The age-herald., 1898-07-31
THE BROWN ORES H
 OF PINE RIDGE An Immense Deposit Near This City in
 Jefferson County. RICHEST ORES IN DISTRICT President Haas, of the SloSS Company, SeizeS a Great Opportunity.
ADVANTAGES OF BROWN ORES
The Cost of Iron to Be Gut Down a Dollar Ton, and Pittsburg and All Other Rivals to Be
 DiStanced

In the northern section Of JeHerSon coun- | ty is the hopeful little town of Leeds. It l is within the range of the whistles Of Bir- mingham, so that the hours of labor can | be and are regulated by them, after | journey over many a hill and pleasant val | ley. It is also within the range of Jeffer- l sons excellent chert-macadamfzed roads. It is the source of Brminghams Cahaba river water supply. All about 1t are great | fields of corn and cotton, and splendid l growths of pine and hard woods-a fruitful valley enclosed on the one side by Pine | Ridge, on the other by Oak Ridge, both extending to Gadsden, running parallel to our own Red mountain.
 In these two ridges, on their eastern slopes, with outcrops near their tops, are great stra tified deposits of rich brown hem- atite iron ore-the richest, well as the nearest to the courthouse, in the Birming- ham district There are brown ores in pockets in other parts of the Birmingham district, but it is indeed doubtful whether there are elsewhere in the district persist ent veins of brown ore of unmistakable and proven stratifcation. The outcroppings of the veins are fully fifty feet wide, and they extend to unknown depths under cover at an angle in conformity with the forma- tion of the country. The sloss iron and Steel company have secured along each ridge about three miles of mineral wealth. and the company is unable to determine ,which ridge offers the richer prospects Both hold an abundance of ore.
 But Pine Ridge is the nearer of the two to the main line of the Southern and the Central of Georgia railroads, and spur of about four miles in length, from the form CT, is nearly completed to the openings | made by the Sloss company on Pine Ridge. l It is a busy place at the end of the spur. There may be seen great cuts in the side of the mountain, exposing a wealth of brown ore, and showing beyond all question what the ridge holds that will make--for l the good of the district and of the enter | prising Sloss company. MT. F. B. Elliott, | Leeds most active and prominent friend, | expresses the hope that President Haas | will decide to call the mines at this point | the Ellen Castleman mines, in honor of an excellent young lady who grew to wo-
 
 l the neighborhood. The busy town that | is springing up at the end of the spur should be called Castleman, for no one has had greater faith in Pine Ridge than the Assistant General Manager of the Sloss company. He may be said to be it's de- veloper, as he was for a long time its only champion As a matter of fact it may truly be said that the development of these
 
 mans unfinching faith in them and to the | splendid nerve of President Haas in sup plying the money needed to turn this faith | into demonstration.
 These are busy times at Castleman, as The Age-Herald will call the new town | for brevitys sake. Under the supervision of Mr. J. L. Goodson, who has had im- l mediate charge of the prospecting work, and has at all times had implicit faith in 1 the ores of the locality, quarters by the | dozen are going up for, both white and colored; a commissary has been establish | ed, and a pumping station, containing three boilers and an engine of over one hundred horsepower, put in operation. This engine drives a pump that removes dirt, rocks l trees, or whatever comes under the force of its nozzle upon the hill. Picks and show l els and carts are unknown at Castleman. All dirt is removed by hydraulic force. l Three men at the nozzle do the work of | one hundred men working in the old-time way with pick and shovel. At the time
 of The Age-Heralds visit the great stream ! was washing into shape a railroad cut, tearing away tons of earth and carrying | them down the hill. The water flows back to its source, to be again and again pump ed up. The eight-inch stream is reduced at the nozzle to two inches, and there is no l job of dirt moving so heavy or so deli cate that it cannot cope with. The work | is done quickly and with wonderful econ omy. This plant will uncover the ore vein,