Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-06-28
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI.
A Glimpse at the Mineral Re-
giOn About IrOntOn.
GRANITE
A Healthful and Picturesque Re
gion for Pleasure Resorts.
"Reminiscences of the War.

Correspondence of the Kansas City Journal
IRoNToS, Mo-, May 26.-Iron Mountain
Pilot Knob, Graniteville, Ironton, Arcadia
| and their suburbs, comprise group of viii
lagos covering an area of eight miles in the
heart of the iron region of Missouri, ninety
miles south of st. Louis.
The topography of the country reminds one
of the Alleghenies, and the appearance Of the
mines and furnaces increases the resemblance
to the mineral districts of Pennsylvania.
The Iron Mountain railroad winds about
| among the black masses of ore and Stag, with
Il depot at every mile and tramways branch
ing off at every turn, and at all hours of the
day and night trains of ore and pig iron are
going forward to market.
At the Iron Mountain mines hydraulic
works are being successfully employed, but
at Pilot Knob the ore requires the use of
diamond drills and giant powder. But
whether soft or hard, the supply seems in
eXhaustiblc, and after forty years of almost
constant mining, with better facilities each
succeeding year and the product increasing
with the increased demand, the stock in store
is apparently undiminished. The daily prod
uct at the present time is 500 tons, and ar
engagements are being made to largely in
crease this amount.
The work goes on constantly from Monday
morning till Saturday night, the mines be-
ing illuminated at night by electric lights.
The red granite quarrics of this locality
are also an important source of revenue.
Several hills, or mountains, as they are call
ed here, are composed of solid granite, upon
which hundreds of workmen have been en-
gagged for years.
The quality of the stone has been approved
bv the Government architects and very eX-
tensively employed in public buildings. 1t
is also very valuable as a paving material ,
and at this time 800 men are engaged in pre-
pairing blocks of it Tor this purpose. The
stone lies directly on the surface-in fact,
acres of the mountain are destitute of a hand
full Of earth, and offer no obstacle to imme-
diatc development. The stone is quite free
from flaws, and splits as handsomely as
sandstone or any other variety. 1t is also
susceptible of a fine finish, and polishes
nearly as handsomely rs Scotch granite.
The great drawback to the general use OF
this stone is the lack of competition on trans
portation. With living rate of freight it
could be distributed all over the West, and
would, no doubt, be generally adopted for
public buildings and paving material. But
with only one railroad and that run on the
cut-throat principle, there is little show for
such results.
The Hurricane Island granite from the
p Not ftr1l nj
Louis with this granite, although the haul Is
more than 1000 miles against ninety. When
the long mooted road from Iron Mountain
east to the Mississippi river is built all this
will he changed.
The lumber resources of this region are
very important and but for the same obstacle
that retards other industries would greatly
enhance its wealth. Agriculture is confined
to few narrow valleys, and probably falls
far short of supplying the local demand.
The st. Francois river rises in this neigh
borhood from a number of large springs,and
supplies abundant water power, which is
partially improved.
With a reasonable amount of enterprise
Ironton might be made an attractive pleas
ure resort. The locality is as healthful as
any in the State, and no finer natural seem
cry can be found anywhere. Game and fish
abound, fruit is abundant, and driving and
rowing can be enjoyed to the hearts content.
The country seat of Col. Lindsay, former
ly Pension Agent now the property of Judge
Emerson, is situated here. 1t il one of the
best improved places in Missouri, outside of
st. Louis. The mansion is an immense pile
fvlo nfo
lecture and contains nearly thirty rooms.
Soping down from this toward the village is
Il plat of ground containing six acres. An
artificial pond, with a boat house on rocky
island, reached by Il rustic bridge, forms the
most conspicuous feature of the landscape;
while groups of old oaks, with luxurious
arm chairs in their shade, are scattered over
Il faultless lawn.
At the head of the lawn is an oak tree
standing by the spring that supplies water to
the lake. 1t was while encamped here in
ois, that Col. u. S. Grant received his COM
mission as Brigadier General of volunteers.
His headquarters were in an old cabin that
occupied the site of the present mansion, but
he was standing by this spring when the
mail was brought to him, among which was
the commission from President Lincoln.
The survivors of the old Twenty-first are
the question of erecting a memo
rial tablet to the great leader at this spring
Pilot Knob, one mile north of here, figur-
ed quite prominetly during the war. 1t was |
the terminus Of the Iron Mountain railroad |
and the distributing point for military sup |
plies. One of the most important events to |
st. Louis during the whole war occurred |
here, ,in 1864 when Gen. Ewing diverted Price |
from his course and compelled him to aban- !
don his contemplated attack Oh st. LoNis.
Price came up from Southern Arkansas |
with q, 900 hungry and despcrate men, in. |