iron. 631 



metallurgy review of iron fields. 



As previously remarked, it is not feasible to predict what lines of develop- 

 ment will be followed in the commercial utilization of the immense stores of 

 iron ores awaiting movement in the Central Mineral Region. 



The magnetites and hematites are so abundant, and they, with the manga- 

 nese ores, have been so clearly mapped by the Geological Survey, that in the 

 event of the establishment of steel works to handle this material in or out of 

 the district, there will be no question of the supply being adequate. There 

 is enough of the very best Bessemer ore to build up an industry far in excess 

 of the requirements of the southwest for long years to come, even with a 

 growth far beyond the calculations of the most sanguine advocates. There 

 will undoubtedly be a demand from without for these hard ores, and the 

 smelters of Eastern Texas are beginning to realize the advantages of mixing 

 them with their own abundant soft ores. Already a movement is well under 

 way to make such railroad connections as are necessary to ship to the Ala- 

 bama furnaces, which now draw their supply of hard ores from Lake Superior, 

 a distance more than 1000 miles in excess of the direct route from Llano to 

 Birmingham. There can be no doubt, therefore, of the future great promi- 

 nence of Central Texas as a producer of iron ores. 



The building up of a local iron and steel industry is a very different thing, 

 being so largely dependent upon an adequate supply of the proper fuel that 

 no one can estimate results without a knowledge of facts which only the fu- 

 ture history of the region can furnish. In my last Report I remarked as 

 follows: 



SpeakiDg as a metallurgist, it is incumbent upon me to put forth cautionary words against 

 an error which has often blighted the prospects of rich iron regions. While Llano County 

 [a small part of Burnet County must now be included] and portions of the adjoining counties 

 of Mason and Gillespie, and perhaps limited portions of San Saba and McCulloch counties, 

 are certainly destined to become extensive producers of iron ores, the erection of smelting 

 plants is not now justified by the situation. 



The only modification which the writer, as a professional engineer, feels 

 called upon to make in this connection after another year of investigation is 

 this: The situation may have changed a very little since the'n; it may possi- 

 bly change decidedly ere long, by reason of tae efforts which are being made 

 to overcome the lack of fuel in the district. The simple business principle, 

 that the ore must practically seek the fuel, has fully as much application now 

 as before; but the resultant of all the forces in operation in the complex 

 struggle for commercial existence in Texas may strike nearer to this district 

 than has been heretofore probable. A great step in this direction has been 

 taken by the demonstration, through the work of the State Geologist, that 

 our vast lignite fields contain stores of fuel superior to that which has been 



