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Show mm fiEOED FOl'ffliaE Mining Engineers Urged to Aid in Developing American Ameri-can Properties. ST. LOT"IS, Mo.. Oct. The United States vilt soun face a g:ia-e scarcity uf certain minerals necessary to tiie successful suc-cessful conduct of tlie war unless the va.st mineral deposits of the country are developed, said Y. G. Westervelt of New Yrvk. chairnran of tiie United States var minerals beard, In an address today before be-fore the American Institute of Mining b:ri?ineejs, in session here. Nitrates, essential to the manufacture 'of gun powder and high explosive shells, are imported in small Quantities from South America, he said, because of the shortage of ships. Mansanese, a mineral min-eral usM in hardening steel for armor plate and shells, he said, is imported at the expense of other necessary articles, while vast deposits of the mineral in Virginia, Arkansas and California are under-developed. .Heps also must be taken at once to insure a sufficient supply of lead, tin. mercury, mica and zinc, necessary to the successful prosecution of the wax," the speaker declared. Other members of the war materials board also made patriotic speeches before be-fore the convention at the afternoon session, ses-sion, devoted to a patriotic meeting. Members of tire board here for the convention con-vention are Alfred G. White of the Urilcrl States bureau or mines: W. O. Hotchkiss, state geoiogist of Wisconsin, and David While, head of the L nited States peolo.sical survey. The speakers ursed the mimnK engineers en-gineers to co-ocerate with tire board, the purpose of which is to insure a supply of minerals and stimulate production from mineral deposits now neglected. The engineers' en-gineers' institute will be asked to supply volunteers to develop mineral deposits Hint have not been used. Strops; government control, preferably throush the medium of the federal trade commission, was recommended for the bituminous coal industry by Francis G. Peabody of Chicago.. chairman of the coal production committee of the council of national defense, in a paper prepared by him and read before the engineers.' Peabodv in bis paper-, dwelt on the so-called so-called bad' features of the present system of producing coal, which, ho said, not onl.- was wasting 'he heritage of the people' peo-ple' but which was placing almost insurmountable in-surmountable difficulties for successors to overcome in working the thinner veins of coal which are left. ' ... The mining business, he sad. is beset be-set hi- all manner of ws to-r-waste of natural resources, waste of the human element and waste of capital, and the people do not realize how dearly future generations will have to pay for this. Professor (1. M. Young of the University Univer-sity of Illinois told of conditions in the Illinois fields. He said the industry there had not emerged from the formative forma-tive period. Forces within it. he said, are constantly pulling ill opposite directions direc-tions so that there is lack of harmony, lie said it was probable that co-operation among the rroducers would become thor-ouL'hlv thor-ouL'hlv established onlv after some wide control of the Industry had been assumed by the stale or the nation. About 3S0 delegates are expected to attend at-tend the convention. ' After business sessions tomorrow the engineers will visit various St. T.ouis industrial in-dustrial plants. Wednesday night they will go to Joplin, Mo., to Inspect the mines. |