Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-04-26
CHARCOAL aKETCaE..


COAL" correspondent of the Lebanon
Courier, who We have reason to suspect is
Chas. B. Forney, formerly of the iron
works in tho lower end of this county,
and later of the North Lebanon
iron works of G. Dauson Coleman, writes
q series of pleasant "reminiscences Of the
early iron works of the county and some
of the social features of life in their day.
In the last Of these he says:
"There is perhaps no domain OF the
same extent in the country as rich in
diversified resources as the county of Lam
caster, which of English parentage in
name only, though the county seat was
originally settled to q considerable extent
by Episcopalians and Quakers, her terri
tory in the main is occupied and owned by
the descendants of the sturdy Germans
and Hugenots, who fled from the prosecu-
tions OF the old world TO aid in the estab-
lishment of an empire in the new one. If
those refugees from tho Palatinate, Hol-
land and ths Alps, with sprinkling from
ireland and Wales, and their offspring,
did not in themselves create an empire,
they certainly produced material enough
for state greater in resources and very
nearly rs large in population as the state
OF DelaWare..
"Lancaster city was the centre, as long
as so year ago, of a banking business
larger, perhaps, than that OF any town in
tho state, outside of its two leading cities.
This III connection with its several courts,
including tie occasional sittings of the
supreme court, and bar Of distinguished
ability, attracted business of various kinds.
The iron masters Of tho adjoining
counties, as we'll as those of the county
stca1 70
discounts, and for Furnaces owners to sell
| and forge owners to buy pig metal. The
furnaces located on the northern boundary
of the county and beyond it were noted
for the manufacture of 4 very superior
iron made from the red short ores of Corn.
wall. This brand Of pig iron was SO highly
priced by forgemen of that day that they
considered it a favor TO obtain it, even
thougl, they had to pay literally and
promptly for it. The rapid develop
| ment of the manufacture of iron with an
tbracite coal, and the discovery of other
ores deprived the old time brands of iron
| of their prestige. But as history repeats
| itself, the Cornwall ores have of late
| years come to the front again, and prove
to be peculiarly adapted to the production
of Bessemcr steel, for tho reason of the
small percentage of PHOSPHORUS that they
contain, therein differing from hematites,
which almost invariably contain an excess
of it. Phosphorus was the fly in the old
iron masters ointment. and ono OF them
once used ore SO highly charged with it
that his iron was so brittle that it broke
like glass, and wac therefore, hard to
dispose of. Having sold lot of it to a
gluomaker, on speculation, the wags Of
the trade insiste& that it was good for
| nothing else. But if he could como back
now ho would find that his enemy had
been throttled by discovery that neutra-
Lies it in hematities, even to the extent of
making them availabl3 for steel. .......
The "Swan" kOIol.
the old public house known by the sign
of the "Swan," in the town OF Lancaster,
was in it's day one of the most noted houses
Of public entertainment in the interior OF
the state. Located on q corner of Centre
Square under the shadow Of the old court
house, with its four facades furnished
with massive doors, facing the cardinal
points Of the compass-with extended
fronts of plain brick, on two thoroughfares,
gave it a prominence that distinguished it
as one of the best hotels in the town. 1t
presented none of the outward display
OF verandas. and glib windows of mod
ern hotels, but exhibited rather a
modest exterior, while the classic
bird from which its name was derived,
appeared on sign suspended over the
entrance. Tho Swan" was noted as
far back as Revolutionary times for its
good fare and genial hosts, among whom
were Lough, Parker, Stehman and others.
1t was the house that before tho era of
railroads attracted wealthy and influential
-hn H.,
veyapces from the East and South, to and
fro over the macadamized road leading to
Philadelphia. If q modern hotel register
had been kept, the guests of the "Swan -
j would be found to have comprised many
historical names, especially when the Con.
tinental Congress halted in the old town in
its flight from Philadelphia at the time OF
its capture by tho British army. Among
the frequent guests Of the house were the
distinguished jurists, JJhn B. Gibson,
William Tilghman, MoultOn G. Rogers,
Thomas Duncan and Charles Huston, all
members of the supreme court. To the
eyes of a school boy, that looked through
then, there was one OF these worthless, ut
least, who did not look every inch judge,
though it required a goodly number OF
inches to go round his huge form. His
gait was ambling and awkward, like DR..
JOhnson's, l presume and with shoes
united, minus neck tic, and clothes q
misfit, he did not look tO ba what John
Banister Gibson really was, one of the
most profound judges in the world, whose
decisions are not only quoted throughout
this country, but in tho courts of Great
; Britain as well. The burly chief Justice
was not only noted for great requirements
in Jurisprudence, but was also q skilled
performer on tho violin. Genius is privi
legged, and used to be largely indulged;
; but l never heard that the judge comprO
missed his dignity, as Jack Ogle, mem
Der of Congress from our state, did by
vocal accomplishments to his fiddle of such
songs as Jeannette and Jeannot, with an
occasional ''double shuffle," such rs
Thackery was wont to indulge in.
"But it is the growth of the iron trade
and the general development that has at
tended it that we are more especially con-
ceruad in. The old time iron masters
who frequented the "Swan were not
much given to scientific discussion. Fine
horses for draft or speed timber lands,
that would yield big crop of cord wood
to tho acre; theoretical farming and other
kindred topics, engaged much more OF
their attention than speculatiOns Oh the
philosophy Of the lines of crucibles and
boshes, and the importance of the analysis
OF ores aud fluxes. There was brother
chip Of the trade from Adams county,
who i0ired these occasional meetings,
nearly two and a-half score years
ago. He was preceded by big reputa-