357. Missouri Cottas.—For clay go to Missouri. It is found in 90 out of the 114 counties of the State. From this mineral three companies in Kansas City are manufacturing sewer-pipes and working on an invested capital of $1,000,000. They have an annual output worth $1,100,000, or more than 100 per cent. profit, less, of course, the cost of production. The sewer-pipe industry will vastly increase with the growth of cities.
358. Nickel Mines.—Nickel is a metal for which there is a constantly increasing demand. Aside from the vast number of nickel-plated articles, it has recently been found that steel, alloyed with a small percentage of nickel, makes the hardest substance known which can be produced on a large scale. It is bound to be used in future for the shells of our ironclads. In North Carolina and in Oregon, are large deposits of this valuable ore awaiting the hardy miner or bold speculator.
359. Mexican Iron.—Near the city of Durango, Mexico, are the largest iron mines in North America, but as yet entirely unworked. There are 10,000,000 square feet in sight, sixty per cent. of which is metallic iron. An opportunity for capitalists.
360. Tennessee Limestone.—In the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains are ranges of blocks—lower Carbonifererous and Devonian shales, and impure limestone, but the rocks of the basin proper are pure limestone. This limestone when pulverized makes the best phosphate, and is worth $18 a ton. A mining authority states that with proper working it ought to produce at least 200,000 tons of rock per annum.
361. Fortunes in Copper.—Forty-eight per cent. of the copper of the world is in the United States and Canada. The price is $200 a ton. Almost all the mines of the Lake Michigan region are making profit, but the industry is yet in its infancy. When it is known that a mine has been made to pay which contains less than one per cent. of copper, it can be seen what fortunes are in the mines that pay from forty to fifty per cent., and there are some that pay even more.
362. German Amber.—In Memel, Germany, a dredging company pays the government an annual rental of twenty-five thalers a day for the privilege of dredging in the Kurische Hoff, near the village of Schwarzarts. But it is not to be supposed that this is the only spot where amber is to be found. It will doubtless yet be discovered in this country.
363. African Diamonds.—Diamonds in vast numbers are found in the beds of many South African streams, but if you have capital you may develop an industry like that of the De Beers Company, which is paying forty per cent. per annum.
364. Tasmania Tin.—A single company in Murat Bischoff has paid more than $7,000,000 in dividends to the fortunate owners of a tin mine.
365. Georgia Sapphires.—In 1872, Colonel C. W. Jenks, of Boston, picked up one hundred of these valuable stones at Laurel Creek, Rylang County, Georgia, a single gem of which was sold for $25.
366. Rock Salt.—Rock salt is found in Syracuse, New York, and in Michigan, also in Louisiana, and in South Eastern Arizona. It is believed that if these mines were bored deeper, potassium salt—a salt hitherto not found in the United States—would be discovered, and home plants take the place of foreign imports. Here is a chance for enterprising men.