New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1866-06-19
Va essOU KH.

J
In visiting the mineral regions Of Missouri came 10
Iron Mountain and Pilot Knob The country around ST.
Louis is desoate the Improvements are few, the farm
houses poor the general IS Of wretchedness No
other North American city surrounded by population
so worthless II is like an Asatic city which IFS
prosperity 10 caravans St. Louis has not been built by
Missouri but By Illinois The magnificent country Of the
Illinois River the Central counties OF the Prairie State
have laid the foundation of the two great cities o. Chicago
and St. Louis.
On leaving st. Louis by the Iron Mountain road one
finds the cars crowded Large numbers Of young people
from The country to school and return home at night
After passing Carondele the arsenal aud the barracks,
ten or twelve miles there is plenty Of room. The
track rms the borders of the river nearly 80 miles.
Oen the scenery grand Then the road strikes into the
country in southwest direction Most Of the stations
small a few are very pretty wreched The soil
seems rich enough the timber is varied and there
choice locations or farms There hills well adapted
TO fruit which recently have been planted with extensive
orchards and vineyards Almost ell these improvements are
made by Northern men. n few years they vii make II
beautiful country The common price OF land from one
miles from station is about $40 an acre. large
tract Victoria, belonging TO Gen. Grant recently sold
ut auction for less than q Almost every man
You meet has land to sell There are lands o. yellow pine,
from 10 10 20 miles from the road which can be bought SO
cheap that should say if they are in Copperhead neigh
b0hOods they be had fOI such songs as Old john
Brown and Kingdom Coming"
The lead region struck at Desota, A. miles from st.
LOUIS; II becomes richer u extends 80 miles south
and the same east and Beyond this Is iTcntheR
lead again. In places there are copper and znc Eighty
miles from ST. ouis is Iron Mountain 1t seems TO De
conical hill 300 feet high and perhaps IS two miles
around the base. The road runs IN narrow valleys which
branch into many oihervalleys forming good farm,
ing ground between lofty ridges and knobs. Springs and
streams abundant.
The orrna grant of Iron Mountain Of three miles
square, made by the Spanish Government 10 Pratt
Val6 4 Co. OF 81. Gennevieve, and afterward confirmed
by Congress In 1880 was hauled Ia miles TO
furnace and smelted. In 1876 WORKS hrs were estab-
she by Pratt Zegler Vale & Co., who built one fur
mace and after running Il short time sold the pres
ent owners, Choueau, Harrison Vale, called the Amer
/ lean Iron Mountain Company.
Ia 1913 the new Company built two more furnaces and
since then have been veTy successful Before the railroad
was completed, which in 1888 the iron produced was
hauled TO ST. Geneyeye, 50 miles AT the Sle OF
day. Al present they are gctng ou an ae9e OF ieeh
uns day The works the year round night and day,
Sundays and all, without stopping with the exception OF
interruptions when the hearths give out which they do IN
from eight to sixteen months. There was no suspension
The sides of the hin are covered with ore which is in
distinct pieces from the size of bullet 10 large ones
from one 10 two and five and ten feet IN diameter,
and scattered like rocks. They have dug into the hill
several hundred and taken out the ore IN large and
small pieces, separated by red clay Here 1t Is called
spccuar ore; that the surface OF near ~ anu IN small
pieces called gravel ore, and Is valuable for making
maeabe iron The heat of the sun and the action OF tue
frost and rain have made IL tougher.
The per cent OF iron ID the ore is By the cruc
bic o. per cont in the furnace o. per cent. The whole
number of laborers is 300 The village and the country
Sogtro eyrryfbne I1ey allow no auor 70 ~ s,d and
trace much OF IheL to this. furnaoemeR get
81 - q day and common gbOrers 81 u. Beside maKing
IRON they cultivate 600 acres of choice land and carry
general farming; then they have shops OF all kinds and
make their shoyes hoes and axes, and they make al lle
wagons which hrst-cass.
When there they were making ~ tuns OF pig iron
every "a hours with II men, Regarding toughness, they
call il superior to any other iron. Beside th tney SEND
30 tuns II ore half gravel every day to ST. Lou ara lay
IT ON the yer-bank at a. un; thence i Is sent to
furnaces on the Ohio river IN barges, and al less cost thn
ore can be raised home They put on the cars Io
less than Al ton IL anybody can do we'll az the busi-
ness they can. They make complaints about tariffs,
taxes or anything else. Half OF the members OF the
Company for free tr1de-he other hat opposed 10
BEFORE the ore carried TO TIE crusher il s roasted IN
huge piles Of thousands Of tuns on layers OF logs mixed
with charcoal dust Charcoal costs y cents bnshel OAK
and hickory make the best and $50 bushels are 70
make OF IRON They use no Stone oOaii ii tyl nan ~
they could get out much more iron III day. hOueee
that they bring the ore nom Pilot Knob win lnels WHICH
they get By exchange 49,.
The supply of ore at Iron Mountain seems likely to last
several years In boring well TO supply the furnace the
went $50 feet through ore failed to get wafer anu stopped
still In the ore L. the pleasant meadows OF several hund
red acres close by Is struck on going lew ieet ore
is in the gardens and fields. For quite distance the rail-
road track is lad on solid IRON ore Yes on m! n,,o
sent to England for rails and laid them on ore Ahe@h 20
be 1880 feet perhaps it is 1000 feet thick yielding % per
cent Of the best iron in tho world Perhaps We ms! learn
better in ) 900 or 10000 years or less.
beautiful streams run through the valleys, and springs
are abundant. The country resembles New-hneiahu.
Leaving Iron Mountain the road passes between desoate
hills from which most of the timber has been cut Tor
charcoal and in making turn one sees high IN tue AZ
PILOT KNOB.
This is S6I miles fom ST. Louis; II IS ~ TO 81 Iene
We've n TO Pennington ~ to Fredecktown, 70 TO MN
era Point and Poos % to Cape Grardeau and BIO Iron
Mountain. -c, 80 &, &; roo e.,
hh and Al present the obtained from the SIDE 400
feet hon the bottom. The Knob itself Is composed Oh
see.gny rocks, piled up Ike Cuoas o, orcSs on epu
They contain only a small per cent OF r0n II Is mag
nifccnt sight Two railroad tracks lead up 70 tne orr
eaeh 100 feet long On each OF these ways loaded
train brings up empty train connected by rou'wHe
rope. They run very last. I'll.
At the foot is The town OF Pilot Knob Ou' 10 .ac Yal'!
IL the fort where Prices army was brought 70 saho III
font of IL the place where Major Wilson, who alter
ward was buchered, was captured, and near TINS ihe
Rebels burned the furnaces and mills They did not dis
urb the works at Iron Mountain because they did not
Opposite Pilot Knob is Shepherd Mountain, twice as
large and 20 feet higher The ore Il harder, ana Is good
for steel Some of magnetic but az present no pecl-
mems of can be had because nothing Is done there
Formerly much ore was taken ont. fnces men were
fought on this mountain, and several hundred were re-
ported sled. f.. $780,. r,,,s
through the valley and down IT. enc nile rs te enter
prsng town OF ironton, county seat OF Iron County.
iIerc Prices men and scared, and many baye come
back shanpg the with their copper faces Here
the wide valley OF Arcadia, and mile below hontOn Is
/ the town of Arcadia, with large seminary.
From almost any point III these valleys and from most
of the surrounding country the seelcoloed rocks
of Pilot Knob They to stand at about quarter Of
the distance between the setting midday sun tnousn
they are imposing and grand they no higher thah one
Of the Egyptian pyramids and they are not qe % nsn
as the cathedral spires of Salisbury and siras1urg or me
dome OF 81 Peters Rome. Man is something aI'st AT
The works carried on by the Pll1 hou iiSn Lt
pany They have two stacks which make - uns
iron every "a hours and which requires % bushels OF
charcoal 10 tho tun They have had trouble WIN .nr5
bearths tre-brick DO not stand the best material Is sa
roc The widest part Of the furnace Is nine feet ana
they are 40 feet high OF they ship Is 1ps DAY ana ana
lay it on the river bank at b. LOUIS AZ tun aH The
furnaces epoy 100 men their average number Of hands
through the wear is $50 Furnace hands get o. 70 70
5n,oSn mborers 81 50, and houses and garden
~, Iha,o are schools and hands generally aro