Lewistown gazette. [volume] (Lewistown, Pa.) 1843-1944, 1867-03-06

For the Gazette
SHIRLEY. February %. 1867.

/ OF tIle GdzelIe-
SHIRLEY, February 28, 1867.
Messrs. EditOrs-But a few days ago
whilst in McVeytown, | was invited by a
friend to visit Gen. Ross iron ore bank,
and was astOunded at the eXhaustlcssness
OF that rich body of ore, so recently de-
veloped and now rendered certain by the
General indefatigable search thro' shafts
feelers, &c. 1t is believed by men of
judgment that this is one of the most
valuable bodies of ore in the State. The
bank is about three-fOurths Of a mile from
the Pennsylvania Canal at McNeytown,
with a gentle slope for road the whole dis
tance. The body of ore is so extensive,
and so free from clay and foreign subStan-
ceS, that a miner can raise from eight to
ten tons per day, and that 50 clean as to
supercede the necessity Of washing; and
can therefore be mined and delivered on
the bank of the canal at McNeytown for
one dollar and ten cents or less per ton
with good profit to the miner.
The ore IS by convention called Hema-
tite, generic term too indefinite for Drac-
teal use, but doubtless the practitioner
would pronounce it very rich. 1t is very
heavy, and in divers forms, such as skulls
cups, &c, and when broken presents a
very rich metallic appearance.
Now Is there not one amongst the thou
will stop for a moment to visit this rich
and ineXhaustible held of iron, surround
ed as it is with such vast agricultural
wealth, and decide for himself whether
iron can not be manufactured cheaper at
McNeytOWn than at any other place in
the State? The greatest benefactors of
our race are, first those successful labor
ers for the development of the intellectual
and moral powers Of the human mind.
Next are those who employ all their DOW
ers Of body and mind to bring to the sur
face those hidden treasures in the form Of
iron and coal which lay concealed from
human view for countless ages locked up
for our benefit, and which are now almost
cropping up and inviting us to lay hands
upon them. Unanticipatud demands for
iron are just as certain as that we are to
remain q prosperous and happy nation.
Our sources of lumber are so rapidly di-
minishing that it is difficult to conceive
how or where the supply Will come from
in few years Its use must soon dimin-
lsh, and It's place TO great extent besup-
piled with iron and the time is not very
distant when, from necessity, farms must
be fenced and dwelling houses built with
iron. And hence, we honestly believe
that the safest investment which can now
be made, either of money or labor, is in
the iron business, and that the sooner it
is done the better.
The sluggard never hitched the light
ming to the car and bid it watt you hun
dreds of miles, while you took gentle
nap under MOrphia's soothing wand. He
never made a pathway through the bo-
som of the Atlantic ocean, and bid the
obedient electric fluid carry dispatches
from our Government to all the courts of
Europe, and return their answers in Il few
moments. He will never unite the At
lantic and Pacific oceans with bands of
iron, unbroken by the Allegheny or
Rocky mountains. But he will go down
to an unhOnored grave, while the works
of the wise and enterprising will speak of
them long after theyare sleepingin in the dust
Let practical men call and examine the
field OF iron opening up by Gen Ross, and
if they do, we are greatly in error if Nc
Neytown does not soon become the thea
tire of active life, where iron may be man
ufactured cheaper than any other place in
Pennsylvania.
A FRIEND OF INDUSTRY.