Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1856-11-13


MassiIlOn - Iron Furnaces
--Mineral ResOurces.-Fu-
turePrOductiOns i'm Ohio.
SMassillon was laid out as town as .
condition of the location of the Ohio Cana
upsthat valley, and the State had suudry
lots that were sold and aided in the con.
str1ction of the canal. 1t has now grown
to be a town of some importance with a
population of about five thousand inhabi-
tants, with churches, good schools, and nu-
merous manufacturing establishments. II
is the center of trade of a rich and well eul-
tivated district of country, which abounds
in coal and iron ores in numerous places,
and probably under nearly its entire area.
It is capable of giving employment to a
great number of manufact turing operatives,
and Of producing wherewith to feed them.
The iron furnaces at Massillon. are well
constructed, and all their arrangements,
machinery, and appliances, are Of the best
to be found in such establishments. -
The cost of production is of course great
er than where the coal iron ore, and lime
stone are contiguous to, or very near, the fur
naces, sin.the iron region of southern Ohio.
The furnaces at Massillon yield thirteen
to sixteen tons per day each, Of good grey,
foundery pig iron, similar to the Scotch pig,
and it sells for about $50 per ton. 5i sisis
ri The ores and limestone are brought from
Tuscarawas county by canal, and the coal
from the western, part of Stark county, and
the edge ofWayne county, blythe Ohio and
Pennsylvania Railroad a.rroi eog5dl ;s.i.si
=, The amount Of transportation on the
Ohio Canal depending on these furnaces,
cannot be less than ~, 600 tons ofiron, for
each of the furnaces sias q 7aiai tos sai
The transportation of coal on the o. d
P.-Railroad is about 5000 tons per an
mum, fo- each furnace, including the coal
for roasting and smelling the dte, and dtiv-
ing the machinery, and heating the blast.
'Thirtysfye thousand tons have to, be
transported for each of these furnaces, pei
annum, an average distance Of about fifteen
miles, for the benefit of the State Central
and o.. q P. Railroad. But such an
amount of expenditure for transportation is
serious drawback on the profits of the fur
naces, that might mostly be avoided by
locating furnaces near the materials thai
are necessarily used, and where they can be
brought to the furnace by leyelso downhil
hauling, and used with but one OF two hand
Engs. i 3 .'-...l9 ... ''.ii; ..,s lls {.
Localities where all the. materials fol
making iron exists in contact with each
other, are numerous in. Ohio. They only
need to be sought out and improved to en-
able iron men to produce iron al the mini
mum cost. The writer of this article knows
numerous localities where the real iron ore
and limestone and fire clay are in contact,
with water sufficient for furnace uses. and
R. r. transportation either contiguous, or
near, CT within easy reach, and where labor
and provisions are abundant 1t seems
singular that SO many furnaces are SO loca-
ted as to render such an amount of trans
portation necessary for their supply, while
so many unimproved locations exist, where
the transportation can be mostly avoided,
and where the iron could be produced at
from SIS to $12 per ton less IN cost.
Stark county, rich in mineral resources,
was not minutely explored during the geo
logical survey of the Ssate-the survey
having been discontinued before the re-
searches in that country had more than
commenced. Il; 5e,7;.l s - =
Its resources are now not known to her
citizens. In only a few, placec have her
mines of coal and iron been opened, and
these have only begun 20 show their treas
ures. Salt, also, must yet be made in that
rsgionof Ohio. p EIJzt-ls Er8Atc5 81
Coal salt and iron will be the main min
eraI products of South Eastern Ohio from
Hanging Rock to Akron, and eastward of
this line to the Ohio river. Lime, cement,
fre-bricks and pottery can be made to sup
ply all demands for home use and for dis
tant markets. ..' - .sf,.r :, .fg-,
The localities where mineral resources
can be made most available should be made
known, In order that their owners should
know their value, or so as to enable capital
lists to apply them to use, and benefit them
selves and the country. - ~. :. ~.
! These remarks have been called out by
q recent visit 10 the iron furnaces at, Mas
sillon, where the manufacture of pig iron
from the ore by the use ofraw stone coal,
has been and is so successfully prosecuted.
It is also in n.operation at Youngstown, Ma
honing county, at Dover, in Stark county,
at Jackson, jackson county, and two fnrna-
ces about going into opesation in Lawrence
county, Ohio. s-a.a 3.
The manufacture Of pig iron with raw
stone coal in Ohio, has now commenced.
The lapse of2O years will probably show
Ohio as the great iron producing region of
the United States, and probably unsurpass-
eddy any equal area in the world. = r.
It's resources are unequalled both in
magnitude oflcapaeity for productions in
ease of access of all the materials close TO
each other, and tosthe sites on which the
nen viii, be produced and manufactured
the. dleapness Of food produced abundantly
all around and through the mineral region
Land the facilities for transportation in
every direction by ftheI Ohio, the Lakes,
and the net work of canals, railroads, and
slack water navigation. - ass. 7i.'gss