The Cecil Whig., 1879-07-19

THE ANCIENT GRE FITS.
Recently Discovered Traces and Relics of
the Wclch Miners.

from which it is about three miles distant
and is one of Il series of hills that iut up t
u considerable distance above the level q
the surrounding country and extend from
Turkey Point to Mill creek hundred in New
Castle county. Many of the emincnccs q
this chain of miniature mountains contai,
iron ore, some of which has been mucd il
Elkton. The ore is found to he of goot
quality, bat owing to the present depreSse,
state Of tbs. iron market, and the expense o
opening and developing the mines, whicl
requires much capital, but little has beel
mined except upon Iron Hill. The Swed
iSh settlers along the Delaware are bclicvec
to have discovered the rich deposits of iroi
in this hill, and they probably gave it III,
name it bears at the present time. We fine
! it called
"YRoN HILL"
upon Il map of Maryland and Virginia
made by Augustine Herman, which was
/ published in 1878. 1t is not probable that
/ the Swedes opened any mines upon Iron
/ Hill, but they most likcly-if they used any
of the ore at all-contented themselves with
| gathering that which they found upon the
( surface, which in that locality, as in some
others, was probably of Il better quality than
that found in the bowels of the earth.
The first mines in Iron Hill are believed
to have been opened by the Welsh who OBJ
tanned the grant of Welsh tract from Will
liam Penn, in l702. The Wclch tract con-
| tanned about 80, 900 acres-at least that is
the quantity in the warrant of Sllrvey,-but
it probably contains more 1t included a
large portion of what is now Pencader hun
dred, whicl, is said to have derived its name
from Iron Hill. which is near its northern
acknowledgements meaning the upper
most or highest seat. At the time this tract
was granted to the Welsh, William Penn
was seeking every available opportunity to
extend the limits of his province as near to
the Chesapeake bay as possible; and he did
not scruplc to grant large tracts of land,
some of which was already held by patents
issued by the authorities of Maryland This
was the case with the Welsh tract, and
when the boundary lines of the two pro-
vinceS We're located more than half a cen
tury afterwards, about one fourth of it was
found to bc in Maryland. The colonial rec
ords of Maryland contain doleful story
told the council by one Adam Short, in 172l
about the aggreSSionS of the Welsh He
stated under oath that Davy Evans, one of
the Welsh magistrates, came to his planta-
ton, called "Grccn Meadows" accompanied
by some ten OF twelve of his countrymen
who brought with them Il yoke OF oxen at
tached to a log sled, and commenced to fell
trees, ut which Short became alarmed and
FASTENED away to invoke the aid of Mary
land magistrate. When he returned, he
found that the persistent WelShmen had
begun to erect log house and already had
it raised several logs high. They subse-
quently completed it and placed one Rice
Jenkins i'll possession of it. 70 avoid trou-
bic, Short abandoned the premises Re
turning some weeks afterwards lie found
his house occupied by Il person who used
one of the outbuiltingS for i tailor shop.
Begging the readers pardon for this di-
gression. we ask him to accompany us to
the summit of the hill close by which the
BRITISH ARMY,
under command of Gen. Howe, Were en-
camped i'll September, III, and take Il view
of the distant hill tops in Chester county,
winch are NlNtlntllN NlSlblc dtToSS lnc VAL
lev of the ChiStiana, on the northern side of
which the village of Newark is quietly nest
ling III the sunshine of Il Sultry July morn
ing
The mine of Mr.. George p. Whitaker, of
Principio, is not far from the site of the old
British camping ground, and is, by many
years, the most ancient one in this section.
Mr.. Whitaker has owned this mine for
nearly Il quarter of Il century, during most
I, i 4,
erS at work i'll it, and has taken ont many
hundreds of thousands of tons Of ore. The
mines are now, and for many years past,
have been worked like an ordinary stone
quarry, that is by removing the dirt with
which the ore is covered and hauling it up
an incline plane to the surface. \ railroad
track, the ears used upon which are pro-
,pelled by Il stationary steam engine, has long
ller'S mine. This mine penetrates the cart
for a considerable distance, but presents
nothing of much interest TO the tourist ol
philosopher, except 4 huge globular- shaped
rock, which probably weighs forty tons
and to an imaginative mind might suggest
the idea that the mine had been used by :
race of giants for Il ten-pin alley and this
! huge ball had been forgotten. The huge
boulder contains much iron, but it is s,
mixed with impurities that it will not pay
the cost Of breaking it to pieces, and fol
this reason 1t has been allowed to remain
Some years ago a great influx o! water i'll
tertered with the working of the mine, 81
much so that the proprietor was obliged Il
/ have Il tunnel constructed for the purpose
of draining it. The mouth of this tunnel is
about a quarter of a mile from the mine
and it picrces the bowels of the rugged old
hill some eighty OF more feet below its sur
face and ut such an inclination as TO etfectu.
/ ally answer the purpose for which it wl$
constructed.
The Messrs Couch and McConoughev alsc
have mines of good ore i'll the vicinity OF
Mr.. Whitaker's mine, and the latter gen
tlenan owns on" mile or so distant upon
Chestnut Hill, \ few weeks ago. the min,
ers engaged in Mr.. Whitakcrs mine ex
. hUmed an
ANCIENT PICK, SHOVEL,
and part of candle which they found in
an old drift-as the miners call them
which had, no doubt, been left there when
the Welsh worked these mines in the inter
val between the years 17l7 and l726. Al
this time they had Il furnace and forge {;
mile or so from the mine on the bank of the
! ChriStiana creek, which flows near the base
OF the hill on the north.
The Welsh method Of mining differed
much from that pursued by the modern
miners. They sunk II shaft Gin this case /,
| was near the summit of the hill) till they
reached the ore, which lies about forty feet
/ below the surface in veins, and then with ::
candle stuck in their hats to light up the
! gloom of the suhterran6an cavern and an
old fashioned short handled pick and shovel
they dug ont the hard ore which looks
much like 4 black stone In this way the
interior of the hill, aS we were told by tho
boss miner, was perforated by the ancient
drifts till it resembles Il honeycomb. Al
the present time the ore obtained here is
| washed in Il huge lonical cast iron machine
which separates the dirt and loan from it
| For this reason the hard Stone-like ore, Sc
highly priced by the Welsh, is Of no NOR,
value than the softer sort.
The implements recently found i'll one o
the old drifts gave evidence, by their rust!
and tne-worn appearance, of the grea
length of time they had been there. Th,
pick is much like the modern implement o
that name. except that one end of it wa
designed to he used as a hammer. Th'
shovel was very much rustcd, and conSc
uuently very thin and the miner, who fnunC
it, struck it with his pick before il was un
covered, and unfortunately broke it. 1t WA!
much sharper ut the rgirt than moderi
sh0vcls are, and had y halt-rpund surket OF
the back rari, In which To insert the handle
Neither of the implements had handles il
them when found, they having rottcl Ion:
ago, except :: small piece of dccarh"niZct
wood in the socket of the shovel The can
die, which is composed of tallow and th
wick of which is yet intact, is smaller than
an ordinary modern candle, which is prob;
biz owing to shrinkage caused by the chemi
cal eff, cts of the earth in which il has lait