Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/582

 522 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI probable that the miuiug interests of the coimty will develop rapidly iu the near future. It has been said of the Ripley county farmer that he is also a manufacturer and a miner. He tills the soil, pastures livestock on a ranch, with an axe he makes railroad ties, and with a pick axe he collects iron ere. This statement, however, applies to the farmer living outside of the alluvial section of the coiuity, where the soil is rich and pro- ductive as any to be found in the state. The population of the coimty is 13,099, the taxable wealth is $2,879,028. There are 74 school districts, employing 87 teachers. There are two lines of railroad in the county, the St. Louis, Iron Rloimtain & Southern, a branch line from Poplar Bluff to Doniphan, and the Hoxie branch of the St. Louis & San Francisco, which cros.ses the southeast corner of the county. The county seat is Doniphan, with a popu- lation of more than 2,000, and a most de- lightful town, situated near Current river. Other important towns are Naylor, at the crossing of the 'Frisco and the Iron IMoun- tain, having some manufactories; Varner, Fair Dealing, Ponder and Currentview. The school s.ystem is well organized in Ripley coimty, especially so in Doniphan, which sup- ports a good public school, including a well organized high school. The principal streams are Little Black river, which runs through the northeastern pai't of the county, Logan creek and Current river, which runs through the county from north to south dividing it into almost equal parts. There are some smaller streams tribu- taries of these and a number of fine springs and the possibility of developing water power on a number of them. Current river is per- haps the mo.st beautiful stream in the state. St. Francois county is fifty miles south of St. Louis and one county w^est of the Missis- sippi river. It contains an area of 410 square miles, about one-third of which is devoted to agriculture. There are two classes of land in the county, a high rolling section occupy- ing a large area in the southwest corner and broken regions adjacent to the principal streams and then an area which is gently rolling foimd in the eastern and southern part of the county. These lands on this plateau are free from stone and quite fertile indeed. The only poor land in the coimty is found in the extreme southwest corner. That along the border of the streams is rich and fertile as any in the state. St. Francois countj^ like most of the other counties in the state, had at one time a very heavy growth of timber, the most valuable being white oak. IMiich of this timber has been removed however, especially along the line of railroads. Besides white oak there were considerable quantities of black oak, red oak, sugar maple, walnut, cherry and hickory, besides these there were gum, pine and elm. There is .still some pine timber as well as some other varities in the county. The principal interest of the county is min- ing. It is the center of the lead district of Missouri. Besides lead, in the forms of dis- seminated ore, zinc, iron, nickel, copper and granite, limestone and sandstone exist in workable quantities. Of these minerals the most important is lead. St. Francois county has produced more than 70 per cent of the lead of ]Iissouri for a great many years. During the year 1910 there were produced 211.845 tons of lead, large quantities of barytes, iron ore, sand, granite and other mineral products. The farming interests of the county are