Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/274

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UNITED STATES

Torrijos, on the small island of Marinduque (latitude 13° 34'). A metric ton, or 1000 kilogrammes, is said to contain 90 grammes of silver, C grammes of gold, and 565.5 kilogrammes of lead.

In Camarines, a province of Luzon, lead ores occur, but are worked only for the gold they contain.

There is iron ore in abundance in Luzon, Caraballo,i Cebii, Panay, and doubtless in other islands. In Luzon it is found in the provinces of Laguna, Pampanga, and Carmarines Norte, but principally iu Bulacan. The finest deposits are in the last-named province, near a small settle- ment named Camachin, which lies in latitude 15° 7' and longitude 12-4° 47' east of Madrid. A small industry exists here, wrought iron being pro- duced in a sort of bloomery and manufactured into ploughshares.

Humors of the occurrence of quicksilver in Panay and Leyte have failed of verification. Accidental losses of this metal by prospectors or survey- ors sometimes lead to reports of the discovery of deposits, and ochres are not seldom mistaken for impure cinnabar.

Sulphur deposits abound about active and extinct volcanoes in the Philippines. In Luzon the principal sulphur deposits are at Daclan, in the province of Benguet, and at Colasi, in Camarines. The finest deposit in the archipelago is said to be on the little island of Biliran, which lies to the northwest of Leyte.

Marble of fine quality occurs on the small island of Romblon (latitude 12° 37'). It is much employed in churches in Manila for baptismal fonts and other purposes. Marbles are also quarried at Montalban in the province of Manila, and at Binangonan in the province of Marong.

There are concessions for mining kaolin at Los Bahos in Laguna Province.

Pearl fisheries exist in the Sulii Archipelago, and are said to form an important source of wealth.

Exports and Imports

Practically all the export and import trade of the islands is in the hands of foreigners. There are a few Spaniards engaged in trading, but the bulk of the b'usiness, in a commercial way, is done by British, German, Belgian, and American citizens. These men do not meddle with the insurrection, and they have been able to maintain friendly relations not only with the Spanish Government officials, but with the natives as well.

The most reliable figures that can be obtained on exports from the islands for the year 1897 give the following as the value at the point of shipment of the various principal items:

Hemp.

Sugar. Copra. Tobacco leaf. Cigars. Various articles Indigo.

$18,040,760 12,928,000 4,462,920 2,786,200 1,694,600 1,000,000 107,000

Coffee.

Rope

Sibucao, dyewood

Gums.

Skins for glue

Mother-of-pearl shells

Total.

96,100 63,400 49,100 47,500 38,900 27,800

41,342,280

1 Not found on the map.