92 HOME LIFE IN FLORIDA. 



So far from coral being the corner-stone on which she 

 rests, the main rock beds that have been reached by the 

 borings for her first artesian wells are those of the lignite 

 and flint beds that belong to the eocene tertiary, and this 

 too at a very moderate depth,- from one hundred and fifty 

 to two hundred feet, and in some sections these rocks are 

 actually outcrops. 



The indications as to what riches and mineral wealth 

 the thorough survey soon to be made will reveal are sim- 

 ply startling in their promise to those who have heretofore 

 been satisfied to consider Florida as " all on the surface." 



Near Tallahassee, for instance, rich specimens of iron 

 ore have been found cropping out on the surface, and the 

 probabilities are that the hills around that beautiful city 

 are underlaid with this ore in paying quantities. 



An eminent mineralogist, who some time since made 

 careful and patient research in South Florida, found on 

 the dividing ridge an outcropping of ' ' over seventy tons 

 in sight and unknown quantities beneath the surface" of 

 an ore which, carefully assayed, proved to contain fifty- 

 four per cent of pure lead and fifty-two ounces of pure 

 silver to the ton, in addition to traces of gold in paying 

 quantities, and this result was obtained from random spec- 

 imens taken from the outcroppings. 



Indications of gold have also been found in Northern 

 Florida, and this same mineralogist declares that there are 

 at least tln*ee extensive coal deposits, one in Northern, one 

 in Middle, and one in South Florida. 



"Mining," he says, "will be one of Florida's great 

 future industries." 



Already the preliminary geological survey has shown 

 rich deposits of phosphates, equal in value to the famous 

 Charleston phosphate rocks, and these appear to exist all 

 over the State, as they have been found in widely sepa- 



