New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-02-10
SUPERIOR.

! Southwark of Lake Superior stretches, for
more thla hundred miles, wilderness
| broken by but few mining settlements or lum-
| bermen's camps. The eastern half OF this
| region was most absurdly attached to Mich
| igln on her admission as a State, with intent
to console her for the loss of Toledo-con-
| coded to the power rather than the right Of
| Ohio. The western half forms part of Wis
cousin. Ultimately, Michigan and Wisconsin
will cede it all to form a new State nearly Of
| the size and conformation of Tennessee, which
| will probably be named Superior.
| This region is the seat of the only cOnsid-
| cradle Copper production as yet developed in
| our cOuntry--a production which has thus far
| absorbed many more dollars than it has re-
turned. very few companies have profited
by Copper mining, but many moro have lost
We trust that, with ripened experience and
greater accessibility, the Copper district will
yet prove a source of wealth. The product is
the finest in the world the Copper being quite
generally alleged with Silver which gives it
unusual value. Many specimens of pure
Silver have been obtained but no Silver mines
of decided value have yet been discovered ;
though just across the Lake, on a petty islet
near the shore, there has recently been opened
what appears to be one of the richest veins of
of native Silver ever yet discovered.
But by far the most important mineral pro-
duct of this region is Iron. The Iron Of the
Marquette district is marvelously pure and
abundant. OF the scant Two Million tuns of
Pig Iron smelted in this country in 1871, very
nearly one-third was fused from this ore
nearly One Million tuns having been mined
and sent away. The furnaces of northeastern
Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania are
largely supplied with the Marquette ore,
though it costs them an average of So per
tun, or $12 for the ore that makes a tun of
Pig metal-the yield being nearly or quite SO
per cent. IL the metal were not remarkably
good, and largely required for conversion into
Bessemer and other Steel so high price
could not be afforded. But Michigan, Wis
consin, Illinois, and Indiana, also largely pro-
duce Iron from the Marquette ore, and are
rapidly increasing the product.
But for the railroad from Marquette to
Escanaba on bay of Lake Michigan, it
would not have been possible to export half
of this volume of ore. That railroad, early
constructed through painless and swampy
Wilderness has greatly aided the development
Of our Iron industry, and has, we trust, proved
Il good investment to its enterprsing stock
holders. We learn that al tho iron mines yet
opened have satisfactory orders for all the
ore they can supply throughout 1872.
But south-westward of the Marquette dis
trict on the Menominee river, which here forms
the boundary between Michigan and WiscOn-
sin, there is another Iron district, larger than
the former and claimed to be equally rich,
pure, and facile, which is very soon to be
opened by the extension thereto of the Chi
cago and Northwestern Railroad, now not
many miles distant. This region is mainly
owned by the Portage Lake and Superior Ship
Canal Company. It's ores have been thor
oughly tested and pronounced entirely free from
Phosphorus, Sulphur, and Arsenic in short, con-
tanning the best Iron. 1t is calculated that large
quantities Of Charcoal Pig will be made on