780 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 490. 



taken from the streams and mountains of 

 the state. The industry is one of great 

 importance to the state. 



In 1901 copper was mined in the counties 

 of Beaverhead, Granite, Jefferson, Lewis 

 and Clarke, Madison, Meagher and Silver 

 Bow, the last producing 227,742,262 

 pounds of the 228,031,503 pounds total. 

 Lead was produced in all the counties men- 

 tioned except Madison, and in addition 

 also in Broadwater, Cascade and Flathead. 

 Broadwater and Meagher were about equal 

 producers, with about two and one half 

 million pounds each. 



Coal statistics from an article by Pro- 

 fessor J. Perry Rowe, of the University of 

 Montana, which appeared recently in the 

 American Geologist, show that Montana is 

 undoubtedly one of the richest states in 

 coal and lig-nite, although as yet these 

 deposits have been but very little de- 

 veloped. 



"All or most of the bituminous and semi- 

 bituminous coals found in Montana come 

 from the Cretaceous period and usually 

 from the upper part, or the Laramie for- 

 mation, and are found east of the main 

 divide of the Eocky Mountains. The lig- 

 nite is found both in the Cretaceous and 

 later Neocene formations." 



Professor Rowe says that it has been 

 estimated that there are 13,000 or more 

 square miles of Cretaceous bituminous and 

 semi-bituminous coal area in Montana, and 

 about 25,000 square miles of lignite area. 

 "Not that all of this area is underlain by 

 coal, but that the deposits are found quite 

 abundantly throughout the territory." 

 According to this estimate the coal area of 

 the state is about one fourth of the entire 

 area of the state. He says : ' ' The bitumin- 

 ous area of Montana is greater than the 

 combined bituminous areas of North Da- 

 kota, South Dakota, "Wyoming, Washing- 

 ton, Oregon, Idaho and New Mexico. The 

 lignite area is next to that of North Dakota, 



which has a larger lig-nite area than any of 

 the northAvest states." The tests show the 

 Montana bitiuninous coal to be but little 

 inferior to Pennsylvania bitiuninous coal. 

 Professor Rowe reports that bituminous 

 coal or lignite has been found in every 

 county of the state except Jefferson 

 County. The undeveloped coal industry 

 Avill without doubt be a prominent factor 

 in the expansion of other industries of the 

 state. 



Sapphire Fields. — Montana sapphires 

 were first described in 1873 by J. Lawrence 

 Smith, but actual mining began in 1891. 

 One sapphire belt is twelve to eighteen 

 miles east and northeast of Helena, and 

 has been followed for about twelve miles, 

 from Canyon Ferry down the river to 

 American Bar. Sapphires have also been 

 found at Rock Creek, Cottonwood Creek 

 and Togo Gulch. The Rock Creek region 

 is about thirty miles west of Anaconda, the 

 Cottonwood Creek field about ten miles 

 east of Deer Lodge, and the Togo mines 

 in Fergus County, about thirteen miles 

 west of Utica. The only systematic mining 

 for sapphires in the United States is done 

 in Montana. The annual output of sap- 

 phires in the state is something like 450,000 

 to 500,000 karats, including those suitable 

 for cutting and those used for mechanical 

 purposes. A lapidary at Helena has fif- 

 teen workmen cutting stones, and it is as- 

 serted that finer work is done here than on 

 stones sent to be cut in London. "Alto- 

 gether," says State Commissioner Fergu- 

 son, "the output of precious stones in Mon- 

 tana exceeds the production of all the rest 

 of the United States, and forms a very 

 interesting addition to our industries." 



The Lumber Industry. — For the year 

 ending Jiine 30, 1902, 69 mills were run- 

 ning, with a total output of 210,047,000 

 feet of rough lumber. There were, in ad- 

 dition, from these mills, about five and a 

 half million shingles and seventeen million 



