The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1874-12-03
RANDOM THOUGHTS.
DAVIS MACKLEY
BY THE EDITOR.


Last Friday was beautiful day, and
thought it would be good exercise to
walk out to Ophir Furnace 1t has been
claimed that this furnace was only lit
tie over three miles from jackson. /
stepped the distance and found it 1919
yards from the furnace to the Court
House, showing the distance to be about
four miles and half
Walking is the very best exercise for
healthy man. 1t will be seen that in
walking to the furnace and back, some
nine miles, l had to make 1888 steps,
and all that in the space of less than four
hours
The road out to the hill coal banks is
already horrid 1 saw over a dozen wag-
ons loaded with coal coming to town,
and two loaded with. pig-iron, and
several with lumber. I was not out of
sight of wagons the first two miles from
town. As l came home L saw team
stalled with load of coal in the hollow
east of Mr.. Vanfossen's residence. There
were two mules attached to the wagon,
and they made sevearl attempts to get
out The teamster was a stout, hardy
| looking man, and he would lash the
mules with his whip, lift at one hind
wheel, and say sharply, Bill Billp' but
it was utterly impossible for the poor
mules to start the wagon, although they
leaned forward until their bellies came
near the ground A man was going the
other way with an empty wagon, and he
stopped and commenced unhitching his
horses. l suppose he would attach them
to the end of the wagon tongue, and
thus assist the mules. 1 met Mr.. Hum
phreys with a load of coal, and he told
me that he had been out there hauling
coal the past three years, and in
that time he had put in fifteen days
work on the road himself. He said ap
plication had been made to the County
Commissioners, Township Trustees, anc
to the Road Supervisors, but no relic
could be obtained. The fact is, if som'
public aid be not soon extended to thi
great thoroughfare. it will become abso
lutely impossible.
; On the hill east of the Mather resi-
, dence, and half mile south of Ophir,
, saw man digging ore He had littl
hole dug in the side of the hill in al
. old field, and he had thrown out abou
, half ton of very rich ore. 1t was il
- Jumps from the size of hens egg up t
:, the size of mans head. The man wa
!. a German, and his heart appeared to b
. thoroughly in this work When bega
to make inquiry about the ore business
he took pains to give me information
e He said the ore was not the genuine kiC
9 ney ore. 1t does not lie in regular vein
II but in patches and clusters 1t was diff
IL cult to find, and he had been engaged i
IS finding it for Mr.. Pierce on these lane
IS some years ago, when Diamond Furnac
IL was running. He had been engaged
e the ore business twenty years.
e Going on toward the furnace, I passe
s. three or four genuine log cabins, with CT
y and clay chimneys. On the steep hi
just above the furnace Office, foun
re some half dozen children playing on
a large fat rock. They had pieces of &C
r. ored cinder, and many other curiositie
N l sat down on the rock to rest and ha'
e. chat whith them. The largest girl d
er the talking, and she was polite, as gir
IT generally are. 1 asked her if there W
a school at the furnace. She said the
Id was no school at the furnace, but the
Id was school half a mile east, at the he's
OF of the hollow, taught by Jerome Goo
r. rich
ee In the furnace office l found Hunt
n Moore. Billy Baker has gone to the E
Y? River Furnace West Virginia. Geor
k Hoop went with me to look at the fl
llf mace Ophir went into blast June
re and has been running five months. 1t
IN. run moderately, and makes an avera
ne of ten tons per day. All the iron ma
ice has been sold, and although iron can
ms made much cheaper than at the old
,er furnaces, yet no profit can be made
100 present prices. The blast will last sor
ars two or three months longer. looked
dis. the machinery, and found the engi
of running with a pressure of steam of
an pounds of steam to the square inch, a
of blast of nearly 3pounds pressure. I
he blowing cylinder is 81 feet across, and
,ld feet high. AS the rod goes up and do
the slowly through the bottom of the bic
of ing cylinder, the compressed air escapl
we. through the crevices of the closed valv
led made a noise like the heavy, labor
be breathing of some huge giant. col
not help thinking of the stories Of M