8 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



was $35,870,004, as compared with $41,598,399 in 1913. The 

 decline of activity during the year was really greater than indi- 

 cated by this loss in value of the output, since the reaction did not 

 assume serious proportions before the late summer and then 

 developed rapidly to the close of the season. The situation at the 

 end of the year was extremely unsatisfactory to the producers. 



As a further index of the industrial conditions, a compilation 

 of the tonnage of ores and minerals raised from underground 

 workings has been made. The materials which are produced in 

 New York wholly or mainly by mining operations in the strict 

 sense comprise iron ores, pyrite, rock salt, gypsum, graphite and 

 talc; the others are obtained by open-cast methods. The total 

 quantity of such materials raised in the year was 2,587,710 tons 

 against 3,156,643 tons in 1913 and 2,722,648 tons in 1912. 



The products on which the valuations above mentioned are based 

 number over thirty and with few exceptions represent the materials 

 as they come from the mines and quarries without elaboration or 

 manufacture, except so much as is necessary to put them in mar- 

 ketable form. They do not include secondary products like iron 

 and steel, sulphuric acid, aluminum, carborundum, calcium carbide, 

 artificial graphite, alkali products, etc., the manufacture of which 

 constitutes a large industry by itself with an annual output of a 

 much greater value than that returned by the industries covered in 

 this report. 



Iron ore is the most valuable metallic mineral found in the State 

 and has been mined actively for 150 years. The gross output of 

 the ore last year was 1,122,221 long tons. After deduction for 

 shrinkage in concentration, which is practised by the Adirondack 

 mines, there remained a total of 751,716 long tons of shipping 

 product which had a value of $2,356,517, as compared with 

 1,217,899 long tons valued at $3,870,841 for the year 1913. This 

 branch of mining is subject to rapid changes and the decrease 

 does not reflect any serious complications in the industry itself. 

 There are indications in fact that the output will soon exceed all 

 previous records. 



The clay- working industries take first rank in value of the annual 

 production and last year returned a total of $9,475,219 which repre- 

 sented a reduction of one-fifth as compared with the sum of 

 $12,077,872 reported in 19 13. There was a large decrease in the 

 structural materials like brick, fireproofing and terra cotta for 

 which the demand was exceedingly poor ; the potteries also reported 



