PROGRESS AND MINING INDUSTRY 447 



munity and direct attention to tlio work of the hurnan iiinle. 



If we fail in an appreciation of the extent of the mining; 

 industry we are equally at fault in recognizing the influence 

 which it exerts upon our development. The utilization of 

 150,000,000 to 175,000,000 long tons of coal, aniiuallv won 

 from American mines, for industrial and household purposes, 

 may, perhaps, be approximately gauged ; or we may measure 

 the advance in wealth due to the exploitation of the minerals 

 each year to produce 55,000,000 to 0(),00( ),()()() ounces of silver, 

 2,000,000 to 2,250,000 ounces of gold, 350,000,000 to 4()(),{M)0,- 

 000 pounds of copper, 170,000 short tons of lead, 90,f)()0 short 

 tons of zinc, quicksilver to the amount of 30,000 flasks, more 

 than 500,000 to 1,000,000 pounds of aluminum, 53,0(){ ),()()() 

 barrels of petroleum, 8,000,000 to 9,000,000 barrels of cement, 

 11,500,000 to 13,000,000, barrels of salt, clavs valued at SIO. 

 000,000, $35,000,000 of building stone, and S13,000,000 worth 

 of natural gas. But this impressive array of figures does not 

 convey a just idea of conditions, and few truly realize what 

 has been and what is being done by the mining industry to 

 advance our nation. 



To assist in forming a conception of the progress for which 

 the engineering profession and the mechanic arts are indebted 

 to this industry, attention may be directed briefly to some of 

 the achievements which may be justly credited to the under- 

 ground exploitation of our mineral resources. 



Mr. Eliot Lord, in his monograph, Comstock Mining and 

 Miners, writing of that section of the state of Nevada which 

 has produced gold and silver to the value of S380,000,()0(). 

 says: "Such is the nature of the region bordering upon the 

 eastern slope of the Sierras, and such the character of its sav- 

 age inhabitants, that forty years ago no territory in America 

 seemed more unhkely to attract a swarm of colonists. Ex- 

 cept along its northern boundary, there was nothing to tempt 

 the entrance of the intrepid fur trader, and even the undaunted 

 Jesuit missionaries contented themselves with maintaining 

 the white crosses of their stations on its border line. Thus the 

 outside world knew and cared to know but little of this broad 

 and seemingly worthless tract, and the homes of the basin 

 tribes would have been secure from intrusion to this day had 



