24 <Beo0rapbicai IRotes on 



are of great extent and practically inexhaustible within ten miles of 

 the City of Mexico. 



In the Tlahualilo district of the State of Coahuila, for instance, 

 owing to the distance from the nearest coal mines, the question of fuel 

 is very important, as there are at present more than three hundred 

 horse-power in constant use, and the amount is steadily increasing., 

 The main supply is from the mesquite brush, which is cleared from the 

 new lands as the work of ditching and preparation advances. The 

 hulls of the cotton seed also make a hot but quick fuel for some of 

 the larger stationary engines. The wheat, straw and cotton bushes are 

 utilized for brick-burning and for the domestic purposes of the labor- 

 ing population. 



Those acquainted with industrial conditions in Mexico and making 

 investigations with a view to the establishment of new industries in 

 that Republic, are consequently impressed with the fact that, in spite 

 of the cheap labor, favorable climatic conditions, and good home 

 markets, the lack of cheap fuel is exceedingly detrimental to a large 

 proportion of the industries of this country ; but fortunately large de- 

 posits of coal are now being discovered in the Republic. At Salinas, 

 in the State of Coahuila, a large bed of coal is being worked by the 

 International Railroad Company, which furnishes fuel for that road 

 and even for a portion of the Southern Pacific Railroad and for some 

 of the manufactories in Monterey. In the district of Tlaxiaco, in the 

 State of Oaxaca, a very rich coal-field has been discovered, but for the 

 present it is inaccessible and before a railroad can be built to tap it 

 it cannot be used, as the expense of transportation would be exceed- 

 ingly high. Sonora contains a carboniferous area, several miles in ex- 

 tent, with innumerable veins from five to sixteen feet in thickness, of 

 hard, clean, anthracite coal, carrying as high a percentage in fixed car- 

 bon as the best coal mined in Wales. The ledge is thirty miles in 

 length and averages sixteen feet in width, showing a quantity sufficient 

 to supply the entire Pacific coast with anthracite coal of the first quality 

 for years to come. The configuration of that State and the proximity 

 of the sea make it comparatively easy to work it. 



At Jiquilpan, State of Michoacan, almost immediately south from 

 Negrete station on the Guadalajara branch of the Mexican Central 

 Railroad, a large coal-field has been discovered. While it is not prob- 

 able that either anthracite or first-class bituminous coal will be found 

 in these fields, still the great value of even an ordinary class of coal 

 will be appreciated by those acquainted with industrial conditions in 

 Mexico. The coal measures of the Chapala district probably belong 

 to the tertiary period, and lie in stratified rock overlaid by an outflow 

 of basalt or lava, at an elevation of 250 or 300 feet above Lake Cha- 

 pala. The general series of rocks has been examined and pronounced 



