Semi-weekly standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18??, 1861-07-10

mon bis ;nstalment into office and in his hrst an
nual report he spoke and recommended the SUBJECT
| in the following earnest and emphatic manner:
"Tbe importance to the public service OF estao-
l;shino national foundry has been often brought
| to the attention of Congress by my predecessors,
that nothing but a conviction of its great conse-
ouence 20 the public and private interests OF Inc
| whole country encourages me to mention IL again.
"a well managed national foundry would very
speedily develop and establish facts, which wouid
add immensely to national wealth. 1t Is scarce
" to be credited that with the infinite variety OF
IRON ore, and their boundeSs extent IN the Uniteu
States we should not have yet discovered mine
capable of making the very best gun, or, II such DC
discovered, that there are no means by which the
public service can be benefited by it but such Is
the fact
A national foundry would serve great labor
atory at which the quality and value OF metal
throughout the whole Confederacy would be tested
and fixed Every variety of iron, with ITS special
adaptation to particular uses would, Ill lew years
be familiary known in the country, and individual
enterprises would be saved, in experiments, many
times the amount which the works would COST
whilst great national branch of industry might
! by this means, receive Legitimate and efficient
encouragement
There is but little, doubt that many American
iron ores are equal at least, TO those OF Norway,
ard yet the national armoreS are driven by neceSS-
ty to purchase from abroad the Norwegian iron Tor
the manufacture of small arms Choosing to have
the best quality of arms must go abroad for the
best qality of iron. national foundry would soon
teach us to improve the manufacture of iron, and we
would be saved the modification Of bringing iron
from abroad, and the money, too, we have TO pay
for it.
THE cost of heavy guns would presently he di-
minished and their quality would be, undoubtedly,
very materially improved.
at therefore appears 10 me that every conSdera-
Of nd demands
adjustment of national foundry, which accord
ingly respectfully recommend"
So soon as disco vered that this subject again
recommended to the attention of Congress, at once
felt convinced that North Carolina was the State
and the Deep River valley the locality, which offered
the best facilities for erecting such work; and
when my colleague, (Mr. Branch,) at the last ses
SION offered bill to this effect was in hopes the
effort would move steadily forward, and that the
claims of North Carolina, and the facilities she Of
fered this subject, would be well considered and
if we'll sustained as believe they can be, conceded
and allowed But like most ofmeasureS. which are
of truly practical and commercial character for a
southern State it has been permitted to nger till 1t
is about forgotten. 1t is my purpose to revive
the subject, and claim for my State fall and fair
hearing in the premises. | premise, then, by say
ing that the Deep river valley, in the State of North
Carolina, is suitable place for national foundry
and that the State of North Carolina has peculiar
claims lot It's location WllUln neT
What constitutes a suitable place for national
foundry?
/. Minerals and other materials for use in such
work; and Of these, principally coal and iron ore
3 Locality, accessibility to tide.water, and mac
feasibility to an enemy in time of war.
3. Climate, and means for subsiSting popula-
ton of mechanics and workmen.
On the first l can safely say, without dsparage-
ment to other places that the Deep river valley has
no superior 1t has coal of the best and most album
dant quality. 1t bituminous coal, totally free
from sulphur, or other noXlous element initiating
against It's free for manufacturing purposes OF
any description. 1t is conceded to he Of the
best gas Goals IN the world and yields the greatest
abundance of the best coke for smelling and forge
work, and is well adapted for making what is called
holiow-fires, for heavy wrought-iron work Its iron
ore, too equally superior, embracing every va
riety The specular, brown hematite magnetic,
and blue-cay ores, neXhauStible, and are all
bedded together in narrow compass. And then,
over and above any other place known on the CONT
nent the only workable vein of black-band ore in
ternes the coal-feles themselves; not only So but
are the deepest in thickness and extent yet dis
covered in any country. This is not assumption,
but fact proven and visible to the inspection of any
inquirer. A shaft, lately sunk by one of the COM
panies engaged in operating these mines, to the
depth of five hundred feet dlScloSeS less than up
wards Of seven feet of COAL and over eleven feet OF
{ forty feet. This is only spot; but others arc
equally favored. But this important malleable arti
of ore, for the purpose of making all the deScrip
tons Of fabrics for war and naval use, cannot be
over.estimated and should give controlling infu-
ence in the selection of the locality for such nation
al work. With the Of this deposit exclusively,
yet, found in workable quantities in the Deep river
valley, combined with the other and harder
found in such great abundance will enable the gov
ernnent to make every description of iron fabrics,
from the hardest steel cannon or shaft down to the
softest loop band that be demanded for any part
of the naval or military departments.
! Several very able and lucid reports have been
made by eminent BIOLOGISTS who base their state
| ments upon actual explorations, made with the
greatest caution and attention to the facts, among
whom may mention prominently Professors John
! son, jackson, and Emmons-the latter being the
authorized State geologst for North Carolina. From
their united opinions and statements in their several
| reports, the following some of their conclusions:
l. The coal is of quality equal to the best New
castle COAL and the best for making gas, for which
| purpose 1t would bring in New York six or seven
dollars per ton.
2. 1t is very easy to work, and free of fault.
8. 1t admirably sutablefor smelling iron, being
| free from sulphur.
4. Black band iron ore overlies and underlies the
coal, and can be mined from the same pits and
| openings.
5. The black band is in deposits eighteen inches
to six feet thick, and of a better quality than any
found in Scotland, containing such a large portion
of bitumen, and of so peculiar character that from
twelve to sixteen gallons of kerosene oil can be ex-
tracted from it while it is being calcned to fit it for
the blast furnace Six to sixteen inches is the usual
thickness of the black band iron ore in Scotland
g. Hematite iron ore clay band and also magnet
c iron ores, are in enormous deposits within ten
miles of the coal and black band.
T. Pig iron can be made from the above depos-
its, of quality superior to any made in Scotland,
in any quantity and at prices less than in Scotland,
the proximity of the minerals to each other more
than compensating for the higher wages in mining.
Says practical Scotch iron master, speaking of the
Deep River valley:
~ am satisfied that pig iron can be made at a
cost of nine dollars per ton in Chatham county, on
the banks of the Deep river. One hundred and fifty
thousand dollars would suffice to buy enough Of