Connecticut western news., 1871-08-04
The From Interests of Salisbury.

W0 At uubUl6 CO BLNc tuc cAoSt uoaC VI the first discovery of iron in this town. In l771, the town was incorporated, but it is known that iron works were in operation here in l73S, which as nearly as can be as- certained were erected four years earlier. Judge Church, in his Centennial address, speaks of iron ore being transported in leathern bags on horses, before wagon roads were made, and that the path called the lore path" extended from the old ore bed, (which is thought to be what is now known as the ''Davis Bed') northerly through our town to what is now known as Housatonic in Berkshire county, Mass achusetts, to furnace there for smelling it. The discovery of ore here, must have been by the earliest settlers.
 Wrought iron was for many years, made directly from the ore in forges. In 1762, the first blast furnace for smelting the ore and making cast iron, was erected at Lake vile. Pig iron and heavy castings were here made until the breaking out of the Revolutionary struggle, when the owner being an Englishman, left the country. The state then took possession of the fur mace property, and by agents, engaged in the manufacture of cannon, shells, cannon balls, grape shot, &c., for the use of the general government Two of the largest United States vessels were armed with these guns. They were also used on the Battery at New York city, and in the forts in that vicinity, during the war of the Revolution, and that of 1872. It was soon found that these cannon possessed great strength, in- deed there is no evidence of any of them being burst, or even cracked, which tended greatly to establish the character of Salisbury iron, for strength and tenacity, and to day, this iron is acknowledged the best that is obtained from any source in the United States. The demand for it has constantly and steadily increased, and it probably commands the highest price.
 There has been seven or eight Blast furna- ces, and as many forges for making wrought, or bar iron erected from time to time in our town, but as wood for charcoal became scarce, the ore, to certain extent, was transported to adjacent towns for smelling. The quantity of ore raised annually in the town will probably reach to nearly, if not quite 10000 tons, perhaps as much as two thirds of which is smelted elsewhere. Since railroad facilities have become available, quantities of the ore have been transported hundreds of miles to be mixed with other ores, to improve the quality of the iron produced by those ores. In consequence of the above mentioned scarcity of char coal, the number of smelling furnaces in town has been reduced to two, and the making of wrought and bar iron in forges, has been entirely abandoned, probably from the same cause. Nearly the whole product of the mines is now made into car wheels. In addition to it's superior strength, it is said to excel most kinds of other iron, in resisting the action of frost, hence the great demand for car wheel purposes.
 With the exception of the 'sLandon- Brink" ore bed, the great deposit seems to lie beneath the Taconic range of Noun tains, which mark the western boundary ot our town, and state, and as beds of it have been found on the opposite side of the mountain in the state of New York, it is supposed to extend not only through, bu, along the range in both directions from us for thirty miles or more. Most of the dis. coveries and excavations, have been made some distance back from the base of the mountain, usually in some low place, ol depression in the surface, and geologists have been of the opinion, that the greei mass of the ore lies very deep, and thai barely the top of the deposit had beer reached.
 Within the past year however, on lanc
 of the late Samuel Bushnell, 8 horizonta
 tunnel or shaft has been excavated into
 the side of the mountain proper, 100 fee above the base, and apparently large ,J quantity of ore is discovered, and within few weeks, similar discovery has beer ' made on the New York state side of tn. mountain, on the land of Mir. James Camp
 bell. The bottom of the deposits, it il
 thought has never been reached, hence
 the ore is pronounced inexhaustible.
 The opening of the Connecticut Western ] Railroad, it is thought must eventually eff l feet material change in the iron business ) of this town. It has recently been ascer tained, that charcoal can be advantageously purchased in Vermont, and other localities of an equal distance, and transported by rail for the smelling of this ore. Hence the wood lands within radius of l50 miles are practically within the reach of our beds