Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-07-16
FROM FREDERICK.
The Mineral Deposits Of the Neighbour
hood-Extensive Ocher Mines.

Correspondents Of TEE EVENING STAR
FRKDKRIcK, Nd, July IS
good deal Of interest has been aroused
lately in the mineral resources of this county
and the attention of outside capitalists has
been attracted to q considerable extent The
discovery of what may be termed mountain
Of paint ut the Catoctin furnaces, Is miles from
Frederick and miles from Mechanicstown. is
the latest marvel in the line of the county's
valuable hidden resources. The ocher mines
have been known to exist for some time, the
clay having been greatly enhanced in value by
the percolation Of the water over the iron ore,
for at the same spot the very finest quality Of
iron has been dug out for more than hundred
years past. The ocher mines cover IL, 900 acres
of land all of which is underlaid with the rich
and wonderful deposit Of paint ore, including
ocher. sienna, and umber, all in large quanti-
ties and equal to the best imported minerals.
An especially rich vein of pale yellow ocher has
been found. This, Mr.. Sutherland, who is an ex-
pert says is superior to the Chinese ocher which
is Of such great value that few American dealers
can afford to handle it. The strata Of ocher
follow each other in regular succession, show
ing lumber and manganese in large quantities,
also white paint clays, and, nearer the iron ore
veins, blues, from which, by degrees of firing,
many shades of pearly grays are obtained
BY the same process siennas Of varying depths
are produced as well as a metallic dark
brown. Mr.. Steiner Schley of this city, who is
an expert chemist. was the first to discover the
true value of the ocher beds and succeeded in
interesting MIR. VIM b. Price of Baltimore in
the matter. The result was the formation of q
stock company and the purchase from the
Catoctin Mountain iron company. owners of
the mines and furnaces at Catoctin, of the
10, coo acres of land composing the ocher beds.
The company is now known as the Catoctin
Mountain paint company, and has been incor-
porated with capital stock Of $4,000. A
mill has been erected near the mines for the
purpose of grinding the clay and thirty men are
employed. The clay is first dried, then crushed
between rollers and finally run through boiling
cloth, when it is reduced to very fine powder
and Is ready for shipment to the mixing mills
in all parts Of the country
A series or exciting and interesting athletic
sports was given at the fair grounds here
Saturday under the auspices of the Frederick
City Young Mems Christian association. The
fastest time in a contest for a state record was
made by w. II. Comfort, who ran a mile in
minutes. The successful contestants were: G.
X. Ely, heavy hammer throwing, distance 80
feet inches; ". L. Rice, 100 yard dash. time
1924 seconds; c. K. Ely, putting shot, distance
80 feet 81 inches; W. L. Kolb, running broad
jump, distance IA feet 8 inches; c. r. Ely, run
ming high jump, distance feet u inches; ].
b. Krise, / mile walk, time 9 minutes q
seconds; A. r. Wallace, / mile bicycle race,
time minutes seconds
A horse with which Mr. ]. Roger McSherry
OF Frederick was driving home from Mrs.
Dahlgren's on Saturday night met with a
peculiar accident at Bolivar, near Middletown.
A wheel of the buggy ran over the handle of
pitchfork which had fallen in the road from
the top Of hay wagon. The prongs of the
fork were shot into the air with great force,
and, striking the horse in the flank, cut deep
and fatal cash. F. II.