The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1905-11-10

K
but the records Of the Thomas Iron Com
pany show that the compapy bought z !
coo tons Of Richard mine ore from Nc
Farlan on January g. 1886, for 1927 a
ton, delivered at the Morris Canal
At that time the Morris Canal afforded
the only means Of transportation, and
thesiron ore was carried to the canal in
wagons. On February /, 1889, the rec
ords Of the company show that its board
of directors authorized the building Of a
horse railroad from the mine to the canal,
but fox some reason the plans did not
mature On the completion of the Nor
ris and Essex Railroad to Phillipsburg,
in 1865, arrangements were made to
build steam railroad from the mines to
Wharton, then known as Port Dram, and
ship ore by an all-rail route Owners of
other mines joined with the Thomas Iron
Company in building the Mt Hope Min
eral Railroad which was opened on No
yember Z, 1867. The capital stock of
the railroad company is $160, 900, and
there is no bonded Indebtedness. On
April 1, 1876, the High Bridge branch
of the Central Railroad of New Jersey
was opened to Port Dram, and this, too.
connected with the mine, railroad
The Richard mine contains several
shoots of ore, two of which are worked
at the present time. No. / shoot. called
the Mt. Pleasant, is the farthest north,
and was worked first, but was later
abandoned, and No. 2, the Richard vein,
everything the Mt. Pleasant, was opened.
In 1893 a crosscut was driven and CON
nections were made between the two
veins, which are about 800 feet apart, at
depth of Al feet There are three
slopes in the Richard vein going down
on the foot wall, No. / being 535 feet
deep; No. 2, $50 feet; No. 3, 1888 feet.
There are two slopes on the Mt. Pleas
ant vein. No being 93S feet deep and
No. 6. 900 feet deep. A new slope, No.
5, was begun on August /, 1896, and
completed April 80, 1901 Through this
ore is now hoisted from both shoots.
This loop has length of S68 feet, with
a vertical depth of 6S5 feet. The total
output of the mine from the time it was
purchased by the Thomas Iron Company
in 1854 to February %, 1904, a period
of fifty years, was 2,212,S3 tons, an av-
erage of 1900 tons a year. This aver
| age output for the first eight years OF
! that time was II ,S63 tons, and for the
last eight years 101 $50 tons. The
greatest amount mined in any one year
was 122,Oc0 tons.
| James Arthur, the present superinten-
dent took charge of the mines OIL Janu-
ary l, 1895, and he has taken out in the
ten years he has been in charge as much
ore, over million tons in all, as was
mined in the thirty eight years the com
pany worked the mine before he came to
Mt Hope.
| The Richard, ore is magnetic ore of
high grade. the average analysis for the
| last twelve years of over a million tons,
every shipment being sampled, being
6O.19 per cent. metallic iron. The high
est percentage shown in any one analysis
was 61.S9 cent. and the lowest 1854 pei
cent
During the year 1900 the mine was
equipped with new Babcock & Wilcox
boilers of i ,250 horsepower and an Inger.
soil compressor with compound Corliss
engine of $50 horsepower, together with
other new machinery, at a cost of S6S. All
In 1903 and 1904 the mine was equipped
with electrical machinery, so that now all
the hoisting is done by electricity. The
mine is one of the best ventilated mines
in the country. AS all the workings are
connected, there is a strong natural draft
When Mr.. Arthur took charge of the
mine in 1895 it was thought that the
mine was nearly played out. Since then
as has aheadv been told, over million
tons, as much as was mined in thirty
eight years before, has been taken out
and this last summer prominent mining
engineer, after careful examination ol
the mine, reported that there was still
100000 tons of ore to be taken out
About 300 men are employed in the mine
/ DRIVEN OUT BY FIRE