Connecticut western news., 1889-10-30

o nd there convert it into ck 70 be used in the furnaces. Tn coal is carried in open wagons hol. 125 for more) bushels. Ia form. says 1t was considered cheaper to carry the ore to the charcoal, for smelling, and in pursuing this idea a large furnace was established near the summit of Mt Riga, one of the peaks of the Taconic range, near beautiful but still nameless lake, which is 1400 feet (by actual measurement) above sea level Near this altitude fourishing village soon sprang up with its shops and other village appurtances, so that for time Riga rivalled in prosperity the villages in the valley below. Its success, however, was short-lived. Cottages, shops, store, furnace, all disappeared and now all that remains to mark the site of prosperity and industry are the broken dam, the ruined furnace stack looking like the "Don Jon" keep of some old castle, and few scattered houses, picturesque in their dilapidation. Among the families of the miners and coal-smeared inhabitants of Salisbury or Mt Riga are to be found such patronymics as Ostrander, Suy- dam, and the like, showing their Dutch origin. One of the iron companies rh% ko spfr o1o of laborers and colony of negroes was esta Dlished on the mountain west of the little lake above referred to, but either from jealousy on the part of the Hollanders or some other cause, the experiment failed, but the memory of the unsuccessful project is retained in the nomenclature of the mountains "Nigger Bust" being the local name for the place, given it by the Dutch colliers who succeeded the negro colony. The life of the collier is one of hard ship and privation. During the severi- tY of our New England winter, increas- ed by the high altitude of labor-feld, cutting, piling and drawing the wood required for the charcoal, plying his axe on the steep mountainside on the tract of land he has undertaken to coal, which is technically called his bush and which is of greater or less extent, according to his ability and necessity. Summer brings no rest. His coal-pit is constructed in the shape of 8 hay-stack, and when completed and the fire is applied he does not leave it night or day until the conversion of the wood into charcoal is accomplished. When talking with one of these colliers, a grimy, coal-stained man, the pink ot his eyelids showing, his eyes gleaming through the accumulation of coal dust that besmeared his face, he told me that his home was hole in the ground, near his coal-pit few bundles of straw and couple of Mackinac blankets constituted his bed, while coffee-pot and frying-p hanging from 2 bough of the tree near clear, bubbling spring were his cooking utensils. A piece of salt pork, few pounds of corn meal. a little tea or coffee were the contents of his larder In spite of wind, cold or rain each night he must several times see that the pit was covered and be sure that the fire would not break out. He assured me too, that his face and hands had not been washed since he fired his pit, month before, alleging as reason that no collier who permit ed the coal dust to accumulate on his body ever became ill and that, with all the trial and hardship to which he was subjected, his al f1'esco life was the pleasantest occupation he knew and he would exchange it for no other, yielding the same compensation. His father and grandfathers for three generations had followed the same occupation. and, ir all probability, his descendants for as many more generations would follow ir their footsteps. It should be stated that all the colliers employed in the Salisbury iron region are not descen dents of the Dutch settlers in fac during the past 50 years the majority of the colliers were Frenchmen an6 their descendants have almost entirely superseded the Dutch colliers. Fol the past 20 years large share of the charcoal consumed by the furnaces II this region has been obtained iron kilns in Vermont, also in the noun tains west of the Hudson river ani from points in Connecticut nea
 Winsted, New Hartford, Canton. Sims bury and in fact as far east as Colches ter beyond the Connecticut river Tn, charcoal was transported by rail in car
 holding 1900 or more bushels, but thu wood has accumulated again on tn, mountains nearer the furnaces so tha for many years to come it will not b.
 necessary to go such long distance
 after charcoal.
 While mentioning the cannon, mad
 at Amesville, which were used at thu
 siege of Charleston, the fact should als'
 have been stated that the iron whicl
 plated the original Montor, that littl
 Yankee cheese box" which whipped tho Marrimoo i'm tho yon6orful pouo