ne by half-breeds, in the employ of the merchants, the latter
furnishes the salt, and paying them in trade, of which the outfit
generally constitutes a part. But with the late general depression,
prices declined some thirty or forty per cent., and consequently the
business, previously quite lucrative, lost its attraction for the time
being. The merchants advanced the means in summer, and could not
realize until the ensuing year. Small holders were obliged to sell,
some of the time by forcing the market, and this added to the
difficulty experienced by large holders in obtaining returns.

Much has been said in reference to the coal fields of Michigan, and
within the past two or three years, explorations, with a view of
developing these deposits, have been conducted in different portions
of the State. There is no longer any doubt of the existence of a
valuable field of coal in central Michigan. There have been openings
at different points in the State; at Jackson and Sandstone, in Jackson
county; at Owasso and Corunna in Shiawassee county; at Flint in
Genesee county, and at Lansing, coal has been found deposited in veins
of from twenty inches to four feet in thickness. Most of the openings
have been upon veins outcropping at the surface of the ground, and
there has been little difficulty in procuring samples of coal from
these veins in many localities in the State. These deposits of coal
found at, and near the surface, are producing coal in limited
quantities in different localities, but no works have been prosecuted
with a view to supplying any but a limited local demand. From the
surface evidences of a coal field on the line of the Detroit and
Milwaukee Road near Owasso, and from explorations and developments
already made, some specimens of the coal having been produced and
shipped to Detroit, it has been determined to prosecute the work at
that point.

In Jackson county, however, the matter of mining has become an
enterprise of some magnitude, and we are enabled to give some facts
and figures which exhibit in some measure the importance to the State
of this new branch of industry. There are several "workings" of coal
in the vicinity of Jackson, and several companies have been formed for
the purpose of mining coal. Considerable coal has been mined and sold
from these different workings and mines. The principal mine, and one
which in all its arrangements and provisions is equal to any mine in
the country, is that of the