THE SCIENTIST. 
167 
appear to be an imitation of the 
older mounds, as they are not fin- 
ished with like care nor have they 
the interior structures. 
The pipe which is shown in figure 
1, also the tools of which figure 2 
w^ill give a fair impression, are de- 
posited in the collection of Mr. E. 
Butts of Kansas City. 
Written for the Scientist. 
The Joplin, Missouri, Mining- 
District. 
By G. C. Stealey. 
The production of zinc and lead 
in Missouri has increased so much 
of late years that it now forms a 
very important part of the industrial 
wealth of the state, and a very large 
percentage of the zinc output of the 
w^orld. 
So far as development shows, the 
so called Zinc Belt extends along the 
southern side of the Ozark mountains 
from Madison county ou the east to 
the southwest corner of the state 
and on into the Indian Territory 
and Arkansas. The district with 
which the writer is familiar has the 
towns of Joplin and Webb City as 
its center, and is honey-combed 
with shafts, both old and new, for a 
distance of about ten miles in all 
directions. A great many of these 
shafts were made in the early days 
of the district in searching for lead, 
and after the lead was worked out, 
or not finding any, or being driven 
out by water, were abandoned. At 
tliat time, fifteen or twenty years 
ago, zinc ore, strange to relate, was 
not recognized by the miners of the 
district, and shafts were often aban- 
doned when it was found in large 
quantities as they said it "drove 
out " the lead. When mined at all it 
was thrown out on the dumps as 
being valueless and a nuisance gen- 
erally. It received the name of 
black jack, the origin of wdiich 
name is shrouded in mystery. 
In the Joplin district, galena or 
lead ore (sulphuret of lead) was the 
first sought, the miners as stated be- 
ing unfamiliar with the value of the 
jack. Galena is found there, as a 
rule, nearer the surface than jack, 
although there are many exceptions, 
but it is also found as deep as the 
mines of the district have been ex- 
plored. In this galena there is 
nothing else of value in the arts in 
sufficient quantity to justify its be- 
ing saved, it being about 90 per 
cent. lead. A great deal of the lead 
ore is smelted into pigs at Joplin. 
The ore is also shipped in bulk as it 
comes from the mine. 
Galena occurs in cubical crystals, 
in some instances alone, in others 
accompanied with crystals of calcite. 
The contrast of the dark, metallic 
blue of the galena cubes with the 
milky semi-transparent crystals of 
the calcite making specimens of 
great beauty. 
The town of Galena, Kansas, 
eight miles west from Joplin, is a 
very important lead mining center. 
The zinc ores of the Joplin dis- 
trict are generally composed of sul- 
