The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-07-06

him, How is the bridge? 1.-THE bridge
is all right" the man replied, and Mr..
Deane drove on, crossed the bridge, and
went to his house. AS soon as he en-
tered, the family all inquired with sur
prise, how he got across the river? az
drove across on the bridge" was the re-
ply. Impossiblel" exclaimed his wife,
"the floor of the bridge is not laid. "
However that be-" said Deane, az GER
tainly drove across, and you must be
mistaken" "We will see in the morn
ing, was the reply. Sure enough, when
morning came, they all walked down to
the river, and there was no floor on the
bridge-Mr. Deane had driven across on
the sills-the horse following central
line of stretchers, and the sulky wheels
the outer stretchers Deane was Of
course profoundly impressed with the
fearful peril he had encountered-and
as the story runs, he went back to the
house, got his sulky whip, crossed the
river, and wore it out on the man who
had misled him.*
The Deane iron mine was being worked
as far back as 1888, when Prof. Rogers
was making his geological survey of Vir-
ginia. In 1959-'59 large quantities OF
this ore were sent to the Westham Fur
mace, now the Powhatan Iron Works,
and during the war the mine was worked
by the Confederate Government. The
vein has been traced entirely through
the county of Buckingham.
There are three distinct veins of brown
hematite ore that traverse this county
N. E. andS. w. in the eastern part of the
county. A number of veins also of mag
netic and specular ore have been opened
in the gold belt of Buckingham, in the
central and eastern part of the county.
There are also indications of rich specular
ores at Greenway and Warminster in
Nelson county, which very probably re-
appear on the Buckingham side of the
river.
About five miles from New Canton, in
S. w. direction, we come to the famous
slate quarY7es of Buckingham, the prin-
cipal-of which are the old Buckingham
quarry, (now owned by Mr.. J. M. Nor
veil and others), the old Nicholas quarry,
the Edwards quarry, and the Williams
quarry. We visited all of these quarries,
and were gratifed to learn that the de-
mand for the slate is now very active,
greater than the supply, although the
Nicholas quarry sends off 100 squares
per week. Immense blocks of slate, son e
of them weighing, if we remember cor
rectly, several hundred tons, are de.
tached in these quarries. The supply is
most abundant, and when the railroad
from New Canton is run to Buckingham
@. H., there will be grand business
done in this line. The quality Of the
slate equals that of any in the country.
Near the slate quarries is the Light
foot Copper M1me where they are at
work and just across Slate River, on
the hill opposite the copper mine, is the
Basmpass Iron M5ne-a fine magnetic
ore-leased by Dunlap G. Co.
Fifteen miles from New Canton on the
road to Buckingham G. H. is the Phi1a-
delphia Gold M5ne The gold-bearing
quartz lies partly in bed of pure tale
and talcose slate. The superintendent
of this mine, Mr.. Allen, has spent some
twenty years in the gold mines of South
America.
About miles from the Philadelphia
Mine, on the road to Willis Mountain, is
the well-known old Booker Gold Mine
one Of the most profitable, it is said, in
the county. The pit here is 100 feet
deep.
Veins Of specular and hematite iron ore
are found on the farm of DR.. Peters, in
Nelson county, two miles below Newman
ket. There is an outcrop of marble also
on Dr. Peters place. On the same farm
we found vein Of that curious and beau
tiful q,1artzite slate described by Prof.
Rogers as occurring in Albemarle. 1t is
very valuable for the manufacture OF
glass.
At Limestone Bridge destroyed during
/