300 THE IRON ORE DISTRICT OF EAST TEXAS. 



Such a policy steadily pursued would extend the time of usefulness of the 

 furnaces now established and to be established in East Texas; for while the 

 ore deposits are sufficient for a good many years to come (dependent upon the 

 number of furnaces), they are nevertheless superficial, and therefore can not 

 be considered inexhaustible. The igneous ores, on the contrary, are true 

 fissure veins of great depth, and are therefore capable of. contributing a large 

 quota of ore to enable the furnaces of East Texas to continue their operations 

 much longer. Such a policy would also be of great benefit to Central, and in 

 the future, West Texas, because it would open up a ready market for a large 

 natural product which is now valueless except for speculation. 



The limestone for flux now used at the furnaces is transported from Leon 

 Junction, some two hundred miles, at low rates of freight. To carry the iron 

 ores from Central Texas to the existing furnaces in East Texas would require 

 the building or extension of a railway from the town of Lampasas to the 

 town of Llano. From the town of Llano tram roads could be built to the 

 largest outcrops of the iron ore, a little northwest of the town. At Lampasas 

 connection would be made with the ''Cotton Belt System," or St. Louis, Ar- 

 kansas and Texas Railway, which at present transports the limestone used in 

 the furnaces from Leon Junction. The distance for this iron ore would only 

 be eighty-six miles further. The railway would have freight traffic both 

 ways, transporting the iron ore in one direction and lumber from the saw 

 mills in the other direction. 



Uses for Furnace Slag. — The furnace slag, which at present is a waste 

 product, could be utilized for the manufacture of two commercial articles, with 

 •very little additional expense: 1st. Paving blocks for sidewalks. This 

 would require suitable cast iron molds with pressure plungers for giving 

 shape to the material; an annealing oven for gradually cooling the blocks. 

 This could be heated by part of the furnace gases from the down-takes. An 

 endless chain, with platform links, would be necessary for rapidly delivering 

 the blocks into the annealing oven. Such blocks, being unaffected by atmos- 

 pheric changes and being of harder material, would resist wear longer than 

 clay paving blocks. 2nd. Polishing powder. The fine white porous slag 

 produced when the slag runs out over wet surfaces, if pulverized and sifted, 

 being of similar consistency, would make a good substitute for powdered 

 pumice stone as a polishing powder. 



THE RECENT EARTHQUAKE. 



Under the direction of the State Geologist, the writer made some investi- 

 gations to determine the facts of a reported recent earthquake at Rusk. After 

 careful investigation the conclusions reached are as follows : The time of re- 

 ported occurrence was midnight, when few observers were awake. It was 



