The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-06-26

RON is the backbone OF American
manufacturing Industry, and so 1t Is
the backbone of the immense traffic
OF the Great Lakes, and of the busy
life of that part OF Minnesota. Michigan
and Wisconsin bordering on Lake Su.
perior. the greatest of the Great Lakes.
For instance. last season the traffic
through the canals Mt Sault Ste. Marie.
Mich. the outlet OF Lake Superior,
amounted to tt27o.8s0 tons. including
shipments both ways. or this imposing
total. vastly exceeding the business of the
great Suez Canal, 1880, 637 tons were
iron ore, bound down the lakes from the
Lake Superior iron districts - be worked
Up into pig iron, and thence into the fin
ished products In the smelters and fac
tories OF the East.
In the production ana transportation OF
iron ore In the Lake Superior district
millions OF capital are Invested and thous-
nnds OF men are employed. And yet
large part of the several processes at
tending the mining ana shipment of iron
ore Is done by purely mechanical means.
so that from mine to smelter human
hands scarcely ever touch the unprom-
Using piles of red. brown and yellow ma
terial that goes into the manufacture OF
Iron and steel.
The Initial stages OF the process by
which our structural iron. our railroad
steel. our plows and knives and nails are
made are tinged with the romance OF
human achievement. Fascinating, indeed.
are the exhibits OF human ingenuity that
have been devised to enable man to bet
ter and more quickly reap the rich fruits
OF natures benevolence.
Iron ore Is scooped out Of the earth by
giant steam shovels. dumped by them into
cars. shot by mechanical means from
cars Into pockets In the ore docks. and
finally dumped by gravity into the holds
of vessels to be carried a thousand miles
to the Eastern ports, where great clam
shell buckets dip into the interiors of
the ships and bite out great masses of
the freight. which they deposit with al
most human intelligence upon the cars
waiting to take the rich freight to the
smeiters.
The iron deposits Of the Lake Superior
region are scattered about the chores of
this greatest body of fresh water, chief
member OF the family of large waterways
known as the Great Lakes, which, like
cluster OF giant fingers. grasp large
proportion OF the traffic of the United
States and OF Its British cousin on the
north.
Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. in
the order named. furnish most of the
iron ore mined In this country. Mime
sofa alone furnishes nearly two-thirds OF
the American product, and her yield of
iron annually exceeds that of any single
nation on the globe other than Spain and
Great Britain. On the north shore of
Lake Superior. In Canada. there has late
ly appeared the beginning of the iron
mining Industry. and some considerable
deposits have been developed there. But
the Ave ranges" OF the three American
states named furnish not only the best
iron ore found In the world. but most OF
the worlds supply.
The ultimate value of iron ore depends
upon these three characteristics: First,
quality: second, accessibility, and third.
quantity. As to quality, the Lake Su-
perior iron Is the best there Is. highest
In percentage OF iron and lowest In per-
centage of deteriorating minerals. AS TO
accessibility. the deposits border the
lake, handy to ports where vessels of
10000 tons and more do nothing else but
handle II. As to quantity. the amount
is untold. and last years output of near
iy s5,ooo,ooo tons barely 'ssSs noticeable
dent In the supply.
The entire shipments OF iron ore from
the Lake Superior regions last year we,
"a. 3S3, 456 tons. the greatest output IN
their history. A small part OF this went,
In response to hurry.up calls from the
smelters during the season when naviga-
tion on the lakes was closed, by rail all
the way. small part too, was con-
sumed by local smelters and factories Mt
Duluth. The local consumption is ex-
pected to be larger shortly when the de-
velopment of water powers. now under
way. furnishes substitute for the lack
OF coal for power creation.
These shipments came from fve ranges,
as follows: Mesaba range. in Minnesota,
20. $4,000 tons; vermilion range, In
Minnesota. 1877. 1856 tons: Gogebic range.
IN Michigan. 3,T05.2o7 tons: Menominee
range. In Wisconsin. 4.495.451 tons; Mar.
Quette range. In Michigan. 4.2l0,522 tons;
miscellaneous Qrom wisconsin,. 1881
tons.
or these five ranges the youngest and
greatest and most interesting Is the
Assaba. which made its arst shipment In