156 THE IRON ORE DISTRICT OP EAST TEXAS. 



and texture of lignitized wood. The grain and fibre of the wood are still visi- 

 ble and can be easily traced. In texture it has all the appearance of a mem- 

 ber of the pine family. 



This lignite does not burn so readily as the others, but acts very like a wet 

 wood. The smell from the fire is not so strong, but in other respects, such 

 as showing a red ash, it is the same as the other lignites of the district. In 

 splitting and breaking it splits easily along the fibre, but breaks only with 

 considerable difficulty, and then only with a square fracture. 



Section of lignite bed in stream on O. Hendricks survey near Port Caddo: 



':""'•'.' ■"*".■■ '-'■-.'•''••■": ':.-'■'.■•'■ ■■■■ -r-: : •.•.■'.• , ". • ■'•-•'.• ■■ . '•■.'"', •• .'.j_'.-iV;j" ••"'%'; #•:.< ;VrV : -- -V -'■■-'-¥■' - — - •••.•'•:%--Vv\ ; i*-:.^;-' : Vv V:: " : '' 



M S 



Pig. 10. 



a, Gray sand. b. Lignites, c. Sandy pebbles, d, Rnsty grey sand. 



The lignites from the Lake Caddo region are a dull, lustreless black. They 

 have not yet been examined with regard to their action under fire. 



No specimens of the lignites from well borings were obtained, and conse- 

 quently no definite particulars can be given. 



The economical uses of these lignites are many, but so far nothing has been 

 done with them. They may be utilized by sugar manufacturers as a clarify- 

 ing medium, and by recent improvements in the formation of stoves can be 

 cheaply and successfully used for such purposes as cooking, heating, and for 

 steam or any other purpose in which long carriage or exposure to atmospheric 

 changes will not be required. The main objection to the burning of these 

 lignites will be the smell of the noxious gas arising from their disintegration 

 and destruction by fire. No experiments have been made with the view of 

 testing these lignites for furnace, foundry, or blacksmith purposes. 



The more immediate economical uses to which the lignites of Harrison 

 County can be put are- First, as fuel in the manufacture of bricks, both the 

 common ordinary building bricks, pressed bricks, and fire bricks. In the 

 manufacture of all these classes of bricks lignite might profitably be utilized 

 as a fuel, particularly in the early stages of burning or "water smoking." 

 Second, in mixing with the siliceous or the close textured aluminous clays 

 of the county for manufacturing fire bricks. Ground lignite may be used in 

 place of sawdust, which is frequently done, and so render the bricks lighter 

 and more porous. The modus operandi of this process is thus: The clay 

 and lignite are ground together in the mill before passing into the machine. 

 When dry and placed in the kiln, the heat, at first low and steady, dries the 

 clay and the lignite together, driving off the combined water of both, and 



