﻿572 
  KEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  and 
  operatives 
  were 
  " 
  wallowing 
  in 
  intemperance 
  " 
  ; 
  the 
  hides 
  were 
  al- 
  

   lowed 
  to 
  rot, 
  the 
  wool 
  to 
  spoil, 
  and 
  the 
  tannery 
  proved 
  a 
  complete 
  fail- 
  

   ure. 
  The 
  company, 
  besides 
  expending 
  their 
  capital, 
  found 
  themselves 
  

   irretrievably 
  in 
  debt 
  to 
  their 
  bankers, 
  and 
  bankruptcy 
  followed. 
  " 
  A 
  

   few 
  samples 
  of 
  cloth," 
  continues 
  Mr. 
  Eoss, 
  " 
  had, 
  indeed, 
  been 
  made 
  and 
  

   sent 
  home 
  ; 
  but 
  that 
  which 
  cost 
  two 
  pounds 
  ten 
  shillings 
  per 
  yard 
  in 
  

   Eed 
  Itiver, 
  would 
  only 
  fetch 
  four 
  shillings 
  and 
  sixpence 
  in 
  England 
  ! 
  " 
  

   But, 
  though 
  the 
  enterprise 
  itself 
  disastrously 
  failed, 
  mainly 
  through 
  mis- 
  

   management 
  and 
  gross 
  indiscretion, 
  its 
  indirect 
  results 
  were 
  neverthe- 
  

   less 
  beneficial 
  to 
  the 
  colony.* 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Eichardson 
  also 
  states 
  that 
  the 
  wool 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  " 
  has 
  been 
  man- 
  

   ufactured 
  in 
  England 
  into 
  a 
  remarkably 
  fine 
  and 
  beautiful 
  cloth, 
  and 
  in 
  

   the 
  colony 
  of 
  Osnaboyna, 
  on 
  the 
  Eed 
  Eiver, 
  a 
  warm 
  and 
  durable 
  coarse 
  

   cloth 
  is 
  formed 
  of 
  it." 
  t 
  

  

  Although 
  the 
  soft 
  woolly 
  hair 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  is 
  evidently 
  well 
  adapted 
  

   for 
  the 
  manufacture 
  of 
  cloth, 
  I 
  have 
  heard 
  of 
  no 
  other 
  attempts 
  toward 
  

   its 
  utilization. 
  Of 
  late, 
  however, 
  a 
  traffic 
  has 
  sprang 
  up 
  along 
  the 
  line 
  

   of 
  the 
  Kansas 
  railroads 
  in 
  the 
  bones, 
  which 
  are 
  gathered 
  for 
  the 
  pur- 
  

   pose 
  of 
  shipment 
  east 
  for 
  the 
  manufacture 
  of 
  fertilizing 
  material. 
  Mr. 
  

   C. 
  F. 
  Morse, 
  the 
  General 
  Superintendent 
  of 
  the 
  Atchison, 
  Topeka, 
  and 
  

   Santa 
  Fe 
  Eailroad, 
  writes, 
  under 
  date 
  of 
  June 
  2, 
  1875, 
  that 
  the 
  " 
  bone 
  

   business 
  is 
  still 
  quite 
  heavy, 
  and 
  will 
  i^robably 
  last 
  for 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  years 
  

   longer." 
  From 
  his 
  accompanying 
  statements 
  of 
  buffalo 
  products 
  shipped 
  

   over 
  that 
  road 
  during 
  the 
  last 
  three 
  years, 
  it 
  appears 
  that 
  the 
  shipment 
  

   of 
  bones 
  in 
  1872 
  amounted 
  to 
  eleven 
  hundred 
  and 
  thirty-five 
  thousand 
  

   three 
  hundred 
  pounds 
  ; 
  for 
  1873, 
  twenty-seven 
  hundred 
  and 
  forty-three 
  

   thousand 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  ten 
  pounds 
  ; 
  for 
  1874, 
  sixty-nine 
  hundred 
  

   and 
  fourteen 
  thousand 
  nine 
  hundred 
  pounds, 
  or 
  treble 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  

   the 
  previous 
  year, 
  and 
  six 
  times 
  that 
  of 
  1872. 
  

  

  Among 
  the 
  products 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  mention 
  of 
  " 
  buffalo 
  chips," 
  or 
  

   hois 
  de 
  vacJie, 
  as 
  the 
  French 
  voyageurs 
  term 
  it, 
  should 
  not 
  be 
  omitted. 
  

   This 
  mg-terial, 
  as 
  most 
  persons 
  doubtless 
  well 
  know, 
  is 
  simply 
  the 
  dried 
  

   excrement 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  which 
  the 
  traveller 
  on 
  the 
  treeless 
  plains 
  finds 
  

   a 
  very 
  serviceable 
  substitute 
  for 
  wood. 
  As 
  Dr. 
  Elliott 
  Cones 
  has 
  re- 
  

   cently 
  remarked, 
  in 
  an 
  interesting 
  and 
  very 
  humorously 
  written 
  article 
  

   on 
  this 
  subject, 
  "As 
  an 
  agent 
  in 
  the 
  progress 
  of 
  civilization, 
  the 
  spirit 
  

   of 
  which 
  is 
  expressed 
  in 
  the 
  remark 
  that 
  westward 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  empire 
  

   takes 
  its 
  way, 
  the 
  buffalo 
  chip 
  rises 
  to 
  the 
  plane 
  of 
  the 
  steam-engine 
  and 
  

   the 
  electric 
  telegraph, 
  and 
  acquires 
  all 
  the 
  dignity 
  which 
  is 
  supposed 
  to 
  

   enshroud 
  questions 
  of 
  national 
  importance 
  or 
  matters 
  of 
  political 
  econ- 
  

   omy. 
  I 
  am 
  not 
  sure, 
  indeed, 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  entitled 
  to 
  still 
  higher 
  rank, 
  

   for 
  it 
  is 
  certain, 
  at 
  any 
  rate, 
  that 
  we 
  move 
  in 
  some 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  

   without 
  either 
  steam 
  or 
  electricity 
  (mules 
  replacing 
  both), 
  where 
  it 
  

   would 
  be 
  as 
  impossible 
  to 
  live 
  without 
  buffalo 
  chips 
  as 
  to 
  exist 
  without 
  

   flour, 
  coffee, 
  and 
  tobacco." 
  | 
  In 
  the 
  narrative 
  of 
  military 
  reconnaissances 
  

   and 
  other 
  Government 
  explorations 
  of 
  the 
  Plains, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  of 
  those 
  

   €f 
  private 
  explorers 
  and 
  travellers, 
  the 
  first 
  meeting 
  with 
  buffalo-chips 
  

   is 
  chronicled 
  as 
  something 
  intimately 
  affecting 
  the 
  welfare 
  of 
  the 
  party, 
  

   as 
  it 
  not 
  only 
  generally 
  gives 
  promise 
  of 
  soon 
  meeting 
  with 
  herds 
  of 
  the 
  

   animals 
  themselves, 
  but 
  insures 
  fuel 
  for 
  the 
  camp-fire 
  and 
  for 
  culinary 
  

   purposes 
  in 
  regions 
  where 
  other 
  sources 
  of 
  fuel 
  are 
  either 
  precarious 
  or 
  

   entirely 
  wanting. 
  In 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  travel 
  across 
  the 
  great 
  interior 
  plains, 
  

   from 
  those 
  of 
  Texas 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Saskatchewan, 
  no 
  other 
  element, 
  

  

  * 
  Ross 
  (Alexander), 
  Red 
  River 
  Settlement, 
  pp. 
  69-7-2. 
  

  

  t 
  Fauna 
  Boreali-Americana, 
  Vol. 
  I, 
  p. 
  282. 
  

  

  t- 
  " 
  Chips 
  from 
  the 
  Buffalo's 
  Workshop."— 
  Forest 
  (uid 
  Stream, 
  (extra 
  sheet,) 
  April 
  1, 
  1875. 
  

  

  