As we have elsewhere stated, good quick lime is made from the lime strata so abundant in Kansas.
Hydraulic Limestone, suitable for the manufacture of water or Roman cement, is found near Fort Scott, Lawrence and Leavenworth, and probably exists in many other places. Much, however, of our Limestone, which is called Magnesian, and should therefore make a cement, either has no magnesia, or so little as to have no property differing from the ordinary article of lime. Color is no indication of the composition of our strata.
At Fort Scott, an extensive manufactory of cement is in operation, which sends out about two thousand tons per annum. It has been used by the Missouri, Kansas & Texas; Missouri River, Fort Scott & Gulf; and Topeka, Fort Scott & Memphis Railroads; and sent into the adjoining States. It sustains a good reputation wherever it has been used, and by some contractors and builders is preferred to the Louisville Cement.
At Lawrence, a layer of Hydraulic Limestone is seen in the hills west of the city, and can be traced across the county. The late F. Baker manufactured it, some fifteen or twenty years ago, and the cement proved to be a good and durable article. Some of the cisterns cemented with it are still in use with the cement in a good state of preservation.
