USA > Texas > A comprehensive history of Texas, 1685-1897 > Part 12
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The thickness of the two seams is about equal, averaging some thirty inches. They are also similar in having usually one or more partings of clay or slate an inch or more in thickness. The beds dip towards the west or northwest not more than sixty feet per mile, and as the surface of the country rises very gradually in that direction it will be possible to secure coal from the beds for a considerable distance west of these outerops at less than six hundred feet in depth. Their linear outcrop is fully two hundred and fifty miles in length, and if they be workable for ten miles west of the line of outcrop they have an area of two thousand five hundred square miles of coal land. Even if only two-fifths of this prove adapted to coal-mining, it gives a thousand square miles, each of which is underlaid by two million five hundred thousand tons of coal.
While the quality varies considerably in places, careful selection results in a fuel giving perfectly satisfactory results. Its value as a steaming coal has been thoroughly proved by the Texas and Pacific Railroad. Its coking qualities, although only tested once in a practical way, seem to be excellent.
The Eagle Pass Coal-Field has a probable area, according to Mr. J. Owen, of one hundred and twenty square miles. The coal, which is of eretaceous age, has a dip towards the southeast and a measured thickness in the mine of over four feet. The Hartz Mine, located about four miles above Eagle Pass, has been in operation for a number of years, with an average output of about twenty thou- sand tons annually. The coal has been used principally by the Southern Pacific Railway. About three years ago that company commenced work on the western extension of the same coal-field in Mexico. A boring at Eagle Pass proves the extension of this coal-seam in that direction. It was found at a depth of five hun- dred and twenty-five feet. While somewhat friable, this coal, when properly selected, is an excellent fuel.
The Capote basin lies in the valley of the Rio Grande, between the Chinati and Eagle Mountains. The coal mined at San Carlos is of the same age as that at Eagle Pass, but seems harder and not quite so friable. The workable coal lies in two benches separated by a seam of slate of variable thickness. In the different tunnels examined, the lower bench, which is the harder coal, has an
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A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF. TEXAS.
average thickness of two feet or over, and the upper was fully as thick. In places this widens out to a total of six feet or more. The parting is not so thick but that both benches can easily be mined together. While the western portion of the valley is very much broken and faulted, that part in which the work is being done, and from which the coal dips back into the mountains, seems to be perfectly regular in its stratification and undisturbed by faulting, although a monoclinal fold is seen towards its southern end. The average dip is to the northeast at an angle of five degrees.
Trial of the San Carlos coal for steaming purposes has been made on the Southern Pacific Railroad, and it proved satisfactory. Tests of the coking qualities of the lower bench have been made with good results, and will be followed by others in ovens built at the mines.
So far as could be determined by a rapid examination, this deposit of coal, on account of its quality and extent, as well as from its location in a region otherwise practically destitute of fuel, must prove to be a prominent factor in the development of the western portion of the State. Specimens of similar coal from two other localities in the same region have been obtained, but the deposits have not yet been satisfactorily examined.
The beds of brown coal and lignite are found in connection with the deposits of the tertiary age, which stretch across the State between the main Black-Waxy Prairies and the coast. While the brown-coal beds have not been found every- where within this area, their existence is known in more than fifty counties.
The best, and probably the largest deposits as well, are found in connection with that division of the tertiary named from their abundance in it, the Lignitic. The known occurrences begin in Bowie County near Red River, and extend south- west through the counties of Cass, Marion, Harrison, Morris, Titus, Hopkins, Camp, Upshur, Wood, Raines, Van Zandt, Smith, Henderson, Anderson, Free- stone, Limestone, Leon, Robertson, Milam, Lee, Bastrop, and Caldwell. From this point the deposits are not very well known until Atascosa and Medina Counties are reached, where again the coal is found and can be followed west to the northern part of Zavalla, and through Dimmit and Webb Counties to the Rio Grande. The existence of the brown coal and lignite throughout this area is shown by many out- croppings and numerous well-borings, in addition to the mines which have been opened on it. The coal itself resembles most closely the brown coals of Bohemia. It occurs in beds more or less lenticular, perhaps, and of a thickness varying from four to twelve feet. As a rule, the bed of coal is of massive structure, but contains, scattered here and there through it, the remains of trees in a lignitized condition. Mines have been opened in various localities at different times, and the coal has been mined with greater or less success for several years. The principal mines now in operation are the Santo Tomas, near Laredo ; the Lytle, Medina County ; Mowatts's, Bastrop County ; Rockdale Mining and Manufacturing Company, Milam County ; Vogel, Milam County ; Calvert Bluff, Robertson County ; Alba, Wood County ; Athens, Henderson County.
The second series of brown-coal deposits occurs in connection with the green- sand beds lying southeast of the deposits just mentioned. They are usually thinner than the heds of the lignitic division, but are in places of good quality and in beds
THE HAZEL MINE AT THE FOOT OF SIERRA DIABLO, EL PASO COUNTY. A Carboniferous Butte.
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DUMBLE-PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, ETC.
of sufficient thickness for exploitation. Still, a third series of beds from two to fourteen fect in thickness is found in connection with Yegua clays, which, while not so compact as those of the Lignitic division, are nevertheless of economic importance.
The investigations in comparing the Texas brown coal with that of Europe has shown that under proper conditions it is fully capable of replacing bituminous coal for any and all household, industrial, and metallurgie purposes, and proved to be most excellent fuel. The deposits are so situated and of such extent as to permit mining and delivery in the various markets of the State at prices far below anything that can be attained with bituminous coal under the most favorable conditions, and the fuel value is such as to compete successfully with any and all bituminous coals which are accessible. Under proper conditions as to fire-boxes, grate-bars, and drafts, the raw coal may be used for all purposes in stoves and grates ; under sta- tionary boilers or locomotives ; as part fuel in iron-smelting ; for burning clay, bricks, cement, lime, etc.
In the form of producer gas it may be used for any and every purpose for which such a fuel is applicable. It can be made into an illuminating gas and used for lighting and heating, or it can be made into an artificial fuel with coal-tar or some similar agglomerant, and the resulting briquettes will constitute a fuel which can be used in the same manner, as satisfactorily and for the same purposes as any ordinary bituminous coal.
Asphaltum .- This material exists in Texas under several conditions. Tar springs occur in various portions of the State, which are simply the seepage from deposits of the material, and the sour lakes of Hardin and Liberty Counties may be included in them. The main deposits, however, consist of beds of sand, sand- stone, or limestone, in which bitumen exists as an impregnation in amounts varying from one-tenth to one-fifth of the entire rock material. Among the asphaltic sand- stones may be mentioned the various deposits occurring in the tertiary belt of East and South Texas, like those near Palestine, in Anderson County ; the beds at Saint Jo, in Montague County, and a portion of the deposit near Cline, in Uvalde County. The principal asphaltic limestones are found in the vicinity of Burnet and near Cline, in Uvalde County. As a rule, the deposits in the limestone are richer than those in the sand. While in many cases the so-called asphaltums seem to be only the residue from the evaporation of the oils, and only to be classed as heavy oils, at others, either from different conditions of genesis or a more advanced evapora- tion, they are true asphaltum.
The deposits of asphaltie sands have been utilized but little as yet. While small amounts have been used at Palestine and St. Jo for sidewalks and streets, and have proved very satisfactory, their extended use at other points is largely dependent on more favorable transportation facilities.
So far as can be learned, the use of the asphaltie limestone has been even more limited than the sands. A manufactured product from the Uvalde asphalt, under the trade name of " Litho-Carbon," has been widely advertised, but no great quan- tity of the asphaltum has been used up to the present.
Oils .- Oil occurs in small quantities in various portions of the State. It usually accompanies the tar springs and deposits of bitumen which are found in the
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A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF TEXAS.
tertiary area and in the fish-beds of the cretaceous It is found in the counties of Sabine, Shelby, Nacogdoches, San Augustine, Anderson, Grimes, Travis, Bexar, Encinal, and others. It also occurs in the southern portion of Brown and certain other counties of the Colorado Coal-Field.
The principal development has been in the Nacogdoches and Bexar Counties. A number of wells were bored south of Nacogdoches, a pipe-line constructed be- tween them and the railroad, and tanks built at the station ; but, although the ship- ments previous to this had been remunerative, no oil has been shipped for two or three years. South of San Antonio wells have been dug which have yielded small amounts of oil for several years. All of the oils so far found are heavy and well · adapted for lubricating purposes ; but, while the deposits are of some economic im- portance and will doubtless be worked, and while a possibility exists that they may be found in larger quantities, there are no grounds for a positive statement that such an event is probable.
The occurrences of gas are also wide-spread, but quantities so far found are inconsiderable. It has been observed most frequently in connection with the tar springs.
Fertilizers .- The fertilizers of the State, so far as they have been deter- mined, are the bat-guanos, gypsum, green-sand marls, and calcareous marls. As yet no phosphates of any kind have been found in workable quantities.
Bat-guanos are found in caves in the limestones of Williamson, Burnet, Lain- pasas, Llano, Gillespie, Blanco, Bexar, Uvalde, and other counties. These caves are of various sizes, and the accumulations in them are not all of equal value, some being so situated that water has access to the beds, dissolving and carrying off parts of the valuable salts, while others are injured by fire. This guano is as valu- able as the Peruvian, and large quantities of it have been shipped to other States and to Europe.
Gypsum, which is used as "ground plaster" for top dressing many crops, occurs in large deposits in the permian beds of the Abilene-Wichita country, and is. also found throughout a large portion of the tertiary area along the streams and scattered through the clay as crystals of clear selenite. It has been little used for this purpose in Texas.
Green-sand marl, which is a mixture of clay and green-sand, often containing quantities of shells, occurs both in the tertiary and cretaceous beds. In its unal- tered condition it is of a more or less pronounced green color, but when altered chemically under atmospheric influences it assumes a great variety of colors, form- ing much of the red or yellow sandstone of East Texas. The marls have been tested in several localities and have proved to be well suited to fertilizing the sandy soils, and for renewing and increasing the fertility of those that have been worn out. While no deposits have been found of sufficient richness to bear long railroad trans- portation, they are rich enough to be of great economic value to the farmers in whose vicinity they occur, since, in addition to the phosphorus and potash they contain, the shells are a source of lime, which is often beneficial to the soils.
Calcareous marls are very abundant, those of the cretaceous and upper ter- tiary being the most extensive of the deposits. Very little use has been made of them.
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In addition, there are certain clays which may become of value as fertilizers because of the considerable quantities of potash they contain.
Clays .- The variety, extent, and quality of her clays entitles Texas to take rank among the first manufacturers of clay products. Within her borders are found materials suitable for all purposes, from common building-brick to porcelain of the finest quality. Beginning with the more recent formation brick loams appear in most of the river valleys, and among the materials of the coast clays are some that are suitable for coarser stoneware, drain-tile, etc., and others which, from their re- fractory character, are well adapted for the manufacture of charcoal furnaces and possibly of sewer-pipe. Still others scem adapted to the manufacture of vitrified brick for paving. In the tertiary deposits are clays of all grades. In the upper por- tion of the eocene are beds of clay of light or even white color, some of which are well suited to the manufacture of every grade of earthenware below that of porce- lain. Clays of this character have been secured in various localities, -- from Ange- lina to and below Atascosa County. In this same belt, in connection with the brown coals, fire-clays of excellent quality occur, and also other clays sufficiently high in iron and alkalies for the manufacture of vitrified brick. Many of the clays of the cretaceous are of value not only for brick and earthenware, but as part of the raw material necessary for the manufacture of Portland cement. In the car- boniferous and permian are very extensive deposits of brick, fire, and pottery clays. Some of the permian clays are very similar to those used so extensively in England for the manufacture of tile. The kaolins, or china-clays, are found among the deposits of the tertiary age, and also as secondary deposits in the cretaceous lime- stones west of San Antonio. The former are largely confined to the horizon known as the Carrizo sands, at the top of the lignitic division, and are mixed with sand, from which they may be easily separated by washing. The latter occupy basins eroded in the cretaceous limestones in Edwards and Uvalde Counties, and some of the deposits are remarkably pure. Others contain an admixture of lime and other impurities.
The development of the clay industry in Texas has hardly begun. It is true that there are numerous brick-yards, and that the ontput of ordinary building- brick and pressed brick is assuming a large total ; that vitrified brick are suc- cessfully made in one locality, and that several small potteries are actually at work on the common grades of earthenware ; but as yet the best deposits are hardly touched.
Bricks .- The principal localities in the coast country for the production of building-brick are Virginia Point, Cedar Bayou, Harrisburg, and Houston, where brick are made both by hand and by machine, and are of various shades of red or brown. Austin is supplied by yards using the Colorado alluvium, the bricks being a light brownish yellow, and both soft-mud and dry-pressed brick are made. San Antonio receives her principal supply from works located at Calaveras, on the San Antonio River. Several yards at Laredo use the alluvial deposits of the Rio Grande in making brick of good quality. Dallas has large brick-yards using the alluvial deposits of the Trinity, and to the west, on the Texas and Pacific Railway, are manufactories of pressed brick utilizing shales of the carboniferous age and pro- ducing brick of a very pleasing color.
Vot .. IL .- 33
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A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF TEXAS.
At present there is only one paving-brick establishment in operation in the State, that at Garrison, the product of which is used for street-paving in Houston.
Fire-brick and other refractory goods have been manufactured at Flatonia, Kosse, and Athens during the last few years. The Athens factory is turning out furnace-linings which are found to be very satisfactory in use in the iron furnace at the Rusk Penitentiary. Charcoal furnaces are manufactured by a factory at Har- risburg. Potteries making ordinary stoneware, black or salt-glazed ; curbing, drain- tile, flower-pots, and sewer-pipe are located at Weatherford, Denton, McDade, Henderson, Athens, Texarkana, Ladonia, Elmsdorf, etc. The amount produced is small compared with the demand for such goods, the greater part of which is brought in from outside the State.
The kaolins of Robertson and Edwards Counties have been tested at some of the Eastern potteries, and their excellent qualities proved, but so far the deposits have not been developed.
Refractory Materials .- In addition to the extensive deposits of fire-clay, which exist in connection with the bituminous and brown coals of the State, other refractory materials, such as graphite, soapstone, mica, and asbestos, have been found.
Graphite occurs to a limited extent in the Central Mineral Region as graphitic shales. While the greater portion of it is too impure for use, some specimens have been recently obtained which are of much better quality, and inay prove to be of economic value. Soapstone is found in large quantities in the same region. One of the best exposures is about two miles south of west of Smoothing Iron Mountain, and the most favorable district for its further occurrence is between House and Smoothing Iron Mountain, and to the west of that area in Llano and Mason Counties. It also occurs southeast of this district, in Llano, Gillespie, and Blanco Counties. As a lining for furnaces and other purposes which do not require a very firm texture this material is fully suitable, and it can be cut or sawed into blocks or masses of any desired shape, with a perfectly smooth surface if desired.
While mica is a very abundant material, both in the Central and trans-Pecos Regions, it is not commonly of such transparency and size as to be commercially valuable. Specimens containing both these requisites are found in both localities, and workable deposits may yet be found.
Asbestos of good quality is found in the Central Mineral Region, in the south- ern part of Llano and the northern edge of Gillespie Counties. It may also extend into Burnet. While there has been considerable inquiry for it recently, no ship- ments have yet been made.
Sulphur .-- Native sulphur has been received from Edwards County, and has also been found in some quantity in El Paso County, but the deposits have not yet been examined.
Strontia .-- Two minerals having this earth as a base (celestite and stron- tianite) are found in the lower magnesian rocks of the cretaceous of Central Texas. Its best-known occurrences are at Mount Bonnell, near Austin, and in the vicinity of Lampasas, the latter locality being that from which the largest amount has been taken. It has not been worked commercially.
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SIGNAL. MOUNT -- HOWARD COUNTY. Cretaceous Butte.
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Salt .- This useful material, like many other valuable mineral deposits of Texas, is wide-spread. Along the lower coast there are numerous small lagoons which extend inland from the Laguna del Madre and Corpus Christi Bay, and in these, during the summer, salt is produced naturally from sea-water by solar evaporation.
Still farther inland in the same region are salt lakes, of which Sal del Rey, in Hidalgo County, is the principal and may be taken as the type. This lake is about three miles in circumference, has been for many years, and is still, the source of supply for the people on both sides of the lower Rio Grande. The brine is so strong that it deposits with considerable rapidity, and the salt is comparatively pure as dug from the bed.
In addition to these lakes in the Gulf region, others occur in Salt Valley, be- tween the Diabolo and Guadalupe Mountains, in El Paso County, reaching to the New Mexico line.
Throughout the red-beds region the constant recurrence of such names as Salt Fork, Salt Creek, etc., tell of the prevalence of the material,-a prevalence little to the taste or comfort of the traveller in that region who is dependent on such streams for water. These creeks derive their salinity from the deposits of the permian age, whose strata include beds of rock-salt of great thickness. The only development at present is that by two companies at Colorado City, both of which have sunk wells through the beds of salt, which is lifted as brine and the salt manufactured by evaporation. These beds have been penetrated at other places as well, but so far no other works have been established.
Salt is found in salines also as rock-salt. The principal salines are : Jordan's ; Grand Saline, Van Zandt County ; Stein's Saline and Brooks's Saline, Smith County ; and those of Anderson and Freestone Counties. These salines generally occupy a depression surrounded by wooded hills. The depressions are sometimes marshy or during the winter months hold a body of water, which evaporates as the summer approaches, leaving an incrustation of salt on the ground. Salt was made at several of these places in former years by digging shallow wells and evaporating the brine gotten frem them, but at present little is being done with the surface material.
At Grand Saline, however, in boring a deep well with the hope of striking a stronger brine than that at the surface, a bed of rock-salt was encountered at a depth of two hundred feet, into which the drill entered one hundred and fifty feet without passing through it. This has since been developed gradually, until at the present it produces large quantities of all grades of salt.
Building Material .--- Outside of the Coast Prairies almost every portion of the State contains building stones of one kind or another. So varied are they and so widely distributed that it is impossible to enter into details regarding them. The Reynosa furnishes a white, limy, clay " adobe," which is quarried in large blocks and used extensively for building in the southwest. The sandstones of the Fayette furnish excellent quarry material, and the court-house at La Grange and many other public buildings throughout the area testify to their utility and beauty. It has also been largely used in the Galveston jetties. The brown sandstone and green-sands of the Marine beds furnish building material which is used throughout that region,
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the Rusk Penitentiary being built of the latter and the court-house at Pleasanton of the former. In the Lignitic are workable beds of gray, siliceous limestone which are very durable. The limestones of the cretaceous vary in hardness, but many deposits of excellent quality exist, and numerous quarries are open on them. Two localities may be mentioned,-the first near Austin, where the shell limestone known as Austin marble is gotten, and the other at Granbury, in Hood County.
The limestones and sandstones of the coal measures not only furnish building materials within their own borders, but are shipped to various parts of the State, and the same is true of the Pecos red sandstone, which is coming into general use. The marbles of Llano, Burnet, San Saba, and adjoining counties are of excellent color and take a fine polish. The various granites are too well known from their use in the State capitol building and various other structures to need comment. The serpentines and other ornamental stones of the same region must find general favor as soon as their possibilities are properly known. The granites, porphyries, and marbles of trans-Pecos Texas are equally valuable, the marble, indeed, being superior to any others so far found in the State.
Lime is made in various portions of the State, but the best is probably that from the limestones of the cretaceous, and its manufacture for commercial purposes is principally carried on in that area.
Materials for Portland cement are found throughout the same area, and factories exist at San Antonio and Austin, where cement of good quality has been manu- factured.
From the vast deposits of gypsum through the permian or red-beds region plaster of Paris and various cements may be manufactured. Two plaster factories are at work near Quanah.
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