LEAD MITMAN. 



597 



ducers about 1820; Belgium entered the field in 1840; Italy in 1860; 

 Mexico, Canada, Japan, and Greece in 1880; and Australia joined 

 in 1888. This order in the ranks of the world's producers remained 

 practically unchanged until 1870, when the United States displaced 

 England for first honors, and has maintained this position ever 

 since, producing at present over one-third of the world's supply. 



For a true picture of the development of the lead industry in the 

 United States, it is only necessary to consider the development of 

 the country. The first settlements were made in the East, and there 

 a lead industry was started even before that of any other metal, for 

 protection was a necessity and lead shot was a decisive means to 

 this end. As a result, lead ores were sought, mined, and smelted in 

 many of the original 13 Colonies. Coincident with westward migra- 

 tion, lead was discovered in the Middle West and later in the Far 



Fig. 1.— Production of lead in the United States and the rest of the world since 1860. 

 Data from United States Geological Survey and Mineral Industry. 



West and in such vast quantities that when once transportation facili- 

 ties became available (about 1870) the deposits of the East, except 

 those of Virginia, were abandoned. The story is visualized graph- 

 ically in figure 2. 



The outstanding feature of this growth is that it is essentially the 

 result of domestic cultivation. There was a time between 1840 and 

 1850 when the demand for lead was less than the production and 

 the excess of lead was exported; again during the restless times 

 preceding and following the Civil War the demand exceeded the 

 production so that lead had to be imported; and finally, to meet the 

 demands of the Allies during the World War, the production of lead 

 increased, even above the abnormal domestic demand, and this ex- 

 cess was exported. But, other than this, the lead output of the 

 United States is used at home. As a matter of fact, the periods of 

 home consumption and exporting of lead, as shown in figure 3, rep- 

 101257—22 39 



