Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1872-02-27

II
Pyrennes and the seas, and include
the extensive lead and zinc mines of
that province. A@ CASUAL
| | refer to these facts, 10 Because
they are plain and open for inspection
any man with good map can trace
them for himself. (2.) Because they
prove beyond a doubt that this sys-
tenn of grouping is not q mere acct.
dental occurrence in nature, but the
result OF some general law where
with mineral veins are always con.
nected. go To show that this law
is not limited in its operations to one
ore district, nor to one province, nor
to one island nor to one bed in the
strata, but is operative throughout
this vast belt of mineral districts all
the way from Spain to Scotland. To
show that its seat of action is too
deep to be disturbed by the waters of
the ocean, or to be reached by the
arts of mining.
Having now satisfied myself fully
of the existence of an elevation of
land running north, and that this ell
ovation was line of physical dis
turbance along which those belts of
mineral land in the lead district were
arranged, l felt confident that the
northern boundary OF tho lead dis
trIct had not been reached, hence
began a systematic investigation of
the strata of the last belt of mineral
land in town six. But so far as we
can judge from surface appearances,
the mineral wealth of this belt will
consist mainly in the large and rich
deposits of the oxide of iron whic h
it seems to contain throughout its
entire length.
This oxide of iron is not chemical
ly deposited in the sandstone, that is
it has not crystalline texture, an
it is easily separated from the sand
by washing it in water. Water takes
it up very readily when it is stirred,
and allows it to settle readily when
undisturbed. When separated in
this way, and dried, it is very fine
led powder, as fine as the oxide of
zinc, and when mixed with or ground
in oil, it will make paint of a brilliant
red color, that will make as fine fin-
ish on wood as either zinc or lead
Since | first discovered it in this form
l have been experimenting on it as q
paint, by exposing 1t to the extremes
Of climatic condition. The bright
ness of its color, that at first feared
would not stand light and moisture,
remains thus far unchanged, or if
changed at all, it is a deeper red
AS pigment, this matter is equal,
if not superior, to anything we call
ochre, or mineral paint, and if its du-
rability should prove 30 be, when
tested by time, what it appears to
be under experiment, it can not fail
to be valuable, for it will take the
place of lead aud zinc paint for most
outdoor work, aud common building.
And il in this form it will furnish
material for paint of q bright red col
or, that will put on finish as fine as
lead, and that will be as durable, or
even as approximately so, and can
be furnished for less than one~fourth
the cost of lead, it certainly must be
as valuable to the State as lead itself.
This form of the oxide of iron can be
obtained along this belt, and prepar>
ed as paint for the market, at a
very trifllng expense, except labor
1t is found in lodges of sandstone,
drained by deep valleys cutting back
into this ridge, and exposed in place.
from 80 to 100 feet in vertical thick
redges 'wItnout cne 6rinnGf yf-eRpothe
of mining, and separated from the
limestone by water, which most of
the valleys will supply. The process
is simple, the expense tritiing, and
expense in fuel nothing, Common
labor is all that is required to make
this into paint and prepare it for USE
The outcroppings of these depos-
its of iron ore, have traced along
belt of land 55 miles long, east and
west, and from four to six miles wide,
consequently it will add near three
hundred square miles to the ore dis
trict OF Southern Wisconsin, Since
attention was first called to the dis.
covery ia July est, one company has
been formed 10 manufacture these
ochres, and have their factory now
in working order; and have, UNDER
stand, several hundred tons Of this
material ready for the market A
letter just received from the parties
informs me that they intend running
the factory by water-power, which
will enable them to manufacture 6 or
Z tons per day.
This is the first instsllment of the
practical results of following out the
system of grouping along the north
and south axis, and will, | trust, be
soon followed by others There are
evidences of another parallel belt
still farther north in town nine, good
specimens of lead are found on it at
Orion, in Richland County. | have
no doubt when the details of this belt
are worked out, important deposits
of some kind will be found there al
so.
The report here refers to the vari-
Gus formations Of the lead districts,
in assures and veins, shows how the
deposits are made, and adds:
IF we could Danish from our min
ing creeds the elements of chance
ana caprice, and admit in their place
the teachings of natural law, / can
see no reason why the time may not
come, when from this combined
knowledge of practical and scientif-
ic men we may not be able to point
with as much accuracy to those pro-
duetive places in the earth as the
astronomer now points to the return
of g comet in the heavens, or an APP
preaching eclipse of the sun, for both
are tie results of natural laws, and
these laws are within the reach Of
man. Nor will this time be long de-
layed, if only scientific men would