order. One analysis gives : fixed carbon, 47.23; volatile matter, 42.17; water, 2.30 ; ash, 8.25; sulphur, .60. Its coking capacity is 54.45. Others were nearly as good, and the quantity is practically inexhaustible.
Coal-mining is the most important industry of this region, lumbering the second, and ship building the third, the shipyard at North Bend being the largest in the State. Many fine vessels, finished inside with the beautiful cabinet-woods of this section of Southern Oregon, have been launched from this yard, and have assisted to build up the fortunes of their owners and the wealth of the country.
Farming has not been much followed in Coos County, its market being chiefly supplied from California. This condition of agriculture arises from two causes,—namely, the density of the forest about the bay, requiring great labor and expense to remove it and prepare the ground, and the movable character of the people employed by corporations, the majority of the population being of this and the merchant class. Yet five acres of this rich, loamy soil, if farmed to vegetables and small fruits, would support a family in comfort. The mild, moist climate, furnishing feed all the year round, and the amplitude of pasturage offered by unoccupied lands should make this a superior dairy country. Dairying is followed to some extent, but not as it should be. Fruit does well in this region, and fruit, both green and dried, is one of the exports from Coos Bay.
The entrance to this harbor has not been regarded as favorable to commerce, on account of the shifting nature of the sands on the bar, and the insufficient depth of water. Accordingly, Congress was petitioned for aid in removing the obstructions to trade, the cost of the work required being estimated at about two and a half millions, of which two hundred and thirteen thousand seven hundred and fifty-six dollars have been appropriated, and one hundred and ninety-seven thousand four hundred and sixty-five dollars and eighty-one cents expended. This amount has been applied to the construction of a jetty, which, although completed for a distance of only seventeen hundred and sixty- one feet, has sensibly improved the bar, on which water enough is found for vessels drawing over fifteen feet. The work planned, it is expected, will make a good and permanent channel.
