THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY OF NEW 



YORK STATE 



REPORT OF OPERATIONS AND PRODUCTION DURING 1916 



BY D. H. NEWLAND 



INTRODUCTION 



The mineral industries of the State made a good record in 1916, 

 and more than restored the losses that were experienced during the 

 slump of the preceding year or two. Prices were more favorable 

 than they had been for a long time, and the demand in many 

 branches, particularly those related to metallurgical and chemical 

 manufacturing, readily absorbed all the supplies that had accumu- 

 lated as well as the year's production. It was a period of great 

 activity and high prices. 



An exception to the general prosperity obtained in the branches 

 dependent upon the building trades, such as stone and clay wares, 

 in which the conditions were not altogether favorable. Although 

 prices were better than for some time, the scarcity of labor and the 

 higher scale of wages served to restrain production and diminish 

 profits. The cement manufacturers, however, had a good season. 



A new item in the list of mineral products of the State, which 

 helped to expand the total for the year, was zinc ore from the 

 mines near Edwards, St Lawrence county. The initial market 

 hipments were made in 191 5, but the past year was the first in 

 /hich operations were continuous throughout a twelvemonth. 

 Owing to the fact that so far only a single company has been 

 engaged in production of the ore for the furnace, the output is not 

 listed separately in the table. Preparations were under way during 

 the year to revive operations in some of the old zinc-lead mines 

 in southeastern New York. 



The statistics of production incorporated in the present report 

 have been collected by the United States Geological Survey and 

 the New York State Survey in cooperation ; this plan was adopted 

 by the two ofiices so as to diminish the task of collecting and com- 

 piling the information and to give uniformity to the results. 



The summary of the various industries active in the State, as 

 presented in the accompanying table, shows that the value of the 

 year's production reached the sum of $45,947,947, which established 

 a new record. The best previous year was 1913 when the- corres- 

 ponding figures were $41,598,399. As compared with the total 

 for 191 5, there was an increase in the value of $9,667,508, or 



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