Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1869-06-03
A Letter from Missouri.
PILOT KNOB, Mo,
May 10. 1860.

PILOT KNOB, Mo,
May 10, 1869.
| have just da~oended from tho NOM
tain, a mile distant, called Pilot Knob
which is ST feet above this village ant
| / 800 feet above tide water.
On the space of about an acre below
and around the summit huge bowlder
are piled together. Between these there
is ROW and then little spot If earth jus
sufficient for i scrub oak or sasafras busl
to take root.
The pinuao!a consists of bare rocks, witt
procipitous sides, up shich one is obligee
to pick his way by t rig-Hag route
through creviccs and along tie sides o
these huge rocks
The rock forming the pinnacle is i
coarse variety of porphyry, not valuable
for ore. but is strongly charged viii
iron. Just teme.t! this the iron occurs il
regularly defined beds thai dips to th'
south west Mt an angle of about t~rnty
degrees, and strange as it may appear
the openings are made upon the nortl
side Of the mountain, and hence all Tia,
ore il to be lifted, while if it were upor
the opposite aide the work would b,
much easier, AND iisa ore he ,tuarried
much more rapidly.
Sixty mrn are 1T work in and connect
cd with the two openings from which ore
is now being taken, aud the daily produc-
ton is ;,buut one hundred and fifty tons
The AVERAGE rercyulage~has bern Gfty.
four. but some Of the better beds viii
yield ~ to 1G per cent 1t is a culiou,
fact that in this immense deposit of iron
there Is a stratum of -ldy rock that ex.
tends entirely through and conformable
with it. The ore above this bed Of strata
Is inferior to that below.
Numerous joints or nearly perPenlicu-
lar cracks, cut ncrosa the strata which
greatly facilitate the working Of the mine
Some Of these cracks have sliAcnSld,s OF
>moothcd surfaces, which show that the
mountain has been moved, and these sur,
t'AttN Siti''AItA ~ dtbiiIlFII
The country around Pilot Knob is
lilly In most OF the hills. within the
circuit OF ten miles, iron ore is said to
abound. and from their ochery aud barren
Judge Il to Ec So Shepherd
Mountain lies just west Of the Knob.
across the valley and abounds in ore,
much of which is magnetic ana .rIcn III
metal. The ore in this mountain, unlike
that in Pilot Knob, occurs in veins vary
ing from II few inches to those of twenty
feet in thickness.
Except in the great iron district near
Marquette, Michigan, there Is probably no
place on the American continent where
iron is near as abundant is in the country
round Iron Mountain, and Pilot Knob.
But | understand that all the territory
around aud embracing these immense de-
posts of ore are owned by two companies,
and that they will not dispose of any ter
ritory to other parties. They fear com
petition, or are so greedy that they want
all the business themselves. This is un-
wise and injurious to the interest of the
State
If all the marble interests of Vermont
were ccntercd into and controlled by two
companies. it would he damage to the
State, but luckily. the marble interests,
like the farms in Vermont. are cut up
into small lots, by which healthy com
petition is created, and the business great
" extended. But the owners of these
mines want to increase rather than dimin-
ish the area of their possessions, and the
result is that at each of these mines the
owns all the real estate, and con-
troll, or gives employment directly or in
directly to all the people who live upon
the land. Imagine a community in
which no one owns a home, but is the SER
want of another, and you will have a
pretty clear idea of the general character
of the igneraut, lazy and thoughtless peo-
pie, who live around these great and val
liable deposits of iron ore. II.
QUEER FREAK OF 4 HoRsE-A GAL
LIANT SWIM FOR LIFE-The Troy Times
says that Morg. Upham, the proprietor of
the hotel at Martins Lake, near Troy, is
the owner of horse which recently in
dulged in very singular freak, and had
a narrow escape for his life The animal
is a Canada pony, and was reared, on the
shore of lake, and it is said that from
early colthood he displayed a most singu-
lar liking for bathing in the water. Mr..
Upham came to Troy on business, and on
returning home left the horse standing
some articles from the wagon During
his absence i'll the house the animal start
ed for the lake and plunged into it, draw
ing the wagon behind him. In this di-
lemma he struck ont into the deep water,
and remarkable rs it may seem, succeeded
in swimming to the opposite shore, dis
tance of nearly mile, with the wagon
attached to him. Not content with this,
he plunged in again and returned to the
hotel, Morg. all the while looking on with
speechless astonishment. The freak and
the feat both are quite remarkable.
ST. JoHN's DAY CELEBRATION,-Apoll
Commandery of Knights Templar Of
Troy, n. Y, have resolved to celebrate
St Johns Day, and we learn that the ar
contemplate an imposing de-
monstration 1t has been resolved to in