Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-03-27

i Some Of the men who work in iso
lated and unfrequented places, us
candies or torch lights. A few lamp
with refiectors are stationed here an,
there, but
i THE ELECTRIC LIGHT
Is the chief dependence underground
| Forty of these lights are now in use
spreading their calm and steady whit
light in all directions through the darl
tunnels, drifts and galleries. One O
1 two Of the b0ye mum Der are stationed
on the surface at the openings and a.
| the furnace.
After the ore is blasted, shoyeler:
lnayyies) load it into wheelbarrows
and wheel it to stations or dumps
which shoot it into cars standing ready
| on tracks of steel TO receive 1t. At 4
| number Of places. the ore Is shoveled
directly into cars from where it Is
thrown by the blast. When loaded
| mules are attached to the cars and
drag them out TO the entrance At the
entrance the loaded cars are attached
to one end ola wire rope, the other end
| of which after passing around a large
iron pulley-wheel securely fastened on
q wooden frame) is, at the foot of the
mountain, ,at the other end of the track
attached TO a train which has been un-
loaded. The brakes are then let off.
and they go laundering down grade,
pulling up those attached at the other
end. Meeting midway, each switch
es off. and. in moment the dombte
voyage is done. The empties..are seiz-
ed upon, rushed underground, loaded,
returned, and again make the down
trip.
A find has recently been made on
the northern slope, ne2r the base, and
still another quite at the foot of the
NOUN tain, OF like kind and quality as
the vein now being worked higher up
These
TWO NEW FINDS
or veins-if we might call them veins;
as the solid rock has not been yet
reached, this may not be the proper
term-give promise Of large returns in
the near future On the day visited
them, there were fifty men at work on
the one last mentioned. All of the ore
found in this mine is of that class or
kind denominated blue specmlar.
thongh heasatite is found ON Shep-
herd Mountain, before mentioned.
the valley at and near the base of the
mountain has also been bored with
the diamond drill, and ore has been
found.
The ore is Of a very high grade THAT
mined on Pilot Knob, being as good
as any found on this continent, rank
ing with any found in the Lake Sape-
fSr iron region. a bout the best yield
for any iron ore is seyenry-Jwo per
cent of metallic iron; and very few,
if any, viii average that, as a contina-
ous thing. This ore runs from sixty
four 10 sixty-eight per cent. metallic
iron, and only loses from one to three
per cent. in smelling. Heretofore it
has been smelted when mixed with
other ores-hematite for instance-but
it is now being smelted in the compa
ay's furnace at Pilot Knob, without
any admixture save lines tone as a
lux, and this satisfactorily. That it
stands in high grade in the estima- |
ion of manufacturers goes without |
saying; witness the many large con- |
1raets filled with eastern men, with |
at or near eastern iron |
mines, and the many thousand tons |
put into Bessemer steel.
THE DEPOSIT Is 1sEXHAUsTIBLE,
md writer in a recent number of
Monthly was prcha bly,, not
ar wrong when he alleged that a mil |
ion tons per year could be taken out
a "a TWO b
These figures astonish the senses, but /
hey are based on an observation of an
freak OF nature.
The furnace, machine shops, several |
boilers and engines, air compressor,
generator, black
mith shops, coal sheds, offices, store,
woodward, etc, are found at the base
i the mountain on the northwest
ide, while few hundred yards west
yard stands the incorporated town OF
plot Knob. +
THE FURNACE +
5 one Of the best for this class Of ore in
he United States. 1t Is in operation +,
Inder the immediate control of Cap
ain Bebee, practical furnace man of
auch experience and great ability. He
ad charge of the furnace at Irondale
II many years, while it was operated
v Edwin Harrison, Esq, of St. Louis. i
he average time required in smelling
charge from dumping it from the
latform into the furnace, TO the tap /.
lug, is twenty hours. This, at times,
varied When the ore is refractory; !
Iings, sticks, refuses 10 run down, lin
sher words, when the metal refuses 10 /
eparate from impuritiesl, much more
me is required.
The greatest heat inside OF the furnace I
{ any time is eleven hundred degrees, {
ahrenheit. Coke is the fuel used, a |
reat quantity of which is now on {
and, having been shipped from {
rand Tower, H., and ConnelIsvi1le, !
q.
THE BLAST
eluired is furnished by an engine Of &
lore than three hundred horsepower, G
he piston rod of which is seventeen Q
et in length, which passes, through |
so immense cylinders, and whose
-roke Is six feet. e
Next 30 this stands the Rand Air
and the Dynamo Electric d
enerator, both OF which are above g
.ferred to, and further description 1
which is not given, for the good and a
reason the writer is not i
acquainted with nlachin- q
Y to do the subject justice. Il
In the Machine Shops are several t
,iiled mechanics, their time taxed TO .
le utmost in keeping the machinery Il
repair. setting I'D, p0 tting together.