Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1866-03-08

Communicated.


emulate wealth it is not more important
70 have the products Of nature scattered
nrofusely around US, than proper division
and a proper application Of labor.
What will it avail the inhabitants of
your county to know that there is belt
Of land ten miles wide, running through
the entire length of the county. Astounding
in the ores Of lead and zine, unless proper
means are used to prepare their ores for
market, and the wants Of society? 1t IS
Labor, and only labor that gives value to
these ores. Without this. you might just
as wen have in the place Of these ores the
sa-.e material that abour.ds in this place
sand and gravel
And what advantage to the county, or
any one in it, will be the abundance Of
your ores, if to get them prepared for use,
and the market, you have to send them at
sach distance, that the cost OF transPor-
tat:on will equal the price Of the metal
In prop0-tion as we shorten the distance
to the factory or market, We diminish the
cost of transportation, and consequently
Increase the value Of our natural products,
and add to our wealth.
think it will appear evident to every
rejecting mind, that proper division OF
labor here, TO reduce the ores to metal, and
otherwise prepare them for the uses to
which they may be applied, will be OF
greater importance to your county, and
more productive of wealth, than all your
mines without it. Perhaps nct,o OF IT
self Int in its relation to the other divis-
ions Of labor that il win stimulate or Gre
ate. I need scarcely say that the labor OF
the mining districts, up to the present
time. has been confined almost to one
branch of industry, that Of mining, save
few rude furnaces used TO burn the SUI phur
oct Of the ore, and run the lead into
metal. In this condition tits sent out OF
Tie state TO be manufactured into paint,
sumption, thereby givnglto some Other
state the full advantage Of that division of
labor, while the miner and consumer Of
this state is called upon to pay the snug
little sum Of freight to and from the fac
tory.
Under this state Of things, the zinc ore
though very abundant, has been worth
less, and lead ore less valuable by far than
it otherwise would be. In consequence Of
this, mining has been declining for the
last ten or twelve years, Notwithstanding
the rapid Increase in the value OF the met
al. And the man must be blind that could
not see the fact that unless portion Of
the labor Of the MIXING region was ap-
piled to prepare the ores for general use,
mining. as branch Of industry would
in few years be known only in history.
It is interesting however, to record the
fact that this state of things is. passing
away, with the first era in Wisconsin
mining and that this branch of industry
like tue bird Of ancient mythology, is
about to
Mount from her funeral pyre wings of flame,
Aud soar and shine another and the same
No thanks, however, to the wisdom,
skill, or enterprise 81 your county. Mt
withstandimg the importance of this subjc'
no one In the county could be made to re-
alze it, until Mr. Robert George, in con-
nection with some capitalists of New York,
lisked fortune to establish zinc factory
in your midst. If the honor to be con-
ferred on Mr.. George and his company
for Introducing such diversion of labor,
is to be in proportion to the benefit it cor :
fers on the county, it would immortalze
their names.
This factory, when ready to operate,-
which will be in few weeks, with a7ca-
paclty to manufacture seven tons per day
will not only introduce new eras in
mining, but will create a demand fol
various other divisions of labor; such fol
example, as the rearing Of fax and the
manufacture Of OIL
Mr.. George contemplates making as
soon as he commences, from three to foui
tons per day Of oxide Of zinc for paint, ant
IN a short time double the amount IL
prepare this paint for.use vast amour
of oil will be required. Why then, in tht
name Of common sense, can We not rails
fax and make oil in Iowa county as wei
as anywhere else? Ard in connection
with this, why not contemplate in the FL
ture a linen factory, for what else shall
we do with all the fibre? The capacity o
your southern belt for mining, and manu-
featuring, with other divisions of labo
that must necessarily connect themselve
with it, is sufficient to sustain for genera
tons TO come, a population vastly large
than the entire population of your county
to-day.~ WHAT we need to learn most il
this: these divisions Of labor, so essentia
to che wealth of the county, are not within
the reach of individual enterprise, but be
long to those things accomplished only By
an association of individuals, Of interest
and IF canitaI j. N.
Mazo Mamie, Feb. 81, 1866.