MINERAL RESOURCES OF MISSOURI. 145 



dustry : it is a j^i'iniary, material, engendering force, giving a power su- 

 perior to that which natural agents, such as water, air, etc., procure. It is 

 to industry what oxygen is to the lungs, water to the plants, nourishment to 

 the animal. It is to coal that we owe steam and gas. Our coal fields have 

 an area of 26,800 square miles of the regular coal measures, extending 

 through thirty-three counties of the State, viz : Clark, Lewis, Scotland, 

 Adair, Macon, Shelby, Monroe, Audrain, Callaway, Boone, Cooper, Pettis, 

 Henry, Benton, St. Clair, Bates, Yernon, Cedar, Dade, Barton, Johnson, 

 Lafayette, Cass, Chariton, Howard, Saline, Putnam, Carroll, Bay, Ealls, 

 Montgomery, Warren and St. Louis. Now, if the average thickness of 

 workable coal be one foot only, it would give 26,800,000 tons to the whole 

 area occupied by eoal rocks. Experience shows us that we can depend on 

 five feet average thickness as the least possible result, which would give us 

 134,000,000 tons of good coal. Besides, we have local deposits of cannel 

 and bituminous coal in Moniteau, Cole, Morgan, Crawford, Lincoln, Calla- 

 way and probably in other counties. Missouri contains an almost inex- 

 haustible supply of iron ores of the best qualities and more available than 

 can be found in any other place on the globe, and even now in the infancy 

 of its development, there is more caj^ital invested in the mining, shipping, 

 smelting and manufacturing of the ores of iron than in ail the other metal 

 industries of the State. The iron ores of Missouri are red hematite, red 

 oxide, specular, brown hematite or limonite, hydrous oxide, oxidulous or 

 magnetic, spathic or carbonate of iron, and almost every other character 

 and condition of iron known. Iron has been discovered in 62 counties of 

 the State, in 19 of which it is being successfully mined, viz : Benton, Cam- 

 den, Cedar, Crawford, Dent, Franklin, Henly, Iron, Madison, Maries, Miller, 

 Morgan, Perry, Phelps, St, Francois, Saline, Shannon, Taney and Wayne. 

 There are unmistakable evidences of heavy deposits, that only avait develr 

 opment in 27 counties, viz: Barry, Barton, Bollinger, Callaway, Christian, 

 Cole, Cooper, Dallas, Dale, Douglas, Gasconade, Greene, Howell, Jeiferson 

 Laclede, Lincoln, Monroe, Newton, Pulaski, Keynolds, St. Clair, Ste. Gene- 

 vieve, Stoddard, Texas, Wayne, Washington and Webster. There are also 

 indications of iron ores in 16 counties, viz: Boone, Butler, Camden, Clark 

 McDonald, Montgomery, Oregon, Osage, Pettis, Eay, Eipley, St. Louis, Scott, 

 Stone, Ternon and Wright. 



The lead deposits of Missouri hold out to the capitalist a most desirable 

 field for the investment of money, with a certainty of large returns. There 

 is no country of equal area on the globe that possesses one-half the extent 

 and variety in lead deposits that our State can claim. From 60 to 85 per 

 cent, of the ore is pure lead, and in some portions of the State it comes to 

 the very surface of the ground. For a long time the hunters of Missouri 

 have been accustomed to break out these croppings of leadgfor the manu- 

 facture of bullets. There has been no deep lead mining, yet Missouri ranks 

 as the leading lead producing State. What will be her revenue from this 

 branch of industry, when deep shafts shall be sent into the almost solid lake 



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