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By Edward Schuster

As THE time allotted is short, we can present only a general idea of the oil laws in the Latin-American republics, as a supplement to Bulletin 206 of the Department of the Interior compiled under the direction of J. W, Thompson of the Bureau of Mines and entitled "Petroleum Laws of All America." We shall not discuss the European colonies in Latin-America nor the island republics. As to the countries discussed, we shall attempt to give the main features of such special petroleum legislation as has been adopted prior to the early part of this year; where no special petroleum" laws exist, we must look to the mining codes for light on the petroleum policy. As the laws and regulations for the extraction of the metals are often difficult of application to, and are lacking in many essentials for, the petroleum industry, it is best for persons or companies desiring to enter, on . a large scale, into the petroleum exploration and development of countries not having special petroleum legislation, to obtain a concession contract from the executive of the country under consideration, and to have the concession approved by the congress. If this concession, which would then be a special law, contains nothing contrary to the constitution of that country and does not infringe on vested rights of third parties, it should be reasonably safe. If in such country there is some doubt as to whether the petroleum subsoil is owned by the nation or the private surface owner, only public lands should be covered with the concession. Guatemala is the only republic in the group that discriminates directly against foreigners. Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico and Venezuela require waivers of diplomatic protection.1 Colombia requires foreigners to agree to be bound by its alien law. , In addition,Mexico makes it unlawful for foreigners to acquire direct ownership of real estate, including mines, within a zone of 50 km. along the coasts and one of 100 km. along its land

Jan 7, 1922

By Edwin Berry

THE consideration of the present value of a mine is of great importance when planning for the operation of a property,, and it is particularly so in the case of mines that have large ore reserves. At various times during the past 15 years, the writer has had occasion to make rather thorough studies of the subject, and has been greatly impressed by certain important points which these studies have brought out, points which, though they may be well known, are often lost track of in the rush to obtain low mining costs and high daily tonnage output. . It is the object of this paper to present briefly, and in a general way, some of these points, and especially those which have to do with the relationship which (1) ore reserves and plant capacity, (2) grade of ore mined, and (3) ore losses in mining, bear to the present value. Present value, sometimes called present worth or actuarial value, means the value today of the future earnings of an enterprise. Great industrial, manu-facturing or railroad enterprises, if properly handled, go on indefinitely and their value is directly dependent on their estimated annual earnings. Mines, or oil properties, on the other hand, have an earning capacity only until the ore or oil is exhausted, and their present value is dependent not only on their annual earnings but also on their life, which is the length of the period over which they can produce at a profit. A mine, or an oil property, is a "wasting asset," while an estab-lished manufacturing business is not, or should not be. In other words, the present value of a mining property. represents a sum of money on which there could be paid from operating profits a determined rate of interest, say 8 per cent., and in addition an amount which, if invested at compound interest as received, would at the end of the life of the mine pay back the present value. In his "Wealth and Income of the American People," Walter Renton Ingalls says: "The fundamental principle of mine valuation is the present worth of an annual dividend accruing during the period of years corresponding to the life of the mine."

Jan 7, 1922

By S. D. Warriner

ONE of the most, if not the most, difficult of the problems associated with the mining and distri-bution of anthracite is to get clearly into the minds of the consumers and of the editorial and reporto-rial writers in the public press the relationship between the cost of production, the price at the mine and the price that the consumer pays for his coal, delivered in the cellar. One sees in his morning paper a statement to the .effect that out of the $12 or $13 per ton that his dealer charges him, the miner gets only $2 or even less, and he asks himself or the paper asks for him, "Who gets the difference?" Not infrequently the amount that the miner gets is given for run-of-mine bituminous coal while the price quoted is that of prepared anthra-cite, egg, stove, or chestnut, as the case may be, delivered to the bin of the consumer; and the difference stands out with all the more prominence; and it sticks in his memory with a persistency which no manner of explanation is able to efface. A recently published official report for the year. 1921 of one of the State Bureaus stated the total production of anthracite in net tons of 2000 lb., and included not only the output recovered by washeries from old culm banks and by dredges from creek and river channels, but also the colliery consumption;, i.e., the coal used by the companies in the operation of the collieries. This resulted in a total production of 90,509,075 net tons for which the labor cost was stated at $283,961,300, or $3.13 per net ton, equivalent to $3.50 per gross ton. This figure of $3.50 was immediately seized upon as representing the labor cost per gross ton of fresh-mined commercial coal. It is almost a hopeless task to try to correct such errors of statement in the first place, and, in the second place, to correct the misapprehen-sions that arise from them. As a matter of fact, the report was misleading in regard to the labor cost of the entire production shipped, as the coal used for colliery consumption should be deducted. Correctly stated, the report should have shown, calculated in terms of gross tons of 2240 lb., the legal weight in Pennsylvania, as follows: Gross production 80,607,359 tons Less colliery fuel 8,757,137 tons Commercial production 71,850,222 tons Total labor bill $283,961,300.00 Labor cost per ton...: 8 3.952 The foregoing figures" of tonnage are obtained from the State Department of Mines. Even these include the quantity recovered from calm, banks by washeries, and consequently the $3.95 arrived at as the average labor cost is somewhat less than that actually involved in the mining of fresh-mined coal. Unfortunately, the figures of washery production and the cost of producing it are not available.

Jan 7, 1922

By Arthur Redfield

IN ESTIMATING the unmined petroleum reserves of Central America, it is not feasible to employ the methods that have been worked out in the oil fields of the United States. No producing wells have been brought in and no drilling sections have been made public. It is accordingly necessary to fall back on a crude "barrels per square mile" estimate. The method chosen is a comparison of the structure of the foreign field of unknown reserves with that of some supposedly analogous North American field of which the reserves have been estimated. This method makes no pretense at scientific accuracy; bit furnishes a working basis for an estimate. The areal geology of Central America is illustrated in the map prepared by Sapper and more recently in the geologic map of North America accompanying U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper No. 71, "Index to the stratigraphy of North America." Disregarding for the present the Arrow Quaternary coastal plains and alluvial deposits of the river valleys, three chief zones may be distinguished. These are: A zone of late eruptive and effusive rocks; a zone of highly folded pre-Cambrian(?) or early Paleozoic crystalline schists and slates, considerably intruded by pre-Tertiary plutonic rocks; and a zone of more or less folded sediments, chiefly of Cretaceous or Tertiary age. The zone of late eruptive and effusive rocks of Central America begins in southeastern Chiapas, Mexico,. and extends, with increasing breadth, across southern Guatemala, across practically the whole of El Salvador, and across southern Honduras to the valley of Rio Goascorán, where the igneous zone attains a width of about 100 mi. (160 km:) East of the Goascorán Valley late eruptives and effusives play a subordinate part, being confined largely to the Departments of Valle and Choluteca. Dikes and sills of igneous rocks intrude the sedimentary formations of central and northern Honduras.

Jan 7, 1922

By Wallace Pratt

THE Philippine Islands. have produced no oil commercially, nevertheless, oil is known to be present at various places in the islands.1 Although all attempts to produce oil commercially have failed, no intelligent, persistent exploration has been carried out. The Richmond Petroleum Corpn. a subsidiary of the Standard Oil Co. of California) and a syndicate, headed by Ralph Arnold are at present engaged in exploring Bondoc Peninsula in Tayabas Province, one of the promising Philippine areas, in a manner that promises to test the petroleum possibilities adequately and intelligently. How can the petroleum resources of an entirely undeveloped area like the Philippines be estimated, where not even the areal extent of the various geologic formations is known? Obviously no calculated figure for assured future production can be derived. Yet a study of the evidence of the occurrence of petroleum, the character of the possible reservoir beds, the probable source rocks, the character and size of favorable structures, and the area over which petroleum-bearing rocks are known to occur, will throw some light on the question. The fact that rocks of the same geologic age and similar composition have been explored and are producing in Borneo, Sumatra, and Java to the south and in Formosa and Japan to the north also affect the problem, so that one can obtain some idea of the quantity of petroleum that may reasonably be expected from the Philippines. It is this measure of the possibilities rather than a definite calculation of petroleum reserves that is presented herewith. This paper will not attempt to describe, nor even to enumerate in detail, the occurrences of petroleum in the Philippines as such data have already been published. Fig. 1 indicates the localities where

Jan 7, 1922

For the year ending February, 1923 PRESIDENT ARTHUR S. DWIGHT, District 0 NEW YORK, N. Y. PAST PRESIDENTS HERBERT HOOVER, District 4 WASHINGTON, D. C. EDWIN LUDLOW, District 0 NEW YORK, N. Y. FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT J. V. W. REYNDERS NEW YORK, N. Y. TREASURER CHARLES F. RAND NEW YORK, N. Y. SECRETARY FREDERICK F. SHARPLESS,. . . . . NEW YORK, N. Y. ASSISTANT SECRETARY PERCY E. BARBOUR NEW YORK, N. Y.

Jan 7, 1922

By C. F. Jackson

THE work of, the Mining Methods Committee is now well under way. Following discussions previous to and during the February meeting, an Outline for Papers on Mining Methods was prepared, and over a thousand copies have now been distributed to committee men, to section secretaries and to members who have indicated any interest in the subject. The objective of the committee is to prepare a symposium on mining methods which will be of real practical value to the operator and engineer in the solution of every-day mining problems. It is planned to cover the entire field of mining in such a way that the different branches of mining, such as coal and ore (iron, copper, lead, zinc and precious metal) can benefit from the experience of the others at points where they have problems in common.. It is realized fully that each of these branches of mining possesses its own peculiar problems, but at the same time, there are prob-lems in connection with each, where the experience in others should be of value. The committee proposes to proceed along the following lines: 1. To present a general classification of mining methods, showing their inter-relationship, and at the same time .provide a common language for the discussion of mining methods and a nomenclature that will have the same meaning wherever used. A com-plete set of illustrations will accompany the classi-fication to make clear the terminology adopted and to show graphically the inter-relationship of methods. 2. To show the relationship between the physical characteristic of the deposit, the economic consider-ations and the. mining method., It is not proposed to treat this subject as a mere academic problem, but to secure reports from every mining company of impor-tance in this country, which will show what methods or modifications and combinations of methods have actually been applied and the physical conditions and economic considerations which have led to the adoption of these methods in each case. The Mining Methods Committee has drawn up an Outline for Papers on Mining Methods to be distributed among mining engineers and operators, giving in detail the information desired. This outline is the result of several months of careful thought and is a composite of the suggestions of many engineers and mining company officials from all parts of the United States.

Jan 7, 1922

By V. F. Marsters

Peru has produced petroleum since the early seventies, the first work being in the Zorritos field, in the Province of Tumbes, adjoining Ecuador. In the early nineties, the Negritos field, in the Department of Piura, came into prominence, and by 1905 had attained an annual production of 335,160 bbl. The early development of the field was under the general direction of the London & Pacific Petroleum Co., but it is now handled by the International Petroleum Co. In 1900 and 1901, the Lobitos field became the scene of marked activity. In 1905, its total production amounted to 75,000 bbl.; it has continued to increase as has Negritos. From 1897 to 1902, there was prospecting in the region of La Brieta (or Fernandez), on the Mancora River, about 25 to 30 km. from the coast. Small production of a heavy oil was obtained from three different sands. So far as the author knows, no work has been done in that locality since 1902. There are thus four distinct fields in the north endof the Peruvian coastal plain. The, remaining productive locality of Peru is the Pirin or Pusi field, at the northwest end of Lake Titicaca, Department of Puno, in southern Peru. The first prospecting near Pusi was done by Brown Brothers, of Los Angeles, Calif., who obtained modest production about 1906; according to reports, activities ceased about 1914 or 1915. The maximum annual production was obtained about 1908, estimated at 76,000 barrels. Peru possesses two distinct geographic provinces in which we may look for the development of a larger oil industry; namely, the coastal plain province, and the inter-Andean plains.

Jan 7, 1922

By W. R. Ingalls

DURING 1921, the Oklahoma mines dominated the American zinc-producing industry. They comprised the only group that could produce under the adverse conditions that prevailed. At the beginning of 1921, there were about 34 mills in opera-tion in the Tri-state District, out of a total estimated variously at 150 to 200, and these were producing at the rate of about 5000 tons of blende concentrate per week. At the end of 1921, there were about 50 mills in operation. The Tri-state District rates about 80 men to the mine and mill, on-the average. SMELTING The zinc smelters-in 1921 experienced a disastrous year. All of them operated at greatly reduced capacity and probably most of them suffered loss in operations. Smelting costs came down to a considerable extent by virtue of drops in the price for coal, wage reductions and more efficient work, but these ameliorations were insufficient to enable the smelters to come out even. In the Illinois fields, wages at the end of 1921 had been reduced about 37 per cent. from the peak (middle of 1920), but coal continued to be very dear. The operation of works at a low rate of their capacity was a discouraging and expensive condition. At the end of 1921, the zinc-smelting capacity ,of the United States was as follows:

Jan 7, 1922

By Ernest Hersam

THE rate of output of a rock crusher is based upon a certain space relation, the calculation requiring that the size and position of the jaws, the principle of motion, and the speed of the machine be known. The result is a calculated maximum output. The purpose of this paper is to develop a method of calculating this maximum output, to judge the general applicability A utility of such a calculation, and, so far as possible, to record calculated values as a basis for the comparison of actual results, or for estimating the capacity of a new crusher or of a standard crusher working under new conditions. A method for calculating the capacity of crushing rolls, which has been in common use for a long time, is well presented by R. H. Richards.1 The output is conceived as a ribbon of rock, of which the breadth, thickness and length are governed respectively by the width of the rolls, the space, between them, and their peripheral velocity. The weight of the rock thus crushed in a given time can be calculated from its specific gravity, after applying a factor representing the percentage of voids in the hypothetical ribbon. The calculation of crusher capacity is made in a somewhat similar manner. While the action of rolls is simple, with few irregularities in operating conditions, in rock crushers the material advances intermittently, usually under the force of gravity alone, and is subjected to a variety of variable conditions. The effect of these variable influences upon' the calculation of capacity is now to be shown. In this paper, capacity will be discussed quite apart from any consideration of mechanical efficiency; that is, results will be stated not in terms of output per horsepower, but of output for a given machine when operated at a known speed, constructed and adjusted to receive material of a known size, and to yield a product having a definite maximum coarseness.

Jan 7, 1922

By Lester Woolsey

THE State Department can be of assistance to Americans in the petroleum business directly and indirectly. During the past few months, at the Arms Conference, it had a large hand in dealing with affairs indirectly affecting the oil problem. The conference has somewhat relieved the emphasis on naval strategy in relation to oil supply by limiting the number of naval vessels or the fleets of the Great Powers and in maintaining the "open door" in the Far East in respect of the development of the natural resources of that region by defining that policy in a nine-power treaty. The largest competitors of the. United States in the petroleum field are parties to that treaty. The Department of State also has stood steadfastly for the principle of equal opportunity in the Dutch East Indies, Mesopotamia, and Persia. The Department of State has been of indirect assistance in connection with oil problems by insisting on the recognition of treaty rights and other guar-antees, such as most-favored-nation clauses, and mandate provisions. I am not speaking as a representative of the Depart-ment of State, as L now have no connection with that institution, but my experience of several years as a member of the department and my practice since my resignation have given me opportunity to see the department from both the inside and the outside, and to measure its limitations as well as its resources.

Jan 7, 1922

By J. Morgan Clements

PETROLEUM has been known in Japan since at least 668 A. D., for a picture shows the presentation, during that year, to the Emperor Tenchi (Tenji) of "burning water" and." burning earth" by his subjects from Echigo Province, which today is the largest producer of petroleum in Japan. The burning water was doubtless petroleum and the burning earth either bituminous shale or oil-soaked earth or rock from near the oil seepages. The early methods of getting the oil were simple and similar to methods used today in Japan and in China. Where the seepages occurred, trenches or shallow wells were dug along the seepages and allowed to fill with oil which was then bailed out; in some cases, they filled with oil and water and overflowed. During the 300 years following 1500 A. D:, the use of petroleum in Echigo Province seems to have increased considerably, as compared with earlier centuries, and records show that in 1818 the depth of the wells had been greatly increased. Doubtless, they passed through the seepages and tapped the shallow oil-bearing strata; probably some of these deeper wells were dug before that time. The real value of petroleum was not recognized until early in the Meiji era, which began in 1868, when the Japanese learned that the kerosene that was being imported was derived from petroleum. Guided solely by information obtained from books, they refined the oil and increased the depth of their wells in order to increase the production. The deepest well, dug by hand, about this time was 894 ft.1 (273 m.) and by 1874 the recorded production reached 3499 barrels. In 1876, Benjamin Smith Lyman prepared geological maps of the Echigo oil field, which were the first. of such geological maps made in Japan, and based on these a more enlightened development of the oil fields began; the. Japanese, however, still dug the wells by hand. Toward the end of the '80s, an American well-drilling outfit was secured, but the efforts to use it failed from lack of experience by the operators. In 1888, a complete well-drilling outfit was, purchased and American oil-well

Jan 7, 1922

By Theodore Simons

The rapid and comparatively recent development of flotation has opened so fascinating a field for study and research that the older processes of gravity concentration no longer receive the attention they deserve. The early work of Munroe1 and Richards,2 and the more recent contributions by Clevenger and Coe,3 Laist and Wiggin,4 Ammon,5 Bardwell,6 Crowfoot,7 and Hayden8 to mention only some which have appeared in our own Transactions-and by Schulz,9 have furnished so much data that to offer something new seems a difficult task. It is still possible, however, to present known facts from a different point of view, and, with this in mind, the writer has undertaken to express basic principles of gravity concentration in terms of simple mathematics and mechanics; the conclusions thus reached will be found to correspond, in general, with those obtained by experimental methods. Rittinger, in his classic Aufbereitungskunde (1867), reached analogous conclusions by way of intricate higher mathematics, for which reason his interesting investigations have remained a sealed book to most of us. The writer hopes that a more elementary treatment of the subject, based in part on Rittinger's methods, may, arouse new interest in the study of basic principles.

Jan 7, 1922

By F. R. Ingalsbe

THE proposed revision of the mining law as set forth in the Arentz Bill, now before Congress, is centered about the pretty commonly acknowledged f act that the present law is outlawed both by the large mining companies and the United States Land Office. By common agreement, the law of the apex is non-opera¬tive as between adjacent properties in many instances, and this practice is becoming more common. - If this is a fact, there is no escape from the conclusion that the law is antiquated and should be revised to meet modern conditions more equitable. The thing to be considered seriously is in what direction and to what extent the laws should be changed. Before deciding this, it is logical to inquire in what particulars the present law is troublesome or useless. This was all threshed out by the committee of the Bureau of Mines that worked out the proposed bill, but their testimony was not placed before the public, so far as 1 am aware. Most mine managers and engineers connected with producing properties are a unit in agreeing that the law as applied to the underground extension of orebodies, that is, the "law of the apex," as it is called, is the source of more litigation and expense than any other phase of the law, or perhaps than all other phases combined. This being true, it seems that this part of the law should be changed. Another phase which is troublesome and will continue to be so long as there is unpatented mineral land on the Public Domain, is the discovery requirement. The present law requires that a dis¬covery be made before a claim is staked and the courts certainly agree that such must be the case before patent issues.

Jan 7, 1922

By Ralph Arnold

THOUGH production began in Canada only a short time after the discovery of oil in the United States, it has never attained large proportions, and if we were to judge entirely by the past the reserves of Canada would be put at a very low figure. There are only two areas from which oil is marketed at the present time; one, the old district around Petrolia in southern Ontario, and the other is the small Sheep Creek field near Calgary in Alberta. The former district has produced between 200,000 and 800,000 bbl. annually for the past 40 years, recent figures being near the minimum amount. Sheep Creek has produced about 12,000 bbl. annually for the past five years. The known reserves in proved territory in each of these fields are exceedingly small, when considered in terms of world reserves. The chief hope of Canada for reserves of considerable magnitude lies in the western provinces. Sedimentary rocks similar to those in the productive fields of the United States occupy thousands of square miles in the western provinces, so that it seems likely that somewhere within this great area the peculiar conditions necessary for the presence of oil pools will be found. Prospecting is being carried on energetically by several large companies, as well as by many independents. The Dominion Government, which controls most of the public lands, is pursuing a .fairly liberal policy toward the prospector, which should stimulate wildcatting; although the province of British Columbia, which controls public lands within that province, is at present unwilling to give adequate encouragement to make wildcatting attractive. As there is really no assurance that any productive pools will be found in western Canada, the estimates of reserves are subject to a wide possibility of error. In making estimates, the various areas within which geologic conditions are more or less uniform are discussed separately; the estimates given for each area are not given with the idea that there is a reasonable probability of their eventually proving to be correct. It is hoped that an average of these estimates, taken together with those made for other undeveloped countries, will give a correct total of reserves

Jan 7, 1922

By Ralph Arnold

WHILE much geological work and drilling have been done in Venezuela, the incompleteness of geological evidence obtainable and the restricted areas in which drilling has been done make any estimates of oil resources extremely speculative. Nevertheless, it is felt that the data given are justified, in the belief that the ideas of a geologist familiar with the region are better than those of a promoter. The oldest beds of interest to oil men are those of the Cretaceous, which are well developed in eastern Venezuela and about parts of Lake Maracaibo. In both cases, a hard massive limestone is overlain by a great thickness, most of which is shale. In the west, in places this shale is more than 2000 ft. (610 m.) thick, while in the east it may attain 3500 ft., (1067 m.). The limestone and parts of the shale are oil producing. In the east, the Tertiary where present is almost entirely covered by the Quarternary, but in the west it is well developed. In probable unconformity over the Cretaceous shales is found a series of sandstones and shales, which may beg called the lower coal series. It is well developed southwest of the lake, where it is the oil container, and is probably the lowest series exposed east of the lake. Above this is the Pauji shale, which is probably the point of origin of all the oil east of Lake Maracaibo and in the State of Falcon. It has a thickness of about 3000 ft. (914 m.) in the Mene Grande region. The upper coal series is developed as a great thickness of sands, shales, and clays, with some partly consolidated limestone. Its thickness may be as great as 10,000 ft. It is the oil container of the Falcon-El Mene region and a probable location for oil in some of the area about the lake. It may or may not include the so-called Maracaibo series in which the oil is found at Mene Grande. Over much of Venenzuela, the Quarternary is present in unknown thickness, which probably is not great. It obscures oil structure in all cases and presents the greatest hazard of oil exploration for the fields which probably exist below.

Jan 7, 1922

THE Executive Board of The American Engineering Council met in Pittsburgh, May 26 and 27. Its actions on the licensing of engineers and on the Employment Bureau are printed at length elsewhere in this issue. The board announced plans purposing the solution of the national problems of water power and forestry, upon which "the industrial development of the nation and the standard of living of future generations largely depends. The whole Federal water-power situation is in so critical a condition that immediate constructive action by the Government to conserve the public interests, involving vast consequences of economic and Federal policy, is necessary. After a long discussion during which the water-power problem as it affects Government reorganization was reviewed and Henry Ford's Muscle Shoal's plan was discussed, the board decided to lay the entire question before President Harding. A national movement to conserve the nation's forests, in which engineers, the U. S. Forestry Service, the forestry services of the states, universities and technical schools, and other groups such as the farmers, the railroads, and lumbermen, shall pool their efforts, was set in motion by the engineers. The work will be in charge of a Reforestation Committee of the Council, headed by Charles H. MacDowell of Chicago. Mov-ing picture interests will be asked to aid. The board pledged its support to President Harding in his plan for Government reorganization. In adopting the report of its Committee on Public Affairs, headed by J. Parke Channing of New York, the Executive Board of the council determined, in the event of the failure of the President's efforts to bring about greater economy and ffieciency in national affairs by regrouping of Federal functions, to press independ-ently a nation-wide movement for the establishment of a Department of Public Works. Progress in a national survey of the two-shift day in American industries was reported by the Council's Committee on Work Periods in Continuous Industries. This survey, called the most extensive of its kind ever made, has been in progress for more than a year; and purposes an exposition of industrial conditions which shall form a basis for establishing the relative merits of three shifts of eight hours each and two shifts of twelve hours each.

Jan 7, 1922

By Philip Wilson

THE genesis of some orebodies has been explained by the mingling and chemical interaction of water solutions of different compositions and the consequent precipitation of the mineral load of one or both solutions at their confluence. While this process can be proved in the laboratory, rarely can a positive demonstration be found in nature, for the conditions at the time an ore deposit is being worked are usually entirely different from those that existed when the orebody was formed. For this reason, the present deposition of copper carbonate in the southern end of the Briggs Mine of the Calumet and Arizona Mining Co. near Bisbee, Ariz., is of great interest. The developed orebodies in the Calumet and Arizona mines are roughly confined to two broad parallel zones separated at the north by a wedge of. Copper Queen ground and at the south by an undeveloped block of Calumet and Arizona ground about 2000 ft. (610 m.) wide. The more westerly zone includes the Irish Mag, Oliver, P. and D., and Cole mines, none of which have been operated since 1919. Much of the water from this division is carried from the 1400-ft., or bottom, level at the southern end of the Cole mine in a long water drift through the undeveloped block to the 1300-ft. level of the Briggs mine at the southern end of the more easterly zone.. Most of this water comes originally from outlying areas in the P. and D., mine, passing through parts of the lower levels of the Cole mine, which are heavily mineralized with iron and copper sulfides. This sulfide zone has been opened up and slowly oxidizing for years. Originally a pure, potable water, the analyses of which are shown under A in Tables 1 and 2, on its way through the mineralized area in the Cole mine it gathers copper, calcium, magnesium, iron, and aluminum sulfates, a load of dissolved mineral salts almost four times as great as that which it formerly carried; analyses B

Jan 7, 1922

By V. F. Marsters

SEEPAGES Of oil in Ecuador have been known for many years. The locality first to receive attention, and still worked in a modest way, lies on the north shore of the Santa Elena peninsula, between La Puntilla and Salinas. Operations were first conducted largely by local capital. Later, foreign companies acquired large blocks of land, where they have done considerable drilling. For details concerning present drilling activities in Ecuador, we are indebted to Leon Price, an American resident engineer of Ecuador. The information solicited, came to the author through the office of the American Consulate,' with permission to use it. The coastal plain bordering the Province of Tumbes, Peru, continues to the northeast, but narrows on passing the Zarumilla River. From this, point northward it widens toward Santa Rosa. In fact, the pampas, as shown on the official Wolf map, correspond fairly well to the areal extent of the coastal plain as far as Guayaquil. This is shown in a general way on the accompanying map. The author understands that the Guayaquil embayment is bordered on all sides by the coastal plain, as recognized at Tumbes and farther southwest, and that it can be followed without a break as far north as Palmar. This view is supported by the mapped area regarded by Mr. Price as favorable or possible oil territory. Moreover the islands in the Gulf of Guayaquil are the same geologically as the coastal edge, being composed of Tertiary sediments. The author understands also that Tertiary formations occur north of Palmar. According to a report by Mr. Cardon, of Guayaquil, Tertiary sediments are exposed in the region of San Francisco and extend to and beyond Pta. Calera. There is also reason to believe that at least the lower part of the valley of the Santiago River is occupied by Tertiary sediments, which probably border the coast line and extend into the River Mira basin, and into Colombia.

Jan 7, 1922

IN international affairs, the great event of June was the meeting of representative bankers at Paris -for consideration of the arrangement of a large loan to Germany. The conference dissolved in futility. Following this abortive conference, the delegates to the parley at the Hague assembled there on June 15. America is not represented at the Hague, any more than at Genoa. The British view the conference seriously and have Leslie Urquhart, the highest authority on Russia, attending in an official capacity. The Irish had their election and voted by strong majority in favor of the treaty with Great Britain, which was happy, but the general situation in Ireland is miserable. In China there were spectacular military and political events. Economically, Japan was in trouble. Conditions are becoming better in India, although no yet settled. Egypt has troubles still. Australia has a better chance for welfare, following the overthrow of its labor govern-ment early in April last. In Europe it is hard to discern any improvement except in Great Britain. Business in Great Britain has been slowly widening. The future of Great Britain, which is chiefly an in-dustrial country, depends on finding employment for its, 1,750,000 idle men. Personalities figured largely in June. Lenin's health was represented as having failed so that the govern-ment of Russia has had to be-turned over to a trium-virate. All of this has been denied. It is clear that some. mighty events are transpiring there. The assassination of Doctor Rathenau in Germany is probably also an occurrence of portent. The murder of Field Marshal Wilson, in London, tended to in-crease anger in England against the Irish. In the United. States the attention of Congress was concentrated on the soldier bonus, the tariff bill and the subsidy for shipping. All of these projects are economically bad and are of the same nature, viz., the allotment of a bounty to some classes of people, without consideration to the general national interest and welfare.

Jan 7, 1922