IRON. 609 



localities to outstrip those which are possessed of great natural advantages^ 

 It would therefore be but folly to attempt here any portrayal of the future of 

 the iron districts except in the most general way. In some of the cities 

 which have cause to anticipate the most good from the development of these 

 fields there has been shown the least tendency to reap the benefits of close 

 trade relations, and the struggling denizens of the mineral region have often 

 had the most encouragement from the enterprise of those most remote and 

 least favorably situated for building up the iron and steel industry. While 

 much of this condition may be due to greater enterprise in certain places, it 

 can not be doubted that it is in a large measure the result of misinformation 

 in other quarters concerning the true situation. 



Without taking a hand in the contest for commercial supremacy which is 

 sure to ensue, or in any way attempting to define the relative situations of 

 rival communities, one charged with the investigation of the resources may 

 properly present in outline the case as he finds it, hoping thereby to contrib- 

 ute his mite in the laudable endeavor to prevent waste of energy where it can 

 not avail, and to stimulate enterprise in directions marked out by nature for 

 easy conquest. In this spirit I desire to state some facts which are we\\ 

 worthy of consideration by all who may contemplate engaging in any busi- 

 ness connected with the mining and smelting of the iron ores of this region. 



1. The existence of the ore in such large and easily mined deposits must 

 sooner or later attract the attention of capitalists and lead to the building of 

 railroads. This will enable mine owners to ship ores to points where it can 

 be smelted. Some assert that it will build up a local smelting industry by 

 bringing the fuel supply within reach. But there are many considerations 

 besides these which affect the economy of treatment, and the relations of the 

 smelting centre to the markets which must absorb the product are of prime 

 importance. * 



2. Comparatively little of the iron and almost none of the steel produced 

 in the United States is made at points far removed from the great trade 

 centres. The chief reason for this is the necessity for locating at a focus of 

 the trunk arteries of commerce, in order to promptly and economically dis- 

 tribute the products of the mills, which now are usually connected with the 

 furnaces or not far distant from them. It must be borne in mind that we 

 are dealing with business questions of the day, and not of former methods 

 which have been superseded by the multiplication of furnaces and iron work- 

 ing plants. 



3. It is not reasonable to suppose that the national trunk lines will neglect 

 the large trade nuclei already established in Texas in order to enter this new 

 field. All the railroad lines now projected have in view the connecting of 

 this region with other Texas cities rather than the establishment of a rival 



