time, so much of his energy, and so 
 much of his good thought to bring about the important results which 
 are now being accomplished by this organization. 
 
 I take great pleasure, ladies and gentlemen, in introducing to you our 
 esteemed, and I may say our beloved, president, the Honorable J. H. 
 Richards, of Idaho. 
 
 Judge Richard's address will be found on page 7, Part II., of this 
 report. 
 
 Thereupon the evening session adjourned and the delegates repaired 
 to the banquet hall, and enjoyed the reception tendered by the Pittsburgh 
 Reception Committee. 
 
 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1908. 
 Forenoon Session. 
 
 The Congress was called to order by President Richards. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Are there any resolutions which it is de- 
 sired to introduce at this time? The secretary will read what he has on 
 the desk. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read resolutions as follows: 
 
 Resolution No. 10. 
 
 (Introduced by George Max Esterly, of Alaska.) 
 
 Whereas, This Congress has been informed that location of coal 
 claims in Alaska under an Act of Congress, entitled, "An Act to encour- 
 age the development of coal deposits in the Territory of Alaska," ap- 
 proved May 28, 1908, having made every effort to comply with the re- 
 quirements of this statute, have been unable to secure title to their 
 claims, and 
 
 Whereas, Owing the the ambiguous provision of Section 3 of said 
 Act wherein the titles to the land covered by said claim, taken under the 
 said Act, are liable to forfeiture to the United States if any of the pro- 
 visions of said section are violated; it has been found impossible to secure 
 capital to develop the coal fields, and 
 
 Whereas, Under the "Coal-land Laws and Regulations Thereunder," 
 General Land Office, July 11, 1908, this point is emphasized on page No. 
 22, in dealing with said Section 3 as follows: 
 
 Inasmuch, As Section 3 deals exclusively with such coal lands or de- 
 posits as shall have been purchased under this act, its interpretation 
 seems more properly to fall within the province of the Department of 
 Justice, and it is deemed inadvisable for this department to attempt at 
 this time to define its provisions, and 
 
 Whereas, This Congress deems it of the highest importance, not only 
 for the Territory of Alaska, but also for the entire Pacific Coast, that 
 these valuable coal deposits should be opened up without delay. Now, 
 therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That the American Mining Congress in this eleventh an- 
 nual convention assembled does earnestly recommend: 
 
 First. That the granting of patents to coal lands under said act be 
 expedited. 
 
 Second. That said act should be revised so that difficulties and de- 
 lays in obtaining proper titles to such coal lands by citizens of the Terri- 
 tory of Alaska who are desirous of developing the country be reduced to 
 a minimum as far as is consistent with proper safeguards against fraud. 
 
 And Be It Further Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be for- 
 warded to the Honorable Secretary of the Interior and the Senate and the 
 House Committees on Public Lands, United States Congress. 
 
60 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 Resolution No. 11. 
 
 (Introduced by H. Baumann, of Pennsylvania.) 
 
 Whereas, In the firing of shots in coal mines many accidents are 
 caused by gas and dust explosions, premature shots and hung shots, and 
 
 Whereas, It is believed that many of these accidents could be avoided 
 by electric firing; now, therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That the legislatures of the several coal mining states 
 should be urged to enact such legislation as will require that in all gas- 
 eous coal mines, all shots shall be fired by electricity. 
 
 Resolution No. 12. 
 
 (Introduced by T. Wilson Henderson, of Pennsylvania and M. Duffy, of 
 
 Oklahoma.) 
 
 Whereas, The American Mining Congress has affiliated itself with the 
 TT. S. Geological Survey, and 
 
 Whereas, The Congress assisted in the dedication of the said testing 
 appliances, and 
 
 Whereas, It is desirous to continue the close relationship now exist- 
 ing; be it, therefore 
 
 Resolved, That a committee be appointed to act in conjunction with 
 the U. S. Geological Surveyors in demonstrating the different systems of 
 ventilation and extraction of coal dust and gases from the mines. 
 
 Resolution No. 13. 
 (Introduced by Wm. P. Daniels, of Colorado.) 
 
 Whereas, The American Mining Congress has placed itself upon 
 record as opposed to fraud and deception in the promotion and sale of 
 stocks in mining and other corporations, and 
 
 Whereas, Prevention of fraud is much preferable to punishment after 
 has been and is a practical failure, by reason of the difficulty of showing 
 fraudulent intent, and 
 
 Whereas, The prevention of deception and fraud by punitive legislation 
 it has been committed and it is the opinion of this Congress that proper 
 publicity would deprive Che fake promoter of the opportunity for fraud 
 and deception that exist under present, laws and would save to the in- 
 vestor the large amount of which he is continually being defrauded by 
 the concealment of facts of which he should be informed; therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, By thu. eleventh annual session of the American Mining 
 Congress, that we indorse and approve the bill herewith and urge its 
 adoption, with such Changes as may make it applicable in the different 
 states. 
 
 A Bill for an Act in Relation to Corporations. 
 
 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of 
 
 Section 1. Whenever full paid stock is issued for property by any 
 corporation, doing business in this state, it shall be the duty of the presi- 
 dent and secretary of any such corporation, within ten days, from date 
 of the issuance of such full paid stock, to file, or cause to be filed, in the 
 office of the Secretary of State, a description of the property transferred 
 to the corporation for such stock, with the name or names of the person 
 or persons, or of the corporation from whom purchased, the number of 
 shares of stock issued to each of such persons if the property be trans- 
 ferred from individuals, and if known to such president or secretary, the 
 actual amount paid by the person or persons or the corporation so trans- 
 ferring said property to the corporation purchasing the same for such 
 full paid stock, and if not known, such statement shall so state, and if 
 any portion of the stock so issued in payment for property is donated to 
 the corporation issuing it, such statement shall show the amount of stock 
 so donated. Such statement shall be verified by the president and secre- 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 61 
 
 tary of the corporation, and with a certificate of its filing in the office of 
 the Secretary of State shall be published in any general prospectus issued 
 by such corporation. 
 
 Section 2. Every stock certificate issued by any corporation which Is 
 not for stock sold by the corporation all the proceeds of which go into 
 the corporate treasury, shall have printed or stamped across the face of 
 such certificate, with ink, the color of which is conspicuously different 
 from that with which the body of such certificate is printed, and in letters 
 not smaller than those printed from 12 point type, the words, "This cer- 
 tificate is a transfer of ownership of the stock represented by it and not 
 a sale by the company." 
 
 Section 3. Before any foreign corporation shall be authorized to do 
 business in this state, in addition to the requirements of any existing law, 
 it shall make and file with the Secretary of State, a certificate signed 
 and verified by its president and secretary, which shall show what pro- 
 portion of its capital stock has been paid for in money and what propor- 
 tion has been paid for in real or personal property, labor or thing of 
 value other than money, the price per share at which such stock issued 
 in payment for property was sold, with a description of such property 
 with the name or names of the person or persons, or corporation, from 
 whom purchased; the number of shares issued to each of such persons 
 if the property be purchased from individuals, and if known to such presi- 
 dent or secretary, the actual amount paid by such person or persons or 
 corporation, from whom such property was purchased; and if not known, 
 the certificate shall so state. If any portion of such stock issued in pay- 
 ment for property is donated, to the corporation issuing it, such certificate 
 shall show the amount so donated. Such certificate with a certificate of 
 its filing in the office of the Secretary of State shall be published in any 
 general prospectus issued by such corporation. Any foreign corporation 
 failing to comply with all of the provisions of this act, after being author- 
 ized to do business in this state shall forfeit such authority in addition 
 to the penalities hereinafter provided. 
 
 Section 4. The Secretary of State shall be entitled to a fee of one 
 dollar for filing any statement or certificate required by this act. 
 
 Section 5. Any officer of any corporation failing to comply with the 
 provisions of this act, or wilfully certifying any false statement in any 
 statement or certificate required by this act, shall be deemed guilty of a 
 misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of 
 not less than one hundred, nor more than one thousand dollars, or by im- 
 prisonment in the county jail for not less than thirty days nor more than 
 one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 
 
 Section 6. Where the capital stock of any corporation doing busi- 
 ness in the State of is sold by any officer, director or 
 
 other agent or promoter of any such corporation to any purchaser thereof 
 for a cash consideration without a compliance with the provisions of this act 
 in reference thereto, an action may be maintained in any court having 
 jurisdiction in this state for the purchase price of such stock, and proof 
 of the failure to comply with this act on the part of any officer, director 
 or other promoter of any such corporation shall be prima facie evidence 
 of fraud in the sale of such stock. 
 
 Section 7. Any law or part of law in conflict herewith is hereby re- 
 pealed. 
 
 Resolution No. 14. 
 
 (Introduced by J. W. Dawson, of West Virginia.) 
 
 Whereas, The interest in or control of mines by railroad companies 
 gives to the mine so owned or controlled such undue advantage over inde- 
 pendent mines that it is exceedingly difficult for such independent mines 
 to be operated with sufficient profit to enable them to conserve the min- 
 eral resources of the country and to properly safeguard the lives of em- 
 ployees; therefore, be it 
 
62 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 Resolved, That we hereby urge upon the federal government, the 
 great importance of enforcing the "Commodities Clause" of the Hepburn 
 Bill, and in the event of that law being declared unconstitutional, we 
 earnestly urge the passage by our national Congress at Washington of a 
 law that will give the relief sought by the commodities clause of the Hep- 
 burn Bill. And the secretary of the American Mining Congress is hereby 
 instructed to forward a copy of this resolution to each member of the 
 national Congress. 
 
 Resolution No. 15. 
 
 (Introduced by David Ross, of Illinois.) 
 
 Whereas, While it is possible, through the exercise of greater care 
 and ability in the management of mining properties to very greatly reduce 
 the number of fatal and non-fatal accidents, it is unreasonable to hope 
 that they can be entirely eliminated. In view of the unpreventable char- 
 acter of many accidents, be it 
 
 Resolved, That it is the sense of this Congress that our laws, and 
 trade agreements where they exist, should provide some plan of adequate 
 compensation to be allowed those receiving injuries and in the case of 
 fatal accidents those sustaining direct loss in consequence of such cas- 
 ualties. 
 
 Chairman Buckley: We will now listen to the report of the Creden- 
 tials Committee. 
 
 Report of Credentials Committee made as follows: 
 
 Carnegie Hall, Pittsburgh, Pa., December 4, 1908. 
 To the Eleventh Annual Session of the American Mining Congress: 
 
 Your Committee on Credentials respectfully presents the follow- 
 ing report of the attendance at this Congress. The register indicates 
 a representation from thirty-six states and the province of Ontario, Can- 
 ada, as follows: 
 
 Alabama 1 
 
 Alaska 4 
 
 Arizona 3 
 
 Arkansas 4 
 
 California 5 
 
 Colorado 19 
 
 Delaware 2 
 
 District of Columbia 8 
 
 Florida 1 
 
 Georgia 1 
 
 Idaho 8 
 
 Illinois 17 
 
 Indiana 4 
 
 Iowa 2 
 
 Kansas 1 
 
 Kentucky 4 
 
 Massachusetts 1 
 
 Maryland 6 
 
 Michigan 1 
 
 Missouri 13 
 
 Montana 1 
 
 Nevada 2 
 
 New jersey 3 
 
 New York 13 
 
 North Carolina 1 
 
 Ohio 41 
 
 Oklahoma 6 
 
 Ontario, Canada 2 
 
 Oregon 
 
 Pennsylvania 295 
 
 South Dakota 2 
 
 Texas 2 
 
 Utah 6 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 63 
 
 Washington 1 
 
 West Virginia 33 
 
 Wisconsin 3 
 
 W T yoming 1 
 
 Virginia 1 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 JAS. W. WARDROP, Chairman, 
 
 E. J. WALTERS, 
 
 JAS. W. MALCOLMSON. 
 
 LIST OF DELEGATES. 
 
 ALABAMA. 
 (Joxe, Edward H Birmingham 
 
 ALASKA. 
 
 Bratnober, Henry Cordova 
 
 Esterly, George M Valdez 
 
 Koonce, M. E Rampart 
 
 Steele, J. L Landlock 
 
 ARIZONA. 
 
 Clark, Mrs. W. L Jerome 
 
 Clark, W. L Jerome 
 
 Jacobson, A. E Safford 
 
 ARKANSAS. 
 
 Buie, Henry T Buffalo 
 
 Estes, A. W Yellville 
 
 Hand, J. H Yellville 
 
 Purdue, A. H Fayetteville 
 
 CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Clark, J. Ross Los Angeles 
 
 Englebright, W. F Nevada City 
 
 Mendenhall, W. C . Los Angeles 
 
 Rickard, Edgar San Francisco 
 
 Wright, M. P Los Angeles 
 
 COLORADO. 
 
 Alderson, V. C Golden 
 
 Bancroft, Geo. J Denver 
 
 Brownlee, A. G Denver 
 
 Callbreath, J. F Denver 
 
 uargo, L. M Denver 
 
 cotton, Mrs. C. E. Jr Denver 
 
 Cotton, C. E. Jr Denver 
 
 ualzell, T. J Denver 
 
 Daniels, W T m. P Denver 
 
 Howbert, Wm. I Colorado Springs 
 
 Kane, Harry W T Central City 
 
 Kimball, Geo. K Idaho Springs 
 
 Mills, W. F. R Denver 
 
 Rogers, A. A Denver 
 
 Sellner, S Buena Vista 
 
 Stewart, T. W Central City 
 
 Suter, G. B Denver 
 
 Thompson, H. L Denver 
 
 Wood, John R Denver 
 
 DELAWARE. 
 
 Coyne, William Wilmington 
 
 Reese, Chas. L Wilmington 
 
64 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 FLORIDA. 
 Clapp, F. C. Tallehasse 
 
 GEORGIA. 
 Thomson, Meldrim Savannah 
 
 IDAHO. 
 
 Atwood, E. C Hailey 
 
 Henry, H . . . . Boise 
 
 Meggett, A. A Boise 
 
 Platt, B. C Boise 
 
 Richards, J. H . Boise 
 
 Rockwell, Irvin E Bellevue 
 
 Stevens, A. F Silver City 
 
 Walters, E. J Boise 
 
 ILLINOIS. 
 
 Bain, H. Foster Urbana 
 
 Ross, David Springfield 
 
 DeWolf , Frank W Urbana 
 
 Ede, J. A La Salle 
 
 Gates, Philetus W Chicago 
 
 Goodsell, B. W Chicago 
 
 Goss, W. F. M * Champaign 
 
 Greene, L. A Chicago 
 
 Holman, J. W Chicago 
 
 Hunt, R. W Chicago 
 
 Moses, Tom Westville 
 
 Ryan, W. D Springfield 
 
 Scholz, Carl -. Chicago 
 
 Sisley, Lyman A Chicago 
 
 Skinner, M. B Chicago 
 
 Traer, G. W Chicago 
 
 Walker, J. H Danville 
 
 INDIANA. 
 
 Chaney, John C Sullivan 
 
 Lynch, John F 
 
 Massie, J. G Terre Haute 
 
 McFadyen, John M Indianapolis 
 
 IOWA. 
 
 Calvin, Samuel Iowa City 
 
 Levy, Ben. J Sioux City 
 
 KANSAS. 
 Haworth, Erasmus Lawrence 
 
 KENTUCKY. 
 
 Kemp, Geo. B Middlesboro 
 
 Norwood, C. J Lexingto-n 
 
 Rule, John Earlington 
 
 Von Borries, H. J . . Louisville 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 Mitchell, Donald D Great Barrington 
 
 MARYLAND. 
 
 Dobbs, Albert E Lonaconing 
 
 Donahue, John H Frostburg 
 
 Drumm, F. J Frostburg 
 
 Hawkins, Fred. D Baltimore 
 
 Smith, C. H Baltimore 
 
 Somerville, R. L Lonaconing 
 
 MICHIGAN. 
 Stanton, F. M Atlantic Mine 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 65 
 
 MONTANA. 
 Bowman, C. H Butte 
 
 MISSOURI. 
 
 Buehler, H. A Rolla 
 
 Burton, P. E Joplin 
 
 Culbertson, Jerry Kansas City 
 
 Gregg, H. H Joplin 
 
 Gregory, Clay Joplin 
 
 Grimm, C. B Webb City 
 
 Kirby, E. B St. Louis 
 
 Malcolmson, James W Kansas City 
 
 Maury, Geo. P Joplin 
 
 Royce, W. K Rich Hill 
 
 Thulin, Arthur St. Louis 
 
 Vossler, E. M St. Louis 
 
 Young, Lewis Rolla 
 
 NEVADA. 
 
 Hutchinson, J. H Goldfield 
 
 Luce, Ben D Reno 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA. 
 Hewitt, Frank R Asheville 
 
 NEW JERSEY. 
 
 Brown, John Passaic 
 
 Cito, Cormillo, C Newark 
 
 Kummel, Henry B Trenton 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 Engelhard, Charles New York City 
 
 Gessler, Theo. A New York City 
 
 Hale, H. P New York City 
 
 House, H. E White Plains 
 
 Ingalls, W. R New York City 
 
 McKay, Geo. F New York City 
 
 Morse, A. G Elmira 
 
 North, Chas. J Buffalo 
 
 Pearce, G. W New York City 
 
 Robinson, D. C Howe Cave 
 
 Rushmore, David B Schenectady 
 
 Wagner, John L Syracuse 
 
 Von Gerichlen, Wm. H New York City 
 
 OHIO. 
 
 Attleck, William Cambridge 
 
 Ay ter, J. C Athens 
 
 Brown, George Columbus 
 
 Cassingham, J. W . Coshocton 
 
 Fulton, H. F Cleveland 
 
 Green, William Columbus 
 
 Harrigan, P. J Steubenville 
 
 Harrison, Geo Columbus 
 
 Hornickel, Lute Cleveland 
 
 House, W. B Oberlin 
 
 Huddy, T. H Bellaire 
 
 Jenkins, Lot Bellaire 
 
 Johnson, J. F Bellaire 
 
 Jones, Ebenezer Martins Ferry 
 
 Kennedy, Edw Land Run 
 
 Lace, E. H Nef f 
 
 Lewis, T. L Bridgeport 
 
 Loomis, Jas. P Akron 
 
 McDonald, C. A Wooster 
 
66 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 McDonald, John Columbus 
 
 Miller, W. H Massillon 
 
 Morrison, Thomas Sherodsville 
 
 Moss, Henry Cambridge 
 
 Murphy, J. L Nelsonville 
 
 Osborne, F. M Cleveland 
 
 Reinartz, L. F E. Liverpool 
 
 Savage, G. W Columbus 
 
 Sherwood, C. L . . Columbus 
 
 Simpson, John Piney Fork 
 
 Smith, Alex Mineral City 
 
 Rowley, J. W Akron 
 
 Thomas, David St. Clairville 
 
 Townsend, P Cleveland 
 
 Turner, W. H Cambridge 
 
 Warwick, J. W Cleveland 
 
 Waters, Thomas Wellston 
 
 Wilson, J. S Toronto 
 
 Winsworth, W. G Youngstown 
 
 Wiper, Alex Zanesville 
 
 Zerbe, J. B Cleveland 
 
 OKLAHOMA. 
 
 Brown, B McAlester 
 
 Cameron, William McAlester 
 
 Duffy, Michael Midway 
 
 Elliott, James Haileyville 
 
 Gould, Charles N Norman 
 
 Hanraty, Peter McAlester 
 
 ONTARIO. 
 
 Lamble, B. C Elk Lake City 
 
 Lang, H. H Cobalt 
 
 OREGON. 
 
 Finley, J. P Portland 
 
 Sessions, E. A Portland 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 Abraham, J. W Uniontown 
 
 Acker, Louis K., Jr Bellevue 
 
 Adams, Thomas K Mercer 
 
 Ailes, J. W Donovrj 
 
 Allen, W. L Pittsburg 
 
 Aikman, John Brockwayville 
 
 Anderson, Mary Pittsburg 
 
 Armstrong, J. M Pittsburg 
 
 Armstrong, Frank Pittsburg 
 
 Arnold, George Pittsburg 
 
 Atcheson, Jno. F Rittenhouse 
 
 Bailie, F. H Pittsburg 
 
 Barr, J. H. C Philadelphia 
 
 Barnsley, Geo. T Pittsburg 
 
 Bart, J. G Cokeburg 
 
 Baton, Geo. S Pittsburg 
 
 Baumann, .H Wikes Barre 
 
 Beadling, Thomas Carnegie 
 
 Beard, J. X Scranton 
 
 Beck, Harold E Sharon 
 
 Bell, John F Dravosburg 
 
 Bishoff , Avery M Swissvale 
 
 Black, Frank B Meyersdale 
 
 Blackburn, D. B Pittsburg 
 
 Blick, James Pittsburg 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 67 
 
 Blower, Daniel R Johnstown 
 
 Bochert, C. G Pittsburg 
 
 Boileau, John W Pittsburg 
 
 Bongamon, F. E Wilkinsburg 
 
 Boren, Earl E Pittsburg 
 
 Boyd, Frank P Pittsburg 
 
 Brenneman, Robert C Pottsville 
 
 Brown, Thos. B Canonsburg 
 
 Brown, Edward J Du Bois 
 
 Burke, J. F Pittsburg 
 
 Burke, W. J Pittsburg 
 
 Burgan, R. P , Carnegie 
 
 Burket, H. C Greensburg 
 
 Burton, J. S Pittsburg 
 
 Buffington, Jos Pittsburg 
 
 Byers, John W Crafton 
 
 Calverly, Walter Windber 
 
 Cameron, A.I Irwin 
 
 Canon, B. H Mount Lebanon 
 
 Clark, James S Carnegie 
 
 Clayton, James Beaver Falls 
 
 Cliford, William Jeanette 
 
 Clingerman, W. H Scottdale 
 
 Cole, W T alter R Beaver Falls 
 
 Caruthers, John S Irwin 
 
 Cooper, Allen F '. Union town 
 
 Connelly, C. B Pittsburg 
 
 Cosgrove, P. B . Hastings 
 
 Couch, Alexander M Scottdale 
 
 Crago, Richard Barnesboro 
 
 Craig, Chas. E Creighton 
 
 Crane, W T alter R ; . . State College 
 
 Crawford, George M Pittsburg 
 
 Crawford, L. F Pittsburg 
 
 Cray, James R Uniontown 
 
 Crea, J. H Mars 
 
 Crutzman, C. M Avalon 
 
 Cunningham, F. W T Wilkinsburg 
 
 Currie, W T m Lilly 
 
 Coutler, Richard, Jr Greensburg 
 
 Bugger, George Elrama 
 
 Daubenspeck, C. V Cochranton 
 
 Davis, A. L Venetie 
 
 Davies, Hy wel Kensec 
 
 Day, Edward B Pittsburg 
 
 Diescher, Alfred J Pittsburg 
 
 D'Invilliars, Edward V Philadelphia 
 
 Dixon, J. L Pittsburg 
 
 Dolan, Pat Midway 
 
 Donaldson, Archie Du Bois 
 
 Donaldson, R. T Pittsburg 
 
 Dudley, C. S Altoona 
 
 Dugan, B. P Pittsburg 
 
 Dunn, Willis O .Pittsburg 
 
 Durbin, W T m Boston 
 
 Dunk, Mrs. Walter Perrysvile 
 
 Dunk, Walter Perrysville 
 
 Eagle, Houston H Pittsburg 
 
 Earley, M. J Pittsburg 
 
 Elliott, Wm. E Sharon 
 
 Elwood, W. F Greensburg 
 
 Endsley, J. W Somerfield 
 
 Evans, Nicholas Tyrome 
 
68 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 Falkel, D. J Pittsburg 
 
 Farrington, R. P Pittsburg 
 
 Feehan, Francis Castle Shannon 
 
 Filer, F. P Mercer 
 
 Fisher, Ed. F Somerset 
 
 Fischer, Wm. F Pittsburg 
 
 Fleming, James R Peale 
 
 Fogg, L. W Uniontown 
 
 Fohl, W. E Pittsburg 
 
 Fouse, John M Pittsburg 
 
 Frease, John B Wilkinsburg 
 
 Fraser, C. D Pittsburg 
 
 Fulford, John H Du Bois 
 
 Furey, C. D West View 
 
 Gates, W. H Graceton 
 
 Gay, George E Uniontown 
 
 Gilday, R Morrisdale Mines 
 
 Gillmor, Geo Pittsburg 
 
 Glass, Chas Pittsburg 
 
 Gluck, Leo Pittsburg 
 
 Golden, Robert S Pittsburg 
 
 Gould, Samuel C . Pittsburg 
 
 Grassie, W. S Sewickley 
 
 Griffith, Wm Scranton 
 
 Haldeman, Geo. T. . . Thompsontown 
 
 Hall, C. W Apollo 
 
 Hall, Clarence Pittsburg 
 
 Hallett, Henry M Pittsburg 
 
 Hampson, S Punxsutawney 
 
 Hanck, N. A Easton 
 
 Harrop, H. S . .Wilkinsburg 
 
 Hassenpf lug, Geo. J . . . Lilly 
 
 Henderson, T. Wilson Sharon 
 
 Henderson, James Uniontown 
 
 Hertzell, A. E Pittsburg 
 
 Hewitt, A. V. H Pittsburg 
 
 Killer, L. L Pittsburg 
 
 Hobletezell, W. L Meyersdale 
 
 Holliday, Ben Ellsworth 
 
 Holliday, H. C Pittsburg 
 
 Hollis, J. H Pittsburg 
 
 Hopkins, N. F Pittsburg 
 
 Huber, A. J Pittsburg 
 
 Humphries, H. Howard Vancus Mill 
 
 Humphry, B. F Philadelphia 
 
 hunt, A. G Bulgen 
 
 Imhof f , W. G Pittsburg 
 
 Jackson, Thomas A Uniontown 
 
 Jamison, W. W Greensburg 
 
 Johnston, J. B Pittsburg 
 
 Jones, Thomas P Pittsburg 
 
 Reefer, W. W Pittsburg 
 
 Keller, J. B Scottdale 
 
 Kelso, M. M Houston 
 
 Kelvington, W. M Van Meter 
 
 Kent, James Pittsburg 
 
 Kerr, Maurice W T ilkinsburg 
 
 Keys, John A Wilkinsburg 
 
 Kirkbride, George T Carnegie 
 
 Knapper, Joseph Phillipsburg 
 
 i^ace, W. T Vandergrift 
 
 Larva, F. J Pittsburg 
 
 Lehman, George M Pittsburg 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 69 
 
 Lennon, Fred Washington 
 
 Leschen, Arthur A Pittsburg 
 
 Lewis, Henry J Pittsburg 
 
 Lewis, R. M Etna 
 
 Lincoln, K. P Pittsburg 
 
 Livingston, L. O Pittsburg 
 
 Lloyd, W. J Uniontown 
 
 Lockhart, W. A Houston 
 
 Lowther, Thomas S Somerset 
 
 Lowther, W. C Somerset 
 
 Lyon, F. R Somerset 
 
 Maize, Joseph Van Meter 
 
 Maple, Harvey Pittsburg 
 
 Marcus, Morris M Pittsburg 
 
 Martin, John T Philadelphia 
 
 Mason, H. D., Jr , Charleroi 
 
 Mather, Thomas A Bradenville 
 
 McCaffrey, Thos Brier Hill 
 
 McCasland, K. W LaBelle 
 
 McClane, John Ligomier 
 
 McCormick, John B Georgeville 
 
 McDonald, F. A Carnegie 
 
 McDowell, William Butler 
 
 McFadin, C. B Argentine 
 
 McGregor, C. P Pittsburg 
 
 McKay, Ed. . McKeesport 
 
 McKay, John . . Benton 
 
 Mcllveen, H. C Pittsburg 
 
 McKinney, R. M Dravesburg 
 
 McLeod, James Wilkinsburg 
 
 McLurk, Morton H Philadelphia 
 
 McClasland, Robert J Pittsburg 
 
 Mendenhall. W. C Crafton 
 
 Miller, J. H Smoke Run 
 
 Mingus, G. W Pittsburg 
 
 Mohler, K. I Freedom 
 
 Montieth, Alex , Patton 
 
 Morris, E. L Wilkinsburg 
 
 Morse, E. K Pittsburg 
 
 Moore, P. G Scranton 
 
 Morris, Isreal Castle Shannon 
 
 Most, David Lilly 
 
 Mugridge, John South Fork 
 
 Murdock, Robert J . .Pittsburg 
 
 Nelson, Edward Bulger 
 
 Nicholson, John Carnegie 
 
 Nicols, Lowell W Sewickley 
 
 Nielson, W. J Irwin 
 
 Nusser, W T m. E . . . Ingram 
 
 Gates, John J Charleroi 
 
 O'Neil, J. D Pittsburg 
 
 Oshell, Thomas , Pittsburg 
 
 Patterson, John Jacobs Creek 
 
 Penrose, R. A. F Philadelphia 
 
 Peters, C. M Ben Avon 
 
 Phillips, Elias DuBois 
 
 Pollack, Robert M Star Junction 
 
 Powell, David E Pittsburg 
 
 Powel, Griffith Johnstown 
 
 Pratt, John I Crafton 
 
 Price, Thomas H . Wilkesbarre 
 
 Quach, J. M Freeport 
 
 Reith, August , . .Pittsburg 
 
70 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 Ramsay, A. C Greensburg 
 
 Ramstedt, Wm v Johnstown 
 
 Rayburn, John M Pittsburg 
 
 Renzichausen, Henry Pittsburg 
 
 Renzichausen, Walter Allegheny 
 
 Renzichausen, James Pittsburg 
 
 Rice, George E Waynesburg 
 
 Richards, William G Pittsburg 
 
 Richards, W. J Pottsville 
 
 Rigg, W T . N , . . Pittsburg 
 
 Robert, J. C Pittsburg 
 
 Robbins, Samuel Pittsburg 
 
 Roderick, David, J Hazelton 
 
 Ross, C. B Greensburg 
 
 Russell, J. C Pittsburg 
 
 Salkeld, Howard B Carnegie 
 
 Satler, L. L., Jr Glenshaw 
 
 Saxman , M. W . . . -. Latrobe 
 
 Schluederberg, W T Pittsburg 
 
 Schluederberg, F. Z Pittsburg 
 
 Schluederberg, C. G Pittsburg 
 
 Schmidt, H. M . . ' -. Pittsburg 
 
 Schmunk, John F Pittsburg 
 
 Scholl, Louis A., Jr. Pittsburg 
 
 Scott, James Pittsburg 
 
 Scurfield, Jas. H W T ells Creek 
 
 Shaw, G. M Pittsburg 
 
 Shillito, Mrs. Kate Pittsburg 
 
 G. M. Shillito Pittsburg 
 
 Smail, Jas. A Leechburg 
 
 Smith, Lee S Pittsburg 
 
 Smith, Geo. W Kite 
 
 Smith, Harvey D Pittsburg 
 
 Smith, John C Wilkinsburg 
 
 Sommerville, John S W T inburne 
 
 Soppett, Edw , Herminie 
 
 Spellmire, W. B Pittsburg 
 
 Sprague, J. B Pittsburg 
 
 Stambaugh, S. H Sharon 
 
 Steele, George D Pittsburg 
 
 Steinberg, Ben Pittsburg 
 
 Stoek, H. H Scranton 
 
 Stoneroad, J. M Pittsburg 
 
 Street, Reuben Ford City 
 
 Sturges, T. B Scranton 
 
 Sykes, Edward C Bellevue 
 
 Taggart, Eugene B Wilkinsburg 
 
 Taylor, Chas, T Turtle Creek 
 
 Taylor, Jas. M Pittsburg 
 
 Taylor, Samuel A Wilkinsburg 
 
 Tenary, Robert Pittsburg 
 
 Thomas, Mrs. D. C Thorn 
 
 Thomas, W. S Pittsburg 
 
 Thomas, W. A Wilkinsburg 
 
 Tilley, J. F Pittsburg 
 
 Veach, B. F Pittsburg 
 
 Verner, H. J Carnegie 
 
 W T adsworth, M. E Pittsburg 
 
 Wagner, W. H Carnegie 
 
 Wedd, Alfred M Pittsburg 
 
 Weller, Adam Allegheny 
 
 Wentling, J. C Greensburg 
 
 'Vhite, Thomas H Crafton 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 71 
 
 Whyel, George Uniontown 
 
 Williams, Thos. W Connellsville 
 
 Williams, Joseph Altoona 
 
 Williams, R. M New Castle 
 
 Williams, Morris Philadelphia 
 
 Williams, T. E Pittsburg 
 
 Wise, C. S Pittsburg 
 
 W T ood, Geo. R Pittsburg 
 
 Woodworth, R. B Pittsburg 
 
 Woomer, J. W Pittsburg 
 
 Wyman, W T . A Beech view 
 
 Wynne, Ira H Glenwillard 
 
 Yost, Raymond, G Mt. Lebanon 
 
 Young, David Brownsville 
 
 Zimmerman, Thomas M Dawson 
 
 Zimmerman, James Z Delmont 
 
 Zirg, A. V. W Pittsburg 
 
 SOUTH DAKOTA. 
 
 Fulton, Charles H Rapid City 
 
 Werth, Howard Rapid City 
 
 TEXAS. 
 
 Happer, H. F El Paso 
 
 Plaser, M. B El Paso 
 
 UTAH. 
 
 Boggs, S. L Salt Lake City 
 
 Carter, J. Owen Salt Lake City 
 
 Cox, Fred W T Manti 
 
 Knight, J. W Provo 
 
 McKim, J. W Salt Lake City 
 
 Saxman, C. W Salt Lake City 
 
 VIRGINIA. 
 Schubert, E. A . Norfolk 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 Smith , Gale <. Spokane 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 Ashley, Geo. H Washington 
 
 Brooks, Alfred H Washington 
 
 Fisher, Cassius A t . Washington 
 
 Merrill, George P '. Washington 
 
 Parker, Edward W T Washington 
 
 Smith, George O Washington 
 
 Upham, Mrs. N. C Washington 
 
 Wilson, Herbert M .Washington 
 
 WEST VIRGINIA. 
 
 Bratt, J. F Independence 
 
 Bryde, P. M Wheeling 
 
 Buck, Stuart M Bramwell 
 
 Cook, James F Fairmont 
 
 Cummings, W T . R Sisterville 
 
 Dawson, J. W Charleston 
 
 Dremon, E. D Fairmont 
 
 Eavenson, Howard N Gary 
 
 Fleming, A. B Fairmont 
 
 Gartlan, Thomas Parkersburg 
 
 Grady, P. A Huntington 
 
 Hass, Frank Fairmont 
 
 Henry, Earl A Clifton 
 
 Hill, Bonner H Chilyan 
 
'12 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 Hite, R. M Fairmont 
 
 Hough, Elmer Wellsburg 
 
 LaRue, R. S Morgantown 
 
 Malone, L. L Fairmont 
 
 McKabe, John Clearfield 
 
 McKinley, J. C Wheeling 
 
 Ord, W. D Landgraf f 
 
 Ott, Lee Thomas 
 
 Parsons, Frank E Clarksburg 
 
 Paul, James W Davis 
 
 Phillips, David R Bramwell 
 
 Phillips, John Bickley 
 
 Ross, John G Charleston 
 
 Steenbergen, William Point Pleasant 
 
 Springer, John A Flemington 
 
 Strangham, J. A Huntington 
 
 Warner, William Charleston 
 
 White, I. C Morgantown 
 
 Williams, R. Y Moundsville 
 
 WISCONSIN. 
 
 Estabrook Ned L Platteville 
 
 Holden, E. C Madison 
 
 Longhenry, Edw. G Ben ton 
 
 WYOMING. 
 Benton, William Centennial 
 
 LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 
 Life Members Marked (L). 
 
 Acheson, Edward G Niagara Falls, New York 
 
 Adams, Prof. Arthur K Socorro, New Mexico 
 
 Adams, Everett F Reno, Nevada 
 
 Adkinson, H. M Denver, Colorado 
 
 Agency Co., The Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Alderson, Victor C. (L) Golden, Colorado 
 
 Alexander, E. E Spokane, Washington 
 
 Alexander, F. J Denver, Colorado 
 
 Allen, C. A Deadwood, South Dakota 
 
 Allen, Orren El Paso, Texas 
 
 Allen, Watson Seattle, Washington 
 
 Allison, E. M. Jr Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Althouse, W. D Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 
 
 Almeda Cons. Mines Co * Portland, Oregon 
 
 Ameling, H. R Fredricktown, Missouri 
 
 Anderson, Chas. H Denver, Colorado 
 
 Anderson, G. Scott Wallace, Idaho 
 
 Anderson, John B Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Anderson, J. Herbert . . Spokane, Washington 
 
 Anthony, C. E San Diego, California 
 
 Anthony, W. W San Diego, California 
 
 Arkell, Edwin .' Reno, Nevada 
 
 Armstrong, L. K Spokane, Washington 
 
 Armstrong, W. W Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Atkin, W. T Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Atwood, Mrs. E. C Boston, Massachusetts 
 
 Ayres, Geo. V Deadwood, South Dakota 
 
 Azbell, Chas. C Eaton, Arkansas 
 
 Bache, Chas. F Tucson, Arizona 
 
 Bailey, R. W Denver, Colorado 
 
 Bain, H. Foster Urbana, Illinois 
 
 Baker, E. P Laramie, Wyoming 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 73 
 
 Baker, Henry C Ogden, Utah 
 
 Bancroft, Geo. J Denver, Colorado 
 
 Barnes, Dr. B Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Barnes, Clarence E Boise, Idaho 
 
 Barnsley, Geo. T Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Bartlett, C. O Cleveland, Ohio 
 
 Bartlett, Sidney E Cheyenne, Wyoming 
 
 Bauer, B. F Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Baumgartner, Matt. (L) Spokane, Washington 
 
 Beck, W. A Spokane,, Washington 
 
 Becker, Chas. M Victor, Colorado 
 
 Bedell, S. A Fenner, California 
 
 Beeler, H. C Denver, Colorado 
 
 Beery, H. F Seattle, Washington 
 
 Belcher, J. R Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Belen Mining Co Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Bell, C. B Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Bemis, G. L Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Boileau, John W Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Billingsley, J. H Galena, Illinois 
 
 Bent, Geo. B Bent, New Mexico 
 
 Bentley, L. B Organ, New Mexico 
 
 Benton, Wm Centennial, Wyoming 
 
 'Bettles, A. J. (L) Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Beveridge, A. E Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Blackham, Henry F El Paso, Texas 
 
 Blockberger, F. R Portland, Oregon 
 
 Blumenberg, Henry Daggett, California 
 
 Bolton, D. G Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Borden, Gail Los Angeles, California 
 
 Boston, J. L Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Bothwell, G. R Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Bovard, H. F Greensburg, Pennsylvania 
 
 Boyrie, n. E Seattle, Washington 
 
 Bowen, J. J Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Bradley, Wm. L El Paso, Texas 
 
 Bradley, Wm. M Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Brandes, Juan Felix (L) Denver, Colorado 
 
 Bransford, J. S Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Bransford, W. H Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Bratnober, H Tacoma, Washington 
 
 Brattain, Ross R Spokane, Washington 
 
 Bretherton, S. E San Francisco, California 
 
 Bridgman, W. E Denver, Colorado 
 
 Brooks, Alfred H Washington, D. C. 
 
 Brophy, M. J. Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Brophy, Wm. H Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Brougher, W ' Carson City, Nevada 
 
 Brown, C. T Socorro, New Mexico 
 
 Brown! John Spokane, Washington 
 
 Brown, L. A Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Browning, W. O Seattle, Washington 
 
 Brownlee, Col. A. G. (L) Denver, Colorado 
 
 Brunton, D. W. (L) Denver, Colorado 
 
 Bryant L Spokane, Washington 
 
 Bryant' W G Carterville, Missouri 
 
 Buckley, Dr. E. R. (L) Flat River, Missouri 
 
 Buie Henry T Buffalo, Arkansas 
 
 Bulger Block Coal Co. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Bunch, John A Harrison, Arkansas 
 
 Burke G. M Joplm, Missouri 
 
 Burton Powder Co Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Busch Bros Rhyolite, Nevada 
 
74 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 Butler, Edgar T '. Denver, Colorado 
 
 Butler, Geo. E Needles, California 
 
 Butler, Jos. G Youngstown, Ohio 
 
 Buxton, G. E Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Caffey, B. F Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Calahan, Henry C. (L) San Francisco, California 
 
 Caldwell Bros. Co Seattle, Washington 
 
 Caldwell, J. N Denver, Colorado 
 
 Cray, James R Uniontown, Pennsylvania 
 
 Crescent Coal Co. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Callbreath, J. F. . . Denver, Colorado 
 
 Campbell, F. J. ' Denver, Colorado 
 
 Campbell, C. P Colorado Springs, Colorado 
 
 Canada, A. W Carterville, Missouri 
 
 Cannon, P. H Cherry Creek, Nevada 
 
 Cantwell, H. J St. Louis, Missouri 
 
 Caretto, B Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Cardwell, B. A Seattle, Washington 
 
 Cargo, L. M Denver, Colorado 
 
 Carpenter, A. B Los Angeles, California 
 
 Carrigan, D Custer, South Dakota 
 
 Carlson, A. E Boise, Idaho 
 
 Carroll, James . . . Needles, California 
 
 Carroll, John Victorville, California 
 
 Carter, W. T Los Angeles, California 
 
 Gary, R. J Denver, Colorado 
 
 Cass, Geo. W Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Casseday, David W T Spokane, Washington 
 
 Catlin, W. P Carson City, Nevada 
 
 Catrow, Henry Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Caulkins, W. R Carthage, Missouri 
 
 Caven, Dr. C. L Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Chaney, H. E Missoula, Montana 
 
 Chenoweth, H. K Nogales, Arizona 
 
 Chilberg, J. E Seattle, Washington 
 
 Child, Wm. H. (L) Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Chittenden, W. H Denver, Colorado 
 
 Christopher, Jas. K Kansas City, Missouri 
 
 Clancy, R. K Cananea, Sonora, Mexico 
 
 Clark, J. Ross Los Angeles, California 
 
 Clark, H. S Butte, Montana 
 
 Clark, V. V Reiter, Washington 
 
 Clark, Wm. F Glover, Vermont 
 
 Clark, Will L Jerome, Arizona 
 
 Clark, W. H ' Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Clausen, Carl Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Cleveland, J. F Phoenix, Arizona 
 
 Clifford, Henry B New York City 
 
 Cobb, E. M Chicago, Illinois 
 
 Cobb, Philander Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Colburn, E. A. (L) Denver, Colorado 
 
 Cole, David Cananea, Sonora, Mexico 
 
 Coleman, Frank J. Morenci, Arizona 
 
 Collins, Glenville A Seattle, Washington 
 
 Collins, R. F Spokane, Washington 
 
 Comstock, A. R Idaho Springs, Colorado 
 
 Conard, A. M Noria, Sonora, Mexico 
 
 Conrad, E. W Spokane, Washington 
 
 Cook, Edw. H Tucson, Arizona 
 
 Cooley, B Galena, Kansas 
 
 Cooney, Frank H Butte, Montana 
 
 Cooper, William Georgetown, Colorado 
 
 Condron, John Salt Lake. Utah 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 75 
 
 Coplen, J. B Globe, Arizona 
 
 Coplen, J. D Globe, Arizona 
 
 Cornell, Russell T New York City 
 
 Costello, Frank F. (L) Colorado Springs Colorado 
 
 Costello, John A Chicago, Illinois 
 
 Cowell, W. J. R Deming, New Mexico 
 
 Cowen, Jas. G Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Crandell, Jas. H Denver, Colorado 
 
 t^rane, Chas. E Seattle, Washington 
 
 Crawford, Geo New York City 
 
 Crawford, Capt. Jack Chicago, Illinois 
 
 Crawford, Alec. J. F El Paso, Texas 
 
 Crawford, G. H Jamestown, New York 
 
 Creelman, G. R Detroit, Michigan 
 
 Crescent Coal Co Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Crowdus, J. W El Paso, Texas 
 
 Cullen, J. F Los Angeles, California 
 
 Cunningham, Chas Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Cunningham, M. J Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Cutler, Thos. R Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Cutler, John C Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Dahl, Henry P Cripple Creek, Colorado 
 
 Daily, M. J Park City, Utah 
 
 Damours, C. A Virginia City, Montana 
 
 Dana, L. N Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Daniels, Wm. P Denver, Colorado 
 
 Davidson, J. M Seattle, Washington 
 
 Davis, Jack (L) Goldfield, Nevada 
 
 Davis, Robt. W. Jr Silverton, Colorado 
 
 Davis, O. C Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Dawson, J. W Charleston, West Virginia 
 
 Day, Eugene R Wallace, Idaho 
 
 Day, Harry L Wallace, Idaho 
 
 Degge, W. W Boulder, Colorado 
 
 Dehuff , M. A Spokane, Washington 
 
 De Lavergne, Hon. E. M Colorado Springs, Colorado 
 
 Delmas, P. D , Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 ue Maine, Ernest M Naco, Arizona 
 
 Dempster, A Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Denair, John Needles, California 
 
 Denn, Maurice Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Dern, John Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Dern & Thomas Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Deveraux, T. E Fort Dodge, Iowa 
 
 Dewey, A. M Spokane, Washington 
 
 Dickson, W. H Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Dietrich & Goetz Tucson, Arizona 
 
 Dignowity, C. L Reno, Nevada 
 
 Dignowity, F. A Reno, Nevada 
 
 Dillman, L. C Los Angeles, California 
 
 Dirks, Martin H St. Joseph, Missouri 
 
 Dittmar, M. E Redding, California 
 
 Donaldson, A. M Denver, Colorado 
 
 Doolittle, C. H Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Dorsey, Col. Geo. W. E Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Doty, L. C Eureka, Utah 
 
 Douglas, F. S Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Douglas, Jas. S Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico 
 
 Douglas, Dr. Jas New York City 
 
 Douglas, W T alter Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Downey, Chas. J Denver, Colorado 
 
 Downing, Chas. S Denver, Colorado 
 
 Doyle, R. J Rhyolite, Nevada 
 
76 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 Draper, Frank B Chicago, Illinois 
 
 Dube, R. E Denver, Colorado 
 
 Dudley, A. A Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Duncan, John A St. Joseph, Missouri 
 
 Dunyon, Newton A Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Du Pont, E. L, Powder Co Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Dwight, F. L Los Angeles, California 
 
 Dwyer. Daniel Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Dwyer, E. P. . Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Earnest, F. G Spokane, Washington 
 
 East, Jas. H Douglas, Arizona 
 
 East, John H Denver, Colorado 
 
 Eastman, A. F Tacoma, Washington 
 
 Ebbley, Norman Wallace, Idaho 
 
 Ede, J. A La Salle, Illinois 
 
 Edmundson, Dr. C. L. Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Edmunds, Joseph E Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Edwards, Henry W Denver, Colorado 
 
 Elkins, John T Kansas City, Missouri 
 
 Ellis, Chas. O Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Ellingwood, C. O Boston, Massachusetts 
 
 Elliott, Fred J Globe, Arizona 
 
 Ellis, A. C., Jr Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Ellsworth Collieries Co Ellsworth, Pennsylvania 
 
 Ellwood, N. F Greensburg, Pennsylvania 
 
 Elmendorf, Wm. J Spokane, Washington 
 
 Emberson, A. L Denver, Colorado 
 
 Engelhard, Chas New York City 
 
 Eng. & Mining Journal New York City 
 
 iiirisman, J. F Denver, Colorado 
 
 Estes, Ambrose W Yelleville, Arkansas 
 
 Estmere, Chas Candle, Alaska 
 
 Evans, C. W. . . Ashland, Oregon 
 
 Evans, David (L) Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Evans, Evan E Denver, Colorado 
 
 Evans, Mark G Denver, Colorado 
 
 Evans, R. J. .Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Everett, Dr. W. Eugene Tacoma, Washington 
 
 Ewing, Col. Thos. (L) Fenner, California 
 
 Ewing, W. E ". Fenner, California 
 
 Farish, Wm. A., Jr El Paso, Texas 
 
 Fassett, C. M Spokane, Washington 
 
 Feather River Dev. Co San Francisco, California 
 
 Felt, J. M. ' . . . Kansas City, Missouri 
 
 Fellows, Walter C Needles, California 
 
 Ferguson, N. E. . . : Los Angeles, California 
 
 Ferguson, Col. S. W San Francisco, California 
 
 Ferry, W. M Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Fickell, Fred W Tucson, Arizona 
 
 Fiduciary Co., The Chicago, Illinois 
 
 Finch, Marcus Denver, Colorado 
 
 Fisher, Thos Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Fitch, Max B El Paso, Texas 
 
 Fletcher, Geo. T Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Fletcher, John G Kennett, California 
 
 Foley, W. R \ Denver, Colorado 
 
 Foote, Arthur De Wint Grass Valley, California 
 
 Foote, Robt. W Breckenridge, Colorado 
 
 r orbes, A. W Tucson, Arizona 
 
 Forrester, Robert (L) Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Foster, Ernest Le Neve Denver, Colorado 
 
 Fox, Moylan C Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Franz, E. H Globe, Arizona 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 77 
 
 Fredericks, L. G Buffalo, Arkansas 
 
 Freed, C. M Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Freeman, M. P Tucson, Arizona 
 
 Friedman, L. A Lovelock, Nevada 
 
 Fukuda, R Berkeley, California 
 
 Fogg, L. W Uniontown, Pennsylvania 
 
 Galigher, J. E Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Gallagher, Jas. F Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Garm, J. E Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Gatch, Elias S. (L) St. Louis, Missouri 
 
 Gay, Geo. E Uniontown, Pennsylvania 
 
 Gaylord, M. D Globe, Arizona 
 
 Geisenhofer, O. W Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Gemmell, Robert C. (L) Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 General Eng. Co Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 George, Dr. R. D Boulder, Colorado 
 
 Giffin, Abner Seattle, Washington 
 
 Gifford, A. W t ... El Paso, Texas 
 
 Gilbert, M. P. (L) Los Angeles, California 
 
 Gilson, John W Spokane, Washington 
 
 Gmahling, Wm Cananea, Sonora, Mexico 
 
 Godbe, E. L Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Godfrey, Jas. J Seattle, Washington 
 
 Godshall, Dr. D. L Needles, California 
 
 Godthorpe, Edwin F Benton, Wisconsin 
 
 Goodall, Arthur Drytown, California 
 
 Goodsell, B. W Chicago, Illinois 
 
 Gould, S. H Tucson, Arizona 
 
 Granberg, H. O. (L) Oshkosh, Wisconsin 
 
 Grant, B. F Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Grant, M. N Laramie, Wyoming 
 
 Gray, Douglas Tombstone, Arizona 
 
 Gray, Geo. F Tucson, Arizona 
 
 Gray, Jas. R Uniontown, Pennsylvania 
 
 Gray, John (L) Deadwood, South Dakota 
 
 Gray, W. A Portland, Oregon 
 
 Greene, Ernest H : Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Great Lakes Coal Co .Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Green, M. M Chicago, Illinois 
 
 vjrregg, Col. H. H. (L) Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Gregg Investment Co Denver, Colorado 
 
 Greenewald Furniture Co Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Greenough, W. D Mullan, Idaho 
 
 Gridley, F. P Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Grier, F. J Lead, South Dakota 
 
 Grigsby, W. W T Skidmore, Missouri 
 
 Gritman, A. D Spokane, Washington 
 
 Gunnell, Alva H Grants Pass, Oregon 
 
 Gunn, Geo. E Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Haas, J. C Spokane, Washington 
 
 Haas, F. J. . Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Hale, Irving Denver, Colorado 
 
 Halteman. W. A Meteor, Washington 
 
 Halter, E. S Copperfield, Colorado 
 
 Hamilton, Thos. W Globe, Arizona 
 
 Hand, J. H Yelleville, Arkansas 
 
 Haninger, Geo Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Hanks, L. C Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Hanson, Chas. T Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Hanson, Rasmus Silverton, Colorado 
 
 Hardy, James Gordon El Paso, Texas 
 
 Hardy, J. W Cananea, Sonora, Mexico 
 
 Hardy,' James Gordon El Paso, Texas 
 
78 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 Hardy, W. C Hazel Green, Wisconsin 
 
 Harlan, M. R Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Harrington, F. L Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Hawes, R. L Cananea, Sonora, Mexico 
 
 Haworth, Dr. Erasmus Lawrence, Kansas 
 
 Hayes, C. Willard Washington, D. C. 
 
 Hechtman, J. F Globe, Arizona 
 
 Hedberg, Fred Don Luis, Arizona 
 
 Heidenrich, C. J Spokane, Washington 
 
 Heigho, E. M Weiser, Idaho 
 
 Heizer, D. N Colorado Springs, Colorado 
 
 Henderson, H. B Columbus, Kansas 
 
 Henderson, James Uniontown, Pennsylvania 
 
 Henderson, W. M Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Herr, H. L Galena, Illinois 
 
 Herrick, R. L Denver, Colorado 
 
 Hicks, Ira W Seattle, Washington 
 
 Killer, Albert L Denver, Colorado 
 
 Hodgman, Jas. A. (L) Los Angeles, California 
 
 Hoffman Bros Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Holman, Austin T Victor, Colorado 
 
 Holmes, Dr. J. A Washington, D. C. 
 
 Hoofer, A. O Grants Pass, Oregon 
 
 Hopkins, M. E Boise, Idaho 
 
 Hornickel, Lute Cleveland, Ohio 
 
 Horse Shoe Mng. Co Seattle, Washington 
 
 House, S. R Denver, Colorado 
 
 Houtz, J. C Rhyolite, Nevada 
 
 Howell, F. D. Jr Los Angeles, California 
 
 Howell, George D. . . Uniontown, Pennsylvania 
 
 Hubbard, M. E Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Huff, L. B Greensburg, Pennsylvania 
 
 Hull, C. W , Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Humphries, Col. C. K. v Seattle, Washington 
 
 riusted, Jas. D ,i. Denver, Colorado 
 
 Hutchinson, Chas. T. San Francisco, California 
 
 Hutchinson, Geo" W ' Greensburg, Pennsylvania 
 
 Hutchinson, R. A Spokane, Washington 
 
 Hutton, James W T aukesha, Wisconsin 
 
 Hymer, J. P Denver, Colorado 
 
 Hyndman, N. P Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Iglehart, Wm Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Ingalls, J. Aaron Reno, Nevada 
 
 Irvine, Thos. E Boulder, Colorado 
 
 Ish, Marvin E Goldfield, Nevada 
 
 Ivey, J. W Seattle, Washington 
 
 Jackling, D. C. (L) Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Jacobs, A. L Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Jacobson, J. A Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Jacobson, Tony Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 James, Evan Shade Denver, Colorado 
 
 Jameson, Wm. L Denver, Colorado 
 
 Jamison, W. W Greensburg, Pennsylvania 
 
 Janes, L. M Carterville, Missouri 
 
 Jansen, L. H Kansas City, Missouri 
 
 Jarrett, Geo. L Platteville, Wisconsin 
 
 Jarrett, John G Cuba City, Wisconsin 
 
 Jenson, J. B Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Johnson, C. J Spokane, Washington 
 
 Johnston, J. B Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Johnson, Chas. M Seattle, Washington 
 
 Johnston, Jesse K Charleroi, Pennsylvania 
 
 Johnson, Peter Bisbee, Arizona 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 79 
 
 Johnson, J. B Denver, Colorado 
 
 Johnston, C. J Denver, Colorado 
 
 Jones, C. L Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Jones, Lloyd Kenyon Denver, Colorado 
 
 Jones, W. A Mineral Point, Wisconsin 
 
 Jordan, Irwin Kansas City, Missouri 
 
 Joseph, Harry S Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Ready, L. Y Portland, Oregon 
 
 Keelyn, Dr. Jas. E Chicago, Illinois 
 
 Keith, David (L) Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Kendrick, W. F Denver, Colorado 
 
 Kennedy Bros Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Kennedy, C. Justin Seattle, Washington 
 
 Kennedy, John F Seattle, Washington 
 
 Kilbourne, E. C Seattle, Washington 
 
 King, Henry L Spokane, Washington 
 
 King, M. M Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 King, W. H Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Kingsbury, J. T Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Kinkead, Jas. H Virginia City, Nevada 
 
 Kinney, M. J Portland, Oregon 
 
 Kinney, W. Z Silverton, Colorado 
 
 Kirby, John A. (L) Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Kirkbride Coal Co Carnegie, Pennsylvania 
 
 Klinefelter, P. K Needles, California 
 
 Knight, Jesse (L) Provo, Utah 
 
 Knight, J. Wm. (L) Provo, Utah 
 
 Knowles, W. H Los Angeles, California 
 
 Koch, W T alter A Denver, Colorado 
 
 Koonce, M. Egbert Sharpsville, Pennsylvania 
 
 Kountz, Louis K Goldfield. Nevada 
 
 Krepps, J. E Los Angeles, California 
 
 Krull, W T m. F. C Boise, Idaho 
 
 Laidlaw, Andrew Spokane, Washington 
 
 Laird, Geo. A Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Lake, C. F Cardinal, Colorado 
 
 Lambourne, G. W Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Lammers, Theo. L Spokane, Washington 
 
 Lamont, E. M Canon City, Colorado 
 
 Lancaster, Henry M W T allace, Idaho 
 
 Lane, Chas., D. (L) Brown's Valley, California 
 
 Lane, Martin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 
 
 Lang, H. H Cobalt, Ontario, Canada 
 
 Langford, J. E Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Langford, F. M Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Largent, J. A Rhyolite, Nevada 
 
 Larsen, Lewis P Metaline, Washington 
 
 Lawton, M. J Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Lee, Drachman & Pryce Tucson, Arizona 
 
 Lee, J. C Portland, Oregon 
 
 Leftwich, Thos. J. .' Ft. Collins, Colorado 
 
 Lehman, B. N Salt Lake. Utah 
 
 Lennox, William Colorado Springs, Colorado 
 
 Leonard, J. M Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Leschen & Sons Rope Co Denver, Colorado 
 
 Lewandowski, J. A Brooklyn, New York 
 
 Lewis, S. J Needles, California 
 
 Lightcap. R. L Hazel Green. Wisconsin 
 
 Lingle, C. M Graceton, Pennsylvania 
 
 Linney, W. H Spokane, Washington 
 
 Lister, Thos. A Lordsburg, New Mexico 
 
 Cocker, P. B Salt Lake. Utah 
 
 Logan, G. W Denver, Colorado 
 
80 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 Lohmann, A. S Denver, Colorado 
 
 Lomiester, Frank Leadville, Colorado 
 
 Long, Geo. W Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Longhenry, Edw. G Benton, Wisconsin 
 
 Loose, C. E Provo, Utah 
 
 Lund, S Carson City, Nevada 
 
 Lucky Tiger Con. Gold Mining Co Kansas City, Missouri 
 
 Lyons, Jas. K .Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Lundberg,?Alex Bohemia, Oregon 
 
 Lynch, Col. J. K Butte, Montana 
 
 McAllister, Wm. H Marblemount, Washington 
 
 McBride, J. W Spokane, Washington 
 
 McCaffery, Richard S Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 McCaffery, Thos Brier flill, Pennsylvania 
 
 McCarthy, E. T Baxter Springs, Kansas 
 
 McCarthy, Jas. F Wallace, Idaho 
 
 McCarthy, P. B Rapid City, South Dakota 
 
 McChrystal, J. H Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 McClelland, Geo. E Idaho Springs, Colorado 
 
 McClurg, J. A Denver, Colorado 
 
 McCone, Alex. J. Reno, Nevada 
 
 McCormick, C. K New York City 
 
 McCormick, John B Georgeville, Pennsylvania 
 
 McCullough, A Tocoma, Washington 
 
 McDermott, Wm Tucson, Arizona 
 
 McDonald, D. C. . Ely, Nevada 
 
 McDonald, Ed Carterville, Missouri 
 
 McDonald, J. R Rhyolite, Nevada 
 
 McGraw, John H Seattle, Washington 
 
 Mclntire, A. W Seattle, Washington 
 
 McKay, Kay Seattle, Washington 
 
 McKinnie, J. R Colorado Springs, Colorado 
 
 McKinnie, R. A Benton, Wisconsin 
 
 McLean, Henry A Mt. Vernon, Washington 
 
 McLean, M. H Morenci, Arizona 
 
 McMullan, John Goldfield, Nevada 
 
 McMurray, John H Denver, Colorado 
 
 McNeil. John Denver, Colorado 
 
 McNeish, J. S Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 McQuarrie, W. F Denver, Colorado 
 
 McWeeney, P. J Albany, New York 
 
 MacDonald, J. L Seattle, W T ashinton 
 
 McManus, I Cananea, Sonora, Mexico 
 
 MacVichie, Duncan (L) Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Maas, Walter L Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Mabry, Bob Spokane, Washington 
 
 Magnan, A. U Denver, Colorado 
 
 Maguire, Don Ogden, Utah 
 
 Malcolmson, Jas. W Kansas City, Missouri 
 
 Mann, Fred A Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Markwell, J. Fred Wallace, Idaho 
 
 Marshall-Ellis Inv. Co Denver, Colorado 
 
 Marshall, W. C Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Martin, E. L Kansas City, Missouri 
 
 Martin, R. L. (L) Denver, Colorado 
 
 Martineau, Lyman R Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Mason Co., The E. B Bisbee, 'Arizona 
 
 Mason, L. C. : Independence, Kansas 
 
 Mattheissen & Hegeler Zinc Co La Salle, Illinois 
 
 Meese, Geo. C Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Menardi, J. B Reno, Nevada 
 
 Merk, W. W Spokane, Washington 
 
 Merrick, Charles Seattle, Washington 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 81 
 
 Merrill, Jos. F. . Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Meyer, J. E Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Middlekauff, E. D Plainfield, New Jersey 
 
 Millar. H. J Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Miller, Cyrus Denver, Colorado 
 
 Miller, Fred A Laramie, Wyoming 
 
 Miller, F. B Greensburg, Pennsylvania 
 
 Miller, David South Bend, Indiana 
 
 Miller, L. F Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Miller, W. A Denver, Colorado 
 
 Mills, W. F. R Denver, Colorado 
 
 Mine & Smelter Supply Co . .Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Minor, C. E Cananea, Sonora, Mexico 
 
 Mitchell Co., The C. E "; Spokane, Washington 
 
 Mitchell, Mark Chewelah, Washington 
 
 Mitchell, S. D Carthage, Missouri 
 
 Mitchell, W. H Seneca, Missouri 
 
 Moffat, D. H. (L) Denver, Colorado 
 
 Monroe, Edward Boulder, Colorado 
 
 Montague, John V Cananea, Sonora, Mexico 
 
 Moore, F. C , . Boise, Idaho 
 
 Moore, L. L Bishee, Arizona 
 
 Moore, O. P Spokane, Washington 
 
 Moritz, Jacob Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Morris, Robert Greensburg, Pennsylvania 
 
 Morrison, S. W Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Morton, J. C Everett, Washington 
 
 Monongahela River Cons. Coal & Coke Co. . .Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Mosier, Frank Carterville, Missouri 
 
 Mt. Baker & Shuksan Manufacturing Co Seattle, Washington 
 
 Mudd, Seeley W Los Angeles, California 
 
 Mueller, Dr. Victor F Milwaukee, Wisconsin 
 
 Muheim, Jas. M Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Muir, Capt. Thos. K Portland, Oregon 
 
 Mullen, R. G Orogrande, New Mexico 
 
 Mulvey, M. E Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Murray, J. J Orogrande, New Mexico 
 
 Myers, Clarence Chehalis, Washington 
 
 Naquin, M. L Globe, Arizona 
 
 National Dev. Co Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Natoma Dev. Co San Francisco, California 
 
 Nay, George Needles, California 
 
 Neale, Geo. H Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Nevada-Utah Dev. Co Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Newcomb, B. M San Francisco, California 
 
 Newhouse, Sam'l (L) Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Newman, J. B Globe, Arizona 
 
 Newsander, Sam Spokane, Washington 
 
 Newman, M Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Nicholson, Samuel (L) Leadville, Colorado 
 
 Nisbet, W T m Greensburg, Pennsylvania 
 
 Nix, Geo. M New York City 
 
 Noon, Thos. F Peru, Illinois 
 
 Norcross, C. A .Reno, Nevada 
 
 Nordquist, John H Wallace, Idaho 
 
 North Coast Mining & Milling Co Tacoma, Washington 
 
 North, Chas. J Buffalo, New York 
 
 Northern Exploration Co Seattle, Washington 
 
 Northwest Mining News Spokane, Washington 
 
 Norton, E. A Denver. Colorado 
 
 Null, H. H., Jr., Grensburg, Pennsylvania 
 
 Oberndorfer, J Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 O'Brien, W. M Salt Lake, Utah 
 
82 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 O'Connell, J. M Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Olsen, M. E Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Omo, J. T Spokane, Washington 
 
 Orem, W. C. . Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Orient Coke Co. Uniontown, Pennsylvania 
 
 Ovens, R. L Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Overlook, C. A Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Overlook, L. J. . .- Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Pack, Fred J Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Packer, H. G Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Paige, N., Jr Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Palace Drug Co Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Palmer, Edw. Vose Denver, Colorado 
 
 Parker, E. W Washington, D. C. 
 
 Parker, M. B El Paso, Texas 
 
 Patrick, Fred L Columbus, Ohio 
 
 Pattison, B. M Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Paul. Alfred Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Payne, Dr. Henry Mace Morgantown, West Virginia 
 
 Pearl, E. H Denver, Colorado 
 
 Pease, L. A .' Denver, Colorado 
 
 Peck, I. F Denver, Colorado 
 
 Pershing, A. N Greensburg, Pennsylvania 
 
 Phelps, A. H Denver, Colorado 
 
 Phillips, Arthur Spokane, Washington 
 
 Phillips, S. B Spokane, Washington 
 
 Phillips, Wm. B Birmingham, Alabama 
 
 Phinney, Frederick V Wallace, Idaho 
 
 Phipps, S. A Cripple Creek, Colorado 
 
 Piatt & Heath Co Helena, Montana 
 
 Pickerell, Jas. E Spokane, Washington 
 
 Playter, C. C Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Playter, Franklin Boston, Massachusetts 
 
 Playter, Geo. H Boston, Massachusetts 
 
 Plummer, Frank Washington, D. C. 
 
 Pollard, Ira Denver, Colorado 
 
 Pollock, Jas. A Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Pompeney, Dr. Jos Frontenac, Kansas 
 
 Portland Gold M. Co Colorado Springs, Colorado 
 
 Powell, Col. L. W Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Power, Christy & Co Goldfield, Nevada 
 
 Prather, H. R Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Preston, W. J . . Silver Cliff, Colorado 
 
 Prier, W. F Portland, Oregon 
 
 Quigley, E. D Denver, Colorado 
 
 Railton, A. B Spokane, Washington 
 
 Raddatz, E. J Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Randolph, Epes (L) Tucson, Arizona 
 
 Range, J. W Seattle, Washington 
 
 Rapp, Abram Cripple Creek, Colorado 
 
 Ratliff, L. L Spokane, Washington 
 
 Ray, L. O Rhyolite, Nevada 
 
 Ratcliff, E. M Seattle, Washington 
 
 Kathman, Geo. H Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Rawlins, J. L Salt Lake, Utar 
 
 Read, T. A Reno, Nevada 
 
 Read, W. C Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Reese, Mrs. Clara (L) Denver, Colorado 
 
 Reinert, E. G. (L) Denver, Colorado 
 
 Reinert, Lewis A Denver, Colorado 
 
 Reinert, N. A Denver, Colorado 
 
 Reitler, Chas. W Denver, Colorado 
 
 Remington, W. H Seattle, Washington 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 83 
 
 Renshaw & Co Wallace, Idaho 
 
 Renshaw, W. E. Idaho Springs, Colorado 
 
 Reppy, W. E Carl Junction, Missouri 
 
 Reynolds, Chas. A Sneffles, Colorado 
 
 Rice, John A El Paso, Texas 
 
 Rice, W. V Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Richards, A. G Laramie, Wyoming 
 
 Richards, A. M Tacoma, Washington 
 
 Richards, Bartlett (L) .Ellsworth, Nebraska 
 
 Richards, J. H. (L) ^ Boise, Idaho 
 
 Richey, D. T Uniontown, Pennsylvania 
 
 Richmond, F. C Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Riebe, Ed Redding, California 
 
 Ridge, W. R Reno, Nevada 
 
 Riedel, H. A Denver, Colorado 
 
 Riepe, Richard A Ely, Nevada 
 
 Riordan, D. M New York, New York 
 
 Risque, J. B Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Riter, Geo. W Salt Lake City, Utah 
 
 Robbins, Chas. P Spokane, Washington 
 
 Roberts, Wm Shultz, Arizona 
 
 Robertson, P. C Globe, Arizona 
 
 Robinson, W. J Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Rocks Coal & Coke Co Connelsville, Pennsylvania 
 
 Rodgers & Rogers Chicago, Illinois 
 
 Romadka, Chas. A Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Rooklidge, Chas. D Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Roscorla, N. B Soo, Ontario 
 
 Rose, Patrick Globe, Arizona 
 
 Ross, Beauregard . .Denver, Colorado 
 
 Rosskopf , J. X Spokane, Washington 
 
 Root, L. V Needles, California 
 
 Ross, J. B Silverton, Colorado 
 
 Rowse, W. A. C Seattle, Washington 
 
 Royce, W. K Rich Hill, Missouri 
 
 Royse, O. D Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Rummel, A. G Denver, Colorado 
 
 Sachs, Claude Denver, Colorado 
 
 Salt Lake City Brewing Co Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Samuel, R. L Cananea, Sonora, Mexico 
 
 Samuels, H. P. - W T allace, Idaho 
 
 Sanford, J. H. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Sapp, Wm. F. . . Galena, Kansas 
 
 Saxman, C. W. (L) Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Scaife, H. L Clinton, South Carolina 
 
 Schader, Carl F. (L) Los Angeles, California 
 
 Schermerhorn, E. B Galena, Kansas 
 
 Schrock, J. B Spokane, Washington 
 
 Schwan, Gustave Murray, Utah 
 
 Seburn, Frank P Bagdad, California 
 
 Seeman, Henry I Denver, Colorado 
 
 Senior, George Seattle, Washington 
 
 Sessions, E. A Portland, Oregon 
 
 Severance, Dr. A. E Seattle, Washington 
 
 Shane, W. H Bohemia, Oregon 
 
 Shanks, D. W Chihuahua, Mexico 
 
 Shannon, C. M. (L) Los Angeles, California 
 
 Shattuck, L. C Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Shearer, L. V Denver, Colorado 
 
 Shedden, J. S Spokane, Washington 
 
 Shenk, Wm. W Tacoma, Washington 
 
 Sherman, Gerald Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Shomon, J. Galena, Kansas 
 
84 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 Shropshire, A. S. J Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Siegwein, John Weiser, Idaho 
 
 Sierra Madre Mining Co Kansas City, Missouri 
 
 Sigafoos, R. B Denver, Colorado 
 
 Sigel, F. L Denver, Colorado 
 
 Simmons, A. J Deadwood, South Dakota 
 
 Singleton, John Log Angeles, California 
 
 Siren Gold M. & M. Co Greeley, Colorado. 
 
 Skagit Queen Con. Mng. Co Seattle, Washington 
 
 Skeels, Alfred Central City, Colorado 
 
 Skinner, C Denver, Colorado 
 
 Slaughter, W. J Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Smedley Steam Pump Co Dubuque, Iowa 
 
 Smith, Andrew Young Pearce, Arizona 
 
 Smith, Claude W Goldfield, Nevada 
 
 Smith, Edmund Valdez, Alaska 
 
 Smith, Edward Boise, Idaho 
 
 Smith, E. G Irwin, Pennsylvania 
 
 Smith, Frank Clemes Ontario, Canada, Sault Ste M. 
 
 Smith, Frank C. & Son Denver, Colorado 
 
 Smith, Franklin W Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Smith, Gale Spokane, Washington 
 
 Smith, Geo. Otis Washington, D. C. 
 
 Smith, Herbert E Spokane, Washington 
 
 Smith, Hoval C Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Smith, James Carterville, Missouri 
 
 Smith, J. F., Jr Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Smith, Oscar J Reno, Nevada 
 
 Smith, Peter J Boise, Idaho 
 
 Snapp, F. T f Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Snyder, F. J Cerro, Colorado, Arizona 
 
 Snyder, Willard F Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 South, Frank M Grants Pass, Oregon 
 
 Spalding, E. P Spokane, Washington 
 
 Speer,,Alex. (L) Near Congress Junction, Arizona 
 
 Spry, John C. (L) Chicago, Illinois 
 
 Stacy ^ Albert Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Standard, F. H Seattle, Washington 
 
 Standard, R. & D. Co Seattle, Washington 
 
 Star, Sol Deadwood, South Dakota 
 
 Star Electric Fuse Works Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania 
 
 Steams-Rogers Manufacturing Co Denver, Colorado 
 
 Steele, J. L. . . Landlock, Alaska 
 
 Steffner, S. W. Portland, Oregon 
 
 Steinfeld, Albert Tucson, Arizona 
 
 Stephens, John R. . . Kansas City, Missouri 
 
 Stevenson, W. L W T adsworth, Nevada 
 
 Stewart, W. B Portland, Oregon 
 
 Stolzenbach, A. H Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Stone, H. E Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Stone, Col. W. B Galena, Kansas 
 
 Stone, W. A Uniontown, Pennsylvania 
 
 Storm, Lynn W Valdez, Alaska 
 
 Stoneroad, J. T. M Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Stowell, Wm. H Spokane, Washington 
 
 Straub, Frank Denver, Colorado 
 
 Strevell & Paterson Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Suits, J. E Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Sultana-Arizona Copper Co Chicago, Illinois 
 
 Sultan, Harry Globe, Arizona 
 
 Sumner, C. M. Co Reno, Nevada 
 
 Suter, G. B Denver, Colorado 
 
 Swart, W. G Denver, Colorado 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 85 
 
 Sweek, Alex . . Portland, Oregon 
 
 Sweet, Arthur A Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Swift, J. V Benton, Wisconsin 
 
 Swindler, F. P Robinson, Utah 
 
 Talbert, High Carterville, Missouri 
 
 Talmage, Dr. Jas. E. (L) Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Tarbell, W. S. ..'..... *. Denver, Colorado 
 
 Tarbet, A. H Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Taylor, C. A Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Taylor, E. A Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Taylor, H. S Spokane, Washington 
 
 Taylor, Jas. A El Paso, Texas 
 
 Taylor, Samuel A Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Tehaney, P. J Cananea, Sonora, Mexico 
 
 Temple, Geo. B Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Temple, W. O Denver, Colorado 
 
 Tener, G. E Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Terry, M. C Carterville, Missouri 
 
 Thatcher, G. W Rhyolite, Nevada 
 
 Thennes, J. N Spokane, Washington 
 
 Thomas, B Seattle, Washington 
 
 Thomas, Gomer Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Thompson, H. L Denver, Colorado 
 
 Thompson, J. V Uniontown, Pennsylvania 
 
 Tibbals, Wm. H Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Tibbetts, Col. O. A Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Tibbitt, Alton W Seattle, Washington 
 
 Timothy, Thos Baxter Springs, Kansas 
 
 Toombs, F. L Globe, Arizona 
 
 Tracy, T. H. (L) Los Angeles, California 
 
 Travers, Richard P Chicago, Illinois 
 
 Treweek, Nicholas Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Trenton Iron Co Denver, Colorado 
 
 Triangle Mng. & Dev. Co Missoula, Montana 
 
 Turner, J. H Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Turnagain Arm Gold Mining Co .Chicago, Illinois 
 
 Tuttle, Sidney .......'. Janesville, Wisconsin 
 
 Underwood, Pierce .......".:. Chicago, Illinois 
 
 Union Iron Works .'.... San Francisco, California 
 
 Utah-Arizona G. & C. M. Co Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Utah Mine, The Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Venabls, J. M Boise, Idaho 
 
 Vaile, Joel F . Denver, Colorado 
 
 Vest, Col. T. J. . . Galena, Kansas 
 
 Verner Coal & Coke Co Carnegie, Pennsylvania 
 
 Vigus, W. E Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Vigneau, Jos. J Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Vincent, Maj. F. C Kansas City, Missouri 
 
 Voorhies, E. C Gutter Creek, California 
 
 Wadsworth, M. E Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Walden, Chas Victor, Colorado 
 
 Walker, C. J Everett, Washington 
 
 W T alker, J. W Cherry Creek, Nevada 
 
 Walker, M. H Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Wall, E. A Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Wallace, H. Vincent Nogales, Arizona 
 
 Wallace, I. W Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Walsh, Jas. A Helena, Montana 
 
 Walsh, Thos. F. (L) Littleton, Colorado 
 
 Walters, Wm. J Seattle, Washington 
 
 Wampler, W T . W T Webb City, Missouri 
 
 Ward, E. R Spokane, Washington 
 
 Wardrop, Jas. W Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
86 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 Ward, John G Albany, New York 
 
 Ward, W T . S Denver, Colorado 
 
 W T arwick, A. W . Choix, Sinaloa, Mexico 
 
 W T atson, J. Frank Portland, Oregon 
 
 W r atson, J. W Omaha, Nebraska 
 
 W T atts, L. H Baxter Springs, Kansas 
 
 Weaver, Geo. B. . . Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Webber, W T . H Fairview, Nevada 
 
 Webb, I. A Deadwood, South Dakota 
 
 Weir, Thomas Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 W T elch, H. T San Jose, California 
 
 Wells, Hon. Heber M Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Wells, Henry F Boston, Massachusetts 
 
 Welsford, J. V Cuba City, Wisconsin 
 
 W T endler, A. J Spokane, Washington 
 
 W T entling, J. D Greensburg, Pennsylvania 
 
 W T est, Hon. John H Needles, California 
 
 W T estinghouse Machine Co Denver, Colorado 
 
 Wheeler, H. K .Los Angeles, California 
 
 White, Arthur L. (L) Lima, Ohio 
 
 White, E. L . Denver, Colorado 
 
 White, F. Wallace (L) ....'. Baker City, Oregon 
 
 White, Dr. I. C. (L) Morgantown, West Virginia 
 
 W T hite, J. J Denver, Colorado 
 
 Whitford, Dr. O. B Butte, Montana 
 
 Whyel, Geo .Uniontown, Pennsylvania 
 
 Weir, Thomas Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Whyel, Harry Uniontown, Pennsylvania 
 
 Wilber, F. A Joplin, Missouri 
 
 Wilcox, E. J Denver, Colorado 
 
 Williams, Clayton M Everett, Washington 
 
 W T right, M. P Los Angeles, California 
 
 Youghiogheny & Ohio Coal Co Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
 
 Williams, D. A Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Williams, E. W Denver, Colorado 
 
 Williamson, J. D Idaho Springs, Colorado 
 
 W'ilson, Geo. B Searchlight, Nevada 
 
 Wilson, Leonard Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Wingfield, Geo. (L) Goldfield, Nevada 
 
 Wire, Frank E Liberty ville, Illinois 
 
 W r olfe, Leon B Lewisberg, Pennsylvania 
 
 Wolff, John R Boulder, Colorado 
 
 W T olfle, C Spokane, Washington 
 
 Wood, Ernest C Spokane, Washington 
 
 W T ood, Guilford S Denver, Colorado 
 
 W T ood, James Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Wood, J. D. (L) Salt Lake, Utah 
 
 Woodman, Parker Bisbee, Arizona 
 
 Woods, F. M Victor, Colorado 
 
 Woodward, Felix J Denver, Colorado 
 
 Worth en, B. L Denver, Colorado 
 
 Worthington, W. H Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Wourms, John H Wallace, Idaho 
 
 Wright, E. M Union, Oregon 
 
 W T right, Jesse B Tucson, Arizona 
 
 Wright, H. J Douglas, Arizona 
 
 Wright, John M. iL) San Francisco, California 
 
 Wright, Louis A Globe, Arizona 
 
 Woodson, W. H Globe, Arizona 
 
 Young, Lewis E Rolla, Missouri 
 
 Zang, Adolph J Denver, Colorado 
 
 Zimmerman, Ed Harrison, Arkansas 
 
 (L) Following names denotes life membership. 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 87 
 
 CHAIRMAN BUCKLEY: I know we shall all be pleased to hear 
 from the gentleman who has crystalized the thought which has been em- 
 bodied in the technologic branch of the United States Geological Survey. 
 I take pleasure in introducing to you Dr. J. A. Holmes. (Applause.) 
 
 Mr. Holmes' address will be found on page 98, Part II., of this report. 
 
 SECRETARY C ALL-BREATH: 'Certificates for return railroad fare 
 at a reduced rate will be received now, and the representatives of the rail- 
 road companies are here ready to pass upon such certificates as may be 
 presented. I fear greatly that this will not be of avail because of the fact 
 that many delegates failed to get the certificates when purchasing tickets, 
 but if there are a sufficient number the reduced return fare will be 
 granted; 100 in the Trunk Line territory, 1,000 in the Central Passenger 
 Association territory. The Central Passenger Association includes the 
 territory between here and Chicago; the Trunk Line territory eastward 
 to New York. Those of you who have certificates will kindly file them at 
 once, and we will endeavor to make it possible for you to get a return 
 ticket at the reduced rate. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The question on the program for discus- 
 sion this morning is "The Duties of the Federal and State Governments 
 in Relation to the Mining Industry." We are fortunate in having with us 
 Congressman W. F. Elnglebright, of Nevada City, California, who will lead 
 in that discussion. 
 
 Congressman Englebright's paper will be found on page 255, Part II., 
 of this report. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The next gentleman to take part in lead- 
 ing this discussion is Mr. George H. Harrison, Chief Inspector of Mines, 
 Columbus, Ohio. 
 
 MR. GEORGE H. HARRISON, OF OHIO: Mr. Chairman, Members 
 of the Congress and Visitors: Since receiving an invitation to attend and 
 take part in this Congress my time has been almost exclusively occupied 
 in connection with a commission appointed by the Governor of our state 
 to revise and remodel the mining laws or the state, and to suggest such 
 new laws and bills as in our minds needed enactment into law. Conse- 
 quently, I have not had much time to go deeply into the matters that I 
 think would interest the members of this assembly. 
 
 Mine inspectors as you know have to be very careful indeed of what 
 they say; and they have to be still more careful about what they do not 
 say. In order that there may be no misconstruction of anything that may 
 be said, I deemed it necessary to note down a few of what I think are im- 
 portant matters to be taken into consideration in the advisability of state 
 and federal co-operation in connection with the government of mines. 
 With the exception of one instance I have not gone into details, but I feel 
 that with reference to a great many questions all that is necessary for 
 people to understand is the injury or the benefit that may be derived 
 from those subjects. 
 
 Mr. Harrison's address will be found on page 57, Part II., of this 
 report. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read Resolution No. 16, as follows: 
 
 Resolution No. 16. 
 (By William Benton, of Wyoming.) 
 
 Resolved, That the American Mining Congress in convention assem- 
 bled, petition the Congress of the United States, to pass a law transferring 
 the public lands in the several states to the several states wherein such 
 lands are situated, to be disposed of to citizens in a similar manner to 
 the school lands in these respective states; thereby abolishing the abuses 
 growing out of the present management of these lands under the present 
 Forest Reserve and other laws. 
 
 MiR. JOHN ROSS, CHIEF MINE INSPECTOR, WEST VIRGINIA: I 
 would like to have the privilege of about five minutes to explain some of 
 the conditions in regard to the State of West Virginia. 
 
8? OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Will you postpone that until after the 
 next address on the program, when the subject will be open for discus- 
 sion? 
 
 MR. RO'SS: I yield to 'the pleasure of the chairman. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We will now be privileged to hear from 
 a gentleman whom you all know, on the subject under discussion, Senator 
 Charles Dick, of Ohio. 
 
 Senator Dick's address will be found on page 18, Part II., of this 
 report. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: As I sat and listened to Senator Dick it 
 became apparent to my mind that the aims of this organization were 
 gradually penetrating the conscience of the American people; its mission 
 is just commencing, as he has suggested, to co-operate with these govern- 
 mental institutions in furnishing them with what the people of this coun- 
 try need from a mining standpoint. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read Resolution No. 17, as follows: 
 
 Resolution No. 17. 
 (Introduced by A. H. Purdue, of Arkansas.) 
 
 Whereas, The American Mining Congress realizes the need of the dis- 
 semination of knowledge relating to subjects of mining and metallurgy, 
 thus increasing the safety and efficiency of mine operations, and 
 
 Whereas, There is need of furthering the development and conserva- 
 tion of our mineral resources, and 
 
 Whereas, The several State Mining Schools or departments of mining 
 in other state institutions are leaders in this work by technically training 
 men for the mining profession, in most cases without adequate support, 
 be it 
 
 Resolved, That the American Mining Congress pledges its influence 
 toward securing federal aid to state mining schools or mining depart- 
 ments of other state institutions. 
 
 The secretary then read the following report: 
 
 PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE NATIONAL FOREST SERVICE 
 
 COMMITTEE. 
 
 Pittsburg, Pa., Dec. 4, 1908. 
 To the American Mining Congress: 
 
 Gentlemen: Your committee having under consideration specific 
 complaints made to it in this open session of the Congress, to the effect 
 that the National Forest Service has collected and insists upon collecting 
 fees from miners for timber cut from ground which is open to mineral 
 location within the national forests, and which timber is used exclusively 
 in the development of miners' claims, respectfully submit that the Act of 
 June 3, 1878, (20 Stat. 88) provides that "residents of the State of Colo- 
 rado, or Nevada, or either of the Territories of New Mexico, Arizona, 
 Utah, Wyoming, Dakota, Idaho or Montana, and all other mineral districts 
 of the United States, shall be, and are hereby, authorized and permitted 
 to fell and remove, for building, agricultural, mining, or other domestic 
 purposes, any timber or other trees growing or being on the public lands, 
 said lands being mineral, and not subject to entry under existing laws of 
 the United States, except for mineral entry, in either of said states, terri- 
 tories or districts of which said citizens or persons may be at the time 
 bona fide residents, subject to such rules and regulations as the Seretary 
 of the Interior may prescribe for the protection of the timber and of the 
 undergrowth growing upon such lands, and for other purposes." 
 
 Pending the complete work of investigation by your committee, it has 
 been requested and urged by many members attending this session of the 
 Congress, to recommend that the American Mining Congress petition the 
 National Forest Service, now, and without further delay, to so modify its 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 89 
 
 rulings and regulations as to permit the free use of timber in accordance 
 with the provisions, authority and spirit of the act referred to. 
 
 Your committee, therefore, recommends that favorable action be 
 taken in this emergency to assist in promoting the welfare of the min- 
 eral industry, 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 (Signed) A. G. BROWNLEE, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: What is your pleasure with the report 
 the Secretary has just read? 
 
 MR. ROCKWELL: I move you, sir, that this report as read be ac- 
 cepted as the expression of this assembled congress in this far-reaching 
 and most important matter, and that the expression of it be conveyed in 
 no uncertain terms and by any method prescribed by the Chairman to 
 the head of the Forest Service in Washington as quickly as it can be 
 done. 
 
 MR. JOHN R. WOOD, OF COLORADO: I desire to second the 
 motion. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It has been moved and seconded that 
 this report be accepted and communicated in some appropriate manner to 
 the Chief of the Forestry Service at Washington. Are you ready for the 
 question? 
 
 The question was called for and being put was duly carried. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The secretary has a communication to 
 read. 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: This is a communication from Mr. E. 
 H. Harriman. 
 
 New York, Dec. 2, 1908. 
 
 James F. Callbreath, Jr., Secretary American Mining Congress, Westing- 
 house Bldg., Pittsburgh, Pa.: 
 
 Message received. I have just dictated a letter which will go by to- 
 nights mail. I am very sorry it will not be possible for me to be present, 
 but I am sending memorandum of what I would probably say if present, 
 and you can use it or not, as you choose. I greatly appreciate the compli- 
 ment, but it is just impossible at this time for me to be present. 
 
 E. H. HARRIMAN. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath also read a telegram from John Hayes Ham- 
 mond, Mining Engineer of New York, and a letter from Congressman Geo. 
 F;. Huff, chairman of the Committee on Mines and Mining, House of 
 Representatives, Washington, as follows: 
 
 New York, Dec. 3rd, 1908. 
 Jas. F. Callbreath, Jr., Secretary American Mining Congress, 1211 West- 
 
 inghouse Bldg., Pittsburgh, Pa,: 
 
 Have only just received notification from Governor of California of 
 my appointment as delegate to represent California in Mining Congress. 
 Regret very much my inability to be present. Would willingly make con- 
 siderable sacrifice of my own business, but interests confided to me by 
 other parties would be jeopardized by my absence just now. Wish Con- 
 gress very successful meeting. 
 
 JOHN HAYES HAMMOND. 
 
 Washington, D. C,, Nov. 27, 1908. ' 
 Mr. J. F. Callreath, Secretary the American Mining Congress, No. 1211 
 
 Westinghouse Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: 
 
 My Dear Mr. Callbreath I am so overcrowded with matters here, 
 it will not be possible for me to attend the sessions of the American Min- 
 ing Congress at Pittsburg, December 2-5. I am heartily in accord with 
 the movement, hdwever, and bespeak for the meetings abundant success. 
 Necessarily the inquiries, investigations and discussions which will arise 
 
90 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 at this Congress will not only enlighten the mine owners, mining^ en- 
 gineers, mine superintendents, foremen, fire bosses, etc., but will also 
 prove of interest to the miners themselves, whose welfare is paramount. 
 
 The entire mining subject will undoubtedly be greatly benefited by 
 the investigations which are now being conducted by the Government, and 
 I desire to commend the work already done under the appropriation made 
 by the Congress at its last session, looking to the prevention of the loss 
 of life in mining operations. 
 
 I am strongly of the opinion that when the National Bureau of Mines 
 is established, and I confidently believe it will be, its recommendations 
 will be adopted by all the states in which mining laws are necessary and 
 mining will then be conducted along the lines of safety, economy and 
 conservation. Very truly yours, 
 
 GEO. F. HUFF. 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: I would like to say that the Program 
 Committee intended to have one session entirely devoted to the transpor- 
 tation question as it applies to the mining industry, and it was intended 
 that Mr. Harriman's address should be given at that time, also the address 
 of Dr. Douglas and that of Mr. Dempster. In view of the fact that Mr. 
 Harriman's address was not sent, as he had not prepared it, until so late 
 that we were not able to put it on the program, and the further fact that 
 Dr. Douglas was anxious to have his lecture illustrated which necessitated 
 that it should be given at night, that plan had to be given up. But the 
 paper of Mr. Harriman, which is in my possession, will be presented in 
 the regular order at some time, I presume this afternoon, by the presi- 
 dent, if it is in order. I think the delegates present would be very glad 
 to hear that paper, and would like to know in advance of the time that 
 it is to be presented. 
 
 The Congress thereupon adjourned for luncheon a" the establishment 
 of the H. J. Heinz Company. 
 
 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1908. 
 Afternoon Session. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The convention will be in order. 
 
 DOCTOR, BUCKLEY: I wish to make another announcement this 
 afternoon to the effect that the resolutions that were introduced this 
 morning will be considered in the special committee this afternoon. The 
 special committee is now in session in the basement of this building. I 
 would suggest that any one who is interested in these resolutions and 
 cares to be heard before the committee appear in that room, and he will 
 be given an opportunity. 
 
 MR. JOHN G. ROiSS, CHIEF DEPARTMENT OF MINES, WElST VIR- 
 VINIA: Mr. Chairman and Members of the American Mining Congress: 
 I wish to be given your kind attention for a few moments this afternoon 
 to set aright the state which I am representing in the Resolutions Com- 
 mittee, and as acting chief of the Department of Mines, on a point which 
 I wish to bring to your attention, regarding a statement made by Mr. John 
 Mitchell in an address before this body. I will say before beginning my 
 address that Mr. Mitchell has my entire respect, and I am sure that he 
 will be only too glad to be set right. Mr. Mitchell said, and I quote from 
 the press report, which I believe is accurate, as I also so remember the 
 statement myself, speaking of fatalities in West Virginia, "In West Vir- 
 ginia 12.35 men out of every 1,000 employed in the mines were killel." 
 Now I have gone to the trouble to telegraph back to Charleston for the 
 exact figures upon this, and taking the year ending June 30, 1908, which 
 owing to certain unfortunate circumstances, not likely ever again to oc- 
 cur, has brought us high up in this list, the production of West Virginia 
 for the year ending June 30, 1908, was 44,091,051 tons. This I believe is 
 in short tons, as that was the information I asked for. Fatal accidents, 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 91 
 
 total, 625; non-fatal, 842. The employees were 60,397. This telegram is 
 signed by F. L. Truslow, Clerk. I believe it to be accurate in all respects. 
 Now, taking the total number of 625, by figuring it will be found this 
 gives the number of 10.3 per thousand. If we subtract from this the num- 
 ber lost in one explosion of 361 we have then 264 fatal accidents. Using 
 then the same number of men employed as a basis, with this smaller num- 
 ber, and omitting for the moment this one fatality, the figures are re- 
 duced to 4.37. This to be sure is high, but there are a great many con- 
 ditions which we must not overlook in fairness to our state and to the 
 operators; and last, but I hope not least, since it represents the senti- 
 ment of the whole of the state, and the law is supposed to represent the 
 public sentiment of the state, the Department of Mines. Now, we have 
 some difficulties to contend with in West Virginia on account of the char- 
 acter of our miners. 
 
 We have on the south Virginia, and my compliments to that state, 
 which has no mining laws, I believe, or no inspection force. From the 
 State of Virginia we got some 10,000, I believe, of colored people, who 
 have not much knowledge of mining. A great many of them come from 
 over in the neighborhood of Roanoke. We also have the Italians as well 
 as other foreigners. We also have the conditions that are common where 
 mines are new, while they are no worse than the mines in other states 
 not so well known. 
 
 I will now, if I may beg your attention, inform you as to the method 
 we take as to collecting information as to the accidents, in our state, to 
 show that we exercise due care. All the operators are supplied either 
 directly through the department or through the district mine inspectors, 
 with blank accident forms. Immediately an accident occurs this blank 
 must be filled out fully, and I think most of the operators here will say 
 that we have asked them to do this, and that they have complied. This is 
 signed by the superintendent, sent to the district mine inspector, of whom 
 we have twelve, and signed by him. It is then sent to the Department 
 of Mines and O. K.'ed by the department. In case the accident is fatal 
 we not only do this, but we have what is known as a mine inspector's 
 fatal accident report, which means that the district mine inspector visits 
 the scene of the fatality and makes out a report upon it which is also 
 sent to our office. 
 
 We also require of the district inspector that he have the superin- 
 tendent of the hospitals furnish him with a list of the accidents to pre- 
 vent overlooking of any one by. carelessness. These are checked with 
 those sent in; and if we do not get the other reports, or if they are mis- 
 laid in some way, we write and ask for the reports. Our reports of acci- 
 dents are kept on file in the order of their occurrence, and we have a 
 complete list at all times for the reference of any one who may wish it. 
 
 Through the farsightedness, we believe, of Mir. Paul, and Governor 
 William M. O. Dawson, of West Virginia, and I believe that you will all 
 agree that they are representative men of our country, we have, begin- 
 ning with my appointment as assistant, issued a monthly bulletin. In 
 this bulletin there is given a list of the accidents, a description of the 
 same, and other information. In addition, there are careful tables com- 
 piled for the annual report. 
 
 I believe that these things will indicate to you that we are taking 
 great care in West Virginia in all respects to insure that the miners shall 
 receive consideration under all circumstances. I thank you, gentlemen. 
 
 GOVERNOR A. B. FLEMING, OF WEST VIRGINIA: Mr. Chairman: 
 I would like to ask Mr. Ross this: The fatalities referred to by Mr. 
 Mitchell must have been for the year 1907, not for the last year, from 
 June 30, 1906, to June 30, 1907. 
 
 MR. ROSS: I have not made any calculations upon that basis, but 
 I presume they w<ere. 
 
 GOVERN OR FLEMING: I want to inquire of you whether or not, 
 even if Mr. Mitchell should be correct in his percentage for the year 1907, 
 
92 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 any such percentage can possibly maintain for the year 1908, at least up 
 to this time, December? 
 
 MR. ROSS: I believe up to the present time we- have had no ex- 
 plosions, or only one small explosion which I saw reported in the paper, 
 of which I am not fully informed, but which was a very small accident, 
 probably not injuring more than two or three men. 
 
 GOVERNOR FLEMING: If the president will allow me a word in 
 this connection, for the sake of the reputation of the state we represent, 
 I would like to say that my understanding is that we had two bad explo- 
 sions in 1907 in the southern part of the state. I do not just remember 
 the names of the mines now, Mr. Dixon's mine and the Stuart mines, in 
 which there was something less than a hundred killed in each of those 
 mines in the year 1907. There was also that terrible explosion at Mon- 
 ongah, on the 6th of December last year, in which 361 lost the'r lives. 
 We cannot apologize for those explosions. We don't know why they oc- 
 curred. We do not know what condition brought them about. We only 
 know that because of these three yes, and there was another one that 
 year up near the Thomas mine four explosions that year, which brought 
 the fatality of West Virginia up, if Mr. Mitchell was correct, to that fear- 
 ful figure. No such condition and no such accidents, no such explosions 
 in magnitude or such fatalities had ever before occurred.- Mr. Mitchell 
 said it was getting worse and worse in the state. Whether it is true that 
 the year 1907 was the worst in the state's history, I do not know. I do 
 not know how many years it would take to make in the aggregate as 
 many fatalities as we had in 1907, but we would like to have this Mining 
 Congress bear in mind that in the year 1908, now about closed, we have 
 had no explosions of any magnitude, but one, which we saw reported in 
 the papers since we came here, perhaps, as serious one as we have had 
 this year, in which, if I remember correctly, three men lost their lives. 
 
 Now, if we are correct that there have been no such explosions this 
 year, and I am told by the district mine inspector, sitting right here, than 
 whom none are more competent, that his understanding is that the fatali- 
 ties other than from explosions have been reduced in the year 1908 to 
 about one-half, certainly that in his district, then West Virginia will not 
 make a bad showing, and we hope she will never make such a showing as 
 she made last year. 
 
 MR. H. H, LANG, OF ONTARIO, CANADA: Mr. President and Gen- 
 tlemen: Owing to the fact that I am obliged to leave the sessions of 
 your Congress now, owing to an engagement in New York tomorrow 
 morning, I wish, before leaving, to tender my thanks to the American 
 Mining Congress now assembled here for its kindness in extending invi- 
 tations to mining districts in Canada for delegates to attend its assembly 
 at this time. 
 
 Being the only delegate taking part in your assembly from Canada, I 
 feel it my duty to in some way recognize the kindness not only of this 
 Congress but of your nation in recognizing the country from which I come 
 in this great meeting on this great subject. 
 
 Gentlemen, I believe that this is only the beginning. I wish also to 
 say this that I believe that perhaps we have as great mineral resources 
 in the country to the north of you as you have here, and we can hardly 
 carry on this great industry independently of each other. We know today 
 that mining men throughout your country are interested in Canada; 
 Canadians are interested in the United States, and I believe this feeling 
 will grow. 
 
 I thank you very much, and when I return it will be my pleasant 
 duty to report to the Minister of Mines of our Province of the high char- 
 acter of this Congress. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I am sure we accept this as an expres- 
 sion of the kindly appreciation of any courtesy that may have been ex- 
 tended to the gentleman. We feel that we may rest assured that in the 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 93 
 
 future we will have the co-operation of the mining industries of Canada, 
 and their help in solving some of these great problems. 
 
 For the program of this afternoon, Congressman Wilson being absent, 
 the discussion of the question, "Problems of the Coal Industry," will be 
 led by Mr. Frank M. Osborne, of Cleveland, Ohio. 
 
 Mr. Osborn's address will be found on page 66, Part II., of this report. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: As I listened yesterday to the inspiring 
 words of the gentleman who will now address you, he aroused in me a 
 desire to hear him again. You will now have the privilege of listening to 
 Mr. Dempster. 
 
 DOCTOR BUCKLEY: Before going ahead I would like to make a 
 report from the Resolutions Committee. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The Resolutions Committee under our 
 rules has the right of way when no one has the floor, so we will listen to 
 the report; 
 
 DOCTOR BUCKLEY: The Committee on Resolutions has to report 
 back Resolution No. 2 by H. H. Gregg, entitled, "Protection to Zinc Ore 
 Miners," and respectfully recommends that the resolution do pass. The 
 committee also reports back Resolution No. 5, introduced by George J. 
 Bancroft, entitled, "Referring to the Marianna Mine Disaster." 
 
 This resolution is also reported back with the recommendation that 
 the same do pass. 
 
 I would move you that the report of the committee on Resolution No. 
 2 be adopted. 
 
 The motion was seconded. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read the resolution, and the report of the com- 
 mittee was adopted unanimously. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read Resolution No. 5. 
 
 DOCTOR BUCKLEY: I move you that the recommendation of the 
 committee on this resolution be adopted. 
 
 The motion was seconded and the resolution was adopted. 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: The Resolutions Committee desires to report back 
 several resolutions. Resolution No. 1 by W. P. Daniels. This resolution 
 is referred back to the Congress, the committee considering that it has no 
 power to act. 
 
 Resolution No. 4 by Colonel A. G. Brownlee, resolution regarding duty 
 on lead. Your Committee on Resolutions reports this resolution back 
 with the recommendation that it do pass. 
 
 Resolution No. 6, introduced by George J. Bancroft, the Committee on 
 Resolutions reports this resolution back with the recommendation that 
 it do pass. This Resolution is relative to the United States Geological 
 Survey. 
 
 Resolution No. 8 by David B. Rushmore, regarding co-operation with 
 the American Institute of Mining Engineers. This resolution is reported 
 back by the committee with the recommendation that the same do pass. 
 
 I would move you that the report of the Committee on Resolution No. 
 1 by Mr. W. P. Daniels, be approved by the Congress. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read Resolution No. 1. 
 
 MR. DEMPSTER: I second the motion. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It has been moved and seconded that 
 the resolutions just read be adopted on the report of the committee. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I would second the motion to adopt. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: All in favor of the motion say aye; con- 
 trary, no. 
 
 The ayes seem to have it. 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: Wlhat was the motion? 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Adopt, and appoint a committee as rec- 
 ommended. 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: The motion was that the recommendation of the 
 committe be adopted by this Congress. That is the motion that was pre- 
 sented by me, 
 
94 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I did not understand the motion, then. 
 You have evidently voted under a misapprehension. The Chair has not 
 yet declared the vote so that the matter may be cleared up. 
 
 "Your Committee on Resolutions having had under consideration 
 Resolution No. 1, introduced by W. P. Daniels, do respectfully recommend 
 that said resolution be referred back to the Congress, the committee con- 
 sidering that it has no power to act." 
 
 That is the recommendation of the Committee on Resolutions. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: Mr. President, that motion to adopt the recom- 
 mendation of the committee does not recommend, but simply is a refer- 
 ence of the resolution back to this body. There is no recommendation, as 
 I understand it, to adopt there is no recommendation of the committee 
 to act on it. Consequently, I make the point of order that the motion to 
 adopt the recommendation of the committee, when there is no recom- 
 mendation there, is out of order. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The Chair said that he stated the motion 
 under a misapprehension. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: And I seconded it under a misapprehension. So I 
 say there was no motion because we started anew, and it is now for the 
 consideration of the Congress as to what it wishes to do with it. I now 
 move the adoption of that resolution by this Congress, and if I can get a 
 second, I will be glad to try in my feeble way, to explain why I believe 
 it should be adopted. 
 
 MR. ROCKWELL: For the purpose of bringing it before the Con- 
 gress, I second the motion. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have heard the motion to adopt the 
 resolution; are you ready for the question? 
 
 The question was called for. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Congress: 
 The resolution is reported back to you by the committee because it be- 
 lieves it is without authority to act upon it that, as I understand from 
 the committee, this Congress has no authority and no right under its 
 by-laws to adopt such a resolution, but that on the other hand the resolu- 
 tion must go to the members only, and that they only may say as to 
 whether or not a committe shall be appointed to investigate the laws and 
 report amendments. 
 
 The American Mining Congress is a slightly complex organization. It 
 started out by being a purely voluntary organization. All of its members 
 were delegates appointed by commercial and other organizations of that 
 character and by municipal and state authorities. Under those laws and 
 with its meetings at that time it was in a condition which the president de- 
 scribed one. year ago as being neither respected nor respectable. There 
 have been some material steps tiken to make it resoprtable. but un- 
 fortunately it is not yet in a good many places respected. It does not 
 command the respect, in a good many places, of the people who ought 
 to be members of the organization and contribute to its support. 
 
 First, if you will permit me, I will explain as briefly as I can, that the 
 American Mining Congress was incorporated under the laws of Colorado, 
 principally in order to enable it to hold property legally. That incorpora- 
 tion provides that only members may act upon certain matters. Those 
 matters are the actual adoption of laws and the election of its officers. 
 
 May I ask the secretary how many members there are, including 
 delegates, approximately. 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: There are more than 500 delegates 
 registered. I suppose the number of members of the organization who 
 are present is something like fifty. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: The secretary advises me that there are present at 
 this Congress, including both members of the Congress and delegates ap- 
 pointed, something over 500. Out of that 500 there are only about ten 
 per cent, who have authority to make the laws and to elect officers. Now, 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 95 
 
 I believe that is one thing that should be changed just as soon as condi- 
 tions will make it practicaoJe to make that change. But this resolution 
 does not amend the law. It does not interfere in any way with the elec- 
 tion of officers; it does not interfere in any way with the right that is 
 exclusively with the members to change the law. It simply provides for 
 a committee to be appointed by your president who shall examine its 
 present laws, report to the next annual session, twelve months hence, such 
 a revision of the laws as will be consistent with amendments already 
 made by the members looking to the organization of local bodies by the 
 national organization. 
 
 Now you gentlemen who are here as delegates are just as much and 
 possibly a little more interested in that than I am interested as a mem- 
 ber. I believe it is entirely within your province to say whether a com- 
 mittee of that character shall be appointed or not. The amendments to 
 the law which are contemplated by the resolution at some time in the 
 future will if adopted take away from you your membership as dele- 
 gates. I believe with the gentleman who spoke a few moments ago, that 
 you should be interested enough in the American Mining Congress to be- 
 come members with us, and enjoy all the rights and privileges of mem- 
 bers. Whether the time has yet arrived when that can be done for the 
 best interests of the organization or not, I do not know. I am not pre- 
 pared to say as to that, but I do believe that the time has arrived when 
 it is up to the members of this Congress to consider as to whether or not 
 they shall in the future take that step. It is a notorious fact in several 
 of the past sessions of the Congress that delegates have attended and 
 taken part in the business of the Congress who have had 
 no more interest in mining than I have in the government of China. I 
 do not believe that that is quite as it should be. It seems to me that a 
 Mining Congress should be composed of those who are interested in that 
 industry. It is also a notorious fact that any one who asks for it, it does 
 not make any difference who it is, anyone who asks for it, can get an ap- 
 pointment yes, he can get forty appointments as a delegate to this Con- 
 gress. I venture to say that if I took the pains to do it and to start thirty 
 days before the meeting of the Congress I could come here as a delegate 
 from at least three-fourths of the states of these United States. 
 
 Now, we are. pleased to have the delegates with us, those that repre- 
 sent the mining industry, but we want you with us a little closer, just as 
 soon as it is practicable to come to that point. We want you, as the 
 speaker said a while ago, to march up to the captain's office and sign your 
 application and help us support the organization make it a business or- 
 ganization. I believe that there can be no question as to the adoption 
 of the resolution by this Congress if the question is settled in your minds 
 as to whether or not we have the authority to adopt it here. 
 
 It seems to me that there ought not to be any question as to the 
 authority because, as I have explained, and the president will bear me out 
 in the statements that I have made as to the rights of members, it is 
 true that this committee, if appointed, will have to do with the by-laws. 
 It does not, however, amend them in any way. It simply considers the 
 matter and makes a report to the next Congress, referring it to the mem- 
 bers then to use their judgment as to whether or not its report shall be 
 adopted and enacted into law. Now, if there is any doubt in regard to 
 the right of this Congress and the right of the delegates to vote on this 
 motion, I would like to have the matter made distinct, the point raised 
 and decided in some way before an actual vote is taken on the resolution 
 itself. Possibly the decision on that point as to the authority would 
 make it entirely unnecessary to have any vote on the resolution itself. 
 It seems to me, however, that it ought to be absolutely plain that you 
 delegates who are directly interested in the outcome of the report of a 
 committee, if it shall be appointed, should have something to say as to 
 whether or not such an appointment should be made. 
 
96 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 The only aim that I have in view is to build up this Mining Congress 
 and to make of it a business organization which shall be not only respect- 
 ble but which shall command the respect of every mining man, and every 
 other man in the whole broad country. Why, it is less than thirty days 
 ago, on the streets of my own home city, the city where the first mining 
 Congress ever gathered, I asked a gentleman why he had not joined the 
 Mining Congress. "Oh," he says, "the Mining Congress is a farce." He 
 said, "If I want to be a member I can get appointed any time that T want 
 to, and I can attend the Congress and take part in it just as much as you 
 can, and what is the use of my joining, putting up my money to be a 
 member when I can get a dozen appointments if I want them." I do not 
 believe that there is a business man present who will not agree with me 
 that we should do either the one thing or the other; we should either 
 make this an organization with its own members exclusively transacting 
 its business or we should do away with the membership and throw it 
 open as it was originally to anyone that any mayor, any governor, any 
 president of a chamber of commerce, or any president of any other com- 
 mercial organization, may appoint as delegate to come here and sit and 
 transact business. 
 
 I do not want to take up your time needlessly, but I am very much 
 interested in the matter of the adoption of this resolution, and I sin- 
 cerely trust that it will be adopted even if there be a question as to the 
 risrht of this Congress with the delegates voting to appoint such a com- 
 mittee. You can at least express your wish upon the adoption or the re- 
 jection of the resolution, and I believe if you vote in favor of its adop- 
 tion that the members, if they feel impelled to act upon it afterwards, will 
 abide by your wish. 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: On behalf of the Committee on Resolutions I 
 simply desire to make a statement. This resolution requests the appoint- 
 ment of a committee that shall recommend back to the Congress an 
 amendment to the constitution eliminating the delegate feature of this 
 organization. I simply wish to say that there is a. way to eliminate the 
 delegate feature of this organization that is provided for by the constitu- 
 tion of this Congress. The section which governs that can be read by 
 any member, or can be read by the secretary. I say there is a proper 
 way to secure amendment to the constitution governing this feature if 
 it is desired, and I do not think it is necessary or proper that a resolu- 
 tion should be introduced and referred to the Resolutions Committee, 
 instructing them to appoint a committee to investigate and find out 
 whether they shall propose an amendment eliminating the delegate 
 feature. 
 
 I would say for the information of the gentleman who introduced this 
 resolution that if this resolution had not been referred back to the Con- 
 gress in this manner it would have been referred back with the recom- 
 mendation that it do not pass. We do not question the right of this 
 Congress to take any action that it may see fit. They can pass any kind 
 of a resolution that they choose to pass. It is a body that governs itself, 
 and it can pass any resolution; we do not question that whatever. But 
 we believe that there is a proper method of securing such an amendment 
 if it is desired by this Congress, and we believe that that method should 
 be pursued. 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: Mr. Chairman, I do not desire to 
 cut off this discussion and I am very anxious that it shall go on. but 
 there are two gentlemen here with papers who ought to be heard at this 
 time, and there are a number of genti^mon here who came specifically 
 to hear these papers presented, and I therefore think this discussion 
 should be postponed. 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: The Resolutions Committee, if so desired, will give 
 way to these gentlemen, in order that we may hear their papers. 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 97 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: To make it clear to you, it seems neces- 
 sary that the chair make a ruling upon this question. This is a legally 
 incorporated body, incorporated under the laws of the state of Colorado, 
 and only members have anything to say about its legal organization. 
 This question of a delegate system has come up at every s-rssiou during 
 the last'six years. I know Mr. Daniels' good fnith, ard I know what he 
 is striving to do. That is why I did not interrupt him before. But 
 what has a delegate to do with the legal existence of a corporation when 
 he is invited here more as a guest to take, part in helping solve these 
 questions, and to show to those delegates, if possible, that this Congress 
 is worthy of their respect and confidence, in the hope that they will take 
 hold and help us make this organization what it should be. (Applause.) 
 Therefore the chair rules that this is not in order, and therefore it will 
 be necessary, to raise it again, to take an appeal to this body. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: Mr. President, I desire now to give notice that I 
 shall appeal from the decision and ask the floor on that appeal, after those 
 gentlemen have been heard. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: On yesterday we had on the program 
 under the subject, "Conservation in the Coal Mining Industry," Mr. G. 
 W. Traer, of Chicago, Illinois, who was not then with us, but he is now 
 with us, and we will have the privilege of listening to him. 
 
 Mr. Traer's paper will be found on page 152, Part II., of this report. 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: This pap'er and the one that is just to 
 follow I believe justifies our gathering here. I know we will have a 
 treat in the paper that is now to be given by Mr. White, "The Barren 
 Zone of the Northern Appalachian Coal Field and Its Relation to Pitts- 
 burg's Industries," by Dr. I. C. White, State Geologist, Morgantown, West 
 Virginia. 
 
 DR. I. C. WHITE, O'F WEST VIRGINIA: I will take a moment or 
 two of your time to explain these diagrams. The Appalachian coal field, 
 as most of you know, is a long boot-shaped area, beginning in Northern 
 Pennsylvania and extending southward parallel to the Alleghany moun- 
 tains, and in fact in the Alleghanies through Western Pennsylvania, West 
 Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. It was formerly sup- 
 posed that this central area would be richer than any other portion of the 
 Appalachian field. A few years ago I discovered that the great Pittsburg 
 bed after coming down through Northern West Virginia into this central 
 zone, which it underlies at a depth of four to a thousand feet below the 
 surface, suddenly disappears. It might be of interest to tell you how I 
 learned that fact. 
 
 For many years I was connected with the university at Mbrgantown 
 many think I am still, although I have not been so connected since 1892. 
 During trips with my classes in the field because I always believe in 
 taking the boys out to get close to nature I found that on the Burning 
 Springs which crosses the B. & O. railroad 30 miles east of Parkersburg, 
 there was no Pittsburg coal. And then later I learned by inspection of 
 bore holes near Upper Glades, in Webster county, that what little coal 
 was there was of not much importance. 
 
 I probably saved one man a large amount of money, and it may in- 
 cerest you to know just the way. The late Senator Camden knew of the 
 building of the Western railroad long before anyone else did, and sup- 
 posing, as everyone else did at that time, that this entire area was 
 filled with Pittsburg coal, he, like any other citizen, thought it would be 
 a good thing to take up some coal land there, and the farmers did not know 
 or did not suspect that they had coal, or if they had, it was so deep that 
 they thought it would never be of any value, and they were glad to 
 auction their land at the low sum of $5.00 per acre. Mr. Camden had 
 taken up about 100,000 acres along the line of that railway. I happened 
 to be on the train with him one day, and he asked me about this in- 
 vestment. Now, as I thought that the coal disappeared somewhere be- 
 
98 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 tween Wheeling and Eureka, below Sistersville, where that great bridge 
 crosses the O'hio river, I told him that he ought to be careful, that $5,000 
 while to many meant so much was not a great deal of money to him; 
 and that while oil wells had reported coal near the line where he was 
 taking the land up, they did not drill for coal, they were after oil, and 
 hence it might be possible there was no coal there of value, so I advised 
 him to put down a bore hole with diamond drill, and take out a core and 
 see what there was there. The senator being a level-headed business 
 man at once acted on the suggestion. He had a diamond drill hole put 
 down near Pine Grove, within two miles of where the oil-well borings 
 had reported five feet of coal. To his surprise, when they got down to 
 where the Pittsburg bed should be, he found three feet of black slate and 
 two feet of coal. He was not consulting me at the time, and thought it 
 could not possibly be the Pittsburg coal, and went 200 feet lower and 
 still no coal. The origin of the name "Pine Grove" is a ridge there, and 
 it was thought possible that the coal had locally thinned away on the 
 crest of that ridge, so he concluded to go a couple of miles below, near 
 the mouth of Piney, where an oil well had reported six feet of coal, and 
 to go so close to that boring that there could not be any question concern- 
 ing the test. There they put down another hole, and there they got one 
 foot 11 inches of coal and a little black slate. Of course he cancelled 
 the leases. Subsequently the oil well people drilled all over that country, 
 and I was enabled by taking advantage of the borings hundred of them 
 to delimit the area of the Pittsburg coal. 
 
 S>o much for the Pittsburg coal, which has been on my map ever 
 since my map was constructed. It was supposed that the Alleghany 
 coal and the Clarion coal would furnish the richest, or a very rich strata 
 in this central portion of the Appalachian field. To my surprise, on exam- 
 ining the drillings, test holes of every description, where I have seen the 
 sand pumping, the results have been that I find that over vast areas in 
 this central part of the state of West Virginia, and also southwestern 
 Pennsylvania, there are no Alleghany coals. They are gone. And I 
 repeat here that there is no coal under Pittsburg. It was formerly sup- 
 posed there was plenty of it. One of your great coal men, Captain Brown, 
 who I presume at one time thought he would steal a march on the rest 
 of you, came slyly on the Monongahela river I do not know that he did 
 it slyly, except that there was never any noise made about it and sank 
 a shaft to find the Freeport coals, and he told me himself that he did not 
 find it. He went on lower, but did not find any coal. There have been 
 several borings put down here right under Pittsburg, of which we have 
 very accurate records, and there is practically no coal, or what you would 
 call commercial coal here now. So this great barren zone begins north 
 of your city; as you go under the surface it soon disappears, and I find 
 that the same thing is true not only here in Pennsylvania but clear across 
 West Virginia, as represented by the blue line on the map; so that be- 
 yond the point I now indicate the Allegheny coals are represented only 
 by thin one or two-foot beds, and in insignificant layers. 
 
 Again, the same thing happens to the Pocahontas series. You know 
 the Pocahontas series of coal in its extent northward or along the river, 
 is simply a wedge 20 or 30 miles wide that 'underlies all the coal measures. 
 They are older even that the Northern Pottsville and lower part of the 
 Pottsville series, and they fade away before they get into Pennsylvania, 
 except in the anthracite region, as they dip down under the Allegheny 
 series. Even the formation of rocks passes out. As the Kanawha 
 series and the Allegheny series pass under water level, up in the moun- 
 tains, up where we can see them, they are thick and valuable; when they 
 pass down into this basin which I now indicate they disappear. The 
 same thing happens when we come in from Ohio passing down over the 
 Ohio side of the Appalachian field, they also disappear. Hence we are 
 led to some philosophy concerning the accumulation of these coals. 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 99 
 
 Many of you will ask, why is it that they disappear in toward the 
 center of this place, where we should have the thickest coal, where on 
 the old theory the older geologists, as to the central portion of this area 
 I have myself before I knew much about it dilated on that great 
 wealth of fuel that would be found in the center of this Appalachian 
 valley. But it is not there, and you see what an immense hole it makes 
 in this Northern Appalachian field. The reason and the philosophy of it 
 I think is that our coal measures accumulated fringes around the great 
 central basin covered with water; the water was too deep in this area 
 for vegetation to get a foothold, and hence as we come successively 
 toward it, first the lower formations, then higher and higher, as the dis- 
 tance increased toward the center, until they all disappeared, because 
 this area appears to have been covered with water too deep for vege- 
 tation to secure a foothold. 
 
 Now that is the matter that I felt it a duty to call your attention to 
 because it is not generally known. Even Mr. Camden, probably the best 
 posted man in the country generally on the amount of coal in the country, 
 who made an estimate which was submitted at the White House confer- 
 ence in May, has not taken it into account in making up his estimates of 
 the amount of coal in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and figures 
 that that entire area, representing thousands of square miles, held as 
 much coal as any other portion of the field. 
 
 It have a paper here to every word of which I wish you to listen, 
 because it affects not only Pittsburg, to which I have called especial at- 
 tention, but Chicago; and Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo, EMe and these 
 great manufacturing cities which cluster around this northern end of 
 the Appalachian basin, get their metallurgical coal and coke from this 
 field, so it is very important. With this preliminary statement I will 
 read you this paper so as to be brief. 
 
 Dr. White's paper will be found on page 166, Part II,, of this report. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We have learned enough this afternoon 
 to keep us thinking for a long time. 
 
 This closes the program of which I have charge this afternoon, and 
 the convention will stand adjourned until 8:00 o'clock. 
 
 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1908. 
 
 Evening Session. 
 
 The Congress was called to order by President Richards. 
 Secretary Callbreath read resolution No. 18. 
 
 Resolution No. 18. 
 (Introduced by W. F. R. Mills of Colorado.) 
 
 Whereas, The Federal Government has established at Pittsburg, Pa., 
 laboratories for the testing of the coal and structural materials of the 
 United States, and for the study of explosives, of mine accidents and the 
 conditions of safety in coal mining, and 
 
 Whereas, The proper conclusion of these investigations is vital to 
 the safety of the men employed in our mines and to the prosperity of 
 the mineral industry, and 
 
 Whereas, Similar and extended investigations are necessary to the 
 proper development and the wise conservation of our metalliferous de- 
 posits as well, now, therefore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That the American Mining Congress expresses its hearty 
 approval of the steps so far taken and the work now under way, and ex- 
 tends its thanks to the Honorable Secretary of the Interior and to the 
 officers of the U. S. Geological Survey for this auspicious beginning o* 
 the great national work in which it is peculiarly interested, and further, 
 be it 
 
100 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 Resolved, That we pledge our support collectively and individually 
 to these investigations and respectfully urge Congress to extend their 
 scope to our other great mineral resources. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read resolution No. 19. 
 
 Resolution No. 19. 
 (Introduced by John G. Ross, of West Virginia.) 
 
 Whereas, Certain mines in the coal mining states have been visited 
 by severe explosions, and 
 
 Whereas, The impression is abroad that it is impossible to decide 
 as to the elements which have caused the disasters in the coal mines 
 referred to; in our judgment there are but two elements found in these 
 mines which cause these explosions, and these two elements are coal dust 
 and gas, which singly or in conjunction have produced these violent ex- 
 plosions. We recognize the IMMEDIATE NECESSITY of stating clearly 
 our opinion as to the remedies to be applied to prevent a recurrence of 
 these terrible disasters, and 
 
 Whereas, Many authorities recommend that the roof, sides and 
 bottom of all dry and dusty sections of the mines be kept thoroughly 
 wet by systematic watering; that a record shall be kept by the mine 
 foreman or some competent person appointed by him of the amount of 
 water used, the time expended, the sections watered and the dates on 
 which such labors were performed; that this record shall at all times be 
 kept open for examination by the inspector, and that at the end of each 
 month a copy of the same be sent to the district inspector accompanied 
 by a sworn statement as to its accuracy, and 
 
 Whereas, We believe if a strict compliance be had with the present 
 statutes of the state, many of the dangers arising from the liberation of 
 explosive gas will be eliminated, and 
 
 Whereas, We realize the danger of depending upon brattice in gassy 
 mines to ventilate the working places at a distance in excess of 60 to 
 100 feet between break-throughs, which distance is already prescribed 
 by many of the states. Our reasons for especially mentioning this pre- 
 caution are that by the excessive use of brattice it is impossible to main- 
 tain adequate ventilation to dilute, render harmless, and carry away 
 explosive gas or gases, and further, this practice endangers the loss of 
 the air current entirely in the working place by falls of roof and by tearing 
 down of the brattice by cars or mules or by careless miners, now, there- 
 fore, be it 
 
 Resolved, That the practical details of mine operation, the violations 
 of which cause these disasters, must be given serious attention IMME- 
 DIATELY, and 
 
 Resolved, That competent men, properly qualified, shall be placed 
 in charge of our mines, as mine foremen, assistant mine foremen and 
 fire bosses, and 
 
 Resolved, That this can be best brought about by placing upon the 
 statute books a law conferring authority upon the proper official to con- 
 duct examinations, as a basis for the issuance of certificates of compe- 
 tency to mine foremen, assistant mine foremen and fire bosses, in whose 
 hands rest the safety of these miners and the preservation of property, 
 and be it 
 
 Resolved further, That we recommend authority be given to revoke 
 these certificates for sufficient cause, which shall be fully set forth in 
 the statute. 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: The Resolutions Committee reported back this 
 afternoon resolution No. 6, by George J. Bancroft, which is a resolution 
 regarding the United States Geological Survey. I would move that the 
 report of the committee, which recommends its adoption, be accepted by 
 the Congress. 
 
 The motion was seconded. 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 101 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read the resolution, and Dr. Buckley's motion 
 was duly put and carried unanimously. 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: Resolution No. 8, introuced by David B. Rush- 
 more, entitled "Regarding Co-operation With the American Institute 
 of Mining Engineers, the Committee on Resolutions respectfully recom- 
 mends that said resolution do pass. 
 
 I would move you, Mr. President, the adoption of the report of the 
 committee on this resolution. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read the resolution, and the motion prevailed 
 unanimously. 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: Resolution No. 10, by George M. Esterly, entitled 
 "Relating to the Title of Coal Lands in Alaska," the Committee on Res- 
 olutions do respectfully recommend that said resolution do pass. 
 
 I would move you, Mr. President, that the report of the committee 
 upon this resolution be adopted. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read the resolution, and the motion prevailed 
 unanimously. 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: Resolution No. 4, introduced by Colonel A. G. 
 Brownlee, entitled "Regarding Duty on Lead," the Committee on Reso- 
 lutions do respectfully recommend that said resolution do pass. 
 
 Mr. President, I move you that the report of the committee on this 
 resolution be adopted. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read the resolution. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have heard the motion; are you 
 ready for the question? If there is no objection, the recommendation 
 of the committee will stand adopted. .Hearing none it is so ordered. 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: Resolution No. 17, introduced by Dr. A. H. Purdue, 
 "Regarding State Mining Schools," the Committee on Resolutions do re- 
 spectfully recommend that said resolution do pass. 
 
 Mr. President, I would move you that the report of the committee on 
 this resolution be adopted. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read the resolution. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have heard the motion on the reso- 
 lution just read. Are you ready for the question? If there is no objection 
 the recommendation of the committee will be adopted. Hearing none, 
 it is so ordered. 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: Resolution No. 7, introduced by David B. Rush- 
 more, entitled "Committee for Standardization of Electric Practice in 
 Mines," the Committee on Resolutions do respectfully recommend that 
 said resolution do pass. 
 
 Mr. President, I would move you that the report of the committee 
 on this resolution be adopted. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read the resolution. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have heard the motion in reference 
 to the resolution just read. Are you ready for the question? If there is 
 no objection, the recommendation of the committee will be adopted. 
 Hearing none, it is so ordered. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: This brings us up to the program of the 
 evening. The subject is "Arbitration as a Factor in the Mining Industry." 
 The leader in this discussion is Thomas L. Lewis, President of the 
 United Mine Workers of America, of Bridgeport, Ohio. 
 
 Mr. Lewis address will be found on page 235, Part II., of this report. 
 
 MR. JOHN H. WALKER, OF ILLINOIS: I would like to make a 
 statement with reference to some remarks made by Mir. Tfaer, of the 
 Illinois Coal Operators' Association, this afternoon. 
 
 Some of our members wanted to leave on the train and they would 
 like to have it before they leave. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, it is in justice to our organization as well as for 
 the benefit of some of the workers in our industry in other portions of 
 the country who are trying to get legislation on the subjects that were 
 
102 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 mentioned, that we desire to have this statement made. Mtr. Traer 
 today made the statement that the miners in Illinois had by the U. M. 
 W. of A. got the industry in that shape that so far as men going into the 
 mines was concerned, they would be in the same position as a man who 
 wanted to get into the oil business would be if the directors of the Stand- 
 ard Oil Company had the determining of those who went into that in- 
 dustry. Mr. Chairman, it may be some information to the members of 
 this Congress to know that Mr. Traer, who is president of the Illinois 
 Coal Operators' Association, along with Mr. Bent, who was secretary of 
 that organization, agreed in sub-committee to that law itself, with myself 
 and another member of our organization acting on that committee for 
 our organization, before it was presented to the two boards, and that the 
 entire executive board of the Illinois Coal Operators' Association agreed 
 to that law as it stands on the books today before it was presented to 
 the legislature of that state. 
 
 According to his own figures as presented to this body, last year's 
 statistics show an increase of $10,000,000.00 in the output of coal from the 
 state of Illinois, and the miners only worked an average of 196 days 
 during that year. I want to ask if that looks as if the law was hindering 
 the coal operators from getting a sufficient supply of miners to work 
 in their mines. And during the year just passed, or the time that estimate 
 was made from, I believe if the actual figures were here we would find 
 that we did not work one-half of the actual working days that we could 
 have operated. During that time there has been an increase of 10,000 
 miners in the state of Illinois. I want to ask if that looks as if this law 
 was restricting the supply of labor in that industry in our state. Mr. 
 Chairman, I do not know of a man in the coal industry that I have more 
 respect for or a higher regard for than I have for Glen Trear, but, as 
 I told him today, I never heard him in my life make such an unfair state- 
 ment as he did on that subject to this Congress today. 
 
 With reference to the bonus placed on the miners because of the 
 shooting of coal from the solid in that state and for the use of powder 
 in a reckless manner, I want to say he had reference to the shot-firing 
 law in the same statement, it is evident that as a result of that shot- 
 firing law in the state of Illinois for the first year we were freer from 
 accident than usual as compared with previous years. There was 50 
 per cent decrease in the loss of life in accidents in the industry in our 
 state from accidents due to the careless or accidental misuse of powder. 
 
 Since that time in the comparative statistics there is shown for some- 
 where in the neighborhood of four years, a reduction of 26 per cent of 
 accidents and deaths from that source, notwithstanding that that per- 
 centage estimate is based without taking into consideration that there 
 has been 15,000 more miners in the state since that time, so that the 
 original estimate of 50 per cent reduction in accidents and loss of life 
 from powder would apply all* the way through, as the result of that law. 
 
 When the shot-firing law was made the operators succeeded in 
 getting a limitation placed upon the amount of powder that made neces- 
 sary shot-firers, all under two pounds of powder can be shot by the 
 miners themselves. Coal operators over an entire district where they 
 have machines in the mines and use less than two pounds of powfler, 
 came to our joint executive meeting, asking that they be given shot-firers 
 in their mines. Their coming of themselves is plain evidence that they 
 realize the benefit which it has been in saving of life and limb. And in 
 that way I want to say without desiring to reflect on those operators 
 that the cost for liability damage suits was their main reason for coming 
 in there and asking that they get shot-firers in that particular district. 
 
 There were many reasons why coal has been shot and is being shot 
 in the manner it is at the present time in our state. 
 
 Prior to the establishment of our organization we had what is known 
 as the screen coal system; the operators sold the powder and the coal 
 that went through an inch and a quarter screen he got for nothing. He 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 103 
 
 made a profit on the powder, he got all the coal that went through that 
 screen for nothing, and he hired miners who would use the most powder 
 and give him the most fine coal. And when the first agreement was made 
 it was based on that condition of mining, and it is with bad grace that 
 any operator comes before a body with a knowledge of the facts in the 
 case and tries to lead them to believe that the miners of that state are 
 responsible for this condition, because there are no men who fought 
 harder against the establishment of that condition than the practical 
 miners who were in that state in advance of the operators themselves. 
 
 Mr. Traer may ha^e done it innocently or for the purpose of a joke, 
 
 I cannot say, but it puts the miners in a wrong position in the matter, 
 if we allowed his statement to go uncorrected, and if this is putting the 
 operators right to their dislike they have only Mr. Traer to blame for it. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: An adjourned meeting of the members 
 of the Congress, from the Schenley Hotel last evening, will be held at 
 
 II o'clock tomorrow in this hall. 
 
 We have with us Mr. J. G. Beard, representing the National Asso- 
 ciation of Mine Directors, who will make a short statement if he is 
 present. 
 
 MR. J. G. BEARD, SCRANTON, PA.: Mr. Chairman and Members 
 of the American Mining Congress: I have asked for a few moments 
 in behalf of our association, of our institute of the Mine Inspectors 
 of America to extend to this Congress our felicitation and our feelings 
 of assurance of co-operation with the American Mining Congress in the 
 work that they have undertaken to do. It may not be known to all of 
 us, in fact it was not known to the members of our own institute until 
 recently that so many of our members were members of this Congress. 
 There were some 50 or 60, possibly 70 of our members present, and in 
 a short, brief meeting this morning they wanted to make this statement 
 that we have drawn up. You have not heard from these men as you 
 might have expected to have heard if they were present in such a body, 
 for one particular reason which I think all will appreciate. The mine 
 inspector perhaps above everybody else is a conservative man. He is 
 a man that says very little in public, and he is very cautious about what 
 he does say, and for this reason our mine inspectors have not been heard 
 from as they might have been expected to have been in a congress like 
 this. But in a meeting this morning they expressed the desire to present 
 a statement to this Congress. 
 
 Some of the statements incorporated in this brief expression may 
 seem to be rather strong, especially in regard to the causes of mine ex- 
 plosions. It was not the idea or the intention of our committee and the 
 members of our institute in any way to make the assertion that we 
 understood the cause of the Marianna explosion. Of course that would 
 be wholly premature; we know nothing as to those causes. We know 
 nothing of the explosion as yet, but the statement has been made so 
 strong day before yesterday and again today that these explosions are 
 a mystery and that they cannot be understood, that what occurs in an 
 explosion of dust and gas is so much of a mystery that we may expect 
 it at any time and may never expect to be free from the dread results, 
 those statements were made so strong that we did not consider after 
 three thoughtful and careful discussions they should be allowed to stand 
 without being refuted. I thank you, Mr. Chairman, and beg to present 
 the following: 
 
 STATEMENT OF THE MINE INSPECTORS' INSTITUTE OF AMERICA. 
 
 The Mine Inspectors' Institute of the U. S. A. present as the invited 
 guests of the American Mining Congress now assembled at Pittsburg, 
 Pa., desire to thank the officers and members of the Congress for their 
 
104 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 cordial invitation to be present and confer with them on matters of signal 
 concern to both of these organizations. 
 
 While the American Mining Congress is a body of mining men or- 
 ganized for the purpose of considering questions relating to the welfare 
 and safety of mining operations and using their efforts to secure remedial 
 legislation both in state and federal governments. 
 
 The Mine Inspectors' Institute of America is a body composed of 
 all the mine inspectors of the United States, organized for the purpose 
 of conferring together, and thus securing the mutual aid and assistance 
 of all mining states, in ascertaining not only the causes that produce mine 
 explosions, but what measures can be adopted in and about mines to 
 increase the security of the mine and the safety of those who work 
 therein. 
 
 The members of the Institute wish to take this opportunity of assert- 
 ing with emphasis, their belief individually and collectively, as con- 
 firmed by the life-long experience of its oldest members engaged in the 
 daily inspection of mines, that the causes of mine explosions are known, 
 and that it is possible by the united efforts of all those who have the best 
 interest of the miner at heart, to greatly reduce the liability to explosion 
 of gas and dust in mines, and eventually make the occupation of the 
 miner as safe as the average of other trades and callings. 
 
 In the opinion of the members of our Institute, it would be a grave 
 error to allow the statement to stand unrebuked by this Congress 
 that the causes of mine explosions are not known. It is the business 
 and concern of all mining men and particularly of our Institute and of 
 this Congress to ascertain such causes. The reports of the mine inspectors 
 of our several states made subsequent to the terrible disasters that have 
 occurred from time to time in this country, which reports have been 
 widely published, have denned the causes and in many instances have 
 formed the basis of remedial measures; but in all cases these published 
 reports of the inspectors made after careful and painstaking investiga- 
 tions in the mine have resulted in re-establishing the confidence of the 
 miner and mining men in general that there is no hidden mystery in these 
 dread happenings that has escaped human knowledge and experience. 
 
 The Institute only expresses the feelings that arise in every human 
 heart when it extends to the 'bereaved families and friends of the victims 
 of the late lamentable Marianna disaster, the sympathy of every member 
 of the Institute. 
 
 The Mine Inspectors' Institute of the United States of America de- 
 sires to extend to the American Mining Congress their thanks and as- 
 surance of their hearty co-operation in the great work we have under- 
 taken to do. 
 
 (Signed) TOM MOSES, 111. 
 
 THOS. K. ADAMS, Pa. 
 
 JOS. WILLIAMS, Pa. 
 
 THOS, H. PRICE, Pa. 
 
 W. H. TURNER, Ohio. 
 
 C. J. NORWOOD, Ky. 
 
 J. A. SPRINGER. W. Va. 
 
 PETER HANRATY, Okla. 
 
 J. G. BEARD, Secy, of Com. Pa. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Before we adjourn the secretary wants 
 to call attention to some things that are on his table. 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: I have three very important and very 
 interesting papers, but I personally could not possibly read them to you 
 tonight. The first is a paper by Judge George F. Gray, of Delaware, 
 upon the question of arbitration, and as much of it will appear in the 
 public press, and as all of it will be printed in the proceedings, I would 
 like to ask your permission to read it by title and have it appear in the 
 proceedings. 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 105 
 
 Judge Gray's paper will be found on page 230, Fart II.. of this report. 
 
 The next paper is upon the same subject by Honorable Carroll D. 
 Wright, for many years United States Labor Commissioner and now 
 the president of Clark College of Worcester, Mass. This is a very in- 
 teresting paper, and I would like to ask for it the same privilege. 
 
 Mr. Wright's paper will be found on page 52, Part II., of this report. 
 
 The third is a paper upon transportation as it affects the mining in- 
 dustry, by Edward H. Harriman. This is a very lengthy, a very exhaus- 
 tive and a very interesting paper, but it will be impossible for me, at 
 least, to read it tonight, and as much of this paper will appear in the 
 newspapers and as all of it will be published in a very short time in our 
 proceedings, I beg to ask that this also may be read by title and printed 
 in the proceedings. 
 
 Mr. Harriman's paper will be found on page 38, Part II., of this report. 
 
 The Congress then adjourned until Saturday, December 5, 1908, at 
 10 o'clock a. m. 
 
 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1908. 
 Morning Session. 
 
 The Congress was called to order by President Richards. 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: Mr. President, Resolution No. 20 has 
 been introduced and gone to the Committee on Resolutions without read- 
 ing, the chairman insisting on having the resolution at once in order 
 that the committee might have time to give it consideration. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We had better read it. 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: The committee has the only copy 
 which was prepared. 
 
 We have a communication which I know will be of particular in- 
 terest to those who are present, and I am sorry there are not more here 
 to get this word of encouragement from the men who today stands 
 pre-eminent in the United States, President-elect William H. T'aft. 
 
 PRESIDENT-ELECT TAFT'S LETTER. 
 
 Hot Springs, Va., November 30, 1908. 
 My Dear Sir: 
 
 I regret exceedingly my inability to accept your invitation to attend 
 and address the American Mining Congress at its approaching session 
 in Pittsburg. I am glad of an opportunity, however, to express my in- 
 terest in the important work which the Mining Congress is doing in 
 behalf of the mining industry and my desire to encourage and to co- 
 operate in this work in every possible way. 
 
 The mining industry in this country, which is second only to agri- 
 culture in its contribution to the national wealth, which furnishes more 
 than 65 per cent of the total freight traffic of the country, and which 
 employs more than a million men in its difficult and dangerous tasks, 
 deserves all the assistance which this government can render it. No 
 country is so rich in those resources which make for great and permanent 
 wealth as is the United States; but this condition of itself has helped de- 
 velop a national habit of waste in the use of our forests, our soils, our 
 minerals, and other resources. Fortunately, however, the public con- 
 science of the country is awakening to both the loss of life and waste of 
 materials in all our industries; and we must see to it that the movement 
 is guided wisely and carried forward to success. 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 WM. H. TAFT. 
 Mr. James F. Callbreath, Jr., Secretary, American Mining Congress, 
 
 Pittsburg, Pa. 
 
106 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH : Along the line of much of the discus- 
 sions of this session, an editorial which came to the office this morning, 
 published in the Daily Mining Record of Denver, Colorado, being so far 
 distant from the center of coal production, seems to be one of timely 
 interest, and one which should be made a part of the records of the pro- 
 ceedings of this Congress. To that end and with your permission I will 
 read this short editorial: 
 
 The Plea of the Dead. 
 
 It is an interesting, though tragic, coincidence that the American 
 Mining Congress enters its session at Pittsburg at the very time of the 
 frightful disaster at the Marianna coal mines, a few miles away. Per- 
 haps the foremost subject before the gathering is that of providing means 
 to increase the safety of mine workers. And there is a touch of irony 
 in the circumstance that the government representatives are present 
 at Pittsburg to attend the dedication of the experimental station, which 
 has been established to discover safeguards against explosions in coal 
 mines. The one hundred or more miners, whose lives have just been 
 sacrificed to the needs of society, will send their memories to that 
 dedication, to plead more eloquently than all the scientific utterances that 
 may be there addressed. 
 
 This is the time of the year when coal bills are presented to the 
 householder, and the average citizen understands that comfort has its 
 expenses. To be reminded, at the same time, that the cost of his own 
 comfort does not cover the price of horror, is for him to wonder why he 
 regularly burns the bodies of suffocated miners in his home. If he does 
 so wonder, we doubt not that he suggests his own willingness, if that 
 be necessary, to add something to his fuel outlay for the betterment of 
 the conditions under which he is benefited. 
 
 There is no other problem before the country that demands such 
 prompt attack as this. There is scarcely any sacrifice that the jnation 
 should not make to satisfy the pleas of humanity. Not only does it fall 
 within the province of the coal-mining states, whose representatives are 
 in special conference upon this subject during the present week, to enact 
 effective legislative measures, but the national government should be 
 continually urged to increase its vigilance and expenditures in this 
 direction. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Before calling on the gentlemen who are 
 to address us under the regular program as announced on yesterday af- 
 ternoon the special order of the meeting of the members of the Congress 
 for electing new directors is at 11 o'clock, so that any one will have the 
 right to call that up as a part of the special order. In our regular pro- 
 gram we have first on the list "The Mineral Resources of Virginia," 
 by Mr. E. A. Schubert, of Roanoke, Virginia. 
 
 MR. SCHUBERT: Mr. President and Gentlemen of the American 
 Mining Congress, and Ladies: Before entering on the delivery of my 
 paper I desire to show you a copy of a work entitled "The Mineral 
 Resources of Virginia," by Doctor Thomas L. Watson. Any person desir- 
 ing a copy of this, by giving me his name and address will be supplied 
 with the same free of charge. I believe an examination of this publica- 
 tion will demonstrate that the Old Dominion has a book which sets out 
 its possibilities equal if not superior to any work of the kind ever pub- 
 lished in any of the states. It is for this purpose that I ask you to accept 
 it with the compliments of Governor Swanson of the State of Virginia 
 if you so desire. (Applause.) I further desire to say that I am willing 
 to be one of twenty gentlemen of this convention to guarantee to the 
 American Mining Congress five members at $25.00 each for the ensuing 
 year. (Applause.) 
 
 I further desire to say that there never in my history has been 
 another deliberative body of so much profound thought and wherein sucfi 
 timely suggestions have been offered as before this convention in the 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 107 
 
 City of Pittsburg. I regret, however, and I am saying this without sug- 
 gestion from any one, that we should in convening this convention in 
 the City of Pittsburg receive criticisms from one of the leading mining 
 journals of the United States for bringing this Congress east of the 
 Mississippi river. I am sorry that such an editorial was published, and 
 I only trust that it was a misunderstanding and was not intentional. I 
 might add further that what I have to say in this paper may provoke 
 some emphatic criticism. 
 
 I am not infallible; I am only human, but the statements that I am 
 here to present to you are based on years of exploratory work in the 
 Old Dominion and Southern States. In conclusion, Mr. President, I desire 
 to extend to the American Mining Congress an invitation to meet at 
 some point in the State of Virginia in the year 1910, two years hence, 
 and we will give you a royal welcome. 
 
 Mr. Schubert's paper will be found on page 124, Part II., of this 
 report. 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: Mr. S. Duffield Mitchell, of Carthage, 
 Missouri, is not here, but has sent his paper to me, entitled "A Tariff 
 Duty on Zinc Ores," and I ask that it be read by title and be made a 
 part of the record of the Congress. 
 
 This motion was seconded, and it was so ordered. 
 
 Mr. Mitchell's paper will be found on page 212, Part II., of this report. 
 
 MR. A. W. ESTES, OF ARKANSAS: I have a paper entitled "The 
 Mineral Resources of Arkansas." I just want to say that inasmuch as 
 the time for the special order of business is here, and inasmuch as there 
 can be no dispute as to the variety of the mineral resources of Arkansas 
 as being as great of those of Virginia or those of any other state in ihe 
 Union, I ask that my paper be read by title. 
 
 It was so ordered. 
 
 Mr. Estes' paper will be found on page 146, Part II., of this report. 
 
 A similar order was made as to paper by Prof. Robert H. Bradford, 
 Professor of Mining, Utah State University, Salt Lake City, Utah, entitle'! 
 "Utah's New Development in Mining." 
 
 Mr. Bradford's paper will be found on page 101, Part II., of this report. 
 
 A similar order was made as to paper by Dr. Herman Fleck, Pro- 
 fessor of Chemistry, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, entitled 
 "The New Mining Industry The Rare Metals." 
 
 Dr. Fleck's paper will be found on page 204, Part II., of this report. 
 
 A similar order was made as to paper by Mr. W. A. Thomas, Com- 
 mercial Engineer, Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company, 
 entitled "Electricity as Applied to Mining." 
 
 Mr. Thomas' paper will be found on page 196, Part II., of this re- 
 port. 
 
 MR. STEELE: I have a matter that I would like to bring to the 
 attention of this meeting and that is in regard to one of the committees 
 that was appointed from which we have heard no report. It is a very 
 important committee and is entitled the Committee on Alaskan Mining 
 Law. Let me say that this committee is one of the most important com- 
 mittees, especially to the people of the Northwest. It is urgent I be- 
 lieve, coming from the suggestions of the Secretary of the Interior that 
 they might report to this Congress and that this Congress might recom- 
 mend to the Secretary of the Interior or other departments such laws 
 as might be necessary for the development of the mining industry in 
 Alaska. I would like, Mr. Chairman, that this committee be continued as 
 a committee, with a change in the personnel of the committee, for the 
 reason that we believe we have just as competent men within the limits 
 of Alaska to suggest changes in the mining law as they have in Seattle 
 or elsewhere. Wie believe that we know what we want. We believe that 
 we can ask the Congress of the United States or this American Mining 
 Congress to assist us better than our neighbors can ask it for us. There- 
 
108 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 fore, sir, I would move you that this present committee be discharged 
 and that a committee composed of Alaskans on Alaska Mining Law be 
 appointed by the President of this Congress, if I can get a second. 
 
 MR. M. E. KOONIE, O'F ALASKA: I wish to second the motion 
 which has just been made. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: A motion has just been made and second- 
 ed that the present committee be discharged and the president of this 
 organization appoint a new committee of citizens of Alaska. Are you 
 ready for the question? 
 
 MR. W;OODS:. I would like to know if that committee that it is 
 desired to discharge has any report to make to this Congress. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Mr. Secretary, has the Committee on 
 Alaskan Laws any report to make? 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: The committee appointed a sub-com- 
 mittee, and that sub-committee went over the matter and made a recom- 
 mendation, but instead of sending it to the committee appointed oy this 
 Congress, they sent it direct to the Secretary of the Congress. I immedi- 
 ately wrote back to the chairman of the committee and called his atten- 
 tion to the fact that this report had been made to me and telling him 
 that the report must go through his committee in order to be recognized 
 by the Congress. I have had no response to that request and there is 
 no report before this Congress. 
 
 MR. WOODS: I am in favor of this motion personally, but I thought 
 it would be courtesy to hear from the committee if there was any report 
 first. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Is there any further discussion? 
 
 (No response.) 
 
 The motion was then put, and carried. 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: The Resolutions Committee report back resolu- 
 tion No. 19, introduced by John G. Ross, and your committee recommends 
 that said resolution be spread upon the proceedings of the Congress as 
 an expression of the views of the officials of West Virginia on the origin 
 of and protection against mine disasters. 
 
 Mr. President, I would move that the recommendation of the com- 
 mittee be adopted. 
 
 The secretary read the resolution. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: If there is no objection the recommenda- 
 tion of the committee will be declared adopted. Hearing none, it is 
 so ordered. 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: The Resolutions Committee report back resolu- 
 tions No. 15, No. 11, No. 12 and No. 3, and recommend that they be re- 
 ferred to a special committee of three to be appointed by the President 
 of the American Mining Congress, with the request that these resolu- 
 tions be considered carefully and report made to the officers of the Con- 
 gress and to each member and delegate of the Eleventh Annual Session 
 of the American Mining Congress. 
 
 Resolution No. 15, by David G. Ross of Illinois, refers to compensa- 
 tion given men who are injured within the mines; No. 11 is by H. Bau- 
 mann, and refers to electric shot firing, and No. 12 is by F. Wilson 
 Henderson, and it refers to a committee to be appointed to act in con- 
 junction with the United States Geological survey with regard to the 
 testing demonstrations of different systems of ventilation. No. 3 is by 
 Peter Hanraty on mine accident. All of these resolutions refer to the 
 same subject, practically. 
 
 Mr. President, I move you that the recommendation of this com- 
 mittee be adopted. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have heard the motion. Is there 
 any discussion. If there is no objection it will be declared that the recom- 
 mendation of the committee is adopted. Hearing none, it is so ordered. 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 109 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: Resolution No. 18, introduced by W. F. R. Mills, 
 refers to the testing plant, the Resolutions Committee reports this reso- 
 lution back with the recommendation that it do pass. 
 
 Mr. President, I move you that the recommendation of this com- 
 mittee be adopted. 
 
 The secretary read the resolution. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have heard the recommendation of 
 the committee on resolutions. Are you ready for the question? If there 
 is no objection the recommendation will be adopted. Hearing none, it 
 is so ordered. 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: Resolution No. 20, introduced by Fred C. Keighley, 
 regarding Water Storage and Reforestation, Your Committee on Reso- 
 lutions respectfully recommend that said resolution be referred to the 
 Committee on Forestry. 
 
 Mr. President, I would move you that the recommendation of the 
 committee be adopted. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read the resolution. 
 
 M;R. BANCROFT: Wfrs the motion that the report of the Resolu- 
 tions Committee be adopted? 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: What was the report? 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: That it be referred to the Committee on Forestry. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have heard the recommendation 
 of the Committee on Resolutions. Any remarks? Hearing none, the 
 report of the committee is declared adopted. 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: Resolution No. 9, by J. G. McHenry. This resolu- 
 tion will be read by the secretary. Your Committee on Resolutions, to 
 which this resolution was referred, recommends that it be referred to 
 the Board of Directors with a request that a committee of five be ap- 
 pointed, to which committee this resolution shall be referred with instruc- 
 tions to report an equitable plan to carry out the spirit and intent of 
 this resolution in a practical manner, such committee to report at the 
 earliest possible time. 
 
 Mr. President, I would move you that the report of the committee on 
 this resolution be adopted. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read the resolution. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have heard the recommendations 
 of the Committee on Resolutions; any remarks? Hearing none, the rec- 
 ommendations of the Committee on Resolutions will be declared adopted. 
 
 DR. BUCKLEY: Resolution No. 13, by W. P. Daniels, This resolu- 
 tion refers to mining frauds. Your Committee on Resolutions recommend 
 that this be referred to a committee on protection against mining frauds, 
 and urge its speedy consideration. I believe the bill submitted wim this 
 resolution contains many valuable suggestions, which should in a proper 
 legal manner be prepared for submission to the several states. 
 
 Mr. President, I move you that the report of the committee on 
 this resolution be adopted. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have heard the report of the com- 
 mittee; any remarks? 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I do not rise to oppose the adoption of the report 
 of the committee. I am a little disappointed in the report, because I 
 dislike a further postponement of action by the Congress on this ques- 
 tion. The Congress has had this matter under consideration for three 
 years now, and has accomplished practically nothing. This bill will be 
 presented to the next session of the Colorado legislature, and an effort 
 will be made to have it enacted into law by that state. I very much 
 regret that it cannot be before that legislature with the unanimous 
 endorsement of this congress. With that brief explanation I second the 
 motion to adopt the report of the committee. 
 
 ' PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have heard the motion. Are you 
 ready for the question? If there is no objection the report of the com- 
 mittee will be declared adopted. Hearing none, it is so ordered. 
 
110 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 
 
 SENATOR DICK: I move the adoption of the following resolution: 
 
 Resolution of Thanks. 
 (Introduced by Senator Charles Dick of Ohio.) 
 
 Resolved, That the American Mining Congress in session assembled, 
 hereby extends its grateful thanks to the city of Pittsburg, through its 
 mayor; to the Chamber of Commerce, through its president; to Mr. 
 Samuel A. Taylor, chairman of the local executive committee; to Mr. 
 John W. Boileau, Mr. W. G. Wilkins. Dr. M. E. Wads worth, Mr. W. R. 
 Wbodford, Mr. John B. Jones and Mr. J. W. Wardrop, members of the 
 Executive Committee, and Chairmen of the several sub-committtes, and 
 to their associates; to the public press of the city; to the President, 
 Judge J. H. Richards, the Secretary, Mr. Jas. F. Callbreath, and the asso- 
 ciate officers of the American Mining Congress, and to all those who have 
 so ably contributed to the successful outcome and results of this, the 
 Eleventh Annual Meeting of the American Mining Congress. 
 
 The resolution was unanimously adopted. 
 
 I have requested Dr. Holmes to make a brief statement about the 
 visit of the Congress to the government station for mine investigation, 
 which we visited Thursday afternoon. 
 
 DR. HOLMES: Mr. President and Gentlemen: I do not feel that 
 I should like to lose the opportunity before this meeting adjourns, be- 
 cause I have unfortunately not been able to attend all the sessions owing 
 to the necessity of attending the sessions of another body meeting here 
 at the same time on a related subject. I want to make perfectly clear 
 that the experiment station is here for the investigation of mines, ex- 
 plosives and for the purpose of benefiting the mining industries of this 
 country in every possible way; and I want the members of the Congress 
 who are here representing those mining industries to feel that this sta- 
 tion belongs to them. 
 
 It will be necessary for us to have a considerable amount of time at 
 that station for conducting real investigations. For that purpose it is 
 the desire of the management that on about four days in the week, the 
 work of the station will go on uninterrupted by the necessity of making 
 tests for different people under different conditions, but we propose to 
 set aside two days, Friday and Saturday, of every week, at which time 
 the operators in different parts of the country can bring samples of 
 dust from their mines and the explosives they are using, bring their 
 mine foremen and mine superintendents and managers, and come them- 
 selves, and make tests or co-operate in making tests in which they are 
 particularly interested. We will put on double shifts and work day and 
 night if it is necessary for the accomplishment of this purpose. 
 
 One other suggestion, Mr. Chairman, and that is concerning mine 
 prospecting on public lands: 
 
 Every member of this Congress appreciates what is a growing source 
 of friction throughout a large part of the West with reference to pros- 
 pecting in the forest reserves and on public lands. I am glad that this 
 agitation has brought out the sources and cause of that friction. I am 
 sure that the Secretary of the Interior and the Chief of the Forest Service 
 are anxious to do away with that friction; and I believe that oh request 
 to do so by the President of this oganization the Secretary of the Interior 
 would be willing to appoint an impartial commission of mining men who 
 will represent no special interests, but represent the mining interests 
 and the public interests of this country, to go through the West and 
 discuss this situation with the mining men and submit to him (the Sec- 
 retary) recommendations as to measures which will probably safeguard 
 all these interests thoroughly. 
 
 I believe the Secretary of the Interior will act upon this suggestion 
 to the satisfaction of all the mining men of that great western country. 
 I believe, therefore, that this agitation and a request of that kind, coming 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 111 
 
 from our president, will lead to permanent positive good, not only for 
 the present but for the future. All of us who are interested in mining 
 want the mining interests of this country properly recognized and prop- 
 erly taken care of, and properly fostered; and I assure you that the 
 Secretary of the Interior is anxious to co-operate with you in the accomp- 
 lishment of this important purpose. (Applause.) 
 
 MIR. LUCE, OF NEVADA: I would like to ask when the members 
 or committee will meet to consider the question of selecting the place 
 for the next meeting. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: When this organization first started it 
 was composed entirely of a delegate system, and those delegates received 
 invitations from various sections of the country where they wanted to 
 hold the next session. After this organization was incorporated the by- 
 laws provided that the board of directors should determine the place 
 of holding the next session. But as we had a very large delegate at- 
 tendance, in order that they might feel that they had been treated fairly, 
 the custom has been for years to receive an invitation at large in the 
 session and let the delegates and members vote as to their recommenda- 
 tion to the board of directors where the next session should be held. 
 But I am in this position now, no action having been taken, as provided 
 by the by-laws, that the board of directors determine the place of hold- 
 ing the next session. The recommendation of the last session was to 
 hold it at Columbus, Ohio. There seems to have been a misunderstanding 
 in some way about that, and the directors decided to hold it at Pittsburg. 
 Under the by-laws the boa.rd of directors determine the place of holding 
 the next session. The board of directors will meet at the Colonial hotel 
 at 2:30 o'clock this afternoon for organization. At 3:30 we will be glad 
 to receive anyone who desires to have the next session of this Congress 
 held in his locality. 
 
 This concludes all that we have to present to this Congress for its 
 consideration at this session. 
 
 MiR. DANIELS: I was absent from the Congress at the time the 
 partial report of the Forestry Committee was presented, and I have been 
 informed that the report was simply adopted, but that no provision was 
 made for its execution; is that correct? 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBRBATH: I think the report carried its own 
 recommendation, but I have not examined it. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I wish, then, Mr. President, to tender my resigna- 
 tion as a member of the Forestry Committee in order that I may without 
 embarrassment make a motion later. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I do not know that I have the power to 
 accept the resignation. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I was appointed by you. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: During the session, I have limited powers. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: There will be no further meeting of the Congress 
 after we adjourn now. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: No. I do not believe you will be very 
 much embarrassed if you will get at that question right. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: The idea is, the committee has barely begun its 
 investigations. It took up one particular matter from which the mining 
 industry in the West, metal miners, are suffering daily, and it made 
 a report upon that one particular matter. I believe, however, in order 
 to make that report effective that this Congress should take some definite 
 action in regard to carrying out the recommendation of the committee. 
 The embarrassment that I feel in regard to it is that it seems to me that 
 the proper committee to carry out that recommendation is the Forestry 
 Committee. I really do not like to make a motion to send myself to 
 interview Mr. Pinchot, and if necessary to interview the Secretary of the 
 Interior and Agriculture, 
 
112 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I think Mr. Brownlee is the chairman 
 of the committee and that perhaps we ought to send a telegram to Mr. 
 Pinchot. I will say this, that I expect to leave tonight for Washington, 
 and will meet him there personally on Monday. 
 
 COLONEL BROW]NLEE: Mr. President, when that report was sub- 
 mitted, it carried with it a recommendation that the Congress petition 
 the National Forest Service to enforce the act of June 3, 1878, whereby 
 the miner could secure the free use of timber on lands open to mineral 
 location. That was adopted by the Congress. It seems to me that all 
 that is necessary is to present those recommendations to the forest 
 service and notify them that the Congress adopted them. And I think 
 that all that could be done under the circumstances, and if that is done, 
 I have no doubt whatever but what it will receive the consideration of 
 the Forest Service. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Are there any other matters you desire 
 to present before adjournment? 
 
 (No further matters were presented.) 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: This closes our work so far as the of- 
 ficers have anything to suggest. 
 
 SENATO'R DICK: I move the convention adjourn sine die. 
 
 The motion was seconded and was duly carried, and the Congress 
 stood adjourned. 
 
 MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING OF MEMBERS. 
 
 A meeting of the members of the American Mining Congress was held 
 at the Hotel Schenley, Pittsburg, Pa., on Thursday evening, December 3, 
 1908, pursuant to notice duly mailed to each member more than thirty 
 days prior to said meeting, a copy of which notice follows: 
 "Notice of Annual Meeting. 
 
 "A meeting of the members of the American Mining Congress is 
 hereby called to meet at Pittsburg, Pa., on Thursday, December 3, 1908, 
 at 8 o'clock p. m., for the election of three Directors to hold office for 
 three years, to succeed E. A. Colburn, Alexander Dempster and L. W. 
 Powell, whose terms of office as Directors expire, and for the transaction 
 of such other business as may properly be brought before said meeting. 
 
 "By order of the Executive Committee, 
 
 "J. H. RICHARDS, President. 
 
 "JAS. F. CALLBREATH, JR., Secretary. 
 "Denver, Colo." 
 
 The meeting was called to order by Vice-President E. R. Buckley. 
 
 The minutes of the special meeting of members held at Denver, Colo- 
 rado, on July 15, 1908, for the purpose of voting upon amendments 
 to the By-Laws, were read, excepting certain parts thereof, the reading of 
 which was by special order dispensed with, and upon motion duly sec- 
 onded and carried, the minutes were approved. 
 
 The Secretary presented his report of the receipts and expenses, as 
 follows: 
 
 FINANCIAL STATEMENT OF SECRETARY FOR PERIOD NOVEMBER 
 1, 1907, TO NOVEMBER 1, 1908. 
 
 Receipts. 
 
 Cash on hand November 1, 1907 $ 193.12 
 
 Received from Life Memberships 1,230.00 
 
 Received from Annual Memberships 3,315.00 
 
 Received from Annual Dues 4,742.80 
 
 Joplin Convention fund 3,000.00 
 
 Voluntary contribution, Jesse Knight, Provo, Utah 100.00 
 
 Total receipts $12,580.92 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 113 
 
 Disbursements. 
 
 (Covered by Vouchers Nos. 396 to 592%, inclusive, excepting No. 420, 
 
 not used.) 
 
 Secretary's salary $ 3,600.00 
 
 Stenographers' salaries 1,410.30 
 
 Organizers' salaries 1,497.76 
 
 Office expense 167.76 
 
 Printing and Stationery 942.47 
 
 Postage 590.00 
 
 Secretary's traveling expenses 1,437.35 
 
 (Including $780.85 expense at Washington, D. C., on behalf 
 of Bill for National Bureau of Mines and expense in con- 
 nection with Joplin Convention.) 
 
 Traveling expenses of organizers 1,822.30 
 
 Miscellaneous expense, exchange, etc 502.24 
 
 Refunds to local branches, Bisbee, Seattle and Spokane 365.50 
 
 Total disbursements $12,335.68 
 
 Total receipts 12,580.92 
 
 Total disbursements 12,335.68 
 
 Balance on hand November 1, 1908 $ 245.24 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 JAS. F. CALLBREATH, JR., Secretary. 
 
 The report of the Auditing Committee was then read by the Secre- 
 tary, as follows: 
 
 Denver, Colo., Nov. 1, 1908. 
 
 We, the undersigned, members of the Auditing Committee of the 
 American Mining Congress, beg to report that the books of the Secretary 
 show as follows: 
 Cash on hand last report $ 193.12 
 
 Receipts as follows: 
 
 Life Memberships 1,230.00 
 
 Annual Memberships 3,315.00 
 
 Annual Dues 4,742.80 
 
 Contributions 3,100.00 
 
 Total receipts $12,580.92 
 
 Disbursements, covered by Vouchers Nos. 396 to 592%, inclusive, except- 
 ing No. 420, not used. 
 
 Secretary's salary $ 3,600.00 
 
 Stenographers' salaries 1,410.30 
 
 Organizers' salaries 1,497.76 
 
 Office expense 167.76 
 
 Printing and Stationery 942.47 
 
 Postage 590.00 
 
 Secretary's traveling expenses 1,437.35 
 
 Representatives' traveling expenses 1,822.30 
 
 Miscellaneous expense, exchange, etc 502.24 
 
 Refunds 365.50 
 
 Total disbursements $12,336.68 
 
 Total receipts 12,580.92 
 
 Total disbursements 12,335.68 
 
 Balance on hand, November 1, 1908 $ 245.24 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 E. G. REINERT, 
 W. E. BRIDGMAN, 
 Members Auditing Committee. 
 
114 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 It was thereupon duly moved that the Secretary'.s report and the re- 
 port of the Auditing Committee be approved and placed on file, said 
 motion being seconded, was duly put and carried. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I desire to reintroduce here at this meeting of mem- 
 bers the resolution presented by me which was read in general session, 
 for your action. I wish, however, to say that in my opinion that resolu- 
 tion should be acted upon by the Congress itself, and it was because of 
 that opinion that it was introduced in the Congress originally instead of 
 at this meeting of members. It is a resolution that looks to the entire 
 change in the personnel of the Congress itself in its membership. It 
 looks to such a change in the by-laws as shall provide for membership 
 only, and not for any representation by delegates appointed by com- 
 mercial, municipal or state authorities. It does not look to the adoption 
 of the laws themselves, but it simply provides for a committee to con- 
 sider such a revision to report to the next meeting of the Congress. 
 
 I am still of the opinion that that resolution snould properly go be- 
 fore the Congress, and not be acted upon by this meeting. I believe that 
 the gentlemen who are members of that Congress by virtue of being ap- 
 pointed delegates have as much interest and should have something to 
 say in regard to the disposition of a resolution of that character, but in 
 order that it may not be finally defeated by a technicality, that it may 
 not tomorrow when it shall be probably reported back by the committee, 
 be defeated entirely by the fact that this meeting has been held, I intro- 
 duce that resolution here tonight and move its adoption. 
 
 The resolution provides for the appointment by the President of the 
 Congress of a committee of three, who shall take up the matter of a re- 
 vision of our laws, and such changes in our laws as shall do away en- 
 tirely with delegate representation in the Congress, that will provide for 
 local and state organizations to be subordinate to the national organiza- 
 tion, which shall consist entirely of representatives from such subordinate 
 organizations, with an expression that in justice to those who have here- 
 tofore under our present by-laws, and who may hereafter before they may 
 be changed, become life members, should be continued as members of the 
 general Congress, with full rights of membership. I believe that is a fair 
 and reasonable and complete explanation of the tenor of the resolution, 
 and if the gentlemen who are present here, members of the Congress, be- 
 lieve with me that it should go before the general meeting of the Con- 
 gress and be acted upon by the Congress and not by this meeting of mem- 
 bers, I shall be entirely satisfied if action is not taken here to-night, and 
 it is left for the Congress to pass upon It. 
 
 If, however, there is a majority opinion that it is for the members 
 alone, I want to do the best that I possibly can to have the resolution 
 adopted, because I believe it means the absolute life of this organization, 
 and I believe that the time has nearly come, if it has not quite arrived, 
 when the American Mining Congress should cast off its swaddling 
 clothes, and should make for itself a permanent and real business organ- 
 ization and provide for representative membership in the national Con- 
 gress that has control over the subordinate bodies. 
 
 MR. DEMPSTER: I would like to inquire if there is a constitution 
 and by-laws governing this society. 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: Yes, sir. 
 
 MR. DEMPSTER: By what means are any modifications or amend- 
 ments to be made, under that constitution and by-laws? 
 
 MR. RICHARDS: Mr. Chairman, if you will permit me I would make 
 an explanation. I have attended every session of this Congress except 
 one. In its inception, the Congress was known as the International Min- 
 ing Congress, which had simply a representative or delegate system, with 
 no definite purpose or plan for the future; something on the basis of the 
 Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress. That went along for several 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 115 
 
 years until we held our session at Butte, Montana. As the result of a 
 controversy there, I was selected to preside over the Congress the next 
 year, and the experiences at that time set me to thinking as to a definite 
 purpose for the future. With the assistance of Dr. Buckley, who was 
 very largely responsible, we devised a definite plan which was presented 
 at Deadwood, South Dakota, at our next session there, and we there or- 
 ganized, and I was instructed as President of the Congress to incorporate 
 the Congress as an incorporated body with a membership; but we felt 
 it was best to still hold the delegate system until, as suggested 
 by Mr. Daniels, a time should come when we should grow out of our 
 swaddling clothes. That delegate system has been very useful in giv- 
 ing enthusiasm at least and energy to our annal sessions, and it has 
 prevented us to some extent from getting into ruts. 
 
 We are incorporated under the laws of the State of Colorado, and we 
 are governed by the incorporation laws of that state and the by-laws were 
 drawn with reference to the statutes under which we were organized 
 and incorporated. We have continued the delegate system thus far, and 
 have found it quite useful because it spreads a larger interest over the 
 nation. Now we are trying to nationalize this organization, as will be 
 very clearly indicated to you when I have delivered what is called the 
 President's annual address, at which time I hope to place before you in 
 terms that are as clear as possible the purposes and aims, or some of 
 them, at least, of this organization. 
 
 I do not want to do anything that would prevent the growth of this 
 organization in a proper manner, but in my judgment, and I have been 
 President of this organization now for six consecutive years, I doubt the 
 wisdom of a change at this time, at least until we see the effect of this 
 meeting in the eastern part of this country. My impression is that the 
 Eastern people are coming to understand us a little better, and when they 
 do we will at least command their respect if not their entire confidence. 
 It is a matter of growth. My difficulty as a presiding officer over this 
 organization for the last six years has been, to use a homely phrase, to 
 hold the breeching tightly upon this organization, that it might not be 
 too radical. It is a question of growth. We must first make ourselves 
 respectable, and then we will be respected, and if we grow sanely we 
 will finally command the confidence of the best mining thought of this 
 nation. And that is my ultimate purpose so far as my influence has been 
 over this organization. 
 
 I think you will notice before this session is over that the delegates 
 here have been of service at this session, and in this way we gather a 
 larger membership. What we need to help us do the work that should 
 be done is an income of $50,000 a year, which would mean a membership 
 of b,000. We could expend that amount wisely, and you will notice at 
 the session we had to-day the questions that were presented demonstrate 
 this idea, that if you can bring together the best thought of this nation 
 from all its great commonwealths, those interested in labor, and in all 
 forms of industrial progress, where they can meet on a common level, 
 we will yet get them into a higher form of co-operation. If we can exer- 
 cise any influence in bringing together and harmonizing those great fac- 
 tors in industrial progress, labor and capital, our work shall not be in 
 vain; and it was demonstrated to-day that these interests can meet with 
 us and discuss those questions fairly and on a common level, and I be- 
 lieve it will have a great influence, but I do not think the time has yet 
 come when we can leave off our swaddling clothes, as has been expressed. 
 W'e need still the influence of those delegates, in my judgment. How- 
 ever, I am only expressing my own views. It might be well to appoint 
 a committee to investigate this matter and report at the next session, and 
 see what might be done, but certainly at this time I doubt the wisdom 
 of this action. 
 
116 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 Now, as to the nominating committee. We want to get as directors 
 of this Congress for the coming year those three men who have the best 
 minds and hearts that we can find in this Union, if we can get them here. 
 We want to get men who will serve, and give their time and energy to 
 the work of this Congress for the coming year. That is the purpose of 
 the nominating committee, that it may report to this body of men who 
 would agree to serve. That constitutes, briefly, my views upon the 
 question. 
 
 MR. DEMPSTER: Mr. Chairman, there is some provision in our by- 
 laws whereby those by-laws may be amended. I should like to have that 
 clause read. That will give Mr. Daniels 
 
 MR. DANIELS: Mr. Chairman 
 
 CHAIRMAN BUCKLEY: Just a minute, Mr. Daniels, until I answer 
 the gentleman's question. Will the Secretary read the desired portion of 
 the by-laws? 
 
 MR. DEMPSTER: Just the amendment to the by-laws. 
 
 Secretary Callbreath read Articles 9 and 15 of the by-laws, as re- 
 quested. 
 
 MR. DEMPSTER: There is a rule laid down there, I suppose, that 
 governs this body? 
 
 CHAIRMAN BUCKLEY: Certainly. 
 
 MR. DEMPSTER: And any amendments that may be made must 
 be made in accordance with that rule. If Mr. Daniels or any other gen- 
 tleman has an amendment to offer, why, it ought to be offered in that 
 way, and acted on in that way, just as is provided there, or else there is 
 no use of having a constitution and by-laws. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: Is there any amendment proposed to be adopted 
 by this meeting, Mr. Chairman? 
 
 CHAIRMAN BUCKLEY: No, sir. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I thought not. Do I understand that the question 
 on the adoption of my resolution is now before this meeting for debate? 
 
 CHAIRMAN BUCKLEY: No, sir, it is not. Gentlemen, what is 
 your future pleasure? 
 
 MR. DEMPSTER: I would say just a word in reference to the re- 
 marks made by the Chairman, and the remarks by Mr. Daniels, that we 
 have no doubt that the aims and the ambitions and the efforts and the 
 accomplishments of those who have controlled ana governed and cared 
 for and guided this infant have been all that could be desired, and they 
 know most about it; but we have an organization, and that organization 
 has adopted by-laws by which it shall be governed, and we should respect 
 those by-laws and act in accordance therewith in bringing in whatever 
 amendments or modifications we want. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: Mr. Chairman, may I have the same privilege of 
 debating the question that has been given to other members of the Con- 
 gress? 
 
 CHAIRMAN BUCKLEY: I think there has not been any debate on 
 the question further than what privilege has been granted to you, Mr. 
 Daniels, already. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: Then I understand I am not permitted to speak on 
 the question? 
 
 THE CHAIRMAN: I think the members of the Congress are per- 
 fectly willing to hear you speak at any time, Mr. Daniels, there is no 
 objection. You will certainly be privileged to have the floor and speak 
 on the subject the same as our President. We will be very glad, I am 
 sure, to hear from you if you have anything further to say on the sub- 
 ject 
 
 MR. DANIELS: Mr. Chairman, I do not want to trespass upon the 
 patience of the Congress or the members here present, and if there is not 
 sentiment enough in favor of trying to improve our present by-laws so 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 117 
 
 that I can obtain a second to my motion I do not believe I want to take 
 it up at all, except to call attention to this fact, which I attempted to call 
 attention to before, by a question. I have not proposed to amend the by- 
 laws at this meeting in any way, shape or manner. All reference to 
 amendment to the by-laws and reading the by-laws providing for amend- 
 ments is entirely aside from any question which can be raised by the 
 resolution that I have offered before this meeting. At a very slimly at- 
 tended meeting of the members of the organization some weeks ago 
 months ago, perhaps amendments were enacted to the by-laws provid- 
 ing for the establishment of local branches of this Congress. I was pres- 
 ent at that meeting, and if I chose to test the legality of the adoption of 
 those amendments there might be some question now as to whether or 
 not they are in force. I do not choose to do that because I believe that 
 the amendments were proposed and adopted in the spirit of betterment of 
 the American Mining Congress, and that is the sole aim that is in my 
 mind when I present this resolution providing, not for an amendment of 
 the by-laws by this session of the Congress or by this meeting of mem- 
 bers, but that a committee of three shall be appointed by the President 
 to consider the matter for twelve months and report to you next year 
 their findings, with a suggestion that they should prepare such amend- 
 ments of such a revision of the by-laws as shall comply with the idea 
 contained in the amendments already adopted and in force. Now that I 
 am not trying to deprive the delegates of any right which they may have, 
 or to abolish absolutely the delegate representation, it seems to me, is 
 demonstrated by the fact that I want to put this question to the dele- 
 gates, and give them just as much right to vote on it as the members. I 
 do not like to attend a convention of any kind where I may stand in one 
 meeting on an equality with the other man who is a delegate, and then 
 pay to him, "Well, now, we are going to have a meeting to-night that 
 you cannot come into." It is true that that provision was made under 
 peculiar conditions and under circumstances which seemed at the time 
 to require it. I do not say that now is the time to change these by-laws 
 ana change the entire method of providing the personnel of the Congress. 
 If I believed that now is the time I would not have introduced this resolu- 
 tion. I would have brought into this meeting some amendments provid- 
 ing for or making those changes. I still believe, as I said in the first 
 place, that this resolution should go to the Congress and not to this meet- 
 ing of members. 
 
 Now I do not attempt to take issue with the President in his state- 
 ment that he does not think the time has yet arrived to make the change. 
 I do not propose to make the change now. I do not think the time has 
 arrived. But I do think the time will come, and the time to begin con- 
 sidering is now, as to whether or not we shall permit a saloonkeeper to 
 sit in our American Mining Congress and represent our mining interests. 
 We need the $50,000 that Judge Richards spoke about, but can we get it 
 when you and I go to 
 
 MR. RICHARDS: Mr. Chairman 
 
 MR. DANIELS: If the Chairman will rule that the resolution is not 
 in order and should come before the Congress I will stop right now. 
 
 MR. RICHARDS: The point is this, that Secretary Garfield has to 
 leave in half an hour, and I know you would like to hear him before we 
 adjourn, and I just thought we could take a recess until after we had heard 
 Secretary Garfield, and then we can hear the discussion. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: That is all right; I will do anything. 
 
 CHAIRMAN BUCKLEY: What is the pleasure of the meeting? 
 
 On motion, duly seconded and carried, the meeting adjourned sub- 
 ject to the call of the Chair. 
 
118 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1908, 11 O'CLOCK A. M. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The time has now arrived for the meet- 
 ing of the members with a view of electing three members of the Board 
 of Directors for the coming year. Is the Committee on Nominations 
 ready to report? 
 
 MR. JAMES W. MALCOLMSON, OF MISSOURI: Your Committee 
 on Nominations recommends for election as Directors for a term of three 
 years Mr. A. G. Brownlee of Colorado, Dr. H. Foster Bain of Illinois and 
 Mr. Samuel A. Taylor of Pennsylvania. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The Nominating Committee has reported 
 recommending that A. G. Brownlee of Colorado, Samuel A. Taylor of 
 Pennsylvania and H. Foster Bain of Illinois be selected as Directors. Be- 
 fore voting I will explain that this being a corporation, it will be neces- 
 sary to select these directors by ballot of the members of the corporation. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: Inasmuch as there are but three vacancies the com- 
 mittee has reported but three names, and I move you that the Secretary 
 be authorized to cast the ballot of the members of the Congress for the 
 three gentlemen in nomination. 
 
 MR. STEELE, OF ALASKA: Mr. President, I would second that 
 motion. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It has been moved and seconded that the 
 Secretary be instructed to cast the ballot of the members of this Con- 
 gress for the selection of the three Directors as recommended by the 
 committee. Are you ready for the question? 
 
 The question was called for. 
 
 The motion prevailed and it was so ordered. 
 
 SECRETARY CALLBREATH: Mr. President, in accordance with 
 the instructions of the Congress, I have cast the ballot of the members 
 present in person and those represented by proxy for Colonel A. G. 
 Brownlee, Mr. Samuel A. Taylor and Dr. H. Foster Bain for Directors 
 for the ensuing three years. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The Secretary having cast the ballot I 
 declare that these three men are elected Directors for the coming three 
 years. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: Do I understand that the session of the members 
 of the Congress or the meeting of the Congress is still open? 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: While it has not been formally ad- 
 journed, its purpose has been accomplished and really stands adjourned. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I regret that I did not keep closer track of it. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It is not adjourned if you wish to pre- 
 sent anything. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I did not want Resolution No. 1 to get lost in the 
 shuffle. I want some kind of action taken some way by either the mem- 
 bers themselves or by the general Congress on Resolution No. 1. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Take it right up. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I do not want to consume any time. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Take it up now. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I am correct, am I not, in my understanding that 
 the resolution has been presented to the meeting of the members, and 
 that it is still pending before that meeting for further action? 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It was presented to the members at the 
 Schenley Hotel, and presented in general session here yesterday, and the 
 Chair ruled it out of order before the general session. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: I appreciate that, and I believe that at the meeting 
 of the members the other night the motion was not seconded. I there- 
 fore renew the motion now, that Resolution No. 1 be adopted by the mem- 
 bers of the American Mining Congress. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I hear no second, so it is not 
 
 COLONEL BROWNLEE: I second that motion. 
 
AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 119 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It has been moved and seconded that the 
 resolution presented to the members at the Schenley Hotel be adopted. 
 Are you ready for the question? 
 
 The question was called for. 
 
 MR, DANIELS: Mr. President, I am surprised, I am astonished and 
 astounded that there is any opposition to this resolution. I certainly 
 should not have presented it at either of the meetings had I anticipated 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Mr. Daniels, just to make it clear, I un- 
 derstand now you are presenting it to the members? 
 
 MR. DANIELS: To the members only and not to the general Con- 
 gress. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Not to the delegates? 
 
 MR. DANIELS: Because of the complex nature of the American 
 Mining Congress I have taken the liberty of presenting it in both places, 
 so that it might have action in one or the other. This resolution recites 
 in its preamble some facts that I believe cannot be controverted. 
 
 The first is that the members have already adopted an amendment 
 to their oy-laws providing for the establishment of local bodies of the 
 American Mining Congress. I believe that is a step in the right direc- 
 tion and that there ought to be such a provision. That which has been 
 adopted, however, is very indefinite, and does not, in my opinion, pro- 
 vide a plan in sufficient detail to make it as effective as it ought to be. 
 The next is a statement that the present laws of the Congress did not 
 originally contemplate a representative organization with subordinate 
 bodies, and I believe that is a statement of fact that will not be contro- 
 verted. 
 
 Our by-laws as they stand governing the American Mining Congress 
 do not contemplate the organization of local bodies. They contemplate 
 and provide for the government of only national meetings, a national or- 
 ganization composed entirely of members and delegates. It is because 
 of that condition of the laws that I am very earnest in my advocacy of a 
 provision for a committee to take up the subject, consider it in all of 
 its bearings, and report to the next meeting of the members either 
 amendments or such a revision of the laws as will provide fully, clearly 
 and practically for an organization of local bodies in any place where 
 those interested in the mining industry may wish to organize them, and 
 to provide for the national bodies to be ultimately composed of repre- 
 sentatives from these local bodies, with such additional members as may 
 be provided for in the wisdom of those who may perhaps in the future 
 adopt it. 
 
 The by-laws at present are not in harmony; our organization, as I 
 said a moment ago, is complex. I found myself the other day in a dilemma 
 as to where I should make the effort to have this resolution considered. I 
 am still of the opinion, notwithstanding the decision of the Chairman 
 yesterday, that the proper place for the consideration is by all of the 
 members, including the delegates, and because of that opinion I gave 
 notice of an appeal. It has become unnecessary, I think, for me to take 
 that appeal ,and I withdraw it now formally. I sincerely trust you will 
 appreciate the present condition of our laws to such an extent that you 
 will at least authorize the President to provide for this committee. 
 
 It does not for a moment consider the immediate amendment of our 
 laws. It simply provides a committee for their consideration to report 
 at the next meeting such changes as may be thought will best provide for 
 the permanent future of the organization. And I might add a word of 
 personal explanation. 
 
 The morning papers stated that I said last evening that I had felt 
 the effects of the "steam roller." There was just a little misunderstand- 
 ing, The idea that I intended to convey was that if I continued and made 
 an appeal from the decision of so able and impartial a chairman as pre- 
 
120 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 sides over this body I undoubtedly would feel the effects of a "steam 
 roller," and without any reflection whatever upon the chairman, because 
 I recognize fully the impartiality and fairness with which he presides 
 over this body. But my prophetic soul brings before my mental vision 
 now a picture of the mangled remains that would be left in attempting 
 to prosecute an appeal against a decision under those circumstances. 
 Usually I do not have sense to get out of the way of the "steam roller," 
 but I am going to this time, and consequently have withdrawn the notice 
 of appeal. Now, if there is any question in the minds of the members as 
 to the advisability of some consideration being given to some changes in 
 our laws to adapt the methods of the Congress to its future prosperity, 
 I believe that any objection that you can make will be answered better 
 than I can answer it, better than I can explain, if you will take those laws 
 as they stand now and read them from beginning to end. It will take 
 you but a moment, they are so short. 
 
 It is true, I believe, although I have not been able to find it in the 
 law myself, but I believe it is true, that a provision has been made by 
 which the Directors may at any time they deem it advisable, do away 
 with the delegate portion of the American Mining Congress, but that is 
 not the purpose of this resolution. That is only an incident in connection 
 with the resolution. We want you who are here as delegates to become 
 interested in the Congress and become members, and if it is my good for- 
 tune to attend future meetings of the American Mining Congress I do 
 not want to have a voice and vote in any session of that Congress in 
 which every one present does not have the same voice and vote. It has 
 been understood by some that my attitude in regard to this is a criticism 
 of the past methods. It is not. 
 
 I recognize fully that the delegate system has been absolutely neces- 
 sary in the past, that in all human probability the Congress would not 
 now be in existence at all but for the assistance that you gentlemen who 
 are here as delegates and not members have given us. But we want your 
 further assistance. I do not say that the time has now come when we 
 shall change our attitude to you and say that you must become members 
 or you cannot come in. I do say and I do believe that the time has come 
 when it ought to be considered as to whether or not we shall not in the 
 near future make some different provision. 
 
 I therefore appeal to you to provide for the appointment of this com- 
 mittee. You do not commit yourselves to the adoption of any amend- 
 ment. You may reject in toto any report that committee may make to 
 you a year from now. But I do believe that there is crying need that 
 some attention be given to this matter. I believe it should be given in a 
 deliberate way; I believe there should be ample time for consideration, 
 that amendment should not be hastily adopted, and I therefore again ap- 
 peal to you to adopt this resolution ,and that the President appoint a 
 committee, and when the committee reports next year then will be time 
 enough to say whether we want to make the changes that they recom- 
 mend or not. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Are you ready for the question? 
 
 The question was put and on the vote the Chair announced that he 
 was in doubt. 
 
 A standing vote was thereupon taken, and the Secretary announced 
 that the vote stood 9 for and 9 against. 
 
 COLONEL BROWNLEE: Mr. Chairman, in view of the fact that 
 this is a tie vote and that probably our President may have to decide it, 
 if it is in order, I would like to say a word. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We shall be glad to hear it. 
 
 COLONEL BROWNLEE: I think, Mr. President, that Mr. Daniel's 
 resolution is designed to assist the Congress. In Colorado we have what 
 is known as the Colorado Mine Owners' Association. That association is 
 
V 
 
 AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 
 
 composed of local organizations in different mining camps. We are anx- 
 ious to secure membership of these local organizations and also for our 
 state association. Under our present by-laws it is almost impractical to 
 do that. Such conditions exist also in other states. Now let me illus- 
 trate. 
 
 In order to become a member of the Congress at the present time, 
 which prescribes for specific dues to be paid, there is no provision made 
 whereby part of those dues will go to a state organization. They do pro- 
 vide for a part to go to a local association, but our local associations 
 would come in without the state association and there is no provision 
 made at all, so consequently we are held up there. Now, those condi- 
 tions may exist in other states, and if this Congress is going to grow in 
 membership it is very necessary that we secure those local associations, 
 where they are being covered by local conditions, and then each respond 
 to the state association, and then have the state association respond to 
 the national association. 
 
 I believe that if the by-laws were amended along logical lines it 
 would help us in our growth in membership. Mr. Daniels has that idea in 
 view. We do not want to take any radical action. We want this com- 
 mittee to take up the question and investigate it thoroughly and find out 
 the best way of accomplishing the desired results. Now, if that is done, 
 then let that committee report to the next congress and if deemed wise 
 let us adopt such by-laws as they recommend whereby those conditions 
 may be improved. 
 
 MR. DANIELS: The organizer of the American Mining Congress 
 went up into the Northwest to get men interested in the mining industry 
 to join the American Mining Congress. They said "No, no, not any min- 
 ing congress for us. If, however, you will change your laws so that we 
 may have our local association and be connected with your mining con- 
 gress in that way with our local associations to take care of our local 
 matters, we will get you a big membership right away." Well, some local 
 organizations were formed and got a whole lot of members. Then there 
 were some hurriedly summoned meetings of the members for the purpose 
 of amending the by-laws and legalizing the action of the organizer in 
 getting those members. Now, the amendments adopted at that time were 
 I believe I make no reflection on anyone in what I say, I do not intend 
 any hastily and hurriedly drawn and they but partially cover the object 
 designed to be attained. Mr. President, I spent eighteen years of my 
 life in building up an organization which is to-day one of the best, in my 
 opinion, and strongest, most capable and most conservative of the labor 
 organizations in the United States of America. And I am egotist enough 
 to believe that I know a little something about how organizations can 
 be built up, and make of themselves a power in the line upon which they 
 are organized. And whether you adopt this resolution today or not, I am 
 prophet enough to say that you will come to the idea that I have pre- 
 sented and sooner or later you will be compelled to have an entire re- 
 vision of your present laws. 
 
 DR. HOLMES: Just one word as representing the opposition to that 
 resolution. I think there is a misapprehension with regard to the pur- 
 pose of the resolution. The fact that this meeting, largely through the 
 delegate attendance, has been such a magnificent success, makes all of 
 us deprecate any agitation even at this meeting of doing away with the 
 delegate membership. It is the first session of this great body in a far 
 Eastern center, and I think we all agree that it has been a success. On 
 the other hand, I do not think any of us object to the appointment of a 
 committee that will consider the whole question of the by-laws without 
 special reference to the delegate system at the present time. I under- 
 stand that is the purpose of the resolution. 
 
122 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 
 
 MR. DANIELS: Pardon me,, the delegate question is an incident 
 merely. 
 
 DR. HOLMES: All right, then; as one of those who voted against 
 the resolution I am willing to withdraw that objection and let the matter 
 go to a committee, to be brought up for discussion at a future meeting. 
 
 PRESIDENT RICHARDS: As the vote throws the responsibility 
 upon me of deciding I vote in the affirmative and declare the resolution 
 adopted. (Applause). 
 
 Thereupon the meeting of members was adjourned. 
 
PAPERS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Eleventh Annual Session 
 
 OF THE 
 
 American Mining 
 Congress 
 
 1908 
 
 PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA 
 
 December 2 to 5, Inclusive 
 
 Published by the Congress 
 
 At the Office of the Secretary 
 
 Denver, Colorado 
 
 1909 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1909 
 
 BY THE 
 
 AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 
 DENVER, COLORADO. 
 
INDEX TO PAPERS OF 1 909 
 
 Page 
 
 Annual Address of the President, by J. H. Richards 7 
 
 Relation of the Federal Government to Mining, by Chas. Dick. ... 18 
 
 Transportation of Mineral Products, by Edward H. Harriman. ... 38 
 
 The Importance of Arbitration as a Factor in the Advancement of 
 
 the Mining Industry, by Carroll D. Wright 52 
 
 The Duties of the Federal and State Governments in Relation to 
 
 the Mining Industry, by George Harrison 57 
 
 Conservation in the Mining Industry, by Frank M. Osborne 66 
 
 Transportation in Its Relation to the Mining Industry, by James 
 
 Douglas 71 
 
 Federal Government in Its Relation to the Mining Industry, by 
 
 James Rudolph Garfield 88 
 
 Problems of the Coal Mining Industry, by J. A. Holmes 98 
 
 Some Utah Mineral Deposits and Their Metallurgical Treatment, by 
 
 Robert H. Bradford 101 
 
 Mining and Mineral Resources of Arizona, by Frank Cox 119 
 
 The Mineral Resources of Virginia, by E. A. Schubert 124 
 
 The Mineral Resources of Arkansas, by A. W. Estes 146 
 
 Conservation in the Coal Industry, Protection of Life and Preven- 
 tion of Waste, by Glenn W T . Traer 152 
 
 The Barren Zone of the Northern Appalachian Coal Field and Its 
 
 Relation to Pittsburgh's Industry, by I. C. White 166 
 
 Needs for Conservation of Our Coal Deposits, by J. V. Thompson. . 177 
 
 Conservation of Mineral Resources, by J. B. Zerbe 181 
 
 Conservation in the Coal Industry, by John Mitchell 185 
 
 Installation of Electricity in Mines, by W. A. Thomas 196 
 
 A Brief Statement of the Rising Importance of the Rare Elements, 
 
 by Herman Fleck 204 
 
 Tariff on Zinc Ores, by S. Duffield Mitchell 212 
 
 Arbitration as a Factor in the Mining Industry, by George Gray. . 230 
 
 Arbitration as a Factor in the Mining Industry, by Thos. L. Lewis 235 
 
 Problems of the Coal Industry, by Alexander Dempster 239 
 
 Distribution of the Nation's Mineral Wealth, by George Otis Smith 247 
 
 Science as the Basis of Commercial Success, by Joseph Buffiington 251 
 
 The Duties of the Federal and State Governments in Relation to 
 
 the Mining Industry, by W. F. Englebright 255 
 
 Alaska and Its Mineral Resources, by Alfred H. Brooks 258 
 
OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 1 909 
 
 PRESIDENT, 
 J. H. Richards. 
 
 FIRST VICE PRESIDENT, 
 
 Dr. E. R. Buckley. 
 
 SECOND VICE PRESIDENT, 
 
 John Dern. 
 
 THIRD VICE PRESIDENT, 
 W. F. R. Mills. 
 
 DIRECTORS, 
 
 J. H. Richards, Boise, Idaho. 
 
 E. R. Buckley, Flat River, Missouri. 
 
 John Dern, Salt Lake City, Utah. 
 
 W. F. R. Mills, Denver, Colorado. 
 
 Geo. W. E. Dorsey, Fremont, Nebraska. 
 
 Thomas Ewing, Fenner, California. 
 
 H. Foster Bain, Urbana, Illinois. 
 
 A. G. Brownlee, Denver, Colorado. 
 
 Samuel A. Taylor, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 
 
 ADVISORY BOARD, 
 
 Duncan Mac Vichie, Salt Lake City, Utah. 
 A. W. Mclntire, Everett, Washington. 
 W. J. Elmendorf, Spokane, Washington. 
 L. W. Powell, Bisbee, Arizona. 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, 
 
 John Dern, Salt Lake City, Utah. 
 A. G. Brownlee, Denver, Colorado. 
 W. F. R. Mills, Denver, Colorado. 
 
 SECRETARY, 
 
 J, F. Callbreath, Jr., Denver, Colorado, 
 
Annual Address of the President. 
 
 BY HON. J. H. RICHARDS, BOISE, IDAHO. 
 
 This hour has been set apart with a view to placing 
 before you the reasons justifying the existence and support 
 of such a national organization as the American Mining 
 Congress. Whether wisely or unwisely, I have been se- 
 lected to perform this duty. 
 
 At the dawn of our nation's life the American people 
 set forth in clarion notes the purposes sought to be achieved 
 by the aid of our form of government. These purposes, so 
 noble in sentiment, can only be accomplished through avail- 
 ing ourselves of our opportunities, and when wrought out 
 in harmony with such national purposes, they bring to our 
 nation the enduring qualities of permanency and stability. 
 
 Our national upbuilding through industrial, political, 
 educational and social activities, must ever rest upon the 
 use we make of the natural resources abounding in the 
 United States, such as soil, climate, forests, minerals and 
 water. These resources are generally known to abound 
 under two heads first, agriculture, which includes pro- 
 duction through growth; second, mining, which includes 
 those products now ready for use. 
 
 Consider the declaration of purposes set forth in the 
 preamble to the American constitution in connection with 
 these forces of nature called natural resources, together 
 with our relations to other nations of the earth, and a flood 
 of light is thrown upon the use that can be made of these 
 forces in bringing into actual expression these declared 
 purposes underlying, overlying and encompassing the op- 
 portunities these conditions place before us. Other nations 
 have sought progress through a destruction of their neigh- 
 bors or by controlling them by force. But the character of 
 our nation; the form and purpose of our government; our 
 ideas of justice; our concepts of liberty; pur understanding 
 of the basis of enduring progress; the abundance of natural 
 
8 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 resources; our love of knowledge; our genius in exercising 
 dominion over the forces of nature; our respect for human 
 rights, and the grandeur of our moral concepts as a nation, 
 all demand that development through internal industry, and 
 not through external plunder, shall ever be the basis of our 
 country's hopes. 
 
 We are beginning to understand nationally and indi- 
 vidually that 
 
 "The drying up of a single tear has more 
 Of honest fame than shedding seas of gore." 
 
 Internal industry should mean in our country such a 
 scientific and co-ordinating use of our natural resources 
 as result from a comprehension of our opportunities in the 
 light of the purposes of our government and our relations 
 to other nations. The purposes of our government we all 
 understand, but no true and lasting national development 
 can take place in our country that does not tend to form a 
 more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tran- 
 quility, provide for the common defense, promote the gen- 
 eral welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves 
 and our posterity. The spirit of these declarations of pur- 
 pose should ever be the directing forces in all true national 
 development. The peculiar character of our government 
 in purpose and action keeps it so close to the people that 
 from necessity it becomes a vital factor of co-operation 
 in giving direction to effort. 
 
 The natural forces at our command, and through the 
 use of which all development must come, are such as our 
 relations to other countries; the markets of the world; our 
 shore lines and inland water ways for commerce; abundance 
 of fertile soil; vast forests; water for reclamation and pow- 
 er, and vast mineral deposits. In a general sense, all the 
 raw material through the use of which all industrial de- 
 velopment must take place, comes from the two basic 
 sources of agriculture and mining. Agriculture produces 
 those things that are constantly supplied through growth; 
 mining produces those things which are not being renewed 
 by growth. While agriculture is the primal impulse to hum- 
 
ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 9 
 
 an effort, because the source of food, yet the real vitality 
 underlying all industrial development largely rests with 
 mining, whose products are generally more enduring than 
 the products of agriculture and afford such opportunities 
 for varied and permanent development through manufac- 
 ture and commerce, that the real progress of this nation 
 largely finds its underlying impulse in mining. The im- 
 pulse that followed the discovery and use of our great de- 
 posits of coal, oil, gas, zinc, copper, lead, iron, gold, silver, 
 and water powers, has not only given vitality to agriculture 
 but has placed our country first in wealth and capacity to 
 achieve. 
 
 To the credit of the American farmer, he felt the 
 need of governmental co-operation in bringing from the soil 
 the possibilities which intelligence could reveal. The mul- 
 titude of farmer constituents compelled such co-operation, 
 and by this governmental co-operation through the Agri- 
 cultural Department, agriculture is becoming a science; 
 farming is becoming more attractive, because more profit- 
 able and success more certain; the treatment of the soil and 
 its needs are better understood; plant and animal life are 
 responding to intelligent care; insect pests are being de- 
 stroyed; animal disease exterminated; waste prevented; 
 quantity of production increased; quality improved; mar- 
 kets found ; citizenship improved, and home life on the farm 
 made more attractive. In fact, the purposes of our govern- 
 ment as set forth in the preamble to our constitution, are 
 finding expression through thus promoting the general wel- 
 fare. 
 
 In mining a fearful waste is going on. Only a small 
 percentage of the effective use of coal mined is obtained; 
 millions of tons of coal are being wasted from false mining 
 methods ; unlimited quantities of natural gas destroyed and 
 lost; great waste has taken place in placer methods; in con- 
 centrating processes, reduction systems, and mining meth- 
 ods; the health of the underground miners impaired; thou- 
 sands killed; more maimed, and conditions making for bad 
 citizenship permitted. 
 
10 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 of those interested in mining, a sufficient constituency could 
 be aroused to induce government co-operation in improving 
 mining conditions in a manner similar to the improvement 
 that has thus far been made in agricultural conditions I 
 
 The American Mining Congress has been thundering at 
 the doors of Congress for years, trying to arouse it to the 
 needs of the hour. How many years will it yet take to 
 secure efficient action in this respect? The President rec- 
 ommended legislation; the House heeded his message; the 
 Senate ignored it. Both the great national parties have 
 recognized this issue in their national platforms this year. 
 
 Nature has been generous to the American people and 
 it needs a generous heart to understand and co-operate with 
 her in bringing to the American people that character of 
 development which insures permanency and stability 
 through intelligent co-ordination and co-operation. There 
 would seem to be no reason why the nation, the states, cities, 
 corporations and individuals, may not co-operate in bring- 
 ing out of the conditions that now confront us, that perma- 
 nent and stable national development which is so essential 
 to enduring prosperity and happiness. The American peo- 
 ple have arrived at that stage in human progress when less 
 attention should be given to governing them than to di- 
 recting their development. A busy people whose ever in- 
 creasing wants are supplied, need little governing. 
 
 In his first inaugural address, President Jefferson in 
 expressing his idea of the purposes of our government, used 
 these words: "A wise and frugal government which shall 
 restrain men from injuring one another, and leave them oth- 
 erwise free." But showing people how to arrive at right 
 methods of development in harmony with the purposes of 
 our government as set forth in the preamble to our consti- 
 tution, will be much more effective for good than in trying 
 to restrain them from injuring one another through penal 
 statutes. 
 
 The prodigal use of nature's bounties in this 'country 
 Jias begotten wasteful habits an<3 tendencies which have 
 
ANNUAL ADDRESS OP THE PRESIDENT. 11 
 
 entered into every phase of human effort. Those questions 
 have their very fiber in the general welfare of the American 
 people, and they embrace the whole reason for the existence 
 of our government. The time has come in American affairs 
 when scientific or intelligent development must displace 
 the accidental or wasteful processes heretofore in vogue. 
 A wasteful use of nature 's forces, which has been so largely 
 practiced in the past, cannot much longe'r be the mainspring 
 of human endeavor. The time has arrived when this gov- 
 ernment must do more than be merely frugal and restrain 
 men from injuring one atiother; it must co-operate with the 
 American people in opening the way for them to help one 
 another. In other words, its action must be more and more 
 of a positive, rather than of a negative nature. There is a 
 waiting people in this land possessing the capacity to com- 
 prehend, the genius to plan, the wisdom to direct, the cour- 
 age to undertake, and the understanding to achieve an evo- 
 lution .through this co-ordination and co-operation worthy 
 of our opportunities, but there must be some supreme and 
 directing hand to guide this higher form of development. 
 
 The products of agriculture may be renewed; the pro- 
 ducts of mining never. A large percentage of the products 
 of the mines when once -used, is destroyed forever, while a 
 large part is of a more permanent nature and may be used 
 indefinitely. The products of the mines in this country 
 during the year 1906 amounted to about two billion dollars 
 in value. These products came from such a diversity of 
 territory throughout our country that it was felt this fact 
 justified a national mining organization formed to encour- 
 age the higher methods of co-operation and co-ordination- 
 federal, state, local and individual that there might be 
 wrought out of this source of material wealth, not only the 
 best results from a mineral standpoint, but also the best 
 out of the men engaged in this occupation. To this end the 
 American Mining Congress was organized, which held its 
 last session in the zinc fields around Joplin, Mo. 
 
 Those who have been most prominent in this organiza- 
 tion, realizing that the more enduring value embraced in 
 
12 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 these mineral resources is not in these products themselves, 
 but is in the development of human character and capacity 
 to achieve and enjoy through a wise development and use 
 of these bounties and in this light, have undertaken to so 
 organize those interested in this great industry, that gradu- 
 ally all that is best in both the mines and the miner can be 
 more fully realized. 
 
 It must be evident that in an attempt to develop our 
 material resources in harmony with the purposes of our 
 government, it will require the solution of great questions, 
 such as finance, transportation and commerce. We have 
 the genius to solve these questions aright if we but act in 
 harmony with the true principles of our development in- 
 telligent co-ordination and co-operation. Development 
 through this form of co-operation must be the keynote of 
 America's future. 
 
 I am impressed that the most important resource we 
 are called upon to conserve and develop is the capacity of 
 the American people to achieve and enjoy, through a correct 
 understanding of how to make a right use of our opportuni- 
 ties. This is a union of states and our development must 
 tend to form a more perfect union through intelligent co-op- 
 eration in utilizing all our material resources which have 
 no value in themselves, but are of infinite value in their re- 
 lation to the development of the American people. We have 
 heretofore to a large extent prospered in our career as a 
 people by the prodigal use of nature's bounties amounting 
 to wastefulness, and this course has begotten in the Amer- 
 ican people almost a habit of wastefulness in the use of 
 physical, moral and intellectual forces. This habit has to 
 a large extent crept into business methods and has created 
 a gambling spirit or a mad rush for things we have not 
 earned, which is a species of dishonesty. This is not in- 
 telligent co-operation, but more of the nature of destructive 
 competition. There is no sound business logic in such com- 
 petition. The only competition that has a sound foundation 
 is a competition in service. He who serves best should suc- 
 ceed best. This applies to all phases of business enter- 
 
ANNUAL ADDRESS OP THE PRESIDENT. 13 
 
 prises. But there have been tendencies to succeed through 
 destructive competition. As a national effect, this is a fail- 
 ure. This kind of competition should be obliterated through 
 governmental regulation, where such regulation is appli- 
 cable. 
 
 The only opposition that comes to the full use of navi- 
 gation in the waterways of this country is the fear of de- 
 structive competition, and thus we see our waterways life- 
 less so far as their use for transportation is being made 
 available. There must be a way to so co-ordinate water and 
 land transportation and regulate the same that they shall 
 both be benefited and rendered more stable as business en- 
 terprises, and the country thereby blessed. This country 
 cannot afford to lose the benefit of water navigation or the 
 crippling of land transportation through a wanton com- 
 petitive system. 
 
 There is now being felt a great need to conserve our 
 national resources. Why conserve them except to promote 
 the general welfare ? How shall they be conserved, and by 
 whom shall they be conserved! By the people through co- 
 operation with our government and each other, municipali- 
 ties, such as states, cities, etc. The national government is 
 not an end, but the means to an end, which is the general 
 welfare. 
 
 In the noted case of Gibbons v. Ogden, Mr. Justice John- 
 son, speaking of the purpose of establishing our government, 
 said: "The great and paramount purpose was to unite this 
 mass of wealth and power for the protection of the humblest 
 individual; his rights, civil and political, his interests and 
 prosperity, are the sole end. The rest is nothing but the 
 means. " 
 
 There may be those who question the power of our gov- 
 ernment to undertake a system of conservation and co-ordi- 
 nation of our natural resources. While our government is 
 one of limited powers, it is supreme as to the powers granted 
 and I assume that the power to regulate all undertakings 
 over which the national government has jurisdiction is un- 
 
14 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 questioned, carrying with it those things which are neces- 
 sarily incidental. 
 
 In structural work in this country we consume annually 
 iron ore to the value of about one hundred million dollars, 
 and we are informed that our iron ore deposits are being 
 rapidly depleted. Then why should not our government 
 co-operate in bringing into use such structural materials 
 as building stone, clay products, cement, lime, sand, gravel, 
 slate, and mineral paints. 
 
 They tell us that our forests, the greatest in the world, 
 are nearly depleted, and we rejoice that our government, 
 through the Agricultural Department, is now co-operating 
 with the American people in an effort through the forestry 
 service to produce annually the amount we consume. Al- 
 most eighty per cent, of the total cost in building in this 
 country is expended annually and lost by fire and in main- 
 taining fire departments. This great waste could be large- 
 ly avoided and thereby saved, did we understand the use 
 of building materials so widely distributed as above enum- 
 erated. 
 
 Vast quantities of coal produced are being wasted, 
 blown out of locomotives unconsumed and in many other 
 ways, and we rejoice to know that our government, through 
 the Geological Survey, is making an effort to bring about 
 a great saving in the use of coal. Since 1889 about thirty 
 thousand miners have been killed by explosions and other 
 accidents and many more injured and crippled. This great 
 waste of life and limb should be and could be largely obvi- 
 ated by the co-operation of our government in this respect, 
 and we rejoice to know that our government is becoming 
 somewhat aroused to the great injustice being inflicted 
 upon underground workers. 
 
 Why should not our government co-operate with the 
 miner the same as with the farmer? This organization has 
 labored for years to secure a Department of Mining, but 
 Congress thus far has refused to give even a Mining Bu- 
 reau. Why advocate a Bureau of Mines? Because we be- 
 lieve that the co-operation of the government with the 
 
ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 15 
 
 miner, the same as with the farmer, is absolutely essential. 
 
 We notice more keenly the blessings that flow by this 
 form of co-operation in the West than you do in the East, 
 because the great deserts of the West, through the co-oper- 
 ation of our government by the reclamation service, are 
 being covered with trees, school houses, temples of worship, 
 cities, towns and factories, and the sage-brush and wild 
 animals replaced with a prosperous and happy people; and 
 through this form of co-operation the waters that have 
 passed untroubled to the sea for untold ages are now being 
 used to bring the resurrection morn to the parched lips of 
 the ^alleys and the withered breasts of the plains, and the 
 forces of the falling waters in those great mountains are 
 being converted into power to lift a part of the burden of 
 toil from the shoulders of men; and we believe that this 
 same character of uplift can be given to mining and the 
 miner by similar co-operation. With a Mining Depart- 
 ment, presided over by a man especially well equipped for 
 that work, as Secretary Wilson is for the Agricultural De- 
 partment, the results, in my judgment, would be even more 
 astounding. 
 
 When we learn what Edward Goodrich Acheson has 
 done in relation to clays and the conversion of waste coal 
 into graphite, we are reminded that every such discovery 
 is further proof of the unlimited possibilities of this old 
 earth when it surrenders to man's dominion through his 
 understanding of how to use these things. 
 
 Wonderful as are the coal deposits of the great State 
 of Pennsylvania, they fall far short in value to the water 
 power of New York when subject to man's dominion, as 
 those sources of power being perpetually renewed will con- 
 tinue to turn the wheels of industry, bring light and com- 
 fort 10 the home, workshop and traveling palace, and trans- 
 port freight and passengers long after the coal deposits of 
 Pennsylvania have been exhausted and forgotten. Nature 
 makes no mistakes. You may exhaust the coal and timber 
 of this country, but you will never exhaust the power, resi- 
 dent in this old world, that understanding will reveal, 
 
16 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 Owing to the abundance of visible fuel from forest and 
 coal deposits, the water was permitted to ripple on to the 
 sea in idleness, but when these sources of power began to 
 show signs of exhaustion, electricity, apparently gathered 
 from the very air, was harnessed to the wheels of industry, 
 and as C. C. Goodwin says: "It is a wonderful thing that 
 nature away back when this world was being freighted for 
 its long voyage, took on board everything that the race of 
 man which then existed only in the mind of God would 
 need, that a few obvious things were put in sight for man 
 while he was groping in the darkness of his primitive ig- 
 norance; that as his intelligence increased new doors would 
 be opened to him, new lights would come to him; that his 
 destiny was to keep advancing until at last he would indeed 
 stand only a little lower than the angels. " 
 
 The possibilities of the use of electric current with wire 
 and wireless thansmission, have scarcely dawned upon the 
 human understanding. But, assuming this to be true, it 
 affords no justification for the great waste taking place 
 in tne mining and use of coal, but it is through a right use 
 of what we have that we learn and become qualified to dis- 
 cover the use of what we have not. 
 
 Some have come to the conclusion that the remnant of 
 our mineral resources and our forests and our water powers 
 must be retained in the keeping of the national govern- 
 ment, but a very grave question confronts us at this point. 
 The theory and the practice of our government thus far has 
 been to give the land to the man who would take it and 
 make a home upon it and use it; to give the mineral to the 
 man who would discover it, extract it and convert it into 
 forms of usefulness ; to give the timber in limited quantities 
 to the man who would take it and convert it into forms for 
 human needs; to give the water power to him who would 
 control it and compel it to serve mankind. Shall the gov- 
 ernment now abandon its theory so long practiced, or shall 
 it undertake to give direction through appropriate legisla- 
 tion, regulation and co-operation to the use of these great 
 forces! 
 
ANNUAL ADDRESS OP THE PRESIDENT. 17 
 
 In the light of these conditions the American Mining 
 Congress was organized for the purpose of securing the co- 
 operation of our national government and those concerned 
 in the uplifting of mining and the miner, in placing the 
 mining industry on a plane worthy of its importance. It 
 is thought that this national organization, assisted by local 
 branches, could be of inestimable service in such a work. 
 Its plans are simple. Its annual session can be held at any 
 point that would be of the greatest service in stimulating an 
 interest in this work. Its permanent headquarters are lo- 
 cated at Denver, Colorado, a central point and easily ac- 
 cessible from all directions. At this place the organization 
 contemplates the construction of a building adequate in di- 
 mensions to meet the needs of the organization, in form and 
 architecture worthy of such an industry, using material and 
 plan of construction that would typify the enduring qual- 
 ities of mineral production, embellished in a manner that 
 will reveal the beauties of the mineral kingdom when har- 
 monized with durability and usefulness. In this structure 
 it is proposed that there shall be kept the records of this 
 organization and gathered the statistics that will be useful 
 in the work of the organization; also a complete library in 
 relation to mining legal, scientific and general; also that 
 there shall be gathered there through the years, a collection 
 of mineral products scientific, beautiful and general. 
 
 This is a brief statement of the reasons we believe jus- 
 tify the existence and support of this national organization 
 known as the American Mining Congress. 
 
Relation of the Federal Government to Mining. 
 
 BY SENATOR CHARLES DICK. OF OHIO. 
 
 You may search the federal constitution through and 
 find nothing therein giving Congress any authority or jur- 
 isdiction over mining. There is no grant of power to Con- 
 gress to regulate mines and mining. The business of min- 
 ing is not interstate commerce. Congress can regulate 
 commerce among the several states, but cannot legislate on 
 production or manufacture. 
 
 Congress exercises exclusive jurisdiction over the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia and has power to make needful rules and 
 regulations respecting the territories belonging to the 
 United States. There is no mining, as we know, in the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia, and there are only two fully organized 
 territories, New Mexico and Arizona, both of which will 
 doubtless be eventually admitted to statehood, at which 
 time the jurisdiction of Congress 'over their mines and min- 
 ing operations will come to an end. The only territory then 
 left with valuable mineral deposits over which the Congress 
 will have control will -be Alaska. 
 
 Congress has absolutely no authority to pass any law 
 regulating mining within the states. It cannot provide for 
 federal inspection or supervision of mines, or com'pel the 
 adoption of safety devices and improved methods which 
 may tend to reduce the terrible annual loss of life in oru* 
 coal mines. 
 
 These limitations on the power of the federal govern- 
 ment must be well understood at the outset. What is there 
 left then that the United States government can do for this 
 great industry? For answer we say Look at the Depart- 
 ment of Agriculture. That great Department which 
 touches more people directly, excepting only the Postoffice 
 Department, than any other department in the federal gov- 
 ernment, for whose operations the present Congress appro- 
 priated eleven and two-thirds millions of dollars, an invest- 
 
RELATION OP FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO MINING. 19 
 
 ment which will return greater dividends in the way of 
 substantial benefit to the people than an equal amount ap- 
 propriated for any other Department. This Department 
 of Agriculture, inaugurated as a bureau in 1862, and en- 
 larged to a Department in 1889, is established on as firm a 
 foundation as the Treasury or Postoffice Department, and 
 the constitutional warrant for its existence and continuance 
 is no greater and no less than is the constitutional author- 
 ity for the establishment of a Bureau or Department of 
 Mines and Mining. 
 
 You are all more or less familiar with the scope of 
 Secretary Wilson's Department. It exercises no direct 
 control over farming; it cannot regulate the rotation of 
 crops; it cannot compel a farmer to use any methods to ex- 
 terminate scale, or blight, or rot, and yet its work is and 
 has been of inestimable value to the agricultural interests 
 of the country. 
 
 It has paid for itself many times over through what 
 it has saved the American farmer, and through the valu- 
 able information it has afforded him. It is a strictly scien- 
 tific Department; its chief function is to investigate, to ex- 
 periment, to carry out original research work, and to dis- 
 seminate information of value to farmers and stock raisers 
 and others interested in its researches. 
 
 The establishment of the Department of Agriculture 
 was strongly opposed in Congress when the proposition 
 was up for consideration. It was said the measure was un- 
 constitutional, that there was not a solitary feature in the 
 bill calculated in any degree to benefit the farming inter- 
 ests of the country, and that what the farmers most desired 
 from the general government, and what was most beneficial 
 to them, was to be let alone; in short, that the proposed 
 measure would not benefit agriculture in the least. 
 
 It is now twenty years since these predictions were 
 mad.^, and every one of them has failed absolutely of ful- 
 fillment. To be sure, this is not an appropriate time or 
 place to set forth what the Department of Agriculture has 
 accomplished for the good of the whole country since it 
 
20 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 was organized, but a brief reference to some of its achieve- 
 ments will be of value by way of illustrating our contention 
 that equal benefits can be brought about by the establish- 
 ment of a Bureau of Mines and Mining. 
 
 The Bureau of Animal Industry has waged successful 
 war on contagious animal diseases, decreased the ravages of 
 all of them, and stamped out entirely some of the worst, 
 saving millions of dollars annually. 
 
 The Bureau of Plant Industry has faced the problem of 
 plant diseases which have literally destroyed millions of 
 dollars annually, and has brought them under control and 
 found remedies which have in many cases eradicated them 
 entirely, with an actual cash saving of millions of dollars 
 a year. 
 
 The Bureau of Chemistry, by its study of foods and 
 preservatives and adulterants, made possible the passage 
 of the Pure Food law, one of the most beneficent pieces of 
 legislation of recent years, which has literally raised the 
 standard of living of the entire nation. 
 
 The Bureau of Soils, by its investigation of soils in 
 their relation to crops, and its suggestions of improved 
 methods of fertilization of poor soils, and by showing what 
 crops are best adapted to special soils, has enabled farmers 
 to reclaim such waste land, and has increased the cash value 
 of many millions of acres. 
 
 There are other Bureaus in the Agricultural Depart- 
 ment that are doing equally valuable work, but we will 
 refer to only one more, and that is the Bureau of Good 
 Roads, which is performing a work of great educational 
 value and instruction in the making of good roads. 
 
 What has been said here as to the scope of the work of 
 the Agricultural Department, and the methods by which it 
 has become so valuable in dollars and cents to the American 
 people, shows that its great purpose is to educate the farmer 
 and the people generally to better methods and to the pre- 
 vention of waste. 
 
 If he is a benefactor of mankind who causes two blades 
 of grass to grow where before only one grew, then the De- 
 
RELATION OP FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO MINING. 21 
 
 partment of Agriculture has been a great blessing to the 
 American people, because it has taught the farmer how to 
 increase in a very appreciable degree his annual yield of 
 everything that the soil produces. 
 
 We know that the average value of farm lands in the 
 United States has increased greatly in the past ten years. 
 How much of this increase, amounting in some instances to 
 fifty per cent or even more, should be credited to the gen- 
 eral prosperity of the country, and how much to the effi- 
 cient work of the Agricultural Department, cannot be de- 
 termined with any accuracy, but there can be no question 
 that there are many cases where the increase of farm values 
 must be attributed directly to the wise efforts of this De- 
 partment, through the educational campaign it conducts. 
 
 While it may be the common impression that the fed- 
 eral government has not been doing any work bearing on 
 the mining industry of the country, yet as a matter of fact, 
 a great deal has been accomplished, and a vast amount of 
 work is now being carried on in different bureaus and di- 
 visions of the federal service relating to this subject. The 
 work is scattered, however, and much of it is of so unobtru- 
 sive a character that the results attained are not widely 
 known outside the narrow circle of those directly inter- 
 ested. 
 
 There can be no question that it would be a great gain 
 in efficiency to assemble these different divisions under 
 one head, and to properly co-ordinate and systematize the 
 different branches of the work. Such action would give 
 an official status to the mining industry that the federal 
 government does not now accord to it. 
 
 Most of the mining states maintain mining bureaus, 
 whose business it is to inspect mines, and to prevent acci- 
 dents and loss of life. Much of this state inspection service 
 is of a high order of efficiency. Without it the loss of life 
 in mines would doubtless be much greater than it is, but 
 notwithstanding this state supervision, the death roll of 
 our mines has mounted steadily upward year by year. 
 Were all the states to investigate thoroughly and scientifi- 
 
PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 cally the causes of mine accidents, much unnecessary dup- 
 lication of effort would result that could be avoided with 
 work of this character conducted under the general auspices 
 of a federal bureau, adequately equipped and supported. 
 The great expense attaching to complete and scientific 
 work along these lines also constitutes a serious and prac- 
 tically prohibitory objection to the plan of individual state 
 investigation. 
 
 It is not alone in the coal mines that we are wasting 
 human life. On the railroads, in our steamer travel, in 
 street railway transportation, in conflagrations in our cities, 
 in the workshops and factories, the big steel mills and blast 
 furnaces, in the construction of our buildings and through 
 numerous other channels of activity we are killing more 
 men proportionately than any other country in the world. 
 
 As a nation we are yet in our infancy, and like the child 
 we are learning by hard experiences. The infant does not 
 know the difference between hot and cold until he has burnt 
 his fingers. So it is with us, and so it has been with every 
 other nation. In Europe the mines formerly killed as many 
 men as we are now killing in that way. Years ago these 
 countries had the same terrifying experiences that we are 
 now having, and we should profit from their experiences, 
 as well as from our own. 
 
 In the midst of a prosperity and development that have 
 amazed the world we have not paid as much attention to the 
 value of human life as we should, but we are now coming to 
 a rapid realization of the true situation, and what is still 
 better, we are seeking to apply the proper remedies. Ac- 
 cording to Census statistics for 1906, there were in the 
 United States one hundred thousand deaths from violence. 
 This not only includes the ten thousand killed on the rail- 
 roads, three thousand killed in the coal mines, three thou- 
 sand killed in street railway traffic, fifteen hundred burned 
 to death in fires, the men killed in workshops, factories, 
 building construction and many other lines of human en- 
 deavor, but also the murders, the suicides, the drownings 
 and other casualties. Someone with an aptitude for figures 
 
RELATION OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO MINING. 23 
 
 has estimated that twenty-five thousand should be de- 
 ducted from the total of one hundred thousand as the num- 
 ber dying through accidental or premeditated personal vio- 
 lence. This means that the toll of deaths in the industries 
 in 1906 reached the enormous total of seventy-five thou- 
 sand. It is also estimated by the same authority that if we 
 had the same proportionate rate of deaths in the industries 
 as in Europe, this total would not exceed twenty-five thou- 
 sand each year. Thus you see we are needlessly wasting 
 each year in the United States fifty thousand human lives. 
 
 In favoring, the establishment of a Bureau of Mines 
 and Mining, those interested in the mining industry are 
 seeking, with a most commendable display of patriotism 
 and public spirit, to do their share in the efforts to promote 
 better conditions, and to minimize those agencies so de- 
 structive of human life, incident to the evolution of our gi- 
 gantic and ever increasing industrial and commercial en- 
 terprises. 
 
 There are numerous precedents , for the appropriation 
 of money by Congress to check the destruction of property 
 through plagues and other causes. The cotton growing 
 states of the South were greatly disturbed a few years ago 
 by the cotton boll weevil, which caused damage to the cotton 
 crop amounting to millions of dollars, and which appeared 
 to be beyond the control of the states. Congress appropri- 
 ated half a million dollars for the purpose of checking this 
 waste and removing, if possible, the cause. At another 
 time Congress appropriated a quarter of a million dollars in 
 an endeavor to save the New England states from the gypsy 
 moth, which had destroyed a great deal of property, and 
 threatened to spread over that entire section of country. 
 In both instances these pests were terribly destructive of 
 property, and the states apparently were unable to cope 
 with the evil, until Congress came to the rescue. In neither 
 of these cases, however, was a single human life involved. 
 Surely, if Congress is permitted under the Constitution to 
 appropriate funds to destroy insects, it is vested with the 
 right also to appropriate for the saving of human li 
 
24 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 In 1906, two thousand and sixty-one men were killed in 
 the coal mines of the United States, and four thousand eight 
 hundred were injured. In 1907 more than three thousand 
 were killed. The death roll from this cause for the past 
 seventeen years amounts to a total of twenty-two thousand 
 eight hundred and forty, of which probably half have been 
 killed during the past six years. The number of fatal ac- 
 cidents has increased steadily year by year, and is now 
 double what it was in 1895. 
 
 John Mitchell well said, in commenting on this point: 
 "It is a sad commentary upon our vaunted. civilization that 
 more men are killed or crippled in mining in the United 
 States than in any other nation on earth. ' ' 
 
 The coal mines of the United States are killing over 
 three times as many men per thousand men employed, as 
 the coal mines of France and Belgium, and two and one- 
 half times as many as are killed in the coal mines of Great 
 Britain. In all the coal producing countries of the world 
 the output has increased greatly in the past ten years, but 
 the United States is the only country where the number 
 of men killed, per thousand employed, has also increased. 
 In every European country there has been a marked and 
 steady decrease in casualties in coal mines. This decrease 
 has not been due alone to the inspection and supervision 
 maintained by mining bureaus, but has been made possible 
 because those nations have maintained splendidly equipped 
 testing stations, such as the federal government is installing 
 here in Pittsburg, where exhaustive experiments have been 
 carried on to test explosives and safety appliances. 
 
 In Belgium, when the government began these experi- 
 ments, the death roll in the mines was practically as great 
 as in the United States today. Today less than one-third 
 as many lives proportionately are lost by coal mine acci- 
 dents in Belgium as in this country. 
 
 Dr. J. A. Holmes, expert in charge of the testing sta- 
 tion of the United States Geological Survey, said more than 
 a year ago that, unless some action was taken, an increase 
 in the number and in the seriousness of mine disasters in 
 
RELATION OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO MINING. 25 
 
 this country might be expected to continue. His statement 
 was followed by the terrible explosions in Pennsylvania, 
 West Virginia and Alabama of last December, verifying his 
 prediction. 
 
 The accidents which happen in coal mines can be at- 
 tributed to a number of causes. They are due in part to 
 lack of proper and enforcible mine regulations, in part to a 
 willful disregard of such regulations, in part to the absence 
 of exact knowledge concerning powder and other mine ex- 
 plosives, and the conditions under which they can be used 
 with safety in the presence of mine gas and coal dust. 
 
 The further fact that the number of men engaged in 
 this industry is increasing so rapidly constitutes an ad- 
 ditional element of danger. Most of the coal mined in this 
 country is removed from a comparatively short distance 
 below the surface. In foreign countries most of the coal 
 is taken from great depths. As mining conditions in this 
 country more nearly approach those in foreign countries, 
 the dangers attaching to the industry will increase, and to 
 a greater degree more strict supervision will be necessary 
 to prevent still greater increase in loss of life. 
 
 The fact that the real causes of many of our worst 
 mine disasters are not known absolutely, has increased the 
 demand that the federal government investigate the whole 
 situation. One of the disheartening features about the 
 worst coal mine disaster of last year, the one at Fairmont, 
 West Virginia, was the fact that it took place in a mine 
 counted one of the safest and best equipped and conducted 
 coal mines in the country. Last January the coal oper- 
 ators of West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania adopted, 
 among others, this resolution: 
 
 "Besolved, That at the present time we are 
 at a total loss to account for many of these dis- 
 asters which have occurred in the best regulated 
 mines in the country; such as have been regarded 
 heretofore as absolutely safe by the owners and 
 managers who have spared no expense, and by the 
 mine inspectors of the several states. " 
 
26 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 The verdict of the coroner's jury contained the follow- 
 ing recommendation: 
 
 " There are many unsolved questions con- 
 nected with coal mine disasters in the United 
 States, and it is our recommendation that Con- 
 gress make an appropriation for investigating the 
 cause of these disasters, which are so destructive 
 to life and to the resources of the country. 7 ' 
 
 Congress made the appropriation and the investigation 
 is being carried on. Much valuable information has already 
 been obtained. Some brands of powder labeled "Safety 
 Explosive 7 ' and generally believed to be so, have been con- 
 clusively proved not entitled to that designation. As a 
 result of this discovery, the manufacturers of these powders 
 have been at work modifying the ingredients, so as to pro- 
 duce powders that can be handled with safety by the miner. 
 Many practical coal miners of long experience have long 
 refused to believe that coal dust is explosive. Twenty spec- 
 imens gathered in Ohio coal mines were submitted recently 
 to the United States Testing Station, and every one was 
 ignited by the powder and exploded with terrific force. It 
 is by such experiments as this that a great many accidents 
 can and will, in the future, be averted. 
 
 The function, then, of the federal government in rela- 
 tion to mining is, through thorough scientific investiga- 
 tions, similar to those which have proved effective in other 
 mineral producing countries, to obtain and publish informa- 
 tion concerning the explosives used in the mines, and the 
 conditions under which they can be safely used in the pres- 
 ence of coal dust or gas, and also concerning other condi- 
 tions which will make mining safer. 
 
 While such information can give no warrant to Congress 
 to legislate on the subject, yet it cannot be questioned that 
 it will, where necessary, compel the adoption of state legis- 
 lation, as will result in mutual agreement and co-operation 
 between the operators and miners for the accomplishment 
 of the same end. 
 
RELATION OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO MINING. 27 
 
 It is said that fifty per cent of all the fatal, and thirty- 
 nine per cent of all the non-fatal mine accidents in the 
 United States were the result of falls of roof and coal. 
 With the growing scarcity of timber available for props, 
 these accidents are liable to increase in number, unless ex- 
 cessive charges of explosives are prohibited, and the 
 amount of such explosives which can be safely used is defi- 
 nitely fixed. The explosion of an excessive amount of pow- 
 der or dynamite, while it may not bring down the roof at 
 the time the explosion takes place, is very liable to so weak- 
 en it that it may fall without warning days or even months 
 after, and cause loss of life. 
 
 There is no other country in the world where the nat- 
 ural conditions are so favorable for mining coal safely as 
 in the United States. The death rate in our coal mines is 
 perhaps in no greater ratio than on the railroads and in 
 some other industries ; but what we should realize, and real- 
 ize at once, is that it can and should be greatly reduced, and 
 I have great confidence that the investigation into this sub- 
 ject, now being made by the federal government, will be 
 rewarded by many human lives saved from death, and men 
 from being maimed and crippled. 
 
 The other great problems connected with coal mining 
 directly affecting every one of us, and our posterity even 
 more, and which is therefore of national concern and jus- 
 tifies the action of the federal government, is the great 
 waste which is going on in our natural resources. 
 
 If a farm crop is a failure this year, the next year may 
 under proper conditions see a large crop. Water which 
 goes to waste today may be saved tomorrow, and forests 
 may in time be restored; but a coal mine or mine of gold or 
 silver or copper, once exhausted, can never again be re- 
 stored. 
 
 At the Conference of Governors on the Conservation 
 of Our Natural Resources, held at the White House last 
 May, the attention of the American people was called in no 
 uncertain tones to the great waste of our natural resources 
 which is constantly going on. The American people have 
 
PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 earned the reputation the world over of being extravagant 
 and profligate in many ways. It is said that we waste as 
 much food as some other nations require for their entire 
 subsistence. We have not been economical perhaps be- 
 cause our resources have apparently been so limitless that 
 their exhaustion has seemed an impossibility. 
 
 In the case of our coal consumption, what we use is not 
 so appalling as what we waste. Various estimates have 
 been given as to the length of time our coal supply will last. 
 It has been put as high as four hundred years and as low 
 as less than one hundred years. The domestic coal supply 
 is disappearing at the rate of four hundred million tons 
 por year, and our experts tell us that in the mining opera- 
 tions of the present time nearly one-half of the yearly pro- 
 duction is being wasted. Dr. Holmes says that at the pres- 
 ent rate of increase in consumption the better part of the 
 fuel supply will be gone at the end of the present century, 
 unless proper steps are taken to remedy present wasteful 
 methods. The problem of fuel supply has reached a point 
 where there may be trouble within the life time of children 
 now living. At the present rate of coal consumption, it is 
 more than likely that the calamity of dearer fuel will face us 
 inside of a quarter of a century. Deep mining and long 
 transportation will certainly greatly increase the price. 
 
 The American supremacy in manufacture has been 
 gained by the possession of cheap fuel. It is hard to real- 
 ize the great increase in the coal output of the United 
 States within the past few years. The production today is 
 more than double what it was ten years ago; it has trebled 
 since 1890 and has quadrupled since 1886. In a period of 
 forty years the percentage of the total coal output of the 
 world produced in the United States has increased from 
 fourteen per cent to nearly forty per cent. It is only nine 
 years since the United States became the largest coal pro- 
 ducer in the world, but in that time it has so far outdis- 
 tanced Great Britain, its nearest competitor, that at the 
 present rate of increase it will be only a matter of two or 
 
RELATION OP FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO MINING. 29 
 
 three years before our coal output is double that of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 A train of cars which could transport our coal output 
 of 1907, with an average of fifty tons to a car, would circle 
 the earth at the equator two and two-thirds times. 
 
 We cannot check our magnificent industrial develop- 
 ment to save coal for posterity; but, as previously indicated, 
 the loss is not so much what we use, as what we waste. 
 This waste arises not only in the coal that is left under- 
 ground in worked out mines, partly as pillars "to support 
 the roof, partly as discarded coal of inferior quality, and 
 partly because the working out of the lower and best beds 
 of coal frequently breaks and renders impossible the subse- 
 quent mining of superincumbent veins, but it is because of 
 the great waste of energy in coal actually consumed. 
 
 As has been pointed out time and again, we do not ob- 
 tain for actual consumption more than five to ten per cent 
 of the potential energy of the coal we burn. The rest goes 
 to making steam and smoke and overcoming friction and 
 inertia. Nearly one-third of the total coal supply of the 
 country is used in railway operations, and not over five per 
 cent of that is used in the actual work of pulling trains. 
 We use a vast amount of coal to produce electric lights, and 
 yet usually less than one-fifth of one per cent is actually 
 converted into light. How best to conserve the energy of 
 coal which goes to waste in this manner is a problem the 
 federal government can well take up and devote its best 
 energies to solving. Investigations already made by the 
 Technologic branch of the United States Geological Survey 
 show how it is possible to obtain two or three times as much 
 energy from coal as is obtained by present methods, and 
 still greater improvement is no doubt possible. 
 
 We have plenty of fuel supply in this country, both for 
 our present needs and for all future needs, if we will stop 
 the waste and practice increasing efficiency in the trans- 
 formation of coal into power. Recent investigations con- 
 ducted by the Geological Survey have demonstrated that 
 low-grade coals which we have been in the habit of throw- 
 
30 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 ing away, because they could not be burned in ordinary 
 furnaces, can be used to great advantage in developing 
 power by means of the gas producer and gas engine. As 
 individuals we are prone to think only of the present and 
 our present interests and desires. It is the duty of the 
 nation to look to the future and to provide for coming gen- 
 erations, and there is no question which concerns the future 
 more than the problem of an adequate supply of cheap fuel. 
 
 Many scientists and many practical men believe that 
 processes will in time be discovered which will do away 
 with practically all this immense waste of power and fuel, 
 and the federal government can well afford to provide an- 
 nually for investigations along this line of inquiry, under 
 the direction of an efficiently conducted bureau. 
 
 The government has for several years past been en- 
 gaged in performing important work in the analyzing amd 
 testing of coals and lignites of the United States and the 
 investigation of structural materials. 
 
 The fuel bill of the United States government buildings 
 now aggregates about ten million dollars yearly. The tests 
 made of coal by the United States government, with the re- 
 sulting grading of fuels according to their caloric efficiency, 
 have already made a saving in the government annual coal 
 bill of thousands of dollars. The government has investi- 
 gated the smoke nuisance and the results obtained show 
 that every type of coal may be burned practically smoke- 
 less, and the elimination of the smoke which now pours in 
 a filthy mass out of our chimneys means not only greater 
 comfort and greater cleanliness for each one of us, but it 
 also means less waste and greater efficiency. Investiga- 
 tions of the government also show that much of the coal 
 heretofore wasted can be conserved by making it into 
 briquets.. In this way great quantities of coal that are now 
 wasted can be utilized for generating power and for rail- 
 road and domestic purposes. 
 
 Eecent experiments at the government fuel testing 
 plant at Denver, Colorado, show that many coals can be 
 greatly improved by washing, at a nominal cost of from 
 
RELATION OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO MINING. SI 
 
 three to ten cents per ton. The experts there have also 
 succeeded in making coke out of a great variety of coals 
 that have heretofore been regarded as non-coking. The 
 United States is the greatest consumer of structural ma- 
 terials, the building and engineering construction work of 
 the government row aggregating forty millions yearly, 
 and while this work is being done for the government itself , 
 the problems thus solved cannot fail to be of incalculable 
 benefit to the entire country. 
 
 What I have thus briefly referred to relates to the pre- 
 vention of accidents and loss of -life and the prevention 
 of waste in the coal mining industry. The same considera- 
 tions, however, apply to all branches of the mining industry. 
 The loss of life in the copper mines of the United States is 
 said to be almost as great comparatively as in the coal 
 mines, and we know the waste in gold and silver mining 
 has, in the past, been so great that under improved methods 
 of extracting the ore the tailings and refuse of former op- 
 erations today furnish a splendid profit on reworking. 
 
 Aside from those purposes immediately apparent as 
 most pressing for attention and pursuit under its regular 
 and legitimate prerogatives, there are very many lines of 
 educational, industrial and commercial effort, too numerous 
 to admit of, more than passing mention of a few, that will 
 be directly and materially benefited by information ob- 
 tained through the investigations of a Bureau of Mines and 
 Mining. 
 
 Congress makes appropriation annually for the sup- 
 port of agricultural colleges in the several states. A bill is 
 pending to apply a portion of the proceeds of the sales of 
 public lands to the endowment in connection with these 
 agricultural institutions of schools or departments of mines 
 and mining. The Senate Committee, of which I have the 
 honor to be Chairman, reported the bill favorably, and the 
 Senate has passed it. The following paragraphs appear in 
 that report: 
 
 "The splendid success which has in every case at- 
 tended the establishment of the agricultural and mechani- 
 
PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 cal colleges, and the invaluable work they have done in de- 
 veloping and increasing the agricultural wealth of the na- 
 tion, have abundantly justified the wisdom of the act which 
 founded them. Your Committee believed that the passage 
 of this bill will do for the mining interests of the country 
 what has been so well done under the original act for our 
 agricultural interests. It is a matter of common knowledge 
 that notwithstanding the great value of our mineral pro- 
 duct, amounting in 1900 to the stupendous aggregate of 
 $1,070,108,888, there is yet an enormous waste in the pres- 
 ent process of extracting both precious and common miner- 
 als. There can be no doubt but that scientific research, 
 investigation and experiment will eventually develop 
 methods and processes by which a large part of this waste 
 can be avoided, and the aggregate wealth of the nation 
 thereby vastly increased. 
 
 "It is a well recognized fact that the science and art 
 of agriculture in the United States have been revolution- 
 ized through the agency of the agricultural experiment 
 stations established under the act of Congress of 1887. 
 Your Committee believe that the same methods which have 
 produced such fruitful results in the field of that great in- 
 dustry will be equally productive when applied to the de- 
 velopment of our untold mineral wealth, and it seems in- 
 contestable that it is as much the right and the duty of the 
 federal government to extend aid in the latter case as in the 
 former. The amount appropriated by the bill to forty- 
 eight states and territories is for the first year $480,000, and 
 will amount at the end of ten years to $960,000 per annum. 
 If this expenditure should result in increasing by only one- 
 tenth of one per cent pur annual mineral product, the coun- 
 try would be more than repaid in the direct increase of 
 wealth, of tax-paying power, and above all, in the widely 
 diffused increase of intelligence and skill; for every dollar 
 of mineral wealth wrested from the soil is new wealth, 
 which goes into general use, permanently increasing the 
 volume of metallic circulation and contributing ready ma- 
 
RELATION OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO MINING. 33 
 
 terial for the arts, sciences, and the conveniences of civil- 
 ized life." 
 
 The problems which are being presented to the mem* 
 bers of the mining and metallurgical profession are increas- 
 ing in complexity year by year. It is becoming necessary 
 to conduct mining operations at greater length, and this 
 involves new problems in hoisting, pumping, drainage and 
 ventilation. The necessity for making closer savings in all 
 metallurgical processes is resulting in the invention of new 
 methods and the improvement of old ones. In many 
 branches methods are now in use which have not undergone 
 any change or improvement for periods varying from a 
 decade to a century, and we can scarcely look to any other 
 source than technical education for leaders to attack these 
 problems. The day of accidental discovery is largely gone 
 by, and the greatest advances of the future must be made 
 by approaching the problems from a scientific point of view 
 and conducting experiments in a more systematic manner 
 than is customary with the hit-or-miss operators whose ex- 
 periments are conducted without rhyme or reason. 
 
 Of the total mineral products of the country, nearly 
 one-third, or a total value of 657% million dollars, are pro- 
 duced in Pennsylvania, while the three states of Pennsyl- 
 vania, Ohio and Illinois furnish more than one-half of the 
 entire output. Every state and territory, however, appears 
 in the recapitulation by states, and the value of the output 
 in every state except Delaware equals in value about one 
 million dollars and upwards. 
 
 In the past decade great progress has been made in the 
 clay working industries of the country, both in quality and 
 quantity of ware, the total value of the output having dou- 
 bled in that time. There have been improvements in pro- 
 cesses of manufacture and great economies in production, 
 and undoubtedly there is a large field open for further im- 
 provement. 
 
 The great range in prices the country over of many 
 clay products indicates as well as figures can tell, the field 
 of usefulness of a scientific bureau which will do much 
 
34 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 needed work in analyzing clays, in pointing out the possi- 
 bilities of known deposits, and in showing how economies 
 can be practiced in manufacture. 
 
 The pottery business of the country suffered more in 
 1907 than did any branch of the clay- working industries, 
 the total value of pottery products decreasing from over 
 thirty-one million dollars to thirty million dollars, or 4.13 
 per cent, although the value of the output in this country 
 has doubled in the past ten years. The home production is 
 now equal to nearly three-fourths of the consumption, and 
 is steadily gaining, with promises that before long the do- 
 mestic ware will supply the entire demand. The quality is 
 improving also and there is no reason why American pot- 
 tery will not, in a short time, be admitted by all to be the 
 equal of the very best imported ware. White ware is pro- 
 duced in nine states,* but it could profitably be produced in 
 many of the Western states, where there is an abundance of 
 accessible and suitable material. 
 
 New Jersey and Ohio are now the leading pottery pro- 
 ducing states, turning out sixty-eight per cent of the total 
 product, and Trenton and East Liverpool are the great pot- 
 tery centers. Their total output in 1906 was nearly thir- 
 teen million dollars in value, which was slightly less than 
 the value of earthen ware, china and porcelain, decorated 
 and undecorated, imported the same year into the United 
 States. 
 
 The statistics of the clay-working industries of the 
 United States in 1907, issued by the Gelogical Survey, show 
 the number of permits issued, or of buildings erected there- 
 under in the leading cities of the United States, together 
 with the character of the buildings. From the fifty cities 
 reporting it appears that of the permits issued or buildings 
 erected, over sixty per cent were for wooden buildings, and 
 nearly forty per cent were for brick and stone construction. 
 A number of large cities in the country report the construc- 
 tion of fire-resisting buildings exceeding in value the con- 
 struction of wooden buildings, but the relation of sixty per 
 cent to forty per cent shows the continuance of the practice 
 
RELATION OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO MINING. 35 
 
 in this country of furnishing abundant material for the fire 
 demon. For illustration, we have only to think of the Iro- 
 quois Theater fire, with its six hundred lives lost, and even 
 within the past year of the heartrending catastrophes at 
 Collmwood, 0., and Boyertown, Pa., in each of which some 
 two hundred school children perished. This brings us 
 naturally to the consideration of the annual fire losses of 
 the United States, which we all know are prodigious. I 
 have seen it stated that the fire losses of the United States 
 in 1907 aggregated some two hundred and fifteen million 
 dollars, or a loss of some two dollars and a half for every 
 inhabitant of the country. When we compare this loss with 
 the reported fire losses suffered in European countries, 
 which average only some thirty-three cents per capita per 
 annum, we cannot fail to be impressed with the gravity of 
 this problem, and the necessity for a scientific investigation. 
 
 When we consider that the amount of money expended 
 annually by the states and cities and the people of the coun- 
 try in building and construction work exceeds one billion 
 dollars, and that over half of this sum goes for structural 
 materials, the importance of an investigation of this char- 
 acter, carried out by competent and impartial inquirers, is 
 of the greatest value. The investigation of this character 
 carried on by the government has been largely into the con- 
 stituent materials of concrete and the concrete itself, but 
 the work is now being extended to other structural mater- 
 ials. Without taking time here to go into details as to 
 what these tests have shown it is sufficient to say that they 
 indicate the possibility of reducing the amount of materials 
 necessary, thereby producing economies of ten per cent and 
 upwards in structures put up, wholly or in part, with rein- 
 forced concrete. 
 
 Two of our mineral resources which are wasted with 
 the greatest prodigality are natural gas and water. The 
 State Geologist of West Virginia, Dr. I. C. White, says on 
 this point: 
 
 ' 1 No one can even approximate the extent of this waste. 
 From personal knowledge of conditions which exist in every 
 
36 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 oil and gas field, I am sure the quantity will amount to not 
 less than one billion cubic feet daily, and it may be more. 
 The heating value of a billion cubic feet of natural gas is 
 roughly equivalent to that of one million bushels of coal. 
 What an appalling record to transmit to posterity. 
 
 " There can be no doubt that for every barrel of oil 
 taken from the earth there have been wasted more than ten 
 times its equivalent in either heating power or weight of 
 this the best of all the fuels, and also that much more than 
 half of this frightful waste could have been avoided by 
 proper care in oil production and slight additional expendi- 
 tures. ' ' 
 
 The supply of natural gas and petroleum is not renew- 
 able, as is the water supply. "Water power is our greatest 
 natural resource and the one heretofore least utilized. As 
 the past has been an age of steam, so we are today just en- 
 tering on an age of electricity, and that means, engineers 
 say, the beginning of the age of water power. One of the 
 speakers before the Conference of Governors, held at the 
 White House last May, said that the United States now has 
 thirty million horse power available in its streams, which 
 is equivalent to the total horse power utilized for all forms 
 of production and transportation throughout the country. 
 Thirty per cent of all the horse power now used is utilized 
 electrically, and this electrical use of power is the growth 
 of twenty-five years. By 1920, if the increase of electrical 
 power continues steadily, it will equal or exceed the power 
 mechanically applied. 
 
 There is a great field then, for the federal government 
 in investigating and experimenting in the methods of all 
 kinds of mining and allied industries, and in studying thor- 
 oughly the science of metallurgy. Just as a comparatively 
 small investment annually in the way of appropriations for 
 the Department of Agriculture has resulted in greatly in- 
 creasing the value of our farms, so a small investment for 
 the purpose of investigation and examination into matters 
 pertaining to the great mining industry of the country an 
 industry which in output ranks next to that of agriculture 
 
RELATION OP FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO MINING. 37 
 
 will result in an actual saving of millions of dollars an- 
 nually. 
 
 The relation of the federal government to mining is 
 therefore a very important one, and the function of the gov- 
 ernment in the premises is plain. An industry whose out- 
 put is worth over two billion dollars annually, and is 
 steadily and rapidly increasing, is worth greater attention 
 than it now receives from the central government. This 
 Congress can devote itself to no more worthy object than 
 to help create a public sentiment which will result in the 
 federal government doing as much in behalf of mining as it 
 now does for agriculture, and we may be assured the result- 
 ing benefits to the industry and the country at large will 
 be as great. 
 
Transportation of Mineral Products. 
 
 BY EDWARD H. HARRIMAN. 
 
 Pittsburgh is the approprite place for the discussion 
 of problems connected with transportation for the products 
 of the mines. It is the greatest industrial center for 
 utilizing these products; and the aggregate tonnage of the 
 incoming and outgoing freight, consisting largely of such 
 products, is larger than the aggregate tonnage of any other 
 three of the world 's greatest cities. 
 
 There is ample reason, therefore, why the people of 
 Pittsburgh should be proud of their city, and there is still 
 more reason why the men in charge of these industries, 
 through a more efficient use of raw materials and an in- 
 creasing diversity of manufactured products, should strive 
 to perpetuate the greatness which they have achieved. 
 
 Mine Products as a Factor in Transportation. 
 
 The mineral production of the United States during the 
 past year had an aggregate value of more than $2,000,000,- 
 000, and the crude and manufactured mineral products of 
 the country gave an aggregate tonnage of more than 
 525,000,000 tons. 
 
 The total tonnage reported by the Interstate Commerce 
 Commission as originating on American railways in 1906 
 was 820,000,000 tons. Of this the crude products of the 
 mine aggregated more than 435,000,000 tons, or 53 per cent 
 of the total tonnage. Add to this 89,000,000 tons of manu- 
 factured mineral products, such as cement, lime, steel, etc., 
 and we have a total mineral production transported by the 
 railways of approximately 525,000,000 tons, or 64 per cent 
 of the entire freight business of the country. In addition 
 to this the railroads hauled for their own use about 100,000,- 
 000 tons of coal during the year, or 275,000 tons each day. 
 
 Of other freights during the year, the products of the 
 forest, agriculture, merchandise, animals, and manufactures 
 
TRANSPORTATION OP MINERAL PRODUCTS. 39 
 
 (excluding the 89,000,000 tons of manufactured mineral 
 products) make 36 per cent of this total haulage. 
 
 When we classify the mine products transported on the 
 American railways, measuring the tonnage by that origin- 
 ating on each road, we find that the largest of these prod- 
 ucts is bituminous coal, of which 206,000,000 tons were 
 transported during 1906. The other products were anthra- 
 cite coal, nearly 60,000,000 tons; coke, 33,000,000; ores, 
 69,000,000; stone, sand, and other like articles, approxi- 
 mately 58,000,000; miscellaneous mineral products, more 
 than 9,000,000. 
 
 Adding to these the manufactured mineral products 
 we have, petroleum and other oils, 6,500,000 tons; iron, pig 
 and bloom, 21,000,000 tons; other castings and machinery, 
 13,500,000 tons; bar and sheet metal, 15,000,000 tons; ce- 
 ment, brick, and lime, more than 27,000,000 tons. Besides 
 these, as stated above, the railroads hauled for their own 
 needs more than 100,000,000 tons of fuel and other materials. 
 
 The generalized classification of the freight traffic of 
 the country is given in the following tables taken from the 
 reports of the Interstate Commerce Commission for 1906: 
 
 SUMMARY SHOWING FREIGHT TRAFFIC MOVEMENT, BY CLASS 
 
 OF COMMODITY, ORIGINATING ON LINE OF REPORTING 
 
 ROADS IN THE UNITED STATES FOR THE YEAR 
 
 ENDING JUNE 30, 1906: 
 
 United States 
 
 Class of Commodity 
 * Crude products of mines . . . . 
 
 Tonnage 
 reported as 
 originating 
 on line 
 Tons 
 
 435,450,476 
 
 Per cent of 
 aggregate 
 
 53.09 ] 
 
 
 *Manufactured mine products. 
 Manufactures other than 
 from mine products 
 
 89,523,200 
 31,935,538 
 
 64 
 10.91J 1 
 14 
 3.90 
 
 .00 
 .81 
 
 Products of forests 
 
 92,187,351 
 
 11.24 
 
 
 Products of agriculture 
 
 70,201,721 
 
 8.56 
 
 
 Merchandise 
 
 33,319,615 
 
 4.06 
 
 
 Products of animals 
 
 19,002,825 
 
 2.32 
 
 
 Miscellaneous 
 
 48,543,902 
 
 5.92 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Grand total. 820,164,627 
 
 *To this total of 524,973,676 tons may be added 100,000,000 
 tons of coal transported by the railroads for their own use. 
 
40 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 Increase in Mineral Freights. 
 
 The products of the mines constitute the heaviest 
 freight and are charged the lowest rate. They are usually 
 non-perishable, and their quick delivery is, as a rule, not 
 urgent, except in a shortage of coal during the winter sea- 
 sons. 
 
 As a rule the mine products are more constant in their 
 production than any other large items of freight. As will 
 be seen from the figures given, coal is by far the largest 
 single item; and while the production of coal varies from 
 year to year, oniy nine times since the beginning of our 
 records of coal mining in the United States (in 1814) has 
 the production of any one year been less than that of the 
 preceding year, the greatest falling off recorded being a 
 drop of 12,000,000 tons in 1894 from the production of 1893. 
 On the whole, the increase in production has been so rapid 
 and so marvelous, that on one of the important coal hand- 
 ling railroads (Baltimore & Ohio) the coal transported dur- 
 ing each of the past several decades has equalled the aggre- 
 gate of that transported by it during all of the preceding 
 decades; and the ratio in the increase of production of coal 
 for the entire country has come near following this rule for 
 the past eighty years. 
 
 There has been a correspondingly large increase in the 
 tonnage production of many other important mineral mate- 
 rials, though in some of these the increase has not been so 
 striking as in the case of the coal. 
 
 The Railroads as a Factor in the Country's Development. 
 
 , No man who has not participated in and watched the 
 pioneer work of the railways in opening up the new country 
 of our middle and western states has any conception either 
 of the enormous task undertaken and accomplished by the 
 early railroad builder or of the work accomplished by these 
 pioneer railyay lines in the rapid westward extension and 
 in the subsequent development of this great country. The 
 railway construction across the plain and the desert, with no 
 immediate freight or passengers in sight this opening up 
 
TRANSPORTATION OF MINERAL PRODUCTS. 41 
 
 of vast sparsely settled regions and awaiting the coming of 
 passengers and freight has required not only a faith on the 
 part of the thousands who risked the investment of their 
 money in the future of undeveloped and in many cases of 
 undiscovered resources, but has also .required their confi- 
 dence in the future fair treatment by the American people 
 of these railways as the development of the country pro- 
 ceeds. 
 
 Fortunately, there were people willing to take the ex- 
 treme hazard of investing their capital in railroads which 
 were bulit not to handle traffic already existing but to cre- 
 ate traffic by making it possible for people to live and pros- 
 per in undeveloped parts of the country. 
 
 Many of the original investors lost a large part of their 
 capital. The risk was greater than they thought. But while 
 these investors lost, the country profited. The early trans- 
 continental railroads and the lines that were built after 
 them made freight rates that enabled the farmers of Kan- 
 sas, Minnesota, and of the Dakotas to sell their wheat at a 
 profit in all the markets of this and other countries, despite 
 the relatively long distances that it had to be hauled. They 
 made rates that enabled the people of the Mississippi val- 
 ley, as well as the people in the Western states, to use, at 
 reasonable prices, the lumber from Oregon and Washington. 
 They made rates that enabled the people of every town and 
 hamlet in the country to obtain the fruits of California at 
 a cost but little below that on the Pacific coast. They have 
 transported coal and other heavy mineral products for dis- 
 tances so great and at rates so low as to be inconsistent with 
 economic management of the railroads but for the fact that 
 at those distant points these crude materials had developed 
 new industries, which have in turn been the means of in- 
 creasing traffic of a higher grade. 
 
 The supplies of these raw materials and cheap railroad 
 transportation have been, and still are, the foundation of 
 the wealth of this great country; and on no other foundation 
 could this prosperity have been builded or be maintained. 
 
 In many parts of the country new territory is still being 
 
42 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 opened and its development made possible by the construc- 
 tion of railways. But even while this pioneer work is still 
 in progress in the larger part of the country, the struggle 
 on the part of the railways during the past few years has 
 been, and is now, to^eep pace with the rapid growth and 
 the rapidly increasing needs for larger, faster, and in every 
 way more ample transportation facilities. 
 
 The Necessary Growth of Transportation Facilities. 
 
 For years the railways of the country have been en- 
 deavoring to meet this great need of transportation facili- 
 ties. The undertaking has been one of enormous propor- 
 tions. The following figures will indicate somewhat the 
 magnitude of this problem and the extent to which the de- 
 mand is being met: 
 
 The total mileage of railways in the United States was 
 6,535 miles in 1840; 30,626 miles in 1860; 93,267 miles in 
 1880; 159,271 miles in 1890; 192,940 miles in 1900; and about 
 230,000 miles in 1907. 
 
 Kecent railway development, as indicated by the at- 
 tached tabular statement, shows that there was in use in 
 1896, 182,000 miles of single track; 20,000 freight locomo- 
 tives, and 1,222,000 freight cars; whereas during the year 
 1906 there were in use 222,000 miles of single track, nearly 
 30,000 freight locomotives, and more than 1,800,000 freight 
 cars, showing an increase during that period of 40,357 miles 
 of single track road, 9,497 freight locomotives, and 616,000 
 freight cars. 
 
 Meanwhile there has been a still greater increase in 
 the weight of the locomotives and in the capacity of the 
 cars. Thus during the past ten years on the Union Pacific 
 Railroad the freight cars have increased in capacity 69 per 
 cent; and the locomotives have increased in weight nearly 
 40 per cent. On the Southern Pacific System during the 
 past nine years there has been an increase of about 100 per 
 cent in the capacity of the cars, and 56 per cent in the weight 
 of the locomotives. 
 
TRANSPORTATION OF MINERAL PRODUCTS. 43 
 
 SUMMARY SHOWING THE INCREASE IN SINGLE TRACK 
 
 MILEAGE; FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVES AND FREIGHT 
 
 CARS IN TEN YEARS. 
 
 Total mileage Total freight Total freight 
 
 Years operated (single track) locomotives cars 
 
 1896 181,982.64 20,351 1,221,887 
 
 1897 183,284.25 20,398 1,221,730 
 
 1898 184,648.26 20,627 1,248,826 
 
 1899 187,534.68 20,728 1,295,510 
 
 1900 192,556.03 21,596 1,365,531 
 
 1901 195,561.92 22,839 1,464,328 
 
 1902 200,154.56 23,594 1,546,101 
 
 1903 205,313.54 25,444 1,653,782 
 
 1904 212,243.20 27,029 1,692,194 
 
 1905 216,973.61 27,869 1,731,409 
 
 1906 222,340.30 29,848 1,837,914 
 
 Increase in mileage from 1896 to 1907: 40,357.66 miles. 
 Increase in number of locomotives: 9,497. 
 Increase in number of freight cars: 616,027. 
 
 Even these striking figures do not tell more than half 
 the story. Enormous expenditures have been made in 
 straightening these tracks, improving the grades, putting 
 in better bridges and culverts, improving the roadbed, and 
 in increasing the weight of the rail, the size of the freight 
 car, and the hauling capacity of the locomotives. 
 
 The competition between the weight of the rail and the 
 capacity of the locomotive has been as acute as that between 
 the armor plate and the projectile in modern battleships. 
 
 The following statement of railway equipment at the 
 present time may convey but little idea to the general pub- 
 lic, but it means a huge outlay of labor and money on the 
 part of the railway companies of the country. 
 
 On June 30, 1906, there were in the country 222,340 
 miles of single track railways. Including double tracking, 
 siding, etc., there were in operation a total of 317,000 
 miles; 51,672 locomotives; 1,837,914 freight cars, with an 
 aggregate capacity of more than 59,000,000 tons. 
 
 Of these freight cars, 686,717 were used for the trans- 
 portation of coal ; and they had a capacity of nearly twenty- 
 five million tons. 
 
 The railroads employed at this time 1,521,355 persons. 
 
 The average distance that each ton of freight was car- 
 ried during 1906 was about 241 miles. 
 
44 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING uONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 As illustrating further the extent of the equipment nec- 
 essary for the transportation of the mineral production of 
 the United States, I may add an estimate from Mr. Parker 
 of the United States Geological Survey, that with an av- 
 erage of thirty cars of coal to the train, and fifty tons to 
 the car, 332,330 trains would be required to transport the 
 product of the coal mines of the United States during 1907 ; 
 and the combined length of these trains would extend two 
 and two-thirds times around the earth at the equator. 
 
 So much for the past and present demand for trans- 
 portation facilities. A little further on I shall call atten- 
 tion to the needs of the immediate future. 
 
 Freight Rates and Mineral Production. 
 
 Both the producers and consumers of mineral products 
 are naturally interested in any and every factor which en- 
 ters into the question of the cost of these materials. It is 
 natural for the consumer to think that they cost too much; 
 and he may divide the responsibility of the supposed ex- 
 cessive cost between the miner and the railroad. The pro- 
 ducer, on the other hand, is apt to lay the supposed exces- 
 sive cost at the door of the railroad. And there is a widely 
 circulated expression that the railways charge for transpor- 
 tation all that the traffic will bear. It is equally true that 
 they do not charge what the traffic will not bear, as the 
 figures heretofore quoted showing the marvelous growth of 
 traffic proves. 
 
 It must be remembered that even in the long settled 
 portions of this country the railroads are still doing devel- 
 opment work, and at great cost; building over again, trying 
 to keep up with the demands for better transportation facil- 
 ities. 
 
 I am not here to make or deny any specific charges as 
 to freight rates. I realize the fact, as do you, that inequal- 
 ities may sometimes get into freight rates as well as into 
 other forms of business; but these are being eliminated as 
 fast as the situation in each such case is realized. 
 
 You gentlemen connected with the mining industries of 
 
TRANSPORTATION OP MINERAL PRODUCTS. 45 
 
 this country know from your standpoint, as well as I do 
 from the standpoint of the railway man, what prospecting 
 and pioneer work mean. 
 
 The miner and the railroad have been the two greatest 
 advance agencies in opening up and developing the coun- 
 try. You gentlemen understand, as well as does the rail- 
 way expert, the cost in money and labor of this advance 
 work, and you also know something of the uncertainty of 
 the results, because, in view of the large share which the 
 products of the mine make in the transportation of the 
 railroad, it is apparent that in a large measure the success 
 or failure of the miner makes the success or failure of the 
 railroad. 
 
 You understand further how the railroads, instead of 
 making the freight charges all that the traffic will bear, 
 have placed their rates on these mineral products at the 
 lowest figure that the railroad could bear, in order to ren- 
 der possible the development of the mining industry. With- 
 out the railroads and without the fair co-operation of the 
 railroads, great industrial development in this country 
 would have been impossible, and the enormous develop- 
 ments of the last half century in every part of this country 
 is the best possible evidence that on the whole the railroads 
 have dealt farily with those directly connected with and 
 directly responsible for these developments. 
 
 Opening of markets by railways makes possible indus- 
 trial developments and the use by railroads of fuel in the 
 first instance gives impetus to such development. 
 
 The managers and the stockholders of railways in this 
 country realize that they must make rates that will enable 
 the industries located along one railway line to compete 
 with those located along other railway lines. They also 
 realize that even the great trans-continental systems of 
 rates must be such as will enable the industries of this 
 country to compete with those in other countries. They 
 also realize and you will admit the justice of the claim- 
 that the freight charges must be such as to permit the rail- 
 road to do its work properly and yield fair returns to the 
 
46 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 men and women of this country whose savings have helped 
 to build and improve the railroads. 
 
 Let me call your attention also to the fact that as the 
 country is developing, and as the railways are developing, 
 freight rates have been diminishing. Thus the freight 
 rates per ton per mile on the railways of the United States 
 were 1.89 cents in 1870; 1.2 cents in 1880; .94 cents in 1890; 
 .84 cents in 1895; .73 cents in 1900; .76 cents in 1905; and .75 
 cents in 1907. 
 
 The transportation conditions in European countries 
 are quite different from those in the United States. Never- 
 theless, reference is often made to the low freight charges 
 in other countries. It may, therefore, in the present con- 
 nection, be worth while to call attention to the fact that 
 during the year 1906, in the larger European countries the 
 freight receipts per ton mile were nearly twice those in the 
 United States during the same year; and during that year 
 the lower rates per ton mile at which the American railways 
 carried freight, contrasted with the rates per ton mile re- 
 ceived by the European railways, was equivalent to a sav- 
 ing by the people of this country of over $1,000,000,000. 
 
 Fair Treatment of Railroads Essential to Their Own Development 
 and to that of the Country. 
 
 The people of this country desire to be fair, and they 
 desire to see all interests treated fairly. But owing to a 
 lack of information concerning many of the fundamental 
 factors in transportation, there is danger that this needed 
 development of transportation facilities may be retarded 
 or prevented through the unjust treatment of the investors 
 in railroads. 
 
 The impression exists that the railroads are owned by 
 a few rich men, and it is contended that because these men 
 are rich they can stand a restriction to a small return on 
 their investments. But the fact is that the railroads are 
 not owned by a few rich men, and even if they were, it is as 
 contrary to the spirit of American institutions and the 
 American spirit of justice for the law to discriminate 
 
TRANSPORTATION. OF MINERAL PRODUCTS. 47 
 
 against a man because he is rich as it is for the law to dis- 
 criminate against a man because he is poor. 
 
 The railroads of the United States had, on June 30, 
 1907, 328,000 miles of track and about 350,000 stockholders, 
 or more than one stockholder for every mile of railroad 
 operated, and these stockholders are scattered 'throughout 
 the entire country. 
 
 The opinion that those who invest their means in a 
 railroad should not be permitted to earn more than a "fair 
 rate of interest ' ' upon the actual cash value of its property, 
 and that four per cent is a " fair rate of interest, ' ' and hence 
 the maximum permissible interest on such investments, is 
 inconsistent with the higher rates of interest from other 
 kinds of investment. 
 
 Thus, as shown by the statistics of the United States 
 Department of Agriculture and other government agen- 
 cies, in the year 1900 the farmers of this country received 
 a return of nine per cent on the value of their farms in that 
 year; that the manufacturers enjoyed in the same year a 
 net return of 19.4 per cent., while the average net return 
 upon railroad investments was scarcely four per cent. The 
 same source of information showed that in the year 1905 
 (another prosperous year) the average net returns of the 
 farmers was 9.8 per cent on the value of their farms, and 
 that of the manufacturers was 15 per cent; while the aver- 
 age return upon the railroad capital was but 4.4 per cent. 
 Investments in the railroads west of the Mississippi have 
 been usually even less satisfactory. The dividends on one 
 of- the important western transcontinental lines from 1882 
 to 1906 averaged 2.9 per cent; that of another, from 1883 to 
 1906, averaged 2.3 per cent; that of another, from 1885 to 
 1906, averaged 1 per cent; that of still another, from 1884 
 to 1906, averaged 1.5 per cent. 
 
 As a single additional basis of comparison I may add 
 that during the last forty years the dividends of national 
 banks in the United States have averaged 8% per cent. In 
 no year has this average gone below 6 per cent. During 
 the last few years these national bank dividends have aver- 
 aged 10 per cent. 
 
48 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 After the investors in railroads have been disappointed 
 for so many years by not receiving as large returns as they 
 had hoped for returns that they felt they were entitled 
 to when they made their investment it is now proposed to 
 limit by law the maximum dividends possible in railway in- 
 vestments, at what might be considered a mininmum return 
 in other industries (about four per cent), on the grounds 
 that the railroads, being quasi-public corporations, the pub- 
 lic has the legal right to reduce these rates as low as it 
 pleases, if it does not make them confiscatory. But mind 
 you, nothing in this proposal suggests that some outside 
 party should bear the losses and guarantee four per cent 
 minimum return on railway investments. 
 
 The question which the public should consider in this 
 connection is not its right to fix these rates so low that they 
 will barely avoid confiscation, but it is the broader questions 
 of equity and the public welfare. If investors find that 
 they can get continuously higher rates of interest on invest- 
 ments in connection with other industries, they will not in- 
 vest in railway securities, and hence funds needed for pro- 
 viding better transportation facilities will not be forthcom- 
 ing, and the development of the country itself will be 
 checked. 
 
 Transportation Needs in the Immediate Future. 
 
 In this connection let us not forget that we are just 
 beginning to realize the possibilities in this country's 
 growth, and the transportation facilities should be such as 
 to aid rather than retard this development. I have already 
 referred to the recent rapid increase in the demand for 
 transportation facilities. I wish to refer to the future just 
 sufficiently to impress upon you the magnitude of our rail- 
 way problems of the next twenty years. 
 
 There are too many factors of uncertainty to permit 
 our dealing in specific prophecies, but the best statisticians 
 of the country give the United States twenty years hence 
 (1927) a population of 114,000,000 people, and a yearly coal 
 production at the time to be handled by the railways of 
 about 1,200,000,000 tons. 
 
TRANSPORTATION OF MINERAL PRODUCTS. 49 
 
 You who produce this coal realize how essential it is to 
 the mining industry that adequate transportation equip- 
 ment be at your disposal, but I do not believe the general 
 public realizes the fact that the railroads must not only 
 furnish the equipment necessary for hauling this coal, but 
 also that, owing to the lack of local storage facilities, they 
 must have these cars placed at the mine with such regular- 
 ity as to render continuous mining possible. The figures 
 are not available for predicting with similar accuracy the 
 increase in production of other products which enter into 
 the traffic of the country, but the intimate relation of coal 
 production to that of the production of iron and steel and 
 other manufacteured products justify the use of the above 
 figures as indicating the enormous freight traffic which 
 the railroads of this country must be prepared to take care 
 of during the immediate future. 
 
 Water Transportation for Mineral Products. 
 
 The people of Pittsburgh are naturally and especially 
 interested in the improvement of inland water transporta- 
 tion facilities as a means of enabling you to receive your 
 heavy raw mineral products and to distribute over the coun- 
 try your heavy manufactured mineral products at the least 
 possible cost of transportation. This is a commendable 
 purpose. If it can be accomplished at a reasonable cost, I 
 extend my best wishes for its accomplishment. Everybody 
 knows that these heavy, crude mineral materials can, under 
 favorable conditions, be carried more cheaply by water 
 than they can by rail. The fact that these materials are 
 non-perishable and need not be subject to the demands for 
 quick delivery, renders them, of all freight, best adapted to 
 the necessarily slow water transportation. Perhaps no- 
 where is this fact demonstrated more clearly than in your 
 present irregular transportation of coal from Pittsburg 
 down the Ohio and Mississippi Eivers, by which you can 
 transport coal from Pittsburg to New Orleans at a cost of 
 less than one dollar per ton, even under the existing un- 
 favorable conditions. I can but wish that such water trans- 
 
50 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 portation facilities existed throughout the great West, as I 
 would be glad to have this Pittsburgh coal delivered in boats 
 at different points along the Southern, Central and Union 
 Pacific Bailway Systems, so that our locomotives could be 
 supplied with coal without our having to carry it two thou- 
 sand miles in our own freight cars. 
 
 We have another good illustration of cheap inland 
 water transportation on the Great Lakes, where the record 
 shows that during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1907, there 
 have passed through the Sault Ste. Marie Canal more than 
 54,000,000 tons of freight, of which more than 47,000,000 
 tons were of heavy, crude mineral materials. 
 
 Eailroad men, like other men, are not in the habit of 
 inviting competition; but we all recognize the increasing 
 need for greater transportation facilities of all kinds, and 
 the railway men of today should welcome such improve- 
 ments of the inland waterways of this country as can be 
 made at a reasonable cost and maintained by the govern- 
 ment on a business like basis. 
 
 Similarly, every one should welcome and encourage the 
 building of good wagon roads. Just as great saving will 
 in the future be made in the economic cost of railroad trans- 
 portation through double tracking, reducing grades and im- 
 proving road beds; so also a similar and in some cases a 
 greater local saving in the cost of transportation can be 
 brought about through improvements in the public high- 
 ways which connect the farm with the railroads and the 
 smaller markets. 
 
 In Conclusion. 
 
 Let me impress on you the fact that the interests of 
 producers, of consumers, and of the transportation agencies 
 that bring them together in the markets of this country and 
 of the world are mutual and interdependent. We cannot 
 afford to so adjust our rates as to place undue burdens on 
 your business, for that would arrest the development of our 
 traffic. You cannot afford to cause law makers and rail- 
 road commissions to continue unduly to increase our operat- 
 
TRANSPORTATION OF MINERAL PRODUCTS. 51 
 
 ing expenses and reduce our earnings and thereby hinder 
 the expansion of our facilities; for that will arrest the 
 growth of your business and the increase in the value of 
 your properties. As our interests are mutual and inter- 
 dependent, we will all gain by recognizing frankly one an- 
 other's legal and moral rights and co-operating in a broad 
 and intelligent spirit for the promotion of the development 
 and progress of this marvelously promising country. 
 
 No other country has so rich a heritage of mineral and 
 agricultural wealth as has the United States. No other 
 country is so wasteful in the use of those resources. No 
 country has ever had so phenomenal a growth. This growth 
 is yet in its infancy. In order that this development may 
 be wise and permanent, we must quit our habit of waste 
 and develop the habit of efficient use of our resources. We 
 must encourage and enlarge our systems of transportation, 
 both by rail and water, in such manner as will build up ap- 
 propriate industries in every part of the country, and as 
 will best develop the country as a whole. 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 From Mineral Resources, United States Geological Survey, 1907. 
 
 Interstate Commerce Commission Annual Report, 1906. 
 
 Coal Production, United States, U. S. Geological Survey, 1906. 
 
 Interstate Commerce Commission Annual Report, 1906. 
 
 Records U. S. Geological Survey. 
 
 Statistician, B. & O. R. R. 
 
 Slason Thompson, Bureau of Railway News, Chicago. 
 
 Union Pacific Ry. 
 
 Railway Statistics for U. S. for years ending June 30, 1907, pre- 
 pared for General Managers' Assn. of Chicago by Slason Thompson, 
 Bureau of Railway News. 
 
 Manuscript notes, Union Pacific Ry. 
 
 Annual Report Comptroller of the Treasury, 1907. 
 
 United States Geological Survey. 
 
 Annual Report, Chief of Engineers, U. S. War Dept., 1906. 
 
The Importance of Arbitration as a Factor in the Advance- 
 ment of the Mining Industry. 
 
 BY HON. CARROLL D. WRIGHT, CLARK COLLEGE, WORCESTER, MASS. 
 
 The most important and emphatic illustration of the 
 importance of arbitration in any industry, so far as this 
 country is concerned, was when the operators and miners in 
 the anthracite region of Pennsylvania accepted the award 
 of arbitration of the Commission appointed by the President 
 at the request of the operators to adjust the questions ex- 
 isting between them and the miners. 
 
 It is of no consequence now how this commission arose 
 or was created. It was appointed by the President, as 
 stated, on the request of the operators themselves, not on 
 the initiative interference by the President. 
 
 The strike of 1902 was a very severe one and with vast 
 ramifications, its influence affecting not only domestic life, 
 but the industries of the country. It had continued from 
 May of that year until October, when the appointment of the 
 commission was requested, and the two parties to the great 
 strife consented to abide by the decision of the commission. 
 
 That commission, after five months of hearings and de- 
 liberation, made an award fixing the conditions which were 
 to be the rule for three years. The award related to the 
 demand for higher wages for contract miners, the demand 
 for a reduction in the hours of labor, the demand for pay- 
 ment by weight, the demand for an agreement with the 
 United Mine Workers of America, the subject of check 
 weighmen and check docking bosses, the distribution of 
 mine cars, the sliding scale, discrimination, lawlessness, 
 boycotting and blacklisting, direct payment, and lastly the 
 life and conditions of the awards. 
 
 The last award provided that the awards made should 
 continue in force until March 31, 1906, that is, three years. 
 In the fourth award the commission provided that any dif- 
 ficulty or disagreement arising under the award, either as 
 
ARBITRATION IN THE MINING INDUSTRY. 53 
 
 its interpretation or application, or in any way growing 
 out of the relations of the employers and employees which 
 cannot be settled or adjusted by consultation between the 
 superintendent or manager of the mine or mines, or is of a 
 scope too large to be so settled or adjusted, shall be referred 
 to a joint committee, to be called a board of conciliation, to 
 consist of six persons, three of whom should belong to the 
 miners' organizations, representing a majority of the mine 
 workers, and three other persons to be appointed by the op- 
 erators, etc. 
 
 This board of conciliation was to take up and consider 
 any question referred to it, and if the board was unable to 
 decide, an umpire should be appointed at the request of the 
 board by one of the Circuit Judges of the Third Judicial 
 Circuit of the United States, whose decision should be final 
 and binding in the premises. 
 
 Here lies the fundamental basis of trade agreements 
 and arbitration preceded by conciliatory methods. The 
 award was accepted by both parties and very faithfully ob- 
 served during the whole three years. Near its expiration 
 the miners thought they were entitled to some modifications 
 and organized a strike to secure them. The operators 
 would not yield and the result was that the complete award 
 was extended for three years more, that is, to March 31,1909. 
 
 During the first three years various questions arose 
 relative to the interpretation of the award, extra demands 
 of miners, etc. These were referred to the conciliation 
 board, the results of whose decesion was accepted by the 
 miners and operators. Several questions, perhaps fifteen 
 or twenty, were referred to the umpire, and in every instance 
 the decisions of the umpire were accepted by both parties 
 and faithfully adhered to by them. During the second 
 three years of the award, which became a voluntary agree- 
 ment by the action in March, 1906, there has been little for 
 the conciliation board to do, and so far as information goes 
 the affairs of the anthacite regions have been running along 
 smoothly and with fair satisfaction to all parties. 
 
 The result of the award of the commission appointed 
 by the President put several millions of dollars into the 
 
54 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 hands of the miners which they would not have received 
 otherwise. The sliding scale has worked satisfactorily, so 
 far as the writer knows, and the whole result has been bene- 
 ficial in the extreme. The public has had full confidence 
 that mining operations would go forward and the whole 
 benefit of arbitration has been realized. 
 
 The previous history of the mining industry, so far as 
 strikes are concerned, taken in comparison with the history 
 in the anthracite regions since 1903, shows clearly, and, it 
 seems to me, most emphatically, that the spirit of arbitra- 
 tion has been carried out during the past five years or 
 more, and leaves no doubt of the desirability, even the neces- 
 sity, of some such machinery as that which exists in the 
 anthracite regions. 
 
 Peace is desirable, but not peace with dishonor, even in 
 industrial affairs, and peace has prevailed with honor to 
 both parties. A very careful canvass of the situation shows 
 clearly that both parties have endeavored to abide by the 
 award of the commission. 
 
 The mining industry is peculiar. There are very many 
 irritating complications, resulting from necessary conditions 
 that do not pertain to other industries. If therefore a sys- 
 tem of arbitration and conciliation can be carried out, it is 
 for the interests of the whole country, and especially be- 
 comes a most important factor in the advancement of the 
 mining industry itself. 
 
 The award accepted by both parties constituted a trade 
 agreement. The trade agreement concerns the ethical and 
 economic characteristics of men. It has been in practice 
 nearly forty years in England, and fifteen or twenty years 
 in this country, and the instances of a breach of faith or a 
 violation of the terms of the agreement are so rare that they 
 need not be specified. 
 
 The action of the bituminous coal miners during the 
 strike of the anthracite miners is a splendid illustration of 
 this. The bituminous operators were making money more 
 rapidly than ever, on account of the anthracite strike, but 
 they were not paying any higher wages. The men were 
 working under their trade agreement. The proposition was 
 
ARBITRATION IN THE MINING INDUSTRY. 55 
 
 made that they break this agreement and insist upon an in- 
 crease in wages, a convention being called for this purpose, 
 but it was voted nearly unanimously that, the trade agree- 
 ment should be held sacred. This did much to steady con- 
 ditions in the mining industry of the country, but it did 
 more. It emphasized the beneficence not only of trade 
 agreements, but of industrial arbitration itself. 
 
 What will happen when the term of the award expires 
 in March, 1909, no one can predict, but the existence through 
 these years without a break in any of the terms of the award 
 is something very remarkable indeed, and again emphasizes 
 the beneficence of that method of adjusting difficulties. 
 
 But there is another side which appeals to many, and 
 that is the advisability of some method which can be adopted 
 for the settlement of trade disputes before the necessity of 
 arbitration is reached. Arbitration is resorted to after war 
 is declared, after the parties have exhausted their patience 
 and their common sense. The lines of argument are clearly 
 marked, the terms fairly stated, but the preliminary steps to 
 arbitration ought to be avoided if possible. There should be 
 a conciliation board, or a board of arbitration constituted 
 through the provision of the trade agreement and looking 
 to the avoidance of a resort to arbitration and the settle- 
 ment of all the difficulties which arise, or the chief ones, 
 by the very parties who are most interested, that is, the 
 employers and the employees. Their reciprocal . relations 
 are thus brought out in a way that cannot be done other- 
 wise. So the trade agreement holds out the greatest hope 
 for industrial peace in the future; and the advancement of 
 the mining industry that is so largely at the basis of our 
 material prosperity, demands the recognition of these high 
 principles of morals and economics combined. 
 
 Another method is now projected in Canadian law, 
 providing for compulsory investigation. The Canadian 
 law is not a new idea. Hon. Charles Francis Adams, for 
 years president of the Union Pacific railroad and inter- 
 ested in all such matters, many years ago projected the 
 indea of compulsory investigation. It grew out of his ex- 
 perience on the board of railroad commissioners of the 
 
56 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 Commonwealth of Massachusetss, wherein he held that 
 when the facts were known and given to the public, public 
 opinion would force the desired result. It was a recogni- 
 tion of the public opinion in a great dispute, as well as 
 the interest of the disputants themselves. In the report 
 on the Chicago strike by the commission appointed by 
 President Cleveland, this method of dealing with industrial 
 disputes was recommended, and again the Anthracite Strike 
 Commission not only recommended something of the kind, 
 but published in its report in full a plan by Mr. Adams, 
 which he called a proposed bill providing for compulsory 
 investigation and publicity, but so far no state in this coun- 
 try has adopted the principle or the method outlined. The 
 Canadian government has, and the work is being carried 
 on there, so far as the writer is informed, with satisfaction 
 on the whole. 
 
 The point is that, when a great strike occurs or is 
 threatened, there should be some body with official author- 
 ity to investigate all the facts relating, to it in a broad, im- 
 partial and non-partisan manner, and give the facts to the 
 public. Public opinion will then, as in Canada, settle the 
 matter in most cases, and thus avoid the long-continued 
 strike or the necessity for a court of arbitration. When 
 the actual facts of a great strike are known it is not diffi- 
 cult for public opinion to place the responsibility for the 
 strike where it belongs. This is the ethical element of any 
 such method. 
 
 Every step which the American Mining Congress can 
 take that will emphasize the necessity of considering these 
 questions of arbitration and conciliation and of investiga- 
 tion will be in the right direction, and will of themselves 
 constitute an important factor in the advancement of the 
 mining industry. 
 
The Duties of the Federal and State Governments in 
 Relation to the Mining Industry. 
 
 BY GEO. HARRISON, CHIEF INSPECTOR OP MINES OF OHIO, 
 COLUMBUS, OHIO. 
 
 In a city renowned as the center of one of the greatest 
 mining industries in the world, and addressing an audience 
 composed of Governors of various states, or their direct 
 representatives, United States Senators, Congressmen, and 
 many other eminent statesmen, officers and members of 
 the American Mining Congress and United States Geologi- 
 cal Survey, scientific, technical and practical mining ex- 
 perts, mining engineers, mine inspectors, and many others 
 assembled to promote mining interests and no doubt en- 
 deavor to devise ways and means whereby the enormous 
 list of fatalities can be reduced and greater protection given 
 to life and limb of those employed in the mines in this great 
 mining country, we are forcibly reminded that the dreaded 
 seanson of the year is at hand, when lifting our morning 
 newspaper, we hold our breath, fearful that our vision may 
 fall on some news item announcing in large head lines: 
 " Great Mine Explosion and Appalling Loss of Life. ' ' 
 
 One year ago, when a number of mine calamities fol- 
 lowed in the wake of each other with such rapid succession 
 and great loss of life, the human sympathy of the people 
 of all classes was aroused beyond description for the be- 
 reaved and sorrowing wives, children and relatives, whose 
 means of maintenance had been so suddenly cut off by the 
 sad fate of their bread-winners. 
 
 A portion of the general public, often more ready and 
 capable of tearing down than of building up, without con- 
 sidering the unprecedented prosperity, the rapid develop- 
 ment of mining properties, the great demand for, and in- 
 creased production of coal, the introduction of mining ma- 
 chinery, the advent of electrical power, the changed sys- 
 tems of mining and the incessant influx of utterly unskilled, 
 non-English-speaking labor into the mines with all their 
 
58 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 attendant hazards, was cruel and unjust in its unfriendly 
 criticisms of what it termed "incompetent mine inspec- 
 tors, " "indifferent state and federal governments" and 
 "inhuman mine operators," thus dividing the responsibility 
 and rendering their verdict without knowledge of the true 
 conditions and circumstances, making such disasters highly 
 probable, if not absolutely certain. 
 
 As often repeated in past mining history, the great 
 sacrifice of human life in the mines in so short a time, 
 taught its lesson and left its imprint on the minds of all 
 deep and careful-thinking men, especially mining men. 
 
 Anxious to learn the cause and devise remedies for 
 such awful catastrophes, a series of very thorough investi- 
 gations was conducted by scientific and practical experts, 
 and while no definite or final conclusions were reached as 
 to the initial or primary cause of such occurrences, much 
 valuable information was gained regarding the many new 
 dangers incident to new methods of mining and producing 
 coal, the accumulation of which is gradually but surely ex- 
 posing those who work in the mines to much greater peril. 
 There is very little doubt that the researches referred to 
 had the effect of convincing nearly every one who took a 
 part in them that the most effective way, if not the only 
 way, to avert such calamities, was by the enactment and 
 judicial enforcement of uniform mining laws and customs 
 in every mining state where similar conditions exist. This 
 conclusion is fully sustained when we hear the strong pro- 
 tests, and in many instances, logical arguments advanced 
 by mine operators against the enactment of stringent min- 
 ing laws by state legislative bodies, not because they are 
 opposed to such laws, or do not deem them necessary in 
 the protection of life, but because any restrictions put upon 
 them that will increase their cost of coal production, will 
 practically exclude them from their natural markets in 
 competition with coal from other states, the operations of 
 which they claim are less incumbered with cost-increasing 
 legislation. This argument, whether a sincere one or not, 
 we presume is met with in every state, and is a severe 
 
DUTIES OP GOVERNMENT IN RELATION TO MINING. 59 
 
 stumbling block in the way of securing much-needed mining 
 legislation. 
 
 On June 9th last, a gathering of mine inspectors from 
 various mining states convened in the city of Indianapolis, 
 Indiana, and after considering the seriousness of the situa- 
 tion from increasing fatalities in mines, decided to organ- 
 ize an Institute of Mine Inspectors of the United States, 
 with the object in view of mutual assistance and more com- 
 plete co-operation and concerted action in securing better 
 and more uniform mining laws. While a movement of this 
 kind is in the right and proper direction and should be en- 
 couraged and sustained, there is no doubt a large number 
 of those who favor it go further and believe that any step 
 in the direction of better and safer regulation of the opera- 
 tion of mines, to be general and successful, should be of 
 a national character, having the moral and material sup- 
 port and carrying with it the impetus of the federal govern- 
 ment. 
 
 There may be some difference of opinion as to whether 
 representatives of the federal government can exercise any 
 jurisdiction and authority in mines in the various mining 
 states, or what the effect would be on state mining depart- 
 ments, but there is no need for such questions to arise. A 
 Federal Bureau of Mines could do very efficient work by 
 investigations in many directions and in co-operation with 
 state mining departments, without breaking down any of 
 the state constitutional barriers, or in any way interfering 
 with the authority of state mine inspectors in the proper 
 performance of their duties. Standardization and uni- 
 formity of methods, customs, respective duties of persons, 
 application of motive power, and many other things in con- 
 nection with mine operation are highly essential, but can- 
 not possibly be accomplished satisfactorily in the various 
 mining states, only through unity of State Mining Depart- 
 ments and Federal co-operation and influence. 
 
 The subject of electricity as a motive power in the op- 
 eration of mines, and the dangers accompanying its appli- 
 cation, is becoming one of very serious import, and the 
 diversity of opinion amongst electricians and students on 
 
60 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 the subject as to methods of application and danger result- 
 ing from the various systems are so varied that they are 
 extremely confusing, and many of them far from being sus- 
 tained by actual results. 
 
 Many electrical engineers and persons looked upon as 
 eminent authority, take the position that a 650-volt system 
 can be applied in mines with " ordinary safety, " and that 
 there is little more danger, if any, in persons coming in 
 contact with a 650-volt wire than a 250-volt one. 
 
 Last year (1907) about 80 per cent of the total pro- 
 duction of coal in Ohio was produced by electric mining 
 machines and haulage motors. The following quotations 
 are taken from an article headed "Electric Wires," page 
 30, Ohio Mine Inspector's Eeport for 1905: 
 
 "The careless and unsystematic placing 
 of wires in mines for the purpose of conducting 
 that invisible, deadly power, electricity, and the 
 number of accidents resulting from employes com- 
 ing in contact with them, is a matter which will 
 sooner or later force itself on the attention of the 
 law-making power of the state and compel the en- 
 actment of stringent legislation. 
 
 "That electricity as an element of power in the 
 production of coal is not only necessary from a 
 standpoint of competition, but that its use in every 
 legitimate way in the advancement of civilization 
 is justified, is acknowledged by every progressive 
 man. It is, however, highly essential that the 
 greatest caution be exercised in its application so 
 as to avoid loss of life or injury to persons coming 
 in contact with it. 
 
 "There were six fatal accidents during the 
 year, resulting from contact with electric wires 
 in the mines of the state. This may not seem a 
 very large number of fatal accidents considering 
 the amount of coal produced and handled by elec- 
 tricity, but if proper care and foresight are used in 
 the construction of wires, which can very easily be 
 
DUTIES OF GOVERNMENT IN RELATION TO MINING. 61 
 
 done, especially in the opening of new mines, this 
 department is of the opinion that fatal accidents 
 from this cause can almost entirely be eliminated. 
 It is also very noticeable that, with few exceptions, 
 the fatal accidents from coming in contact with 
 electricity are where a higher power of five hun- 
 dred (500) or five hundred and fifty (550) volts 
 is carried, which also seems unnecessary, as it is 
 fatal to those whose misfortune it is to come in 
 contact with them. 
 
 "Some manufacturers of high power electric 
 machinery, and mine operators who desire to use 
 such, may take exception to this department rais- 
 ing the question of limited voltage, but we feel that 
 it is but fair to the 95 per cent of the mine operat- 
 ors in the state to say that they are successfully op- 
 erating their mines with a power not to exceed 250 
 volts, which, in few cases, proves fatal where per- 
 sons stumble against the wire, and those operators 
 ought not to be charged in common for the loss of 
 life with those who use an unnecessary and exces- 
 sively dangerous power, and under whose oper- 
 ation these accidents almost exclusively occur. " 
 
 Until August 10th of the present year, there has been 
 no law on the Ohio statute books in reference to the appli- 
 cation of electric power in mines. 
 
 Taking the tonnage reports of Ohio mine operators, 
 made last January, covering the previous calendar year 
 (1907), out of the total product mined by electric power, 
 less than ten per cent was produced by the 500-volt system, 
 and over 90 per cent by the 250-volt system. Last year 
 (1907) eleven men lost their lives from accidental contact 
 with electric wires. Eight of them, or 72 8-11 per cent, by 
 the 500-volt wire, and three of them, or 27 3-11 per cent, 
 by the 250-volt wire. 
 
 During the present year five men have been electro- 
 cuted by coming in contact with live wires, four of them, 
 
62 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 or 80 per cent, by 500 volts, and one of them, or twenty per 
 cent, by the 250 volts. 
 
 These statements are made from careful investigation 
 by the department immediately following the death of each 
 man, and from records in the office, the accuracy of which 
 cannot in any particular be questioned. 
 
 We are loth to disagree with our foreign experts (who 
 recently visited this country) on the question of danger 
 from high voltage, and with many expert electrical en- 
 gineers, and shall certainly not question their judgment, 
 but, considering that our mine inspectors have been es- 
 pecially vigilant for three years in having high voltage 
 wires exceedingly well guarded, and that men are very 
 much less liable to carelessly come in contact with high 
 voltage wires, this record is indeed significant, and does 
 not speak very well for the safety of high voltage, con- 
 vincing us that there must be some mistake in recommend- 
 ing a 650-volt current in mines as ' ' ordinarily safe, ' ' unless 
 there is a much safer method of applying it than has yet 
 been demonstrated. , 
 
 A 250-volt system is acknowledged by most mine op- 
 erators in Ohio to be sufficient power to successfully carry 
 on the operation of all present day mines, and if properly 
 utilized, capable of mining and hauling coal two or three 
 miles underground. The largest and most extensive and 
 best regulated mines in .Ohio, having the greatest produc- 
 tion of coal, are operated by the 250-volt system, and have 
 never had a fatal accident from electric shock. 
 
 The secret of high voltage in many cases in our state 
 is simply a question of transmitting electric power into the 
 mines at the least possible cost, and having a surplus of 
 power to overcome losses caused by a cheap, careless, de- 
 fective and dangerous method of conducting it, thus un- 
 necessarily pitting human life against careless, incomplete 
 methods of applying the power. 
 
 A number of fatalities referred to, occurring during 
 the last two years, were from contact with wires supposed 
 to be thoroughly insulated. The present general system 
 of insulating electric wires is a complete failure in mines. 
 
DUTIES OP GOVERNMENT IN RELATION TO MINING. 63 
 
 It soon becomes defective and is a delusion and, instead of 
 being a protection and safeguard against danger, is a dan- 
 ger in disguise. 
 
 In four years 33 men in Ohio mines have met death by 
 electric shock, and if the installation of high voltage sys- 
 tems is permitted to continue without the assurance of 
 greater safeguards, the time is not far distant when it will 
 be one of the greatest sources of danger that the miners in 
 every mining state are exposed to. This invisible power 
 is destined to revolutionize mining methods in every min- 
 ing state, and its legitimate use should be encouraged, but 
 the whole subject of electricity, especially as a motive 
 power in mines, and the dangers incident to its applica- 
 tion, should be thoroughly investigated by a Federal Bu- 
 reau of Mines or Commission of scientific and practical ex- 
 perts representing the federal government, and the informa- 
 tion gained imparted to those interested, in reliable form. 
 
 The time is at hand when in a great many mines, the 
 lives of the whole force are in the care and custody of 
 every individual who enters the mine. The dangers from 
 gaseous mines, from the excessive use of blasting powder, 
 from blasting coal off the solid, from the great army of un- 
 skilled miners as well as from the carelessness of those in 
 charge of the mines and wanton recklessness of employes, 
 are daily increasing, and in consequence must augment the 
 roll of fatalities. The cry of competition from mine oper- 
 ators, and other causes, prevents the securing of necessary 
 uniformity in laws and customs by individual states. The 
 absence of an established central body is a "missing link," 
 an immovable stumbling block in the way of effective con- 
 cert of action by the various State Mining Departments. 
 
 The only way to bring about the necessary reform 
 without doing injustice to the industry in any state is to 
 seek co-operation with the federal government by and 
 through the establishment of a National Bureau of Mines, 
 employing the best scientific and practical expert talent 
 that the states can produce, an institution that the various 
 mining states could look up to with pride and confidence 
 and seek information on any or all matters pertaining to 
 
64 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II, 
 
 mining. Such a bureau, with a staff of good, competent 
 men, or a permanent Commission, could make such investi- 
 gations and collect and compile such information as would 
 be of benefit and interest to the various state governments, 
 and those connected with mining. 
 
 It is not necessary that such a Bureau should be en- 
 dowed with any power or authority over state mining de- 
 partments, or the operating of mines in any state. It ought 
 to have right of access to mines for the purpose of ascer- 
 taining general conditions and securing information for 
 general purposes, co-operate and advise with state authori- 
 ties regarding needed changes of laws, methods or customs ; 
 it should promote the erection and maintenance of experi- 
 mental testing stations, scientific and practical, and en- 
 courage any object that would elevate those connected with 
 the management of mines to a higher standard of efficiency. 
 State governments and state mining departments should be 
 pleased to render any assistance in their power to those 
 connected with a Federal Bureau of Mines. 
 
 The question of solid shooting, or blasting coal before 
 being properly prepared, and all its attendant dangers to 
 life and destructiveness to property; the reckless waste of 
 coal by baneful systems of mining and by careless manage- 
 ment; the excesive use of blasting powder; the dangers 
 from unskilled labor; the serious results that have occurred 
 and may occur from connecting mining properties; the 
 causes for so many mine catastrophes and the best way to 
 prevent them, and a great many other matters of equal 
 seriousness, are well worth the consideration, and we believe 
 are entitled to the most earnest consideration of every mem- 
 ber of our National Congress and Senate. 
 
 The mine disaster and such serious loss of life at Mari- 
 anna, occuring just at the time it did, has cast a pall of 
 gloom over the city and a cloud of solemnity over the pro- 
 ceedings of this Congress. While it may not have been 
 the hand of Providence that ordained it, we trust that 
 the thoughts of the harrowing scenes at the mine and the 
 sorrow of the bereaved ones, have left such an impression 
 on the mind of every statesman who has attended this Con- 
 
DUTIES OF GOVERNMENT IN RELATION TO MINING. 65 
 
 gress, that there will be no further doubt about the estab- 
 lishment and maintenance of a Federal Bureau of Mines, 
 and that it may be truthfully written on the tombs of those 
 poor victims: "Lives given up in sacrifice for better min- 
 ing laws and greater protection to our craftsmen. " 
 
 On behalf of the members of the Mine Inspectors ' In- 
 stitute of the United States, we desire to thank the officers 
 and members of the American Mining Congress and the 
 United States Geological Survey for their kind invitation 
 to us to attend and take part in their proceedings, and wish 
 to assure them that we are with them, heart and soul, in 
 the inauguration of any movement that will bring greater 
 success to the mining industry, better protection to ths 
 miner, and more comfort and happiness, with less grief and 
 sorrow, to those dependent on him. 
 
Conservation in the Mining Industry. 
 
 BY FRANK M. OSBORNE, CLEVELAND, OHIO. 
 
 Since the early part of the Nineteenth century great 
 inroads have been made on the fuel resources of this coun- 
 try, and especially has it been true during the last two or 
 three decades, during which time the increased production 
 has been rapid. During this period the fuel supply in Penn- 
 sylvania has been drawn on for more than half of the entire 
 total production in the United States, and at the same time 
 great waste prevailed, and when it is considered that we 
 have produced half of the coal our state has shared half 
 of the waste that has been going on since the beginning of 
 the coal mining industry in this country. Each year the 
 output was increased and but little attention paid until 
 late to mining methods and production that would tend to 
 greatly lessen this economic waste. 
 
 Our past shows that the idea was prevalent that we 
 had plenty of good black carbon in the hills and that it 
 would last forever, but our industrial progress has proves 
 that our best coals are being rapidly depleted and that a 
 curb should be placed upon the reckless and uneconomic 
 methods in both mining and consumption of our fuel re- 
 sources, not only proper methods of taking the coal from the 
 hill and saving the entire amount of fuel that nature has 
 given us, but such methods of consumption of coal that will 
 enable us to secure for our welfare and position in indus- 
 trial progress the benefit of as large a percentage as pos- 
 sible of the high heat values and by-products in the coal as 
 it goes under the boiler as fuel and into the ovens for the 
 making of coke. 
 
 Great Britain, Belgium and other countries, and many 
 states in the Union have not been blessed with such a mag- 
 nificent deposit of high grade coal as has western Pennsyl- 
 vania. Various countries observe that their supply is quite 
 limited, that they are compelled to go deeper into the 
 
CONSERVATION IN THE MINING INDUSTRY. 67 
 
 bowels of the earth and at the end of their efforts find com- 
 partively thin beds of coal, compared with the coal of the 
 Pittsburgh or Connellsville bed, which is the best and most 
 persistent bed of coal yet discovered. It stands promi- 
 nently in the forefront, not only because of its quality and 
 great regularity, but because of the natural and commercial 
 position which it occupies. 
 
 During the past twenty or thirty years we gave but 
 little concern to the great loss entailed in the operation of 
 our coal mines and our coking plants, but modern methods, 
 machinery, and equipment make us observe the fact that we 
 can lessen the loss by a different system of mining the coal, 
 whereby almost the entire bed of merchantable coal is ex- 
 tracted. 
 
 Until recently almost every one believed that there was 
 an unlimited amount of coal. They have been very little 
 troubled or concerned relative to the future, and it is only 
 of late that our industrial interests and others have begun 
 to realize that they have been mistaken, and nowhere else 
 is the fact more clearly pointed out than in the great Pitts- 
 burgh field. Because of the immense deposits and the fine 
 quality of coal and the easy conditions under which it is 
 mined, the merit of the field was not properly regarded. 
 
 There was great waste, much coal being left in the hills, 
 the miner going to another part of the bed where the un- 
 derground haul would be less in distance. This was quite 
 frequent. The coal more remote from the pit mouth being 
 unmined, and the intervening spaces falling in, and no ef- 
 fort made to keep up the roof that it might be taken out in 
 the future; thousands of tons would thus be barred from 
 ever reaching the surface because of the great expense that 
 would be incurred in attempting to reach the lost coal. Such 
 policy might be likened to the present situation, that of 
 using the coals nearer our markets and the points of large 
 consumption, and at later date in order to secure proper 
 fuel supply we will be compelled to pay for a longer haul in 
 the transportation of coal to market, and in most cases 
 secure a poorer quality of coal at greater expense in mining. 
 
68 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 Our industrial interests in this country should consider 
 all these conditions from an economical standpoint. We 
 should make the most of our natural resources. The time 
 is now here when we are paying for product on the basis of 
 quality. Is it possible or probable that the future will bring 
 about conditions that will cause us to be satisfied with a 
 poorer grade of fuel than we now secure from our coal beds 
 which nature has so kindly provided ! 
 
 The question is frequently asked, "Have we reached 
 our zenith in the production of coal?" To my mind, not 
 until our industrial activity has reached its zenith, not un- 
 til our country is crowded because of its population, will our 
 fuel production begin to wane; in other words, if our popu 
 lation doubles in fifty years and our production of iron and 
 steel and other products increases as our population in- 
 creases, our coal production will increase in similar pro- 
 portion. It is plainly evident that our future must look 
 for its increased supply of building materials, not to lum- 
 ber but to iron and steel, which means extended use of fuel. 
 
 The use of gas will not long continue to be from a natu- 
 ral source of supply, but that of artificial. With the deple- 
 tion of the better grades of fuel, the poorer quality more 
 remote from market might mean higher prices in fuel, which 
 would mean a greater price paid for the product made in 
 the use of coal and coke. With these facts before us it cer- 
 tainly behooves our industrial interests to get the entire 
 value out of the fuel to whatever use it is placed. 
 
 In every quarter there is a large field for study, re- 
 search, and the putting into force proper action as to what 
 course should be pursued to secure the desired results. 
 
 At present and in the future every new method of con- 
 serving nature's resources should be considered. Every 
 year we discover something new that is an advantage to our 
 natural resources, enabling us to procure more perfect fin- 
 ished product from our natural resource. At the same time 
 our iron ore, our coal, our timber, our gold, and all other 
 nature products will be drawn on in a greatly increased way 
 as our industrial position progresses. Extended use of ccal 
 
CONSERVATION IN THE MINING INDUSTRY. 69 
 
 in our large industrial centers will cause rapid depletion of 
 those fields located nearest these centers of consumption. 
 
 The Pittsburgh bed of coal and the Connellsville coke 
 produced from same is of such quality as has made develop- 
 ment of our iron and steel industry possible. Almost the 
 entire industrial situation surrounding Pittsburgh is due 
 to the presence of this great bed of fuel. It was ideally 
 located. From the West Virginia line to Pittsburgh the 
 Monogahela river cuts through its bed and leaves it ex- 
 posed on either bank, the outcropping shows at intervals 
 throughout the entire distance. Our early settlers used but 
 little of it, but today in the Counties of Fayette, Greene, 
 Westmoreland, Washington, and Allegheny there is a pro- 
 duction of more than 75,000,000 tons per annum. During 
 the past twenty years the increase in production in this 
 district has averaged ten per cent per year. At that rate 
 at the end of ten years the five counties mentioned will be 
 depleted of a total of 200,000 acres from their area. 
 
 It is our worth of fuel that has, in the main, aided us 
 in having our nation lead. The absence of so fortunate a 
 supply of coal or the depletion of that supply would show 
 quite a different industrial situation in the Pittsburgh dis- 
 trict. The easy accessibility of our coal means cheap fuel. 
 The advantage of quality, the decided benefit of the freight 
 rate, and the comparatively remote location of other fields, 
 makes our Pittsburgh bed of coal the most available. 
 
 In the depletion of our choicest beds of fuel we should 
 use proper and economic methods. The foundation of all 
 these industries and the force and power which moves the 
 wheels of commerce is in the coal, which goes into the fur- 
 nace and releases the stored up energy. This is the funda- 
 mental basis of power, and let us use it in the most economic 
 manner. Manufacturers, gas producers, transportation com- 
 panies, power plants, and numerous other industries draw 
 heavily upon our fuel reserve. 
 
 The conservation of our coal fields as proposed, to- 
 gether with prevention of all kinds of accidents, will mean 
 considerably increased cost in the production of coal, for 
 
70 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 which the consumer should be willing to pay, as at the pres- 
 ent prices to the large consumer it is about on the same basis 
 as what it would cost to handle and haul a load of dirt from 
 your back yard. 
 
 Let us bend our energies to conserve our resources and 
 stop the extravagant waste. 
 
Transportation in Its Relation to the Mining Industry. 
 
 BY DR. JAMES DOUGLAS, OF NEW YORK. 
 
 Nothing can express more emphatically the immense 
 importance of mining to the railroads and of railroads to 
 mining than the fact that of the total traffic of the United 
 States, 53.09 per cent was in 1906 the product of the mines. 
 We are supposed to be a great agricultural country, but 
 from the table which I have copied from the Statistics of 
 Railroads of the United States of the Interstate Commerce 
 Commission, we see that agriculture supplies to the rail- 
 roads only 8.56 per cent of its traffic, the animal industry 
 2.32 per cent, and forestry only 11.24 per cent. Nor is this 
 a purely accidental occurrence, for if we go back to the year 
 1900 we find that the figures correspond by only a slight 
 difference with these. In 1906 there was one-half of one 
 per cent more manufactures carried by the railroads, and 
 nearly one-half of one per cent less, as the product of the 
 mines. Eecollect that these figures do not include metals 
 in manufactured form derived from minerals. The follow- 
 ing is the summary showing freight traffic movement by 
 class of commodity, originating on lines of reporting roads. 
 
 1900 1906 
 
 Tonnage % Tonnage % 
 
 Class of Commodity reported as of reported as of 
 
 originating aggre- originating aggre- 
 
 on line gate on line gate 
 
 Products of agriculture 53,468,496 10.35 70,201,720 8.56 
 
 Products of animals. .. 14,844,837 2.87 19,002,825 2.32 
 
 Products of mines 271,602,072 52.59 435,450,476 53.09 
 
 Products of forests 59,956,421 11.61 92,187,351 11.24 
 
 Manufactures 69,257,145 13.41 121,457,738 14.81 
 
 Merchandise 21,974,201 4.26 33,319,615 4.06 
 
 Miscellaneous 25;329,045 4.91 48,543,902 5.92 
 
 516,432,217 100.00 820,164,627 100.00 
 
 This interdependence of the transportation and mining 
 industries has been brought about by the great distances 
 which separate the largest deposits of iron and other metals 
 from the fuels necessary to their reduction. If we go 
 
72 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 back to the first industrial statistical records published in 
 the census of 1840, we find that in that year there were 286,- 
 903 tons of pig iron made in 1804 furnaces located all over 
 the inhabited country, from Maine to Minnesota, the aver- 
 age production per furnace per day being only 2,170 pounds. 
 At that time the 2,818 miles of railroad built in the United 
 States were confined to the eastern and southern States. 
 There were, therefore, no means of transportation except 
 over bad roads from place to place, and wherever there was 
 a little iron ore, some water power, and wood to make char- 
 coal, there a little furnace, with sometimes a forge, was 
 erected for the purpose of making iron for local use. 
 
 Now all this is changed. There are now in blast less 
 than one half the number of furnaces that existed then, say, 
 on June 30, 1906, 323 furnaces, to enable us to produce in 
 1906 25,307,191 tons of- pig iron. But this large figure of 
 finished product does not express the service which the 
 railroads extend to the iron interests, for this tremendous 
 quantity of iron could not be made if adequate facilities 
 were not provided at a cheap rate for the transportation of 
 ore to the fuel, or of fuel to the ore, and of the finished pro- 
 duct to the market. The quantity of iron ore mined during 
 1906 was about 55,000,000 short tons, of which 40,000,000 
 tons came from Lake Superior, and most of this was trans- 
 ported a thousand miles to Pittsburg for reduction, simply 
 because the best coal for metallurgical purposes is in the 
 neighborhood of your good city. In round numbers it takes 
 two tons of iron ore to make one ton of pig, and this is made 
 with one ton of coke. As long as the market for the ton of 
 pig is where the coke is made, the iron ore will be shipped 
 for treatment to the coke and the market; but were the mar- 
 ket to be at or near the iron mines, it would be eminently 
 more advantageous to ship the fuel to the ore. In any case 
 the ore and the fuel are so widely separated, there must be 
 three tons of freight moved to make one ton of pig iron, even 
 out of such extraordinarily rich ores as those of Lake Su 
 perior. 
 
 The East affords, however, no longer the exclusive mar- 
 ket for pig and the products of pig iron which it did. The 
 
TRANSPORTATION AND THE MINING INDUSTRY. 73 
 
 market is shifting westward, and westward it will continue 
 steadily to shift, and the centers of trade will move west- 
 ward with the movement of population in that direction. 
 In response to this inevitable condition, the United States 
 Steel Corporation is building at Gary, Indiana, on Lake 
 Michigan, the largest iron and steel works ever erected. 
 But even they are not built upon a coal bed; and therefore 
 the volume of crude material handled will have to be the 
 same, though the finished product will be nearer the source 
 of consumption. On the accompanying maps the principal 
 regions where coal and iron are mined are indicated, though 
 not their relative importance. ' It will be seen that in the 
 neighborhood of the largest iron deposits those of Lake 
 Superior there is no fuel, but in carrying the Lake ores to. 
 either the shores of Lake Erie, to Buffalo, Cleveland and 
 elsewhere, or to Pittsburgh, they are carried to points in the 
 vicinity of coking coal. In carrying them to South Chicago, 
 the new works at Gary, Indiana, or even to Joliet, they are 
 carried to another fuel yielding area. 
 
 But when you look to the southern states, which made 
 between 13 and 14 per cent of the total pig iron product of 
 the country in 1906, you will see that the iron and the fuel 
 are in close juxtaposition. There are even instances where, 
 within eight miles of one another, coal, iron and the neces- 
 sary limestone for flux are mined. Similar conditions ex- 
 ist in limited districts elsewhere, as in Bradford County, 
 Penn., but there the ore exists in limited quantities. No- 
 where, except in the southern states, does iron ore exist in 
 sufficient quantities near to coal to influence the price of the 
 metal and eliminate transportation. But in the southern 
 iron regions, as a counterbalance to this advantage, the iron 
 is of a lower grade, besides being of poorer quality, and the 
 coke is inferior, both in structure and in ash contents, to 
 the best cokes of Pennsylvania and the neighboring states. 
 
 The westward movement of population, and of the 
 market for all commodities, has as yet created only one large 
 iron manufacturing center within the Rocky Mountain re- 
 gion. The Colorado Fuel & Iron Company's furnaces and 
 mills at Pueblo turn out about two per cent of the country's 
 
74 
 
 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part IT. 
 
 total product. They are built nearer the coal than theii 
 iron supplies, which come partly from southern New Mexico, 
 Wyoming and distant parts of Colorado. Here again the 
 railroad is an essential factor to their very existence. 
 
 In the case of the only other metal in which this coun- 
 try pre-eminently leads the world, namely, copper, the met- 
 
 The Distribution of Copper in the United States. 
 
 allurgical conditions are different. While the average iron 
 ores of the United States contain nearly fifty per cent of 
 metal, the average copper ores contain only about 2 l /2 per 
 cent. And therefore, to make the 900,000,000 pounds of 
 copper a year which we turn out, there are mined about 
 11,250,000 tons of ore, or about one-fourth the quantity of 
 iron ore mined. From this point of view the copper indus- 
 try does not bear an insignificant proportion to the iron 
 industry. The small amount of only fifty pounds of copper 
 to the ton of ore is recovered partly though mechanical 
 and partly through metallurgical processes, which require 
 fuel for generating power and fuel for reducing the ore to 
 metal. In both cases the quantity of ore to be handled, 
 namely, forty tons of ore to make one ton of metal, necessi- 
 tates treatment at or near the mines; and therefore inevit- 
 ably the transportation of fuel to the ore instead of the 
 transportation of ore to the fuel. In the case of the ores of 
 
TRANSPORTATION AND THE MINING INDUSTRY. 
 
 75 
 
 The Distribution of Iron Throughout the United States 
 and Alaska. 
 
 Lake Superior, which average less than 2% per cen,t, the 
 fuel, both for concentration and for smelting, is transported 
 700 or 800 miles 'from Ohio and Pennsylvania. Arizona looks 
 to Colorado or New Mexico for its fuel supply, which has to 
 be hauled on an average 700 miles. The Montana copper 
 mines find an inferior fuel nearer home, which supplies most 
 of their needs, and in that respect they enjoy an advantage 
 
 The Distribution of Coal Throughout the United States 
 and Alaska. 
 
76 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 over the other two competitive regions, but the copper in- 
 dustry is as dependent as the iron industry upon railroad 
 transportation for its prosperity in these regions so remote 
 from the markets where copper is bought, sold and turned 
 to special industrial uses. The freight rate on copper bul- 
 lion from the smelters of Montana, Utah and Arizona to New 
 York is $8.00 a ton. 
 
 When we come to distribute the coal mined in this 
 country, which amounts, roughly speaking, to 400,000,000 
 tons a year, we find that nearly 25 per cent of it, or 100,000,- 
 000 tons, is consumed in transportation purposes; that is to 
 say, used by the railroads and steamers in inland waters; 
 60,000,000 tons are consumed in the manufacture of iron 
 and steel; 10,000,000 in the metallurgy of copper; about 5,- 
 000,000 in reducing other metals from their ores; nearly all 
 the anthracite, which amounts to about 70,000 tons, and say 
 20,000,000 tons of bituminous coal, goes into domestic use; 
 and the balance of the 400,000,000 produced may be assumed 
 to be consumed in the general industries of the country. 
 
 Important as is the bearing of the iron industry on the 
 prosperity of the country, it is small as compared with the 
 influence of coal. As has often been pointed out, coal is 
 our. national unifier. Its wide distribution and its cheap 
 transportation removed those dangerous industrial differ- 
 ences creating political dissensions, which at one time went 
 far towards threatening the unity of the country. As long 
 as New England monopolized the manufactures of the coun- 
 try and the south depended upon cotton raised by slave 
 labor, and the west was the wheat garden of the country, the 
 tariff for instance was the area within which the battles, not 
 only of trade selfishness, as now, but of sectional interest, 
 were fought. Free trade or low tariff was almost a neces- 
 sity to the southern planter. High tariff was essential to 
 the existence and growth of the struggling manufacturing 
 interests of the New England and Middle States. Now, 
 through the abundance and cheap distribution of fuel, 
 through the south and in the middle west, coupled with its 
 absence in New England, the south is spinning its own cot- 
 
TRANSPORTATION AND THE MINING INDUSTRY. 77 
 
 ton, and manufactures of every description are moving to- 
 wards the shores of the Great Lakes. This is most emphati- 
 cally illustrated by a comparison of the activity of general 
 manufacturing as evidenced by the density of railroad 
 traffic with the quantity of coal mined within any given 
 region. In the following table I have arranged the states 
 of the union into the groups used in the report of the Inter- 
 state Commerce Commission for 1906, and in the two last 
 columns, from the same source, extracted the number of 
 tons of freight carried one mile, which expresses the density 
 of traffic and the per cent in each group. From the reports 
 of the United States Gelogical Survey I have taken the coal 
 produced and used in the states and territories included in 
 the Interstate Commerce Commission groups. 
 
 (See Table I, Pages 78-79.) 
 
 In Group One, including tne New England States, no 
 coal is produced. While this section draws a small quantity 
 from the martime provinces of Canada, it looks chiefly to the 
 states of Group Two for its fuel supply. You will perceive 
 that of the total quantity of coal mined in the country, 
 Groups 2 and 3 contribute 59.7 per cent, and Groups 1, 2 
 and 3 consume 49.8 per cent. The difference probably goes 
 largely into fuel for ocean navigation. Groups 4, 5 and 6 
 produce 30.4 per cent of the total product and the density 
 of traffic within those states is 31.3. Group 7 shows a coal 
 production of only 1.9 per cent, but the most active of the 
 great trans-continental railroads run through these states, 
 hence the density of traffic does not correspond closely with 
 the coal production. But the parallel is recovered when we 
 come to Group 8, where the coal production is 6.4 per cent 
 and the density of traffic is 7.2 per cent. It cannot be acci- 
 dental that these figures so closely correspond. It means 
 that manufacturing is attracted by cheap fuel, and that the 
 railroads have responded to the demands of industry by 
 giving to the fuel and the products of manufacturing indus- 
 try, rates which have stimulated instead of repressing the 
 enterprising spirit of the country. 
 
 This brings us to the consideration of railroad rates. 
 
78 
 
 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
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 Group 7 Montana 
 Wyoming 
 South Da 
 Nebraska 
 
 a 
 3 
 
 
 
 & 
 t_, 
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 "5 
 
 
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 lilllK 
 
 sfiagfi^i 
 
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 Group 9 Texas .. 
 Louisiana 
 
 & 
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 Grand Total. . . 
 
80 
 
 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 The following table shows how favorably our average 
 freight rates compare with those of any other country. 
 
 Last year the average rate charged per ton per mile 
 over all the lines of the United States on all classes of 
 
 AMERICAN RAILROAD RATES 
 
 Comparison of Average Rates per Ton-Mile 
 
 (1902) 
 
 Cents .20 .40 .50 1.00 120 130 140 160 1.80 2.00 
 
 'British statistics do not show ton-mile earnings. 
 The estimate in the table is based upon the concensus of 
 expert opinion that the average ton-mile rate in England 
 is a little over two cents. The North Eastern Railway 
 which alone gives ton-mile statistics reports the following 
 average ton-mile receipts in 1903: on minerals, 1.93 
 cents; on merchandise and live stock, 2.94 cents; on all 
 commodities, 2.53 cents. 
 
 freight was 7.8 mills. But the rates on fuel and mineral, 
 which are everywhere classed as commodities, were consid- 
 erably below the average. The rates charged, however, 
 were far from uniform, nor should the public expect that 
 they would be the same everywhere. The cost of transpor- 
 tation depends upon several factors, as upon density of traf- 
 fic, upon length of haul and upon the character of the coun- 
 try. Those of you who are bi?yolis^s know how rapidly 
 
TRANSPORTATION AND THE MINING INDUSTRY. 81 
 
 the energy necessary to propel your bicycle uphill increases 
 with the steepness of the grade. You can thus appreciate 
 the increased power, and therefore the increased fuel, nec- 
 essary to carry a railroad train uphill. Favorable condi- 
 tions cannot possibly be secured in every section of the coun- 
 try, but the tendency is towards cutting down grades,- re- 
 ducing curves, and putting the railroad systems of the 
 country in still more favorable position to continue to serve 
 the public, even in the face of higher cost of maintenance 
 and transportation. The lowest cost is over eastern roads, 
 where the traffic is heavy and the grades level. The high- 
 est rates are naturally in the Eocky Mountain region, where 
 population is scanty, traffic comparatively light, and grades 
 necessarily steep. The custom of the railroads has been to 
 grade the rate of freight in part upon the value of the ma- 
 terial carried, but also with a view to favoring any given 
 industry within reach of the railroad, to give low rates upon 
 what are classed as commodities. In every tariff coal, coke 
 and the ores of the commoner metals, which have intrinsi- 
 cally very low value, are carried at very cheap rates. Coal 
 itself is often carried at less than the average cost of trans- 
 portation. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad reports that 
 their coal rate is slightly over. four mills per ton mile. The 
 Baltimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania railroads, so far as 
 we can gather from their tariff, carry coal at about 3.4 to 
 3.5 mills per ton mile. The New York Central, whose aver- 
 age freight rate is only a trifle over six mills a ton mile, 
 carries coal at between three and four mills. When we get 
 further west, where traffic is less dense, rates are slightly 
 higher. In the neighborhood of Chicago, coal and coke 
 rates are over four mills. In the Kansas City region they 
 are about five mills. In the Eocky Mountains the cost of 
 transporting coal runs up to between five and seven mills. 
 The same is true of the transportation of ores. Transporta- 
 tion of the iron ores of Lake Superior by rail is somewhere 
 between four and five mills per ton mile. In the west the 
 transportation I believe of the ores from Bingham Canon 
 to Salt Lake City over a very difficult piece of grade, is as 
 
82 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 high as 7.5 mills per ton mile. But if you take the enormous 
 tonnage which Butte offers to the railroad, we find that the 
 ore is carried for 12 cents a ton from Butte to Anaconda, a 
 distance of 26 miles (4.6 mills per ton mile) and is carried 
 for just about four mills a ton mile from Butte to Great 
 Falls, 176 miles, by the Great Northern. In the Southwest 
 we have to charge a little more than that, but railroad trans- 
 portation on ore from Bisbee to Douglas, a distance of 28 
 miles, is 20 cents. On short hauls the rates must necessarily 
 be high. The time wasted by the crew (and the interest 
 on the rolling stock while the freight is being loaded and 
 discharged) is sometimes almost as great as that occupied 
 in the transportation of the ore itself. No reasonable man 
 can find fault with the average cost of railroad transporta- 
 tion throughout the country at large, nor with the very low 
 figure at which such commodities as coal and ore are car- 
 ried. It is, however, an open question as to whether the 
 railroads are altogether wise in charging such a high rate 
 on articles in the higher classes, and charging such low 
 rates on commodities. It might be fairer to charge a little 
 more to the great industries of the country and charge a 
 little less to the great body of the shipping public, who 
 grumble because their railroad bills are large and the tariff 
 is so high on certain classes. The average rates are cer- 
 tainly not too high, if the railroads use their revenue for 
 the proper maintenance of their roads and equipment; but 
 it might not be unfair to raise commodity rates and lower 
 class rates while maintaining the average. Our railroads, 
 especially those whose traffic consists largely of fuel and 
 mineral, have to contend with tremendous fluctuations in 
 traffic. This both the railroads and the public have ex- 
 perienced to their serious inconvenience during the boom 
 and since. The traffic of the country rapidly rose during 
 1905. 1906 and 1907, then suddenly dropped. As indicated 
 by the car supply when the boom was at its height, there 
 was a shortage of over 8,000 cars. In May last there were 
 over 400,000 empty cars. Today, when the industries of 
 the country are reviving, there is still a car surplus of 222,- 
 000. One can appreciate the affect on the railroads of a 
 
TRANSPORTATION AND THE MINING INDUSTRY. 83 
 
 shock to public confidence by taking a single instance as an 
 illustration. Last year there were being erected in New 
 York nine buildings, counting the McAdoo building as two, 
 into whose framework there entered approximately 95,000 
 tons of steel, an average of over 10,000 tons to each building. 
 Assuming, therefore, 10,000 tons to be the quantity enter- 
 ing each of these large skyscrapers, every such building, for 
 the supply of its framework alone, contributes to the traffic 
 of the country the following items: 
 
 Twenty thousand tons of iron ore. 
 
 Twelve thousand tons of flux and fuel. 
 
 Ten thousand tons of freight shipped to the shops where 
 the steel is assembled, and 
 
 Ten thousand tons from the assembling shop to the 
 point where the building is erected; making a total of 52,000 
 tons of freight handled by the railroads for the steel skele- 
 ton alone of a single one of the many buildings of that type 
 being erected throughout the country. 
 
 The following table expresses significantly the growing 
 activity of the country: 
 
 The percentage of increase in the tons of coal mined 
 between successive decennial periods could not possibly be 
 maintained. For instance, between 1850, when there were 
 only 6,000,000 tons mined, and 1860, when the total rose to 
 16,000,000, there was an increase of 150 per cent, though 
 only 10,000,000 tons more were produced in 1860 than were 
 produced in 1850, whereas the quantity mined in 1906 was 
 145,000,000 tons in excess of that mined in 1900, though 
 that made only 53 per cent increase. So likewise in the 
 population; the increase of population during the decennial 
 period from 1850 to 1860 was 35.6 per cent, and during the 
 decennial period from 1890 to 1900 it was only 21 per cent, 
 despite the heavy immigration. But if we take the coal con- 
 sumption per head of population, that has gone on in a 
 steadily increasing ratio. So far as statistics can be relied 
 on, in 1850 less than one-third of a ton was consumed per 
 capita, whereas during 1900, when the population was a 
 little over 75,000,000, 3.53 tons were consumed per person. 
 
84 
 
 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 
 TATES 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 03 
 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 P 
 H 
 
 ATES. 
 
 p 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 ' 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 p 
 
 m 
 
 p 
 
 
 
 
 
 P 
 
 H 
 
 g 
 
 
 
 [NCREASE ] 
 
 EH 
 
 HH 
 ^ 
 
 H 
 m 
 
 INCREASE 
 
 
 TABLE II. 
 
 fa 
 O 
 
 
 H 
 O 
 
 PH 
 
 T. OF INCREA 
 
 fa 
 O 
 
 H 
 O 
 
 PH 
 H 
 
 CO 
 
 OS 
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 LO 
 
 CO 
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 H 
 
 ^ 
 
 PH 
 
 
 
 PH 
 
 P 
 
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 P 
 
 
 
 
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 5 
 
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 b| 
 
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 03 
 
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 PH 
 
 PH 
 
 
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 K5 
 
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 eg 
 
 r> 
 
 
 
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 0) 
 
 '8 
 
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 ft~a 
 
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 eg 
 
 
 
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 00 
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 eg 
 
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 T 1 
 
 us 
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 eg 
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 eg 
 
 O5 
 
 eg" 
 
 U3 
 
 co 
 
 O5 
 
 co 
 
 co 
 t- 
 
 cg 
 
 CO 
 
 eg 
 
 co" 
 
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 eg 
 
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 rH 
 
 eg 
 
 00 
 
 t- 
 
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 t- 
 
 co" 
 
 CO 
 
 rH 
 
 
 U5 
 
 eg' 
 t- 
 
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 co 
 
 rH 
 CO 
 
 co 
 
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 Tj^ 
 eg 
 eg 
 
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 ** 
 
 rH 
 
 )f Population % 
 ise U. S. Incr< 
 
 CO 
 
 b- 
 
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 T-T 
 
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 ia 
 
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 eg 
 
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 0) 
 
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 * 
 
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 iH 
 00 
 CD 
 
 LO 
 
 ^ 
 
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 CO 
 t- 
 
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 00 
 
 eg 
 
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 t~ 
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 co 
 
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 eg 
 
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 rH 
 
 Tt* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 O 
 OS 
 
TRANSPORTATION AND THE MINING INDUSTRY. 85 
 
 Assuming the population in 1906 to have been 84,000,000, 
 the consumption per head was 4.93 tons per annum. This 
 increased per capita consumption represents, not the fuel 
 used per head for domestic purposes, but represents the 
 prodigious increase in consumption of fuel in meeting the 
 rapidly increasing demands of the national industries. The 
 much greater increase in coal consumption per head over 
 the percentage of increase in population shows, moreover, 
 how machinery is supplanting hand labor. 
 
 These figures, illustrative of the intense national activ- 
 ity in using up with terrific speed the natural national re- 
 sources, may well excite some anxiety as to their duration. 
 That there is waste, and that the waste is inevitably"aggra- 
 vated by the headlong speed with which the great industries 
 of the country have been developed in order to keep pace 
 with the national demands, cannot be denied, and must be 
 deplored, and it is high time that some corrective be applied. 
 At the same time, while some of the waste is reckless, some 
 is undoubtedly attributable to ignorance and inexperience, 
 due to the backwardness of our knowledge. In the anthra- 
 cite regions the heaviest waste used to be due to the crush- 
 ing and screening of the coal, to an accumulation of moun- 
 tains of breeze, which at one time was waste, as the proper 
 devices for burning it had not been invented; now it is 
 utilized. 
 
 As to underground waste generally in coal mining, the 
 subject opens up so many controversial points which will be 
 discussed at other meetings, that I will not touch upon them. 
 It is unfair, however, to assume that everyone is malicious- 
 ly wasteful and, in estimating waste, to go back to earlier 
 periods and quote instances in the past, when and where the 
 best was being done that the existing experience and appli- 
 ances permitted. And there can be no doubt that the past 
 generation has seen tremendous efforts made by the engi- 
 neer, and seconded by the manufacturer, to generate power 
 at reduced consumption of fuel. The old slide valve engine 
 consumed from five to seven pounds per horsepower hour, 
 and yet, though the first large Corliss engine was exhibited 
 
86 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 at the Philadelphia Exposition, few establishments have hes- 
 itated to throw out the old type and introduce at any cost 
 the newer fuel-saving engines. Since then the gas engine 
 and turbine engine have been introduced and greatly im- 
 proved in structure and in efficiency. 
 
 The terrible waste of coal ui?der the boiler is recognized 
 by everybody, but being recognized, the engineering and 
 manufacturing community do not sit idly deploring the 
 waste, but have combined to steadily reduce it by improved 
 types of boilers, or by converting the coal into gaseous fuel, 
 Of all the fuel wasters, the locomotive is probably the great- 
 est, but it is in order to minimize this waste, and the cost of 
 the waste, that railroad companies are electrifying their 
 roads, and using high class stationary boilers and engines 
 and electrical transmission at the expenditure of prodigious 
 sums of money. 
 
 It is unfair, therefore, that the public should be led to 
 suppose that from sheer cupidity and recklessness the min- 
 ing and manufacturing classes are indifferent to waste, 
 which in most cases they are doing their best to minimize, 
 but are powerless to summarily stop. In truth, remedies 
 are only applied when disease is recognized, and therefore, 
 whether in agriculture, mining or manufacturing, the losses 
 incidental to waste can only be reduced after they are recog- 
 nized as existing, and then by the application of science, in- 
 genuity and no little toil and self-denial; for it is so much 
 easier to jog along by the old route than to spend time and 
 trouble and money in tracing out and building a better. 
 But no one can look back over the past half century without 
 admitting that, despite all the shortcomings and the selfish- 
 ness and ignorance of the few, immense technical progress 
 has been made by the great leaders in the mining and manu- 
 facturing industries, and that every step forward has been 
 in the direction of economy and reduction of waste. Be- 
 cause there is so much still to be done, that is no reason why 
 some credit should not be given for what has already been 
 accomplished. The most inexcusable waste is that of the 
 by-products in the coking of coal. The first by-product 
 
TRANSPORTATION AND THE MINING INDUSTRY. 87 
 
 ovens were built in 1893, and until 1901 every year showed 
 a notable increase in the substitution of by-product ovens 
 for the usual beehive type. Since then the annual construc- 
 tion of beehive ovens has diminished, and only 413 new 
 ovens were built in 1905, as against 1,533 in 1901. Only 
 about 4,500,000 tons of coke is now made in by-product 
 ovens. The complaint made by the by-product coke makers 
 is that there is no market for the by-products, especially the 
 tar. The contention cannot be groundless, and yet it is an 
 opprobrium on our chemical industry that, considering the 
 high price of creosote for the preservation of our timber, 
 especially when used for ties, and the enormous demand for 
 aniline products, that such should continue to be the case. 
 Even however, when these chemical by-products cannot be 
 utilized, it seems a reckless waste that the power which can 
 be generated from the waste gases should not be conserved. 
 This is done to a certain, but a very slight, extent in under- 
 flue ovens in Pennsylvania, and at the Dawson coal fields we 
 are running our washery and underground transportation 
 and certain subsidiary plants by transmission power from a 
 power plant operated entirely by our waste gases. The sav- 
 ing to us amounts to about 2,000 tons of coal a month. Tak- 
 ing our proportion of coal to the total mined throughout the 
 United States, the total saving in coal at the mines would be 
 about 8,000,000 tons, if the waste gases from such portion 
 of that coal as is coked were converted into power. 
 
The Federal Government in Its Relation to the Mining 
 
 Industry. 
 
 BY HON. JAMES RUDOLPH GARFIEL.D, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: This meeting of 
 the American Mining Congress is one of the most note- 
 worthy meetings that has been held for many years, for the 
 reason that it has brought together from all sections of our 
 country the men who are actually engaged in the develop- 
 ment of our mining resources. Very fortunately the repre- 
 sentation has been not only from the various sections of the 
 country, but as well from different kinds of mining inter- 
 ests; from those who are the owners as well as those who 
 are working in the mines. For these reasons the results 
 of this conference should be of very great value. As I said 
 this morning, it is through conferences of this kind where 
 reasonable men get together and discuss the facts, free from 
 passion or prejudice or partisanship or a desire to obtain 
 some special point, that we reach the most just and the most 
 permanent conclusions. 
 
 I have^been asked to speak for a few moments on the 
 subject of the relation of the Federal Government to the 
 mining industry, and what the Federal Government has 
 done and may do hereafter for that great industry. I have 
 heard it said at some meetings not here, but at other times 
 that the Federal Government has not done anything for 
 mining as an industry. But those who have made such 
 remarks have not considered all the various agencies of the 
 Federal Government that have been engaged upon the study 
 of mining and of mineral resources. We too often think 
 that the action of a Government on any given subject means 
 some active participation in the doing of a specified thing 
 or direct interference with or regulation of a specific in- 
 dustry or work. But that does not cover the field of activity 
 of the Government, and it is particularly true with the work 
 of the Federal Government in the matter of mining and min- 
 eral resources. 
 
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND MINING. 89 
 
 The Geological Survey from its inception has had 
 charge of and had to do with the study, careful examination 
 and investigation of our mineral resources. The study of 
 the geological formations of our country necessarily involve 
 the study of ores and other mineral deposits as well, and 
 covers the broadest possible field of investigation of min- 
 eral resources. Of course, it must be remembered that the 
 Geological Survey has never attempted to pick out special 
 localities where great strikes might be made. But its 
 scientific men, its trained and skillful investigators have 
 been going throughout this broad land expressly for the 
 purpose of studying its geological formations and of giving 
 us some definite ideas about the minerals that may be ex- 
 pected to be found. This study has at times in a very re- 
 markable way developed special deposits that have been of 
 tremendous commercial value; but such has not been the 
 prime purpose of those particular investigations. They 
 have gone hand in hand with the scientific investigations 
 made by the survey. 
 
 Then again, the Geological Survey has had as part of 
 its work the classification of the public domain. This work 
 of classification has not been carried on in the years past 
 with that degree of activity which I hope will mark its 
 work hereafter. The classification of the public domain 
 means a very great gain to the mining industry. The class- 
 ification involves not merely the classification of the sur- 
 face, whether timber or agricultural, but it goes further 
 and will give a just and fair classification of what may be 
 the mineral deposits under the surface. This work of class- 
 ification during the last two years on the question of coal 
 and other fuels has been of enormous value to the mining 
 industry. We are delimiting in a way we have never been 
 able to do before the coal area, the area of gas and the area 
 of oil. 
 
 As our men make their regular tours of investigation 
 either in topographic or geological work, there is kept con- 
 stantly in mind every phase of the National resource prob- 
 lem. They are endeavoring to locate all these great sources 
 of National wealth, to describe them, and then finally to 
 
90 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 map them in such fashion that they may be of practical 
 use to those who are going to develop them. As you study 
 the reports of the Geological Survey, as you look for special 
 topics, on special subjects that have been investigated, you 
 will find that the Federal Government through that survey 
 has done an enormous amount for the mining industries 
 of this country. .Those who are collecting this informa- 
 tion, as it is being collected in any of the great scientific 
 libraries, or in the hands of experts in industrial life, in 
 trying to find out what those resources have been, have 
 found to their astonishment that the survey has been a long 
 ways ahead of the practical man in delimiting and defining 
 and investigating the mineral resources of our country. 
 
 Now, along with what we ordinarily term the mining 
 industry, when we think of it as referring to the minerals, 
 there has also been the very careful study of the water re- 
 sources of the country. The water resources are closely 
 connected with the mineral resources. In fact they are de- 
 fined as mineral resources, and they are not only connected 
 with the mineral resources in the development of the water 
 power itself, but the use of water power means the develop- 
 ment in many areas of mines themselves in such manner as 
 we had not hitherto contemplated. Every horse power 
 that is created through the development of water power 
 may be put into a form to dig from the earth the mineral 
 that is deposited there. Therefore all the resources of the 
 country, the water, the timber, the coal, the fuel, all must 
 be used together, must be studied together, must be con- 
 sidered as one great problem to be handled in a way that 
 is both scientific and at the same time thoroughly practical. 
 
 Now the Geological Survey has for its great work this 
 classification of the resources of our country, the presenta- 
 tion of the classification in such manner that the practical 
 mining man may know how best to use those resources, how 
 best to conserve them, using what we actually need without 
 unnecessary waste; and handing down what we do not use 
 in condition as available and accessible as they ever were. 
 When I say "hand them down," I recognize there are cer- 
 tain classes of our resources that cannot be handed down 
 
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND MINING. 91 
 
 better than we received them, for their very use means de- 
 struction. Yet, on the other hand, we can, by the proper 
 use, by the avoidance of waste, conserve even those de- 
 structible resources so that we may very greatly lengthen 
 their life to this nation. 
 
 Those are some of the questions that the Geological 
 Survey, through its technologic branch, a portion of the 
 plant of which we were examining this afternoon, is giving 
 the closest attention to. Those are some of the essential 
 points in the further study of the mining industry of our 
 country, namely, the prevention of waste, the prevention of 
 unnecessary loss of these great resources. Every ton of 
 coal that we save, every ton of coal that we prevent from 
 being wasted, means that that ton of coal will in some year 
 hereafter be put to some good use. Every investigation 
 that leads in the end to higher heat efficiency from a ton 
 of coal means that we are conserving by preserving hun- 
 dreds of tons of coal that would otherwise be immediately 
 used, and hence lost. Therefore in the study of the ques- 
 tion of waste, every man interested in mining must recog- 
 nize that all the scientific work of the Government that has 
 for its purpose the development of methods that will pre- 
 vent waste is a work that he should co-operate with, to the 
 end that that work may be made more practical every year. 
 
 In connection with this there is another element of 
 waste. "We know that mining brings in the sociological 
 side of the work of the Government; and we heard that dis- 
 cussed this morning, namely, how are we to preserve the 
 lives of the men who are working in the mining industry? 
 Whenever we save a man's life we thereby save commer- 
 cially in the industry; we prevent the shock of that man's 
 death from being charged either against the community 
 in which he lived or the special industry in which he has 
 been working. Even putting the question of the saving of 
 life and the prevention of injury upon the lowest of all 
 planes, namely, that of dollars and cents, we find that the 
 study of every device, of every method that means the pre- 
 vention of accident, is a commercial saving. 
 
 But aside from the commercial side we must recognize 
 
92 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 that in this great industry, and it involves not only the min- 
 ing of the fuel but all classes of mines, the question of how 
 we are to improve the conditions under which men work 
 under ground is one that the Government ought to give 
 most careful consideration to. As I said this morning, and 
 in this we all agree, that in changing from doing work as 
 individuals to organized societies, either in the form of 
 partnerships or corporations, each individual gives up some- 
 thing of his own individual right or privilege which he for- 
 merly exercised, and assumes obligations towards the com- 
 munity or towards the associates with whom he is working. 
 Therefore, as in the mining industry the operators who are 
 employing hundreds and thousands of men, understand 
 that the method of dealing with the underground are not 
 to be measured in dollars and cents; and men will under- 
 stand that their profit is not to be measured merely in the 
 wage that is gained. The miner and the operator and the 
 state and the Federal Government must all co-operate in 
 endeavoring to devise methods by which this tremendous 
 waste of resources and loss of life may be prevented. We 
 must have intelligent and fair regulations; and these regu- 
 lations must be obeyed by the men in the mines. 
 
 It is too often the case that great loss of life is brought 
 upon large numbers of laboring men not because there has 
 been any failure on the part of the mine owner to provide 
 the proper regulation or methods, but because some single 
 individual has failed in his duty, in his obligations that he 
 owed to his fellow- workmen. Both the miner and the op- 
 erator should understand that it is useless for the Federal 
 Government to conduct investigations and discover 
 methods; and it is useless for the state to enact fair and 
 wise laws for the prevention of mine accidents, unless the 
 operator provides the needed equipment and other facili- 
 ties and proper supervision; and unless the men who are 
 doing the work in the mine recognize to the full their obli- 
 gation to obey those regulations to assume each for himself 
 the full duty of obeying and recognizing that he as an indi- 
 vidual cannot do as he pleases, but must act in concert, in 
 harmony with those with whom he is associating. 
 
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND MINING. 93 
 
 Then again, the Federal Government is studying con- 
 stantly the questions which have been raised in some of 
 the discussions this morning regarding the cost of produc- 
 tion. I believe that one of the curses not only of the mining 
 industry but as well of all industry in this country, has been 
 the desire upon the part of both the manufacturer and the 
 consumer to get a cheap product. Nothing is so great a 
 curse to our industrial life today as that cry of cheapness, 
 cheapness, cheapness. It is not cheapness that we want, 
 but efficiency in the work, honesty of product; and then 
 charge the price that is commensurated with the service 
 given, and the character of the product that is put forth. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 That same idea is applicable to the transportation 
 question, and that has been touched upon. We clamor for 
 lower rates of freight. We must recognize that if we ask 
 for too low rates, we necessarily involve the company that 
 is forced to give those too low rates in a position where it 
 is necessary to cut down on some of its expenses. We can- 
 not cut off the source of earnings and at the same time im- 
 pose additional burdens that mean additional expense and 
 expect that company to transport and otherwise give the 
 service that it ought to give to the public. We should rec- 
 ognize that what we as a people must demand is efficiency 
 of service, a service on the transportation highways that 
 gives us freedom from accident, more trains, safer service, 
 and then as cheap a rate as is consistent with all of that, 
 plus a fair and reasonable profit to those who have invested 
 their money in those enterprises. (Applause.) 
 
 Now the relation of the Federal Government to this 
 industry has been, as I have indicated, a studying of all of 
 these various conditions. Now are we going to continue 
 this work without overstepping the powers and duties of 
 the Federal Government? I have no doubt many of you 
 have heard it said that this present administration has been 
 guilty of many acts of usurpation of executive authority, 
 that it has extended the activities of the Federal Govern- 
 ment beyond the powers that seem to have been given it 
 under the Constitution. And yet I am confident that when 
 
94 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 history is written, that when we as reasonable men consider 
 what has been done, we will find that there has been no un- 
 due extension of executive authority or of Federal author- 
 ity in dealing with matters of trade and commerce. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 Fortunately for our people we had on the Supreme 
 bench in the early days of our history as a nation, the mas- 
 ter mind of Marshall. He foresaw the danger of a strict 
 definition of the commerce clause of the Constitution. He 
 recognized that what was commerce in those days might 
 not be commerce ten years hence. He recognized that 
 there were means of transportation, methods of commerce, 
 between the States which were undreamt of by the men of 
 his time, and therefore he and those associates of the court 
 with him, refused to define what commerce is. In the de- 
 velopment of our country year by year new methods of 
 transportation, new systems of industry and extension of 
 our trade throughout the States and into the foreign coun- 
 tries, have necessarily changed the definition of the word 
 commerce. And therefore under that great clause of the 
 Constitution, the Federal Government has had placed upon 
 its shoulders obligations to the people of this country that 
 they have been fulfilling in these latter years. 
 
 We have by no means reached the limit of Federal au- 
 thority in dealing with these industrial questions. And yet 
 when 1 say that, I do not wish to be misunderstood. I rec- 
 ognize very clearly that we must always have equally in 
 mind the division between the state and the nation. The 
 state within its sphere is supreme, and the Federal Govern- 
 ment must not interfere with those questions and those 
 matters that are wholly within the jurisdiction of the State. 
 But the very moment that industry oversteps the State 
 boundaries, the very moment that the conditions of trade 
 are such that one single state cannot control those activi- 
 ties in any special industry, that very moment it steps into 
 the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, and then the 
 Federal Government has a right to exercise its power over 
 that industry, and in the exercise of those powers it lies 
 within the wisdom of Congress to say how far the Govern 
 
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND MINING. 95 
 
 ment shall go, and within the wisdom of the executive to 
 what extent the powers granted by the special acts of Con- 
 gress shall be applied. 
 
 It is along those lines of future development that we 
 must look for relief in studying and in acting upon many 
 of these problems that are connected with the mining in- 
 dustry. I for one hope that Congress will determine that 
 it is the part of wisdom to establish a mining bureau. I 
 believe that the time has come when a mining bureau should 
 be made a component part of the work of the Interior De- 
 partment, and that all the various governmental activities 
 that have hitherto had to do with the industry shall be 
 brought together under that bureau, to the end that it may 
 be a better bureau, a better instrument in the hands of the 
 executive for the purpose of carrying out the things which 
 you gentlemen here may determine to be the right things to 
 be carried out. (Applause.) 
 
 One can already see the tremendous work that lies 
 ahead of such a bureau in the development of the problems 
 that are now before us. Many of the problems presented 
 in the experiments we witnessed today are such that the 
 individual cannot afford to work out, which not even any 
 one State can afford to do, but which the Federal Govern- 
 ment can do splendidly, and can do without any interfer- 
 ence with any State activity or with any individual enter- 
 prise. It can be done by the kind of co-operation that has 
 been shown by you here in dealing with these problems 
 thus far. The whole work there is first one of study and 
 investigation, then of conference, and finally with helpful 
 suggestions certain great abuses may be corrected, certain 
 steps in advance may be taken and certain better methods 
 can be used for the conservation of our resources, and for 
 their better daily use. 
 
 Now it has been asked of me several times whether in 
 this work it is intended that the Federal Government 
 actively take up the work of inspection and interfere with 
 the local conditions in special mines. I have always said 
 no; it does not mean that, and it ought not to mean that. 
 Those special regulations must of necessity be adopted by 
 
96 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 the States. They come within the police power of the 
 States, but the Federal Government by careful investiga- 
 tion of conditions in all the States and in foreign countries 
 may be able to set a standard which would be accepted as 
 the proper standard, and then the various States will one by 
 one adopt that standard, come up to it, if it is rightly 
 chosen, and in that way we will have uniformity of regula- 
 tion within the States by co operation. But it does not at 
 all mean that the Federal Government will try to reach out 
 its arms and attempt to do the things which, as I say, the 
 State ought to do. 
 
 On the other hand we must recognize this, that there 
 is no force more potent in our country today than an intel- 
 ligently aroused public opinion. If a great body of men 
 such as you here reach conclusions that are just and right 
 for your industry, if you announce those conclusions in the 
 form of resolutions, if those are acceptable to the great mass 
 of the people whom you represent, then public opinion is 
 crystallized in an intelligent way, and you may be sure 
 that that form of suggestion will of necessity compel action 
 by the various bodies from whom action may be asked. 
 Now what is included in the work of a Federal bureau ? By 
 wise suggestion, based upon the fullest consideration and 
 knowledge, by conferences with men actively engaged in 
 any great industry, reports may be made, suggestions may 
 be adopted, that will by the force of their reasonableness 
 compel either Congress to act, if it be a matter of Federal 
 legislation, or the State to act, if it be a matter of State 
 regulation. 
 
 It is along these lines that the Federal Government is 
 going to work. We have made, we know, many mistakes. 
 Our work necessarily has been of a tentative character. 
 We bespeak from all of you the heartiest, most sympathetic 
 co-operation, suggestion and criticism. No public officer 
 should be afraid of criticism. We are working in the open. 
 We have nothing to conceal. We simply are trying to join 
 with you in this great industry in endeavoring to give its 
 workers and its owners better opportunities than they have 
 
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND MINING. 97 
 
 ever had before for the proper development of the industry 
 itself. 
 
 The Chairman advises me that the time has come when 
 I must stop. I am sorry; I should like to talk with you 
 further about some other questions which all of us have in 
 mind. I thank you very much for the cordial reception 
 you have given me here today, and I trust that many of 
 you may come to Washington next week to take part in 
 the conference for the conservation of national resources, 
 and I shall look with a great deal of interest to the results 
 of this conference here. (Applause.) 
 
Problems of the Coal Mining Industry. 
 
 BY DR. J. A. HOLMES, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: This evening I 
 surprised one of the ladies who have honored us with their 
 presence here, by telling her how much pleasure it gave me 
 to come from a quiet residence city like Washington into 
 a busy, smoky, industrial center like Pittsburgh. I quali- 
 fied that statement, she seemed so surprised at it, by saying 
 that one of the purposes of the investigations which we are 
 making in Pittsburgh is to get rid of smoke. (Laughter.) 
 But it is industry itself that an active man is always 
 pleased to get close to and into, especially when it presents 
 so marked a contrast with the clear, quiet atmosphere of a 
 residence city like Washington. 
 
 There is another thing which we are trying to do, not 
 only for Pittsburgh, but also for the country at large, and 
 that is to demonstrate how to use our mineral resources 
 with less waste. One of the things which we are trying to 
 do at this testing station, where most of you have been 
 this afternoon, is to burn the low grade fuel, which in this 
 Pittsburgh district and many other parts of the country, 
 is being left underground and permanently lost because, 
 it is said, there is no market for it. We are going to try 
 to help you find a market for this great waste product of 
 coal which you are now leaving in the ground, and which 
 now approximates 250,000,000 tons yearly. However, the 
 main purpose for which we are now conducting investigation, 
 and for which this great meeting is being held, is the pre- 
 vention of mine accidents. This mining experiment sta- 
 tion located here in Pittsburgh, as was told you by the 
 Secretary of the Interior, is the first step which this Gov- 
 ernment has taken to help the man who works in the 
 mines. For years we have been spending millions of dol- 
 lars on investigations to help the men who work in the 
 sunshine of the farm in the safety of the open day; but we 
 have all this time neglected the health and safety of the 
 
PROBLEMS OF THE COAL MINING INDUSTRY. 99 
 
 million men who work underground, in the midst of its 
 darkness and in its mysteries, which they cannot solve, or 
 which none of us have solved, and which in our ignorance 
 we are now trying to solve. 
 
 I want to say just a word further with regard to the 
 work of this Pittsburgh station. It has been rapidly in- 
 stalled and developed during the past six months, and for 
 that I want you to give the credit to Mr. Wilson, Mr. Rob- 
 erts, Mr. Rice, Mr. Paul and others, who in season and out 
 of season for several months have worked to get this sta- 
 tion ready, so that we could begin the investigations that 
 we hope will help the coal operators solve the difficult 
 problems involved in mine disasters ; and these are the men 
 who deserve credit for that excellent exhibition which you 
 witnessed at the station this afternoon. 
 
 With reference to the future progress of that work I 
 want simply to ask the patience and the indulgence of the 
 people who happen to know about it. When a great new 
 work of that sort is started the public is apt to expect too 
 much. We hear of these terrible mine accidents, and we 
 are all wondering whether they can be prevented, or why 
 they cannot be prevented. A few days ago there was one 
 of these dreadful accidents in Germany, where they have 
 been trying to solve these problems for a number of years. 
 While I was in England during the past summer studying 
 the mine safety appliances there, I had the misfortune to 
 witness the most awful disaster in English coal mines which 
 they have had for many years. I mention these things 
 not to add to the sadness of that great problem, but sim- 
 ply, as I said a moment ago, to caution you to be patient. 
 
 I believe that every operator in the United States is 
 trying the best he knows how to prevent another accident 
 from happening in his mine. I believe that the miners 
 themselves, and the great miners' organization, the United 
 Mine Workers of America, will co-operate most heartily 
 in every effort which is made to accomplish this great 
 purpose. 
 
 And it is a great purpose to accomplish. It is worthy 
 of the co-operative and combined effort which the intelli- 
 
100 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 gence of America can put into it, because, as America 
 claims to be leading in many of the great problems of civil- 
 ization, and we are well advanced in many of them we are 
 far behind in effort to save life ; and we realize that it is the 
 duty of this, the wealthiest country in the world, the coun- 
 try which we believe has the best government in the world, 
 through its federal government, the state governments, the 
 mine operator and the mine worker to do the best that 
 can be done to solve these great problems, and to help to 
 make the men underneath the ground as safe as is the 
 farmer on the surface. 
 
 The hour is too late for me to say more to you, because 
 I know we are all anxious to hear the words which our 
 worthy president of the Mining Congress, Judge Eichards, 
 has to say, and I shall have an opportunity again at tomor- 
 row 's meeting to speak to you on this and other subjects; 
 while our president, Judge Eichards, may not be so for- 
 tunate. 
 
 I only want to say this word for the American Mining 
 Congress. It has had an uphill struggle, but the mining 
 men of this country realize the good work which it is ac- 
 complishing in their behalf; how it is benefiting the mining 
 industry; and is in every way deserving their fullest sup- 
 port and co-operation. I hope that everybody attending 
 these sessions will realize that it is the one place in this 
 country where men connected with all branches of mining, 
 the operator, the miner and the owner and the well-wishers 
 of mining may come together on common ground, in a good- 
 natured friendly way to discuss the problems for the bet- 
 terment of this great industry. 
 
Some Utah Mineral Deposits and Their Metallurgical 
 Treatment. 
 
 BY ROBERT H. BRADFORD, PH. D., PROFESSOR OF METALLURGY, 
 STATE SCHOOL OF MINES, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH. 
 
 In the comprehensive paper on the "Mining and Min- 
 eral Resources of Utah," read at the Denver meeting of 
 this Congress two years ago by our esteemed Director from 
 Utah, Mr. John Dern, the mining resources of the state 
 were fully outlined. It will be the aim of the present paper 
 to give briefly the present status of Utah's mining and 
 metallurgical industries, with especial stress upon the de- 
 velopments of the last two years. 
 
 Utah's Standing Among the States. 
 
 In the production of the four important metals lead, 
 silver, gold and copper during last year, 1907, Utah stood 
 third in lead, third in silver, fourth in gold, and fourth in 
 copper, among the states of the Union, having made a de- 
 cided advance in copper output over former years, with an 
 advance also in lead and silver. 
 
 Her copper output for 1908 will be far in advance of 
 last year with the promise of greater increase for other 
 years yet to come. The rapid development of the mines of 
 Bingham has brought our state rapidly to the front as a 
 copper producer, and further exploitation in this camp bids 
 fair to place her in the ranks as first instead of fourth in 
 copper. 
 
 BINGHAM. 
 
 Mineral Deposits. 
 
 As a preface to the consideration of some of the larger 
 mines of Bingham, I quote from the summary of the geology 
 of this area in the Monograph on Bingham by the United 
 States Geological Survey. "Between carboniferous and late 
 tertiary time monzonite intrusives invaded sediments in the 
 Bingham area, metamorphized them, and introduced me- 
 tallic elements which replaced marbleized limestone with 
 pyritous copper sulphides. After the superficial portions 
 
102 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 of the intrusives had cooled to at least partial rigidity, they 
 and the enclosing sediments were rent by persistent north- 
 east-southwest fissures. 
 
 "Heated aqueous solutions from below then ascended, 
 producing alterations, and introducing metallic minerals. 
 Later the original sulphide ores, altered by surface waters, 
 were oxidized in the upper layers, and secondarily enriched 
 below by changing to black copper sulphides with the addi- 
 tion of gold and silver. " 
 
 As a result of this process of mineralization there is 
 found in the camp three types of deposits, namely: (1) the 
 disseminated ore of the monzonite laccolith and the con- 
 tiguous quartzite; (2) the sulphide lode or vein ores; and 
 (3) the replacement or bed ores in limestone. The first 
 type is known in the district as " porphyry ore/' and the 
 others as the "sulphide ores," since they contain pyrite or 
 iron sulphide as the predominating mineral. Important 
 mines are now producing from each of these classes of ores. 
 
 THE UTAH COPPER COMPANY. 
 The Ore Deposits. 
 
 This company owns about 200 acres of ground in the 
 heart of Bingham, besides 1,000 acres near the mouth of 
 Bingham canyon and 2,400 acres at Garfield. The ore 
 bodies of the property in central Bingham consist of an 
 altered siliceous porphyry containing small grains of cop- 
 per minerals, very uniformly disseminated throughout the 
 mass, both in fracture seams and in the body of the rock. 
 The ore averages about 2 per cent copper, 0.15 of an ounce 
 silver, and 0.015 of an ounce of gold. The primary copper 
 mineral is chalcopyrite, but as a result of secondary en- 
 richment from above, practically all of the copper sulphide 
 minerals are now present, the principal one being chalcocite. 
 The developed area covers 72 acres of ground, and although 
 the thickness of the ore body has not been fully determined, 
 yet existing developments show an average depth of at least 
 310 feet. This area and depth of ore figures up to the 
 equivalent of 1,000,000 tons of ore per acre. Below the 
 depth included in the above estimate is a zone of lower 
 
UTAH MINERAL DEPOSITS AND THEIR TREATMENT. 103 
 
 grade ore averaging about 1.5 per cent copper and contain- 
 ing about 40,000,000 tons of ore as indicated mainly by 
 diamond drill holes. 
 
 Besides these 72 acres now developed or partially de- 
 veloped, there are 88 additional acres of mineralized por- 
 phyry in the company's property that is undeveloped, al- 
 though a portion of this area is known to contain ores of 
 profitable grades. 
 
 Methods of Mining. 
 
 Open cut work with steam shovels is employed in the 
 extraction of 80 per cent of the tonnage of 6,000 to 7,000 
 tons of ore per day, the remaining 20 per cent being taken 
 out by the underground caving system. The caving sys- 
 tem, although costing slightly less than 60 cents a ton of 
 ore produced, is being abandoned wherever possible in 
 favor of steam shovel work. In great part the benches of 
 ore need but little shattering by blasting, as much of the 
 ore is already loose enough for direct shovel work. 
 
 Equipment. 
 
 At the mine the company has in operation fifteen steam 
 locomotives, mostly of 100,000 pounds weight; 125 stripping 
 dump cars of six yards capacity; two 40,000-pound electric 
 locomotives; three smaller electric locomotives and the 
 necessary cars for underground haulage; six steam shovels; 
 about ten miles of standard gauge railway laid with 65- 
 pound rails; a 300 horse-power compressor plant; a com- 
 pletely equipped machine shop, capable of handling and re- 
 pairing the heavy locomotives and steam shovel work, be- 
 sides the commodious offices and quarters for employees. 
 
 About 75 per cent of the ore produced by the caving 
 system is transported by the Copper Belt Railroad to the 
 Utah Copper Company's concentrating mill at Copperton, 
 about three miles down the canyon. This mill has a ca- 
 pacity of 900 tons per day. It was built originally for the 
 purpose of developing the best process of concentration, but 
 has been trebled in its capacity and now is an important 
 unit in the company's commercial mills. The Mammoth 
 
104 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 concentrating mill is located at Garfield, where the com- 
 pany has an abundant supply of water. 
 
 Ore Concentration. 
 
 The ore is transported 15 miles northward by the Rio 
 Grande Western Eailroad Company to the Garfield mill on 
 the shores of the Great Salt Lake, and there concentrated, 
 22 tons of crude ore into one ton of concentrates. The ob- 
 ject of concentration is to get rid of the silicious waste ma- 
 terial, which is expensive to smelt, and to collect the values 
 into less than 5 per cent of the original tonnage. It is then 
 only necessary to pay for the smelting of the one ton of ore 
 instead of 20; and it costs a lower price per ton for it also, 
 because of its higher iron content, than for the original mon- 
 zonite rock with its high percentage of silica. 
 
 The process of concentration consists in crushing all 
 the ore fine enough to sever the valuable minerals from the 
 waste particles. With this ore it is necessary to crush 
 everything to 40 mesh before the separation of the heavy 
 valuable particles from the light waste material is com- 
 menced. Concentration is carried on with jigs, shaking- 
 tables and vanners, and the concentrates average 28 per cent 
 copper, 15 per cent iron and 30 per cent silica, a very desir- 
 able smelting mixture. The losses in concentration, occa- 
 sioned in great part by sliming, caused by the fine grinding 
 through which all the ore is carried, are considerable, 
 amounting to 25 to 30 per cent of the total copper. But 
 since, under the present smelting conditions, the crude ore 
 could not be smelted direct, concentration even with its at- 
 tendant losses is absolutely necessary. 
 
 Smelting the Concentrates. 
 
 The concentrates from the monzonite ore form a very 
 desirable smelting mixture. It may be smelted direct in 
 the reverberatory furnace or roasted preliminary to smelt- 
 ing. The fine concentrates containing high sulphur values 
 are roasted in pot furnaces or in mechanically rabbled fur- 
 naces for the partial elimination of the sulphur. If the pot 
 furnace is used the roasted product is in a sintered but 
 porus condition, and hence in good condition for the copper 
 
UTAH MINERAL DEPOSITS AND THEIR TREATMENT. 105 
 
 blast furnace. Matte and slag are run from the blast fur- 
 nace continually and these separate from each other by 
 gravity in a large settler. The slag with less than .5 per 
 cent copper is discarded, and the matter is further treated to 
 obtain metallic copper. When the fine ore is roasted in the 
 mechanically rabbled furnace (the McDougal) and taken 
 out in a loose powdery condition, the reverberatory furnace 
 is employed to smelt the roasted material. Furnaces with 
 upwards of 2,000 square feet hearth area are employed at 
 the Garfield Smelter on this fine, powdery material, and 350 
 tons of this roasted ore are run through each furnace each 24 
 hours. The products of the reverberatory furnaces, like the 
 products of the blast furnaces, are slag and copper-iron 
 matte. 
 
 The slag from both kinds of furnaces is run into large 
 pots arranged on trucks, and transferred by locomotive on 
 tracks to the slag dump, where it is run out in a molten state 
 as waste. 
 
 The matte from the settler of the blast furnace or from 
 the reverberatory furnace is run into ladles of 10 tons ca- 
 pacity, operated by electric traveling cranes, which span 
 the converter house. At the Garfield works there are two 
 such cranes, each of 60 tons capacity, which run the full 
 length of the converter building. The ladles of molten matte 
 are quickly carried to the converter and the contents poured 
 in and the ladle returned for more matte. When the con- 
 verter has received its charge of ten tons the air under a 
 pressure of 12 pounds is turned on and the shell is tilted 
 back to position. When the blow begins there is rapid oxi- 
 dation of iron and sulphur. The iron having the stronger 
 affinity for oxygen is finally all oxidized, forming with the 
 siliceous converter lining an iron silicate slag. The slag is 
 then skimmed and the remaining copper sulphide, after be- 
 ing replenished by the addition of molten sulphide of the 
 same copper content from other converters, is again blown, 
 to oxidize the remaining sulphur and produce metallic cop- 
 per; 98 per cent pure, known as blister copper, carrying 
 the gold and silver that were in the original ore. The bars 
 
106 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 of copper bullion cast from the converter are 24 inches long- 
 by 18 inches wide by 2 inches thick and weigh 300 pounds. 
 The rnetal is shipped away to the refineries in this 
 crude condition. As the centers of consumption of the re- 
 fined products are at a great distance from the smelting 
 plant, and as the costs of transportation of the refined 
 metals is much greater than that for crude bullion, no ef- 
 fort is made at refining the bullion in Utah. 
 
 THE BOSTON CONSOLIDATED. 
 
 The Porphyry Mine. 
 
 Adjoining the Utah Copper mine on the south is the 
 Boston Consolidated. The porphyry mine of this company 
 covers about 156 acres of territory. A large portion of this 
 area is underlaid by mineralized inonzonite porphyry, simi- 
 lar to the Utah Copper ore, but running slightly lower in 
 copper content. This ore is estimated by the company's 
 engineers to average about 1.5 per cent copper. The cap- 
 ping, or over-burden, to be removed in order to mine the de- 
 posit by steam shovel, is about 100 feet in thickness. The 
 profitable ore over this area as indicated by extensive sam- 
 pling and assaying, is about 300 feet deep. Very extensive 
 equipment employed for stripping and disposal' of the cap- 
 ping and for the mining of ore for the concentrating mill 
 has been in operation for three years. This equipment is 
 said to be ample for handling 15,000 tons of rock daily. 
 
 The Boston Consolidated 's concentrating mill is located 
 at Garfield, 15 miles air line or 27 miles by railroad to the 
 north. When all the units that are now commenced are in 
 commission the mill will have a capacity of 3,000 tons of 
 porphyry ore per day. At present but eight units are in 
 operation. The concentrates are somewhat lower in copper 
 and higher in iron than those from the adjoining property. 
 They make a very desirable smelting material and are con- 
 tracted for by the Garfield smelter on very favorable terms. 
 
 Besides the porphyry mine this company operates an 
 extensive sulphide mine, covering 103 acres of the lime- 
 stone belt. The ore, carrying a high percentage of iron 
 
UTAH MINERAL DEPOSITS AND THEIR TREATMENT. 107 
 
 pyrite, is not susceptible to concentration, but is sold to the 
 smelter. The mine is fully equipped for the production of 
 750 to 1,000 tons of ore per day by square set stoping. 
 
 THE OHIO COPPER COMPANY. 
 
 Disseminated Quartzite. 
 
 This property adjoins the Utah Copper on the east and 
 the Boston Consolidated on the north, and covers an area 
 of 120 acres. The ore is quartzite, mineralized with copper 
 and iron sulphides. The quartzite merges into the lacco- 
 lithic mass of monzonite porphyry of the two adjoining 
 properties. The ore is much shattered and broken. Dis- 
 seminated throughout the shattered rock, and especially 
 along the cleavage planes is the copper ore in the form of 
 a clean chalcocite, associated with chalcopyrite and pyrite. 
 Many crevices in the shattered quartzite have been filled by 
 the metalliferous minerals forming stringers and veinlets of 
 rich copper sulphide. 
 
 Larger fissure veins traverse the deposit and these con- 
 tain much ore of higher copper content, due to secondary 
 enrichment. In these veins, along with the predominant 
 chalcocite, there is found much red oxide as well as some 
 metallic copper. 
 
 From careful and conservative calculation of ore re- 
 serves there is estimated to be 18,500,000 tons of ore in the 
 mine above the present transportation tunnel. The average 
 copper content of the ore, as obtained from abundant sam- 
 pling, is 1.6 to 1.75 per cent copper, with some 10 cents in 
 gold and 3 cents in silver per ton. 
 
 The concentration of this ore is a simple matter, as the 
 copper minerals are not so finely disseminated through the 
 rock as they are in the porphyry of the neighboring prop 
 erties. The absence of any clay or talcy decomposition 
 products of the rock make;' this quartzite an exceedingly 
 favorable ore for concentrating. The mill tests have given 
 an extraction of 75 to 80 per cent of the values. 
 
 A concentrating plant of 2,400 tons per day capacity 
 is now built at Lark, three miles to the east, for treating 
 
168 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 this quartzite. The main features of difference between 
 this plant and those of Utah Cppper and Boston Consoli- 
 dated plants are due to the difference in the ores. This 
 mill will crush all ore to 12 mesh only, and will make its 
 principal savings with the copper minerals in larger pieces, 
 using jigs and shaking tables, but no vanners. It has, how- 
 ever, provided a slime plant, with settling tanks, slime 
 tables and buddies. The ore is extracted by the caving 
 system and dropped through winzes to the ore bins, 400 
 feet long, built 1,000 feet underground, just above the trans- 
 portation tunnel, which reaches the property 1,000 feet be- 
 low the bottom of the Bingham canyon. This tunnel runs 
 eastward 13,000 feet to daylight on the east base of the 
 Oquirrh mountains, where the concentrating mill is located. 
 The ore is transported at a cost of 15 cents per ton, mined 
 for 50 cents and concentrated for 50 cents per ton. With 
 copper at 15 cents, the net income per day on 2,400 tons of 
 ore is estimated at $3,864, or an income of $1,400,000 per 
 year. 
 
 The company has built the present mill with the idea 
 of enlarging its capacity to 4,000 tons per day in the future. 
 
 THE UTAH CONSOLIDATED. 
 
 The Highland Boy mine of the Utah Consolidated Com- 
 pany was one of the early producers of the high grade sul- 
 phide ores. The ores of this company were smelted for a 
 number of years at their own smelter at Murray, Salt Lake 
 county. The ore averaged high in copper and the output 
 of the smelter in copper bullion was large for the ore ton- 
 nage treated. The high grade ore and the favorable con- 
 ditions of mining and smelting were indicated by the divi- 
 dends disbursed. These amounted to more than one million 
 dollars per year. Since the closing of the Murray plant by 
 the injunction by the farmers of the valley, the ore has been 
 treated by the American Smelting and Eefining Company's 
 plant at Garfield. 
 
 The Utah Consolidated has let a contract for smelting 
 its ore for the next ten years to a private party, who will 
 
UTAH MINERAL DEPOSITS AND THEIR TREATMENT. 109 
 
 immediately begin operations of building a modern copper 
 smelter at Pine Canyon, just over the Oquirrh range to the 
 west, in Tooele county. The smelter is to be ready to treat 
 the ores of the company by April, 1910. The mining com- 
 pany, in the meantime, will construct an aerial tramway 
 from the mine over the mountain range and down Pine 
 canyon to the smelter, a distance of six miles. Eight hun- 
 dred to 1,000 tons of ore per day will be transported from 
 the mine over this aerial tramway when completed. 
 
 THE YAMPA MINE AND SMELTER. 
 
 One of the large producers of the sulphide ores of Bing- 
 ham is the Yampa mine. The ore is practically self-flux- 
 ing with the exception of needing a small amount of lime- 
 stone. The mine is now putting out a tonnage of 700 to 800 
 tons of ore per day, which is transported about one and one- 
 half miles to the Yampa smelter, in Bingham canyon, the 
 cost of transportation being 7 cents per ton. 
 
 The smelter treats the total tonnage of the mine, be- 
 sides about 200 tons daily of custom ore. The furnaces of 
 the plant consists of nine McDougal roasters, three rever- 
 beratory furnaces, two having dimensions of 17 feet by 55 
 feet, and one 17 feet by 45 feet; three blast furnaces, two 
 42 by 160 inches and one 42 by 184 inches; two converter 
 stands, with six converter shells of 84 by 136 inches di- 
 mensions. The production of metallic copper by the Yampa 
 smelter with its present capacity is slightly over 10,000,000 
 pounds per year. 
 
 THE UNITED STATES PROPERTIES. 
 
 The extensive properties of Bingham canyon owned by 
 the United States Mining Company are producing a large 
 output that is all smelted at the United States smelter at 
 Bingham Junction, in Salt Lake county. Their ores are 
 transported by aerial tramway to the Eio Grande Western 
 Railroad cars at the Bingham terminus and then hauled to 
 the smelter, 12 miles away. 
 
 The properties described are the most important in 
 Bingham from the standpoint of present development. 
 
110 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 Nevertheless, there are many other important producers of 
 copper as well as of lead ore in the West Mountain dis- 
 trict, in which Bingham is situated. 
 
 THE TINTIC DISTRICT. 
 
 Tintic has achieved and still holds the enviable dis- 
 tinction of having more dividend paying mines than any 
 other district in Utah. Eighteen of her mines are credited 
 with having paid dividends of $17,000,000. The exact fig- 
 ures of bread money distributed are hard to ascertain, as 
 many of the mines have been operated by individuals and 
 close corporations, concerning whose income the public has 
 learned little or nothing. 
 
 The Centennial Eureka, one of the richest mines of the 
 United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company, has 
 of late years been the heaviest shipper. The Bullion Beck, 
 one of the oldest producers of the district, has recently gone 
 into the hands of the United States Company, and will be 
 exploited even more actively in the future. The Eureka 
 Hill leasers have been very active during recent years and 
 have produced large quantities of good grade ore. The 
 Mammoth and Grand Central seem to show no limit to the 
 depth at which they obtain very profitable ore. 
 
 East Tintic, around Godiva mountain, has shown great- 
 est activity during the last two years. The May Day and 
 Uncle Sam have both benefited by the union they effected 
 during 1907. During 1908 there have already been paid 
 out by these companies near $150,000 in dividends. The 
 Knight properties, consisting in the main of the Colorado, 
 Beck Tunnel, Black Jack, Crown Point and Iron Blossom, 
 controlled by Mr. Jesse Knight of Provo, Utah, have made 
 a phenomenal record since their exploitation commenced 
 some three years ago. The Colorado has taken the lead by 
 producing nearly a million dollars ' worth of ore in 1907 
 and paying an aggregate of nearly $800,000 in dividends 
 during that year. Her ore averages from $75 to $10)3 per 
 ton in lead, silver and gold. The Beck Tunnel has been a 
 close follower with ore values averaging somewhat less, but 
 with a total dividend record near the $700,000 mark, but 
 
UTAH MINERAL DEPOSITS AND THEIR TREATMENT. Ill 
 
 distributed over a considerably longer period of time. As 
 evidenced by the miniature dumps at the shafts of these 
 two mines, there has been very little dead work. Practi- 
 cally everything taken out has been shipping ore. This 
 lime formation of East Tintic has responded so abundantly 
 to the efforts of the miner that now a circle of dividend 
 paying mines is found around Godiva mountain, including 
 the above mentioned properties, the Yankee Consolidated, 
 the Gemini, the Giroux Consolidated and some others. 
 
 Tintic suffered considerably by the closing down of 
 the Salt Lake county smelters and a consequent cutting off 
 of the market for her ores. At present, since an amicable 
 agreement between the farmers and the lead smelters has 
 been entered into, relief has been furnished. Mr. Jesse 
 Knight and his associates have organized the Tintic Smelt- 
 ing Company and have started up, during the present year, 
 a lead smelter of 350 tons capacity. This plant is located 
 right in Tintic and furnishes a ready outlet for the products 
 of many of the nearby mines. 
 
 PARK CITY. 
 
 Owing to the recent very unfavorable metal market 
 this lead and silver camp for the first half of the present 
 year marketed practically no ore. But during this period 
 much development work was done, which opened up ore 
 bodies that make it possible for some of the largest com- 
 panies to ship, when metal prices improve, even better ore 
 and larger tonnage than ever before. Little stir is made as 
 the development opens up new bonanzas, but that such are 
 opened up is always shown as the metal market warrants 
 big tonnages. The persistence of the rich ore in the Park 
 City mines as depth increases makes it important to pro- 
 vide proper drainage. The Ontario drain tunnel, three miles 
 long, was constructed for this purpose. 
 
 The caving in of this drain tunnel a few years ago 
 caused the lower levels of some of the large mines to be- 
 come flooded. By intelligent and untiring effort this tun- 
 nel has, during the last year, been again opened. It has 
 also been extended back under the Daly and Daly West 
 
112 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 mines. The tunnel will cut the Daly West shaft at the 2,100- 
 foot level, giving this mine 600 feet additional vertical 
 depth. The Daly West main shaft is being deepened to 
 meet the tunnel and is now near the 1,700-foot level. 
 
 The Silver King mine has made important strikes of 
 high grade ore during recent developments that put it in 
 possibly better condition than ever before. It, with the 
 Daly Judge and Daly West, is shipping fair tonnage at 
 present. 
 
 The new developments of the Park City district have 
 been made recently in Thaynes canyon, toward Brighton. 
 Prospects that are showing great activity there are the 
 Copper Apex, Keystone, Uintah Treasure Hill, New York, 
 Wabash and Silver King Consolidated. 
 
 MERCUR. 
 
 Utah's famous gold producer, the Consolidated Mercur 
 Gold Mines Company, is the leading gold producer in the 
 state. During the past fifteen years there have been many 
 millions in gold produced by the properties of this com- 
 pany. The 'total dividends to date paid by the present com- 
 pany and by the old De La Mar and Mercur Companies run 
 up to the handsome sum of $3,385,312.97. This amount 
 shows the success that has attended the persistent efforts 
 of Mr. John Dern and his associates. 
 
 The ore was early known to contain gold, although 
 the prospector was unable to even get colors by the use of 
 the gold pan, and the prospector often had difficulty in in- 
 teresting the investor in the properties of the camp because 
 no gold showed up in the pan. Mr. Dern and his associates 
 from Nebraska took hold of much of this ground, but found 
 great difficulty in extracting the gold values. The ore re- 
 fused to give up its wealth by any metallurgical methods, 
 although the owners systematically and persistently ex- 
 perimented with all the commercial methods of extraction 
 then known. At that time the cyanide process was just be- 
 ing developed and the Mercur operators quickly took up 
 with this new process and had their ore carefully tested. 
 The results showed but meager success at first. The oxi- 
 
UTAH MINERAL DEPOSITS AND THEIR TREATMENT. 113 
 
 dized ore gave fair extraction, but much of their higher 
 grade sulphide ores gave little promise of ever responding. 
 By careful work with the roasting furnace, under the effi- 
 cient direction of Mr. D. C. Jackling, now general manager 
 of the Utah Copper Company, the sulphide and arsenide 
 ores were brought into a condition for effective cyaniding. 
 Still another difficulty remained to be solved. The slimes 
 were large in amount and no method for successfully treat- 
 ing them had been perfected. This problem the present 
 owners have solved, and the tailings of sands and slimes 
 now carry over the dump but slightly over 50 cents in gold 
 per ton. The Consolidated Mercur mill has a capacity of 
 800 tons per day, and the Holderman Filter Tank Company 
 is now operating by sliming and vacuum filtering at a daily 
 tonnage of 200 tons on the Manning dump of the early 
 Mercur tailings. 
 
 The Boston-Sunshine Gold Mining Company have re- 
 constructed the mill of the old Sunshine mine of Mercur 
 and are adding much new equipment preparatory to cyan- 
 iding the very clayey refractory ores of the once famous 
 Sunshine mine. The mill will have a capacity of 200 tons 
 per day and will be put into commission during the coming 
 month of January. 
 
 OTHER IMPORTANT MINING DISTRICTS. 
 
 Time will not permit of more than passing mention of 
 other important mining districts of the state. Alta, Big 
 Cottonwood, American Fork, Deep Creek, Beaver County, 
 Kimberley, Park Valley, Gold Springs and others have pro- 
 duced much ore to increase the yearly output of the state. 
 
 NONMETALLIC MINERALS. 
 
 Salt. 
 
 The waters of the Great Salt Lake are furnishing year- 
 ly about 40,000 tons of salt, supplying most of the states 
 west of the Missouri river. The saturated brine of this 
 great body of salt water contains an almost unlimited sup- 
 ply of this mineral, so essential to human life. 
 
 There has recently been explored a most important 
 
114 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 salt deposit in the form of an immense salt bed in the Great 
 American desert, about 110 miles west of Salt Lake City 
 and 15 miles east of the Utah-Nevada state line. The 
 Western Pacific Railroad has built its track directly 
 through these beds. This salt covers an area of 60 square 
 miles. The deposit varies in depth from six inches to seven 
 feet or more, in places where poles were set. It is almost 
 perfectly white and absolutely free from dirt, rubbish or 
 growth of any nature. Providing the deposit only averages 
 one foot thick, the amount of salt to the square mile will 
 amount to more than one million tons, or sixty millions of 
 tons in the whole deposit. 
 
 The United States Congress, by the provisions of the 
 Enabling Act for Utah, gave to the University of Utah 
 all saline lands of the state. Notwithstanding this fact, 
 prospectors have staked out their claims over the deposit 
 and are contesting their rights in the courts. The Supreme 
 Court of Utah, during the past week, gave its decision in 
 favor of the State University, but the case may not be 
 finally disposed of until the United States Supreme Court 
 gives its decision. With this immense deposit of pure min- 
 eral as an asset the University will be well provided for. 
 
 Coal 
 
 There are four extensive coal fields being operated at 
 present in the state of Utah. These include the Book Cliffs, 
 the Weber Eiver, the San Pete and the Iron County fields. 
 The Utah Fuel Company, operating all the mines of the 
 Book Cliffs field, produced in 1907 near 2,000,000 tons of 
 coal. Their product is of excellent quality, remarkably 
 homogeneous, with low ash and sulphur content. The coal 
 from the Sunnyside mine burns to a superior grade coke, 
 which is used in large quantities by the large smelting 
 plants of the state. 
 
 Hydrocarbons. 
 
 The asphalt deposits of Eastern Utah are world fa- 
 mous for their extent and purity. The principal minerals 
 consist of uintahite, wurtzilite, elaterite, ozocerite and 
 
THE 
 
 UNIVERSfTY 
 
 .L DEPOSITS AND THEIR TREATMENT. 115 
 
 maltha, besides a variety of asphaltic limestones, sandstones 
 and shales. Uintahite, or the gilsonite of commerce, is the 
 most important. It occurs in true veins, cutting the sedi- 
 mentary rocks of the region. In extent and purity these 
 deposits far surpass any other recorded occurrence. 
 
 The limitations of the present paper will allow of but 
 passing mention of other mineral deposits of great promise 
 in the state. These include deposits of fire clay, gypsum, 
 phosphate rock, sulphur, antimony, limestone, cement rock, 
 petroleum, building and ornamental stone, uranium, van- 
 adium and radium minerals that up to date have been but 
 partially developed. 
 
 Iron Ore.- 
 
 But a description, though brief, of Utah's mineral de- 
 posits would be incomplete without mention of her enor- 
 mous iron ore deposits. One out of a number of occur- 
 rences will be referred to. The deposit in Iron county, in 
 Southern Utah, occurs as a mountain of ore, 15 miles long 
 by three miles wide. Hundreds of acres of this mountain 
 of ore will require no stripping, and in greater part will 
 respond readily to the steam shovel. Analyses of numerous 
 samples by United States Geological Survey officials show 
 averages of from 59 to 65 per cent metallic iron. 
 
 SALT LAKE CITY AS A SMELTING CENTER. 
 
 Salt Lake City is at present the most important smelt- 
 ing center in the world. The tremendous ore supply of 
 the three great mining camps so near at hand, namely, 
 Bingham, Park City and Tintic, giving a combination of 
 easily smelted mixtures, and the unlimited confidence in 
 the continuance of the supply, has justified the building 
 of exceedingly large smelting plants in Salt Lake valley. 
 The favorable position of Salt Lake as a railroad center 
 enables the smelters to draw large supplies of ore from all 
 parts of Utah, from Idaho and Nevada and even from Cal- 
 ifornia. 
 
 With the galena and lead carbonate ores from Park 
 City, Tintic, the Cottonwoods, from Idaho and Nevada; 
 
116 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 the copper iron sulphides of Bingham and Beaver county; 
 the siliceous copper, gold and silver ores of Tintic and 
 scattered camps, and from Nevada, the ore supply is more 
 diversified than anywhere else in the United States. Large 
 custom copper smelters and lead smelters, with their com- 
 petition for custom work, have brought very favorable 
 smelting rates to the ore producer. Nowhere else in this 
 country can the producer dispose of his ores at so favor- 
 able figures. 
 
 The smelters now in operation, with their capacities, 
 
 are as follows: 
 
 Tons Daily 
 
 Murray Plant, American Smelting and Refining Company, .lead 1,500 
 Garfield Plant, American Smelting and Refining Company .copper 3,000 
 United States Smelting Company, Bingham Junction ... .copper 1,500 
 
 United States Smelting Company, Bingham Junction lead 1,000 
 
 Yampa Smelter, Bingham Canyon copper 1,000 
 
 Utah Smelting Company, Ogden .copper 250 
 
 Tintic Smelting Company, Tintic lead 350 
 
 Tintic Smelting Company, Tintic copper 150 
 
 Total Capacity Daily 8,750 
 
 SMELTER SMOKE. 
 
 The decision of United States District Judge Marshall 
 in favor of the farmers of Salt Lake county against the 
 smelters of Murray and Bingham Junction, whereby the 
 smelters were not allowed to smelt or roast any ore con- 
 taining over 10 per cent sulphur, seemed a severe blow to 
 the smelters. The decision did not affect the plants at 
 Garfield or Bingham canyon. Two of the smelter com- 
 panies abondoned their plants. These were the Highland 
 Boy and Bingham Consolidated copper smelters. The for- 
 mer immediately took options on land about 20 miles west, 
 just over the Oquirrh mountains, in Tooele county, and 
 the latter negotiated for land somewhat farther west. 
 
 The American Smelting and Eefining Company came 
 to an agreement with the farmers, whereby they would 
 remain at Murray, by installing a bag house to filter all 
 solids from their smoke, and by instituting some minor 
 changes. 
 
 The United States Smelting Company, as a result of 
 untiring experiments with its smoke to determine a method 
 
UTAH MINERAL DEPOSITS AND THEIR TREATMENT. 117 
 
 of abating the nuisance, apparently succeeded, and now 
 are able to run all the smoke, not only from their lead fur- 
 naces, but also from their copper furnaces, through bags, 
 and collect all solid particles. As a result of this success 
 they have been given opportunity to resume their entire 
 plant and continue so long as no bad effects are suffered 
 by the farms. The company seems to have perfect confi- 
 dence that they shall be able to go on in the future undis- 
 turbed, for they are remodeling their plant and increasing 
 the capacity of their bag house at a very great expense. 
 It is anticipated that no further trouble will ensue between 
 smelter and farmer. 
 
 Utah's Steady Advance. 
 
 Utah's prominence as a mining state has been gained 
 gradually as a result of the extensive development of enor- 
 mous medium and low grade deposits. There have been no 
 spasmodic and temporary gains in her metallic output, 
 neither have there been serious losses, as the years of pros- 
 perity or adversity in mining arrived. No decline in lead 
 and silver or slump in copper has caused collapse. Her ad- 
 vance has been rapid but regular. The prospects are 
 brighter now for increased output in future years than 
 they ever were before. 
 
 The dividends from her mines and smelters indicate 
 the substantial nature of these industries. For 1907 the 
 reported dividends amounted to more than $5,000,000, and 
 this was no exception, as the bread money distributed for 
 a number of years has hovered around this flattering figure. 
 
 Security of Investments in Utah. 
 
 There have been fewer labor troubles in Utah than in 
 any mining state in the West. Seldom have the mining 
 and metallurgical operations in the state been interfered 
 with by conflicts between capital and labor. The sentiment 
 of the people of Utah is against strikes and lockouts. Lab- 
 orers have never demanded exorbitant wages. Mine and 
 smelter managers have acceded to the request for increased 
 pay during especially prosperous years, and the workmen 
 
118 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 have allowed this increase to be taken off at times of de- 
 pression. Capitalists are now appreciating this favorable 
 relation between capital and labor in Utah, and are show- 
 ing a preference for our state as a place to invest their 
 money. 
 
Mining and the Mineral Resources of Arizona. 
 
 BY COLONEL FRANK COX, PHOENIX, ARIZONA. 
 
 To every bar of precious metal produced, not only in 
 Arizona, but in any mining region, there is a personal his- 
 tory attached. From the ambitions and hopes of the sturdy 
 prospector, down to the calculations of the largest mining 
 operator, is the story woven. Interesting as these stories 
 are, however, and much as we owe to the men that broke 
 the ground, individual mention of them must be here 
 omitted. But, though even the names of the men have 
 been forgotten, we do not forget the fact that it was the 
 brave, the stout-hearted pioneers that made possible such 
 mines as the Detroit and the Arizona, the United Verde and 
 the Copper Queen mines known all over the civilized 
 world mines without which we could not make our proud 
 boast that, with her yearly output of something like 253,- 
 000,000 pounds of copper, Arizona today leads the United 
 States in the production of this royal metal. 
 
 The manufacture of copper is the most important "in- 
 dustry in the territory. Mining was substantially com- 
 menced here long before Arizona was known as a political 
 subdivision of the United States. In the early part of the 
 eighteenth century, it was carried on in a crude way, and 
 there yet remain, in the southern part of the territory, many 
 evidences that silver mines were worked there hundreds 
 of years ago. When I first came to Arizona, mining on 
 the improved and modern plan had just begun, although, 
 years before that, stamps had been dropping at the Vulture 
 and at the Silver King. The Vulture was a gold, the King 
 a silver producer. Both have records of many millions in 
 production, and both, on account of expensive transporta- 
 tion, were shut down long ago. Now railroads have made 
 possible their working at a profit, and they are to be re- 
 opened, companies for the purpose having been already or- 
 ganized. At the Vulture and other mines the original 
 
120 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 houses were built of gold ore, so rich that afterwards they 
 were torn down and milled at a large profit. 
 
 It was shortly after the Gadsden purchase that the first 
 smelter an adobe plant at the old Ajo mine was operated, 
 by Peter Brady, a well-known pioneer. In 1873 a similar 
 smelter was at work in Final county, and this plant it was 
 that made the first assay of the ore of the famous Silver 
 King. In the early sixties mills were at work in Arizona, 
 but among the first of the modern ones constructed here 
 was the 20-stamp mill on the San Pedro river, near Tomb- 
 stone, erected in 1879. This mill worked ores from the 
 famous Tombstone mines. 
 
 Now, great roaring furnaces have supplanted the crude 
 roaster; stamp mills, the arrastras of the aborigines; and 
 magnificent Corliss engines, the one-horse whim of the pros- 
 pector. And nowhere can there be found today more com- 
 plete and perfect machinery than that operating on the 
 hills and in the canyons of Arizona. If the men who worked 
 on the Vecol, twenty years ago, could see the Imperial 
 smelter on the plain at Sasco, he would think that truly 
 Alladin had come to life and rubbed his lamp again; so 
 with the old miner of the Lucky Cuss, could he travel now 
 through Humboldt, where is located the northern customs 
 smelter; or through Douglas, where two great smelters are 
 in operation night and day ; or through Jerome, from where, 
 by night, the slag dumped from the mighty furnaces sends 
 out a glow so vivid and far-reaching as to be seen a mag- 
 nificent painting in the Coconino Forest, fifty miles away. 
 
 Among the gold mines of the Arizona of today is the 
 Congress, probably the deepest in its workings of any in 
 the territory, and its richness holds with depth, nor shows 
 signs of giving out. The King of Arizona and the North 
 Star, two comparatively recent discoveries in the western 
 part of the territory, are developing into gold producers, 
 and every day brings news of additional discoveries. No- 
 table among the gold mines of Yavapai county, the home of 
 the Congress, are the Tiger, the Octave and the Poland of 
 Mohave county, the Gold Road and the Arizona Mexican. 
 
MINING AND THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 121 
 
 Nor must mention of our placers be omitted; for, from 
 the Pot-holes of Yuma county to the Painted Bock in Mari- 
 copa, there seems to have been a shower of the precious 
 metal; from the summit of Rich hill to Wickenburg, the 
 record of coarse gold would indicate that in early ages 
 there had been a cloud-burst of the golden grains. From the 
 top of Rich hill alone a million and a half in coarse gold 
 nuggets was picked up by hand in years gone by. And 
 only capital is needed nowadays in order to work at a profit 
 these great and almost untouched placers ; for they need the 
 dredge, a costly apparatus. 
 
 That investments in the mountains of Arizona richly 
 reward the capitalist is proved by the results attained by 
 the Detroit Copper Mining Company, the Calumet & Ari- 
 zona, the Superior & Pittsburg, the Shattuck-Arizona, the 
 Old Dominion, the United Globe, the Gibson Copper, the 
 Arizona Copper, the Shannon, the Imperial Copper and the 
 Oxide Copper Company, to say nothing of the United Verde 
 and the Copper Queen. Nor is this half the list, but time 
 forbids an enumeration of the hundreds of paying mines 
 now in operation. 
 
 In the great and growing Southwest is room for every 
 sort of miner. It is not the capitalist alone that finds fields 
 of usefulness ^and profit. To the skilled laborer and the 
 common miner Arizona now offers greater opportunities 
 than ever before. Nor have the unions obtained the foot- 
 hold here that they have in California and other Western 
 mining communities. Strikes are almost unknown. Even 
 during the panic and following the great slump in copper, 
 the mines of Arizona kept up activities, employing nearly 
 the usual number of men, with only a slight reduction in 
 wages. 
 
 That Arizona jealously guards the interests of those 
 that confide in her has been proved over and over again, 
 from the days when a fearless governor published a printed 
 declaration against fake mining companies, mentioning in 
 particular one that he believed to be merely a drag-net for 
 small wage-earners, down to the present administration. 
 
122 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 The day of the soap-bubble mining company, as well as the 
 day of the arrastra and the adobe furnace, has passed away, 
 and with it is passing that distrust which men of means 
 so often feel toward the mere territory the frontier. 
 
 The total value of the production of copper, gold and 
 silver in Arizona for the year just passed was in the neigh- 
 borhood of $55,000,000. Nor are these the only minerals 
 we produce. The list is long and includes asbestos, molyb- 
 denum, chalcedony, sapphires and other precious stones, 
 as well as common table salt. Among other products is that 
 white auriferous clay from the Black canyon, famous in 
 the West for its medicinal qualities, and known as gy-zo- 
 rine. 
 
 The valuation of productive patented and unpatented 
 mines and mining claims in Arizona (for taxable 
 
 purposes) is $13,712,134.32 
 
 Valuation of improvements 2,102 272.00 
 
 Valuation of non-productive patented mines 2,552,977.93 
 
 Valuation of improvements 787,183.00 
 
 Valuation of smelters 1,941,875.00 
 
 Valuation of improvements on non-productive, unpat- 
 ented mines . 388,683.00 
 
 $21,485,125.25 
 
 And even with the vast amount of mining going on, 
 the industry is only in its infancy here. An observant per- 
 son may watch the lines of transportation and the termi- 
 nals, and he will see, daily, carloads of new machinery 
 arriving and being speedily transported to the camps of 
 Ray, Kelvin, Wenden, Bouse and the newer mining camps 
 that are startling the commercial and mining world with 
 their richness. While some of these statements may seem 
 exaggerated to many who have even passed through the 
 territory, if the most conservative will visit the different 
 mining camps and mills in Arizona, he will agree with me, 
 that the mineral resources of the territory cannot be ex- 
 aggerated. The time given me did not permit of the prep- 
 aration of a scientific paper requiring research, but if I 
 have awakened your interest so that you will yourselves 
 investigate the history and statistics in regard to Arizona's 
 mining and mineral resources, the object of this paper will 
 have been accomplished. 
 
MINING AND THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF ARIZONA. 123 
 
 We need more capital that capital which we are as- 
 sured will flow to us when we become a state, even though 
 then we shall be no worthier than we now are. We have the 
 mineral, we have the transportation facilities, we have the 
 mills and the smelters; and when we -become a state we 
 shall have all the capital we need to take out and work 
 the ore. Until that time, with Sharlott Hall we say to those 
 that would bar our admission: 
 
 "We will match the gold of your minting, with its mint- 
 stamp dulled and marred 
 By the tears and blood that have stained it and the hands 
 
 that have clutched too hard, 
 With the gold that no man has lied for the gold that no 
 
 woman has made 
 The price of her truth and honor, plying a shameless 
 
 trade 
 The clean, pure gold of the mountains, straight from the 
 
 strong, dark earth, 
 W T ith no tang or taint upon it from the hour of its primal 
 
 birth. 
 The trick of the money-changer, shifting his coins as he 
 
 wills, 
 Ye may keep no Christ was bartered for the wealth of 
 
 our lavish hills." 
 
The Mineral Resources of Virginia. 
 
 BY E. A. SCHUBERT, INDUSTRIAL AGENT, NORFOLK AND 
 WESTERN RAILWAY. 
 
 The name Virginia, to most people, associates little 
 else, except that it is the seat of the first permanent set- 
 tlement of English speaking people in America, and that 
 it must of necessity under these circumstances be old and 
 thoroughly known in practically every appointment. 
 Strange as it may seem, this is far from the truth; in fact, 
 there are thousands and perhaps millions of acres which 
 to this day are practically unknown, unexplored by the 
 white man. 
 
 For some reason, which I am not able to explain, this 
 idea has taken firm root in our sister states, and no matter 
 what argument may be advanced, it is scanned with a 
 doubt, and by most people rejected; but regardless of the 
 opinion of the skeptic, the premise nevertheless is true. 
 
 It is not within the province of this brief paper to 
 discuss the mineral resources of Virginia from a purely 
 scientific standpoint, but rather, in a general manner, to 
 refer to their economic value and the part they may play 
 in the mineral and other industries of the United States 
 and the world in the future. 
 
 There scarcely is a possibility of contradiction from 
 those who know the Virginias as I know them, with refer- 
 ence to the statements I am about to make; but I am quite 
 certain that a majority of the members and delegates of this 
 congress assembled will ask the old time question: "If 
 what you say is true, why then is the mineral development 
 so slow, and the influx of capital uncertain ?" I can best 
 answer my friends who question my statements, that capi- 
 tal is a peculiar and timid creature, particularly when 
 sought for investment in mines and mining. The man with 
 a thousand dollars to invest in the mineral industry much 
 prefers to associate his investment with the far West, Mex- 
 
THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA. 125 
 
 ico or some other foreign country, remote from transporta- 
 tion, fuel, labor and society, in the hands of people of whom 
 he knows but little, than to chance it in an old state like 
 Virginia, which, if it is not, should have been well devel- 
 oped many years ago, and so, even our own native Vir- 
 ginian will dream of fortunes yet unborn and send his 
 money to other sections, where his dreams in all probability 
 will never become a reality and his money is gone from him 
 forever. 
 
 It is the desire of the professional and business men of 
 Virginia to bide patiently the time when the Old Dominion 
 shall receive her own, and be endowed with that great 
 awakening which year after year is drawing nearer. 
 
 Coal. 
 
 It is hard indeed to believe that man is so blind to his 
 own senses as to pass his fortune, when the doors are about 
 to be opened to him, but such has happened in the Virginias, 
 when thousands upon thousands of acres of rich coal land 
 were sold as low as fifty cents per acre, while hundreds of 
 thousands of acres were forfeited to the state for taxes, 
 which, if they had been held for a few years longer, would 
 have made many a man a millionaire, who as a result of his 
 ill judgment is a pauper today. This coal land which 
 thirty years ago was sold for fifty cents per acre, fifteen 
 years ago was worth $25.00 per acre and at the present 
 time it is a frequent occurrence to learn that as much as 
 $500.00 per acre has been offered and refused for well 
 proven Pocahontas coal lands, and no person cares to sell. 
 But is there any wonder, when I recall but one year since 
 that wonderful display of bituminous coal at the James- 
 town exposition, perhaps the finest ever shown, and recall 
 one single lump taken from the mines of the Pocahontas 
 Collieries Company, which showed the seam at that point 
 to be over ten feet thick without one single parting? This 
 lump was taken three miles from the entrance to the mine, 
 and weighed eight tons. I might add that the Pocahontas 
 Number Three coal seam will average more than twelve 
 feet in thickness on this property and it has been mined at 
 
126 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 points where it was twenty-three feet in thickness without 
 a parting. In this particular section there are six workable 
 seams of coal totaling about fifty feet. When we consider 
 that Buchanan county, containing over 600,000 acres; Dick- 
 inson, about 250,000; Wise, 400,000, and Russell, Scott and 
 Lee many thousand more, are practically one solid lump of 
 coal, and that some of these counties at the present have 
 not one single mile of railway within their borders, is there 
 any question about this industry being in its infancy and 
 that development has scarcely begun? Let us look to the 
 future. 
 
 Thirty years ago less than half a million tons of coal 
 were transported by the railways of this section to the sea- 
 board, principally Norfolk, but now fully fifteen million 
 tons find an ever increasing market in that port. Not con- 
 tent with the transportation facilities, as developed up to 
 three years ago, two other trunk lines were organized, and 
 now are nearing completion, one having its tidewater ter- 
 minus in Norfolk, the other in South Carolina. When these 
 roads are completed, the coal carrying capacity will be in- 
 creased about forty per cent, and four of the finest railways 
 in the United States, if not in the world, will carry this eco- 
 nomic factor from the mines to all sections of the globe. 
 
 It is estimated that these great coal fields can, by 
 means of the railways now completed and now building, 
 transport two hundred trains per day, fifty cars to the 
 train and fifty tons to the car, for upwards of four hundred 
 years without exhausting the coal measures along their 
 lines. And all this development has taken place in less 
 than thirty years, which may not be realized by those in 
 this congress. The United States Steel corporation real- 
 ized the great value and power of this flat top region sev- 
 eral years ago and now has developed and in operation one 
 of the finest if not the finest coal and coking plant in the 
 world, at Gary. Other companies have made equally great 
 development. 
 
 I have referred only to the bituminous coal areas of 
 the Virginias and the nearby territory. We have also what 
 
THE MINERAL RESOuRCES OF VIRGINIA. 127 
 
 we now term the Virginia anthracite, or semi-anthracite, 
 a coal that partakes of the characteristics of the bituminous 
 coal in its free burning, but partakes of the anthracite char- 
 acteristics on account of its being low in volatile matter, 
 thereby making it an ideal coal for domestic purposes, 
 there being no more smoke than in the best of Pennsylvania 
 anthracite. This coal area is practically undeveloped and 
 unknown, save for four mines in the vicinity of Christians- 
 burg and Pulaski. Perhaps half a million tons of this coal 
 have been recovered at all of the operations and the de- 
 posits scarcely touched. I have traced this coal from the 
 Tennessee border to the West Virginia line in Berkeley 
 county and find it constant, regular and persistent; will 
 vary from three to twelve feet in thickness; has a dip at the 
 outcrop of about 38 degrees, gradually flattening with 
 depth, until now, in one of the mines which has been worked 
 on the slope about 900 feet, where the dip is only about 
 twenty degrees. This coal is purely sedimentary, but its 
 true history is still a matter for future research and defi- 
 nite conclusions. I am not claiming that the time is at 
 hand for a general development of this coal field, but there 
 is no question that this deposit in the future will prove of 
 great value and yield billions of tons of high grade fuel. 
 To conceive the area and tonnage that may be recovered, 
 I might add that the territory is about 400 miles long, two 
 to five miles wide and will easily average six feet in thick- 
 ness, not calculating that at points there are as many as 
 thirteen different seams and rarely less than two. 
 
 Triassic Coal Beds. 
 
 In Eastern Virginia are two coal basins having an area of 
 several hundred square miles, found in the Triassic meas- 
 ures. This coal is found in a syncline,hasa thicknessof about 
 six feet and many years ago was worked, particularly dur- 
 ing the civil war. The coal is of a good quality, but on 
 account of the depth and manner in which mining must be 
 pursued, it cannot be recovered and compete with the drift 
 mines of Western Virginia. Many years hence Virginia 
 will have a valuable asset in these Triassic coal beds. 
 
128 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 Iron. 
 
 To me none of the minerals playing such an important 
 part in the supremacy of our nation are so interesting as 
 are coal and iron. Having reviewed the former, I now 
 shall take the opportunity to direct your attention to the 
 subject of iron, which is creating so much discussion in 
 the world today. This great factor is but a close com- 
 panion to coal; they go hand in hand. A little over a year 
 ago, the industrial and scientific journals were very much 
 wrought up, but unnecessarily so, at the rapid depletion of 
 the world's iron ore supply. A trifle over ten billion tons 
 at that time was all that was accredited to the entire world. 
 Of this amount, only about three billion tons was credited 
 to the United States. Would I be venturing a visionary 
 statement and one utterly untenable to proclaim to this 
 congress that the Virginias today have a practically un- 
 known and untouched ore reserve equal to that accredited 
 to the entire United States? Yet this is true. I do not 
 mean that it is an ore equal in iron content to that found in 
 the Superior regions, neither do I mean that it is as low in 
 metallic iron as that found in our sister commonwealth of 
 Alabama, but it is quite an easy matter to have our ores av- 
 erage 45 per cent metallic iron, and well adapted to the 
 manufacture of grey forge, foundry and basic pig. Fur- 
 ther, I beg to say that much of this ore is not available at 
 the present time, but will be in years to come. 
 
 This being an interesting subject, I shall indulge your 
 time by referring to the several grades of ore and their 
 localities. One of the most abundant varieties is what we 
 term locally Brown Mountain ore. There are hundreds of 
 miles of this iron ore lead on top or near the crest of nu- 
 merous mountains in Virginia. The iron content is low, 
 very seldom in excess of thirty per cent, and on account of 
 its geological location difficult to recover at this time, in 
 competition with the other and richer deposits. These 
 leads will vary from three to forty feet in thickness, lie 
 regular and therefore will be found to a great depth. There 
 are fully one billion tons and perhaps double this amount of 
 this kind of ore in Virginia. 
 
THE MINERAL RESOURCES OP VIRGINIA. 129 
 
 Next is what we call the Oriskany ore, noted for mak- 
 ing a very high grade iron, carrying a small percentage of 
 manganese and taking its name from its association with 
 the Oriskany sandstone, which it generally underlies, but 
 may be found with this sandstone as the footwall as well. 
 I do not hesitate to say that there are fully 500 miles of this 
 ore lead in the state of Virginia, ranging in thickness from 
 one to more than 100 feet. Recently the Norfolk & Western 
 railway decided to build a branch into the Great Potts 
 valley, for the purpose of developing this ore, and it is re- 
 liably estimated that more than half a billion tons are made 
 available by means of the transportation facilities provided. 
 I have given close attention to the ore deposits of this sec- 
 tion; have spent weeks and months in the investigation, 
 and do not hesitate to say that many million tons of this 
 ore are practically unknown today. This ore will average 
 about 47 per cent metallic iron, practically free from sul- 
 phur, and well adapted for basic purposes. 
 
 Still another variety is the Limonite or brown hematite 
 of this same area. This ore is found in measures higher 
 than the Oriskany, usually a close grained sandstone for a 
 footwall, is not quite so regular and persistent, but is a good 
 and easily worked ore in the furnace. It is quite difficult 
 to venture an opinion on these deposits, but I believe they 
 will be found in regular formation, in both synclines and 
 anticlines, similar to the Oriskany. This ore covers a large 
 area and therefore will become a great factor in the future. 
 
 The principal ore supply of Virginia and one that has 
 been producing about one million tons per year, is the so- 
 called Cripple Creek, true Limonite ore from southwest Vir- 
 ginia, in Wythe and Pulaski counties. This ore will aver- 
 age about 44 per cent metallic iron. It is these deposits 
 which prompted so many people fifteen years ago to leave 
 Virginia, saying that the ore deposits of the state were 
 pockety and practically played out. It is this same class 
 of men who never studied the true conditions of Virginia 
 that we have to reckon with today and who do not care to 
 return to the Old Dominion and let us show them the new 
 
130 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 development. True, these deposits are pockety, but they 
 are found frequently to a great depth and the future will 
 see them yield many million tons of good ore. 
 
 But this is not the only ore we have; along the flanks 
 of the Blue Kidge, in the valley of Virginia, and extending 
 from Floyd county in the southwest to the Potomac in the 
 northeast, is an irregular, semi-stratified, but yet continu- 
 ous deposit of good wash ore, which easily will yield 100,- 
 000,000 tons in years fo come. Paralleling this ore, but 
 higher on the mountain side, is a lead of Specular iron ore, 
 a red hematite, very hard and silicious, varying in iron con- 
 tent from 33 to 54 per cent, but which makes a very high 
 grade foundry pig. This lead is a fissure formation, fully 
 fifty miles long, from three to ten feet thick, averaging 
 about six feet, and continues to a depth unknown. The 
 tonnage to be recovered from this deposit is enormous. 
 This ore will be in great demand after it is better known, 
 since it makes a high grade iron and acts kindly in the 
 furnace. 
 
 Still another lead of coming importance and one to 
 which I have given much attention, is the Titaniferous de- 
 posits of Floyd, Franklin, Carroll and Grayson counties, 
 Virginia, and Ashe and Wautauga counties, North Caro- 
 lina. I have seen this lead vary from two to sixty feet in 
 thickness, purely fissure formation with chloritic walls, and 
 I am safe in saying that fully 200 miles of this lead are 
 practically unknown and undeveloped today. This ore will 
 vary in metallic content from forty to sixty per cent and 
 in titanic oxide from three to fifteen per cent. Much of 
 this ore, exclusive of titanium, is bessemer. 
 
 Paralleling this Titaniferous lead, we have some three 
 veins of magnetic iron, more or less lenticular, but ranging 
 in thickness from two to twenty-five feet. There are fully 
 150 miles of this iron in Virginia, none of which has been 
 prospected to any great extent, largely on account of the 
 transportation being unavailable. But now a line is pro- 
 jected into this field and great development may be ex- 
 pected in the near future. 
 
THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA. 131 
 
 Another great and practically unknown magnetic iron 
 ore district lies east of the Blue Eidge and taking in the 
 counties of Rappahannock, Green, Madison, Nelson, Am- 
 herst, Bedford, Franklin, Henry and Patrick. There is 
 very little known about these deposits, except that one mine 
 in Franklin has been in operation for a number of years 
 and a very good grade of ore recovered. 
 
 Another deposit of more than passing interest is the 
 Gossan or Mundic lead of Grayson, Carroll and Floyd coun- 
 ties. The extent of this wonderful deposit is practically 
 unknown. It has been worked more or less for many years, 
 first for copper, then for iron and now for the high-grade 
 pyritic ore which is recovered and which, after much ex- 
 perimenting and the expenditure of vast sums of money, 
 resulted in the establishment at Pulaski of the great chem- 
 ical works which now manufacture all grades of sulphuric 
 acid. This is a new institution, but the success of the en- 
 terprise is assured. This lead of ore will vary from ten 
 to more than 100 feet in thickness, carries about 29 per 
 cent sulphur and 50 to 55 per cent of iron. The sulphur is 
 eliminated and the iron utilized in a nearby furnace. 
 
 Another deposit of future importance is the red fossil- 
 iferous, siliceous deposits found on the tops and sides of 
 many of the mountains. This ore is not now available, 
 since it carries only about 21 per cent metallic iron, but 
 there are several billion tons of this ore in Virginia, which 
 now is considered nothing but old and worthless "rock." 
 The future will see this ore pulverized, the iron separated 
 and briquelted for use. 
 
 Finally, there are hundreds of small and isolated de- 
 posits of ore found in practically every county of Virginia 
 west of Tidewater carrying from a thousand to a number 
 of thousand tons of ore ; these at the present are receiving 
 no attention, but the time will come when they, also, will 
 become valuable, and in the aggregate will produce a goodly 
 tonnage. 
 
 Thus I have told the story of iron ore in Virginia; it 
 does not appear within reason, but the future will verify 
 my statements. 
 
132 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 Limestone and Dolomite. 
 
 I shall refer but briefly to the limestone and dolomite 
 of Virginia. We have hundreds of square miles of high 
 grade limestone, suitable for all purposes, from its use as 
 ballast and macadam to the higher and purer grades used 
 in the manufacture of hydraulic and portland cement, flux- 
 ing material, lime and general chemical purposes, to which 
 this very economic product may be applied. This lime- 
 stone will frequently contain as much as 99% per cent cal- 
 cium carbonate, while the dolomite is of such rare purity 
 that it can be used for practically any purpose where a 
 magnesian limestone is required. 
 
 Already lime kilns, fertilizer works and other indus- 
 tries consuming this product are being established and the 
 near future will see still further development. 
 
 Clay and Shale. 
 
 To many people it may seem strange to learn that there 
 is abundance of clay and shale in Virginia. The clay is 
 not limited to any particular section of the state, but is 
 found in nearly every county from the ocean to West Vir- 
 ginia, while shale of a very superior quality, both hard and 
 soft, is found in nearly every county west of the Blue 
 Ridge. This clay and shale is found in proximity with the 
 limestone, and the future great development of the portland 
 cement industry will recognize- these vast deposits, which 
 no doubt will lead to the establishment of other cement 
 mills in the great valley of Virginia. Even now new brick 
 plants are being projected for the purpose of manufactur- 
 ing high grade vitrified, paving, and re-pressed building 
 brick of a quality equal to those manufactured elsewhere. 
 I predict that the future brick industry will see some of 
 its activity removed from the valley of the Ohio to the val- 
 ley of Virginia. 
 
 Gypsum. 
 
 The only state south of Mason and Dixon line, and east 
 of the Mississippi, in which gypsum is found is Virginia. 
 Smyth and Washington counties claim these deposits. This 
 is a sedimentary stratified deposit, rather lenticular, and is 
 
THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA. 133 
 
 found only in the Holston valley; the area in which this 
 valuable mineral is found is about three miles wide and 
 fifteen miles long. It is found in a limestone formation 
 and the character is perculiar to itself. Drillings have re- 
 vealed the following: About fifty feet of detritions mat- 
 ter; from 40 to 50 feet of gypsum, then about 80 feet of de- 
 tritious matter, then another deposit of gypsum about 75 
 feet thick. No drilling of record is known beyond this 
 depth. A shaft was sunk in search of salt in the upper end 
 of this valley, to a depth of 592 feet in solid gypsum and 
 was still in gypsum when abandoned. It was perfectly dry 
 the entire depth. This was at the close of the civil war. 
 The tonnage is enormous; the gypsum is of great purity, 
 being in excess of 98 per cent calcium sulphate. At the 
 Jamestown exposition I had a drill core on exhibition taken 
 from one of the drillings, 42 feet long, of grey and white 
 gypsum without any foreign matter. This attracted much 
 attention. However, the interesting feature is to visit the 
 mines and see the wonderful cavern that is being produced 
 through the removal of the gypsum and where the wall and 
 foot show it to be fully fifty feet thick. 
 
 Already two great mills are in operation, the last one 
 having a daily output of 500 tons, all kinds of product, 
 while their equipment is modern in every appointment. 
 
 Salt. 
 
 At the lower end of the gypsum field, at what is known 
 as Saltville, is one of the great chemical works of America. 
 This plant involves an expenditure of several million dol- 
 lars. During the civil war this was practically the only 
 source of salt supply for the Confederacy; here the rock 
 salt, limestone and other by-products are converted into 
 soda ash, carbonate and bi-carbonate of soda, caustic pot- 
 ash, concentrated lye, carbonate of ammonia and numerous 
 other chemical compounds. This industry has grown until 
 now it has a daily output of about ten carloads. 
 
 I am not in a position to give you much information 
 about this salt deposit, save that it covers several thousand 
 
134 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 acres, and I am reliably informed that wells have been 
 drilled to a depth of 2,300 feet and still in rock salt. 
 
 Marl. 
 
 We have two kinds of marl in Virginia, the granular 
 limestone marl of Eockbridge and Allegheny counties, con- 
 taining about 91 per cent calcium carbonate, and the green 
 sand marls of Tidewater. Both are practically undevel- 
 oped, but no doubt in the near future will prove of great 
 value and profit to the people developing the same. The 
 marl beds can be purchased at nominal figures, while the 
 demand, when once established, will be large for agricul- 
 tural and cement purposes. 
 
 Marble, Onyx, Granite. 
 
 Marble is found in a number of sections of Virginia. 
 A very fine Travertine marble is found in Grayson county ; 
 an exceptionally fine quality of Verde Antique is found in 
 Fauquier. Limestone marble, in the pink, grey and black 
 is found in Montgomery, Giles, Botetourt, Rockbridge and 
 Eockingham counties. All these deposits are practically 
 undeveloped and unknown. White marble is found in Flu- 
 vanna, Bedford and other counties east of the Blue Eidge, 
 some of .which has been worked in the past, but unfortu- 
 nately none of the valuable deposits are accessible to trans- 
 portation at this time. I had some of the finest and rarest 
 specimens of Verde Antique marble at the Jamestown ex- 
 position. We also had a block of pure black marble from 
 Montgomery weighing two tons, and other fine specimens 
 which in the future will warrant extensive development. 
 
 Onyx of the cave variety is found in many caves of the 
 valley, always in the limestone formations; but on account 
 of its rare value as curiosities to visitors to these caverns, 
 it is not available except as mentioned. Eecentlv. how- 
 ever, in Tazewell county, a large deposit of onyx of r*n" 
 coloring and figures has been discovered, and some excep- 
 tionally large pieces are being taken from the mines. Onyx 
 also is found in the counties of Botetourt and Washington, 
 and the future will see further development. 
 
THE MINERAL RESOURCES OP VIRGINIA. 135 
 
 Granite is found in many counties of Virginia, but the 
 most promising ledges are in the vicinity of Richmond, Pe- 
 tersburg, Burkeville and Blackstone. Other fine ledges 
 are known, particularly in the border counties of North Car- 
 olina. 
 
 There is an abundance of building and structural stone 
 throughout the state, ranging from different colors of lime- 
 stone, such as pink, light and dark blue, and grey; sand- 
 stone, from a coarse buff in Tazewell and Giles counties; 
 peak blue and dark grey in Pulaski and Wythe. This stone 
 is a very fine texture but hard and heavy and will withstand 
 an enormous crushing test. Virginia, however, is not noted 
 for its fine grained sandstone, there being but one deposit, 
 a beautiful buff in Warren county which to my knowledge 
 is worthy of mention. The stone industry in every branch 
 is practically undeveloped, but gradually there will be a 
 growing demand for fine colored natural stone, and then 
 will be the opportunity for developing an industry which 
 at this time is practically dead. 
 
 Glass Sand. 
 
 In Eoanoke, Giles, Floyd, Botetourt, Craig, Tazewell, 
 Eussell and Grayson counties are, practically speaking, 
 mountains of silica rock or glass sand. At the present 
 there is but one deposit developed and being worked. This 
 deposit is in Eoanoke county, near Salem. This sand is 
 nearly pure, carrying 99% per cent silica. Other deposits 
 equally pure are available. 
 
 Slate. 
 
 Very few people associate slate deposits with any sec- 
 tion except Maine and Pennsylvania, but we have here in 
 Virginia, in Buckingham and Bedford counties, some of 
 the largest slate quarries in America. The quality is ex- 
 cellent and suitable for practically all purposes to which 
 slate is adapted. Fine deposits of slate are known to exist 
 in other counties of Virginia, among them Botetourt, Craig, 
 Giles, Bland, Wythe, Scott, Lee, Grayson and Patrick. This 
 slate in some instances is suitable for heavy work such as 
 
136 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 vaults and sanitary appliances, but it also will split into a 
 fine quality of black roofing slate. 
 
 Kaolin and Feldspar. 
 
 Kaolin is found in many counties of Virginia. The 
 quality is not so good as that mined in South Carolina and 
 Georgia, since it carries a large amount of sand and mica, 
 necessitating a thorough washing and quite expensive ma- 
 chinery for the preparation of the product for the market. 
 The quality, however, is fine, having been used by some 
 of the potters of East Liverpool for a number of years. 
 There is an abundance of this material and the future will 
 see active development in this line. 
 
 Perhaps one of Virginia's most valuable assets is her 
 large deposits of high grade feldspar. This is found in 
 true fissure formation and continues for many miles. About 
 the only development work on this lead is in Bedford 
 county, seven miles from a railway, where a very high 
 grade potash spar has been developed and perhaps a thou- 
 sand tons were mined and shipped this year. This spar 
 carries over twelve per cent potash and the physical tests 
 made with it show it to be equal to the best and superior 
 to most feldspar on the market today. This is a virgin field 
 and deserves careful attention. 
 
 Mica. 
 
 Associated with the kaolin, feldspar and chlorites is 
 that wonderful product from nature's laboratory, mica. 
 Much has been said and written about the qualities of the 
 mica found in other states and countries, but it remains for 
 several of Virginia's counties to produce a mica equal to 
 the best. Pittsburgh capital saw the possibilities of the 
 mica deposits of Henry county and they now have in oper- 
 ation one of the finest mining, cutting and grinding plants 
 in the United States. This is a true fissure formation; the 
 vein is about twelve feet thick, the mica is encased in a 
 heavy feldspar, and all sizes found, up to and including 
 some that cuts 22x32 inches clear sheets. I saw a piece of 
 mica in this mine that weighed not less than 3,500 pounds. 
 
THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA. 137 
 
 This company owns about eighty acres, but there is an 
 abundance of mica in that section, in fact sufficient for the 
 establishment of a hundred such plants. The field is virgin 
 and the opportunities great. 
 
 Asbestos. 
 
 Virginia also is a producer of asbestos; perhaps the 
 longest but not the toughest fibres in the world come from 
 Franklin and Bedford counties. A number of small mines 
 are in operation, and the product recovered is prepared for 
 the market in a large modern mill erected in Bedford City 
 about five years ago. As stated before, I am not claiming 
 for the Virginia product a tough fibre, but the length and 
 purity of the fibre is a wonder. I have seen fibres four 
 feet long. Other counties in which asbestos is found are 
 Henry, Franklin, Floyd and Carroll. 
 
 Soapstone. 
 
 That the Virginia soapstone is of a superior quality is 
 attested by the enormous quarries now in operation in Nel- 
 son and Albemarle counties. It is possible to quarry blocks 
 four by ten feet and any thickness from one inch to five feet 
 that may be required. This soapstone has no defects, is a 
 beautiful blue and is manufactured into many sanitary and 
 culinary appliances. There are many other sections where 
 soapstone is found, both blue and buff, among them being 
 Amherst, Campbell, Bedford, Franklin, Henry, Patrick, 
 Floyd, Carroll and Grayson counties. There is a growing 
 demand for good pure soapstone and the near future will 
 see thousands of tons used annually in the steel and iron 
 plants of the country. 
 
 Phosphates. 
 
 In the counties of Roanoke and Nelson, large deposits 
 of apatite are found. This rock carries from forty to fifty 
 per cent phosphate of lime and from ten to thirty per cent 
 ilmenite. It is not available at the present, but future ex- 
 periments will make this a very desirable deposit and one 
 that has much value. Other deposits are known. 
 
138 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 Pebble Grit. 
 
 In Montgomery county is an enormous ledge of pebble 
 grit. This grit is being manufactured into mill stones for 
 corn, paint and baryta mills and for any other purpose 
 where such a stone is required. The quality is not excelled 
 anywhere. 
 
 Copper. 
 
 The subject of copper is one of great interest, no mat- 
 ter where it may be found. Virginia, true to her record in 
 other economic minerals, also has areas carrying copper 
 ore. Three separate and distinct districts are known, 
 namely, along the Blue Ridge in Clarke, Fauquier, Rappa- 
 hannock, Warren, Page, Green and Masidon; Southwest 
 Virginia, in the counties of Carroll, Grayson and Floyd; 
 and Piedmont or Virgilina, being in the counties of Halifax, 
 Charlotte and Prince Edward. In addition to these major 
 areas, several small and isolated deposits are known. 
 
 The Blue Eidge deposits usually are found in the rocks 
 of igneous origin, principally basaltic, resting against a 
 heavy sandstone, very dense in character. The area over 
 which the ore is found is large, but developments demon- 
 strate that the copper bearing rock usually disappears at 
 a very shallow depth, in very few instances exceeding fifty 
 feet. The surface ore is of a very good quality of chal- 
 copyrite, azurite and malachite, and will average about six 
 per cent metallic copper and a small value in gold; but, as 
 stated before, it soon becomes leaner and disappears en- 
 tirely. That the tonnage which may be recovered is large 
 is beyond question, but on account of the irregularity of the 
 deposits, it will be years before any great amount will be 
 recovered, or the field fully developed. 
 
 The southwest Virginia area carries chalcopyrite and 
 the sulphide, and appears to be a very promising district. 
 At one point, Peach Bottom, a shaft was sunk to a depth of 
 165 feet, showing a regular vein a little over six feet and 
 averaging over four per cent copper, with about $2.00 per 
 ton gold and silver. The walls are schist, dip at a slight 
 angle, the lead being lenticular in form. I believe that 
 future operations on this lead will be very satisfactory. 
 
THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA. 139 
 
 Paralleling Peach Bottom, about ten miles to the south- 
 east, is a large and persistent lead of high grade sulphide 
 ore. At Ore Knob in North Carolina, this ore was mined 
 and refined until the year 1871, when the mine was shut 
 down on account of its being impossible to produce the 
 metal when it was necessary to haul the coke and other 
 supplies forty miles across mountains by wagon, and return 
 the metal by a similar train. Also the slump in the price 
 of copper came, which in reality was the true factor creat- 
 ing the shut-down. This mine has produced over 17,000,090 
 pounds of refined copper. This ore averages over five per 
 cent metallic copper, carries some gold values and is rich 
 in sulphur. 
 
 From Ore Knob this lead can be traced for fifty miles 
 to the northeast to the old Toncray mines, in Floyd county, 
 which recently were purchased by a New York company 
 and reopened. This company claims to have 1,500 tons of 
 twelve per cent ore on the dump, with thousands of tons 
 in sight. They also have erected a smelter for the produc- 
 tion of matte and while 28 miles from the railway, this com- 
 pany expects to begin active operations in a very short 
 time. 
 
 I have made analyses of the ore from this lead, and 
 have had the same verified from a number of surface open- 
 ings, which showed from 10 to 12.49 per cent metallic cop- 
 per. This lead varies in width from six to thirty feet, has 
 been worked to a depth of 300 feet and evidently is a true 
 fissure encased in schist walls. 
 
 The Virgilina district is beyond a doubt the most im- 
 portant field in the state, and I believe in the future will 
 become one of the safe and great copper producing dis- 
 tricts of the world. The country rock is schist, the ore is 
 found in quartz, true lenticular fissures. This field has 
 been quite well developed and has been a constant producer 
 for a number of years. Several of the mines have been 
 worked to a depth of 400 feet and are still in ore. The 
 veins vary in thickness from three to twenty-six feet and 
 range in metallic content from 1.5 to 85 per cent, carrying 
 no arsenic or antimony, but appreciable quantities of gold 
 
140 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 and silver. The copper is found as chalcocite, chalcopyrite, 
 bornite, azurite and malachite, and is beyond a doubt one 
 of the prettiest ores found in the world. 
 
 This field is about three miles wide and extends with 
 practically no cut-out for 75 miles to the northeast and for 
 50 miles to the southwest into North Carolina. 
 
 I see a bright furture for Virgilina; already a smelter 
 has been erected at Port Norfolk having a capacity of 400 
 tons per day, and preparations are being made for the erec- 
 tion of a large and modern smelter having a daily capacity 
 of 6,000 tons in the same port, this for the purpose of taking 
 care of the Virginia and North Carolina ores, and providing 
 in advance for the ores from Cuba, Santo Domingo, Chili, 
 Peru and Mexico. This at a point where coal, coke, lime- 
 stone, labor and other facilities are cheap and abundant; 
 where transportation facilities are the best and the largest 
 consuming markets right at the door. It is not difficult to 
 understand the far-seeing wisdom of the promoter of this 
 gigantic enterprise. 
 
 Manganese. 
 
 To speak of manganese is but to know that Virginia 
 'practically produces all this ore mined in the United States 
 today. In the Shenandoah valley, in the secondary ridges 
 of the Blue Ridge, for a hundred miles or more, is found 
 the manganese imbedded in clay. Practically all manga- 
 nese found in Virginia is the oxide, principally Psilomelane 
 and Pyrolusite. The ore of the valley carries from 45 to 
 80 per cent manganese, averaging over 50 per cent, and 
 comparatively free from impurities. At one time covering 
 a period of more than four years, nearly all the manganese 
 consumed in Pittsburgh came from one mine in Augusta 
 county, namely the Crimora. This mine produced more 
 than 30,000 tons per year. 
 
 At the present several small mines are in operation, 
 the product being ground for use in the brick, foundry and 
 chemical industries of the country. That this field will be- 
 come a great producer in the future is beyond a doubt. 
 
 In Piedmont, Virginia, passing through practically 
 every county of the state from Pittsylvania on the south to 
 
THE MINERAL RESOURCES OP VIRGINIA. 141 
 
 the Potomac on the north, much manganese is found, but 
 no development work has been attempted except near 
 Lynchburg, where several good mines are in operation. 
 This manganese is more siliceous than that from the valley, 
 is found in pockets, but indications are that the quantity 
 is large. 
 
 The largest but least known manganese belt is found 
 in the mountainous districts of Virginia, in the counties of 
 Washington, Grayson, Smyth, Wythe, Pulaski, Floyd, Giles, 
 Montgomery, Craig, Botetourt and other counties to the 
 north. This is a true stratified deposit, will vary from two 
 to twenty feet in thickness and carries from 40 to 45 per 
 cent manganese; from 3 to 15 in iron; comparatively free 
 from sulphur, but variable in phosphorus. Very little de- 
 velopment work has been done on this lead, but the future 
 will see some very important developments. 
 
 Lead and Zinc. 
 
 The zinc produced in Virginia is famous the world 
 over. It is the government standard, 99% per cent pure, 
 Bertha pure spelter, manufactured from the calamine ores 
 in Pulaski and Wythe counties. This plant has been in 
 operation for many years and continues to be a very satis- 
 factory producer. Several other companies are operating 
 or building smelters in Virginia, but not for the purpose 
 of working the silicates. We have enormous deposits of 
 sulphite or sphalerite ores in Virginia, carrying from 30 
 to 60 per cent zinc and very rich in lead. Thousands of 
 dollars have been spent in experimenting for the separation 
 of the lead and zinc, difficulty being experienced on account 
 of the peculiar blend and specific gravity. Until this ex- 
 periment has been demonstrated to be a real success the 
 zinc industry in Virginia will not take on much additional 
 life. This is a true stratified deposit, found between walls 
 of limestone, and at the point where it crosses the New 
 river, actual measurements show the ore bearing strata to 
 be 500 feet wide, some of the mineral strata being 20 feet 
 without the intervention of gangue. 
 
 Lead is found in Eockingham, Shenandoah, Floyd, 
 
142 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 Wythe, Smytii and Tazewell counties. Only one mine is in 
 operation, that in Smytii county. The lead, a galena, is 
 found between limestone walls, varies from two to six feet 
 wide in two parallel veins, about fifty feet of limestone in- 
 tervening. This mine is now about 170 feet deep, the vein 
 growing wider and richer with depth. This ore will aver- 
 age about 50 per cent lead. 
 
 In Wythe county, lead was mined 200 years ago, and 
 in 1747, at Jackson's Ferry, the old shot tower, 110 feet 
 high, was erected and is still standing, a silent monument 
 to revolutionary times, where much of the shot and bullets 
 for Washington's army was manufactured. 
 
 Miscellaneous. 
 
 Many other minerals are found in the Old Dominion, 
 and that in economic quantities. Nickel in the pyrrhotite 
 and sulphide has been discovered in Floyd county and a 
 strong Boston company for the past four years has been 
 developing the same, and now is making preparations for 
 the erection of a smelter and the operation of their mines 
 on a large scale. 
 
 Pittsburgh capital a few years since discovered and 
 developed an arsenic deposit in this same county, but 
 simply on account of disaffections in the company did the 
 venture prove a failure, since several hundred tons of sub- 
 limed arsenic was produced in this modern establishment, 
 which in the future will be reorganized. Gold and silver 
 are found in many of the counties of Virginia. Two active 
 and very profitable mines are in constant operation in the 
 Virgilina field, making their owners rich. Another large 
 mine is in operation in Fluvanna county, while several other 
 counties, among them Floyd and Carroll, have in the past 
 been producers of the precious metal. 
 
 Iron pyrites are found in Louisa and Spottsylvania 
 counties, and several hundred thousand tons are recovered 
 annually for use in the fertilizer and chemical plants of the 
 state. Tin has been mined in Eockbridge county, where a 
 large mining plant is going to ruin on account of dissen- 
 sions among the owners. 
 
THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA. 143 
 
 Ochre, all colors, and other pigments are found in many 
 counties of the state. Millions of tons are awaiting devel- 
 opment. The quality is fine and the future will see it 
 utilized. Garnets are found in Floyd; fairy stones or stau- 
 reolites, in Patrick; amethysts and allanite in Amherst; 
 amazonite in Amelia; satin spar in Rockingham; barite in 
 many of the counties of the Piedmont districts and valley 
 of Virginia. Other gems found in the state are diamond, 
 quartz, andradite, beryl, apatite, kyanite, fluorite, micro- 
 lite, columbite and helvite from the counties of Amelia, 
 Buckingham, Hanover, Nelson, Bedford and Spottsylvania. 
 In fact, I could name a score or more other minerals prac- 
 tically unknown except locally, that are produced in the Old 
 Dominion, many of which in the future will become valu- 
 able and develop into profitable industries. 
 
 Conclusions. 
 
 Thus I have reviewed the mineral resources of Virginia. 
 It sounds like a fairy tale, but it is nevertheless true. Year 
 after year, the possibilities of these vast undeveloped min- 
 erals are presented to both investors and scientists. Year 
 after year more people are converted to our story, and, be- 
 lieving, come to investigate and then invest. It is this con- 
 stant and eager clamor for information that has led to the 
 establishment of the Virginia State Geological survey, with 
 Dr. Watson as its head. It was a demand for information 
 that prompted the Norfolk .& Western railway to employ 
 a mineralogist for the intelligent presentation of facts per- 
 taining to the vast undeveloped and practically unknown 
 resources along their line, to its thousands of inquiries. 
 It is the ever-increasing desire on the part of the people 
 to be led aright that prompts me in indulging your patience 
 here today. 
 
 It is a collection of the foregoing that has resulted in 
 the investment of more than $50,000,000 dollars in the de- 
 velopment of the coal industry of the state; $20,000,000 in 
 the iron industry; $1,000,000 in the gypsum fields, and many 
 millions more in the other minerals to which I have directed 
 your attention. It is strides like the following that are 
 
144 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 educational: In 1880 Virginia produced 29,934 tons of pig 
 iron; in 1907, 478,771 tons; in 1880 no coke; in 1907 1,545,280 
 tons. In 1882 the mineral production was $1,348,195.00; in 
 1907, $19,313,182.00. In 1880 there was mined 43,079 tons 
 of coal; in 1907, 4,710,895. In 1880 there was mined 243,- 
 542 tons of iron ore; in 1907 it had grown to 786,856 tons. 
 In 1881 we had 1,893 miles of railway; in 1907, 4,337 miles. 
 We have, at a minimum, over 700,000 estimated undevel- 
 oped horsepower of water power. In 1880 the national 
 bank deposits were $2,040,125.00; in 1907 they had grown 
 to $56,412,346.00. In 1880 the total wealth of Virginia was 
 about $700,000,000.00; now it is more than twice this sum. 
 And thus I might make comparisons not only with the 
 state, but comparisons with other states. And all this in 
 the past twenty-five years; the investments have risen from 
 a few million to more than one hundred million invested in 
 the mineral industry alone, this not including the allied 
 industries. 
 
 And this is but the dawning of the day; what of the 
 morrow? Twenty years hence will be a revelation. Already 
 the state of New York has proven nearly two billion tons 
 of iron ore reserve. Pennsylvania will add several hundred 
 millions more. Virginia has several billion; followed by 
 Tennessee and North Carolina with a billion each; Alabama 
 with her two or three billion, while Georgia and Kentucky 
 will aid in swelling this great total. Coal in abundance 
 totaling hundreds of billions of tons; limestone, clays and 
 shales without computation. Virginia's water power, de- 
 veloped and undeveloped, cannot be surpassed by any other 
 state. She has the finest harbor in the world. Absolute 
 harmony among all. Mineral water surpassing any state 
 of the Union, and now the banner shipper of the United 
 States. Thus twenty years hence will see such activity 
 among us that verily it will be said the Old Dominion is 
 coming to her own. 
 
 I trust that each and all of you will consider what I 
 have said and that you will not say impossible, but one 
 and all come to Old Virginia and see and learn for yourself. 
 The opportunity is at hand; we accord you a hearty wel- 
 
THE MINERAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA. 14 5 
 
 come, just and equable laws, best of society and co-opera- 
 tion. My message is finished, and I thank you most kindly 
 for this opportunity of telling you something of our South 
 ern resources. 
 
Mineral Resources of Arkansas. 
 
 BY A. W. ESTES, YELLVILLE, ARK. 
 
 Notwithstanding the fact that Arkansas is by nature 
 especially adapted to agricultural pursuits, producing in 
 profusion all of the farm crops which are grown in any 
 other part of this Union, she has also for a number of 
 years occupied a prominent position in the production of 
 lumber from her various forests of pine, oak, cypress, hick- 
 ory and many other useful varieties of commercial timber; 
 yet the mineral resources of the state have until recent 
 years been practically unknown and neglected, even by 
 our own people; while so far as a real knowledge of the 
 great mineral resources of Arkansas are concerned, the 
 public today has only a faint idea. 
 
 Arkansas is an old state in many respects, having been 
 admitted into the Union long before many of her sister 
 states, which have outstripped her in the progress of de- 
 velopment. But in point of natural resources, considered 
 from the standpoint of diversity, usefulness, volume and 
 quantity, as well as that of development, Arkansas is the 
 newest state in the sisterhood today. 
 
 In keeping with the subject assigned me for this occa- 
 sion, however, I shall only undertake to briefly tell you 
 something about the mineral resources of this new terri- 
 tory. More than 7,000,000 acres of the area of the state 
 contains valuable mineral deposits, although the field is 
 practically undeveloped. The minerals of the state are of 
 a class such as are used in the manufacture of staple arti- 
 cles and are so grouped with reference to fuel, water power, 
 etc., as to bring the cost of production to the minimum. 
 
 Zinc and Lead. 
 
 Of the metal deposits in Arkansas zinc and lead 
 strongly predominate. The field in which these valuable 
 deposits are located is in the north central portion of the 
 state on the Ozark Mountain range, about 100 miles south- 
 
MINERAL RESOURCES OP ARKANSAS. 147 
 
 east of the Missouri-Kansas field, which is situated on the 
 crest of the same range. The district comprises five coun- 
 ties, including the whole of Marion county and a portion of 
 the bordering counties of Baxter, Searcy, Boone and New- 
 ton. 
 
 Two distinct ore levels occur in this field, locally 
 termed the upper and the lower run. The upper run occurs 
 in the mountain about 200 feet below the apex and on the 
 same range or level in which the zinc deposits in the Mis- 
 souri-Kansas district are found. The mountain streams 
 in the northern Arkansas field have by erosion cut their 
 way below these ore levels, and left exposed along the 
 mountain side the ore bearing ledges, thus rendering pros- 
 pecting on the upper run extremely easy and certain. 
 
 In the opinion of geologists and mining engineers who 
 have carefully studied the upper ore levels, these deposits 
 extend through the mountains from one side to the other, 
 as in many instances the ore bearing levels are found 
 cropping out at the surface on the opposite side of the same 
 mountain at the same level. As an evidence of the cor- 
 rectness of these conclusions, prospect tunnels have re- 
 vealed the continuous presence of the ore bodies as far as 
 700 feet into the mountains. As a rule the ore deposits 
 grow heavier and richer as depth into the mountain is 
 reached. Anticipating the suggestion that enduring de- 
 posits of zinc and lead cannot be expected to exist above 
 the water level, it is not considered out of place to here call 
 attention to the fact that numerous living springs flow 
 from these mountains, many of them from above the upper 
 ore run, and it rarely occurs that living water is not en- 
 countered in prospecting before a distance of 200 feet into 
 the mountain is reached, although little or no additional 
 expense is incurred thereby, as natural drainage of the 
 mine can be had. The lower ore level above referred to 
 occurs from 25 to 150 feet below the level of the valleys, 
 and in many instances 200 feet below the upper run. 
 
 Prospect drilling in almost every local camp in the dis- 
 trict has proven the presence of lower ore runs, ranging 
 from 10 to 49 feet in thickness, while many shafts have 
 
148 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 more than verified these records. In some instances the 
 ground on the lower level is found to carry as high as 15 
 per cent, and rarely falls below five per cent, and the pro- 
 duct maintains the highest standard of purity, assaying 
 from 60 to 65 per cent metallic zinc. 
 
 That the zinc and lead district of Arkansas is officially 
 recognized by eminent geologists as being one of proven 
 merit, reference is here made to government reports; Vol. 
 24, United States Geological Survey; of zinc and lead dis- 
 tricts in northern Arkansas by Geo. I. Adams; also Vol. V, 
 Geological Survey, by Dr. John C. Branner, former state 
 Geologist of Arkansas, now of Leland-Stanford University. 
 The opinions of these eminent authorities have since been 
 thoroughly supported by the practical application of the 
 pick and shovel. 
 
 Until recently the Arkansas zinc and lead district was 
 destitute of railroad facilities, which fact may be properly 
 assigned as a reason for the backwardness of the develop- 
 ment of mining. In 1906 the Missouri Pacific constructed 
 a line connecting Kansas City, Mo., and Memphis, Tenn., 
 known as the White River Division. This line passes 
 through the zinc and lead district by way of Yellville, the 
 county seat of Marion county. Since that time much valu- 
 able development has been done, and considerable ore has 
 been shipped from the new mines of the district. Now elec- 
 tric lines, to be supported with water power from the White 
 and Buffalo rivers, are projected into several of the most 
 important camps, and many new mining enterprises are 
 being planned. As to the excellency of the ores from this 
 district which are practically free from pyrites and other 
 objectionable substances, attention is here called to the fact 
 that a solid chunk of zinc ore weighing 12,700 pounds, which 
 was taken from a mine in Marion county and exhibited at 
 the Columbia Exposition, Chicago, 1893, was given the 
 highest award. This sample which is the largest piece of 
 pure zinc ore ever taken from the ground, is now on exhibi- 
 tion in Field's Columbian Museum, Chicago. Arkansas 
 Zinc Exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904 
 was awarded the gold medal over all competition. High- 
 
MINERAL RESOURCES OP ARKANSAS. 149 
 
 est honors were given the Arkansas zinc and lead exhibit 
 from the Yellville district at the American Mining Con- 
 gress, Joplin, Missouri, 1907, at which all camps in the 
 Missouri-Kansas district were competitors for the prize, and 
 the collection of ores sent from Yellville, Arkansas, to the 
 present session of the American Mining Congress will serve 
 to remove any doubt that may lurk in the minds of those 
 who will consent to being shown. 
 
 Coal. 
 
 The coal fields of Arkansas are located in the west 
 central portion of the state, comprising an area of more 
 than seven counties, and known as the Fort Smith coal 
 field. The field extends from the west line of the state 
 down the Arkansas river valley for 75 miles. Its extreme 
 width near the west end is about 50 miles; the north edge 
 lies up to the southern foothills of the Ozark Mountain 
 ranges, which extend from the vicinity of Little Rock west- 
 ward across the state. The beds have an average thick- 
 ness of 4^/2 feet, the thickness in the vicinity of Fort Smith 
 being greater. A comparatively small portion of the coal 
 region is being worked. The beds occur in rock which 
 correspond in age to the lower coal measures in the Pennsyl- 
 vania field. The Arkansas coal is bituminous, semi-bitumi- 
 nous and semi-anthracite. Over 3,000,000 acres produce 
 the smokeless coal of a superior quality. 
 
 Beauxite. 
 
 The beauxite beds of Arkansas are larger than those 
 of all other regions combined; they are located from 10 to 
 20 miles from Little Rock, the capital of the state, with few 
 exceptions of small deposits in Georgia and Alabama. The 
 beauxite beds of Arkansas are the only ones located in the 
 Western hemisphere, and the state now has 19 quarries in 
 operation. The Arkansas product excels in quality that 
 found in any other part of the country, carrying from 45 to 
 75 per cent aluminum. It is quarried instead of mined and 
 at a comparatively small expense. 
 
 Marble. 
 Marble in large deposits occurs in the northern tier of 
 
150 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 counties. The Arkansas marbles have in general a softer, 
 warmer color than others, which is generally in their favor. 
 The beds occur in an elevated region where the stratas are 
 horizontal. It is mostly comprised in two beds; one is 
 the St. Glair in the lower Silurian, the other the St. Joe, at 
 or near the bottom of the lower carboniferous. The natural 
 advantages of this locality for quarrying dimension stone 
 or for lime burning are unusually good, as everywhere is 
 growing an almost unlimited amount of wood for lime burn- 
 ing, and the strata usually outcropping on the hillside, 
 making it easy of access for both quarrying and loading. 
 
 Granite. 
 
 Arkansas contains more variety of commercial stone 
 than any other similar area of the globe, and all of a su- 
 perior quality. Just three miles south of Little Rock in 
 Pulaski county is a mass of blue and grey granite, which 
 has been subjected to every test and in every instance 
 proved to be superior to any other in the world. 
 
 Clay. 
 
 The clays of Arkansas cover a vast area, and are of 
 great variety. There is no article of commerce which is 
 made of clay, from the finest and most delicate china to 
 the cheapest of brick, which cannot be manufactured from 
 the clay of Arkansas. 
 
 Fullers Earth. 
 
 Considerable quantities of this mineral are being mar- 
 keted from Arkansas; the deposits being profitably worked 
 at this time are located in the vicinity of Hot Springs. 
 
 Diamonds. 
 
 In addition to the great varied mineral resources of 
 Arkansas, we also have the distinction and pride of pos- 
 sessing the only diamond mines outside of South Africa, 
 and while our former state geologist in his report in 1889 
 mentioned the fact of a similarity of the Pike county dia- 
 mond field to that in the Kimberly district of South Africa, 
 development was not started, and no diamonds were found 
 until 1905, and since that date under crude development 
 more than 700 genuine diamonds have been found. Ex- 
 
MINERAL RESOURCES OF ARKANSAS. 151 
 
 perts pronounce these diamonds of the purest water, equal 
 to those found in the Kimberly fields of South Africa. At 
 this time active development is being carried on and plants 
 of the required capacity are being planned for the mining 
 of these precious stones. 
 
 The following additional minerals are known to exist in 
 the state, although some of them have not been sufficiently 
 developed to determine their extent, viz: Antimony, as- 
 phaltum, copper, bismuth, cement, chalk, iron, colon, man- 
 ganese, nickel, ochre, phosphate, salt peter, salt, soapstone, 
 shale and slate. 
 
Conservation in the Coal Industry, Protection of Life and 
 Prevention of Waste. 
 
 BY GLENN W. TRAER, PRESIDENT OF THE ILLINOIS COAL 
 OPERATORS' ASSOCIATION. 
 
 The protection of human beings from death and injury 
 by avoidable accidents is one of the highest moral duties, 
 not only in the mining industry but in every phase of human 
 life and activity. The failure to recognize this duty shows 
 a lack of moral sense, for 1 want of which ancient nations and 
 races declined and died. The existence of that moral sense 
 is the safe foundation of our modern civilization. 
 
 But it is not merely a moral duty; it is also conservation 
 in the highest sense. Every human life is an asset either 
 actual or potential, to human society, even if the matter is 
 looked at in cold blood. 
 
 It has been customary in the past to attribute practi- 
 cally all coal mining disasters to the wilful neglect or gross 
 carelessness of coal mine operators. In my opinion few 
 owners of mines in this country will be found lacking in a 
 due and proper sense of humanity with regard to protecting 
 human life and avoiding human suffering. If any should 
 be found, their conduct would meet with prompt condemna- 
 tion not only from the general public, but from associates 
 in their own line of business. 
 
 The greatest disasters usually arise from causes not 
 fully understood by either practical men or scientific men 
 and after such occurrences great diversity of opinion fre- 
 quently exists. Every right minded person connected with 
 the industry is striving to find the cause of the terrible 
 tragedies which occur in coal mines and to find means of 
 prevention. 
 
 In the tense and exacting struggle for that commercial 
 efficiency without which no employer can long exist as such 
 and overwhelmed with the cares and details of business, 
 employers do not always foresee the occurrence of lesser 
 accidents. Therefore mining laws have been enacted, which 
 
CONSERVATION IN THE COAL INDUSTRY. 153 
 
 undertake to foresee and which specify in a great multitude 
 of particulars, the practical duties required of employers, 
 and the necessity for protective laws does not exist entirely 
 on account of employers' acts or omissions. They also un- 
 dertake to restrict and punish reckless conduct on the part 
 of employes and wilful disregard of the lives and safety of 
 their brother workmen. In many cases these laws are en- 
 forced only with great difficulty and in other cases not at 
 all. Large numbers of coal miners in Illinois insist upon 
 blasting coal from the solid face of the coal in the mine, 
 instead of undercutting it so as to present less resistance to 
 the blasting shots. This practice is notoriously dangerous 
 and recently has been condemned by the Board of Foreign 
 Mining Experts brought to this country by the Technologi- 
 cal branch of the United States Geological Survey. It is 
 accompanied by an excessive and reckless use of powder, 
 which results in a combination of conditions involving the 
 danger of great disaster. The practice is defended by the 
 miners on the ground that they are not paid to do this 
 cutting, even though in many mines this undercutting was 
 being done by the miners as a part of the work covered by 
 the price per ton paid them, at the time when the present 
 relative scale of mining wages as between districts was es- 
 tablished; and the requirement for undercutting the coal 
 was explicitly stated in the language of the joint contract 
 between the mine owners ' and the miners ' respective organi- 
 zations. The same relative scale of mining wages as be- 
 tween districts, and the same language specifying the duties 
 of the miners in consideration of such wages, has been pre- 
 served in this joint contract for ten years and during that 
 time the blasting of coal from the solid has continued to 
 spread. By way of confession and avoidance it is pleaded 
 that mine owners have consented to the extension of the 
 practice. If submission under duress may be properly 
 termed consent, doubtless mine owners have consented. 
 
 After years of experience I can honestly say, as far as 
 my knowledge goes, all laws which have been animated 
 only by a sincere and honest purpose to protect employes 
 from death and accident from any cause under the control 
 
154 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 of the employer, have met with the prompt obedience of 
 coal mine owners. Bitter opposition and resentment have 
 been aroused by attempts, sometimes successful, to shape 
 such laws to secure advantages to working men, in no way 
 necessarily incidental to the proper purposes of the laws. 
 Laws have been enacted not merely for the protection of 
 human lives, but including also the purpose of shifting from 
 miners to mine owners, expenses and duties clearly specified 
 in previous bases of wages as being included in the com- 
 pensation paid to the miners. 
 
 One more illustration. The present Miners Qualifica- 
 tion act in Illinois places the control of the supply of mining 
 labor under the power of the present miners' organization. 
 For all practical purposes under this law the present miners ' 
 organization has an absolute monopoly of mining labor in 
 the state of Illinois. The law provides that the examining 
 boards for the admission of new members shall be drawn 
 from the ranks of the miners only. No other interest is rec- 
 ognized in the appointment of such boards, even though it 
 is well known to everyone having any practical knowledge 
 of coal mining, that coal miners as a rule are not as well 
 qualified for such positions as many men who are not sub- 
 ject to the power and influence of the miners ' organization. 
 It is much as though only members of the Standard Oil Com- 
 pany were made available as members of an examining 
 board for determining the rights of persons desiring to en- 
 gage in the oil business. Resentment and opposition to 
 such methods will continue, but in the matter of framing 
 and enacting laws animated by a proper spirit only, coal 
 mine owners have given their assistance freely and cheer- 
 fully in the past and may be relied upon to do so in the 
 future. 
 
 I feel safe in saying that the Illinois Coal Operators' As- 
 sociation would favor a plan whereby all proposed mining 
 laws would be submitted to the consideration of a special 
 commission, to be composed of representatives of the em- 
 ployers and of the employes and of disinterested appointees 
 of the Governor, for the recommendation of such a body to 
 the legislature. As time passes, the researches of scientific 
 
CONSERVATION IN THE COAL INDUSTRY. 155 
 
 and practical minds, added to fuller experience and greater 
 knowledge on the part of all concerned, may be expected to 
 point the way to further safeguards. In the meantime let 
 the present laws be rigidly enforced against the wrongful 
 acts and omissions of employes as well as employers some- 
 thing that is not now always done. Where methods of state 
 mine inspection may be better organized or otherwise im- 
 proved, it should be done ; and wherever state mine inspect- 
 ors should have greater scope and power for the enforce- 
 ment of laws against all offenders, it should be given. 
 
 Given accurate knowledge of what it is necessary or de- 
 sirable to do, the conservation of human life should be com- 
 paratively simple. 
 
 But conservation in the ordinary sense of the w )rd, 
 when applied to all phases of the coal mining industry, is a 
 matter about which ideas are much less clear. It is a com- 
 plex problem. It involves much more perfect economy in 
 the use of coal. It raises complex practical questions as to 
 how far mine owners may be properly required by law to 
 extract much of the coal which is now left in the ground for 
 various reasons and which can never be recovered hereafter. 
 It also raises the question of how far voluntary conservation 
 of coal in the ground may be reasonably expected of mine 
 owners, without a radical improvement of economic condi- 
 tions in many coal mining districts. 
 
 The more perfect utilization of the potential energy in 
 coal is an important branch of this subject. The responsi- 
 bility in this respect rests upon the consumer. Vastly the 
 greater part of all bituminous coal is used for generating 
 power. Coal for these purposes is so cheap that its perfect 
 utilization, even in a practical sense, has not sufficiently 
 interested consumers. The great transportation and manu- 
 facturing interests of the United States, as a rule, pay less 
 than half the price for coal paid by similar consumers in 
 Great Britain and on the continent of Europe, after making 
 allowances for differences in quality where they exist. 
 
 A very large tonnage of coal is made into coke, princi- 
 pally for smelting iron ores and for other metallurgical pur- 
 poses. In the coking process, the volatile combustible mat- 
 
156 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 ter in the coal is almost entirely wasted in almost all the 
 coal that is coked. This is because the coal is coked in or- 
 dinary bee-hive ovens, instead of in by-product ovens. The 
 energy thus wasted bears a large proportion to that which is 
 finally utilized. This volatile combustible matter when 
 treated by well known and long established methods, yields 
 a large amount of combustible gas. It also yields a substan- 
 tial amount of ammonia, which may be readily turned into a 
 valuable fertilizer for supplying nitrogen to the soil. It also 
 yields a large amount of tar, which in turn, by familiar 
 methods, may be turned into pitch and a great multitude of 
 other valuable chemical substances. 
 
 The steam engine method of producing power by burn- 
 ing coal in steam boiler plants, utilizes but a small propor- 
 tion of the potential energy in coal, even when the plants 
 and practices are of the best modern type. At the same 
 time an insignificant percentage of the steam and power 
 plants of the country may be considered efficient in their 
 class. High class steam power plants require a very large 
 additional investment compared with the ordinary type and 
 coal usually has been too cheap to induce better installation, 
 in the face of the difficulties to be overcome. At the pres- 
 ent low prices paid for steam coal important economy is still 
 possible. But if the consumers of the United States were 
 obliged to pay such prices for coal as are paid in foreign 
 countries, the brains of American industry very quickly 
 would effect a revolution in the economical use of coal by 
 the steam power method alone. 
 
 But still greater economy is practicable. Probably all 
 of the ooals now commercially known in the United States 
 are available for making producer gas and by this method 
 and by greater use of the gas engine which has been brought 
 to a high state of perfection in practical use, economies may 
 be attained which it is difficult to overstate. 
 
 Every step in advance in the more perfect utilization 
 of coal will mean just that much progress in the abatement 
 of the .^reat national smoke nuisance. The public is gradu- 
 ally corning to understand something that scientific men 
 have long known; smoke from bituminous coal means n 
 
CONSERVATION IN THE COAL INDUSTRY. 157 
 
 able waste. No smoke is a certain indication of more eco- 
 nomical use. 
 
 Practical results in these respects can be obtained only 
 by the education of consumers in the possibilities and such 
 education should be one of the aims of the great national 
 conservation work now under way. No intelligent coal 
 mine owner will fear the results of fuel conservation, to his 
 property or as affecting reasonable profits. The cheapen- 
 ing of power, like the substitution of labor saving machin- 
 ery, indirectly will create a vastly greater demand for 
 that which it superficially appears to supplant. 
 
 It is doubtful whether under our present forms of gov- 
 ernment or any forms which the people of this nation are 
 likely io tolerate, it would be possible to effect much if 
 anything in the way of conservation of coal in the ground 
 now privately owned, by statutory law or administrative 
 regulation by departments of government. 
 
 It may be that certain regulations, broadly and prop- 
 erly designed for the safety of human beings, may also tend 
 toward conservation of coal. For illustration, a require- 
 ment that all coal mines opened after a certain date should 
 extract the coal only from the outer boundaries of the prop- 
 erty toward the outlet of the mine. This would avoid the 
 existence of any gobs or worked out areas between the 
 working faces and the outlet, would lessen danger of golj 
 fires and of accidents from falls of roof on the principal 
 haulage ways of the mine; would improve ventilation and 
 lessen the danger of or force of explosions. Undoubtedly 
 such a method of mining coal would make possible the ex- 
 traction of a much greater proportion of the entire coal 
 vein than -is now taken out. Where this system is not prac- 
 ticable it may be that the "full panel" system may be a 
 suitable alternative, at least partially producing the same 
 results with respect to safety and also permitting the min- 
 ing of a greater proportion of coal. Fuller knowledge de- 
 rived from experience, experiment and careful study may 
 disclose other possibilities tending toward similar results. 
 But the extraction of a greater proportion of coal than is 
 taken out by the present methods will cause serious dam- 
 
158 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 age by subsidence, to highly valuable farming lands in a 
 great many cases, and particularly is this true in Illinois. 
 The present value of the coal in the ground is very small 
 compared with the value of the farm overlying it and which 
 in many cases would be practically destroyed by the re- 
 moval of all the coal or a materially greater proportion than 
 at present, unless some new method can be devised for sup- 
 porting the roof, which will be available under commercial 
 conditions as they may exist from time to time. The solu- 
 tion of this problem, like those already referred to, will 
 require the most careful experiment and study. All this 
 experimental work and study may be very properly carried 
 on by the Federal and State departments in co-operation 
 and should receive the hearty support of coal mine owners. 
 
 But control by statutory laws or administrative regula- 
 tions, of mere general methods of mining, certainly will 
 interfere with private rights in some respects; and such a 
 method never should be resorted to until after the most 
 careful investigation and study and a full hearing of those 
 whose private rights may be affected, and when it has been 
 clearly demonstrated that interference with private rights 
 is unavoidably incidental to the protection of human beings 
 or the interests of all the people. 
 
 In selling or leasing coal lands now owned by the Fed- 
 eral government, regulations may be lawfully imposed for 
 conservation of the coal as well as the protection of life, 
 and it seems proper to presume such regulations will be 
 imposed by the government bureaus in charge of such prop- 
 erties. The extent to which such regulation may be intelli- 
 gently carried, like the regulation of mining of coal now 
 privately owned, can be properly determined only by care- 
 ful investigation, study and experience. 
 
 We now approach a phase of the problem in which the 
 responsibility and duty of the public itself requires con- 
 sideration equally with the responsibility and duty of priv- 
 ate owners of coal mines. 
 
 The case for the public has been stated by Dr. J. A. 
 Holmes of the Technological branch of the United States 
 Geological Survey, in his discussion of the conservation of 
 
CONSERVATION IN THE COAL INDUSTRY. 159 
 
 mineral resources at the White House conference in May, 
 1908. Dr. Holmes expresses himself substantially as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 "These resources which have required count- 
 less ages for their accumulation, which, when once 
 exhausted are not reproduced, and for which there 
 are no known substitutes, must serve as a basis for 
 the future no less than the present welfare of the 
 nation. No human agencies, no present owners of 
 these resources, have contributed toward their ac- 
 cumulation, or to their intrinsic values. In the 
 highest sense, therefore, they should be regarded 
 as property held in trust or for the use of the race 
 rather than for a single generation, and property 
 for the use of the nation rather than for the bene- 
 fit of the few individuals who may hold them by 
 tho right of discovery or purchase. 
 
 "Measured in terms of the needs of a great 
 and rapidly growing nation, the mineral resources 
 of this country are limited in quantity. 
 
 "There are no recurring supplies, no re-crea- 
 tion with the seasons, and the exhaustion when 
 once accomplished is a permanent exhaustion. 
 
 "Measured in terms of the life of the nation, 
 at the present increasing rate of consumption and 
 waste, we will, while the nation is yet in its in- 
 fancy, exhaust permanently resources intended as 
 the essential basis of the welfare of all its succeed- 
 ing generations. To shirk this responsibility with 
 the claim that these succeeding generations will 
 discover other unknown resources for their use is 
 illogical and unwarranted. 
 
 "The right of the present generation to use 
 efficiently of these resources what it actually 
 needs, carries with it a sacred obligation not to 
 waste this precious heritage. 
 
 "The right to profit in the mining and subse- 
 quent use of our mineral resources does not carry 
 with it the right to destroy the birthright of gen- 
 
160 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 erations yet unborn, in order that we of today may 
 obtain more readily and more cheaply the products 
 we need for present use." 
 
 Dr. Holmes is candid and just enough also to state 
 some of the principal points in the case for the mine own- 
 ers, as follows: 
 
 "We cannot deny the power nor the right of 
 the present generation to use efficiently so much of 
 these resources as it actually needs: 
 
 "We cannot curtail present needs and these 
 needs will increase as there is increase in the na- 
 tion 's population, and in the extent and diversity 
 of its industries: 
 
 ' ' We cannot expect the men of this generation 
 to mine, extract or use these resources in such man- 
 ner as to entail continuous financial loss them- 
 sel \^es, in order that something may be left for the 
 future. Unless there are profits associated with 
 the mineral industry there will be no mineral in- 
 dustry. 
 
 "It is therefore reasonable to expect that the 
 users of mineral products will pay for them such 
 higher prices as will make profitable their mining 
 and preparation without serious waste. 
 
 "In the mining of coal present prices of the 
 product must be increased, before there is possible 
 that higher but more costly efficiency in practice 
 which is necessary if we are to eliminate the larger 
 part of the enormous existing waste. And legisla- 
 tion intended to prevent this waste in mining 
 and utilization of mineral resources must also per- 
 mit such co-operation among those engaged in the 
 mining industry as will secure the increase in 
 prices of products necessary to cover the greater 
 cost of clean mining." 
 
 I shall not undertake to controvert Dr. Holmes' state- 
 ment of the principles upon which the public interest in 
 this subject is based. I shall devote the time remaining 
 
CONSERVATION IN THE COAL INDUSTRY. 161 
 
 at my disposal on this occasion to an explanation of the 
 present commercial conditions in the bituminous coal min- 
 ing industry especially in the states of Illinois and Indiana, 
 upon which I base the assertion that the present vanishing 
 or vanished profits in coal mining will permit of no increase 
 in the cost of producing coal, without an equal increase in 
 the selling price thereof; and the further assertion that the 
 public itself is partially responsible for these conditions. 
 
 For many years the people of this nation have de- 
 manded and enforced by statutory law absolutely unre- 
 stricted and unregulated competition. No matter how de- 
 structive and wasteful competition may be or how reason- 
 able or beneficial to the public interests restriction or reg- 
 ulation might be, it falls under the absolute ban of the sta- 
 tute and is punished with harsh penalties. 
 
 Our present statutory anti-trust laws wholly ignore 
 the natural principle that reasonable competition and rea- 
 sonable combination are natural counter checks upon each 
 other, regardless of the effect of ruinous competition upon 
 the future of one of our most valuable national resources. 
 
 The fear of monopoly of things indispensible to the 
 public good is naturally inherent in the public mind, and is 
 no more than the instinct of self preservation. But the in- 
 stinct of self preservation in this instance could and should 
 secure actual and genuine self protection instead of relying 
 upon a false and misleading security. The English nation, 
 after centuries of commercial experience, still maintains the 
 only true protection against the evils of monopoly. The 
 English common law, which is also the common law of 
 our nation, forbids only unreasonable and hurtful 
 restriction or regulation of competition. Why should 
 the people of this nation insist upon a sweeping con- 
 demnation of all regulation of competition, even when 
 reasonable and beneficial 1 These two phases of regu- 
 lation are easily separable and distinguishable. The 
 same juries and courts which are accepted as fit to deter- 
 mine the facts and apply the law in all the multitudinous 
 activities of our national life, are certainly fit to exercise 
 the same functions in regard to regulation of competition. 
 
162 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 Moreover it is an undeniable fact that absolutely unre- 
 stricted and unregulated competition leads directly and in- 
 evitably to monopoly, through legal ownership, because it 
 prevents the survival of numerous efficient individuals. 
 Such competition does not necessarily result in the survival 
 of the fittest; it is more often the survival of the strongest 
 or the most cunning and aggressive. 
 
 Let us observe the practical effect of the present so- 
 called anti-trust laws upon the coal mining industry in the 
 state of Illinois. Each brief period of unusual prosperity, 
 like that following the anthracite strike of 1902, results in 
 an increase in the number of coal mines and in their pro- 
 ducing capacity far beyond the public requirements. There 
 are about 300 independent coal producing companies in the 
 state of Illinois alone. This has been made possible by the 
 ease with which a body of coal lands could be purchased, 
 at an insignificant price for the coal in the ground and the 
 ease with which transportation facilities are extended in 
 a prairie state and access given to already overfilled mar- 
 kets. Railroad companies have fostered the opening of 
 additional mines in old districts and in new fields and dis- 
 tricts, all of which were wholly unnecessary to supply the 
 public Jemand, regardless of the influence of such a policy 
 on the waste of coal, the waste of labor and the waste of 
 transportation facilities. 
 
 Owing to certain natural conditions, it would not be 
 practicable under any circumstances to operate our western 
 coal mines every working day in the year. This is owing 
 to the difference in the consumption of coal during the win- 
 ter season and during the summer season. During the year 
 ending June 30, 1903, the industry was moderately prosper- 
 ous. The mines of the state as a whole were operated an 
 average of only 222 days during the year. The entire force 
 of miners and mine laborers throughout the state had an 
 averago of about 80 idle days out of the number of days 
 theoretically possible after excepting Sundays and holi- 
 days. While it would not be practicable to save all these 
 80 days, it should be practicable, after making allowance 
 
CONSERVATION IN THE COAL INDUSTRY. 163 
 
 for all natural conditions, to operate the mines of the state 
 at least 240 days per year. During the year ending June 
 30, 1907, although the actual output from the mines 
 of the state increased 10,000,000 tons over the year ending 
 in 1906, or about 25 per cent in one year, the mines of the 
 state as a whole were operated an average of only 196 days 
 during the year. 
 
 It is fair to say that the excessive producing capacity 
 of the mines now in operation in Illinois results in a loss 
 of at least fifty days work per annum to all miners and 
 mine laborers on the pay rolls at the mines, more than 70,- 
 000 in number. This is equivalent to the absolute idleness 
 for the entire year of at least 12,000 men. 
 
 This is an enormous economic waste. Many miners 
 are held in the industry working short time, with resultant 
 low annual earnings, when their labor might be usefully 
 applied in other industries where it is needed. Fewer min- 
 ers could produce all the coal needed and enjoy much larger 
 annual earnings. 
 
 The excessive number of mines kept open for operation 
 causes a scarcity of miners, makes miners much harder to 
 get, more difficult to deal with, and makes it necessary to 
 accept the services of inferior miners, when if fewer miners 
 were required, operators could choose the better class, 
 which the miners themselves desire shall be done. 
 
 All this grows out of the attempt to operate many 
 more mines than are required to fully supply the public 
 requirements. The very low average number of days' op- 
 eration causes coal to cost much more than it would if fewer 
 mines were operated a greater number of days; and the 
 natural endeavor of each individual company to secure a 
 greatei number of days' operation than the average de- 
 presses the selling price of coal to cost or less, in an effort 
 to avoid an almost certain greater loss by voluntarily ac- 
 cepting a lesser one. 
 
 Such conditions in a great industry are a public evil, 
 not a public benefit, even though they result in lower prices 
 to consumers than would prevail under an intelligent organ- 
 
164 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 ization of the industry. But under present Jaws intelligent 
 organization, of actual benefit to the public as a whole, is 
 severely punished. 
 
 Laboring men are permitted to organize, perhaps be- 
 cause the majority of people have come to believe that men 
 are better citizens and better working men under decent 
 wages and working conditions in a general way, that a 
 good servant deserves good pay and to secure good servants 
 we must expect to pay good wages. 
 
 Are not the capital and the brains necessary to carry 
 on an indispensable industry, entitled to equal considera- 
 tion? The public does not seem to begrudge reasonable 
 earning power to the railroads and to many large industries 
 which have become compactly organized by consolidated 
 ownership. Is it wise for the public to force consolidated 
 ownership upon the bituminous coal industry, at the ex- 
 pense of enormous waste during the savage process of the 
 survival of the strongest? Existing anti-trust laws should 
 be amended so as to permit intelligent organization of dis- 
 organized industries, while preserving at the same time such 
 degree of publicity and public regulation as are necessary to 
 protect the interests of the people as a whole. 
 
 So great a guardian of the public interests as the Pres- 
 ident of the United States has reached that stage of thought 
 where it appears necessary and desirable to him that our 
 anti-trust laws should be amended so as to become of eco- 
 nomic benefit instead of remaining an economic evil, as at 
 present. It is time that a leaf should be taken from this 
 new gospel by the various states also. Wise economic re- 
 sults cannot be expected under unwise economic laws. 
 
 This American Mining Congress probably can do no 
 more important work than promote the agitation, discus- 
 sion aad thorough understanding of this great subject. 
 Steps should be taken in the various states to bring about 
 the introduction of amended laws, even if with no greater 
 present hope than that of bringing the subject before the 
 people for practical discussion. In the past the people of 
 this nation have always reached right conclusions upon all 
 
CONSERVATION IN THE COAL INDUSTRY. . 165 
 
 great economic subjects, when such subjects have been 
 fairly presented and sufficiently discussed. They will 
 reach light conclusions upon this subject when it has been 
 fully presented and comes to be fairly understood by them. 
 
The Barren Zone of the Northern Appalachian Coal Field 
 and Its Relation to Pittsburgh's Industries. 
 
 BY DR. I. C. WHITE, STATE GEOLOGIST OP WEST VIRGINIA. 
 
 It was formerly supposed that the several coal forma- 
 tions of the Appalachian region would hold coal of commer- 
 cial value over the entire area of that great field. Your 
 speaker pointed out, many years ago, that this was a grave 
 mistake so far as the Monongahela and Pottsville series 
 are concerned, and later, that the Allegheny and Kanawha 
 coals also share the same fate when they pass under water 
 level towards the center of the Appalachian basin. That 
 instead of a continuous sheet of productive coal measures 
 underlying this entire field, there is a great barren zone 
 which in the Allegheny series begins a few miles north from 
 Pittsburgh, and embracing most of Allegheny county, a 
 large portion of Westmoreland, all of Washington, Greene 
 and Western Fayette, as well as Southern Beaver, passes 
 southwestward entirely across West Virginia and south- 
 eastern Ohio, thus reducing enormously the productive area 
 of the Allegheny series, and its usually estimated coal re- 
 sources. 
 
 The celebrated Pittsburgh coal holds its place in the 
 series, however, until we reach Doddridge county, western 
 Wetzel and eastern Tyler in West Virginia, when it too dis- 
 appears, except in scattered patches along its eastern crop 
 through Lewis, Braxton, Gilmer, Eoane, Kanawha and Put- 
 nam counties, as we may see by inspection of the West Vir- 
 ginia map. The same thing happens to this coal in south- 
 eastern Ohio, so that it is practically absent from Monroe, 
 Washington, eastern Athens, much of Meigs, and Gallia. 
 
 These facts have been brought to light principally by 
 the oil well drillers in the search for petroleum and natural 
 gas. The great Burning Springs-Volcano anticlinal of 
 West Virginia which along its highest crest in Wirt, Wood 
 and Pleasant counties, brings up to daylight successively 
 the Monongahela, Conemaugh and Allegheny series, right 
 
BARREN ZONE OF APPALACHIAN COAL FIELD. 167 
 
 across the center of the Appalachian field, confirms the 
 story of the drill, since near Petroleum station, where all 
 the measures from the top of the Monongahela series down 
 to the Pottsville, are exposed to view, only one coal bed is 
 visible, and it is only four feet thick, impure, and split into 
 two practically worthless divisions by six to eight feet of 
 slate. Your speaker has personally examined the rock ma- 
 terials brought up by the sand pump while the drill was 
 passing through the Allegheny beds in several wells from 
 the region of Pittsburgh southwestward across western 
 Pennsylvania, West Virginia, southeastern Ohio, and on to 
 the Big Sandy river at the Kentucky line in Wayne county, 
 with the result that over a belt having a width of 50 to 60 
 miles at the Pittsburgh end, and practically the same on 
 the Big Sandy, and swelling out to 100 miles or more near 
 its center at the longitude of the Little Kanawha river, 
 there is practically no commercial coal, as we know that 
 term now, in the entire Allegheny series. 
 
 The effect of this barren zone on West Virginia's pro- 
 ductive coal area is to reduce it from 17,000 square miles, 
 as usually given in statistical tables, to only about half that 
 size, and the tonnage as recently estimated by Mr. M. B. 
 Campbell of the U. S. G. Survey, from 231,000,000,000 to 
 only about 60,000,000,000 of first class available fuel, after 
 providing for the necessary waste in mining, or less than 
 one-half of Mr. Campbell's estimate for that state. The 
 one hundred and twelve billion tons of bituminous coal orig- 
 inally existing in Pennsylvania, and eighty-six billions in 
 Ohio, as estimated by Campbell, are also both much too 
 great on account of this barren zone in these states. It is 
 quite certain that Pennsylvania will not furnish more than 
 forty billion tons, and Ohio probably not more than twenty- 
 five billions of commercial bituminous coal, so that the 
 three great coal states of the northern Appalachian field, 
 viz: Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, will together 
 produce only about one hundred and twenty-five billion 
 tons of good coal, and probably fifty billion tons of an in- 
 ferior grade, instead of the much larger quantity indicated 
 by Mr. Campbell's figures, which are evidently based upon 
 
168 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 the old supposition that this barren area would hold as 
 much coal as any other portion of the Appalachian field. 
 
 From this brief statement of the facts in the case, it 
 would appear that the several coal formations, beginning 
 with the oldest, Pocahontas, New Eiver, Kanawha, Alle- 
 gheny, Conemaugh and Monongahela, were deposited in 
 narrow belts or fringes 20 to 30 miles in breadth, around 
 the borders of the great Appalachian basin, each higher 
 series extending farther toward the center of the trough 
 than its predecessor. This condition of affairs is shown 
 by the distribution of the colors on the West Virginia coal 
 map, which is before you, and which in its uncolored por- 
 tion also indicates the central barren zone. The query will 
 naturally arise to many of you why were no valuable coal 
 beds formed in this great central trough, where the older 
 geologists, and many of the younger ones, it appears, sup- 
 posed the coal beds would be thickest and most numerous! 
 The question is a puzzling one, but this absence of valuable 
 coal deposits appears to be due to the fact that the central 
 region of the Appalachian coal field was covered with water 
 to such a depth that vegetation could not secure a foothold, 
 and hence while sediments accumulated there to practically 
 the same thickness as in other portions of the basin, they 
 consist only of shales, sandstones and limestones, the latter 
 being in greater proportion than where the coal accumu- 
 lated in commercial quantity. Of course there will be some 
 islands of commercial coal in this long and broad barren 
 zone, but they will be local and of small extent. 
 
 This shortage of coal brings to the citizens of the Pitts- 
 burgh region, the present manufacturing center of the 
 world, the most serious problem that has ever confronted 
 them. You have been told that you originally had four 
 hundred and thirty billion tons of coal in your mines, and 
 that it would suffice for 150 to 200 years, while the truth is, 
 you have only one-half of that amount, and with the present 
 wasteful mining methods it will last unly 50 years. If this 
 waste continues, some of you in this audience will see the 
 finish in the northern Appalachian field of all cheap and 
 easily won coal. Many of you do not credit these state- 
 
BARREN ZONE OP APPALACHIAN COAL FIELD. 169 
 
 ments. They are capable of demonstration to those whose 
 minds are open to reason and the irresistible logic of facts. 
 The area of the great Pittsburgh bed, that wonderful coal 
 seam to which Pittsburgh owes its very existence, is known 
 almost to the acre. Pennsylvania had remaining 1,090,000 
 acres of it at the beginning of 1908, and she has several 
 thousand acres less now, since her annual production from 
 this one coal bed is approximately ninety-five million tons. 
 This represents an exhaustion of over 1,000 acres every 
 month of the year, because the best mining engineers of 
 Pennsylvania have succeeded in saving and utilizing only 
 8,000 tons of coal to the acre, of the 12,000 to 15,000 that 
 are present in the Pittsburgh vein. Hence should there be 
 no increase in production over the present, this famous coal 
 bed would be entirely exhausted from the state of Pennsyl- 
 vania within 80 to 90 years. But what reason is there for 
 not believing that every normal year will record its regular 
 increase, until in ten to twelve years at most, Pennsylvania 
 will have doubled her present output of Pittsburgh coal? 
 West Virginia has only about the same acreage of this great 
 coal bed as Pennsylvania, while Ohio's entire area will be 
 practically gone in 25 years. Hence you can readily per- 
 ceive that with only a century's supply at the present rate 
 of mining, and in view of the greatly increased production 
 which cannot fail to come with our growth in population, 
 50 years is a liberal estimate for the life of the Pittsburgh 
 coal bed. The same causes will in approximately that time 
 exhaust all of the cheaply mined thin veins in the Allegheny 
 series of Pennsylvania, Ohio and northern West Virginia, 
 and Pittsburgh's industries will have entered upon the ex- 
 pensive method of mining coal by deep shafts to beds of 
 inferior quality, of only one to two feet in thickness, and of 
 attempting to recover at great expense the many millions 
 of tons of good fuel already left in the pillars and roofs 
 and bottoms of long abandoned mines. This is no fairy 
 story. It is as sure to come to pass at approximately 50 
 years in the future, if present wasteful methods continue, 
 as that the sun will rise tomorrow. It can do no harm to 
 recall some of the sins of waste committed by your people 
 
170 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 in the past, since many of these still persist. The citizens 
 of Pennsylvania, and especially of the Pittsburgh district, 
 have already wasted more of their precious fuel supplies, 
 both solid and gaseous, than they have ever used. More 
 than thirty thousand beehive ovens continue to consume 
 almost within sight of your great factories, one-third of 
 the power, and all of the precious by-products locked up 
 in the finest bed of coal the world has ever known, and of 
 which, as we have seen, you have such a limited supply. 
 The quantity of natural gas, that best of all the fuels, which 
 western Pennsylvania has wasted from the many thousands 
 of wells drilled within her borders, vastly exceeds in value 
 all the petroleum she has ever produced. Not satisfied with 
 thus despoiling your own fair commonwealth of its most 
 precious fuel possession, some of your most powerful cor- 
 porations, with headquarters in Pittsburgh, have been the 
 principal agents in wasting unnumbered billions of cubic 
 feet of this precious fuel in your sister states of Ohio and 
 West Virginia. The general superintendent of one of your 
 great gas companies told me only a few days ago that he 
 had personal knowledge of one well in "West Virginia from 
 which twelve million feet of gas escaped daily in producing 
 only four barrels of oil, and this spectacle of wasting the 
 heating value of 12,000 bushels of coal daily, together with 
 the power to deliver itself free of charges for transportation 
 to Pittsburgh's factories, was at that time not an isolated 
 case, but only one of hundreds. During this riot of waste, 
 one of your great gas companies put into its lines in West 
 Virginia nearly one hundred million cubic feet of gas daily 
 and delivered in Pittsburgh much less than half that quan- 
 tity, the larger portion having escaped into the air through 
 the defective joints of cheap and imperfect pipe line con- 
 struction. An enormous waste of gaseous fuel is still an 
 incident of oil production in Pennsylvania, as well as in 
 Ohio and West Virginia, and will probably so continue to 
 the end of the chapter, largely because a few influential 
 citizens of Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York always oppose 
 any attempt to prevent this crime against these common- 
 wealths. A great portion of this wasted gas in West Viis 
 
BARREN ZONE OF APPALACHIAN COAL FIELD. 171 
 
 ginia and Ohio was safely stored by nature under immense 
 pressure in the immediate pathway of this barren coal zone, 
 and there can be no doubt that its heating value, if properly 
 utilized, would have much more than replaced the missing 
 coal beds, and thus to that extent delayed the end of cheap 
 fuel in the Pittsburgh district. , 
 
 The awful catastrophe at Marianna last week is most 
 disquieting to thinking minds. Disquieting, not alone for 
 the frightful loss of precious lives from the ranks of the 
 brave toilers in a most dangerous occupation, in which the 
 men of skill are all too few, but also for the dread suspicion 
 which arises concerning the future of deep mining in this 
 richest zone of coal. Harwick, Ellsworth, Naomi, Monon- 
 gah, Darr, Marianna, are all within the regions of great 
 deposits of natural gas. Can it be possible that in such 
 situations this volatile substance, released from its long 
 prison by the thousands of oil and gas wells drilled to the 
 deeply buried reservoirs of gaseous fuel, has permeated 
 these mines in large quantity through the ever present fis- 
 sures of the earth's stony crust! 
 
 At the White House conference of Governors, called 
 last May by our illustrious President to take stock of the 
 fast disappearing natural resources of the nation, and to 
 advise with him concerning ways and means to conserve 
 the same, your speaker called attention to this " sword of 
 Damocles," an ever impending peril to deep mining over 
 the oil and gas areas, and to the unknown waste of coal and 
 precious lives that may possibly result therefrom. At least 
 three-fourths of the entire area of Pittsburgh coal remain- 
 ing unmined in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia is 
 within this dangerous zone. Of the thousands of oil and 
 gas wells drilled in this great area stretching from the Pitts- 
 burgh region southwestward across Pennsylvania, West 
 Virginia and southeastern Ohio, hundreds of which have 
 been abandoned in each of these three states, and the cas- 
 ing removed, probably not a single one has been so located 
 by public charts accessible to coal operators that its pres- 
 ence could be learned and its danger guarded against after 
 the farmers have cleared away the rubbish of derrick and 
 
172 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 drill, and recovered the poisoned soil for grazing and other 
 agricultural purposes. There would have been perils 
 enough in this deeply buried Pittsburgh coal area from the 
 inflammable gases already present in the coal itself, if not 
 a single oil or gas well had ever been drilled to these great 
 underlying reservoirs to release when abandoned, the 
 deadly forces of explosive gas into the very workings of the 
 toilers, against which neither the skill of the miner nor the 
 science of the engineer seems able to cope. It is barely pos- 
 sible that the oil and gas producers have thus through 
 abandoned wells added so greatly to the perils of deep min- 
 ing that large areas of this matchless Pittsburgh coal as 
 well as any other beds which might underlie it in this broad 
 oil and gas belt southwest from Pittsburgh, will be practi- 
 cally irrecoverable except at enormous expense of life and 
 treasure. It is needless to comment upon the additional 
 fuel shortage which such a condition would mean to Pitts- 
 burgh's iron and steel industries. The mere mention of the 
 possibility of this peril ought to be sufficient to put every 
 patriotic citizen on guard against increasing this danger. 
 Not a single string of casing that has penetrated the pro* 
 ductive coal measures in the oil or gas regions of the states 
 where natural gas is encountered in any appreciable quan- 
 tity should ever be pulled out until the underlying coal has 
 been removed. The oil producers are robbing the entire 
 country of its precious fuel gases. Why should they be 
 permitted also to endanger its solid fuels? Here is some 
 work for the Governors and Legislatures of Pennsylvania, 
 Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky that could bring no 
 harm to legitimate oil and gas interests, and which may 
 result in an immense saving of life, as well as of fuel re- 
 sources. 
 
 What moral should be drawn from these facts by 
 Greater Pittsburgh, with its 5,000 factories absolutely de- 
 pendent upon cheap fuel? That homely adage of our fore- 
 fathers, "Needless waste brings woeful want," is just as 
 true for communities, states and nations as for individuals. 
 The story of "Coal Oil Johnny" is being re-enacted by the 
 Pittsburgh district, and many other districts of our country 
 
BARREN ZONE OF APPALACHIAN COAL FIELD. 173 
 
 on an enormous scale, and the final results, although a little 
 longer delayed, cannot fail to be similar. On the one hand 
 you perceive your fuel resources reduced by this barren 
 zone to one-half of what were supposed to be readily and 
 cheaply accessible, and on the other these resources so 
 greatly depleted by unbridled waste that in only a few 
 years at most cheap fuel will have passed into history from 
 this great district. 
 
 Disguise it as we may, the picture is not a pleasing 
 one. Your great engineers and captains of industry whose 
 skill and genius aided by an unrivaled wealth of cheap fuel 
 and the protecting Aegis of a wise and generous govern- 
 ment have centered here the iron and steel business of the 
 world, should not glance at the picture and turn lightly 
 away to forget it in the busy hum of furnace and forge. 
 Your wonderful industries should remain here and prosper 
 not a few decades, but for centuries. But just as surely as 
 your successful past and glorious present have been founded 
 upon your unrivaled resources in cheap fuel, so surely will 
 your great industries decline and die with its disappear- 
 ance. "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin," will be written 
 large over the gateways of your wonderful city before the 
 present century closes unless the men who own your mines 
 and factories awake at once to the danger that portends. 
 
 What will it profit Pittsburgh's industries that enor- 
 mous coal deposits exist in Wyoming, North Dakota, Mon- 
 tana and far away Alaska, as well as in other portions of 
 the distant West, when a freight cost of many dollars per 
 ton intervenes? No, these Western coal fields are not for 
 Pittsburgh. Nature has forbidden it by barriers which the 
 skill of man can never hope to conquer. When the coal in 
 the Appalachian field is gone no other field can take its 
 place in Pittsburgh's industrial life. 
 
 Every citizen of our beloved union is interested in per- 
 petuating as long as possible the giant industries that have 
 sprung into existence around the home of Father Pitt. 
 When the mighty pulsations of your industrial life slow 
 down, even temporarily, lethargy and palsy strike every 
 artery of trade and commerce on the continent. The post- 
 
174 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 ponement or prevention of the evil day when your great in- 
 dustries shall close for want of power is worthy of the best 
 thought of every patriotic American. What is the remedy I 
 What is possible to be done in order to postpone indefinitely 
 this dreaded day so fateful to Pittsburgh's industrial life? 
 The answer may be summed up in two words Stop wastes. 
 Not alone waste of natural gas, waste in mining, but all 
 other needless wastes. Why should you permit this pall 
 of smoke and dirt and grime from unconsumed carbon to 
 continue to menace the life and beauty of your great city? 
 Why should the flaming throats of so many wasteful coke 
 ovens continue to vomit skyward such enormous volumes 
 of precious gaseous fuel, with its clouds of carbon to pollute 
 the air, stifle vegetation and render life a burden, when all 
 of this wasted energy will so soon be needed in Pittsburgh's 
 unrivaled factories ? True, your furnace managers may say 
 the coke from the beehive oven is superior in structure and 
 reducing capacity to that of the by-product process, but is 
 this superiority sufficiently great to warrant the waste of 
 so much heat, and all of the other precious by-products 
 which our European cousins find so much profit in manu- 
 facturing and selling to us? Are not your engineers equal 
 to the task of manufacturing a first class furnace coke with- 
 out such an enormous waste of values? Are they less skill- 
 ful than their German and English brothers? 
 
 Why should you retain the steam engine to consume 
 with frightful speed so much of your finest fuel, when much 
 more power can be obtained by the use of the gas engine 
 from an equal weight of impure or low grade coal ? Fortu- 
 nate would it be for Pittsburgh's future if some master 
 genius could arise in your great iron and steel industries 
 who would at one stroke arrange to relegate both the steam 
 engine and the beehive coke oven to the junk heap of the 
 wasteful past, like McCrea and his predecessor, the gifted 
 Cassat, have undertaken to do with the steam locomotive on 
 one of the world's greatest railways. 
 
 Again, why should the Pittsburgh district permit these 
 acres of coal barges, loaded with precious black diamonds, 
 the heart of the finest coal bed in the world, mined from 
 
BARREN ZONE OF APPALACHIAN GOAL FIELD. 175 
 
 your immediate hills, to float through your gates down to 
 the other marts at a minimum profit to any of your citizens, 
 owing to enormous losses by flood and collision, when it is 
 absolutely certain that before the century closes the coal 
 from eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia will 
 be towed up the Ohio to replace what should never have 
 been taken away. Would it not be prudent and the part 
 of far seeing business wisdom to let the Great Kanawha and 
 Big Sandy coal fields possess these southern markets to 
 which they are so much more cheaply accessible, rather 
 than sell at a small profit today what you will buy back in 
 the near tomorrow at triple or even quadruple the present 
 selling price.! The coal in the Appalachian field is the 
 only large body of first class coking fuel on the continent, 
 and the first duty of those who control the bulk of the 
 enormous iron and steel industries of this district is to con- 
 serve all that is possible of this precious fuel for that par- 
 ticular purpose. 
 
 Another form of wasted energy not so apparent to the 
 eye, but which in the aggregate probably amounts to much 
 more annually than all other forms of energy both con- 
 sumed and wasted in the Pittsburgh district, is the waste 
 of water which the nation permits to pass by your factories 
 unhindered to the sea, often destroying enough property in 
 this one district, between here and Cairo, in a year, to pay 
 the entire cost of control and utilization. With the waste 
 and disappearance of our forests, these periodical floods 
 are certain to increase in destructiveness. Happily situ- 
 ated at the junction of two great rivers whose waters 
 tumble down from the mountain summits 2,000 feet 
 higher, and all easily within the limits of electrical trans- 
 mission; why should this now worse than wasted power not 
 be so stored, controlled and utilized that you could not only 
 have navigable rivers the most of the year, from Pittsburgh 
 to the Gulf, upon which to distribute cheaply the products 
 of your mills and factories to so many of your sister states, 
 but could also thereby greatly prolong the life and growth 
 of your famous industries. 
 
 Your patriotic mayor has done well to appoint a com- 
 
176 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 mittee of distinguished citizens to head a civic movement 
 to rescue your noble army of toilers from the filth and 
 squalor and disease of tenement conditions almost un- 
 equaled for undesirable surroundings by that of any other 
 great city of the world, in order that human life and energy 
 may not be wasted in unsanitary homes. Let Mr. Guthrie 
 supplement that noble work by appointing a committee for 
 the prevention of unnecessary waste of your material re- 
 sources in every form. Thus by the united influence of 
 Pennsylvania and her sister states upon the nation's rulers, 
 it may be possible, by reforesting the Appalachian moun- 
 tains, by storing, controlling and utilizing the water power 
 of your mighty rivers, by conserving and properly using 
 your priceless stores of fuel, to prolong indefinitely your 
 industrial life, so that Pittsburgh may not only become the 
 city beautiful, but also the city perpetual. 
 
Needs for Conservation of Our Coal Deposits. 
 
 BY J. V. THOMPSON, UNIONTOWN, PA. 
 
 To be fully and adequately impressed with the import- 
 ance of the question, 
 
 "How rapidly are we exhausting our coal de- 
 posits in the United States?" 
 
 We should study the subject with regard to these 
 aspects of it 
 
 1. What is the area of accessible, merchantable coal? 
 
 2. What is the annual rate of consumption? 
 
 3. What is the rate of annual increase in this consump- 
 tion? 
 
 Answering the first question, I might quote in general 
 terms from an authority on the subject, who writes, that the 
 distribution of coal is as follows: 
 
 First. The Appalachian area in which is 
 found the big vein of from six to nine feet in thick- 
 ness, extending from Northern Pennsylvania to 
 Alabama, running through part of West Virginia, 
 Kentucky and Tennessee, and touching Eastern 
 Ohio. 
 
 Second. The Michigan coal field of limited 
 extent. 
 
 Third. The Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Mis- 
 souri field, of larger extent in area, but of recent 
 development. 
 
 Fourth. Scattered areas in Nebraska, Kansas, 
 Colorado, Montana and North Dakota, whose veins 
 are but slightly known or mined. 
 
 For information as to past consumption, and recent 
 rate of increase, upon which we can safely predict for the 
 future, we must look to that locality where the mining of 
 coal has been most extensively and persistently carried on 
 in the past. This brings us to the Southwest Pennsylvania 
 and West Virginia fields, whose records cover the greatest 
 number of years, and the greatest tonnage. These regiom 
 
178 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 supply the East, the central West and the Northwest, where 
 the demand for such fuel has been the greatest in the past 
 twenty years. 
 
 For brevity's sake let us make this single comparison: 
 In 1857 the coal production was 11,000,000 tons. 
 In 1907 the production was 435,000,000 tons, or 3,540 
 per rent increase. 
 
 The increase was not gradual or uniform. It was much 
 greater in the past ten years than in any previous decade. 
 In 1870 we mined 33,000,000 tons. 
 In 1880 we mined 71,000,000 tons. 
 In 1890 we mined 157,000,000 tons. 
 In 1900 we mined 269,000,000 tons. 
 In 1907 we mined 435,000,000 tons, 
 
 which exceeds 1906 by an amount greater than the total 
 mined in the world in 1876! We can better comprehend the 
 vastness of this by reducing it to acres. 
 
 The acreage represented by these tonnage figures 
 sprang by leaps at ten year periods from 4,400 acres in 1870 
 to 9,466 acres in 1880, to 20,933 acres in 1890, to 34,533 
 acres in 1900, and to the magnificent total of 58,000 acres 
 in 1907. 
 
 Eeduce these acres to square miles and we get 
 
 in 1870 but 7% square miles, 
 and in 1880 but 16 square miles, 
 and in 1890 as much as 35 square miles, 
 and in 1900 as much as 58 square miles, 
 and in 1907 we get 91 square miles. 
 This means a principality in area and values gone for- 
 ever, used in one short year of 300 working days. This 
 consumption was not scattered over the United States gen- 
 erally, but prevailed in three or four states principally; 
 from Pennsylvania 55 per cent, from Illinois and adjoining 
 States 10 per cent, from West Virginia 10 per cent, from 
 Ohio 5 per cent, and from all the rest of the United States 
 20 per cent. 
 
 At this rate of consumption who can fail to see the end 
 of the big vein of coal in this country. Its life was once 
 
NEEDS FOR CONSERVATION OF OUR COAL DEPOSITS. 179 
 
 placed at 300 years, later at 200 years, now at less than 100 
 years. In the Pittsburgh district it is less than 40 years. 
 In the Connellsville coke region it is about 35 years. I take 
 no account of those thinner veins, of doubtful value and 
 quality. I refer only to the big vein now mined, known lo- 
 cally as the Connellsville Coking or 9-foot vein, or the 9-foot 
 or Pittsburgh vein. The thinner veins will be but little 
 mined until the great Pittsburgh vein is near exhaustion. 
 
 If I have made clear to you the rate of exhaustion now 
 prevailing, what increase can you see in the near future? 
 Is the outlook reassuring, or alarming? Can you hope to de- 
 crease the consumption of coal? or rather will it not be re- 
 corded in 1925 that at least 200 square miles of this big 
 vein of nature's richest gift is being extracted annually, 
 without the possibility of substitution or replacement? This 
 would mean an annual tonnage of little less than 1,000,000- 
 000 tons. 
 
 Are the figures too large for comprehension? Not to 
 us of this district who see annually 150,000,000 bushels of 
 the black: diamonds go floating out of the Pittsburgh harbor 
 alone, down the Ohio for southern ports, exclusive of rail 
 transportation. Not to us who see in the Connellsville re- 
 gion alone 37,000 coke ovens lighting the heavens at night, 
 and sending out daily 2,500 loaded cars of coke, stringing 
 out into 14,000 cars a week from 186 coke plants. 
 
 I have endeavored to show the extent of consumption of 
 this precious mineral. Need I dwell on the conditions in the 
 Pittsburgh and other industrial centers as the life of the 
 nearby coal area approaches its end? We boast that Pitts- 
 burgh is the industrial centre of the world, that her tonnage 
 is greater than the combined tonnage of Chicago, New York, 
 London and the Suez Canal, that her pay roll is $1,500,000 
 each day of the 300 working days of the year. Will that 
 continue when the nearby coal is gone? Can she reach out 
 and get relief from the untested coals of the South and far 
 West? 
 
 Is not then the need of conservation most pressing? How 
 can we get the same efficiency at a less rate of tonnage con- 
 sumption? Natural gas will help us out some, but its life 
 
180 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 is precarious. Mechanical devices in the making of coke, 
 and in making fuel heat will improve in efficiency and give 
 some saving. By-products will add to our profit account. 
 But who will arise to lead us to the solution of the great 
 and pressing economic problem, how to conserve our fuel 
 supply, and extend its life of usefulness? 
 
 "Man marks the earth with ruin; his control 
 Stops with the shore; upon this great wide plain 
 The wrecks are all his deed, now will remain 
 A vestige of our greatness; these rich fields 
 Will in an aeon cease their fertile yield 
 Unless some leader with a Seer's great gift 
 Will rise, inspire, direct us and uplift." 
 
Conservation of Mineral Resources. 
 
 BY J. B, ZERBE, CLEVELAND, OHIO. 
 
 When notified by your secretary that I was expected 
 to say something to you upon the Conservation of Bitumi- 
 nous Coal, I was also informed that Mr. Traer of Chicago 
 would precede me in speaking on the same subject, and as 
 he always does well in anything he undertakes, I considered 
 it unnecessary for me to prepare a paper. 
 
 At the present time the practical workers in the pro- 
 duction of bituminous coal can see no good reason for tak- 
 ing up the subject we have before us, as unfortunately dur- 
 ing the past year the business of the country has been so 
 depressed that little coal, in our opinion, is being used or 
 wasted, and we are hoping that in the near future you will 
 get busy and waste more of the material which we produce. 
 
 The time has come, however, when some concerted 
 action must be taken, looking toward the conservation of all 
 the natural resources of the world, and particularly of the 
 deposit of coal. It is only a short time since we all con- 
 sidered this deposit so enormous that it seemed impossible 
 ever to exhaust it, yet inroads are being made upon it so 
 rapidly that statisticians are looking forward to the early 
 depletion of the coal deposit. 
 
 I recall when one of our Ohio roads was projected to 
 extend from the harbor of Lorain to the Ohio river, one of 
 the then prominent men in Cleveland was asked for a letter 
 recommending the building of this road, and it was largely 
 upon his recommendation that- this was carried through, 
 It consisted simply of a letter which he had written to the 
 projector, in which he stated that the road began at the 
 harbor of Lorain, which was one of the best on Lake Erie, 
 and ran down through fertile valleys of beautiful farms 
 until it entered a coal field which was so extensive that the 
 supply would last Hell a thousand years. This letter went 
 to New York, got into the hands of Horace F. Clark, of the 
 Vanderbilt interests, who said upon such a representation 
 
182 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 he was willing to build the road. He wired the gentleman 
 who had written the letter to come to New York, and evef 
 thereafter while these two men lived, the question as to the 
 amount of coal necessary to last the devil one thousand 
 years was a source of never-ending discussion. However, 
 at the expiration of thirty years what was then considered 
 a vast field of coal is now about exhausted, and the owners 
 of the railroads have found it necessary to extend into West 
 Virginia, where it is hoped they will find a sufficient quan- 
 tity of coal to meet the above proposition. 
 
 There is a loss in the use of coal that equals vandalism. 
 This loss occurs not only in the producing, but also in the 
 consumption. We believe vast improvements can be made 
 in the producing of coal. Too much is left in the ground. 
 We think that scientific efforts on the part of the govern- 
 ment or the several state governments would assist in sav- 
 ing this waste for the future. The greatest waste in the use 
 of coal is in the method of consumption. 
 
 Ever since the steam boiler has been in use, we have 
 utilized not to exceed ten per cent of the coal consumed. 
 This waste cannot go on indefinitely, but it must be left to 
 the scientific investigation of men capably of grappling 
 with it, and they will find a solution to the problem. The 
 coal producers of this country are willing that you should 
 find any means that would save the waste of this material, 
 even though temporarily it might work a hardship upon 
 the business, but in all matters touching such a great in- 
 dustry as this we must be exceedingly careful. Do not ex- 
 pect to accomplish in a year or in a decade what the good 
 Lord evidently intended we should be centuries in discover- 
 ing. Whenever a great necessity arises, means are found, 
 and it will not be long perhaps before the proper solution 
 will save this great material to the world. Make haste 
 slowly. 
 
 Let this great American Mining Congress do all it can 
 looking to the safety of the lives of those employed in the 
 production of coal. To me this is the primary question 
 which is before you now protection of the life of the man 
 who leaves his home in the morning and enters into this 
 
CONSERVATION OF MINERAL RESOURCES. 183 
 
 work to support his wife and children, to better their con- 
 dition, to educate and uplift them, and in the evening is 
 laid low in the mine. 
 
 No man will protest against any measures you may take 
 looking to the safety of the individual, but do not do it 
 hurriedly, excitedly, or in any way political. Let the gov- 
 ernment appoint the most scientific men they can lay their 
 hands on, let these men know all the conditions surround- 
 ing each and all the mines, and intelligently work out this 
 problem At present the cause of these great disasters is 
 not known. Some force buried underneath the ground, 
 some chemical composition coming in contact with the air 
 or the fire causes these great explosions. 
 
 No one will question the fact that the owners of the 
 property on which the recent disaster occurred, made every 
 effort to make their new plant one of the best in Pennsyl- 
 vania. We all know that Mr. Jones prided himself upon 
 the fact that he was doing so, and yet immediately follow- 
 ing the investigation of the mine inspector this horrible 
 tragedy occurred. Evidently the lamps did not indicate 
 any trouble, the men were all unconscious of it, and yet it 
 came. The remedy must come from the brain of the scien- 
 tist who has been educated in chemistry and in mine en- 
 gineering, and who knows conditions surrounding the at- 
 mosphere of the mine and its supports, and if the Mine 
 Bureau is created, let it be so conducted by men of high 
 character and ability that when conclusions have been ar- 
 rived at, we will not question them. And so with all the 
 industries. 
 
 The one in which I am more particularly interested is 
 that of the timber of the country. The beautiful forests 
 should be no longer laid waste, if it is possible to find a way 
 to stop their destruction, but whatever effort is made by 
 the government should not have the effect of restricting any 
 industry, and men who want to use timber should have it in 
 plenty, not to waste but to use. As the forests are cut they 
 should be replaced by plenty of young trees on the wasted 
 land, wherever such land may be found. The general gov- 
 ernment and the states should insist upon replanting these 
 
184 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 trees, and such an undertaking will prove a profitable in- 
 vestment to the one who makes it. 
 
 I planted 10,000 trees three years ago. I can see them 
 growing, and it is a pleasure to watch them. The increase 
 in their value may be better than a ten per cent investment. 
 The government encourages such planting and is very gen- 
 erous. Men are sent out to analyze the soil and will tell you 
 the sort of tree you should plant in any given locality, and 
 when requested to do so the government will send you men 
 to see that the trees are properly planted and also will give 
 them supervision after they have been planted, and watch 
 their growth. 
 
 If the Bureau of Mining established by the government 
 would be conducted on the wise basis upon which they are 
 conducting the forestry work, then I say God speed the time 
 when we will have such a Mining Bureau. 
 
 The American Mining Congress is to be congratulated 
 upon the personnel of its organization. I have never met 
 in convention with men who so impressed me with the seri- 
 ousness of their intentions, or the honesty of their convic- 
 tions, and I trust it may be my pleasure to meet with you 
 again. 
 
Conservation in the Coal Industry. 
 
 BY JOHN MITCHELL, EX-PRESIDENT U. M. W. OP A. 
 NEW /ORK CITY. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: Last summer the 
 President of the United States did me the honor to invite 
 me to address a meeting of governors which he called at 
 Washington to discuss the question of the conservation of 
 the nation's natural resources. I chose at that time to dis- 
 cuss the conservation of our fuel resources, and incidentally 
 to discuss the protection of human life. I took occasion to 
 say that in my opinion one of the chiefest causes of the 
 waste of our coal was its cheapness, that coal was so cheap 
 that consumers could afford to be extravagant. Shortly 
 thereafter I received a letter from a gentleman in a New 
 England town saying that the retail coal dealer in his place 
 had acted on my suggestion and had raised the price of coal. 
 (Laughter). 
 
 Now, in what I say upon this subject this morning, I 
 want to have this borne in mind and if the newspapers 
 report anything of what I say I wish that they would report 
 this part that I do not believe the householders or the do- 
 mestic consumers of the coal are paying too little for it. As 
 a matter of fact, the domestic consumers of coal are paying 
 altogether too much for what they burn; and the large con- 
 sumers of coal are paying altogether too little. 
 
 I have been informed by several large coal companies, 
 or the representatives of several large coal companies, that 
 the entire profit on their business is made upon some ten to 
 twenty -five per cent of their production. That means that 
 the small consumer of coal is paying all the profits of the 
 industry, and that the railroad and large manufacturing 
 companies are buying their coal at cost and sometimes at 
 less than cost. Now, what is needed, in my judgment, is 
 that the large consumers of coal shall pay a higher price 
 for it. When they pay more for their coal they will not be 
 likely to use it with such prodigality. And if coal producers 
 
186 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 can secure higher prices for their products, the probabili- 
 ties are that they will mine it without so much waste. As 
 Mr. Zerbe has so well stated, in the consumption of coal 
 only ten per cent, oftentimes only five per cent, of the heat 
 units are utilized. The layman, unfamiliar with the produc- 
 tion of coal, would hardly believe you if you were to tell him 
 that ninety per cent of every ton of coal burned is wasted, 
 that only ten per cent of each ton of coal is actually used. 
 That is to say, only ten per cent of the heat units of all coal 
 consumed is used for either heating, lighting or motive 
 power. The remaining ninety per cent either goes up in 
 smoke or is hauled out in ashes. There has been a device 
 in use within the last few years by which coal may be con- 
 verted into gas and the gas used for fuel, and in that way 
 they have been able to use from twenty to twenty-five per 
 cent of the heat units. You can readily understand that if 
 it were possible to adopt this method in the consumption 
 of all coal, instead of requiring 480,000,000 tons of coal to 
 supply our needs, as it did last year, 240,000,000 tons would 
 be sufficient to give us all the heat, motive and lighting 
 power that we would require. And no doubt by the pro- 
 cess of invention the time will come when fifty or sixty per 
 cent of the heat units of all fuel produced will be used for 
 motive power. 
 
 There is another phase of the question. If operators 
 were to secure a reasonable price for all their fuel it would 
 enable them to produce a vast amount of coal that now goes 
 to waste. Because of the low price of coal at the mines, 
 mine owners only take from the earth that portion of the 
 coal that they can produce cheaply, leaving there irreclaim- 
 able the coal that cannot be produced at a sufficiently small 
 cost to sell in the markets of this day. I believe that in the 
 last year the average value of coal at the mines was about 
 $1.14 a ton. The average of coal at the mines of England, 
 Germany, France, Belgium and other coal producing coun- 
 tries is nearly double that amount. In other words, in the 
 old countries the consumers of coal pay twice as much for 
 their fuel as they do in America; and bear in mind that 
 
CONSERVATION IN THE COAL INDUSTRY. 187 
 
 when $1.14 a ton is the average value of coal at the mines, 
 that means that the railroads and the great manufacturing 
 companies are purchasing their fuel for less than $1.00 a ton 
 and the domestic consumer and the small manufacturer are 
 paying vastly more than $1.14 a ton. 
 
 I think, speaking, not as an operator, and having no 
 pecuniary interest at all in his well being, that what I say 
 upon the subject of increasing the cost of coal to the con- 
 sumer will not be attributed to any selfish motive. I have 
 this motive in it, however aside from my desire to see our 
 fuel resources conserved so that future generations may 
 share in the benefits with which God has so bountifully en- 
 dowed us that operators shall be able to afford to the mine 
 workers a larger share of protection than is now enjoyed. 
 And it is with that phase of the subject that I am vitally con- 
 cerned. Gentlemen, it is a standing disgrace to the people 
 of our country that more men are killed in our industries 
 than in the industries of any other country in the world. 
 It is with a sense of shame that we admit that for every man 
 killed in the mining industry of the old world, we here in 
 America kill three or four. I want to make an analysis of 
 the latest figures submitted by the United States Geological 
 Survey, and I want to introduce into this analysis a phase 
 of the question which I think has heretofore received little 
 consideration. 
 
 As you know, I am a trade unionist ; I am a trade union- 
 ist first, last and all the time. I am a trade unionist because 
 I believe that through the organization of labor the work- 
 ingmen of our country, the workingmen of the world, must 
 receive all their protection. I am a trade unionist not be- 
 cause I am at war with capital, but I am a trade unionist 
 because I want conciliation with capital. I want to live in 
 peace and harmony with capital, and I believe that through 
 our trade unions we can do so. 
 
 A peculiar thing about the mining industry is that more 
 non-union men are killed than union men. None will deny 
 that the unions will raise wages and reduce hours and im- 
 prove the conditions of the employes. But a good many will 
 
188 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 deny that the unions save life. And yet as a matter of fact 
 the figures submitted in the Government reports demon- 
 strate beyond the peradventure of a doubt that the greatest 
 factor in the conservation of human life is the much ma- 
 ligned organizations of labor. I have taken the statistics of 
 coal producing states and grouped them into divisions show- 
 ing the number killed per thousand employed, the number 
 killed per thousand tons produced in the thoroughly organ- 
 ized states, in the partially organized states and in the prac- 
 tically unorganized states, and I ask you to pay attention 
 to these figures. The following states are thoroughly or- 
 ganized and men cannot work in the mines unless they are 
 members of the United Mine Workers of America: Ar- 
 kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, 
 Ohio and Oklahoma. The average number of men killed 
 per thousand employed in all those states was 2.47. The 
 figures .given are for 1907. 
 
 These are partially organized states : Pennsylvania an- 
 thracite Pennsylvania bituminous, and the state of Wash- 
 ington the average number killed per thousand employed 
 was 5.07. 
 
 These are unorganized states: Alabama, Colorado, 
 New Mexico and West Virginia. The average number killed 
 per thousand employed in these non-union states was 9.49. 
 In West Virginia they killed 12.35 men for every thousand 
 employed; whereas in the state of Missouri, giving the two 
 extremes, they killed only .95. They killed nearly fourteen 
 times as many men per thousand employed in West Virginia 
 as they did in Missouri. About two years ago the governor 
 of West Virginia called a conference of representative coal 
 operators and coal miners, and assuming that I knew some- 
 thing of the subject of coal mining, he invited me to attend, 
 and I was very glad to accept his invitation. Unfortunately 
 it was rumored through the state that I was coming there, 
 and the operators stayed away and the governor stayed 
 away. 
 
 If there is one state in America requiring mining legis- 
 lation and decent treatment of coal miners in order that 
 
CONSERVATION IN THE COAL INDUSTRY. 189 
 
 their lives and limbs may be preserved, it is the state of 
 West Virginia. Now it may appear to some that these fig- 
 ures just happen to show that more men are killed in West 
 Virginia than in Missouri, or that more men are killed in 
 Alabama, Colorado, New Mexico and West Virginia than in 
 the other states that I have named that it may just have 
 happened that way, or that it was simply an act of God, or 
 that the natural conditions of mining are not so safe, so 
 favorable in those states as in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois 
 and Indiana. But as a matter of fact, as every well-in- 
 formed coal mining man can tell you, the natural and physi- 
 cal conditions of mining in West Virginia, Colorado and 
 Alabama are safer than in the state of Pennsylvania. Yet 
 they killed in West Virginia eight more men per thousand 
 employed than they did in Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania 
 killed four men per thousand employed for every one they 
 killed in Missouri. 
 
 It seems to me that these figures are susceptible of no 
 other interpretation than that where men are organized and 
 are able to act in concert they will refuse to work in a dan- 
 gerous place and will not permit one of their number to be 
 discharged or discriminated against who refuses to work in 
 an unsafe place. As a matter of fact, we have many in- 
 stances in which men have not only supported one of their 
 number who refused to work in a place known to be unsafe, 
 but wherein they have struck rather than see their brother 
 miner killed. And much as I regret strikes I am free to con- 
 fess to you that I should sustain the miners without hesita- 
 tion, if they struck in defense of the life of one of their 
 brothers. Another thing, where men are organized they are 
 able to secure legislation, and they cannot do it unless they 
 are organized. And what is equally important, where the 
 men aro organized and where they act together the laws are 
 better enforced and there are better mine inspectors than 
 in the states where the men are unorganized. 
 
 What is required, gentlemen, to preserve the lives of 
 these men who spend so much of their time in the earth and 
 not on it, is better mining laws and the rigid enforcement 
 of the laws now on the statute books. There is no good rea- 
 
190 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 son why in America 4.86 men should be killed for every 
 thousand employed. In France they killed .91 men per thou- 
 sand, less than one man for each 1,000 employed annually. 
 We would indignantly deny that any continental country is 
 as highly civilized as we are in America. We would regard 
 it as an insult if some fellow were to come over from Belgium 
 and say, "We are in advance of you Americans." And 
 yet in Belgium they killed only one man for each thousand 
 employed in the mines; we killed 4.86 men per thousand em- 
 ployed last year. In Great Britain they killed 1.28; and in 
 Prussia 2.06, as against our 4.86. 
 
 Taking the same group of states referred to before, and 
 dividing them into groups of union, non-union and partially 
 unionized, we find that in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, 
 Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Oklahoma they pro- 
 duced last year an average of 246,707 tons of coal for each 
 man killed. In Pennsylvania bituminous and Pennsylvania 
 anthracite, and in the state of Washington, which were par- 
 tially organized, they produced an average of 136,476 tons 
 of coal for each man they killed. In the non-union states, 
 Alabama, Colorado, New Mexico and West Virginia, they 
 produced an average of only 86,204 tons of coal for each man 
 killed 
 
 Last year they killed in the coal mines of America 
 3,125 men, and seriously injured because only the cases of 
 serious injury are reported 5,316 men. Gentlemen, if a 
 great war should occur during our lives, and in some of the 
 battles it should be reported that 3,000 men were killed and 
 5,000 men were seriously injured, the whole world would 
 stand aghast and our humanitarians would cry aloud 
 against this devastation of human life. Yet day by day, 
 hour by hour, in this peaceful industry, men are unneces- 
 sarily sacrificing their lives. Right now today not less 
 than ten men will be killed; yesterday that number lost their 
 lives. To-morrow ten or twenty will be killed and to-mor- 
 row's to-morrow and the following time until the laws are 
 changed, ten to twenty men will be killed daily in the mines. 
 And what are you going to do about it? 
 
 What are we going to do about this awful loss of life? 
 
CONSERVATION IN THE COAL INDUSTRY. 191 
 
 Mr. Ztrbe suggests the importance of preserving the lives 
 and limbs of the coal mine workers, but suggests that we go 
 slowly and be sure. I have no doubt that that advice is 
 well intended. But, gentlemen, these are human lives! 
 These are men just like you and me, who are going to die 
 to-day and to-morrow; and they are not willing to wait. 
 The dependents of these men are not willing to wait an in- 
 definite time for a remedy. The situation has grown worse 
 year by year. Every year for the past twenty has shown an 
 increase in the number of men killed, an increase in the per- 
 centage of men killed, an increase in the number of- men 
 killed per thousand tons of coal produced, and I think it is 
 time for us to decide upon some definite policy. Of course 
 some may ask what I should recommend, and I am going to 
 tell you. 
 
 I am not a scientific man by any means, and I do not 
 understand nor profess to understand the composition of 
 gases, nor am I able to tell the cause of all mine explosions, 
 but I do say, gentlemen, that there is only one way to pre- 
 vent men from being killed by mine explosions, and that is 
 to have the men out of the mine and have them out while 
 they are alive, not carry them out after they are dead. 
 There is no necessity for a large number of men being killed 
 in a mine explosion, because it is a simple matter to employ 
 only two men or four men in any one mine in America to 
 discharge all the shots and do it at a time when the other 
 men are at home. The introduction of shot firers does not 
 mean a material increase in the cost of production. It 
 means the expediture of only y% cent, or not to exceed 2 
 cents, per ton, and I believe that the consumers of coal 
 would not protest against a payment of one or two cents 
 more for their fuel if they knew that in doing so a thousand 
 or two thousand lives were saved every year. That is one 
 method, gentlemen, of saving lives. That will save the lives 
 now lost from mine explosions, that is explosions caused 
 from firing shots ; and I believe that nearly all the great ex- 
 plosions have come about by a badly placed shot or what 
 we call a "blown-out" shot. 
 
192 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 There is another way to save life, and that is to re- 
 quire that any man who works in a mine shall be competent 
 to do so. You know of late years mining has been revolu- 
 tionized, in respect to the character of the men who mine 
 coal. When I was a boy, mining was a trade and all the 
 men who mined coal took pride in being skilled miners. 
 We regarded that as our life work, and every man wanted to 
 do his work well. He felt the same pride in his trade that 
 professional men feel in their professions, or a tradesman 
 feels in his business. The men who have sought employ- 
 ment at the mines in the past twenty years are not the 
 skilled miners, not the tradesmen, but men recently arrived 
 from continental Europe; in most cases men who never 
 saw a coal mine in their lives, and possibly never burned a 
 ton of coal in all their existence. It is the small hand farmer 
 from the rural districts of continental countries who comes 
 to our shores and goes to the mines and who is welcomed 
 there and given employment, and no question is asked as to 
 whether he is experienced; he is put to work mining the coal. 
 And is it any wonder that these inexperienced farm laborers 
 of continetal Europe not only destroy themselves but oft- 
 times, through their inexperience, destroy the lives of their 
 fellow workers in the mines? I believe that greater care 
 should be exercised in -the selection of the men who shall 
 mine our coal. It may be all right for men to commit sui- 
 cide, but it is not all right for them to commit murder. A 
 man may have a right to destroy himself, but we must see 
 to it that he destroys no one else. And let me say now that 
 in a coal mine you might have 500 of the most experienced 
 men it is possible to employ, and only one inexperienced 
 man, and that one man would kill all the rest. Not knowing 
 what to do, he goes to a place where he should not be, or he 
 explodes gas, or he fires a shot in his coal in such a manner 
 that it causes a blown-out shot, which is followed by a dust 
 explosion and every life in that mine is wiped out. We 
 need protection, gentlemen, and we need laws for the pro- 
 tection of the miners; we need protection for the women and 
 childeren who are dependent upon these men in the mine. 
 
CONSERVATION IN THE COAL INDUSTRY. 193 
 
 And I am going to suggest, even at the risk of tiring yonr 
 patience, that the time is here now when some adequate pro- 
 vision should be made to take care of these widows and or- 
 phans and for these injured miners. 
 
 Last year there were produced and sold in our country 
 480,000,000 tons of coal. A tax of one cent a ton would give 
 to the dependents of each mine worker who was killed a 
 thousand dollars; it would give to each injured miner $500, 
 and yet there would be a balance left of over $300,000.00. 
 The coal produced last year had a market value of $615,000,- 
 000.00. Two-thirds of one per cent of the market value of 
 that coal would give to the dependents of every miner who 
 has been killed $1,000.00, and $500.00 to every injured 
 miner. Gentlemen, that is not too much to ask. It is not 
 much to ask that the dependents of a man who has given his 
 life in the mine or the man who has been injured in the mine 
 should receive from that industry a fair compensation for 
 his life or for his injury. I'believe that each industry should 
 be charged with the responsibility of not only protecting 
 the men at work, but also providing for their families if they 
 are killed, or for them and their dependents if they are in- 
 jured. 
 
 It may seem an injustice to require one coal operator or 
 one coal company to pay the expense incurred by disaster at 
 the mines of another coal company, but unless that pro- 
 vision is made, then you might as well not provide for com- 
 pensation at all. 
 
 Let me illustrate. Let us assume that the mine of the 
 Pittsburgh and Buffalo Coal Company which blew up the 
 other day was the only mine that company had. Could they 
 compensate the men or the dependents of the men killed 
 there! Why, they would not have anything to do it with; 
 whereas if a tax were levied upon the entire coal industry 
 of the country or of the state of Pennsylvania, it would 
 amount to so little per ton that no one would feel it seri- 
 ously. You understand the difference between the compen- 
 sation laws of England and Germany. 
 
 In England if a man is killed the coal company employ- 
 
194 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 ing him must pay to his dependents an amount equal to 
 $1,500.00. There is no question of law about it, no question 
 of going to court about it; they have got to pay it. And if 
 a man is injured in one of their mines, even though his in- 
 jury is the result of contributory negligence, the coal com- 
 pany employing him must pay to him an amount equal to 
 half of what he would have earned each week, a sum not to 
 exceed $5.00 per week. In Germany if a man is killed in 
 the mines, or any industry, all the employers in that par- 
 ticular industry contribute to a fund from which the depend- 
 ents of that man are paid not only a specific sum at his 
 death, but a pension for the rest of their lives. Both in Eng- 
 land and Germany, when it was proposed to enact this law, 
 a protest went up that the enactment of such legislation 
 would lead to the destruction and bankruptcy of the indus- 
 try. As a matter of fact, in Great Britain the cost of pro- 
 viding for these death and accident payments has proven 
 less than the coal operators formerly paid for liability insur- 
 ance; and while I do not know the amount paid by the coal 
 companies in America for liability insurance, I believe it is 
 safe to say that they pay either for their insurance or in de- 
 fending suits for damages, more than one cent a ton. And 
 if it does cost them one cent a ton or one-half cent a ton 
 to pay for liability insurance and to defend suits against 
 them for damages, how much better would it be that the 
 money thus spent should be paid directly to the dependents 
 of a man who has been killed or to a man who has been in- 
 jured than given to some law firms and wasted in our courts. 
 I am told that in the city of New York seven- tenths of 
 all the time consumed by the judges of the Supreme court 
 is given to the hearing of suits for damages in cases of in- 
 jury. I say, gentlemen, it would be much to our credit, it 
 would be a great evidence of humanity, it would be an in- 
 dication of justice, if we should try to get together and fix 
 up some arrangement not only to prevent the terrible acci- 
 dents that have become so numerous that they no longer 
 shock the moral conscience of the people, but also to provide 
 in some manner to take care of these widows and orphans 
 
CONSERVATION IN THE COAL INDUSTRY. 195 
 
 and of the poor fellow who has been injured. If we should 
 do that in the mining industry we should do something that 
 would be an everlasting credit to us. 
 
 My friends, I have probably consumed more than my 
 measure of the time. But I feel very earnestly about this 
 matter. I feel keenly the fact that every year sees an in- 
 crease in the number of widows and orphans as the result 
 of mine disasters. And I want to predict now that unless 
 there is some change for the better, the miners are going to 
 stop appealing for relief; they are going to become indig- 
 nant at these unnecessary deaths and accidents. Of course 
 the man going down in the mine himself little thinks that 
 he may be the next he gets so accustomed to the danger 
 that he is not afraid of it. But with these explosions occur- 
 ring at frequent intervals and the great number of men 
 whose lives are lost something is going to be done to get 
 relief, and how much better it would be if in some sane and 
 economical way we could make provision for their safety; 
 make provision for them if injured and for others after they 
 are dead ! 
 
 The first thing to do is to give to the coal operators a 
 price for their product that will enable them not only to 
 take out all the coal in the ground, but also to provide for 
 the safety of the men and compensate the dependents of 
 those who are killed. I say that is the first thing; that the 
 large consumer shall pay more for coal and that" the in- 
 creased profits shall be used not only to pay good wages, to 
 give improved conditions of employment, also to provide 
 adequately for the victims of a restless progress. (Great 
 applause). 
 
The Installation of Electricity in Mines. 
 
 BY W. A. THOMAS, COMMERCIAL ENGINEER, WESTINGHOUSE 
 
 ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, 
 
 PITTSBURGH, PA. 
 
 It is not the intention of this paper to dwell upon the 
 general subject of the use of electricity in mining operations, 
 but to deal more particularly with the manner of installa- 
 tion and operation of electric conductors and apparatus in 
 underground mine workings. 
 
 While the suggestions offered can readily be applied to 
 the general mining work, they are made with more particu- 
 lar reference to the coal mining work, in connection with 
 which the matter of precautions for the safety of employes 
 and property is being given careful consideration at the 
 present time. 
 
 It is sometimes difficult to account for conditions which 
 have become more or less permanent. The mystery with 
 which electricity has been regarded has led to the custom 
 of attributing to it the responsibility for many actions sim- 
 ply because they could not otherwise be accounted for. 
 " Defective wiring " has long been the reason for fire in 
 buildings even though leaky gas pipes or oil lamps may have 
 been a factor in many cases. 
 
 In like manner has electricity been blamed for accidents 
 in coal mines, where many other causes might as consistent- 
 ly have been found. In some states the attitude of the jn- 
 spection department has been thought to be hostile to the use 
 of electricity in the mines, but it is more reasonable to be- 
 lieve that decisions which appear unfavorable are the result 
 of a failure to comprehend fully the results to be expected 
 from a given set of conditions. 
 
 In the sincere effort of the leading operators to deter- 
 mine precautionary measures for the safety of employes, the 
 question arises what, if any, are the limitations to be placed 
 on the use of electricity in the coal mines. In like manner, 
 the various commissions appointed to investigate the ques- 
 
THE INSTALLATION OP ELECTRICITY IN MINES. 197 
 
 tion of mine laws and regulations to safeguard the lives of 
 employes in mines, are confronted with the same question. 
 
 It is fully recognized by mine owners and operators 
 that some attempt at uniformity in methods should be es- 
 tablished regarding the manner of installing electricity. 
 This would have many beneficial results, important among 
 which are, first, a better understanding on the part of men 
 doing installation work of just how it should be done; sec- 
 ond, a more careful study would be made to determine the 
 best practice to follow under a given set of conditions ; third, 
 a uniform system of installing would train the miners where 
 to look for danger and what to expect in the way of results 
 from certain uniform causes. 
 
 Electricity has come to play so important a part in the 
 production of coal that most careful consideration should 
 be given to the question before establishing many "Thou 
 shalts ' ' and ' i Thou shalt nots, ' ' which may or may not have 
 the desired results. 
 
 The treatment of this question to date has been widely 
 different in different states, but it was hoped that the con- 
 ference of Governors of many coal producing states in Pitts- 
 burgh early in December would result in a more uniform 
 and satisfactory method of solving the question for all con- 
 ditions. 
 
 It is recognized that many of the suggested changes in 
 methods of mining must necessarily increase .the cost of 
 producing coal and to adopt these changes in one state and 
 not in another must necessarily work to the disadvantage 
 of the industry in the state making the most reforms. The 
 conference, therefore, of the various Governors of coal pro- 
 ducing states will doubtless be of far reaching benefit to the 
 industry. 
 
 In Ohio the inspection department, it is understood, 
 prepared and presented to the legislature and had estab- 
 lished, certain rules with reference to installing and operat- 
 ing electrical apparatus, which in their mind would prove 
 effective in safeguarding men and mules in the mines of that 
 state. Once established, these rules were found to be in- 
 effective and inoperative. In fact, the enforcement of some 
 
198 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 of them would render the mines in most cases more danger- 
 ous from other causes; for example, the cutting of a groove 
 in the roof deep enough to bring the trolley wire even with 
 the roof. 
 
 Discretionary power was then given the inspectors in 
 the matter of enforcing certain of the rules. Such a con- 
 dition always gives rise to a difference of opinion, and leaves 
 room for the fear of discrimination. 
 
 The question is now being considered by a commission 
 appointed from the ranks of the inspection department and 
 of the operators to settle upon just and consistent measures 
 which can be made effective. 
 
 In Pennsylvania there have been no rules of conse- 
 quence as applying to electrical installations, except in the 
 matter of their use in gaseous mines. There has been a 
 commission appointed by Governor Stuart for the revision 
 of the bituminous mine laws and they are considering care- 
 fully a set of rules to govern the installation and operation 
 of electricity in bituminous mines. 
 
 It is unofficially reported that the rules of the Govern- 
 ment of New South Wales are being used as a foundation 
 around which to formulate rules to apply to Pennsylvania 
 conditions. 
 
 The commission is composed of inspectors, coal oper- 
 ators and one representative of the miners ' organization. 
 They have consulted frequently with electrical engineers 
 from the mines and from the prominent manufacturers of 
 electrical apparatus for mine work and consulting electrical 
 engineers, and if the advice of these men be followed, the 
 rules cannot but be beneficial in arriving at the desired ends. 
 
 In West Virginia apparently no definite rules have been 
 established to govern the use of electricity, but the operators 
 appreciate the desirability of establishing standard methods 
 and practices in new installations. 
 
 Mr. W. H. Keller, chief electrician of the New River 
 Collieries Company, in his paper before the West Virginia 
 Mining Association at Charleston, W. Va., October 7th, 
 dealt with this subject in an able and skillful manner. Mr. 
 Keller pointed out that the inspection department should 
 
THE INSTALLATION OF ELECTRICITY IN MINES. 199 
 
 have been skilled in electrical matters in order to render de- 
 cisions which would be fair and consistent. He also brought 
 out the fact that the next step would be the establish- 
 ment of rules and standards to be applied to all mines of the 
 state. To use Mr. Keller 's words : 
 
 "Standardizing of methods and materials and laws 
 governing same has the effect, (1) of reducing to a minimum 
 the danger to life and limb, (2) of educating the employe 
 to a more systematic method of performing all kinds of 
 work, and obtaining from him the highest efficiency, (3) of 
 enabling the owner to operate his plant with a minimum 
 investment in spare parts, (4) permitting the operator to 
 contract for material in quantities at an attractive price. 
 
 If the mining department employed skilled and ex- 
 perienced electrical men, competent to judge in matters of 
 this kind, it would even then be difficult to render just de- 
 cisions without some general rules which were recognized 
 as standard. 
 
 If this is true, how then under the present conditions 
 can the mining department expect, with justice, to govern 
 the use of this most important factor in the greatest industry 
 in our state? 
 
 If I were to offer a few general rules governing the in- 
 stallation of electricity, I would offer as a safe voltage any- 
 thing up to 600 volts direct current. 
 
 In making specifications it is not within the province 
 of the electrician alone to decide which mines should or 
 should not have electric installations, but mines should be 
 classified as follows: 
 
 (1) Gaseous mines in which the volume of inflam- 
 mable gas generated is such that no electrical equipment 
 except signal and telephone lines carrying not over 20 volts 
 may be installed. 
 
 (2) Gaseous mines where the volume of inflammable 
 gas generated is so small that it may be good practice to 
 install safety lamps and safety powders, but will not pre- 
 clude the installation of electric haulage, electric pumps on 
 the entries, and mining machines and gathering locomotives 
 in rooms when the power is transmitted from the haulage 
 
200 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 entry to the machine or gathering locomotive over a well in- 
 sulated single or twin conductor cable, the exposed wiring 
 and main haulages being principally in the intake airway. 
 
 (3) Non-gaseous mines where electric machinery op- 
 erated with direct current, 600 volts or less, may be in- 
 stalled. 
 
 Having decided the question of installing power, a few 
 rules as follows would put the equipment in safe condition. 
 I say a safe condition, that applies to the general run of 
 men. I have seen a few fools who touched wires charged 
 with various voltages just to see what they would do. 
 
 Tracks should be bonded in an approved manner and 
 regularly inspected to see if bonds are in place. Should 
 be cross bonded every two hundred feet. Should be cross 
 bonded around switches. Where water, air or steam pipes 
 parallel track they should be bonded to track, and pipe 
 should be bonded around flanged joints. This not only 
 helps the return circuit, but prevents electrolysis. If it is 
 necessary to use a return wire in addition to rail, the wire 
 should be connected to the cross bonds by an approved con- 
 nector. 
 
 Wires. No permanent wire, either feed or trolley, 
 transmitting 600 volts or less should be insulated, as the 
 mine air soon affects the insulation so it does not insulate. 
 Men are liable to be deceived, believing they are handling 
 an insulated wire. It is better to teach men to keep hands 
 off all wires. 
 
 Trolley wires should be erected at a uniform height 
 from the rail and a uniform distance, about six inches, out- 
 side the outer edge of the rail. As a guide to men traveling 
 on the main road, lights should be placed and maintained 
 every 200 feet to show which side of the entry supports the 
 trolley wire. 
 
 Where trolley wires cross the main heading they should 
 be protected by an inverted wooden trough and lights put 
 at both ends of the trough. 
 
 Switches should be of an approved type in boxes. 
 
 Each motor and each locomotive should have an en- 
 closed copper wire fuse on the main circuit. 
 
THE INSTALLATION OF ELECTRICITY IN MINES. 201 
 
 Pump motors, fan motors, car haul motors, rotary con- 
 verters or any other form of stationary motors should have 
 the frame grounded in an approved manner. 
 
 Controller frames on electric locomotives should be 
 grounded to locomotive frame. 
 
 Lightning arresters should be placed at the entrance of 
 the mine. 
 
 All high tension insulated cables should be provided 
 with static arresters or have steel or lead covered cables 
 grounded. 
 
 Where mining machines or drills are used in rooms the 
 frame of motors should be grounded to frame of machine 
 and machine connected to return circuit. 
 
 Where it is necessary to install wires in rooms, have 
 an approved automatic cut-out or switch, and have in- 
 stalled in the rooms in view of miner two lamps in multiple. 
 
 All roads over which locomotives operate should be 
 kept clean down to top of ties and drained. 
 
 Where mines are ventilated by electric fans an alarm 
 should be so arranged in the power house that when fan 
 stops the power house engineer will get a signal. If the 
 mine is gaseous he should have instructions to cut power off 
 the mine at once and immediately start an investigation as 
 to cause of fan stopping and, if it cannot be immediately 
 started, notify the mine foreman so that the men may be 
 gotten out as soon as possible. Too many automatic de- 
 vices create a degree of carelessness that must be avoided. 
 
 As much as possible fan circuits should be separate 
 from all other circuits inside or outside the mines. Start- 
 ing devices should be arranged to either automatically start 
 the fan in the fan house or have the power house engineer 
 start it in the power house. 
 
 The remedy lies not in the prevention of the installation 
 of electrical appliances for electricity is an important 
 agent in the coal industry but in regulating the installa- 
 tion of same. Eegulations and standards should be adopted, 
 but only after thorough investigation by men of training 
 and experience, ' ? 
 
202 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 The three foreign mining experts, Messrs. Watteyne, 
 Meissner and Desborough, who were requested to investi- 
 gate conditions in our mines, were present at the meetings 
 when Mr. Keller delivered his paper. Their report is now 
 published in the form of Bulletin No. 369 by the U. S. Geo- 
 logical Survey, from which the following is quoted: 
 
 "Electricity in mining operations offers so many ad- 
 vantages, and has been so generally adopted, that no reason- 
 onable objection can be made to its use under proper re- 
 strictions. The electrical equipment, however, should be 
 installed, maintained, and operated with great care, 'and so 
 safeguarded as to minimize danger from fire or shock. The 
 fact that the effectiveness of some insulating materials is 
 soon destroyed in most mines should not be lost sight of. ' ' 
 
 They recommend 650 volts direct current and 500 vnlts 
 alternating current as limitation of voltage for underground 
 distribution of electric power. 
 
 This is in line with the New South Wales rules and 
 seems to meet with favor both in the United States and 
 Mexico. 
 
 Similar discussion and action seems to be going on in 
 Mexico and it is probable that rules will shortly be estab- 
 lished there by the Government to guide the operators and 
 ? nspectors in the use of electricity in all classes of mining 
 work. 
 
 A careful study of the New South Wales rules shows 
 that a great many regulations deal with probabilities of de- 
 fects in the insulation of feeder wires. The experience of 
 mining men in the United States seems to be general in find- 
 ing a greater degree of safety in using bare feeders which 
 are known to all to be alive and to be let alone by other than 
 those men whose duty it is to see to them. 
 
 In the use of insulated wires in the average mines they 
 are safe to touch and handle until such time, and short it is 
 too, when the insulation becomes damaged and then like 
 "the gun that was not loaded " they become dangerous with 
 careless handling. 
 
 It is unquestionably better practice to use bare feeders 
 up to 300 volts $nd, until some insulation is developed com-, 
 
THE INSTALLATION OF ELEC/RICITY IN MINES. 203 
 
 mercially that will withstand mine water better than the 
 present rubber-covered wires, 500 to 600 volt feeders should 
 preferably be installed bare and so located as to guarantee 
 the greatest amount of safety. 
 
 In general, it is recognized that electricity as a motive 
 power has come to stay in the mines of the United States 
 and it is desirable that more uniform practices be obtained 
 and a greater degree of skill be employed in its use and in 
 deciding questions of moment pertaining thereto. 
 
 Coincident with the adoption of uniform standards in 
 installation and operation, steps should be taken to provide 
 the state mining departments with men especially skilled in 
 the use of electricity in the mines. 
 
 The action of the Technologic branch of the U. S. 
 Geological Survey in endeavoring to obtain the most skilled 
 man possible to assist in their investigations, is one which 
 could with profit be followed by the State Mining Depart- 
 ments. The Federal Government cannot render too much 
 aid in the researches they are making. On the other hand, 
 the states should be equipped with the best talent possible 
 to interpret these results and apply them to every day de- 
 cisions in the field where they are endeavoring to safeguard 
 life and property. 
 
A Brief Statement of the Rising Importance of 
 the Rare Element. 
 
 BY DR. HERMAN FLECK, PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY, COLORADO 
 SCHOOL OF MINES, GOLDEN, COLO. 
 
 A glance at the list of elements quickly reveals the fact 
 that in the last two decades the term "rare metal" has gone 
 to the scrap heap along with "catalytic action" and some 
 other terms familiarly purred twenty years ago. Nor does 
 the reason lie in the fact that twenty years ago the great 
 thinking chemists abroad were deploring the rage of or- 
 ganic chemistry endowed with its beautiful exactness of 
 analogy. What exponents of inorganic work there were, 
 contentedly chose the familiar paths and carefully avoided 
 the stubborn rare element. At that time some of us recall 
 the childish wonder excited by the properties of aluminum, 
 just emerging from under cover of the Castner process, soon, 
 however, to be placed together with every-day matter by 
 the rapid use made of this metal and the birth of the mod- 
 ern electric furnace, which produced it cheaply and in large 
 quantities. Aluminum was a rare metal in those days. 
 Boron, silicon, titanium and chromium metals were very 
 rarely seen except in museums, and tungsten, molybdenum, 
 vanadium and uranium were simply names which glorified 
 their discoverers. 
 
 A remarkable change has taken place since then; a ton 
 of tungsten metal or vanadium metal is bought and sold 
 with the stolidity which marks an ordinary trade and no 
 one is astonished except the one who at an earlier period 
 was taught to hallow these names. 
 
 Since then the world has become "light mad"; the 
 "speed mania" demands tougher and more resisting steel 
 and still tougher and more resisting tools with which to 
 work it; a keen grasp of the economical plan of building 
 upwards instead of sidewise demands a structural iron of 
 hitherto unheard of qualities and the electric furnace and 
 thermit process have made such things possible. Thus van- 
 
THE RISING IMPORTANCE OP THE RARE ELEMENT. 205 
 
 ishes the fear of the purists of the past. In various ways 
 inorganic chemistry has again reached its high pedestal and 
 not least among the causes for this is the utilization of the 
 rare metals which are now found in astonishing quantities. 
 Among the first in the rank of deserters was the element 
 zirconium. Its use in the modified Drummond light is now 
 a matter of historical interest. 
 
 The importance to the coal gas industry of the discov 
 eries of Auer von Welsbach may be summed up in th 
 statement that it assured a new lease of life for this product 
 as illuminant. The rapid progress of electric incandescent 
 lighting had already begun to make inroads on this indus- 
 try. In principle there was nothing new, for it was well 
 known that certain substances like lime, oxide of zirconium 
 and platinum glowed with brilliancy when a hot flame im- 
 pinged on them. Welsbach ? s real service was the concep- 
 tion of the mantle glower, which now consumes immense 
 quantities of monazite sands, which replaced the less ex- 
 tensive thoria earths of Norway first used. Nitrate of tho- 
 rium is the base of this product. In a few years the price 
 of this article fell from $200.00 per pound to about $4.00 per 
 pound. 
 
 In 1906 the monazite output of the United States from 
 the Carolinas was 846,175 pounds sand, valued at $152,312, 
 corresponding to a price of 18 cents per pound. In 1907 
 the output was smaller and brought about six to eight cents 
 less per pound. The thoria contents vary from three to 
 nine per cent. The area of production is 3,500 square miles 
 and includes eleven counties in North Carolina and seven 
 in South Carolina. In addition to this there is a large Bra- 
 zilian output, controlled by German capitalists. 
 
 The by-products from the thoria extraction have as yet 
 not found much commercial application, but at present lib- 
 eral quantities of these are offered research workers whose 
 results will no doubt soon dispose of them with profit. 
 
 What Welsbach did for gas, Dr. Walther Nernst has 
 done for electricity. Nernst 's first patents appeared in 
 1898, but the Nernst lamp as it is now manufactured by the 
 thousands, is the result of several years' work after this 
 
206 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 date. The principal of the lamp depends on the conduc- 
 tivity of a filament of rare earth oxides at a temperature of 
 600 degrees Centigrade. To fit the filament for the passage 
 of the current then, a device is necessary to bring it to the 
 proper temperature. This is done by means of an attached 
 platinum wire whose resistance to the current heats the fila- 
 ment, which then glows. Thereupon the initial conductor 
 is automatically shut off. 
 
 To prepare this filament the earlier patents state, 
 eighty parts zirconium oxide, ten parts erbium and ten parts 
 yttrium oxide are prepared with clear starch into a plaster, 
 which is then pressed into filaments and baked. To supply 
 the materials for these filaments, zircon and gadolinite are 
 used. Zircon is obtained from the deposits in Henderson 
 county, North Carolina, and the gadolinite is obtained from 
 the deposits occurring in a pegmatite dyke at Barringer 
 Hill, Llano county, Texas. The property now belongs to 
 the Nernst Lamp Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 
 
 A new kind of steel came into use in 1900. This is 
 known as high speed steel, which has the following ad- 
 vantage over ordinary carbon steel. The ordinary lathe 
 tool made from the latter, when working on mild steel, 
 wrought iron or soft cast iron, will not endure a speed of 
 over fifteen feet per minute adjusted to standard cut. But 
 an addition of 1 to 3.5 per cent of chromium and 5 to 17 per 
 cent of tungsten or of tungsten alone will permit a speed as 
 high at. ninety feet per minute, at which point its tempera- 
 ture will verge on the dull red heat. The economical ad- 
 vantage of such a product, which depends on the metal 
 tungsten for these qualities, are at once appreciated. 
 Tungsten finds some minor uses in the arts. The fine colors 
 of the compounds of tungsten, so-called tungsten bronzes 
 and the variegated shades of the different states of oxida- 
 tion of tungsten are made use of in form of pigment and 
 glaze or glass coloring material respectively. By far the 
 greater demand for the metal is that of the tool steel manu- 
 facture For this purpose the raw material, chiefly wol- 
 framite, produced in the United States in 1907 amounted 
 to. 1,640 tons, valued at $890,048.00. Boulder county, Colo- 
 
THE RISING IMPORTANCE OF THE RARE ELEMENT. 207 
 
 rado, produced most of this, while smaller amounts were 
 produced in California, Arizona, Montana, Nevada and 
 Washington. This raw material represents in round num- 
 bers about 650 tons of tungsten metal. 
 
 The metal appears in two forms on the market, namely, 
 tungsten powder and ferro -tungsten. The former is made 
 by a complicated chemical process, as a steel grey powder, 
 and is preferred in Germany and America. English manu- 
 facturers prefer the ferro alloy, which ranges in tungsten 
 contents from 25 per cent to 75 per cent. This is made usu- 
 ally by direct reduction in the electric furnace. Aside from 
 cost and greater tendency to oxidation of the powdered 
 form, there appears to be little choice. 
 
 Molybdenum is a fellow to tungsten. It is used for 
 practically the same purposes, but in tool steel composition 
 it replaces tungsten metal about one to two. 
 
 Molybdenum is marketed in the form of the two min- 
 erals, molybdenite, the sulphide ore, and the wulfenite, or 
 lead molybdate. The first is the more important and strong- 
 ly resembles graphite in appearance. It occurs disseminated 
 through the crystalline rocks, principally granite, gneiss and 
 seyenite. The New South Wales deposits have been promi- 
 nent in their production. Wherever the mineral is dissemi- 
 nated in form of films in the rock seams, and this appears 
 to be by far the greater kind, the concentration of it has so 
 far proved unsatisfactory. The metallurgy consists of the 
 preparation of concentrates by hand sorting, air blast, oil 
 or electrostatic methods. The metal and its ferro alloy are 
 made by reduction of the oxide which results on roasting. 
 
 Sources of molybdenite in the United States are the 
 deposits at Crown Point, Chelan county Washington, and 
 at Cooper, Washington county, Maine. 
 
 And finally, heralded as the specific for the ills of iron, 
 comes vanadium. 
 
 This element occurs quite widely distributed. In fact, 
 it has been discovered in traces in many of our metamorphic 
 rocks. Many clays and iron ores contain it in appreciable 
 quantities and the ashes of coal carry it so frequently that 
 some speculation has arisen over the part vanadiferous coals 
 
208 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 play in the origin of known vanadium deposits. The supe- 
 rior qualities belonging to Swedish steel are said to be due 
 to a small quantity, .05 per cent, of vanadium. In concen- 
 trated form, however, vanadium occurs in few localities, the 
 most important of which is that discovered in 1906 at Min- 
 asragra. Peru. In the cretaceous sedimentaries there occur 
 a series of eruptive dykes which at the point of greatest fre- 
 quency show outcrop so far traced for about 400 feet. The 
 ore body is about eight feet thick and contains vanadium 
 to the extent of about sixteen per cent in form of sulphide, 
 named patronite. The supply is reported as inexhaustible 
 and yet vanadium alloys cost $5.00 per pound of vanadium 
 present There is good opportunity at this price for com- 
 petition from domestic ores, notably the large deposits of 
 vanadiam mica at Placerville, San Miguel county, and the 
 large bodies of uranium-vanadium ore carnotite of San Mi- 
 guel and Montrose counties, Colorado, and Grand county 
 adjoining in Utah. At Placerville the ore occurs as rosco- 
 elite, vanadium mica, in the La Plata sandstones above the 
 lime stone. The ore is readily sorted to contain about four 
 or five per cent vanadium oxide. So far it appears that 
 the treatment of this ore and carnotite has not met with 
 success. France imports considerable vanadium in form of 
 ramirite an arseno-phospho-vanadate of lead, from Char- 
 cas, state of San Luis, Potosi, Mexico. 
 
 The metal is silvery white, has a specific gravity of 
 about 5.6 and its melting point is higher than that of plati- 
 num. Its use in the Siemen 's glow lamps has been recorded. 
 By far the greater amount of vanadium is made in form of 
 ferro- vanadium, an alloy of approximately two parts of iron 
 and one part of vanadium. This alloy melts readily and is 
 easily incorporated into fluid steel, on which first and fore- 
 most it has a cleansing action. A strong affinity for oxygen 
 and nitrogen, the occlusion of which is now realized to ex- 
 ert a powerful influence on the physical properties, cleanses 
 the iron of these poisons and sweeps them with part of the 
 vanadium into the slag. The remainder, a quantity usually 
 not greater than two-tenths of one per cent, is assimilated 
 
THE RISING IMPORTANCE OF THE RARE ELEMENT. 209 
 
 and the combined effects show a remarkable rise in the elas- 
 tic limit, resistance to wear under repeated strain and shock, 
 known as fatigue. Illustrations of these superior qualities 
 over other steels are the following: 
 
 A sample of vanadium steel was tested on a vibratory 
 stress machine. Several samples of carbon steel all broke af- 
 ter 20,000 revolutions. The vanadium steel endured 100,000,- 
 000 and remained unbroken. The elastic limit of vanadium 
 steel is about three times that of ordinary structural steel. 
 The limits for tempering are made wider, an advantage 
 readily recognized. Eesistance to shock is shown in the fol- 
 lowing tests: 
 
 A sample of carbon steel withstood a blow of 11 ft. 
 pounds. A sample of nickel steel withstood a blow of 14 
 ft. pounds. A sample of vanadium steel withstood a blow 
 of 17 ft. pounds. With the shock made less violent but 
 repeated, the carbon steel withstood 25, the nickel steel 35, 
 and the vanadium steel 69 blows. Gradually raising the 
 number of blows, but decreasing their intensity, the steel 
 withstood 6,000, the nickel steel 10,000, the vanadium steel 
 67,000. Judicious admixture of chromium and vanadium 
 or of nickel and vanadium show decided advantages over 
 the metals used alone. 
 
 Truly this element may well be called the king among 
 alloys. 
 
 Uranium has been given more attention in the last ten 
 years than any other rare metal, and this is principally on 
 account of its relation to radium and not its com- 
 mercial aspect. Much study has -been made of uranium 
 with the idea of increasing its usefulness in the arts. As a 
 ferro alloy its use has not met with encouragement but 
 there is a good, steady demand for its compounds, the oxide 
 and the sodium uranate in coloring glass and porcelain. To 
 glass it imparts a fluorescent green tinge which indeed is a 
 characteristic property of many uranium salts. Due to the 
 formation of a velvety black oxide when reduced, its use in 
 coloring porcelain black has been long known. The greater 
 supply still comes from the Bohemjaft pitchblende from the 
 
210 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 residues of which radium was produced in quantities of suf- 
 ficient amount to make its study possible. Colorado is the 
 chief producer of uranium in the United States. A shipment 
 of pitchblende valued at about $25,000.00 was made not 
 long ago from Gilpin County. Compounds of uranium and 
 high grade ore. valued at $50,000.00 have been shipped from 
 the Dolores region of San Miguel and Montrose Counties. 
 The ore there is the canary-yellow carnotite of which there 
 is an abundance in form of low grade material. The re- 
 covery of the uranium and vanadium values from these de- 
 posits involves some fine problems. 
 
 Another rare element of rising importance to the iron 
 industry is titanium which in the form of ferro alloys is 
 manufactured by the Goldschmidt process. A small amount, 
 .5% to 2%, introduced into both coke and charcoal iron 
 materially raises the tensile strength. Titanium in form of 
 oxide has been used quite extensively in the manufacture of 
 artificial teeth into the composition of which it is intro- 
 duced. 
 
 And still the introduction of the rare elements to prac- 
 tical use continues. Selenium recovered from the copper 
 slimes of the electrolytic refineries sells at $2.00 per pound, 
 and the demand is good. One plant disposes of about two 
 tons per month. No doubt the peculiar property possessed 
 by this non-metallic element, that of increased electric con- 
 ductivity under the influence of light, is the basis of its use. 
 
 Tantalite and columbite are now eagerly sought for 
 their tantalum contents and this is the result of the in- 
 creased efficiency of the tantalum filament lamp, the in- 
 vention of Dr. Werner von Bolton. The discovery and des- 
 cription of pure metallic tantalum are only a small part of 
 the seven years of research which gave us the tantalum 
 lamp. 
 
 The commercial values of other rare elements will force 
 them into use from their obscurity and new properties of 
 those now in use will increase their demand and output. 
 The rare metal has a firm hold upon the attention of the 
 miners ancl metallurgists and it enters the curriculum of 
 
THE RISING IMPORTANCE OP THE RARE ELEMENT. 211 
 
 technical school with a newer meaning not to be despised 
 when placed beside the commoner ores and metals. 
 
 The author desires to express his thanks to the Vana- 
 dium Alloys Company of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the data on 
 physical properties of vanadium steel. 
 
Tariff on Zinc Ore*. 
 
 BY S. DUFFIELD MITCHELL, CARTHAGE, MO. 
 
 At the annual session of this Congress held in Novem- 
 ber, 1907, at Joplin, Missouri, I had the honor to deliver an 
 address upon this same subject. The same facts and argu- 
 ments which were then announced can, in the light of a 
 year's experience, be urged today with double force and 
 effect in favor of an adequate specific duty on all zinc ores. 
 While we have passed through a year's severe commercial 
 depression and the zinc mining industry in Joplin has suf- 
 fered cruel stagnation, we are confronted with the unde- 
 niable fact that but for imports of Mexican ore during the 
 years of 1907 and 1908 a much larger percentage of our 
 mines and mills would have been in continuous operation 
 for the past year and the average ore prices would have 
 been higher. ' 
 
 So convinced have become the operators of mines and 
 business men of the Joplin district that certain smelters 
 were seeking undue advantage over the domestic zinc miner 
 in depressing ore prices by importing Mexican zinc ore, that 
 they have organized the Zinc Ore Tariff Club, whose propa- 
 ganda is to teach tariff on zinc ore by facts and figures. It 
 is doing a splendid work and is reaching out in influence to 
 the farthermost corners of the country. 
 
 The tariff case of the United States vs. Brewster, which 
 one year ago was on appeal from the Board of General Ap- 
 praisers before the Circuit Court of the U. S. at Laredo, 
 Texas, was decided on April 21st, 1908. The government 
 lost in every contention; the Board of General Appraisers 
 was fully sustained. Briefly stated, the Court held that 
 calamine (which under paragraph 514 of the Dingley Bill is 
 admitted free) includes both the silicates and both the car- 
 bonates of zinc; that calamine, therefore, is not only the 
 hydrosilicate of zinc, as contended for by the government; 
 that sulphide zinc ores are not dutiable under paragraph 
 183 of the said act, as "metallic mineral substances in a 
 
TARIFF ON ZINC ORES. 213 
 
 crude state/' because the free native metal is not to be 
 found in the ore; and last that paragraph 614, which places 
 on the free list "minerals, crude, or not advanced in value 
 or condition by refining or grinding, or by other process of 
 manufacture, ' ' includes all zinc ores, because the quarrying 
 of Mexican ores, the breaking apart by hammer the valu- 
 able ore and the waste rock and the sorting of the same by 
 hand is not a process of manufacture, but is done merely 
 for the purpose of reducing freight rates. 
 
 It is difficult to comprehend the mental processes used 
 in reaching this decision ; but as a final test of the question, 
 the government has appealed the case to the U. S. Circuit 
 Court of Appeals and the appeal is now pending at New 
 Orleans, awaiting argument at an early date. 
 
 However, if the government should win in the Circuit 
 Court of Appeals, the victory would be fruitless, either as 
 affording revenue to the government or protection to the 
 zinc mine operators. This is so, because 20% ad valorem 
 duty on ore, valued at 10 or 15 dollars per ton is a delusion, 
 viewed from either standpoint. 
 
 Last year I advocated a duty of 1 cent per pound upon 
 the metallic contents of all zinc ores. Today I am thor- 
 oughly convinced that 1% cents duty per pound upon such 
 contents is absolutely necessary to lift the zinc mining busi- 
 ness from the l i slough of despond ' ' and to establish it upon 
 a plane" of fixed and stable prices. 
 
 Last June I addressed the Engineers ' Society of Joplin 
 upon the general subject of Mexican ore imports and the 
 zinc ore tariff. My "false conclusions" and "mis-state- 
 ments" ( to use his definition) were so marked as to require 
 a public answer before the same society by Mr. A. B. Cock- 
 erill, of Nevada, Missouri. After his persuasive talk, it ap- 
 peared that this country does not and cannot produce 
 enough zinc ore to supply the smelters for manufacturing 
 spelter; that the smelters were required to go to Mexico to 
 secure the ore deficiency and until the domestic ore pro- 
 ducers can materially increase their production, Mexican 
 ore must be imported. Mr. Cockerill, however, admitted 
 that Mexican ore can be purchased, relatively speaking, so 
 
214 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 much more cheaply than Joplin ore, that there is much more 
 profit in smelting it, than our ore. His kindly advice was 
 to close down all our mines until spelter reached a sufficient 
 price to enable the smelter to pay us $40.00 base price. In 
 view of the fact that he proposed to continue the importa- 
 tion of his Mexican ores the "gall and worm-wood" of his 
 proposition were at once so apparent to the local ore pro- 
 ducers, that that night marked the birth of the agitation for 
 a tariff on zinc ores. Mr. Cockerill 's admissions, wrung from 
 him most unwillingly, were the most potent arguments that 
 any one had advanced, that an adequate specific duty on 
 zinc ores is absolutely necessary if that great industry is to 
 survive and prosper. 
 
 The claim of the smelters that for the first half of the 
 year, 1908, the depressed ore prices were due entirely to the 
 large stock of surplus spelter carried over from the year 
 1907 may well be true, but the surprising fact is, that the 
 tonnage of that surplus almost exactly equaled the tonnage 
 of spelter derived from all ore imported during the year 
 1907. The difference was less than 249 tons. In other 
 words, foreign ore produced 26,115 tons of spelter and the 
 surplus stock was 26,364 tons, according to the U. S. Geolog- 
 ical Survey. The Engineering and Mining Journal and the 
 U. S. Geological Survey both agree upon the main fact of 
 this proposition. The conclusion is therefore irresistible, 
 that had there been no importations of foreign ore, either 
 there would have been no surplus stock of spelter to bear 
 domestic ore prices, or the domestic mines would have been 
 operated to produce that surplus. Thirty thousand tons of 
 surplus spelter would have required the production of 60,000 
 tons of Joplin ore. This would have kept all our mines 
 running single shift for twelve weeks. As about half the 
 mines were operating all last winter and spring, it would 
 have kept all our mines running all that time, and our 
 miners and employes well employed. With the conditions 
 of other zinc mining districts of the U. S., other than Joplin, 
 I am not familiar. 
 
 This district is essentially a "poor man's camp." The 
 
TARIFF ON ZINC ORES. 215 
 
 poor man began in 1873 to develope the zinc mining indus- 
 try and with what marvelous results ! 
 
 From 1873 to 1894 the district produced 1,399,720 tons 
 of zinc ore valued at $26,520,727, and prior to 1890 the Jop- 
 lin district produced 425,000 tons of lead, whose value I 
 have been unable to ascertain. These were the days of rich 
 pocket formations; shallow diggings; crude mining meth- 
 ods; and low ore prices. 
 
 From 1895 to 1899 the district produced 967,339 tons 
 of zinc ore and 139,695 tons of lead ore of a total valuation 
 of $30,194,760. 
 
 From 1900 to November 8th, 1908, the district produced 
 2,490,828 tons of zinc ore of the value of $82,984,563 and 
 304,682 tons of lead ore worth $17,679,708. In other words, 
 according to records of actual values above given, this re- 
 markable district in 35 years has dug from the earth lead 
 ore and zinc ore values of over $157,000,000, and it is safe 
 to say that the ore values exceed $175,000,000. 
 
 It is a surprising statement to make, but it is neverthe- 
 less true, that for the years 1906 and 1907 the value of the 
 ore production of the Joplin district exceeded $15,000,000 
 for each year and the value of the gold production for 1906 
 of California was only $18,800,000. 
 
 In place of the horse "bolster" and the hand jig of the 
 early days, and of the diminutive 75 or 100 ton mill of ten 
 years ago, we have today the 250 to 500 ton mill, equipped 
 with air compressor plants, machine drills, high speed 
 hoists and all the elaborate machinery to effect the closest 
 saving of ore values. Then, too, a minute system of ac- 
 counting is kept and costs are properly divided and kept 
 down to the lowest figure. This modern milling and busi- 
 ness practice is now necessary, because the bulk of our 
 mines are in the hard "sheet ground." 
 
 When the rich shallow pockets were mined the life of 
 them was vexatiously problematical. The owner might be 
 "in clover" this week, next week nothing but blind walls 
 might be seen. 
 
 With the sheet ground deposits, the proposition is dif- 
 ferent, They are vastly extended bodies of lower grade ore. 
 
216 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 By the use of a churn drill, the operator can prospect his 
 land and he usually finds the ore covering a large area. But 
 he must be contented with ore which will mill from 4 to 6 
 per cent, of concentrates. 
 
 The sheet ground deposits have been largely developed 
 from the year 1904. Their development was stimulated by 
 the high prices offered by the smelters the latter part of 
 
 1904, the whole of 1905 and the good prices of 1906 and the 
 first half of 1907. 
 
 Today and in the future the sheet ground deposits must 
 be the ' ' back-bone ' ' of the Joplin zinc ore production. It is 
 probable that these deposits are practically inexhaustible. 
 
 Menace of Mexican Ore. 
 
 What is the menace of Mexican zinc ore importations? 
 It is what the future has in store for us, compared with 
 what the past has shown. Competent judges who have vis- 
 ited the field, affirm that a territory 600 miles long and 50 
 or more miles wide, is rich in all zinc ores. A prominent 
 smelter official says that a million tons of sulphide zinc ores 
 in Chihuahua alone can be developed and soon placed upon 
 the market. The carbonate deposits are practically inex- 
 haustible. All that is needed is the conquering hand of 
 man, to develop these vast mineral resources and build 
 lateral railroads to make them immediately available to 
 the U. S. smelters. American capital will readily furnish 
 the financial sinews of war. 
 
 What has been the manace of Mexican zinc ore? In 
 
 1905, 41,000 tons were shipped to the U. S.; in 1906, 90,000 
 tons; in 1907, 108,000 tons; and in 1908 almost 50,000 tons, 
 a grand total of almost 290,000 tons; this ore averages 
 about 40% metallic contents. Translate that into 60% Jop- 
 lin ore. We have 192,000 tons. The average Joplin ore 
 price for the years 1905 to 1908, inclusive, has been about 
 $42.00 base for 60% ore. That means that had the Joplin 
 district been required to produce that ore, it would have re- 
 quired 32 weeks to do it; that the ore would have been 
 worth over $8,000,000, in point of production to this district; 
 that labor would have received about $3,600,000 more in 
 
TARIFF ON ZINC ORES. 217 
 
 wages; and, assuming that the average man works 300 days 
 per year at a daily wage of $3,00, it proves that 4,000 miners 
 have been unemployed for one year and that 9,000 to 12,000 
 dependents have suffered a skimp livelihood, for the benefit 
 of the Mexican "greaser." 
 
 The above figures of Mexican zinc ore imports are taken 
 from Mineral Industry. They are gleaned from reports 
 given by the smelters and in some instances largely exceed 
 the government official figures. Can it be that large quan- 
 tities of zinc ore are invoiced as lead ore; are so imported 
 and classified; and are paying a paltry duty under para- 
 graph 181 of the Dingley Act upon the insignificant lead 
 contents only ? 
 
 The Possible Menace of the World's Production of Zinc Ore. 
 
 Last year I took occasion to call attention to the large 
 zinc ore contents in the tailing piles of the Broken Hill Dis- 
 trict of Australia and stated that it was estimated that the 
 holdings of the " syndicate " would produce 900,000 tons of 
 zinc ore. Mineral Industry for 1907 at page 917 states that 
 in 1906 that district exported 103,665 tons of concentrates 
 and in 1907 the export was 237,218 tons. This ore went to 
 Europe; but with low water charges there is a chance that 
 the U. S. may offer a profitable market. 
 
 Along the Cape to Cairo railroad in Africa are deposits 
 of zinc ore which rival in some ways those of Mexico. A 
 writer in a recent publication described the hills of lead and 
 zinc, which "rise right up out of the plains like mounds, 
 each independent of the other." He described seven in 
 sight of Broken Hill Camp, in Australia. In one, the lead in 
 a tunnel is 58% pure and the zinc over 8%. Another hill is 
 ninety feet high and about 300 feet in diameter, and it con- 
 tains ore of zinc containing 35% to 40% metal. It is esti- 
 mated that the main body has over 400,000 tons of zinc ore, 
 and that there are 300,000 tons more above the water level, 
 which occurs sixteen feet below the surface. 
 
 These deposits of zinc ore are not likely at once to com- 
 pete directly with our domestic mines; but the time may 
 come when they may compete with Mexico in the markets 
 
218 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 of Europe, and if Mexican ore be not shut out of the U. S., 
 by a substantial tariff duty, the whole vast Mexican zinc ore 
 deposits will be dumped into the U. S. 
 
 It is quite within the range of probability that the Aus- 
 tralian and African zinc ores may seek a market in the 
 United States. 
 
 This theory will be later developed. As showing the 
 largely distributed areas of the world's supply of zinc ores, 
 I quote at some length from Mineral Industry, 1907, at page 
 916: 
 
 " During the last few years, especially during 1906 and 
 1907, conditions have been developing in the zinc industry 
 of the world, which are of supreme importance. This re- 
 lates particularly to the enormous increase in the supply of 
 ore offered to the smelters. New South Wales and Mexico, 
 the former gradually and the latter suddenly, have devel- 
 oped into producers of the zinc ore of the first magnitude. 
 The exportation of zinc ore in New South Wales in 1907 
 amounted to 237,218 long tons, against 103,665 long tons in 
 1906, and 103,000 tons in 1905, but going behind the face of 
 the returns, it appears that there was a considerable in- 
 crease in 1906 because of the better grade of ore produced, 
 the estimated yield of spelter from the ore exported having 
 been 33,427 tons in 1906, against 30,637 tons in 1905. Amer- 
 ican smelters received from Mexico 108,800 short tons of ore 
 in 1907, against 88,900 in 1906, 32,164 in 1905, and practi- 
 cally none in 1904. Some Mexican ore also was exported to 
 Europe. Besides these large new supplies, European smelt- 
 ers have been recently obtaining a good deal of ore from 
 other new countries, such as Japan (where zinc smelting 
 works are now being erected), China, and Turkey; while in 
 1906, a considerable supply of calamine ore of high grade 
 was for the first time received from Rhodesia, where there 
 appears to be large deposits, which will afford a steadily in- 
 creasing output. 
 
 "This plethora of raw material has already had an im- 
 portant effect upon the world 's market for spelter. For one 
 thing, it has cut off all hope that the United States will soon 
 
TARIFF ON ZINC ORES. 219 
 
 become an exporter of spelter. On the contrary, it is to be 
 feared that, more frequently than usual, the price of spelter 
 in the United States will have to be reduced in order to pre- 
 vent importations, in spite of the protective tariff of 1.5c 
 per pound. During the last three or four years the prices 
 for spelter at London and New York have been showing a 
 decreasing disparity. This is easily explained by the posi- 
 tion of European smelters, who in the abundance of their 
 ore supply are able on one hand to offer spelter at lower and 
 lower prices, and on the other hand bid lower and lower 
 prices to the miners for ore, preserving' a large margin for 
 smelting all the time. During 1906 the smelters' margin 
 was so large that the business was unusually profitable. ' ' 
 
 These large zinc ore deposits are undoubtedly a menace 
 in the future to zinc ore miners of the United States. Up 
 to the present time, no ore has been shipped to the United 
 States from either Australia or South Africa. The Euro- 
 pean smelters to the present time have been well supplied 
 with zinc ore from their usual sources of supply. With im- 
 mense production in these new fields the ore will be mar- 
 keted at the nearest point of consumption. I am indebted 
 to Mr. F. A. Jordan of the Continental Zinc Company of 
 Joplin, Mo., who makes some suggestions very worthy of 
 profound thought. Speaking of the Broken Hill district in 
 Australia, he states that it is connected by rail with Port 
 Pirie, distant about 240 miles and with Adelaide about 325 
 miles away. The freight from Broken Hill to Port Pirie 
 on blende is $2.19 per long ton; and from Port Pirie to Swan- 
 sea, Wales, it is $6.25, or a total of $7.50 per short ton. 
 
 Now, it is interesting to note the different distances to 
 points of smelting the ore, with the thought of possible im- 
 portations of these ores into the United States. 
 
 From Port Pirie to Swansea by way of the Suez Canal, 
 the distance is about 10,350 miles and to New York City 
 11,030 miles. The distance directly to San Francisco is 
 6,400. Upon completion of the Panama Canal, the distance 
 to the very center of the United States will not exceed two- 
 thirds the distance from the Australian ports to Swansea. 
 
220 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 Domestic Zinc Ore Producers Can Furnish Sufficient Ore to 
 Supply Spelter Requirements. 
 
 Mr. Cockerill in Ms " Summary of Views/' published 
 in the Mexican Mining Journal for August, 1908, states : 
 
 ' ' That if it can be shown that sufficient ore can be fur- 
 nished in the United States to operate the smelters that are 
 needed to make the spelter that is used in the United States, 
 I will agree not to fight against the tariff on zinc ore. ' ' 
 
 He admits that my figures of 660,000 tons annual maxi- 
 mum smelter capacity are "approximately correct." He 
 also said that even in busy times not more than 80%, or 
 528,000 tons, of this capacity could be operated, continu- 
 ously throughout the year. Now, according to the Mineral 
 Industry, 1907, page 904, the production of zinc ore in the 
 United States for 1906 was 905,175 tons and that of New 
 Jersey was 404,690 tons. The production for 1907 in the 
 United States was 903,000 tons and that of New Jersey 
 368,710 tons. Of the New Jersey production I concede his 
 claim: 
 
 "That practically all of this ore goes into the manu- 
 facture of zinc oxide, and if any of this ore goes into the 
 manufacture of spelter, it is fully offset by ores from other 
 districts that go into the manufacture of oxide at other 
 points." 
 
 After deducting the New Jersey production from the 
 total United States production we have for 1906, the sum 
 of 500,485 tons and for 1907, the sum of 534,290 tons availa- 
 ble for the manufacture of spelter. 
 
 Mineral Industry for 1907 at page 898 states that "In 
 1907 there was a large increase in the zinc smelting capacity 
 of the United States." 
 
 The three smelters at Bartlesville, Oklahoma, including 
 their 8,700 retorts were completed in 1907. These have a 
 maximum yearly capacity of 65,000 tons of green ore and 
 80% of their capacity will require about 52,000 tons of ore 
 for spelter purposes. 
 
 After deducting the Bartlesville increase of 52,000 tons 
 of new smelter construction in 1907 from 528,000 tons of 
 
TARIFF ON ZINC ORES. 221 
 
 smelter capacity, (conceded to be correct by Mr. Cockerill), 
 we have an apparent smelter capacity for the year 1906 of 
 476,000 tons. Not to be too prolix, it will be found that the 
 proposition may be thus stated: 
 
 Year. Net Smelter Capacity. Spelter Ore. 
 
 1906 476,000 tons 500,485 tons 
 
 1907 .528,000 tons 534,290 tons 
 
 And to strengthen the producer's position, the three 
 Bartlesville smelters are reported not to have started oper- 
 ations until the year 1908. 
 
 Mr. Cockerill further reiterates that in 1906, "the ore 
 prices were certainly all right, and we were still unable to 
 get sufficient ore in this country to run our works. If we 
 had not been able to secure this ore in Mexico, the galvan- 
 izers, iron manufacturers and brass manufacturers would 
 have had to ship this spelter from foreign countries, and the 
 men laboring at our smelters would have been thrown out of 
 employment because of our inability to get sufficient ore to 
 run our works. ' ' 
 
 Within the period since 1901 there has not been a year 
 when the Joplin ore producers did not have to resort to 
 some expedient to stop falling prices and get rid of surplus 
 ore in the bins. Sometimes ore was exported to Europe; 
 at other times a large number of the operators closed down 
 their mines and the employes were thrown out of employ- 
 ment. In July, 1907, with St. Louis price of spelter aver- 
 aging $6.04 per hundred for the month the operators of the 
 Joplin district inaugurated one of the most general and com- 
 plete shut downs in the history of the district, which became 
 effective on August 1st for sixty days. There are today in 
 the Webb City district over 2,000 tons of ore produced be- 
 fore that time and since held for better prices. 
 
 Cost of Smelting Ore. 
 
 Mr. Cockerill at Joplin scouted the idea that the cost 
 of smelting one ton of Joplin ore at a Kansas gas smeltery 
 was about $8.00 per ton; but refused to divulge what is the 
 actual smeltery cost. 
 
222 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 But Mr. W. R. Ingalls, of New York, a member of the 
 British Columbia Zinc Commission, goes elaborately into 
 smelting costs, in Kansas, Illinois and Eheinland, Germany. 
 He considers the following items in making up cost: 
 
 Labor, fuel, reduction material, clay and other supplies, 
 repairs and renewals, and administration. 
 
 The result of his investigations is as follows : 
 
 A. Well designed Kansas smelter; mechanical 
 
 roasters; gas at 2 cents per 1,000 $8.00 
 
 B. Well designed coal plant, in Illinois, gas 
 
 firing $9.50 
 
 C. Ordinary natural gas plant, in Kansas; hand 
 
 roasting furnaces -. $8.50 
 
 He then states that "Zinc ore is being smelted today 
 in spite of increased cost for both labor and gas, more 
 cheaply in Kansas than it can be in Europe. Even with 
 coal it can be smelted in the United States for approxi- 
 mately the same cost as in Europe, although it is hardly be- 
 ing done at the present time." 
 
 Based on a smelting cost of $8.00 per ton of the Joplin 
 ore at the Kansas Smeltery we find that the smelters have 
 profited on such ores in the following amounts for the fol- 
 lowing years : 
 
 Price of St. Louis Smelter 
 Year. Joplin Ore. Spelter. Profit. 
 
 1906 V.... 44.82 6.04 8.78 
 
 1907 44.36 5.81 6.90 
 
 This does not take into consideration the saving of by- 
 products, the manufacture of sulphuric acid, etc., from 
 which the smelters 'derive large profits. 
 
 The smelting business is a permanent manufacturing 
 business. The mining business is vexatiously uncertain, 
 even with the best of mines. To the unprejudiced mind, it 
 would seem that the miner is entitled to a greater profit per 
 ton of ore sold to the smelter, than is the profit of the smelter 
 upon that ton of ore. Without question, the miner is not 
 extracting his just profit. 
 
TARIFF ON ZINC ORES. 223 
 
 The Just Demand of the Zinc Ore Producers. 
 
 The domestic zinc ore producers in their demand for an 
 adequate specific duty on zinc ores are merely asking that 
 their industry be permitted to survive and prosper. With 
 no tariff duty on zinc ores, and with the future great devel- 
 opment of Mexican mines and the marketing of their abund- 
 ance of zinc ores at the smelters of the United States, but 
 one result can happen the absolute stagnation and paraly- 
 sis of the zinc mining business in this country. 
 
 The zinc miners of the United States can never compete 
 with the Mexican zinc miners; any more than our wool 
 growers found they could prosper against the free importa- 
 tion of wool from Argentina and Australia during the ex- 
 istence of the Wilson Bill. 
 
 The living conditions of the Mexican miner; his abjectly 
 low mode of life; the ease and cheapness of quarrying ore in 
 Mexico; and the inexhaustible deposits of this cheap ore; 
 all make for ruin to our domestic zinc industry, unless a 
 legislative barrier be raised against Mexico, and the living 
 conditions and wages of Mexican miners. 
 
 The vast deposits of Mexican zinc carbonate require 
 but little labor and a minimum of powder to be blasted down 
 from the hill sides. To use the language of four affiants in 
 the zinc ore tariff case of U. S. vs Brewster, before men- 
 tioned: 
 
 * ' The ore occurs in solid veins or deposits and is blasted 
 out. Any of the adjoining rock that may be, by accident, 
 blasted out with the ore, is sorted out by hand. Afterwards 
 the ore is broken down to a convenient size with hammers, 
 for transportation to the railroad, where it is loaded in cars 
 for shipment. " 
 
 The stilted language "that may be by accident," is 
 strongly suggestive, to say the least. 
 
 As against this simple mining method, we call attention 
 to the report of ninety-two mining companies in the Mis- 
 souri-Kansas district, made at the recent ways and means 
 hearing, showing an average cost of over $37,000 in devel- 
 opment of mine and construction of mill. 
 
224 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 The Mexican miner can produce his ore and deliver it 
 at the smelter in Kansas for from $11.00 to $14.00 per ton. 
 The same cost in the Joplin district is about $37.75 per ton. 
 
 Now, Mr. Cockerill at Joplin stated that with the price 
 of St. Louis spelter at $5.00 per hundred, he could purchase 
 Mexican ore f. o. b. his Kansas smelter for $18.00 per ton. 
 This ore assays 40% metallic contents. Figured on a 60% 
 basis, the ore would cost him $27.00 per ton. That fixes the 
 price of Joplin ore for all time to come at $27.00 per ton, if 
 Mexican ore continues on the free list. 
 
 These statements necessarily prompt the inquiry: 
 
 What Is the Raw Material in the Zinc Mining Business? 
 
 The language of the above mentioned affiants proves 
 that the bulk of Mexican zinc ore, delivered into the U. S. is 
 a raw material. 
 
 It is the wool on the sheep's back, so to speak. 
 
 It is doubtful whether there is a zinc mine in the United 
 States, where the ore is blasted down, hand sorted and re- 
 duced to "convenient size with hammers " and shipped to 
 the smelters. 
 
 In the Missouri-Kansas district, the zinc ore, as blasted 
 out in the mine, could not be sold to the smelters at any 
 price. It contains but 3% to 6% zinc concentrates. It 
 must be crushed, rolled, jigged, and the fine particles run 
 over sliming tables, before the valuable concentrates can be 
 placed in the ore bin, ready for sale to the smelter buyers. 
 This process of concentration requires a most elaborate mill, 
 involving a large investment of capital. It is necessary to 
 rid the ore of the associated rock and sand, called the 
 gangue. $25,000 is the moderate cost of such a milling plant ; 
 as against this the Mexican miner has no mill investment. 
 
 It is believed that throughout the entire zinc producing 
 districts of the United States the same concentrating meth- 
 ods are used as are applied in the Missouri-Kansas field. It 
 is, therefore, absurd to say that the domestic zinc ore con- 
 centrates are raw materials. Is the spelter derived from 
 that ore, a raw material? Unless every product is a raw 
 material, until it lands in the hands of the very ultimate con- 
 
TARIFF ON ZINC ORES. 225 
 
 sumer, the domestic zinc ore is a highly manufactured arti- 
 cle. It should be so treated by Congress in considering it 
 as a lawful subject of protection by tariff duty. 
 
 Investments in Smelters. 
 
 The Census Bureau Bulletin, No. 86, for 1905, issued 
 in November, 1907, gives some statistics relative to the zinc 
 smelter industry which are valuable and which may be tab- 
 ulated as follows : 
 
 1900 1905 
 
 Combined capital $14,192,000 $23,701,500 
 
 Wage earners 4,561 6,528 
 
 Wages paid 2,355,813 3,856,466 
 
 Material consumed 13,283,690 17,028,418 
 
 Products manufactured 18,188,774 24,791,299 
 
 Number of smelteries 31 31 
 
 The figures presented in the bulletin are only for the 
 year 1905. From percentage of increase, noted for each 
 item, it is possible to ascertain the approximate figures for 
 the year 1900. 
 
 From the most reliable smelter sources I am confident 
 that for the present period the following figures may be 
 presented : 
 
 Cash capital invested in smelters (not including 
 
 working capital) $10,000,000 
 
 Smelting capacity (daily) . . .. .1,550 tons of ore 
 
 Wage earners employed 5,000 
 
 Products manufactured into spelter (annually) .250,000 tons 
 
 Materials consumed (daily) $85,000 
 
 Smelting cost per ton of ore .$10 to $14 
 
 It is a conservative statement to make that in the Mis- 
 souri-Kansas district alone employment is given to over 
 10,000 wage earners ; and that the investment value of min- 
 ing lands, mining leases, mines and mining plants, fully 
 equals $50,000,000. 
 
 Add to this statement the number of men employed and 
 the investment value of zinc properties in all other sections 
 of the United States, and the statement must be most as- 
 
226 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part IT. 
 
 founding, compared to the number of smeltery employes 
 and cash investment in smelters. 
 
 With the smelting business prospering; with the ore- 
 producing business languishing; which interest should ap- 
 peal to the policy of protection, based upon the number of 
 employes involved, the profit of the business, and the ulti- 
 mate good which can be dispensed to the greatest number 
 of individuals, affected by a rational protective tariff? 
 
 What Has Protection Done for Lead Ore? 
 
 Consider what the Dingley Act of 1897 did for lead ore 
 in affording a rational classification, so that all lead bearing 
 ores paid a duty upon the lead contents, regardless of what 
 other ore was the component material of chief value. Prior 
 to the Dingley Act, if silver lead ore contained greater 
 money value of silver contents than lead contents, the whole 
 importation was classified as silver ore and came in duty 
 free. This method of classification worked a great hard- 
 ship to the United States lead mines ; they were at the mercy 
 of the Mexican lead miners; it was said in 1897 that: 
 
 4 'The large supply of silver-lead ore in Mexico enables 
 that country at present to control our market. For as soon 
 as the price of lead reaches a point that the manipulators 
 of Mexican ore consider favorable they put upon the market 
 all the lead it can make to prevent any such increase in the 
 price as will protect our home industries. They thus hold 
 the power to keep down the industry absolutely and to limit 
 any tendency in upward prices. This power they used in 
 the calendar year 1895 to the extent of putting on the mar- 
 ket 20,000 tons of lead from Mexican ores, and 27,000 tons 
 of lead from Mexican bullion. " 
 
 It was complained that in 1896 the official price of lead 
 at New York City touched the lowest point ever recorded 
 there; i. e., 2% cents per pound and for a considerable time 
 the New York price was on a par with the London price. 
 As soon as the Dingley Bill was passed lead went up to 
 $4.40 in 1897; $4.75 in 1900; and $6.25 in 1905. 
 
 The Dingley Bill not only stimulated the prices of lead, 
 but it likewise encouraged domestic production and de- 
 
TARIFF ON ZINC ORES. 227 
 
 creased importations from abroad. Taking the seven years 
 before the passage of that law and the seven years subse- 
 quent to its passage, it will be found that during the latter 
 period lead ore imports decreased 45% and domestic pro- 
 duction increased 55%. 
 
 Some of the opponents to a tariff on zinc ore declare 
 that it will not increase the domestic price of the ore; that 
 is diametrically opposed to the usual arguments that a tariff 
 duty creates a domestic price, of the foreign price of the 
 commodity plus the amount of tariff duty. What a pro- 
 tective duty has done for lead ore, we believe it may do for 
 zinc ore. In June and July, 1908, the government reports 
 showed that Mexican lead was being delivered to the border 
 ports of entry at the price of $36.07 per ton, and lead was 
 selling in the Joplin district for $60.00 per ton. Why the 
 difference! Simply because a tariff duty of $24.00 per ton 
 of 80% lead contents kept up the domestic price. And let 
 it be said that the good price for lead ore during a large 
 part of the summer has worked a great benefit to the Joplin 
 district, and has enabled many zinc mines, which were re- 
 spectable producers of lead ore, to operate at a profit and 
 give employment to many miners. 
 
 Legislation Required. 
 
 Now, the question is, shall the zinc ore producers of the 
 United States bend the knee to Mr. Cockerill and take $27.00 
 per ton for zinc ore (which is entirely out of the question) 
 or shall we insist upon and get such legislation from Con- 
 gress as will protect zinc ore at least to the amount of differ- 
 ence in cost of producing a ton of Mexican ore and a ton of 
 domestic ore? This difference is about $18.00 per ton. The 
 legislation urged before the Ways and Means Committee at 
 Washington last week was designed to accomplish that re- 
 sult. It provides in substance that all imported zinc ores 
 shall pay a duty of 1% cents per pound on the "zinc con- 
 tained therein/' 
 
 This duty would make Joplin zinc ore worth a $45.00 
 base price. At that rate 3 and 4 per cent, mines in this dis- 
 trict can operate at a profit 
 
228 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 The smelters during the year 1905 paid an average 
 base price of over $47.40 per ton for Joplin ore and re- 
 ceived an average price of $5.73 per hundred for spelter. 
 They must have prospered at that ratio between ore and 
 spelter because throughout the entire year of 1906, a large 
 increase of smelter capacity was taking place. 
 
 We believe that our demands are just, that our cause 
 will prevail before Congress; and that the sunshine of pros- 
 perity will then prevail over the zinc ore mining districts 
 of the United States. 
 
 In so doing, our united effort is directed to the end that 
 the following provision, in relation to lead and zinc ores, be 
 placed in the new tariff bill, to be considered by the 61st 
 Congress : 
 
 Lead bearing ore of all kinds, one and one-half (1%) 
 cents per pound on the lead contained therein ; zinc bearing 
 ore of all kinds, one and one-half (1%) cents per pound on 
 the zinc contained therein; 
 
 Provided, That all ores imported which contain both 
 lead and zinc shall pay one and one-half (1%) cents per 
 pound on the lead contained therein, and also one and one- 
 half (1%) cents per pound on the zinc contained therein; 
 and 
 
 Provided, further, That on all importations of lead 
 bearing ores and of zinc bearing ores the duties shall be 
 estimated at the port of entry and a bond given in double 
 the amount of such estimated duties for the transportation 
 of the ores by common carriers bonded for the transporta- 
 tion of appraised or unappraised merchandise to properly 
 equipped sampling or smelting establishments, whether de- 
 signated as bonded warehouse or otherwise. On the ar- 
 rival of the ores at such establishments they shall be sam- 
 pled according to commercial methods under the supervis- 
 ion of government officers, who shall be stationed at such 
 establishments, and who shall submit the samples thus ob- 
 tained to a government assay er, designated by the Secre- 
 tary of the Treasury, who shall make a proper assay of the 
 sample, and report the result to the proper custom officers, 
 and the import entries shall be liquidated thereon, except 
 
TARIFF ON ZINC ORES. 229 
 
 in case of ores that shall be removed to a bonded ware- 
 house to be refined for exportation as provided by law. And 
 the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to make all 
 necessary regulations to enforce the provision of this para- 
 graph. 
 
Arbitration as a Factor in the Mining Industry. 
 
 BY JUDGE GEORGE GRAY, WILMINGTON, DEL. 
 
 Since my recent letters explaining the impossibility of 
 my complying with the many kind suggestions that I should 
 attend the coming session of the American Mining Con- 
 gress, December 2-5, and say something on the subject of 
 arbitration as a factor in the mining industry, it has oc- 
 curred to me that I might add to my former letters some ex- 
 pression of my interest in the occasion and in the general 
 subject of arbitration, as the means of assuring industrial 
 peace. 
 
 I gladly recognize the increasing public interest in this 
 subject. No real advance in the civilization of modern 
 times has been made, unless it be the result of aroused pub- 
 lic attention and that intelligent and free discussion for 
 which popular institutions give the greatest opportunity. 
 Such results must needs be of slow achievement, and human 
 nature is so constituted that time and use are necessary to 
 intrench them in the hearts of the people and make them 
 permanent parts of our social structure, to be accepted 
 without challenge or question. We have, then, no reason 
 to be discouraged, much less to despair, of the progress 
 made in very recent times in the cause of arbitration for the 
 settlement of industrial controversies. We have just cause, 
 as American citizens, to be proud that our country has led 
 the way in commending International Arbitration to the 
 Family of Nations as a substitute for war, in the settlement 
 of International difficulties. Our example has slowly, but 
 measurably, influenced the diplomacy of the world, and I 
 believe we can confidently look forward to a fast approach- 
 ing time, when resort to the World 's Tribunal at The Hague 
 would be the first, and not the last, thought, on the occur- 
 rence of International difficulties. 
 
 It seems amazing, when we take a backward glance at 
 the history of even modern times, that humanity should 
 
ARBITRATION AS A FACTOR IN THE MINING INDUSTRY. 231 
 
 have been subjected to the suffering and material and moral 
 havoc wrought by what now seem unnecessary wars, and we 
 rejoice that much of this is now made impossible by the 
 clearer recognition of the truth, that there are few Interna- 
 tional difficulties that cannot be more satisfactorily ad- 
 justed by peaceful arbitration than by resort to war. 
 
 The analogy between International Arbitration and 
 Industrial Arbitration is not an unnatural or forced one. 
 The widespread suffering, material loss and moral deterior- 
 ation wrought by obstinate and uncompromising industrial 
 strife, in comparatively recent times, are caused by the 
 same obstinate pride of opinion, the same cruel tyranny ex- 
 hibited in the desire of individuals or classes to work their 
 arbitrary will upon others, and the same blind disregard of 
 all interests, save those of the parties to the controversy, as 
 have characterized most International Wars. In the one 
 case as in the other, all intelligent men must agree that a 
 settlement of the difficulties which were the origin of the 
 war or the strike, by the arbitration of an impartial and in- 
 telligent tribunal, would have been infinitely more satis- 
 factory to the parties concerned, and would have, in addi- 
 tion, saved all the frightful cost, both moral and material, 
 of the other alternative. 
 
 In most cases I will not say in all objections to arbi- 
 tration, in the settlement of industrial controversies, spring 
 from the baser not the nobler passions and feelings of 
 our nature. Arbitration is an appeal to reason and con- 
 science; its alternative an appeal to brute force. To the 
 latter, no American willingly submits. A just cause need 
 not fear to submit itself to the judgment of intelligent and 
 impartial men. The maxim, that no man is a good judge 
 in his own cause, is true in labor controversies as it is in 
 other human affairs. But, whether the cause on either side 
 is just, or whether justice lies not altogether on one side or 
 the other, can never be determined by force, and a sober 
 public opinion will never be satisfied or conciliated by such 
 determination, nor in the large majority of cases by the re- 
 fusal of either party to such a controversy to submit to fair 
 and impartial arbitration. 
 
232 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 These sentences sound like platitudes; so obvious are 
 they, that one hesitates to seriously argue them. They 
 surely commend themselves to all right thinking minds. 
 Nevertheless, it remains true, that in this matter, as in 
 others, things obviously true and obviously for the better- 
 ment of human conditions are often most slow in gaining 
 that universal acceptance that renders them useful in the 
 practical affairs of life. Time and use will insure this gen- 
 eral acceptance, and it only needs that both sides to a strike 
 situation should realize the importance nay the duty of 
 at once submitting the questions that seem incapable of 
 solution by the parties themselves, to the arbitrament of an 
 intelligent and unbiased tribunal. 
 
 I am speaking here of voluntary, not compulsory, arbi- 
 tration. To the approval of the latter, I have not yet been 
 able to reconcile my own judgment. We welcome the for- 
 mer, not only as a settlement of serious and dangerous con- 
 troversies, but for the self control and civic virtue which it 
 evidences and promotes. No one, who witnessed as I did 
 the development of mutual respect and high courtesy on 
 both sides of the controversy, throughout the daily sessions 
 of the protracted hearing by the Anthracite Coal Strike 
 Commission, and the ability and fairness with which the 
 argument on both sides was conducted, could fail to have 
 been impressed with the dignity of the occasion and the 
 disciplinary influence upon operators and miners alike, of 
 the voluntary submission of their questions of difference to 
 an arbitral tribunal. Nothing occurred to disturb the calm 
 atmosphere in which reason and justice can best assert 
 themselves. , 
 
 We are not without evidence that an intelligent public 
 opinion is maturing on these lines, and by its moral coercion 
 will compel the adoption of this course in serious labor dif- 
 ficulties, where real questions present themselves requiring 
 careful investigation and the calm exercise of the judicial 
 faculty for their determination. I do not, of course, mean 
 that every small difference of opinion, disappointment or 
 caprice, entertained on one side or the other, by employers 
 
ARBITRATION AS A FACTOR IN THE MINING INDUSTRY. 233 
 
 or employed, should be the occasion of an arbitration, or 
 that the personal liberty of men to work or not work, or 
 reasonably to control their own business, should ever be 
 brought into controversy; but where the situation is com- 
 plex, out of which the alleged grievances arise, and the atti- 
 tude of each party is that of obstinate adherence to its own 
 demands, arbitration alone can satisfy the ends of justice. 
 
 To this end, in so large and widespread an industry as 
 that of mining, Miners' Unions become a necessary factor. 
 And this leads at once to the thought that such unions 
 should be encouraged, and not discouraged, and their better 
 organization and leadership be insured by the hearty sym- 
 pathy of all parties, operators as well as miners. It is a 
 mistake to suppose that the highest ideals of citizenship 
 are not compatible with membership in such organizations. 
 They were not intended to be nursing mothers of anarchy 
 and lawlessness, but rather the promoters of civic right- 
 eousness and justice. And if I might say a personal word 
 to the members of these unions, I should say what I have 
 said before, let your societies illustrate not only your intelli- 
 gence and courage in times of prosperity, but also in times 
 of adversity and gloom. Brave men are brave everywhere 
 and at all times, and wise men should not lose their wisdom 
 and self control when things go hard or wrong. Keligious 
 obligation and common manhood alike require us to meet 
 adverse circumstances with fortitude and patience, and to 
 not seek to tear down and rend, because want and suffering 
 may, in the vicissitudes of life, come for a time to our 
 hearthstones. Hard times are bound at intervals to come, 
 but envy and jealousy and all uncharitableness will not 
 mend them. Rather believe that all interests and all condi- 
 tions of men are bound together by a common humanity and 
 a common sympathy, and the charity of judgment you ex- 
 hibit to others will return to you in ten fold blessing from 
 those towards whom you exercise it. Your personal and 
 individual liberty can only be secure in the willing and gen- 
 erous recognition of the like liberty of your neighbor or 
 fellow-citizen. The homage you pay to his, is the title deed 
 ancl assurance of your own. Believing thus and acting 
 
234 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 thus, you can fearlessly demand for yourself that justice, 
 the love of which is implanted so deep in the human heart. 
 This is the burden of my thought, which I should have 
 been glad to have amplified, could I have availed myself of 
 the invitation you so kindly extended to me. 
 
Arbitration as a Factor in the Mining Industry. 
 
 BY THOMAS L. LEWIS, PRESIDENT U. M. W. OF A., SPRINGFIELD, ILL. 
 
 We have assembled here as the representatives of the 
 greatest industrial nation in the world. We owe our indus- 
 trial and commercial greatness to our valuable coal deposits 
 and our ability to produce cheap fuel. 
 
 Every citizen of this country should be interested in the 
 coal mining industry, not because it is the foundation of our 
 industrial greatness, not because it is the life blood of our 
 commercial supremacy, not because it produces the heat 
 and light that bring comfort and happiness to the home 
 of millions of people, but because the occupation of the 
 miner is the most hazardous of any in the country, with the 
 single exception of those employed in the powder mills. 
 The work of devising some method to better protect the 
 lives of the mine workers is worthy the serious considera- 
 tion of all men and women who are interested in the ma- 
 terial welfare of humanity. 
 
 We have also met for the purpose of considering many 
 questions that vitally and directly effect the mining indus- 
 try and those employed in or associated with its develop- 
 ment. 
 
 To me has been assigned the subject "Arbitration as a 
 Factor in the Mining Industry. ' ' 
 
 This subject has a peculiar application to the coal min- 
 ing industry for the reason that arbitration has done more 
 than strikes to promote the welfare of the miners and to 
 give stability to the industry. 
 
 As we understand arbitration in its application to the 
 mining industry, there are two kinds the one kind of arbi- 
 tration is where the representatives of the two parties to a 
 controversy disagree and call upon a third person to settle 
 their differences. The other kind of arbitration is where 
 the representatives of the two parties to a dispute settle 
 their own differences without calling upon the third person. 
 
 Time will not permit of a detailed explanation of the 
 
236 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 difference in the two methods of arbitration or their effect 
 upon the mining industry. I shall briefly explain the dif- 
 ference and which is to be most desired as a factor for 
 permanent peace between employer and employe. 
 
 First. The method of arbitration requiring the selec- 
 tion of a third person to settle differences between contend- 
 ing parties, does not permanently settle an industrial dis- 
 pute, neither does it give satisfaction to the parties directly 
 interested. 
 
 To illustrate: The real merits of the question at issue 
 are not considered for the reason that the umpire is usually 
 selected, not because of his personal knowledge of the many 
 details of the dispute to be settled, but because of his im- 
 partial mind, honest purpose and the desire that he shall 
 deal with the questions in dispute from a general rather 
 than a technical standpoint. His decision for this reason 
 must necessarily be general in character and usually a com- 
 promise. 
 
 In the great anthracite coal strike, we have one exam- 
 ple of such arbitration. The members of the anthracite 
 coal strike commission were among the most eminent and 
 intelligent men of our country. No one questions their sin- 
 cerity of purpose, their desire to arrive at a correct solution 
 of the questions in dispute, and every one realizes that they 
 worked honestly and faithfully to solve the problem that 
 caused the greatest industrial conflict in the history of the 
 country. 
 
 The decision of the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission 
 was a compromise and in its application to the wage ques- 
 tion, it did not give to the anthracite employes an equal ad- 
 vance in wages. This was no fault of the work of the Com- 
 mission, but rather a fault of the conditions under which the 
 anthracite mine workers labored. For this reason the 
 problem has not been permanently settled in the anthracite 
 coal field. 
 
 In Alabama at a later date we had another instance of 
 this kind of arbitration to settle disputes in the mining in- 
 dustry of that state. It was known that the miners ' repre- 
 sentatives in presenting their evidence to the arbitration 
 
ARBITRATION AS A FACTOR IN THE MINING INDUSTRY. 237 
 
 board practically won every demand they made and the um- 
 pire, Judge Gray, decided most of the questions in favor of 
 the miners. Some of the questions at issue were compro- 
 mised. This did not permanently settle the differences, be- 
 cause the following year the operators repudiated the entire 
 work of the arbitration board and made war on the miners. 
 
 Second. The other kind of arbitration is where repre- 
 sentatives of the parties to a dispute meet in conference and 
 present their propositions and support those propositions 
 with the facts and decide the questions at issue on 
 their merits. This method of arbitration has been a power- 
 ful factor in promoting peace in the mining industry, set- 
 tling differences between employer and employe without 
 resorting to strikes, and giving that stability to the mining 
 industry which it cannot secure or maintain in any other 
 manner. 
 
 This method of arbitration depends for its success on 
 several essential elements: 
 
 (a) Employer and employe must recognize each 
 other's rights as a factor to the development of the mining 
 industry. 
 
 (b) That any demands made must be supported by 
 facts or there is no reason for attempting to sustain them. 
 
 (c) That passion and prejudice must give way to rea- 
 son and intelligence in the presentation of claims by either 
 party. 
 
 (d) That final conclusions must be reached by the 
 unanimous consent of all representatives in the conference. 
 This feature protects all parties and requires each to be cau- 
 tious and to proceed with negotiations in an intelligent man- 
 ner. 
 
 This method of arbitration has materially advanced the 
 wages of the mine workers in most of the mining states of 
 our country. It has lessened the hours of labor and im- 
 proved the conditions of employment. More important 
 than these, it has established a better relationship between 
 the employer and employe and has been the means of edu- 
 cating thousands of mine workers to take a keener interest 
 in their rights and duties as citizens of this country. It 
 
238 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 has also been an incentive for mine workers to locate per- 
 manently and own their own homes. 
 
 This latter feature alone is one of the strong endorse- 
 ments of this kind of arbitration as a factor in the mining 
 industry. 
 
 The system is not without its weaknesses. It has not 
 always been a complete success, but it is the most successful 
 method of arbitration that we know of as a factor to estab- 
 lish and maintain peace between employer and employe in 
 the mining industry. 
 
 As one party to the development of the mining indus- 
 try, the miners demand nothing that they are not willing to 
 concede to the employers. We seek no special favors either 
 from the mine owners or the American people. 
 
 Equal rights and opportunities are what we want and 
 we will not be satisfied until we have succeeded in bringing 
 into joint conferences the mine owners of the country. Give 
 us this system of arbitration and we will be able to demon- 
 strate our ability to establish industrial peace so far as it 
 affects mining. By this method we will solve many of the 
 problems that now seem to perplex even this Mining Con- 
 gress. 
 
Problems of the Coal Industry. 
 
 BY ALEXANDER DEMPSTER, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 TUG subject upon which I am to speak is "Problems of 
 the Coal Industry/' That is another name for the discus- 
 sions and papers which you have heard, because they are 
 all app^cable to this point, the problems of the mining in- 
 dustry. 
 
 You have heard one discussion from our good friend 
 Mr. Osuorne, who has just taken his seat, on the conserva- 
 tion of our coal. There is no one who is more interested in 
 this district or anywhere else than is the gentleman who has 
 just taken his seat. He is a large operator and deeply in- 
 terested, and so far his interest lies in the conservation of 
 his coal fields, and what is true of him is true of every other 
 operator in this or any other district. It appeals to every 
 owner to conserve his interests by saving or stopping waste. 
 When <:oal was so cheap as it was fifty years ago, it was a 
 matter of a comparatively small amount of money to leave 
 coal in the ground, which was done at that time, and is done 
 to a certain extent to-day, because of I was going to say 
 improper mining but that is gradually being overcome, 
 and soon will come the time when we will take out at least 
 90 per c^ent of the coal in the ground instead of the per- 
 centage \vhich we now take. Some may be getting that 
 amount now, but not a large number. 
 
 Mi . Chairman, I do not intend to discuss any theoretical 
 problems 1 want to make a few remarks on the questions 
 that more nearly concern us, and on an issue as brought be- 
 fore us yesterday, which has been brought before us be- 
 fore, and has been before us to-day, the establishment of a 
 mining bureau. There are various questions that are im- 
 portant, among which are what -shall be the province and 
 scope of that national mining bureau which is being estab- 
 lished. We listened to a discussion this morning somewhat 
 on the lines of what was national and what was state terri- 
 
240 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 tory. Mr. Harrison read his paper raising that question, 
 but without, I think, at least so far as I heard, making any 
 positive recommendation relative thereto, or taking sides 
 thereon. I will raise the question, Mr. Chairman, not for 
 the purpose of doing more than calling attention to it. Now 
 what shall be the scope of that national bureau proposed to 
 be attached to the Interior Department? Shall it be that 
 of investigation and dissemination of knowledge that they 
 acquire or shall they go on further and extend suggestions 
 that will include supervision of mines by the national Gov- 
 ernment instead of the state? That is the question that con- 
 cerns P. good many coal men, and it will have to be carefully 
 guarded as to the line of demarkation or limitation, if you 
 please, between the state and the national authority. The 
 state, having charge of its police regulations, must have and 
 will have charge of the mines. What I suggest is that you 
 get Brother Holmes, and the others who are interested 
 (amon^ which I myself am one) to see that this law be so 
 framed that there can be no misunderstanding, no am- 
 biguity, no words that can be misconstrued afterwards into 
 a conflk-t between the two. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I have been somewhat disappointed in. 
 the discussion of this branch of our subject before this Con- 
 gress in listening to the eulogies of the theory and passing 
 by the practical and the facts. What I mean by this is that 
 there lias not been sufficient importance attached to, nor suf- 
 ficient notice taken, of what has been done, for example, in 
 the state of Pennsylvania, by the operators, for the very 
 purpose of accomplishing that for which this bureau is to be 
 established, according to the light they had. The province 
 of this bureau is to secure more light and to disseminate it 
 for the benefit of those who have charge of our mining de- 
 partment in the state of Pennsylvania and other states. 
 
 I want to say, Mr. Chairman, and I want it to go out 
 from this convention, that the mining department of the 
 state of Pennsylvania, through its chief and assistants, has 
 exercised reasonable vigilance and efficiency in the super- 
 vision of mines and the intelligent application of the laws, 
 
PROBLEMS OF THE COAL INDUSTRY. 241 
 
 and, spurred by the accidents that have happened, it is 
 now making, under the recommendation and appointment 
 of the governor, such revision of the laws, the operation of 
 which will be, if not the elimination of accident, at least 
 its reduction to a minimum of probability. The new law will 
 embody the up-to-date knowledge and most advanced in- 
 formation they can secure; said commission is more than 
 receptive in its attitude relative to all the channels of any 
 information coming from any sources. The state of Penn- 
 sylvania is doing everything it can to protect the lives and 
 promote -the welfare of its miners, and by so doing is going 
 along the lines of action indicated here. And the province 
 of this bureau is to secure further knowledge and dissemi- 
 nate the same throughout every state in the Union. There 
 is a great deal in the mysteries of Nature that we do not 
 yet know, and it is for these people to investigate such mat- 
 ters as will be for the benefit of humanity, and give it to our 
 mining departments through the different states. There 
 is the sunshine in the heavens, and it sheds its rays over all 
 the earth. Here in the arsenal is the sun of science to shed 
 its rays of whatever knowledge it may acquire in its investi- 
 gation throughout the whole length and breadth of the 
 whole mining region of the United States of America. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 Th\s to my mind is the proper province of the nation, 
 and it is the duty of the nation to thus provide for the wel- 
 fare of -its people. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I want to 
 say that I am not here just as a coal operator and repre- 
 sentative of the coal operators. Whatever I may say that 
 is worth saying belongs to me as a representative of the 
 coal operators. Whatever I say that is irrelevant, incom- 
 petent or unwise belongs to me individually and not to me 
 in a representative capacity. (Laughter.) 
 
 Inasmuch, Mr. Chairman, as I have no set speech, I am 
 a little rambling, but I will try and get some thought in. A 
 great deal has been said about accidents, and the relation 
 that we bear to foreign countries in connection with acci- 
 dents. 
 
242 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 This question was considered so important, Mr. Chair- 
 man, that our Government invited foreign people to instruct 
 us; and in a report teach us how to act and how to perform 
 our duties to our miners, and we have been held up as coal 
 operators in the light of having more accidents occurring 
 here in America than occurred in foreign lands they repre- 
 sented, and that our mining conditions are not nearly so 
 favorable towards the prevention of accidents as they are in 
 those countries. Mr. Chairman, I will call your attention to 
 an accident in Germany of a few weeks ago, to an accident 
 in France of older date, as samples to show that the acci- 
 dents that happen there under the jurisdiction of foreign 
 governments which exercise authority over the mines are as 
 serious as those that happen in this country. I have here a 
 report of 1893, taken from a report that was made by some 
 of our mining people, which shows that in Pennsylvania 
 there were 3.84 average lives lost per million tons of coal 
 mined. In Great Britain it was 4.15, in Germany 6.35, in 
 France 6.56, in Belgium 5.71, in Austria 8.16, thus showing 
 that our ' ' death rate ' ' by mining accidents is the lowest per- 
 centage per million tons mined of any of the countries, and 
 one reason why our accidents have been multiplied so as to 
 appear so much greater than theirs is that the others do not 
 do as much work as we do, so that ascertaining the work 
 done by us, compared with that of other countries dissipates 
 the assertion that we kill more people, and have more fatal 
 accidents in our country than in theirs in proportion to the 
 production of coal. 
 
 As to the position that the operators take relative to 
 the protection of their miners, we have this fact: That but 
 a few weeks before the "Marianna" disaster there was a 
 letter sont out from the headquarters of the company by its 
 president to all the officials impressing upon them the im- 
 portan?e of doing everything in their power, and within 
 their knowledge, for the safety of the miners of that com- 
 pany. What is true of one is true of another. While we 
 have had disasters, most serious and painful disasters, there 
 is no person who laments such more than the operators who 
 are interested, and who have suffered thereby. 
 
PROBLEMS OF THE COAL INDUSTRY. 243 
 
 To illustrate the position of the operator, let me read 
 this lelter: 
 Letterhead of Pittsburgh-Buffalo Company. 
 
 November 13, 1908. To all Superintendents and Mine 
 Foremen. 
 
 Dear Sirs: It is now the time of the year when the at- 
 mosphere becomes very dry, due to the cold weather. It is 
 necessary for you to take great precautions to see that you 
 do not have any gas in any of your working places or on any 
 falls. 
 
 2. See that no dust is allowed to accumulate on the 
 rib, roof or tracks, which might be ignited by a small ex- 
 plosion of gas or a blownout shot. See that the ribs, roof 
 and bottom are well watered and the dust ]oaded. 
 
 3. See that your fire bosses visit each and every place 
 each and every day after they have made their regular 
 rounds in the morning, to see that the miners work in safety, 
 and that there is no loose rock or slate overhanging to in- 
 jure the men at work. Each mine boss and fire boss in 
 slate and rock should see that it is properly supported be- 
 fore anyone is permitted to pass under it. 
 
 4. Make it your duty to see that there is as much air 
 goes through the last cut-through on the entry side and 
 around the face of the workings as there is at the inlet. 
 
 5. Under no circumstances take any chances that 
 would result in loss of life or limb to any of our employees, 
 as we would rather lose money than take chances of injur- 
 ing any of our men. I would be the proudest man in Pitts- 
 burgh if at the end of each year our company can show a 
 record of having hurt and killed less men than any other 
 company in the Pittsburgh district. If there is anything 
 which you go up against which you find you cannot imme- 
 diately overcome, and which might become dangerous, 
 kindly communicate with your general manager and the 
 writer at once. 
 
 DON'T TAKE ANY CHANCES. 
 With kindest regards I beg to remain, 
 
 Yours very respectfully, 
 J. H. J. (Signed) JOHN H. JONES. 
 
244 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 That letter was dated on November 13, and was sent 
 out to all the superintendents of that company, which is the 
 company which suffered under the explosion. What I want 
 to say relative to this is, Mr. Chairman, that accidents will 
 happen in the best regulated mines. There may be pockets 
 of gas that are unknown and may be encountered and sud- 
 denly set off, as has been done in this case, with all reason- 
 able precautions exercised. The cause is unknown here 
 at present, and of course we cannot comment on it now, but 
 here is a case where every precaution known to the science 
 of mining or to the art of mining has been employed, and 
 yet there is this sad accident. There are accidents which 
 happen in every department of manufacturing and of min- 
 ing here and elsewhere, so that we cannot look forward to 
 a time when operations will not be accompanied to a greater 
 or less extent by accidents. It is our duty to minimize the 
 same, even to the hope of elimination, realizing, however, 
 that where the human factor is, there will always be more 
 or less liability to accidents, and that perfection is nowhere 
 experienced or obtained, and especially where ignorance 
 or carelessness prevail. 
 
 We have heard something about the price of ;coal in 
 relation to which I would say that we presented to the 
 individual operators one of the most serious problems, Mr. 
 Chairman, that is, how to produce coal and sell it at a lower 
 price than the "other fellow." 
 
 Who is responsible for that condition? It is the con- 
 sumer. Here are some ladies, tender-hearted and kind, as 
 many are in this country, yet when they go shopping they 
 go to get the "best" price possible for their dresses, etc., 
 and they do not look beyond the sweathouses, where the 
 women and children have been working sixteen hours a day 
 or perhaps longer, under miserable circumstances, and get- 
 ting a miserable pittance (applause), and it is because of 
 the demand for cheap merchandise and getting it cheaper 
 than the other person, so as to get a little advantage, and 
 be enabled to go into the market and "cut under" the other 
 person; it is because of that that many manufacturers are 
 
PROBLEMS OF THE COAL INDUSTRY. 245 
 
 tempted to spend as little as possible in the production of 
 merchandise. 
 
 This illustrates the difficulty in every business, your 
 dry goods stores, your tailor shops, and everything 01 that 
 kind, and the demand that everybody makes to procure all 
 grades of manufactures just as cheaply as it is possible to 
 get it, without going behind the scenes to inquire into what 
 sacrifice of time, labor and comfort is made by the persons 
 engaged in the production. That is the reason that so many 
 of our stores will sell you at "fifty per cent less," "twenty- 
 five per cent less," at "75 cents on the dollar," to induce 
 people to come in and pay for an inferior article, or an 
 article, the knowledge of the manufacture of which would 
 horrify the tender-hearted purchaser. Now, how can we 
 remedy that? Mr. Chairman, if you can do that you are 
 the greatest benefactor that ever lived. If you can do that 
 you will have a fortune both of philanthropy, the dispensa- 
 tion of which will bless the world, but is not reasonable to 
 expect until the Millenium comes, and not until the ' ' Golden 
 Rule" is acted as well as professed, and everyone shall do 
 "unto others as he would have the others do unto him" 
 not as David Harum put it, "Do unto the other fellow as 
 the other fellow would do unto you, only you do it fust." 
 (Laughter.) 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I think the province and influence of 
 this Congress or any other congress that wishes to promote* 
 the welfare of their fellow-men in any department, is bene- 
 ficial, if it is properly filled and exercised. And as you 
 said last night, the aims and the ambitions and the efforts 
 and the concentration of everything you do, is for the up- 
 building of this Congress on the line of beneficent action 
 towards your fellow-men in the mining industry particu- 
 larly. Mr. Chairman, we accept this expression, coming 
 from you, as the motive and sentiment, underlying and im- 
 pelling your action and so, accepting, we acknowledge our 
 duty toward this Congress. It occurs to me in a practi- 
 cal way it is the duty of every man who has been invited 
 here as a delegate, not being a member, to give your name 
 to the secretary and become an active, as well as a partici- 
 
246 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 pating member of this Congress, and so affiliate yourselves 
 with these men who are trying in their way to advance the 
 knowledge, the proper application of which will surely bless 
 humanity. They come, will you permit me to say, Mr. 
 Chairman, from the "West" fresh with the breezes of the 
 Rocky Mountains, and they bring a good deal of the atmos- 
 pheric tonic and exhale it amongst us, much to our pleasure 
 and profit. Mr. Chairman, have you noticed that when the 
 breezes start from the Eocky Mountains, charged with all 
 the vigor and ozone of the Western clime, often they are 
 modified to some extent when they reach us here; they are 
 not quite so strong nor so vigorous! Our good friends have 
 brought the breezes of the West here into this Congress ; the 
 breezes have blown a little stronger than some of us would 
 agree as being best for our conditions, but they come here 
 and we help to modify them and get them all into a nice 
 smooth current, which will be beneficial and refreshing all 
 around. And it ought to be the duty of this Congress, and as 
 I suppose it is its aim, to so advise at any rate I was going 
 to say to control but I will say to advise, that the streams 
 of labor and streams of capital shall blend in one united 
 current like the streams of the Allegheny and the 
 Monongahela to make the beautiful Ohio, and carry 
 the commerce down to the Gulf that these two 
 streams of labor and capital should be united in 
 Pittsburgh and the confluence form a diffusive stream 
 that shall go on to the ocean, pleasing to everybody 
 that purchases and everybody that consumes a pound of our 
 material. This is the province of this convention and the 
 province of the mining bureau, and we feel honored and 
 happy that they will blend in beneficent action in prescrib- 
 ing the things necessary to enlighten us in the performance 
 of that duty and disseminate it through our land. And per- 
 mit me as a last word to say that the state of Pennsylvania 
 through its mining department is efficiently, energeti- 
 cally and intelligently through its commission reforming the 
 mining laws of the state of Pennsylvania so as to procure 
 the best results, and the operators are in harmony with 
 them so far as that result is necessary. (Applause.) 
 
Distribution of the Nation's Mineral Wealth. 
 
 BY GEO. OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 The subject, the Distribution of the Nation's Mineral 
 Wealth, eminently fits both the place and the occasion. 
 The city of Pittsburgh, rightly termed "the world's indus- 
 trial wonder," is founded on the mineral resources of not 
 only Pennsylvania, but indeed of the whole country, while 
 you members of the American Mining Congress represent 
 the industry that has enabled this nation to realize a rich 
 income from its mineral heritage. Nor is it inappropriate 
 that a representative of the United States Geological Sur- 
 vey should bring to your attention facts relating to the dis- 
 tribution of this mineral wealth. In the thirty years since 
 its organization this federal bureau has recorded the devel- 
 opment of the mineral industry, and to indicate how phe- 
 nomenal has been this development I need only cite the fact 
 that during these three decades the mineral production of 
 the nation has increased six-fold. 
 
 Last year, at the Joplin session of the Mining Congress, 
 I had occasion to refer to the probability that the value of 
 the mineral output for 1907 would pass the two billion dol- 
 lar mark. The statistics since collected have verified that 
 estimate, showing the value of the 1907 mineral production 
 to be over $2,069,000,000. In 1879 Congress expressed its 
 appreciation of the importance of the nation's mineral 
 wealth by establishing a scientific bureau charged with the 
 investigation of these resources, and now, three decades 
 later, the mineral industry, making as it does an annual 
 contribution to the nation six-fold greater, truly deserves 
 further recognition. 
 
 We should not leave this topic of the thirty years' de- 
 velopment without mention of certain notable features in 
 the growth of the mineral industry. In 1880 the non-me- 
 tallic products constituted 47 per cent of the total mineral 
 production of the country; in 1907 fully 57 per cent. This 
 
248 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 increase in relative importance of the non-metallic products 
 has not been regular inasmuch as metals have exhibited a 
 tendency to be more quickly affected by general business 
 conditions, with the result that for the year 1894, for in- 
 stance, the non-metallic percentage rose to 65 per cent and 
 again in 1904 to 63 per cent. 
 
 The pages since 1880 can also be studied in another 
 manner Then, in order of value of output, coal stood first, 
 with iron second, followed by gold, silver, petroleum, lime, 
 building stone, copper, lead and salt. In last year's pro- 
 duction, after coal and iron came copper, clay products, pe- 
 troleum, gold, stone, cement, natural gas and lead. You 
 will note that in this column of the ten most important min- 
 eral products, coal, iron, petroleum and building stone have 
 maintained their relative positions notwithstanding the six- 
 fold total increase. Copper has advanced from eighth to 
 third place and gold has dropped from third position to 
 sixth, lead from ninth to tenth, and silver to just behind 
 lead. The new comers in the 1907 list as contrasted with 
 that of 1880 are clay products, cement and natural gas. 
 
 Production statistics are the pulse of the nation's ma- 
 terial life and these differences in relative growth are sig- 
 nificant symptoms in the development of the mineral in- 
 dustry, They indicate present tendencies in the utilization 
 of the nation's mineral wealth, and indeed the relative im- 
 portance of the different minerals, considered from the na- 
 tional point of view, which is that of industrial growth. 
 
 The distribution of mineral wealth depends on geologic 
 factors and different geologic provinces are characterized 
 by deposits of different minerals. Herein lies the value of 
 much of purely geologic study. Thus an important part 
 of the Survey 's work' through these years has been to keep 
 the country informed as to the occurrence of economic min- 
 erals. Not only has the Survey statistician been recording 
 the increasing activity of mine, furnace and smelter, but the 
 Survey geologist has been mapping and measuring the na- 
 tion's mineral deposits and investigating the possibilities 
 of new discoveries of the mineral fuels and ores. In the 
 last few weeks the result of this great inventory which it 
 
DISTRIBUTION OF THE NATION'S MINERAL WEALTH. 249 
 
 has taken years to make has been brought together in the 
 report submitted to the National Conservation Commission, 
 and it is the existence of these quantitative data that en- 
 ables me to discuss this important subject at all adequately. 
 The facts of the distribution of mineral wealth are of 
 practical value because of the vital connection between such 
 geographic distribution and the development of manufac- 
 tures and commerce. I give precedence to manufactures 
 because this industry rather than commerce should first 
 feel the creative influence of mineral wealth. The metal- 
 lurgical, clay-working, structural and chemical industries 
 constitute the web and woof of industrial prosperity and to 
 a large degree it is only the disregard of the principles of 
 political economy that permits the export of raw material 
 beyond the boundaries of state or nation. Free trade 
 among the states of this union has developed great inter- 
 state and internal commerce on a grand scale, but this phe- 
 nomenal national development should not blind the people 
 of the individual states to the advantage of local utiliza- 
 tion of their own mineral resources. As an illustration of 
 this, the new industrial south is possible because the south 
 has always possessed mineral wealth. With these southern 
 states mining nearly seven per cent of the iron ore of the 
 United States and over 21 per cent of coal it is simply 
 obedience to natural laws that the southern furnaces should 
 produce ten per cent of the pig iron of the country. Eco- 
 nomic laws must be recognized and the fact of distribution 
 and production of supply and consumption must be in 
 mind before we can at all comprehend the inter-relation ex- 
 isting between all branches of the mineral industry to plan 
 intelligently for its future development. 
 
 Let me cite a few characteristics of the distribution of 
 our mineral wealth: In the first place, the widespread dis- 
 tribution of raw materials makes possible an industrial 
 nation in which every state and territory has some share 
 in the mineral production. Last year only three states had 
 a mineral output valued at less than $1,000,000, and twelve 
 states had a production valued at over $50,000,000 each. 
 Again, no state or section appears to have a monopoly 
 
250 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 of the mineral industry. While "progressive Pennsyl- 
 vania ' ' with its total mineral product nearly one-third that 
 of the whole country, leads in coal, cement, stone and na- 
 tural gas by large margins, another state, Minnesota, lead-- 
 in iron ore; another, Arizona, in copper; another, Ohio, in 
 clay products; Oklahoma in petroleum; Colorado in both 
 gold ai.d silver, and Missouri in both lead and zinc. Fur- 
 thermore, these centers of production are ever shifting. 
 
 For instance, in 1900 the primacy in quantity of petro- 
 leum produced passed from Ohio to California, thence to 
 Oklahoma; and within a year Montana in copper production 
 has given place to Arizona; in lead, Idaho to Missouri, and 
 in silver, Montana to Colorado. It is evident that we can- 
 not prophesy future progress of the industry unless we 
 can determine the centers of the mineral reserves, for it 
 will be toward these centers that the industry will trend. 
 
Science as the Basis of Commercial Success. 
 
 BY HON. JOSEPH BUFFINGTON, UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE, 
 PITTSBURGH, PA. 
 
 lam obliged to the chairman for interrupting the pro- 
 gram of the evening and giving me the opportunity to say a 
 few words to you tonight. If he will excuse me I will re- 
 main here on the floor instead of taking the platform. I 
 should be false to my feelings tonight if I did not say that 
 it is a great pleasure to be present. I stopped my work 
 down at the court of appeals in Philadelphia in order to 
 come here, because I had such an intense interest in the 
 movement which has culminated in turning the old arsenal 
 of war into a home of science, that I feel today is not only 
 a red letter day for humanity and Pittsburgh locally, but 
 that it is also an epoch day for our government, one of sig- 
 nal significance in the development of the future of our 
 country. I have long felt that the civilized nations of the 
 world were stripping to the waist for a great commercial 
 struggle, and I have feared that in this great country of 
 ours, owing to its very greatness and its division into many 
 states, that what was everybody's business was nobody's 
 duty; and that dear old Uncle Sam and these states of ours 
 were losing sight of the strategic vantage points in that 
 titanic commercial struggle. And that strategic base to my 
 view is in the turning of the minds of the scientific men of 
 this coantry from pure science to applied science and in the 
 nation's taking advantage of this applied scientific know- 
 ledge, and what commercially flows therefrom, as the great 
 dynamic force which shall lead us to the heights of interna- 
 tional commercial supremacy. Germany has grasped and 
 gripped this fact. Her astounding commercial growth to- 
 day is not the result of chance, not the fortuitous develop- 
 ment of commerce or the work of individual men, but it is 
 the outcome of resultant result from causing cause. It is 
 because the great minds that were building the greatness 
 of Greater Germany a generation ago grasped the signifi- 
 
252 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 cance of the laboratory, the chemist, of pure science in the 
 ultimate outcome of applied science. These great minds 
 unified, centralized and localized this great economic-scien- 
 tific policy into German scientific and commercial life and 
 hand in hand the twin sisters laboratory and factory- 
 knowledge and practice the head of science and the hand 
 of toil, have led Germany in half a generation to the fore- 
 front of commercial development. In that time, for ex- 
 ample, Germany had quietly had at work a great central 
 governmental institute of testing material, of fuel econom- 
 ics, of analyses, combination and quantities, where the great 
 underlying questions of manufacturing have been intelli- 
 gently and scientifically studied out. From this foresight 
 she is reaping today the rich first-fruits in an aggressive, 
 surging commercial advance that is at once a lesson and a 
 warning to her sister nations. Today she is a generation 
 ahead of us in this march of scientific forethought. She is 
 reaping harvest where we are just beginning to plow our 
 fields. Seeing which, I for one am deeply interested in 
 this work which you have seen officially installed here to- 
 day. This work which you have been privileged today to 
 see begun; the starting of these testing places, these places 
 looking to the conservation of material, these bringings of 
 the theoretical chemistry of the past into the practical work 
 of the present have immensely to do with the commercial 
 future of the country. And I feel, gentlemen, and we of 
 Pittsburgh feel, glad that this work has taken but a tenta- 
 tive form here, because we feel that the development from 
 this day forward will be such that in a few years we will 
 wondei that some former generation had not begun it. We 
 do not want to look on it as an enterprise merely for the 
 benefit of this community. It has a far wider range and 
 deeper significance. The mere accident of its location is 
 one of locality because we realize there is no place save 
 Pittsburgh on the map of the United States which is at once 
 within a night's ride of the city of Washington and also 
 within a night's ride of so many sister cities. 
 
 I have every faith, as this work goes on and develops, 
 that the co-relation of other things, other industries, other 
 
SCIENCE AS THE BASIS OF COMMERCIAL SUCCESS. 253 
 
 sources or means of scientific development will bring other 
 scientific branches of the government to this point where 
 they may be concentrated, and where we can as a whole 
 country get the advantage which Germany is now getting, 
 from her scientific station at Charlottenburg. 
 
 With these few thoughts in mind, I feel tonight that we 
 are on the eve of a great movement in this country and we 
 have been participating today in that which is pregnant 
 with a great future. I want to add my conviction of the 
 substantial value of this together-coming of practical, 
 strong, level-headed men in such a gathering as this Mining 
 Congress. The mining man who fails to come to such 
 gathering loses tremendously to my mind in the develop- 
 ment of himself and his work. I attended your sessions 
 this morning and I was struck not only with this thought, 
 but (after Dr. Holmes called for volunteers to speak) of 
 the suggestions that a convention of this kind must bring 
 to the men who are engaged in purely scientific work. 
 Think of these lamentable accidents, the terrible catastro- 
 phes in the coal mining industry! What a flood of thought 
 was brought out to the scientists by the simple statements 
 of operators as to the variations in the atmosphere and the 
 humidity of such atmosphere, and the proneness of those 
 accidents to occur at certain seasons of the year. I am no 
 prophet, and I am not a scientist, but I venture to say that 
 this suggestion of the relation of the humidity and condi- 
 tions of the atmosphere to these explosions will be taken up 
 by these scientific men of the government, by the schools 
 of mines by scientists everywhere, and worked out to some 
 solution that will lead us to see the connection between the 
 cause cind the effect. I was struck with the fact of the 
 open lamp as a cause of these disasters, and I said in my 
 own homely way, if the open lamp is one of the causes of 
 these disasters, these scientific men will get at the root of 
 this thing, for true science always goes to bed-rock fact 
 and they will see that the use of the open lamp comes from 
 that quality of human nature which leads the miner to dis- 
 regard danger in use of the open lamp because he gets more 
 light from the open than he does from the closed lamp. It 
 
254 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 is natural, therefore, for him to want to use it, and he will 
 use it because by its light he will get out more coal. And 
 the way to stop him from using it is not by legislation, but 
 by removing the cause which causes him to use it. How 
 shall this be done? Why, this body of scientists will get 
 down deep and they will say that if there is any cause that 
 leads the miner to use the open lamp, the way to beat that 
 is to produce a closed lamp that will be so much better 
 than the open lamp that the temptation to use the latter 
 will be taken away. (Applause.) 
 
 Mr Chairman, the experience I have had with scientific 
 men in the disposition of patent cases for a great many years 
 has lea me to the profound conviction that science is at the 
 bottom of commercial success. I feel that this convention 
 should take this thought home with it, and hammer home to 
 their members of Congress and Senate the necessity of sus- 
 taining these men of science by liberal appropriations to 
 carry on the great scientific work of this nation. (Ap- 
 plause.) If the news goes out from this convention, as I 
 believe it will, to our representatives and our senators that 
 these men are not carrying on something high up in the air 
 in the way of scientific theoretical investigations, but are 
 coming down to practical questions of modern industrial 
 life, it will do much to aid the development that has been 
 started here today. 
 
 I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your kind at- 
 tention. (Applause.) 
 
The Duties of the Federal and State Governments in Rela- 
 tion to the Mining Industry. 
 
 BY CONGRESSMAN W. F. ENGLEBRIGHT, OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Mr. President, Delegates and Members of the American 
 Mining Congress: I was not aware that I had been placed 
 on the program to address this meeting till I arrived here 
 yesterday afternoon. I came here for the purpose of learn- 
 ing all I could about the great mining industry in these 
 portions of the United States with which I am not ac- 
 quainted. I came here for the purpose not of talking my- 
 self, but to hear what you had to say; to get your ideas, 
 and so far as I could to learn your wishes. Coming from 
 the mining districts of California, it is certainly a pleasure 
 to me to be with you and to see such a great interest being 
 taken in this American Mining Congress. Its sessions are 
 of great importance. Your deliberations are of great inter- 
 est to the mining world, and the result of your delibera- 
 tions is going to carry great weight in Congress and in the 
 legislative halls of the different states. As a representative 
 in the Congress of the United States, I assure you that I 
 will place great weight upon your recommendations, and 
 shall work in and out of Congress to help carry them out, 
 and to do those things which you suggest are for the good 
 of the great mining industry and which will help to pro- 
 tect the health and lives of our miners. 
 
 About a year ago I was in San Francisco to attend a 
 banquet given by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce 
 to the congressional delegation of California. At that time 
 matters in the United States so far as finance was con- 
 cerned were a little mixed. The fact was the country had 
 gotten considerable of a jolt, and it was a pretty important 
 subject of discussion at that time. Naturally at that ban- 
 quet finance was the leading subject of discussion, especi- 
 ally as there were present a number of prominent financiers 
 of the nation. All of them were called upon for remarks, 
 and they expressed themselves very freely, and some of 
 
256 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 them went into the details of various theories and propo- 
 sitions that would help out the financial situation. 
 
 After a while they called upon me. I told them, that 
 coming from away up in the mountains in the gold mining 
 section, the financial situation did not bother us, that our 
 mines had been continually running, that our miners were 
 at work, that they were being paid, that none of our banks 
 had failed, and that I had not given the subject of finance 
 any particular study, but I thought it was a good time to 
 call their attention to one fact, and that was that while 
 they were busy figuring how the best way was to get more 
 green-backs issued, to issue clearing-house certificates and 
 all that, the miners of my state had been hard at work all 
 the time, and had been sending right into San Francisco 
 $2,000,000 a month in gold; that I thought that was a sort 
 of a practical way to help our their finances, and that I was 
 sure that they had turned that gold over and over again 
 many times, and that it had materially helped them out. 
 While the miners of my district were doing that the other 
 gold mines throughout the United States were all at work, 
 and last year the gold mines of the United States produced 
 almost $100,000,000. Now I think that that hundred mil- 
 lion dollars in gold was a very material factor in assisting 
 m straightening out the financial difficulties of the Unitf 
 States. Our other mining industries, lead, zinc, copper, all 
 have been productive during the past year. Our iron mines 
 have produced large amounts of iron, and the great coal 
 mining industry has added its wealth to the United States, 
 so that last year the mining industry, the metallic and the 
 non-metallic industries, produced over $2,000,000,000 in the 
 United States. Such an industry is certainly worthy of the 
 fostering care of the United States Government. And I 
 as a representative in Congress believe every effort should 
 be made at all times to do what we can to brace up this in- 
 dustry the same as other industries are being taken care of. 
 
 Yesterday we had the opportunity of witnessing the 
 formal opening of the testing plant in this city, which will 
 take up the various problems in connection with the loss of 
 life in our coal mines. As I saw the plant there, and saw 
 
DUTIES OF GOVERNMENT TO MINING INDUSTRY. 257 
 
 the work that was being done, I felt satisfied that the money 
 that is being expended there is being expended for a good 
 purpose, and it will undoubtedly result in great good in 
 helping out the mine owners and in saving the lives of the 
 miners. This work has been started on an appropriation 
 that was made last winter by Congress. 
 
 But I want to call to your attention that it is only a spe- 
 cial appropriation; that there is nothing regular about it; 
 that at the present time there is no law providing for such 
 an appropriation. It was tried very hard to get this appro- 
 priation inserted as an amendment in the Appropriation 
 Bill in the House of Representatives, but by reason of there 
 being no law to provide for it, it was subject to a point of 
 order and was not inserted in the bill. The amendment 
 would not stick. It was only by the courtesy of the United 
 States Senate, who can do things if they want to, that they 
 inserted in the Legislative Appropriation bill this item, so 
 that it came back to the House of Representatives as an 
 amendment, and was not then subject to a point of order. 
 It had many friends in the House of Representatives, and 
 by reason of their friendship the amendment became a law. 
 This is one of the reasons why we 1 are anxious to have the 
 Mining Bureau bill passed, which will give a proper foun- 
 dation not only for appropriations for this work, but for 
 other work for the good of the great mining industry and 
 for all parts of it. 
 
 We need a proper law upon which legislative action 
 can be had. We need a proper department that can take 
 up any and all subjects for the good of mining, that will fur- 
 nish all the proper information upon which to base proper 
 legislation, not only in Congress, but by the various state 
 legislatures. I assure you that in all matters we expect the 
 American Mining Congress to take up these various sub- 
 jects, to consider them carefully, to consider them in detail, 
 make their recommendations on a conservative basis so that 
 your representatives in Congress and in other places can 
 take up your work, and follow it to a successful conclusion. 
 
 I thank you. (Applause.) 
 
Alaska and Its Mineral Resources. 
 
 BY ALFRED H. BROOKS, U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 
 
 Geography. 
 
 Three years ago I had the honor of addressing this 
 Congress on the subject of Alaska mines. At that time the 
 value of the annual mineral production was $16,500,000. In 
 1907 the value of the total mineral output was nearly $21,- 
 000,000. In this fact may lie a justification for again call- 
 ing your attention to the mineral wealth of this northern 
 field. 
 
 Many have difficulty in appreciating the size and ex- 
 tent of Alaska, which includes 586,400 square miles, or one- 
 fifth the area of the United States. Its east and west width 
 is as great as the distance from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
 and its most northerly and southerly points are as far 
 apart as the Mexican and Canadian boundaries. It can, 
 therefore, have no great uniformity of climate, physical 
 features, or resources. These are, in fact, as varied as 
 those of the United States. 
 
 Its southernmost point lies in about latitude 51 degrees 
 30 minutes, that is, almost the same parallel as Copenhagen 
 in Denmark, while Juneau, the capital, is in about the lati- 
 tude of Edinburgh, Scotland. Alaska stretches northward 
 through 27 degrees of latitude, and Point Barrow, its most 
 northerly cape, is but little nearer the pole than North 
 Cape, the northernmost point of Europe. To consider the 
 longitude, the meridian of the westernmost of the Aleutian 
 Islands passes near the New Hebrides and through New 
 Zealand. The territory and its islands in their extreme 
 width include 54 degrees of longitude. A person traveling 
 from the Atlantic coast to the most westerly island of the 
 Aleutian chain has accomplished less than half the journey, 
 measured in an east and west direction, when he reaches 
 the Pacific seaboard. 
 
ALASKA AND ITS MINERAL RESOURCES. 25& 
 
 Alaska, the largest outlying possession of the United 
 States, is that great land mass which is thrust out toward 
 Asia from the northwestern part of the American conti- 
 nent. Its main mass, a peninsula nearly rectangular in 
 outline, is cut off from the continent by Mackenzie Bay on 
 the north and the Gulf of Alaska on the south. South of 
 it lies the Pacific Ocean. On the west it is bounded by 
 Bering Sea and Bering Strait, and west and north by the 
 Arctic Ocean. 
 
 The geography of Alaska can perhaps best be under- 
 stood by comparing it with that of the western United 
 States and Canada, which is better known. A broad moun- 
 tain belt, including the coast ranges of California, Oregon 
 and Washington, the Sierra Nevada and Cascade, and con- 
 tinued northward into western Canada by other ranges, 
 constitutes the Cordillera, termed the Pacific mountain 
 system. Inland of the Pacific mountain system is a pro- 
 vince of lesser relief the so-called Great Basin or Plateau 
 region, which also finds its counterpart in Canada. This 
 province is marked on the east by the Eocky Mountains, 
 which again, like the western Pacific mountains, extend 
 into Canada. To the east of these the Great Plains extend 
 northward to the Arctic waters. These four topographic 
 provinces of the United States, which are fairly well de- 
 fined throughout western Canada, find a continuation and 
 similar geographic features in Alaska. 
 
 You will note that the coastal parts of the territory are 
 occupied by a broad mountain belt made up of a number 
 of different ranges. Inland lies the plateau region, and 
 north of this is the Eocky Mountain system. This latter 
 Cordillera is separated from the Arctic Ocean by a broad 
 region of low relief. 
 
 These larger geographic features have an important 
 influence on commercial advancement, for they dominate 
 the routes of approach. You will please note that a series of 
 mountain ranges cuts off the inland portions of Alaska from 
 the Pacific seaboard. This central region is one of compar- 
 atively low relief and opens out to Bering Sea, into which 
 it drains. But this sea is locked in the ice for seven months 
 
260 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 in the year. Hence the inland province can only be reached 
 with railways from waters, navigable throughout the year, 
 by finding a route of approach through the coastal barrier. 
 
 These coastal mountains include many high peaks of 
 which St. Elias, 18,090 feet in altitude, is one of the highest. 
 Inland of the St. Elias Eange is an irregular group of vol- 
 canic peaks embracing mountains from 10,000 to 16,000 feet 
 in altitude. 
 
 The Alaska Range, forming the inland member of the 
 Pacific mountain system, includes the highest peak of the 
 North American continent, Mount McKinley, 20,300 feet 
 in height, is a great dome of granite, whose summit stands 
 over 10,000 feet above the crest line of the adjacent range. 
 
 The Eocky Mountains of Alaska fall off by a sharp de- 
 clivity to a broad plateau sloping toward the Arctic Ocean. 
 This plateau in turn slopes off to the bleak Arctic plain 
 forming a part of the great tundra belt which encircles the 
 Polar Sea. 
 
 Mineral Resources. 
 
 The gold deposits of Alaska are for the most part asso- 
 ciated with belts of altered sediments, classed as metamor- 
 phic rocks. The one skirts the coast of Southeast- 
 ern Alaska and, trending to the northwestward, finds 
 its continuation in the Prince William Sound and 
 Kenai Peninsula regions. This is the locus of most 
 of the present auriferous lode mining. A second belt 
 of metamorphic rocks lies in the central portion 
 and embraces a broad area lying between the Tanana 
 and the Yukon rivers. Within this belt are the most valu- 
 able of the Alaskan placer deposits. A third belt of meta- 
 morphic rocks occurs in the northern part of Alaska, and 
 its continuation is found in the Seward Peninsula, where it 
 includes some important placer districts. Over ninety- 
 seven per cent, of the value of Alaska's mineral production 
 has come from these three belts of metamorphic rocks. 
 But they are by no means the only centers of possible min- 
 ing of the future. 
 
ALASKA AND ITS MINERAL RESOURCES. 261 
 
 I would also call your attention to the belt of intrusives 
 which forms the Coast Eange of Southeastern Alaska and 
 is continued by broken areas of igneous rock which occur 
 in other parts of the territory. In Southeastern Alaska 
 the contact of these intrusives has been found to be zones 
 of mineralization, and the same probably holds true in other 
 parts of the territory. This being the case, the distribu- 
 tion of these igneous intrusives becomes an important com- 
 mercial feature. 
 
 The most important centers of placer mining are the 
 Yukon-Tanana region and the Seward Peninsula. These 
 two provinces now have an annual production of from four- 
 teen to sixteen million dollars in value. At the western end 
 of the Seward Peninsula there are also some tin deposits 
 which have made a small output. The developed gold and 
 silver lodes are confined, for the most part, to Southeastern 
 Alaska and will be discussed in somewhat greater detail 
 further on. The productive copper deposits are confined 
 to two districts; the one lies in Southeastern Alaska and 
 embraces the central portion of Prince of Wales Island; 
 the other on Prince William Sound, 500 miles to the north- 
 west. There is also a copper belt on the southern slope of 
 the Wrangell Mountains, where considerable prospecting 
 has been done and one large deposit has been opene.d up; 
 and a second belt, which follows the northern slope of the 
 Wrangell Mountains, where many prospects have been 
 found. Some copper and gold-bearing lodes occur in other 
 parts of Alaska, but cannot be considered here. 
 
 In 1907 Alaska produced upwards of five million 
 pounds of copper. 
 
 In Southeastern Alaska a heavy forest will furnish the 
 miner with timber. The relief is bold, so that the lodes 
 can usually be reached by tunneling, and no hoisting of ore 
 is required. The ore is carried to tidewater by gravity 
 trams, and the coast line is such that there are excellent 
 harbors. This district can be reached by a two-day steam- 
 boat trip from Seattle and has the advantage of ocean 
 freight rates. It is, par excellence, probably one of the 
 best fields in the world for cheap exploitation. 
 
262 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 The Treadwell mines, the fourth in size in the world, 
 need no introduction to a mining audience. They are lo- 
 cated, as you know, on an island opposite the town of 
 Juneau and have the benefit of all the features that have 
 been mentioned, which makes for low cost of production. 
 In fact, the exploitation of the Treadwell ore body, with its 
 low values, has been an object lesson for the mining world, 
 The aggregate output of this group of mines is valued at 
 thirty-five million dollars, and the annual production is now 
 about three million dollars. The magnitude of this enter- 
 prise, with its 900 stamp mill, has served to obscure the 
 fact that there are other extensive mining operations in the 
 adjacent area of the Juneau district. 
 
 The Copper River region has been a focal point of in- 
 terest in Alaska for the last three years, largely because 
 of the plans for reaching it by rail from Pacific tidewater. 
 The ores, which are sulphides along with some native cop- 
 per, occur at and along the contact of the so-called Nikolai 
 greenstone, an igneous rock, and the Chitistone limestone. 
 
 Alaska first began to draw the attention of the whole 
 world when the famous Klondike gold fields were discov- 
 ered in 1896. At that time the inland portions of the ter- 
 ritory were producing less than a million dollars in gold, 
 and all the mining operations were of a distinctly frontier 
 type, of a very primitive character. This field now pro- 
 duces about ten million dollars' worth of gold annually. 
 The Klondike, which is, of course, in Canadian territory, 
 represents the eastern extension of this belt. An interest- 
 ing feature of this section is the wide distribution of the 
 auriferous deposits. Beginning at Fortymile to the east, 
 we find indications of auriferous gravel throughout a belt 
 250 miles long by 75 miles wide, including the Birch 
 Creek, Fairbanks, and Eampart districts. Though this 
 district now supports a population of seven to eight thou- 
 sand people, only a small part of it has been carefully pros- 
 pected, and there is every reason to believe that other dis- 
 coveries of auriferous gravels will be made. 
 
 The Fairbanks district is, from the standpoint of pro- 
 duction, by far the most important of the inland districts, 
 
ALASKA AND ITS MINERAL RESOURCES. 263 
 
 its annual output being now between eight and nine million 
 dollars in value. In this field the gold gravels lie at con- 
 siderable depth, varying from 20 to 300 feet, and most of 
 the mining is done by underground methods. 
 
 The Seward Peninsula, which forms the western pro- 
 jection of Alaska, has produced in the aggregate forty 
 million dollars' worth of gold since the first discovery in 
 1898, and is now the scene of many important mining enter- 
 prises. You will note that lode deposits, including gold, 
 copper, antimony, and galena, have been discovered in vari- 
 ous parts of the peninsula, and, among the non-metallifer- 
 ous deposits, we have both graphite and coal. Only one 
 auriferous lode thus far has been on a productive basis, 
 though some work has been done on others. On the whole, 
 the outlook is favorable for the development of the lode 
 mining industry in this field. The western end of the pen- 
 insula is the tin-bearing district, where both lode and 
 stream tin deposits have been exploited, though the pro- 
 duction has as yet been small. 
 
 The general distribution of Alaska coal-bearing rocks 
 has already been discussed, but I desire to lay particular 
 emphasis on two of the most important coal fields, at least, 
 the two that are most important from the standpoint of 
 early exploitation. Both of these are tributary to the 
 Pacific seaboard, which is open to navigation throughout 
 the year. The one, known as the Bering River o? Con- 
 troller Bay coal field, lies within 25 miles of tidewater, in 
 the central part of Alaska. The other, which is the Mat- 
 anuska field, lies about 30 miles northeast of the head of 
 Cook Inlet, but about 200 miles distant from a port open 
 throughout the year. The Controller Bay coal field em- 
 braces about 45 square miles known to be underlaid by 
 workable coal seams, includes three grades of coal, namely, 
 anthracite, semi-anthracite, and semi-bituminous, and in- 
 cludes good coking coals. The workable beds vary from 
 6 to 20 feet in thickness. The high grade of this coal, 
 whose fixed carbon varies from 72 to 81 per cent., will make 
 them an important source of fuel for the western coast. It 
 should be noted also that thev lie close to the locus of a 
 
2'64 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 railway which is under construction to the copper deposits, 
 already described. They will, therefore, undoubtedly fur- 
 nish a supply of coke for important smelting operations 
 in this part of the territory. 
 
 The relief in this coal field is strong; the drainage chan- 
 nels are sharply cut, 'and much of the coal lies 500 to 2,000 
 feet above the present water courses. This will render the 
 coal readily accessible and decrease the cost of exploitation. 
 
 Though these coal fields lie only about 25 miles from 
 the coast, yet the Pacific seaboard at this point offers no 
 good harbors. Plans are on foot, however, for the con- 
 struction of breakwaters near Katalla, which will give ade- 
 quate shelter for vessels. It is proposed to connect these 
 breakwaters by a railroad with coal field. 
 
 Another plan for reaching these coals by railway is to 
 construct a line from Cordova Bay, the eastern arm of 
 Prince William Sound. This construction would require 
 about 100 miles of track, and the coastal terminal of the 
 railway would be on a good harbor. This railway is now 
 being built as a part of the line which is to go up the Cop- 
 per river. 
 
 The Matanuska coal field embraces an area lying with- 
 in the drainage basin of the Matanuska and .its tributary 
 to Cook Inlet. The known coal-bearing area is about equal 
 to that of Controller Bay, though the coal field itself is 
 probably considerably larger. The Matanuska contains a 
 large amount of high-grade bituminous coal and some an- 
 thracite. The rocks are folded and faulted. As the head 
 of Cook Inlet is closed for five months of the year, it is 
 necessary to find an outlet for this coal field on the outer 
 side of Kenai Peninsula. The port Resurrection Bay has 
 been chosen, and from this point a railway is under con- 
 struction to the coal fields, a distance of abut 200 miles. 
 Something over 50 or 60 miles of the road has been com- 
 pleted. 
 
 The fuel of these two coal fields compares with our 
 best eastern coals and will form an important source of fuel 
 for the western seaboard. It is higher in fuel value than 
 anv coal west of the Rockv Mountains. 
 
ALASKA AND ITS MINERAL RESOURCES. 265 
 
 I'lticrr M ill tin/. 
 
 The total mineral production of Alaska up to the close 
 of 1908 is valued at about one hundred and fifty million 
 dollars, of which over a hundred million is represented by 
 the output of the placer mines. The exploitation of the 
 placers has, therefore, in the past been the most important 
 mining industry of the territory, though there can be no 
 question that in the times to come the other mineral de- 
 posits will form a much larger percentage of the value of 
 the mining output. Up to a decade ago placer mining was 
 limited almost entirely to the most primitive methods. 
 Then the output of gold was dependent on the activities of 
 the individual miner who worked with pick and shovel and 
 rocker or sluice box, the latter usually made of whip-sawed 
 lumber. This phase of placer mining, however, is passing 
 away in the larger mining districts. Today such machines 
 as dredges are being introduced and hydraulic mining is 
 also playing its part in the advancement of the industry. 
 
 These alluvial deposits of the inland regions and of the 
 Seward Peninsula are usually frozen and require thawing, 
 either by action of the sun or through artificial means. In 
 the so-called deep gravels artificial methods of thawing are 
 usually employed. A shaft is sunk until the gold-bearing 
 strata are reached, and these are followed by means of 
 drifting and stoping. The ground is thawed by means of 
 steam introduced in pipes, which are driven into the ground. 
 The material is then hoisted and the gold is separated by 
 sluicing. 
 
 The placer mines of Alaska are for the most part situ- 
 ated in regions where there is a low precipitation. For 
 this reason the water supply is often inadequate for 
 hydraulic mining. There are, however, plenty of excep- 
 tions to this rule, and hydraulic methods of moving gravel 
 are now extensively used. There will probably never be, 
 however, in most of the mining districts of the inland re- 
 gion of Alaska and the Seward Peninsula any such exten- 
 sive hydraulic mining operations as there have been in Cal- 
 ifornia, for the reason that there is neither adequate water 
 supply nor sufficient grade for removing the tailings. 
 
266 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 There are, however, some smaller districts where both grade 
 and water supply invite hydraulic mining enterprises, and 
 both in the Yukon and Seward Peninsula there are certain 
 localities where these methods can be used. 
 
 The dredge is a mechanism which has been devised for 
 the working of auriferous alluvium in regions where either 
 the topographic conditions are unfitted or the water supply 
 inadequate for hydraulic mining. This method of mining 
 promises to have a wide application through much of the 
 Yukon basin, as well as on the Seward Peninsula. The 
 cost of operation is small, because a dredge requires only 
 three to five men for its operation. The original invest- 
 ment is of course large, varying from one hundred to two 
 hundred thousand dollars, depending on the character of 
 the construction or the locality where it is operated. 
 Dredge mining will undoubtedly play a large part in the 
 future mining operations in the territory. It is unfortu- 
 nate, however, that so many ill-conceived schemes are be- 
 ing advocated for dredging where the preliminary investi- 
 gations have been entirely insufficient to give a certainty 
 of returns. Nowadays dredge mining can be made an ab- 
 solutely sure investment, providing sufficient prospecting 
 is done in advance of the installation of the plant. 
 
 Transportation. 
 
 The cost of all mining operations in the interior por- 
 tions of Alaska, as well as parts of the Seward Peninsula, 
 is at present very high. This is chiefly because of the in- 
 adequacy of the transportation facilities. There are a few 
 short railroads, but practically all of the transportation is 
 dependent on the use of ocean-going vessels or river boats 
 during the open season, which lasts from about the first of 
 June until October. The Alaska placer miner probably 
 on the average pays from two hundred to five hundred 
 dollars a ton for all of the material and supplies which he 
 uses in his operations. Such a tax would be impossible 
 were it not for the extraordinary richness of the deposits 
 now being worked. As a matter of fact, there are very 
 extensive areas of auriferous alluvium which cannot now 
 
ALASKA AND ITS MINERAL RESOURCES. 267 
 
 be handled at a profit because of the high cost of operating. 
 These operating costs can be in part reduced by the intro- 
 duction of machinery and by the employment of skilled en- 
 gineers, which are sadly lacking in most Alaskan mining 
 enterprises. But for any material reduction in cost it will 
 be necessary to establish systems of transportation which 
 will reduce the expenditure for freight. 
 
 The transportation conditions are seriously hampering 
 mining advancement in the inland regions. There has, 
 however, been tremendous progress in this matter during 
 the past decade. During the Klondike excitement thou- 
 sands of tons of freight were carried' over the Chilkoot Pass 
 on the backs of men. A second route of approach was over 
 the White Pass, where the declivity is not as steep, but 
 where the distance from tidewater of the Pacific to naviga- 
 ble water inland is about twice as great as along the Chil- 
 koot route. 
 
 No account of Alaska travel would be complete with- 
 out some reference to the mosquitoes which worry man and 
 beast throughout the summer months. Horses have to be 
 protected from these pests, as well as men. Animals soon 
 learn that a smudge helps to keep away the voracious in- 
 sects. 
 
 Those whose familiarity with Alaska and its mineral 
 resources gives them the right to an opinion, believe that 
 there is here a large field for mining which can only be de- 
 veloped by the construction of a railway from the Pacific 
 seaboard to the Yukon basin. There has been much tur- 
 moil in the Alaska railroad situation during the past three 
 years. Efforts have been made to show that one or the 
 other of three routes is the only feasible one, that one has 
 a decided advantage over the other. There are advantages 
 in all three as main routes. The route to parallel the St. 
 Elias Eange bisects territory such as neither of the other 
 two, which run transverse to the main axis of the moun- 
 tains, does. The Copper Eiver route is the only one which 
 would develop the copper deposits of this district and also 
 reach the Controller Bay coal fields, while, on the other 
 hand, the route from Eesurrection Bay to the Tanana is the 
 
268 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. [Part II. 
 
 shortest to the placer districts and also must be built to 
 develop the Matanuska coal fields. All of these routes have 
 been surveyed, and railways are now being constructed 
 along two of them. One of these is to ascend Copper river 
 and also to reach the Controller Bay coal field. The other 
 has the Matanuska coal field for its immediate objective 
 point. These two railways will bring those valuable coals 
 to the seaboard, and the Copper river line will also tap the 
 copper deposits of the Chitina valley. One or both will 
 ultimately be extended to the Yukon. 
 
 The coastal barrier once passed, there are few difficul- 
 ties to railway construction. 
 
 Possibly I am over optimistic, but in my opinion, not 
 only will these railways be completed, but others will be 
 built. The time will come when we shall have several 
 trunk lines, with many branches, making all the mineral- 
 bearing parts of the territory accessible at all times of the 
 year. These schemes may appear visionary, but when we 
 reflect that Alaska, with its primitive systems of transpor- 
 tation, has already added to the world's wealth to the ex- 
 tent of over a hundred and fifty million dollars, there seems 
 to be some justification for this opinion. 
 
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