Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1866-05-22
'IFor the Spectator. I

g. Mr.. EDIToR.-For the entertainment ofyour
intelligent readers, have written out few
facts, showing to limited extent, the agricul-
tural, and mineral wealth of Rockbridge, Am
herst and Augusta counties. In September,
1865, l commenced my geological scout in Rock
bridge, beginning on the northwestern base of
the South Mountain, longitudinal with the Blue
South River, at Grow S Manganese mine. The
South Mountain is a sedimentary formation,
composed Of clay slate, sand stone, fferTuginous
ebert, resting on the. lower cherty part of. the
magnetism limestone. This mountain is the re-
pository OF extensive veins of )calcareous, argyll
laoeous5 and silicious iron ore, averaging
from So to so per cent. oxide of iron, and
forty per cent. OF crude metal in blast fur
mace. Here we find everything at hand for the
manufacture of iron in rich abundance Lime
stone (tux), wood, water power, and perma-
nent navigation for the transportation of iron to
the Eastern markets. At many points of this
mineral section are extensive croppings of the
black oxide OF manganese, 80 per cent. the oxide
OF manganese. This mineral is used extensively
in the arts for the manufacture of chloride of
lime. Why have these mines been overlooked
by the enterprising capitalists3 From this
section, l crossed the Blue Ridge into Amherst
county, renewing my geological investigations
on the eastern slope of the ridge in view Of the
head-waters of the wild and romantic rivers,
Irish and Pedlars, extending my explorations for
more than twenty miles in direct line with the
Blue, Ridge, discovered inexhaustible veins of
as rich iron ore hematite) as can be found in the
State, 80 per cent. the oxide of iron, and 4S per
cent. of crude iron Of the best quality (bar
share. None of the clay ores work more kind
" in a blast furnace than this family Atsome
localities, / found the ore composing entire
knols or ridges Along the whole length of
this iron mountain, as far as / explored it, is
one general forest of the best quality for making
hard charred coal fer metallurgy In close
proximity to the mines flows the beautiful Ped
lar River, affording extensive water powers to
drive machinery for furnaces, forges and bloom
cries. These mines have not been wrought at
any point explored. If this mining region
could be transported to Lancaster county, Pa,
it would command millions of dollars, and give
employment to thousands Of industrious opera
tives, particularly located as it is, within nine
miles of North River a canal. | took UP my
third section at Oronoko, noted place for grow
ing tobacco of superior quality. This valuable
estate belongs to- HI. Y Y.lPeyton, ESQ.,. Of Staug
ton, and has innunerable.. advantages for, the
manufacture Of iron and the culture of grapes
From this point, explored the country as far
down as Amherst Court House, a distance of
twenty-five miles, discovering six veins of the
black magnetic oxide of iron well defined for
many miles in length, interrupted only by deep
occasional gorges in the table lands. The crop
ping of the veins of ore show that they have
been wrecked by internal forces scattering large
fragmentary blocks over acres of ground. To
prove the extent of the mines selected loca-
ton for prospecting. and put several men to
work and drove down shaft twenty-one feet
cutting the veins at ,heme, three alternating
strata measuring six feet vertical in the aggre-
IL 10 bor fol
true matrix, this fact proves the veins to be in
exhaustible in quantity, right running a sure
and permanent thing, not sfout mineral from
other localities. The next experiment was to
test the per cent. of the ore by practical pro-
cess to ascertain the per cent. Of malleable iron
quality, &C. This | did by sending by railroad
a barrel of the ore to Staunton, from thence it
was hauled to Mr. Daniel Ferrer's Iron Works.
Messy Greek, and here the ore bloomed in a
common forge refining fire, weighed off l25 lbs.
calcined ore, and bloomed it into loop from
which was drawn into, handsome az OF, bars OF iron,
weighing sixty five pounds and fraction, near
ly equal to the per cent. obtained from. crude
metal. ,@.t-.
These mines are nothing less than store-hou-
ses filled with crude iron cropping to the surface
inviting us in dumb eloquence to go to work,
and improve our fortunes. General Anderson,
of Richmond, uses in his foundries a large
amount OF the magnetic ores with crude metal
for the purpose Of improving the strength of his
cast iron for all the uses of manufacturing guns.
engines, &c. He brought his supplies Of ore
from Lake Champlain, when he had as good. if
not better article, of magnetic ore on the COM
mon of Richmond. If a gentleman Of his in
telligence and enterprise overlooked this treas
ure, it is not at all surprising that the honest
farmers who own these treasures would call
them black rocks and build fencing with it. 70
show the importance of this discovery in COM
mercial point of view to the State, | have made
an estimate of the ore contained in the area of
twenty miles in length and ten miles in width,
and six feet vertical compact ore show the con-
tents of "a square mile to be in pounds Of crude
metal averaging the ore at fifty per cent. eigh-
teen billions, eight hundred and seventeen mil
lion, nine hundred and twenty TONS Sufficient
to keep first class furnace in operation from
Creation to the present day, allowing it to turn
off ten tons of metal per day. These mines are
well located for cheap mining, say thirty cents