The Newtown bee., 1909-08-27

ness and turned out excellent iron,
 The iron-making business is, indeed, one of the most important industries of the Housatonie Valley, more im- portant than most people suppose, 1t being carried on in so quiet and methodleal q manner as to attract but little attention. Like most other concerns that have had an enduring prosperity, the Kent iron works have steadily grown from small begin ming to their present proportions
 The first stack (the name Of the re- ceptaele in which the ore is melted),
 was built in 1926 and from 1t was turned out three to four tons of iron
 in a day; in 1S44 the stack was re- built and it's daily capacity then was five to seven tons of iron; in 1884
 the stack was again rebuilt and en- larged, and the present capacity is from l3 to 15 tons of iron in a day, or from 90 to 100 tons in C week. The works were formerly run by a private company, known as Stewart, Hopson & Co.,, but in 1864 the pres ent stock company, the Kent Iron Co.,, was formed and it now has from 12 to 15 stockholders. MT Hopson nas been connected with the business for 40 years, most of the time as its treasurer and manager, and MT Bull has been the secretary for the last 23 years. Donald J. Warner of Sails bury is the president, anu $ filled the office for five years. His prede- cessor was the late Burrett Eaton of Kent. Kent Furnace is situated about one mile and quarter above the village of Kent on the Housa- tonic railroad, and besides the build ings of the Kent Iron Co.,, and of the pood-SiZed country stcre containing general merchandise kept by George R. Bull and John L. Roberts, there are no structures. It is a place for business solely and for its principal industry, iron-making, possesses three admirable advantages. By means of a short side track, cars con taining the iron ore brought here from the mines at Salisbury, and Richmond, Mass, can be quickly transferred from the main track to the very doors of the works, the rapidly flowing --ousatonic river on the west, but a stones throw from the furnace, furnishes all the Of the motive power needed for blowing hot air into the stack, anu there Is also only siv miles from the furnace
 local mine from which all of the so-called Kent ore, which is liberally used by the company, is extracted
 The buildings of the Kent Iron Co.,.
 are brown, rambling structures, not at all fine iii appearance but vel
 enough suited to the rough and dirty work which is done in them. On tho ample stretches of ground between the buildings and adjacent to then are large plles of iron tars, which are all ready for shipment. On eacf side of the side track are large heaps of iron ore, including the remains oi what was a very large quantity o1 the Kent ore, so much of the latter having been in stock that the mine from which it was obtainsu has not been worked for about year. The only kind of iron produced in the furnace is pig iron, and of this two kinds are turned out, Kent iron ant Salisbury iron. The former is made entirely of ore from the Kent mine
 This ore works up into excellent iror for line machinery, especially fol Locomotives. It is strong, and has g fine finish. At the mine shaft 225 feet is sunk, and when the mine if operated, about IS miners are em
 ploysd and from 10 to 20 tons of orc are taken out in q day. The Sails
 bury iron is produced from the olt Hill ore of the mine at Salisbury, and the ore of the mine at Richmond
 Mass, the proportions being about three-qurters to seven-e1ghths Sails bury to one-Quarter to one-eightf Richmond ore. The Salisbury iron is also strong and is used very largely for car wheels The Salisbury ore is somewhat used in the two furnaces on the Housatonic railroad, but with
 these exceptions, 1t is entirely con stunned in the Housatonic Valley, al Kent furnace and at MT Barnum's furnaces heretofore mentioned. It is impossible to keep the stack always at | uniform heat, and consequently the iron varies in quality, it being divided into seven distinct kinds, the degree of hardness attained deter