Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-05-13
BOUNDLESS WEALTH.
superintendent Killebrew on the
Mineral Resources of Ten
neSsee, Alabama and
Georgia.

Georgia.
The Important Results Of Recent In
vesIfgatfOns-Our State TO be the
Great Iron Centre Of the Future.
In view Of the fact that Col. J. B. KiIle-
brew, Superintendent of the State Bureau
Of Agriculture, Statistics and Mines, and
author of the "ResOurces of Tennessee"
had Just returned from a tour Of the iron
districts of the State, having spent two
weeks examining deposits in company with
Dir. VIM. Burns, representing the iron in
terests Of Pittsburg, Pa, a representative Of
this paper called on the Colonel at his Of
fee yesterday 20 get something fresh on
the great subject Of the iron resources Of
Tennessee. Fhe following interview took
place:
l see, Col. Killebrew, that you have re
| Gently paid a visit 10 the iron regions Of the
State in company with an iron man from
Piusburg. viii you please give me your
| opinion as to Tennessees future IN iron?
Most cheerfully. l am more than ever
| convinced that the manufacture OF pig iron
| must in the future gather around Tenuss-
| see as a centre. The excellence, variety,
/ and abundance Of ore, the cheapness of
| fuel, and the present and prospective tacili-
/ ties for TRANSPORTATION, added TO the extra
ordinary chrapuess Of property, and salU-
4 bEitv and excellence Of our climate assure
q splendid future for Tennessee. We have
/ in the State brown and red hematite, mag
netite, specular and fossil ores which
are found in various forms, com
pact, pipe, got, stratifed plate, shot,
and laninated, all easily mined, aud by
admixture making every variety OF
| iron thai the demand Of the
| trade may call for. Besides, We have tim
her and coal ia abundance contiguous 10 |
the iron fields. Timber privileges can be /
bought for five cents a cord, and, as a coid
of wood makes about twenty-five bushels |
OfcharcOal, less than thirty cents expended
I'm timber viii suflicef0T the making Cf ton
of iron. As TO the quality of the iron there
is not made Oh the American continent
any superior. Long ago IL was CemOnStra- /
ted that the cold blast charcoal iron had no
rival as boiler plate, and now 1t takes the
front rank for car wheels. The MesSrs. !
Stacker. of Stewart county, more than
thirty years ago drove the Scottish sugar !
kettle out Of the market. A test made al
the Franklin Institute At Philadelphia as
early as 1892 showed the Tennessee iron |
10 equal the iron Of Sweden in Guc-ilIty |
and strength.
You know. perhaps. that in our eastern |
iron belt we have an ore largely iutermixed |
with the oxide Of manganese. This ore /
occurs in large quantities in Greene county |
and is worked almost exclusively in the /
Uuaka Furnace. 1t requires no huN and |
makes VI hat is called Spiegel-eisen, or |
l0okiHC-glass iron, which is the principal 1
ingredient for making. BessemeT steel. Now /
il is only a question Of time when steel 4
rails will take the place Of iron rails on all /
our railroads. They viii last seven times /
as ne. and cost only One-thiCd more, and /
cur railroad magnates Will be forced 10 use /
them on the score Of economy and safety. /
Now look at It; We have all kinds Of iron |
Gre, plenty Of coal and timber, at nominal |
prices, accessibility 10 market, limestone
for luN. sandstone for heaTthS, ali lying in /
iuxtapUsiliou, saudWiGhed as it were, and,
tell me WhvWe cannot make iron as cheaply /
Leye IS at any place in the world. / know
Of deposits of iron ore equal in quantity 10
the Iron Mountain Of Missouri.
Iou DO not mean 10 say that we have
masses Of iron ore equal TO that found at
the Iron Mountain in EissOu?
do Aud not only Tennessee has them,
but Georgia and Alabama also. Why, not
ten DAYS AGO. q short distance from Amber
sons Station. In Alabama, on the Selma,
Rome and Dalton railroad, l rode over four
hills, covering from two 10 twenty acres
each, which resemble exploded planets,
snivered and torn into millions Of fTag-
ments. These hills, l am satisfied, are
mountains Of iron-lmOnite-and TO
show the depth, well dug in
a valley below, sixty feet deep,
passed all the way through the shiv-
cred mass. And at PriCrs Station, on the
jhe same railroad is an OutcrOP Of iron
ore, a correct description Of which would
not be credited. About a mile from the
railroad al ISOLATED mass and almost solid.
covering about ~ acre is the first indica-
ton of ore. From this line Of hills run
ming northeast and southwest extends Tor
the distance OF two miles, and rise in
height from fifty 10 one hundred aud fifty
feet The largest Of { csc hills covers
forty acres and b0ulders Of ore as large as
a block of buildings stick out all over it.
Say not this be surface ore?
No: for the same boulder-shaped masses
rise Mp in the ravine below. Besides eXca-
vatiuns have been made which show the ore
TO extend 10 an unknown depth. Mining
also has been extensively carried on nearer
the railroad and the ore grows better as the
diggiugs grow deeper.
is Sic ore mixed with foreign ingredi-
ents?
An ANALYSIS shows about 2-1OO Of one
D '- cent. phosphorus and about three Ter
cent iyhUT, and metallic iron about %
-,sr nar- Gr1-r-srrr r-setFa- e E,rrrF frfav- ]
mixed with some ore on the northern sides
Of the hills, but nowhere is It in sufficient |
abuu aucs 20 iuiUre the ores For several |
months ores from this point have been sent
10 Chat auo0g8 and used In the furnace al |
hat point By mixing with the red fossil
ore of our Stale, q quality Of iron is made
which Is excellent ,qualiiDg in every par
ticular the Scottish pig.
What would be the cost Of mining and
putting Upsn the cars at this point?
Practical men inform me that with suit
able machinery it can Ce done for fifty cents
per ton, and that with a sufficient demand
It nav be delivered il Chattanooga fUr TWO
dollars per ton.
Do You remember what the furnaces
located in PittsbuTg pay Per ore?
In a table prepared 10y James NJ. Swank, {
Secretary Of the American Iron and Steel q
Association, he puts the cost If ore de-
Iivered at Pittsburg for tie wear 1850 at !
s.. - per ten; in $50, SOL; in 1860, j
SI.45; in 1864, s.. y; in 1866, Sl2.l9; in
1869, SIi.S6; in 1871, SI2GT; in 1875,
$3.50. In 1874 the price dropped 10 }
about SIC 90 and l understand from an ex-
;eusiye dealer it costs U0T a few cents over
$500. It takes $500 per ton to transport
Missouri or Lake Superior ore to Pitts0urg,