The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1875-12-02

mercial, paid our town a visit short
time ago. We make the following ex-
tract from his first letter written from
this place:
There are two things the matter with
Jackson Court House. The first is, there
are too few people go there to see the adj
vantages nature has placed there for the
manufacture of iron. The second is,
there are too few of her citizens 90
away from there to see how people man
ufacture iron in the rest of the world. If
more people went there to look, there
would be more go there to stay, and the
town would soon become city. If there
were more of her own people went away
to look, they would know more
about making pig-iron, and the town
would increase in prosperity from
the increased prosperity among her
manufacturers. 1t is a pretty grave
matter to set up and tell lot of expert
enced' iron men that you understand
their business better than they do; but
a little criticism may not be amiss, es-
pecially as it is intended in friendly
spirit:
was very much surprised at the great
advantages possessed by this Jackson
County region for making iron There
are few points to be found where the fa-
cilities are better. The ores are brought
from the surrounding hills at a cost of
from 81 so to So 25 per ton. They are
carbonates, and are here denominated as
block ore, limestone ore and kidney ore.
The veins from which they are worked
are generally thin-from four to twelve
inches-but easily worked, the process of
raising them consisting of stripping the
III H.
with bar. In many places a pillow and
scraper are used for stripping, the ex-
pense being greatly lessened by that
means. The limestone is also found in
the vicinity, and worked in a similar
manner, the cost being about 81 per ton
delivered at the furnace. The coal is
brought up from the earth Immediately
in the rear of the furnaces, the vein living
from forty to eighty feet below the sur
face, and having a thickness of from
three and one-half to four feet There is
no slate separating the coal; and, al
though soft and easily broken, the coal
has the appearance of being remarkably
clear and free from sulphur
Here is the ore, limestone and coal, all
at the furnace. What more can be wish
ed for2 Only one thing-proper work
ing-to make cheap iron.
There are six furnaces at Jackson
only two now in blast; but visited them
all under the polite guidance of Mr.. H.
L. Chapman, President of the First Ma
tionaI Bank of Jackson. 1t is not neces-
sary to describe the whole six in detail.
If l give description of one it will an
swer substantially for the whole six
They are all upon pretty much the same
plan. They all have Mr.. Jones con
nected with the management There is
Il family here 10y the name of Jones a cir
cumstance not altogether unusual in u
town the size of Jackson-but the re
markable thing about this family is that
it contains six male Joneses, all good bu-
siness men, and all connected with fur
naces. There are six furnaces at Jackson,
there are-six Joneses; if there were seven
Joneses l have no doubt that there would
be seventh furnace-if not erected, at
least well under way.
The furnaces average about fifty feet
in height. and eleven and one-half feet
at the boshes, hearth four feet and
throat from three to five feet. In some
cases the relative positions of the bell and
hopper are reversed
The engines used are all horizontal,
with the exception of the Globes engine,
which is small vertical one
The hot blast-but how 81 all describe
it ? when / asked what it was / was in
variably assured that it had no name 1t
is kind of cross between Player and
a Pollock. The stock is piled out from
the furnace one, two and even three hun
dred yards away. 1t cannot be handled
for less than twenty cents per ton.
innocently asked for an analysis of
the ore. Yes there was one. believe
you will find it in the State Geological
Report.
By careful inquiry found that iron is
not being manufactured here at a cost
less than twenty and perhaps twenty-one
dollars per ton. How can the cost be
| improved upon?
First and foremost, the size and shape
of alr furnaces hereafter constructed
should be made to conform to the most
improved ideas regarding furnace con-
struction. If the experiment at Ironton
proves to be an undoubted success, the
| Ferrie system should be adopted
Second-The best hot-blast ovens
should be substituted for those now in
use-the Whitwell, or at least the Player.
Third-Vertical engines capable OF
giving strong blast, and requiring a
minimum of repairs
Fourth-Cheaper coal. With four
foot vein of coal, such as that here coal
ought to be delivered In the stock house
for three and one-half cents per bushel
Fifth-High bins-twenty-five or thir-
ty feet-immediately around the furnace,
with approaches for the wagons to enable
them to dump the ore into the bins All
the ore could thus be held within few
feet of the furnace. Then instead of
roasting the ore in the open clamp, a
calcining kiln should be built on one
side of the elevator, and the ore hoisted
to the kiln, fired, and taken out, as re-
quired Tor use in the furnace, perfectly
calcined, with a minimum expenditure
of fuel. and going hot into the furnace,
while the handling does not amount to
one-tenth that required by the open
clamp process. This is the most impor-
tant point OF all.
Lastly, there should be made thorough
analysis of the ores, limestone and fuel
and a proper mixture of foreign ores
brought in, to counteract the tendency
to cold-shortness, produced by the phos-
phorus in the native carbonates.
This is what the iron masters of Jack
son County need, and not jackson alone,
but many other places as we'll 1t is not
high tariff or high prices that is needed,
but an economical use of the advantages
which nature has bestowed; and the
sooner iron men come to this view of the