MINERAL  PRODUCTS.

41

tant,  because  sulphuric  acid  is  so  extensively  used  in  the  chemical
industries  that  its  consumption  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  gauge
of  chemical  activities  in  general.
MAGNESITE.
Up  to  the  present  the  United  States  has  been  dependent  largely
upon  foreign  sources  for  its  supply  of  magnesite  or  carbonate  of
magnesia,  the  imports  in  1913  amounting  to  172,591  short  tons,  as
compared  with  only  9,632  tons  produced  in  this  country.  It  is
interesting  to  note  that  the  major  portion  of  the  imports  (163,715
short  tons)  came  from  Austria-Hungary,  one  of  the  belligerent
nations,  and  that  most  of  the  remainder  came  from  Greece,  and  was
landed  for  calcining  at  Hamburg  and  Rotterdam  before  being  reshipped ­
  to  this  country.  The  question  of  the  adequacy  of  the
domestic  supply  to  meet  our  needs  therefore  assumes  much  importance. ­
  Magnesite  is  valuable  for  a  variety  of  purposes,  which  may
be  summarized  as  follows:  (1)  Various  refractory  uses,  as  brick,
furnace  hearths,  crucibles,  etc.;  (2)  as  magnesium  sulphite  for  the
digestion  and  whitening  of  wood-pulp  paper;  (3)  in  crude  form  for
the  manufacture  of  carbon  dioxide;  (4)  calcined  and  ground  for
oxychloride  or  Sorel  cement;  (5)  miscellaneous  applications  in  crude
or  calcined  form  ;  (6)  miscellaneous  uses  of  refined  magnesia  salts.
The  magnesite  from  Austria-Hungary  is  received  chiefly  at  Philadelphia ­
  and  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  refractory  brick.  The
Grecian  magnesite  enters  chiefly  at  New  York  and  is  used  for  all
the  purposes  enumerated  above.
The  dependence  of  American  users  of  magnesite  on  the  foreign
supplies  is  due  to  several  causes.  One  is  the  location  of  the  American
deposits  in  California,  at  so  great  a  distance  from  the  eastern  markets
that  the  freight  rates  have  been  prohibitive.  The  establishment  of
water  transportation  through  the  Panama  Canal  may  be  expected  to
alleviate  this  difficulty.  A  second  cause  is  the  difference  in  composition ­
  between  the  magnesites  of  Austria-Hungary  and  those  of  California. ­
  The  former  generally  contain  6  to  8  per  cent  of  iron,  which
appears  to  be  beneficial  in  the  manufacture  of  refractory  brick.
With  the  cutting  off  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  and  possibly  of  the
Grecian  supplies  there  would  seem  to  be  every  reason  why  the  California ­
  industry  should  be  materially  advanced.  The  deposits  in  that
State  are  numerous,  and  many  of  them  are  fairly  large  and  of  high
grade.  In  the  opening  and  development  of  these  mines  their  nearness ­
  to  railroad  transportation  seems  to  have  been  of  more  importance ­
  than  the  character  or  extent  of  the  deposits.  Certain  deposits,
notably  in  Santa  Clara  and  San  Benito  counties,  are  known  to  be
large  in  extent  and  of  good  character  of  material,  but  they  lie  idle