The Vinton record. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1866-1891, 1870-06-23

i Early last week . party left Mari
Y eta College for the purpose Of ex
:, amlning the rocks In Vinton county
They met Prof. E. B. Andrews, As.
7 sistant State Geologlst, at Hamden
/. We were directed to get on the trair
again and go few miles further tC
Cincinnati Furnace. Immediately
upon our arrival we began our inves-
tigation of the rocks along the rail.
, road cuts. After a long walk anG
much exertion, we came to "Hungry
Hollow" which, judging from ouI
! appetites, was aptly named. Amer
dilligent search, June berries were
found, which were eaten by part OF
the party, while others were inyestI-
eating the merits Of a coal vein Of 80
inches depth. This is the beginning
of the regular coal formations. We
heard of one or two places west OF
this where coal was found near the
tops Of the hills. But II any coal
can be found there, it Is Of no conse-
quence, for it can not be extensive
In the evening we returned to the
furnace and were kindly treated by
Mr.. Long, one Of the proprietors. I
was introduced by him to one Of the
partners whose face seemed famillar,
but not expecting to find friends
here, did not recognize him. We
soon came to know each other, and
he proved to be Mr.. ). H. Smith, of
our former Columbus firm, Smith &
Conrad. / had the pleasure of be-
Ing entertained by him and family.
Judging from appearances, he must be
doing we'll in the iron business; yet,
all these iron men cry "protectlon,
protectlonp Mr.. Smith thinks that
protection is the only thing that will
keep the Furnaces OF Southern Ohio
running; let the tariff be lowered.
and our manufacturing must cease
Yet, when l go out among the farm
ers the cry Is Free Trade. One class
claim that protection is absolutely
necessary; the other class claim that
the iron men have been coming mon
ey and 1t Is time to put stop to it,
Would that we could reach the truth
of the matter. If protection Ia really
the only policy which win develop
cur immense deposits Of iron ore,
am protectlonlst. But when doc
tors disagree, who shall decide9
At Cincinnati Furnace we are on
the dividing line between the Devon
ian and Carboniferous ages. Go West
and the Waverly Sandstone is found;
60 East, and we plunge into the coal
formations. Iron ore is not abundant
around Cincinnati furnqce, but few
miles East at Macarthur Station it Is
found in great abundance. The ore
is brought to the station where im.
mense piles can be seen by the pas
sengers on the cars. The furnaces
have not yet succeeded In using stone
coal for smelling, yet they think the
coal can be used for that purpose
Prof. Andrews took specimens Of
this coal for analysis and will report
the quality of the coal.
The fossils are not very abundant
and many are too indistinct to be of
any value. One large rcek contain
ing hundreds of Fucoides Cauda- CAL
Ii was found near the railrod, Crlnoid
stems, and different shells are found
in abundance.
Avery fine grained blue sandstone
was found by the professor, which he
thought was of better quality than
the stone used in Cincinnati Tor those
magnificent stone fronts. Here Is
wealth for some one who will enter
this business.
Zaleski is a small. town situated
about twenty miles east Of Cincinnati
furnace. 1t was settled by an English
colony, and is still In q fiourishing
condition. In fact I heard of four
marriages on one square within as
many weeks! There has been an
iron furnace here, but for some reason
they have been compelled to stop
work. Here our party visited coal
mine. We rode into the side hill for
nearly half mile, we were drawn by
a mule which did not seem to mind
the darkness. 1t looked plutonic In
those mines. Each man goes into the
mine with lamp fastened to his hat,
and here and there eau be seen little
lights twinkling in the distance, in
dicating that there is o miner laying
on his back or side picking away at
the bottom Of the vein; the object
being to undermine the coal, then put
in powder and blow out the rest. AS
one looks upon the miner at work,
he feels shudder creep over him
while thinking that thus he must be
supplied with comfort In the dreary
days Of winter. Yet these miners
enjoy life, and prefer such work to
farm labor. They are cheerful set,
and sometimes make the mines re-
sound with their mirth.
From Zaleski, our party went to
Nelsonville, to examine cuts In the
railroad.
We are afraid the correspondent
would be put to his wits end to hear
the cry Of Free Trade among the
farmers of Vinton. Those who cry
l n q