Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1852-01-06
Gbe S9outIJ's friru6.
Tin

III 10 lnSldt WHICH has HE |
white color like silver. When
fresh its brilliancy is very great. 1t
i as slightly disagree able taste, and
emits PECULIAR smell when rubbed. |
1t seems 10 have been one Of the
earliest articles of commerce in
Britain; for the Pheaicians traded
to England for tin, five hundred
years before the Christian era
They called Britain, B4yI atanas or
the laad Of tn; aud some 1 ave even
thought that to be til I origin Of the
present name Of the IslaI I'D. 1t is
an article of considerable exporta>
tion to this day. Some countries
10 Germany have mines Of tin; but |
the supply is not in any quantity be-
yond what is sufficient for their own
use. Il is England which affords
to most other nations 4his simple and
useful material. Tho tin mines arel
situated in Coru wall and Devon
shire, where are also many produc-
ltire mines Of copper. In some pla-
ices, the ore Of tin bears so much
the appearance Of common st0 mes,
dlat il is only by their great weight
| tliat.the presence of tin is discov-
cred. In other parts, tin and
earthly substances are SO intimately
mingled, that they seeh like stone,
/ Of a bluish>gray colar. The ore
is usually found in ' eins, called by
tie miners a lode. Yhese veins
penetrate the hardest rocks. Small
veins are first discovare not more,
perhaps, than half an inch in diam
ieter; but they increas + in substance
as they are followed. The direc-
ition of these veins 5 usually east
and west. Frequently, masses Of
lore Of twenty poundb' weight, are
found; sometimes the vein, or lode,
breaks off suddenly, they have to
hunt for the CONTINUATION; miners
who are accustomed to this, are
aware, that q little Oh one side they
shall find the broken vein; they dig,
therefore, and in geneFal discover it.
They FOLLOW thus the lode. or vein,
wind which way it viii, through the
flinty rock. When | he waters be-
come troublesome, tli{y are pumped
up by machinery, kd pt constantly
in motion by steam-en Blnes. Some
times it is more CONVENIENT to cutfa
} drain, called an odgt, Floping down
wards, to let them 9f1; when this
can be made, it savds, when con
structed, much expense. To raise
the ore to the surface, they fire.
; qnently sink a shaft, Just over the
+ spot in which they WANT it. Here
in, the geomerical knowledge OF
! the captain Of the mine appears to
advantage; whatever may be the
windings of the mine below, he
t traces similar winnings on the sur
face above, and tells the workmen
where to begin sinking the shaft, or
1wcll, at the same time those below
begin, working upwards; and both
! work on till they meet. In this case,
) if those above should be but half a
yard perpendicular away from those
below, il would be thought a bun
Cling Job. The rope 10 descend
through the shaft must hang perpen-
dicularly; if it p ress against the
Isides, il viii not work. At the top
of this shaft is placed wiodlass, by
Imeans Of which the kibbu:s, or
baskets Of ore, are wound up. Near
ST. Austle, ii Cornwall, is tin
mime, which has not less than fifty
Ish ats, half OF which are still in use.
Some of these veins have been
worked a full mile in length. The
depth of The Shaft is nearly seven
hundred feet. At St. AustIe's Moor,
There is another mine Of stream tin.
Into a narrow valley, about three
miles long, many smalI streams from
fthe bills empty thems selves. Almost
stagnating, they have formed a col
lection OF soil, nearly twenty feet
deep; and the sever al materials of
which this is composed, have set
tied, the heaviest at the bottom, Of
course, into several strata. The
first strata are earth, clay, and gray
el; then comes stratum OF more
STONY substances, aid firmer con-
sistcnce; these reach TO tire depth
of ten or twelve feet. : Beneath
these comes a layer of tin stones,
some as big as an apple, some small
almost as sand. The tin found in
these stones is very pure. AT the
depth Of eighteen or twenty feet, you
come to the solid rock, in which isl
no fin Thav ,sech Iofr fha aor4l