Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1884-10-09
THE MEN Oh =
A Special Train Of Charcoal iron
Workers Visit The Pilot Knob
Mine.

q The delegation, representing the Charcoal
Iron Workers Association, arrived in tn
4 Valley about one o'clock Friday evening
Mrs. A. Robertson, of the Arcadia House
set out an excellent dinner for the repre-
sentatives. Many compliments, expressed
in plain but Observation-Disclosures, were giver
the house for the splendid entertainment
provided. After partaking of the etlibles
| the visitors were taken to the "knob.'
i From the instant the eXcursionists caught ,
glimpse of Pilot Knob until they entered the
/! train that was to run" them safe and sound
i'll st. Louis, nothing but words of admira.
ton was heard. And rs Mr.. A. T. Hoffer
of st. Louis, said: 'sFrom the short express
sions we hear-the 'beautifuls,' sn,agnifi
cents etc., we can only infer the English
language has not the words necessary to
convey our admiration of the scenes pres
ent to our view" The ladies and gentle
men, some fifty or sixty. after aighting from
the train. at the depot ut Pilot Knob, were
escorted by Messrs. G. w. Craine, w. G.
| Dilts, Geo. c. Simpson, Jno. II. Delano,
| Thos. Beard and several other gentlemen,
| UP the hill to the mouth of No. 3 Tunnel.
! Upon arriving there they were advised to
| rest few minutes, as to enter the tunnel in
the sweltering heat resulting from the climb,
would be far from healthful. A few minutes
| were allowed, and they entered No. Tun-
mel. How the gentlemen wished they had
overcome their streak of laziness and had
brought their coats up the hill with them
They went through No. Tunnel, up the
chute into No. 2, and then into No. /. The
way was rough-Yery rough-as it was; if it
had not been for the boards laid in the tun-
nels, and the rocks, in some places neces-
sary to cross, laid out straight, the passage
would have been almost impossible. Cries
of delight could be heard from all sides.
Men who were well acquainted with the
workings of mines, men who knew a good
mine and could tell when it was worked
properly, were loud in their praise of the
management of the mines.
Leaving No. Tunnel they were shown to
the top of the "Knob." The scene from
there, according to their account, was grand,
sublime. But, scarcely had they reached
the summit, when the whistle of the engine
on their special train was heard calling them,
and they were compelled to commence the
descent Immediately. They were, thus, al
lowed but one hour and a half to examine a
mine that they could have devoted whole
day to, and still have missed seeing objects
that were worthy of attention.
The following were among those present:
Ihos. j. Scott and wife, of Saint Louis;
Gen. j. A. Macarthur, of Shelbyville, Ala;
Geo. Noble, of Andistone, Ala; w. III. Lee,
OF Midland Furnace, Mo-; W. F. Miller and
wife, of New York; A. T. Hoffer, of st.
Louis; 1. G. White, of Ft. Wayne, Ind; G.
f. Baker and wife, of St. Louis; E. A. Hitch
cock, of st. Louis; VIM. Warren, Jr., of 1e-
cumseh Iron Works: e. C. Potter, of st.
Louis; A. j. Sypher, of Iron Mountain; -
Foote and sister, of Salem, Mo-. j. F. Coffee
and wife, of Steelyille, Mo-; VIM. Fayel,
representing the Missouri Republican; NJ.
Haglin, wife and daughter, of New Jersey;
David Carson, of Sligo Furnance, Mo-; and
Elliot Todd, of st. Louis.
The delegation left the "Knob" more than
pleased with their trip, Many were heard
to say that although it was terribly hard
work to examine the mines, they would go
through all the hardship again to see sight
equally as grand. The management deserves
great credit for the expense and trouble
they went to in putting the tunnels in such
excellent shape for the incursion.
In conclusion, we take from Mr.. Fayel's
interesting account of the excursion, one or
two paragraphs which will be relished by
everyone: "Pilot Knob is a conical hill
nearly circular with diameter at its base of
about a mile. It's top is 662 feet above the
surrounding plateau and 1,521 feet above
tide. 1t is composed of porphyries and beds
of specular iron ore. In 1886 the Pilot Knob
land was entered by Van Doren, Pease &
Co., who proceeded to form company for
speculation. They purchased the Iron
Mountain and laid out city. The Pilot
Knob works were begun in November, 1S4S,
under the management of G. e. Ziegler and
e. f. Pratt. In 1913 E. Mead shipped metal
from Iron Mountain to England, and the
following spring received it back manufac-
tured into razors and cutlery by Rodgers &c
Son of Sheffield. The Republican reporter
goes back to the time when all the ore taken
out was from the great porphoritric slabs OH
the top of the Knob. About 1863 he visited
the Knob with 800 school girls from the pub
lie schools of st. Louis, who had craze to
see the sun rise from the top of the Knob.
Mr. S. d. Barlow, G.. W. Dreyer and old
Prof. Tracy were in charge of the excursion.
The party left st. Louis at night and ar
rived at Pilot Knob, and mounted to the top
in time to see-what could be seen by any
early riser in ST. Louisa glorious sunrise.
The next year there was a congressional ex-
cursion to Pilot Knob, old Ben Wade and
other distinguished senators and ladies be-
ing among the eXcursionists. The great at
traction then was George Francis Train,
who stood high as 4 writer and eccentric
orator. Train headed the party, ascending
the tramway to the top, composed of 800
ladies and gentlemen. With his coat off, he
ran up ahead and would declaim verse
from Longfellow's 'EXcelsior," and when
the main body got up he would skip up still
higher and repeat another verse. He was
really the life and wit of the excursion. On
reaching the top call was made by some
one for a speech from Train, and, mounting
the very highest rock on the peak, he began
his speech, belaboring England and its free
trade doctrines, his bitter opposition to
England mt that time amounting to mono
mania. Ben Wade, dull, great man,
couldn't stand it, and started down the hill,
which was signal to the obsequious idiots
to follow, and Train was left on the hill
without an auditor except two or three re-
porters, who were disguised in missing
pungent speech. But England and old Wade