Wilmington daily commercial., 1872-06-04
Iron Ore in Cbrl-tInua Hundred.

IT'S DISCOVERY AT CENTER STATION, WILMINGTON
AND READING RAILROAD.
About a week ago, gentleman giving the
name Of John Foreman made his appearance in
the noghborhood Of Center Station, W. & r. X.
r., in Christiana Hundred He called first upon
GeoW. Ely, and accompanied by that gentleman
spent a day or two walking over his farm in
search of deposits Of iron ore, believed to have
an existence beneath the surface. But the ex-
plorations on Ely's farm were not successful.
Other lands we're visited, but no indications Of
the ore were discovered for several days, until,
finally, upon the farm of Lewis Smith, on the
Brandywine, the magnetic needle carried by Fore
man. gave evidence OF unusual disturbance and
convinced the explorer that his search had
proved successful. Passing in northwestern
direction, Mr.. Foreman traced the vein across
the small farm which was owned by the late
Elijah Hongsworth at the time Of his death,
now owned during her lifetime, by Mrs. Wool
ems, a half sister of the deceased, residing at
Chester, Pa. On this farm the father Of Elijah
Hollingsworth was born, and we believe the
family acquired 1t by purchase from William
Penn. The lands adjoining on the N W. belong
to Henry Swayne, and underneath these though
at considerable depth, the vein of magnetic iron
extends, crossing the railroad two or three hum
dred yards south Of the residence of Mr..
Swayne. On the Woolens property
ty, however, the ore reaches quite close
| b the surface. Though spadeful Of soil has
not yet been upturned, the expert Foreman
AYERS that the bed of ore can be reached
within six feet Of the surface Of the ground.
| This, he says, the magnetic needle which he
carries, perfectly we'll indicates SO well satis-
fed is Mr.. Il. that the iron exists and that it is
/ of very superior quality, that he commenced to
negotiate at once for the possession of the land
/ or for the privilege Of opening mines. He as
certained that the owner has not the power to sell
/ or even to lease except during her life; and fur
ther that the present tenant Jacob o. Hipple held
| five year lease upon 1t, only one Of which has
expired. Yesterday the husband Of the owner,
| pple, and Mr. Foreman, armed with power Of
| attorney, met on the premises to close the bar
| gain by which Nipples rights should be waived,
| and by which the company represented by Fore
| man should at once proceed with their mining
operations on large SCALE No conclusion was
reached, Nipple demanding 1880 cash down for
the waving Of his rights before his lands should
| be entered upon and Mr.. f. refusing to comply.
Between Wo0lens and Foreman there was no diff
ference, the latter agreeing to pay 60 cents pei
ton for all the ore taken from the property. The
conference closed about o'clock, but will be re-
| newed to-day and if Foreman yields to the de-
mands of Mr.. Nipple the bargain will be closed
the papers will be signed at Chester tomorrow
and mining operations Will be commenced a.
once. The firms represented by Foreman is be
lieved to be Seyfert, McManus 20, of Reading
Ii the ore should be found in abundance it i
neither impossible nor improbable that furnaces
| may be established at Centre Station for the pur
| pose of reducing it to pig" and that that sta
ton may become one of the most important upoI
the whole line Of the road.
1t is worthy of remark that surveyors have al
ways experienced great difficulty in running line
in this neighborhood and there have been in con
sequence OF defective surveys, frequent dispute
among the various owners of property. Th
| presence of the magnetic iron ore deposits woul
vary the direction of the surveyors compass.