XXX11 REPORT OF THE STATE GEOLOGIST. 



its condition as far as possible as soon as the present Report is ready 

 for the printer. 



OFFICE WORK. 



My office work this year has required much closer application than 

 that of last year, and in consequence I had little time for field work. 

 In addition to the usual routine and correspondence I was engaged un- 

 til June 1 in editing and revising the manuscript and reading the proof 

 of the First Annual Report. I then used a few weeks in the necessary 

 work of visiting the different field parties, and on the resignations of 

 Mr. McCulloch in August, and Mr. Jones in September, I was left en- 

 tirely without office assistance for more than a month. The amount of 

 correspondence is steadily increasing. Letters of inquiry are coming 

 in constantly from the different portions of the State regarding differ- 

 ent points of interest which require time and study for proper answers. 

 These include such questions as artesian water supply at man}' different 

 points, the utilization of the greensand marls of Eastern Texas in par- 

 ticular localities, the lignites and their uses, localities and descriptions 

 of clays for pottery and fire brick, the availability of certain waters and 

 soils for irrigation purposes, the prospect for coal at certain localities, 

 the location and extent of the deposits of bitumen, and many other sim- 

 ilar subjects. 



I have also been called upon for special detailed reports on several 

 subjects, among which may be mentioned : 



A report on the artesian water conditions of Texas west of the 97th 

 meridian and north of San Antonio. This report was made at the re- 

 quest of Hon. J. M. Rusk, Secretary of Agriculture, for the use of 

 Congress in their inquiries in regard to the use of artesian water in irri- 

 gation. 



A report on the iron ores, fuels, manganese, fire clays, and other 

 materials requisite for steel making which are found in Texas, with 

 especial reference to their use at San Antonio. This report was made 

 at the request of the Board of Trade of San Antonio for submittal to 

 the officers of the Army Board, who were charged with the duty of se- 

 lecting or recommending a site for the erection of works for the manu- 

 facture of heavy ordnance. 



In October Dr. Otto Lerch was appointed Assistant G-eologist, and 

 given the special work of collating the results of the lignite industry 

 in Germany from such literature as was available (the most of which 



