University of Southern Mississippi - Southerner Yearbook (Hattiesburg, MS)

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lgnttrrg Qllagz HE clay working, or ceramic, industry of the United States is of immense economic importance though passed lightly over by the casual observer. Dr. E. N. Lowe, of the Mississippi Geological Survey, states that the clay products of our country exceed in value by nearly 330,000,000 the total amount of the gold and silver mined in the United States, including Alaska, and by 360,000,000 the iron ore products. Mississippi has a supply of clays of good quality, but her people have been slow to work them up at home. Ohio and New Jersey draw liberally on Mississippi clay for their extensive manufacturing. In 1907 Mississippi's pottery production was only 321,121, giving the State twenty-ninth rank, while Ohio's pottery products were worth 313,533,190 The total value of Mississippi's clay products for that year was estimated at 3846,529, of this arnount 318,200is crediuad to drani the, 320,769 to face or front brick, 3865 to red earthenware, 320,256 to stoneware, and the remainder to common brick. The total clay pro- ducts of Ohio for that period were valued at 330, 533,199 According to the State Geologists, the two main formations containing the best working pottery clays are the Tuscaloosa and the Wilcox. The Tuscaloosa formation cor- responds to the Tennessee Hills fpage 115 occurring in six counties in the northeastern part of the State. These superior clays are being used for pottery making near Whitney in Itawamba County, where jugs, jars, crocks, and churns are turned out, about 5,000 gallons annually being produced in one plant, 7,000 to 8,000 in another, while a third produces about 2,000 gallons. A pottery was formerly operated at Whitney producing stoneware and tomb- stones but is closed down at present. Most of the Tuscaloosa clays are of highest quality and can be used for pottery, but only three plants are working. The Wilcox formation corresponds closely to the Northern Lignitic Plateau tpage 11l embracing the counties in the north central part of the State. Some of these clays are being used for pottery making in Marshall, Webster, and Lauderdale Counties. At present there is only one steam pottery in operation within this section and that is at Holly Springs- The Holly Springs Stoneware Company has opened up more than one pit near the town and they manufacture jugs, jars, crocks, churns, pitchers, bowls, and flower pots. They use both a white and a brown glaze, making a very attractive vessel by using the white glaze for the body of the ware and the brown for the rim. This plant has by far the largest capacity of any in the State, turning out 500,000 gallons per year. The Allison Stoneware Company, which has recently been enlarged to a two-kiln plant, is also located at Holly Springs and manufactures a general line of stoneware. The clay in Winston County makes a good quality of stoneware and is used in the Stewart Pottery for making glazed ware. This Company turns out about four thousand gallons per year. The clays from Lauderdale County have been used for stoneware for nearly half a century. A hand pottery was established in Meridian forty years ago and of late years has been changed into a steam pottery, producing ornamental terra cotta, stoneware, and decorative ware. At present most of the Lauderdale clay is shipped to a pottery plant at Cuba.AMbama. In South Mississippi there was, three years ago, a noted art pottery at Biloxi, oper- ated by Mr. George G. Ohr. He obtained his clay near the town and manufactured very thin glazed vases, rose bowls, ornamental jars, and all kinds of unglazed art ware. He used a wide variety of shapes and decorated his articles in an artistic manner. The clay took the different colored paints splendidly and the result was pleasing. His shop had hundreds of out-of-state visitors during the coast season and they learned that Mississippi's pottery clays in the hands of an artist formed a contribution worth while to the natural resources of the nation. 16

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A Hiralih nf Haluahlr Ihuilhing Material--ihrirk sinh Gllag. HE clay found in Mississippi is similar in many respects to that of ancient Babylonia, which was the first to be employed for structural purposes in the form of brick and other clay wares. Brick manufacturing has grown and developed into a necessary and profit- able industry in Mississippi, where the amount of clay is unlimited, and fuel is cheap and abundant. Most Mississippi clay contains all properties necessary for successful brick and tile manufacturing, though in different degrees in different sections. The most valuable physical properties of clay are plasticity, strength, and refractoriness. Alumina is the most refactory substance found in clays, and also furnishes bonding material for holding together the inert particles, which enables the clay to be fashioned into the desired form. The amount of alum- ina in Mississippi clays ranges from a few per cent to 41 per cent. which puts them in a class with the best clays. The tensile strength of ordinary brick varies from 40 to 400 pounds per square inch. Tests of some of Mississippi's clays show that tensile strength ranges as high as 800 pounds per square inch. The percentage of impurities in Mississippi clays is small. The common brick clays of Mississippi contribute largely to the industrial develop- ment of the State, and their importance will become greater year by year, as the valuable timber grows scarce. In many of the counties brick have been manufactured successfully for many years, and in most of the large towns up-to-date plants have been erected to meet the growing demands for a substantial building material. As the State is undergoing rapid industrial development, and as it is dependent largely upon brick for building material of a more permanent class, we may expect that the brick industry will be greatly developed in the near future. Clays suitable for brick and tile purposes are scattered broadcast over the State, the northeastern section probably having the most generous deposits, though Warren and Pike Counties have more manufacturing plants than any other counties taken separately. Splendid brick materials are found in the Loess and Delta regions: buckshot clay is very good for brick and drain tile, and brick of Lauderdale County are said to be extremely hard, and to approach vitriiied paving brick. Pressed brick are manufactured in many plants, and are among the highest grades of the manufactured product. Some of the clay burns white and leaves white specks on the surface, presenting a very attractive appearance in the way of a fancy brick. Rough brick, however, are the most commonly manufactured. Mississippi clay is also used in the making of tile, its porosity adding greatly to its value in this form. Both rough tile and glazed tile, which are the best grades, are used for draining purposes, and rough hollow tile is used in constructing buildings where plaster and brick are also used. There are eighty-seven brick manufacturing companies in the State of Mississippi, fifteen brick and tile companies, and one drain tile company, embracing about sixty-seven counties, according to a 1908 bulletin, which facts show that already the industry has been recognized as profitable. In Noxubee County especially, has the industry proved profitable, not only to the im- mediate community, but to other sections of the State. The prairie lands of the county are being drained by tile made in the county. Noxubee County being a great dairy section of the State, silos are indispensable, and many of them are made out of tile manufactured in the local plant. This plant also furnishes a supply of brick, and rough and glazed tile for both building and draining purposes in other sections of the State. To be able to get a good quality of brick and tile within the State, not only encourages the development of the indus- try, but is a great advantage in the saving of exhorbitant freight rates. 15

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!lllIi55i5zippi'n Qlnal Zliirlh R. L. THOMPSON ISSISSIPPI is too young geologically to contain true coal. but a large area of lignite is found underlying the Lignite Plateau, and embracing more than twenty counties. Lignite is immature coal, a fuel intermediate between wood and coal in heat- ing capacity. If a peat bog, or reed brake, were sunk and covered with a great thickness of sediment, subjected to great pressure for a geologic age or two, by loss of its gases and the increase of carbon it would become lignite. It may be recognized by Dr. Lowe's description: ,'Lignite is black or brown, often shows distinctly the vegetable tissue, has a dull lustre, is lighter than coal and heavier than wood, cracks into fragments on drying, and burns with yellow flame and abundant smoke and a disagreeable odor. In Lafayette County the lignite shows its woody structure, a log sometimes being found half lignite and half wood or petrified wood: leaves, twigs, and pine needles are found partially lignitized. However, most of the Lafayette lignite ranks very high, this county, Webster, and Calhoun, having beds from three to five feet thick and of the highest quality in the State, according to Dr. Lowe. Though Dr. Brown gives a sample from Choctaw with the highest heating capacity of any found up to 1907. Holmes and Madison Counties have the thickest beds reaching eight feet in some places, and out-cropping frequently. Some of the beds in Holmes County have caught fire and burned for two months giving off an unpleasant odor that could be detected a mile away. Lignite is often found. when boring for wells. thirty or more feet under the surfaceg and one such bed in Calhoun County is reported to be thirty feet thick. Shafts have been sunk in this county and the lignite used for fuel. Dr. Brown says that at Camp Springs, Calhoun County, where a stream runs over an exposed bed of lignite, an electric plant could easily be established for lighting the town, and pumping its water. The same writer says he used a mixture of samples from four different beds in Calhoun County in his own grate and obtained a steady, good fire. They burned up completely. The greatest thing prohibiting the use of lignite as fuel is that the structure of the furnaces or fire places does not prevent the terrible odor it gives off. Good lignite may take the place of wood and coal in stoves both for heating and cooking. Any of the medium lig- nites will give in the forge a heat suflicient for sharpening plows and drawing iron, and the better qualities will give a welding heat. Lignite may be used to an advantage in burning brick, also for the manufacture of illuminating gas, as some of the Mississippi specimens run quite high in volatile matter. Probably the real commercial value of Mississippi lignite lies in its use for the manufacture of producer gas, the demonstration of this use being a de- cided advance in the economical combustion of coal. Comparative analysis of Lignites Cby the United States Geological Survey and Dr. Handl: State Moisture Volatile Matter Fixed Carbon Ash Sulphur B. T. U. N. Dakota 10.03 38.12 39.95 11.90 1.76 9,562 Texas 13.40 42.75 29.00 14.85 1.04 9,358 Miss. Choctaw Co. 11.61 34.61 42.48 11.31 2.66 10,071 Miss. Calhoun Co. 11.46 40.74 37.59 10.21 .78 9,875 Miss. Lafayette Co. 14.61 38.51 39.10 7.78 1.28 9,398 Alabama Coal 2.58 33.15 51.74 12.53 1.02 12,449 The British Thermal Unit KB. T. U.D is the standard for measuring the full value of coal, the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit, 17