Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-07-11

tweue Pialas cs.esse,

twe9k t1olos Gonettel
fhs Ksssss City oeas, recently ssos
L. oalppsy,s special vdtss. to IL
Oarks 70 write sbost The sew blsse
e.saeeesr thst are soon 70 - In ep-
eeatiea isrnshing iros to make vas
osnitiess. NJ. Bhippey Waited Wsss
Haaiss and iaspected the greet Car.
60 niaes east Of here. o. his ~.
tara b Kansas Cisy he srots the FOL.
levias story for the Sta.
Because men ere fighting 70 death
n Y1Asdsrs 6slds. . long dreamed Of
indsstrial awsksnisg has cone 70
~ Ozark moantsins Of Southern
Missouri.
From the famous Iron Mountain
district IN Southeast Missouri, for
which the Iron Mountaiu railroad 10
named, to the great lead and sine
district around Joplin, the svakening
has como. Regions long known for
ecenic loveliness are pockmsrked with
iron. lead and sine mines and proc.
pect boring, and giant smokestacks
ase rising In valleys still the haunts
Of Wild deer and wild turkeys, where
'.hickory root" plows still are used.
In Carter, Shannon, Howell, Ore
gon, Wright and Webster counties,
heretofore little known for ore pro.
duction, the long neglected treasure
OF the everlasting hills 10 being yield
Cd up for the service Of Uncle Sam.
Oddly enough, tho greatest Of these
developments has come to Carter
county, the most backwoodsy of all
Missouri counties, with less taxable
wealth, less population. fewer schools
and less tillable ground than any coun-
ty In the state. Here in . mountain
locked valley Of surprising scenic
beauty, the Midcontinent Iron Com
pany is spending close two million
dollar on an industrial plant of such
Importance that Secretary McAdoo is
expected to visit it shortly.
Twenty s~mokestacks ranging from
o. feet to 1856 feet In height stretch
their necks In vain efforts to peer
over the higher hills surrounding
them, one Of the largest charcoal
furnaces In America and two
"stives' as tall as sixty story build
ings have been erected, . railroad
equipped with standard locomotives
and other standard rolling stock has
been built, and. those OF the natives
who cannot be induced to stand and
watch with awe the operation OF a
steam shovel built exactly like a
British tank, which can 60 up and
down the rocky hills, over stumps
and through streams on its W pow
Or and scoop up tons OF the ore bear.
Ing "dirt" at n mouthful.
Kansas City men largely are re-
sponsible for these developments. F.
D. Larabee, Of Kansas City, is pres
ident OF the company, Erwin H.
Busiek, OF Kansas City, is general
manager, and Jerry O'Connor ia con-
struction foreman, and 1t Ia largely
due to their efforts that in less than
four months Of actual construction
work the plant has grown to its pres.
ent proportions. They have put sew
en- hundred men to work In mining,
building and timber Telling operations,
and would employ several hundred
more lumbermen il they could get
them. With timbers from their own,
sawmill they have built q town for
their employees, including a hotel, a
barber shop and a general store.
Neither the employees nor the DC.
cupants OF those cuisines buildings"
pay rental; the latter must give good
service to the company or out they
60. There 10 no company store"
The employees are paid in cash and
may spend their earnings in the near.
BY town Of Fremont II they prefer.
Every day the timber from eighty
acres OF the heavily wooded bills viii
be converted by . battery Of is retorts
Into wood alcohol, acetate Of lime
and charcoal, the latter being fuel for
the blast furnace. Charcoal iron Ia
superior to coke iron and sells for
about y per ton more, but compara-
lively little Of 1t 10 made, as in most
disticts the price Of charcos! IL pro.
hibitive. This company, however,
has control OF two hundred thousand
acres OF timbered land in Shannon
and Carter counties, and, besides
clearing the land and mining the iron.
Will leave the region in vastly better
shape for cultivation.
A similar project is under way in
Howell and Oregon counties, where
six million dollar corporation headed
BY W. \. Haight, BrandsvIile, T.
operating. This company has bought
the Carson mine, from which more