LATER FACTS AND DEVEL OPMENTS.

 

Raton Mountain Coan Mines. — General
Wu. J. Paumer, one of the ablest and most
energetic officers of the Union Pacific Rail-
way Company, E. D., is now (Sept., 1867) on
a tour of reconnoissance and observation in
the country between the valley of the Smoky
Hill and the Rio Grande. He finds that as
regards routes there is no difficulty, as the
road can be run either through or around the
Raton mountain. In a letter from Fort Union,
in New Mexico, he speaks of the vast deposits
of coal found on that range and in the region
adjacent, and of the agricultural and pastoral
character of that country. We have only room
for a brief extract. He says:

“Dr. Le Conte has just arrived from his
examination of the coal-field, and his report
is very satisfactory. There is abundance of
good coal — very good coal— on both sides of
the Raton mountain, which can be readily
reached from the railroad line. On this side
of the mountain the coal extends to within
thirty miles of this place, and probably farther.
Here, then, is the great natural depot of fuel,

not only for this Pacific Railway, but for the
country contiguous to it for at least as far east
as Fort Harker, and as far west as — well, that
depends upon,further explorations.

“The country in and contiguous to the
Raton mountain is the finest grazing country
Ihave ever seen. I don’t think it ean be ex-
celled; and on this side the ground is very
fertile, and with very little labor fine crops of
wheat, corn, oats and other grains are grown.”

General Palmer, in a letter of a still later
_ date, speaks of the anthracite coal mines of
New Mexico, which, as I have already stated,
(page 69,) are located but a comparatively
short distance from this line of road. He was
about to visit them,

There seems to be some degree of corre-
spondence beween the coal formations of New
Mexico and those of Pennsylvania. On the
slopes of the mountains, their foot-hills and
declining plains, bituminous coal in great
abundance is found, ag in Western Pennsyl-
vania; while more in the heart of the moun-
tain system, as in Central Pennsylvania, the
anthracite variety is found. It is very prob-
able that the bituminous variety is little, if
any, less in quantity in New Mexico than in
Western Pennsylvania; but as to the quantity
of the anthracite, the explorations and re-
searches have not been sufficiently extended
to warrant any comparative estimate.

But from the fact that coal abounds in the
line between Pond Creek and Denver, and on
and around the Raton Mountain, we may
safely conclude that it is confined to no nar-
row locality; but is found, as in Western
Pennsylvania, in many distinct and widely
separated localities, in deposits of from five to
fifty miles in extent, and in veins of from a
few inches to ten and even fifteen feet in
thickness. These coal beds, as in Western
Pennsylvania, lie in nearly horizontal strata.

But for any practical utility to the country,
these rich mines might as well be in the moon
as where they are, until a railway shall be
constructed through that country by which
their products can be carried both east and
west — to the rich agricultural region in one
direction, and to the rich mineral regions in
the other. Without a railroad, they are sim-
ply worthless; but with one, they will be a
source of incalculable national wealth, and
will contribute largely to the success of this
great railroad enterprise.

ANALYSIS oF Raton Mountain Coan.
PHILADELPHIA, August 5, 1867.
To the Union Pacific Railway Co., E. D.:

"The sample of coal from Raton Mountain
yields on analysis as follows:

Moisture, at 212° Fahrenheit, 4.74

 

Sulphur, . , ' -16

Volatile matter, . - 87.20

Fixed carbon, . « 53.90

Ash, . . . : P 4.00
100.00

The above analysis shows a yield at the
rate of 437.6 lbs. of illuminating gas per ton
of 2000 lbs., which is equivalent to 7439.2
cubic feet. You will see from the above that
your coal compares very favorably with any
of those regarded as the best for steam-gener-
ating purposes, and with the majority of those
used for the manufacture of illuminating gas.

Wiuurams & Moss,
Analytical and Consulting Chemists.

Coat ON THE Paciric Stopr. — Mr. W. M.
Gabb, in a report made to J. Ross Brown,
Esq., remarks: “The great coal-bearing for-
mations of the world, those from which the
coals of Perinsylvania and the Mississippi
Valley are obtained, are not represented on
the Pacific Slope of the North American con-
tinent.” He, however, mentions several mines
of coal of inferior quality on that slope, one
on Mount Diablo, in Southern California, a
part of the Coast Range, of which he says:
“ There is here at least one bed of coal of con-
siderable size, but very poor quality and vari-
able thickness. Furthermore, it is so broken
and twisted by the disturbing forces to which
the rocks of the vicinity have been subjected,
that, even were the coal good in quality, the
vein could not be relied on.”

Minera WEALTH oF SouTHERN CALIFOR-
nra.— On this subject I beg leave to refer the
reader to the Report of J. Ross Brown, Esq.,
upon the Mineral Resources of the States and
Territories west of the Rocky Mountains, re-
cently published by authority of Congress,
especially copper, (page 138 et seg.,) and
quicksilver, (page 170 et seq.)

Copper Mines 1x Anrizona.—J. Ross
Brown, Esq., in his Report to the Secretary
of the Treasury, upon the Mineral Resources
of the States and Territories west of the
Rocky Mountains, recently published, says:

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