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It is not probable that, when her mining industries shall have been more fully developed, Texas will be a large producer of gold, although this metal exists in many parts of the country in copper and silver veins. In Llano county it has been found in the bed of Big Sandy creek, but not in paying quantities, though it is said that there is a sufficiency of it in the veins of other metals to pay for the cost of mining. Its appearance in Presidio county is more flattering than elsewhere, and the opinion prevails that valuable gold deposits exist in that region. Some capitalists of San Francisco, several years ago, caused surface croppings to be examined by experts, and obtained as a result an average of $25 of silver and $10 of gold to the ton of ore. These indications were considered so favorable that in 1882 they began the work of developing two mines about 25 miles from Presidio del Norte.

Inexhaustible supplies of salt exist throughout the largest portion of the state. In fact it is found almost in every part. From the Salt fork of the Brazos in the north, westward and southwestward to the Pecos river, and in the Panhandle springs, streams and lakes, strongly impregnated with this mineral, are found in the greatest profusion; while in the southern section along the Rio Grande there are deposits of such extent and purity, that they could supply the whole of the United States.

The clear waters of the Salt fork are so intensely briny that pure crystal salt forms like ice along its borders, and in Salt creek the water contains as much of the mineral as it can possibly dissolve. A few miles to the northwest of Double mountains the deposits in dried-up lakes are so abundant that the salt is shoveled into wagons and hauled away. The salt lakes of Presidio and El Paso have been famous from early Spanish times.

Equally so is the Sal del Rey in Hidalgo county, a body of water nearly circular in shape, and about a mile in diameter. The bottom of this lake is composed of crystallized salt of the purest quality, in layers about twelve inches thick separated by thin deposits of earth. To what depth these layers extend has not been ascertained. The salt is dug out with picks and crowbars, and the mineral is held in solution in such quantity that the excavations made are filled again in a few days. Along the shore of southeastern Texas salt is deposited in large quantities in the lagoons, which are filled with water from the gulf during the prevalence of high winds, and afterward disconnected, the evaporation which follows precipitating the salt.

In eastern Texas the most noted spring is the Grand Saline in Van Zandt county, where salt is extensively manufactured. There are also large works in Young county in northern Texas.

Gypsum is as widely disseminated as salt, and to its abundance Texas is largely indebted for the fertility of her soil. In El Paso, Nolan, and Wilbarger the supply is immense, while in the Panhandle hundreds of square miles are covered with it, especially about the streams tributary to the Canadian river. In this region it is found in all its grades, from the commonest description to the finest alabaster and purest selenite. As with other minerals, this source of wealth is entirely neglected. No plaster of Paris is manufactured in the state, nor is any of the crude material exported to the older states, to restore their impoverished soil, though gypsum is a well-known fertilizer.

There are few of the minerals utilized by man which are not found in abundance in some part or other of Texas. Kaolin, or porcelain-clay, exists in inexhaustible quantities in Robertson, Rusk, Gonzales, Limestone, San Augustine, and other counties. Fire-clay is equally plentiful; soapstone occurs in

Burnett, Llano, and elsewhere, and slate is abundant in the same regions. Stone suitable for making hydraulic cement of a very superior quality is to be had in Williamson, Bexar, Travis, and other counties, the manufactured material being extensively produced in the place last named, and at San Antonio. Limestone is found everywhere. It is the almost universal stone in the vast area of the cretaceous formation in Texas, and appears to a smaller extent in every other system. Quicklime of great strength is manufactured extensively in Travis county and many other parts of the state.

Building-stone of many kinds exists throughout Texas; granite, sandstone, and limestone predominating. The granites are dark-gray and of a bright-red color; are very fine grained, and take a brilliant polish. Burnett, Llano, and San Saba counties contain several rare and very beautiful varieties of marble, in color pure white, jet black, pink, and clouded.

Hitherto the development of mines in Texas has been hindered by the want of facilities for transportation, but in the future, when railroads shall have been extended into all parts of the country, attention will be given to this industry. Then the state, having passed through the pastoral and agricultural eras, will afford, through the unfolding of her mineral resources, still further means of employment to her rapidly increasing population.

CHAPTER XVII.

MANUFACTURES-INTRODUCTORY.

MECHANICAL EFFORTS OF THE INDIANS-ABORIGINAL DWELLINGS, ORNAMENTS, POTTERY, DRESS, AND WEAPONS-NAHUA AND MAYA ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE, FEATHER-WORK, AND JEWELRY-EVIL POLICY OF SPAIN THE RUSSIANS IN ALASKA-LUMBER AND WORKINGS IN WOOD -FISHERIES-INFLUENCE OF MINES-LABOR AND WAGES.

As the joint offspring of mining and agriculture, manufactures reveal on the Pacific coast the varying phases of those industries, modified by facilities for traffic, and by climatic, geographic, and social influences. Lumbering rises as the first important industry, to supply the requirements of town-builders, miners, and farmers. Then the smithies expand into iron works to provide stronger materials and machinery. Imported breadstuffs are speedily excluded by the products of flour-mills. Meat-packing canneries, and other branches follow, as the diminished profits from primary sources turn labor in new directions.

Manufactures existed among the aborigines to a certain degree, in proportion to their settled condition, for among the roaming tribes there were fewer special craftsmen to supply implements, textiles, and the like than among those with fixed habitats. Among the former each family prepared its own household effects, its simple clothing and even its weapons, all limited to the smallest variety and quantity. The more substantial dwellings of the settled Indians alone called for a greater number of useful and ornamental adjuncts. This was particularly the case with the tribes of British Columbia, at least among the coast

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fishers. Without being sufficiently cold to force them into subterranean houses, the climate nevertheless called for comfortable dwellings to resist the winter. With time at his command the occupant found pleasure in adding conveniences, and a pride in adorning the exterior with statuary, mouldings, and paintings. The same predilection manifested itself in implements and trinkets, the carvings of which are frequently intricate and skilful, with remarkable symmetry and finish, sometimes in the form of inlaying.

In Alaska a less congenial climate turned mechanical efforts in other directions, such as the manufacture of clothing for resisting water as well as cold, and of strong yet light canoes for encountering the surf. Farther down the coast larger boats were required, which demanded the joint labor of several men, with experienced superintendents. Here then operations assumed the stamp of manufacture. Fixed conditions permitted the wide use of pottery, to the encouragement of special modelling and annealing. The stringing and other preparation of shells and stones for ornament and barter also centred into manufacture, as did wicker and fibre plaiting.

Among the wandering interior tribes the greatest labor and pride were bestowed on personal appearance, in paint, embroideries, and baubles. And here was an outlet for the superior wefts of the Pueblos of New Mexico, with designs in rich colors, which even now command a high price. Several other industries flourished among this curious people, immured within their villages by the hostility of the hovering tribes of the plains.

Descending toward the cradle of American civilization, in Mexico and Central America, we behold the highest development of the arts on the continent. Here rise stupendous stone edifices, with sculpture of no mean order, cut with stone tools, which here reveal probably their highest efficiency. A portion of the work has, however, been done with implements of

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