Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1858-01-06
nArIONAI FOUNDRY....DEEP RIVER,
NORTH.CAROLINA.

.NArIONAL FOUNDRY..--DEEP RIVER,
NORTH-CAROLINA. ...-,
= SPECIAL REPORT OF DIR. E. EMMONS, -
Geolooist to the State Of North Carolina Concern-
inq the Advantages Of the Valley Of tho Deep
R;ssr AZ Site for the Establishment Of Na-
tional Foundry. Made pursuant to 90. in'tru's'0"'
from Gov. yBRAGG, 29th December, 1867.
.-.-la- 90 EXECUTIVE OFFICE, RALEIGH, N. c,
O. 5.ti --.r- December 26th, 1887.
s1R: As the subject of the establishment of National
Foundry will in all probability be brought during The
present session. before the Congress of the United
and believing that there is section OF the country IN
ch an establishment as in valley of the Deep River
this State have request that you WILL at your earliest
s s # roa e with
your opinion and the facts upon which it is based
that sectsn i the State in making your Geological Survey
yet if you advisable before making SO special re-
port as desire to make further %u M
need hardly say that is my purpose to your
port to before the Congress OF the United States
: nave Tic ' Very respectfully; &c,
Dr.. E. Exxoss State Geozogist gNG
REPORT
10 His Ercelzeney, THos. BRAGG,
Governor of North Carolina:
SIR: In obedience to your instructions which [
had the honor to receive in note bearing date De-
cember 26, herewith respectfully present the fol-
lowing special report, ION the adcant"gessef the
Valey of Deep Ricer, site for the establishment
of a National Foundry"
In the first place, permit me to observe that this
subject came up for investigation in 1854. and that
then addressed note to your predecessor, Gov
Reid, in which attempted to set forth the advan-
tages of Deep River for the object above specified
Since the date of the note alluded to, have
been still more confirmed in the views then ex-
pressed nasmuch as Deep River as a manufacture
ing REGION has become still more important in con-
sequence of additional discoveries. But l should
remark in this place that the opinions I have here
tofore expressed and now entertain, are based upon
certain premises, viz: that an eligible site for
National Foundry should combine in its location
peculiar advantages, such, for example, as are con-
nected with an ample supply of fuel of different
kinds abundance of the ores of metals, full supply
of timber water power, materials for construction,
good climate q spot accessible at all seasons of
the wear to government officials and inaccessibty
to an enemy without To the foregoing may add
that good agricultural region which can furnish
corn, wheat and cattle, is certainly very desirable
and would confer great advantages over one which
is comparatively unproductive.
1t is not however, supposed that Government
will engage in the business of reducing the of
the metals; but, have doubt, that the value of
the site for the purposes contemplated will be great
" increased, if it is spot where private indiv-
duals companies are engaged in this business,
and where all the different qualities of the metals
especially iron, are produced They are then OBJ
tanned the least possible expense and where, too
Government might well exercise certain super
vision, in order to secure those qualities which are
the best for the to which they intended.
Similar remarks may be made respecting fuel; it
is plain enough that the fuel should be obtainable
upon the spot. The necessity of transporting an
article so much demanded would be a great draw
L. rhora oh
portaton existed So also, in regard to timber and
materials for construction if these were to be OBJ
tanned from a distance, the expenses enailed upon
the institution contemplated, would form, as in the
preceding great drawback upon the eligibility
of site thus located.
1t is in consequence of combination and concen.
tratiom of advantages that give to Deep River
importance over all parts known to the author of
this report; such advantages, for example, as are
derived from an abundance of fuel of ores, of TIM
ber and suitableness of climate and location, which
have been ntmated as the necessary requisites of
location for the purposes designed by Congress
shall now proceed to state the facts respecting
the natural productions peculiar to the valley of
Deep River, and which, hope, will be found to
sustain, in every particular, the premises which
have laid down in the foregoing preamble
l.-FUEL IN THE CONDITION OF Coal
Under this head the bearing of my statements
will 60 to prove both great supply of this kind of
J3el, anu VI SUPERIOR, IN many respects,
any now in market. and which is especially adapted
to manufacturing purposes
The Deep River cOalfield possesses all the essen
tal characteristics of the better developed ones in
this country though its extent area is compare
lively small. Its outcrop of coal, or line upon which
it has been proved to exist is about 80 miles This
outcrop runs along the of Deep River and is
rarely if ever, more than a mile from it. On this
line there are eleven different places where either
shafts, slopes or pits have been sunk, and which
have severally cut the main 6-foot seam.
These coal shafts or slopes begin at Farmersville,
the lowest point upon the river where coal has been
fully disclosed From Farmersvie, proceeding up
the river, we find in succession McIver's Egypt,
Taylors, Gulf, Tyser's and Tyson's, Carbonton,
Mrs. Binghams, Murchison's and Fushee's There
is no doubt of the existence of coal beyond the ex
tremes have named but these being immediately
as it were on the river bank, and all of them dis.
closing the existence of continuous seam of coal,
it is evident this segment of Deep River is the most
important, and the one upon which capitalists must
rely for their supply of this kind of fuel Viewing
this coal, then, only in the extent along which it
has actually been developed, there seems to be no
sufficient reason why doubts should be entertained
OF supply for a long time to come All doubts
respecting supply of coal will however vanish,
when it is considered that even from one of the
shafts enumerated, an ample supply may now be
obtained allude to the Egypt shaft, these works
have been more fully carried out than at any other
punt uPoh Tue TlNer mere Lnere Is Snaft OF 46O
feet deep, and sunk 1000 feet within the outcrop
1t gives access to the main 6-foot seam as it is
called though it exceeds that amount
Here the arrangements are complete that ton
of coal be raised to the surface every two min
utes during the "a hours. 1 need not 20 into
farther statement of the quantity which Egypt alone
can now furnish; rnd when the other pits are
brought into an equal degree of forwardness it is
plain that Deep River will not only furnish all the
coal required for manufacturers there, but an i'm
mense supply for distant consumption
The quality Of this coal is mttter of considerable
consequence. Tested in the smiths shop, the uni
form opinion if, that it is cheaper fora work at 40
cents per bushel than charcoal at cents. Smiths
at Fayetteville have been in the habit of buying
at that price for several years. 1t contains large
proportion of volatile matter, at the same time it
forms, during combustion, firm, hollow coke.