New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-12-27
HANGING ROCK IRON REGION
THE GOOD WORK OF SOUTHERN aRor,
TIOyIyT
GRADUAL GROWTH OF GREAT ISDusrRy-pvxx
FITS or pROTFCrtox

GRADUAL GROWTH OF 0aEAr ISDUsrRY-nvxx
FITS or PROTECTION.
ASHLAND KY Dec. 1s-Ffve miles below the mouth Of
the Big sandy River and fronting Ohio ia the cts
VI '"ia"'i name given IT some seventy years ago BIZ
company OF Hentuckians. who were devoted friends NJ
Henry Clay and who expected TO build here city tha
should spass all others centre for ana
the multiplied Industries that follow In its wake SO thew
called the town Ashland after the name of their eade
"oncs'ead ana iaid IL out into streets and blocks on
scale commensurate with their ambitious designs Tbc
site was well chosen for the country for mie
abounded in iron and limestone Unfortuna,elv o.,
Them they had little practical knowledge Of the busine.
they managed badly the enterprise failed and the pron
erty passed into other hands.
In 1919 there went from spartanburg g. to Hanging
Rock the Ohio side OF the river n certain
man named John Means. carrying his slaves
with him. He was abolitionist but not
being able to manumt his slaves in his native
State he sold his possessions there with his family
and negroes emgrated to the point where no
could set them free.
In 1926 John Means built charcoal furnace near his
home, and began the manufacture Of pig IRON. The
Unon-as he named twas the first iron furnace north
Of the Ohio in this district. in which there are now
nearly threescore and although built four miles from
Hanging Rock. its product known by that name,
which eventually extended to this entire iron region
which lies in the three States OF Kentucky Ohio and West
Virginia, and Is fully hundred miles in diameter.
Hanging Rock proper was the shipping point on the Ohio
River then and for years aterward and this doubtless
was the chief reason for the adoption OF that name
In Ashland your correspondent met Mr.. Thomas ".
Means. of the pioneer furnace builder This
gentleman, now eighty-three years DID, has
vivid recollection Of those early times,
and OF the hardships which all who
made iron had to endure because Of eerade tendencies
ard laws He speaks with enthusiasm of the prosperity
that began when the Wings got power and restored
nd paafn hQ
disasters that followed the mischeyous legislation of
President Folks period. and the long hard struggle the
iron had until the first Republican Congress put pro-
lection into the tariff again This venerable gentleman
talks OF What he knows In 1887 he leased the Union
furnace Of his father and since he has been con-
nected with it as lessee owner At first they made
from three four tons day. and when they Increased
the output thirty tons week considered won
derful performance There three furnaces where
Mr. Means began known as the Pine Grove furnaces but
when called the Ohio put up which had capaci
ty OF from TO twelve tons daily Mr. Means enlarged
Grove. and bought and operated coal mine three miles
distant The ore used was DroTn nonaat d wnlca
OF the iron business between 1897 and ls45 were the
most remarkable OF any in the history industry In
this country Great depression in every kind OF manu-
isctufing followed by few years or bloyancy, and
then the political pendulum swung backward all too
and many hopeful industry was destroyed and s
enterpnsins owners ruined Speaking OF those days MI
cents bushel and wheat from "a 26 cents Wages
for competent laborers were only $40 month madea
trip NewOreans and saw wheat sold there fora quarter
of dollar bushe and corn on the cob at the same price
per barrel We used only maple sugar In those days and
paid the mOasses 80 cents gallon. Our
woollen goods were woven on hand looms II took six
yards Of calico to make dress ana the material cost
than there then in the county We saw no gold
ton was Chiefly bills Of state banks and those were con
tinually breaking. The tariff proectonists believed
in Henry Clay and THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE L was q
subscriber to paper the time it started used
to buy many extra copies Tor my workmen 10 hep tnem
going but sold very little rOn only enough to keep me In
ready money Charcoal iron then worth from 81 TO
tons Next year il advanced TO $40. which thought
fine lift In 1864 it netted me $50 ton. For ccht
IN debt bat creditors did not distress them for they were
afraid Of iron the only asset they could get and SO theY
round for better times We are all right and so is tho
such was the statement OF this venerable gentleman,
who for more than hfty years was actively identified win
the iron industry first as his fathers assistant and later
six furnaces In all Of which he retains an interest
district to great advantage Instead Of few small char
coal furnaces there are now great number most OF
Thefe great coke blast fngnaes;, using in
Of 1905 tons Of pig iron day. Or OF 500 tons for 500
working days To produce this they require l,!97ooo
ore that would trains Of twenty
each every day ofthe 300 TO keep up their supply This
charcoal furnaces of the district Few of these using
furnaces running TO their full capacity and until
Gently many Oh tHeun were sldllulng luit Mr JONI
Means, grandson OF the pioneer ironmaker and presi
dent of the Ashland Coal and Iron Railway Company
planned the for this stagnation These in
brief the giving out OF the local supply OF highgrade
hematite the low price which iron has command
ed for several years. and the of bringing coke
and ore to the furnaces. They could not compete
with Chattanooga. Birmingham and Pttsburg in
making highgrade pig Laterly they have been using
peculiar soft ore found in this vicinity which makes an
Iron similar Scotch pig and used for the same purposes
Formerly they bought the Marquette Lake superior ORE
but the cost Of is for its profitable
employment when prices low they have been OF
late.
This gentleman and Mr. John RUSSELL president of tho
Norton Iron Works. told your that all tho
of the district awaiting anxously the
the Chatero Railroad coal beds OF tho
Big Sandy and OF Southwestern Virginia and to unctou
the gauge railroad that carries Bessemey
ores from Cranberry n. c.. to Johnson City, Tenn.