The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-05-09
The Katahdin Iron Works.


mineral resources is being every day made
manifest and by no single operation more SO
than that of the KatahdiD Iron Works These
works are 90 miles northwest of Bangor, on
branch of the Piscataquis river, IS miles from
Milo on the Bangor & Piscataquis Railroad.
Operations were begun there as early as 1912
and furnace erected and large amounts of
money have been expended at various times
since that date, but generally with no profit to
the parties engaged-owing partly to the long
distance the iron had to be hauled and partly
from want Of proper management The
works passed into the hands of the present
proprietor-then resident of this city-in the
winter of 1928 and have been kept steadily in
operation since that time The difficulties en-
countered have been very great, as the furnace
and appliances had to be thoroughly rebuilt
and the peculiarities in the ore could be ascer-
tanned only by careful and expensive expert
ments and chemical analysis. The induce
ment that led to the starting of the furnace at
the time was the want of pig iron sufficiently
pure for making Bessemer steel, for which
great demand was then beginning to spring up.
1t was believed that this ore was especially
adapted for steel and the result obtained has
proved this to be the case, so that the anomaly
is now presented of pig iron being shipped
from this state to Pennsylvania and New York.
Several thousand tons having recently been
shipped to Bethlehem, Penn, and Troy, n.
Y, for this purpose, besides frequent shipments
to the steel works at jersey City and Trenton
The iron is also adapted for malleable castings,
ba 6amand fory which 10 Nv
and several establishments in Rhode Island
and Connecticut are using the Katahdn daily
for this work.
1t is an undonbted fact that iron exists in
large quantities in Northern Maine and the
successful treating of this ore has demonstrat
ed the fact of its possible Importance to the
future of the state, AND. suggests the value of
proper geological survey of the state 10 discov-
er and make known the opportunities for
working it, as no single branch of business
employs directly and Indirectly larger number
of men, nor is any other product SO essential
to other industries as cheap and abundant iron.
Mr.. Davis keeps regularly employed about
100 men. Last winter over fourte en- thousand
cords of wood were cut and hauled, some five
thousand tons of ore dug and hauled and neal
ly two thousand tons of iron made and shipped,
employing on the aggregate during the winter
about $50 men and 125 horses.
The ore is a brown hemalite variety and
results from the decomposition of ledge of
pyritifereous rock that seems to be thrown up
through the 2eighborng states, AS now be-
ing mined there is depth of 10 to Is feet of
solid ore, covering space of several acres on
the side of the ore mountain, and it is the opn.
ion of Mr.. Davis from frequent observation of
the neghboring rocks that the ore will be
found in many other localities, enough to war
rant the erection of additional furnaces.
Connected with the works are 80, 900 acres of
heavily wooded land, covered with white, vel.
low and gray birch, beech, maple and poplar of
the right size for making charcoal. Beyond
this point is the great unbroken forest, SO that
the supply of charcoal, which is the main
point in most charcoal iron operations, may be
said to be unlimited for years to come. The
operation of iron making is an interesting one
and during the summer and fall many visitors
are attracted by 1t and the natural beauties of
the scenery to spend few days at the excel
lent hotel at the iron works. The Gre is blasted
with powder and hauled Ia half mile) to the
furnace bunk where it is piled to the height of
8 or 10 feet ON arches built of stone crossed
with pieces of pig iron. Fires are then lighted
in the arches and the ore is freed from the
sulphur and changed from brown to a deep
red and purple color. 1t is carried from the
arches to the top house and then charged into
the furnace. The furnace itself is of stone,
feet in diameter inside and 35 feet high. This
is first filled with charcoal and lighted at the
bottom, and the blast supplied by powerful
machinery applied through four tuyeres of 8
inches in diameter each, with pressure of 1
to pounds to the square inch. AS the coal
sinks at the top it is replaced with fresh coal
and certain proportions of ore and limestone
so that the furnace is kept constantly free at
the top from month to month, the melted iron
being drawn off at the bottom and cast into
moulds in the sand. With the constant inn.
provements being introduced in the process the
product has been increased from to IA tons
per day ga hours), requiring the melting of %
tons of ore, tons of limestone and 1000 BUSH
els of charcoal daily, yielding IA tons of iron
which is hauled at present by teams to Milo
and shipped by rail to Bangor. The making
III thO i"lSO dliouub VI CldICOdi 10 tho mOSb
difficult part of the business and employs
many men who burn it in kilns holding so
cords of wood each, ard for lack of sufficient
kilas in pits, also under dirt.
There are few buster places in the state than
this little settlement among the hills of Piscat-
aquis county and few more worthy of visit.
A charter was obtained during the past winter
from the Legislature, and it is understood that
the works will be consolidated into stock
company and operations greatly enlarged and
a railroad built this summer from Milo to
BrownvIlle, to accommodate the iron works
and the slate quarries at the latter place.