The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-14
IRON MOUNTAINS STORY.
COLLAPSE OF A BELIEF OF HALH
A CENTURY ACC.

I'm the Industrial history OF these United
States are many chapters which read like ro-
manccs or fairy tales" began the mine %oiorator
from Missouri. fetching a sigh like the blow
ing.off OF a boiler. This IL the way l In
variably preface the story OF the rise and de-
cline OF the Iron Mountain Company. which
some time ago offered for sale all It's lands IN
southeast Missouri. more than 10000 acres.
together with shops. houses. and buildings OF
all kinds. And for what purpose were they
offered. do you suppose? Why. for farming and
stock raising. Think OF that!
There was n time when iron mining
promised to be tho greatest resource OF Mis-
souri,. Iron Mountain was discovered early in
the history of tho Mississippi Valley by the
French. whose faculty for smelling out markets
able minerals was phenomenal. The discovery
was speedily advertised to the civilized world.
and Iron Mountain in the Biographies and
geologies OF our grondfathers occupied a
unique position as a solid mountain OF iron
ore and the largest deposit In the world. All
sorts OF beautiful scientific fairy tales about
the inexhaustible mountain OF iron were see
afoat. and. listening to tho scientific Ander-
sens who told them, a number OF mining ex-
perts and capitalists organized a company In
1916 to relieve Iron Mountain OF its deposits.
The initial step taken by the company was
the purchase Of a great tract OF land. known a.
the JOSEPH Pratte grant. whose geographical
centre was occupied by Iron Mountain. This
was an ancient Spanish grant Of something
more than 1900 acres. made to Joseph Pratte
when Spain was in possession Of oil the territory
then exposed. consisted OF a cliff or lofty pin
nacle two or three acres in extent, which rose
ffSspf nenr tSa. centre mt g @ ot the @ M aoSnf ''f for-
phyry soil, rich in detached pieces OF iron ore,
several several f tas r snd q ths sh Srs %S %orE N t. sRs 9 s Ssnta %.
consisted IN getting out this Loose ore
an adjoining mountain. and a stream OF
l meter m In the 1S,N yq 9HS .c was ID damned .ntsef farming sssIn a
and lake still exist as testimonials OF the conf
t dsnGe e shs rT9nstefFs h h1d W in sae l ReGna me isf g.
was pumped to the big reservoir and thence
p y to The ia, dr on M9u5R ia sn,I where T. wH a sens'
and leaving the ore to be gathered and carrieds'
Tvs shelters were built and a great deal o,|
some time previous e the construetiqno OF az
and pig iron were transported BY OK and mule ]
teams to Ste. Genevieve, on the ,Mississippi
Of the compqny,s own plank road, From Ste,
deneyieye the iron was sent epto to St; Louis and
Even in the earliest times the operationsne
the tn n Iron nqod M9Inntai sca COMPANY nnyd TsEe o ef9n6d oTse
mules and oxen were bought to TRANSPORT ths
ore. and a farm Of nearly, 1000 acres was
the neaes sna put proT Haasr s snd pastara to riF og y tas
a anIa}aisd ! FER oH many m.I years H,r, the regular S1lna. i9Tf E
G %inins. a@ %, ting m eransp xatioasi los aiissHs sSa IN
coal burning. farming. DC. A city soon, sprane
into existence. and for a considerable time was
the Iron Mountain Railroad. with the exception
Of Ct; Louis, At one time its population
" stores. foundries. machine shops. carpen-
ter shops. CHURCHES. schools, a large, hotel.
%e4o e I9S@sdi b bs The 'Tfe Fon s1o nE n e9a PsT9s
and everything necessary to a city Of its size.
days It was one o. the best markets St Louis
there by the commission merchants in great
quantities. and prices which in the present dav
received. In those ,ttopian days little farming
was done in the vicinity OF, the town. the one
all-consuming industry being mining and it's
At this time the Bessemer process Of smelt-
ccTIaIsiEyseiiy." for. the burning II Of Which Sh' i Ins%
quantities Of timber were essential, Fortu-
aanidsE iyy t nnl fent part and Of ch ths sarn manS Tss splHinz
became a most important branch OF the opera.
tons. When all the timber on the original
sure. it did not take, the company long to cx-
hapst it; add i. lands were bought as re,
S oo11nnSp%a %11 raa raS aI the t%p pc shs t to}al % Of sP;6@
acres. Practically all the available wood on
| coal by the time the Bessemer process came
into universal use. Then the company discon-
tinued smelling at Iron Mountain. and only tho
The period Of greatest activity in working
s"s lafe N Of ths company %tpH i? in 1859. IN" sci teN'e
and the mining world awaited the results OF
done with a view to attacking tho great cliff %
ore in the centre OF the mountain. and the
treasures were expected to. rcvolutlonize min
ing, And. indeed. never before had such min-
orc projected above the surface and had to be-
shunted down to earth before it could be trans
ported. But the combined efforts Of engineers
and the work nf an army Of workman nrn-
vailed over ali obstacles and difficulties. and
the disintegration of the cliff was triumphant'y
begun. Not only was the ore easily mined. but
it proved to be one of the highest grade ores
ever discovered, for it averaged "a per cent. OF
telling what great upheaval in the iron trade
might haye resulted, so readily was it obtained.
no sign or hint Of the exhaustion OF the ore.
Iron Mountain was ever bpSy prospGrous to an
other Places besides. The ore was taken QUO
BY millions Of tons Money poured into ne,
employees had pie for, breakfast. and thers.
were moro sunday clothes in the town than
"EThe mining had proceeded for nearly fifty
feet below, the leyel Of the mountain top when
S Snt as lsf the h iron TIVE was ar di. cGnshed ' sf.or R2TP afye2:
ward to extend down on both sides OF this for
mati2n not much attention was paid to i or its
feet in diameter in the body Of the ore: Down
further y went the Ed drill and the ore began to
yards into the mountain and then referring out.
More and more porphyry protruded heads into
the ore body until it was entirely sliced up nv
the rock and nothing was left but pockets here
and there. Al asst even the pockets gave out
when the mining had reached a point In tho
mountain nearly on a level with the surround:
ing valley. Iron Mountain had been scraped
no longer.
Mining engineers were hastily summoned
by the company. They decided that this de-
post was only a detached body OF ore, and THAI
couraged the company bored to great depths at
various points without vindicatinR expert
opinion. Not another trace Of iron could they
discover. So new theories had to be advanced
TO suit the. case and account for these largs
pockets OF iron ore. The explanation now gen.
orally accepted is that the immense deposits
were aqueous instead of igneous in formation.
and. therefore, no mother lode existed from
which they could have been detached. Whether
that theory is correct or not, the fact remains
that after taking out 3.5OO.O 900 tons Of about as
rich ore as was ever mined in the world tho
great Iron Mountain has, become a thing OF
shrunk TO, a corporal's guard, who are now
employed in Scrapiug w and sorting the last
and least OF tho tailluRS. prp yiOuS TO nbandOu-