MINING GEOLOGY 
341 
(English pewter, Dutch piauter, Dutch and German spiauter), 
and that the name was appended to both the alloy and the ore. 
That Radisson’s reference does not allude to any other metal 
than zinc is conclusively shown by a number of circumstances. 
Dry bone is the common associate of the galena ore of this de¬ 
posit, and it would be easily recognized as the “pewter ore” of 
England with which the explorer must have been acquainted. 
In Colonial days pewter-plate was an important possession of 
the best households; and the finding of the substance at the mines 
naturally made a profound impression on an active mind — 
an excitement second only to that of a gold discovery. 
At the time of Radisson’s sojourn at the Dubuque locality the 
mining of lead had already developed into a considerable industry. 
The mineral had indeed at this time been taken out during a 
period of more than two decades — ever since the famous visit of 
Jean Nicolet, in 1634, who in the interests of the fur-trade 
had introduced fire-arms among the Indians, and with them 
created an active demand for ammunition. A main reason for 
Nicolet’s turning back at this point rather than going on in his 
great quest of the South Sea and a short route to China as he had 
set out to do, may have been this very discovery of the lead de¬ 
posits as an unlimited supply for bullets. 
Of the three widely separated localities in which lead was first 
mined in this country—previous to 1650, the Dubuque field is 
the only one so far as is now known in which any zinc ore also 
occurs. That zinc should be thus early recognized so long before 
it was actually used on a large scale elsewhere is a fact of ex¬ 
ceptional interest. 
Keyes. 
Location of Wisconsin Road Metal. Fully one-half of the cost 
of improved highways is spent for the materials and their trans¬ 
portation to the place of construction. Large savings are efifected, 
(1) by location of deposits of material near the project, thus 
saving cost of transportation, (2) by location of a usable type 
of material in a region thought to be without good road material, 
and (3) by location of good deposits which may be bought more 
cheaply than those previously available. 
In general a survey is made on each side of the proposed high- 
