The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1855-08-30
Gg- A correspondent Of the N. Y

ing, extract from his PEN
At Shelby we changed cars for those
Of the Mansfield and Sandusky Railroad
which soon conveyed us to Newark, a
large and fourishing town, whence we
took private conveyance to Somerset, Per-
ry county, rich and fertile agricultural
region, and full Of iron and coal mines
of the richest description, and more ap-
proachable for mining purposes than any
other in the United States. As | visited
these several mines in person, and exam
ined them with the most careful atten-
ton, you will perhaps permit me to de-
scribe their character and situation to
your readers.
Put first let me mention the means by
which these surprisingly rich treasures
from the bowels Of the earth are to be
made accessible to the public. The s.
& H. V. r. R when completed, will be
the medium by which all this will be ac-
complished. This road, of which Messrs.
Slas Seymour, Moore y Co, are the en-.
ergetic contractors, runs from Newark to
Portsmouth, on the Ohio River. Forty,
four miles from Portsmouth to Jackson,
are already completed, and do very
large and paying business, in transporting
the pig, which is made from the abun-
dant iron ore, of the best quality, found
at different places along the line of the
road-atits upper half, especially. The
90 miles of this road, now under con-
struction, are far advanced and will.
when completed, do an extensive bus.
mess in transporting coal and the abound
ing agricultural productions. which are
the wonder and admiration of the trav-
eler along every mile Of the route. The
road passes through the flourishing vii.
lagos of Somerset, Logan and M'Arthur,
the county seats of Perry, Hooking and
Vnton-the very best of the mineral re.
gion of Ohio 1t connects at Newark
with the Mansfield and Sandusky Rail-
road, running from Newark to Sandusky
City and Lake Erica distance of 1l6
miles-and also at the same place with
the GAINESVILLE and Columbus Railroad,
and at Shelby with the Cleveland, Colum,
bus and Cincinnati Railroad Moreover,
it connects at M'Arthur with the Mari
eta and Cincinnati Railroad. and at
Jackson with the Hillsborough and Gin
cinnati Railroad.
Such are the connections and such the
rood that will oman to tho uea of tL on -
sands upon thousands, hereafter, the
mineral regions that now, sleep undis-
turbed in the beds of ore and coal of a
thousand hills--hills too, of easy slope,
and unlike other mining regions, not un-
productive, but with all their treasures
below, covered with fertile soil, and wa
wing with luxuriant crops Of corn wheat
and oats to there very submits.
OF iron.ore beds, it is hardly neces-
sary to speak. Blast furnaces, of the
most solid architecture, constructed of
hewn stone, are built and building in all
the mineral region. Iron ores, in high
and broad banks, are seen all along the
line; and pig iron piled up like the long
piles of cord.wood for railways, is seen
upon the sides of the roads, and crowd
ing the available spaces about the depots
The iron is literally inexaustable, and
pronounced by the best practical iron
workers to be of the richest quality--in
the words of one of the most extensive
operation, being "worLh five dollars
more per ton than any other pig-iron
brought to the market at Pittsburg."
The coal mines are UOndertui. That
is certainly the least that can be said of
them. Although | saw several mines
in fact, they are to be seen in all direc.
tions, cropping OUT as it is called,
from easy slopes of entirely accessible
hills visited but one, which was at
Straitsvile, in the county of Perry. |
shall endeavor to describe it to you, and
the description of one will answer for all
in its immediate ne ghborhood, which
present the same general characteristics,
The vein of StraitsviIle mine is on the
side of a high hill, ofgradual slope ap-
preached by good road, with slight
descending grade. The mine opens on a
level with the road, and you enter it as
easily as you could go into the door of a
house. We took candles, and penetrated
the mine some three hundred feet. For
twelve feet up and down, both sides. is
the first exhaustless view of the most
beautiful coal | ever "sat eyes on" the
magnitude of the deposit is wonderful =
for beneath this there is another of kin
dred extent containing the same kind of
coal. 1t quarries blocks that are posi-
lively handsome to look at Take
sharp axe or knife, and it will split like
piece ofpine into long pieces; and you
hold one fthem in the flame of candle
and it takes fire instantly. and burns with
a bright blaze like pine torch And so
clean is it that you may rub cambric
handkerchief upon the split pieces, and
it will not soil it in the least. 1t makes
the very best coke for making iron, being
superior, in the proper qualities to char.
coal, as two to one. It's estimated from
actual survey, by experienced and prac-
teal mines, thai there are eighteen thou
sand tons to the acre in one tract of this
coal region, equal to an amount of t,celUe
millions three hundred and Sereaty GUe
thousand tonSl
But | am making my letter quite too