624 TRANS. ST. LOUIS ACAD. SCIENCE. 



panics was directed towards this county and several roads built 

 to the principal coal fields of Bates, Vernon and Barton counties. 

 The result has been the building up of several railroad towns, 

 including Rich Hill, which in three years grew to a town of 

 4,000 inhabitants, and the establishment of zinc works and other 

 manufacturing establishments. 



The geological survey has shown that petroleum existed in 

 eight or nine counties of Western Missouri, but not in paying 

 quantities. But large sums of money have previously been v/asted 

 in boring wells for oil where a geological knowledge would 

 prove its uselessness. About six borings, from 500 to 800 feet 

 deep, have been made in search of coal oil in Western Missouri, 

 not to speak of many lesser ventures. It has been estimated that 

 at least $20,000 has been thus uselessly spent ; $100,000 has 

 been thrown away in mining and erection of works for extrac- 

 tion of tin ore in Missouri, and over $100,000 spent in lead min- 

 ing at one place, besides many useless expenditures at other 

 places. Over $100,000 has been badly spent in silver mining 

 in Missouri. All of these items, when footed up, count. 



Much of this could have been saved by consultation with. 

 skilled geologists and conscientious mining engineers. 



An owner of iron mines in Missouri said that if he had read 

 Dr. Schmidt's report before beginning work he would have saved 

 over $1,000. 



An iron furnace was erected a few miles from the Osage near 

 a certain iron bank. The ore there was soon exhausted (being a 

 pocket), and any other ore would have to be hauled by team, or 

 else boated down the river and hauled out to the furnace ; where- 

 as, if the furnace had been located at the river, it could be econo- 

 mically kept at work. It had to suspend operations. 



Dr. Schmidt's Reports on the lead mines were accompanied 

 with exact illustrations of the mode of occurrence and working 

 of the mines. 



In early mining in Missouri large quantities of zinc ore as well 

 as carbonate of lead were thrown away as useless, but science 

 has since saved many thousand pounds of ore. 



