m 
 
 MVo UNIVERSITY 
 
 U LIBRARY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 HD9517.M66 048 
 
 Iron industry of Minnesota, 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 030 097 806 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030097806 
 
3tttt?rarg. 
 Ammran (Urograpljtral ^nrteig 
 
 Friday, August 30th, 1912. 
 
 Arrive Duluth, 8:00 a. m. Leave 9:00 a. m. via 
 
 the Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railway for Hibbing. 
 
 Arrive Hibbing 12:00 Noon. Have lunch at Oliver 
 
 Club. In the afternoon visit Hull-Rust and Mahoning 
 
 Mines. 
 
 Leave Hibbing 5:00 p. m. Arrive Duluth 8:00 p.m. 
 
 Transfer to Spalding Hotel. 
 
 Saturday, August 31st., 1912. 
 
 Trip on steamer up St. Louis River to new Steel 
 
 Plant and Fond du Lac, leaving foot of Fifth Avenue 
 
 West at 9:00 a. m. 
 
 Lunch at Northland Country Club. 
 
 After lunch, trip in automobiles over the Boulevard, 
 
 Duluth. 
 
 Leave Duluth via Northern Pacific Ry. at 5:00 p. m. 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF 
 MINNESOTA 
 
 t| Data and views showing 
 the scope of operations 
 pertaining to the mining, 
 transportation and smelting 
 of Iron Ore in Northern 
 :: :: Minnesota :: :: 
 
 Compiled and arranged by 
 
 Oliver Iron Mining Co. 
 
 DULUTH, MINN. 
 
 1912 
 
 Printing by O. F. Collier Co. 
 
 Engravings by Duluth News Tribune Co. 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
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IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 HISTORY of DULUTH 
 
 HE HISTORY of Duluth commences with Daniel de 
 Gresolon, Sieur Dulhut, one of the explorers of the 
 Upper Mississippi, who came to the head of the lakes 
 in the summer of 1679. Radisson and Groseillier, and 
 Claude Allouez, a Jesuit priest, preceeded Dulhut to 
 the Lake Superior district, and are supposed to have 
 
 visited the head of the lakes, but there is no authentic account 
 
 previous to that of Dulhut. 
 
 •I In I 792 the fur traders established a fort at Fond du Lac, on the 
 St. Louis river, 1 5 miles above the present city of Duluth. In the 
 early 50's there were a few scattered squatters at Oneota and around 
 the George Stuntz trading post on Minnesota Point. In 1855-56 the 
 settlement on Minnesota Point was called Duluth, commemorating 
 the name of Dulhut. 
 
 <J The first railroad was built to the head of the lakes in 1870. The 
 charter for this road had been granted in 1 86 1 to the Lake Superior 
 and Mississippi Railroad Company, afterward called the St. Paul and 
 Duluth, and which is now a part of the Northern Pacific. 
 
 ^ In 1870 the population of Duluth was about 1,200, and Oneota 
 500; 1880,3,480; 1890,33,115; 1900,52,969; 1910,78,184. 
 
RON IN DUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
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 St. Louis County Court House, Duluth, Minnesota 
 
 Club House, Northland Country Club 
 
RON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
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 33 313111IU13 
 
 Wolvin - Building 
 
 — General Offices: — 
 
 Oliver Iron Mining Company 
 Duluth & Iron Range R. R. Company 
 Duluth, Missabe & Northern Ry. Company 
 
 Minnesota Steel Company 
 
 Pittsburgh Steamship Company 
 
 American Bridge Company 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 the IRON RANGES of MINNESOTA 
 
 ^^HE FIRST mention of iron bearing formation in this region is 
 l|L by Norwood in 1852, but it was not until 1875 that we have 
 any record of work being done to establish the economic 
 value of the district. In this year Prof. A. H. Chester examined 
 the Missabe range from Embarrass Lake eastward to Birch Lake. 
 In the greater portion of the district examined by Prof. Chester, the 
 formation is highly magnetic and has never produced bodies of 
 merchantable ore. Shortly after attention was almost wholly diverted 
 from the Missabe by the discovery of ore on the Vermilion range. 
 
 *| In the early 80's, Mr. Geo. C. Stone succeeded in interesting 
 Mr. Charlemange Tower in the ore deposits on the Vermilion range 
 near Tower. The first shipment of ore was made in 1 884. In 1 886 
 the whole property including mines, railroad, docks, and land grant 
 was sold to the Minnesota Iron Company and later, on the organiz- 
 ation of the U. S. Steel Corporation, became a part of the holdings of 
 that corporation. The first mine to be developed near Ely, 2 1 miles 
 east of Tower, was the Chandler, which began shipping in the fall of 
 1887. Since then the Pioneer, Zenith, Sibley and Savoy have been 
 opened in what is known as the Ely trough. A new mine called the 
 Section 30 is being worked on another trough about 3 miles east of Ely. 
 
 <][ On the Missabe range, ore was discovered in the fall of 1 890 
 near the present Mountain Iron mine by the Messrs. Merritt of 
 Duluth, and in the fall of the following year on the Biwabik property 
 by the same parties. Since these discoveries the development of this 
 range has been phenomenal. 
 
 <]| The Cuyuna Range was located from the results of magnetic 
 work done by Mr. Cuyler Adams about the year 1895. Very little 
 was done, other than magnetic research work, until the year 1 904 
 when the first drilling was started in Sec. 1 6, Town 46, Range 28, 
 about a mile southeast of Deerwood. 
 
 ^ The first shipment of ore from the Cuyuna Range was made 
 in 1911 from the Kennedy mine. 
 
 tj Minnesota furnishes yearly about three-fifths of the iron ore 
 produced in the United States; the shipments during 1910 amounting 
 to 30,404,937 tons, and for 1911, 23,182,462 tons. 
 
 TOTAL IRON ORE PRODUCED TO JAN. 1, 1912. 
 
 Lake Superior District 525,903,71 2 tons. 
 
 (Missabe Range - 247,019,916 tons 
 Minnesota | Vermilion " - - 31 ,41 7,492 tons 
 
 (.Cuyuna " - - 147,431 tons —278,584,839 tons. 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 VERMILION RANGE 
 
 ^^HE VERMILION range extends from the vicinity of Tower to 
 1 | V and beyond the international boundary, crossing into Canada 
 ^^ at the eastern end of Hunter's Island. Merchantable bodies 
 of ore have been discovered at but two localities along this 
 extent, one at Tower and the other near Ely. 
 
 fj The iron bearing formation of this range occupies the lowest 
 position geologically of any of the Lake Superior iron formations, 
 being designated by Van Hise and Clements as in the Archean. 
 
 ^ At the Minnesota mine the ore is a dense hard hematite occur- 
 ing in irregular connected and disconnected lense shaped bodies in 
 the jasper, which is intricately infolded in the spheroidal greenstone 
 or green schists, so-called on account of a characteristic spheroidal 
 parting. The strike is about east and west and the dip approximately 
 vertical with a westerly pitch. The underground workings at this 
 mine are some 4,500 feet in extent east and west, and over 1,500 
 feet in depth. The structure here is probably the most complex in 
 the Lake Superior iron districts. Above the iron bearing formation, 
 geologically, comes the basal conglomerate of the Lower Huronian, 
 carrying large boulders and masses of the iron bearing rocks. 
 
 <J The ores at Ely differ from the preceeding, mainly in their 
 physical structure, being much more broken and friable. The area 
 in which they lie is a double ended trough about two miles in length 
 east and west and some 1,500 feet in width. The general dip is 
 nearly vertical and the pitch of the ore bodies at the west end of the 
 trough, is to the east, while the pitch of those at the east end is to 
 the west. The iron formation here, as at the Minnesota mine, lies in 
 a trough of the older spheroidal greenstone, but the folding is not so 
 close. Intrusive masses and dikes of granitic porphyry and basic 
 eruptives cut the whole series. 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 
 
 
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 A Shaft, Pioneer Mine, Ely, Minnesota 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 MISSABE RANGE 
 
 ^•THE Missabe range extends continuously from near Grand Rapids 
 i f V on the Mississippi river E. N. E. for a distance of about 
 ^■^ 90 miles to near Birch Lake, where it is covered by the large 
 gabbro flow which forms the base of the Keweenawan series. 
 The same formation (Missabe) appears again near Gunflint Lake on the 
 international boundary and shows as far east as Thunder bay on the 
 north shore of Lake Superior. Between the Missabe station, on the D. & I. 
 R. R. R., and Birch Lake the formation consists of alternate thin layers 
 of chert and magnetic ore, but although considerable exploration 
 work has been done, there is no evidence of concentration of ore in 
 workable bodies in this area with the exception of one or two small 
 deposits just East and close to the railroad. The Gunflint beds are 
 thin alternating layers of chert and hematite. All the workable de- 
 posits, at present known on the Missabe lie between Missabe Station 
 and Grand Rapids, the greater number being in St. Louis County. 
 
 ^l The great bulk of the iron formation is ferruginous chert more 
 or less amphibolitic, calcareous or sideritic and gray, red, yellow, 
 brown or green with bands or shoots of iron ore. It is analagous to 
 the jaspers of the other iron ranges. A few thin beds of slate occur 
 in the formation. 
 
 •J The north edge of the range was easily determined as expo- 
 sures of the older rocks are fairly numerous; the south edge, or more 
 properly the north edge of the overlying black slates, was deter- 
 mined by drill work entirely, as there are no exposures of this slate. 
 The iron formation is flat-lying with a slight average dip to the south, 
 although local high dips occur. In this respect it differs from all 
 other districts in the Lake Superior region. 
 
 <J It may be said that the ore bodies in general lie with their 
 longer axes in the direction of the trend of the formation, although 
 they are irregular in outline. The transition between the rich ore 
 and the taconite is usually very abrupt, and the original bedding 
 can be plainly distinguished running through the ore. One body of 
 ore is known to have a continuous extension of over 4% miles and 
 an average width of about l n mile and to be several hundred feet 
 thick in places. These flat-lying ore bodies vary in thickness from a few 
 feet to around 500 feet, and a large majority occur just beneath the 
 drift, although some have a jasper capping. The surface or over- 
 burden varies from practically nothing to some 200 feet, perhaps 
 an average would lis between 60 and 80 feet. 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 •J The ores of the Missabe are red, brown and yellow hematites 
 and limonites, more or less hydrated, and are secondary replace- 
 ments or enrichments of the jasper. They are supposed to be 
 mainly derived from the silicates of iron, which are abundant in the 
 rocks of the iron formation, and to a less degree from siderite. In 
 physical structure they vary from a fairly compact phase to earthy 
 or powdery phases, and are comparatively high in moisture. At the 
 west end of the range the ores are more or less "sandy," a condition 
 evidently resulting from the decomposition of the cherty layers in 
 the banded iron and chert. 
 
 €J The first ore from the Missabe range was shipped from the 
 Mountain Iron mine over the Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railroad 
 in 1892. The total shipments during that year amounted to 4,248 
 tons. Since that time the Mountain Iron mine has produced 
 1 7,200,000 tons. 
 
 IRON ORE PRODUCTION. 
 
 1910 29,201,760 tons 
 
 1911 - - - 22,093,532 " 
 
 Total to January 1, 1912 - - 247,019,916 n 
 
 <J Since the Missabe range opened there has been removed 
 180,574,000 cubic yards of stripping. Last year the Oliver Iron 
 Mining Company handled 1 6,341,730 cubic yards; other companies 
 about 7,000,000 cubic yards. 
 
 <J The total excavation for the Missabe Range, taking into account 
 ore and stripping to Jan. 1 , 1 9 1 2, is as follows: 
 
 1 892 to 1 900 stripping - 22,089,000 cu. yds. 
 
 1901 to 1912 " - 158,485,000 " " 
 
 1892 to 1912 ore - 123,510,000 " " 
 
 Grand Total - 304,084,000 ■ " 
 
 1§ The total excavation for the Panama Canal is, according to the 
 latest figures, 195,323,379 cubic yards. 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
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IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 No. 4 Shaft, Spruce Mine, Eveleth, Minnesota 
 
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 „ IFTY PER CENT of the high grade ore of the 
 ^P Missabe will have to be mined by underground 
 methods. On account of the deep overburden in 
 many places it is not practicable to strip a property; 
 also, for the reason that a good portion of the ore 
 bodies are thin and cannot be mined by steam shovel, it 
 is necessary to sink shafts and carefully remove the ore by 
 underground means in order that the material be not lost and 
 wasted. Then, again, owing in many cases to the overburden 
 of quicksand, made wet and treacherous by the accumulation 
 of water, it is necessary to sink concrete shafts in order to 
 get to the ore below. 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 Mine Location — Monroe Mine, Chisholm, Minnesota 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 K 0/C H I C H I N G 
 
 I T A SJ C A 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 MAP SHOWING 
 IRON RANGES OF MINNESOTA 
 
 WITH 
 
 RAILROADS AND SHIPPING POINTS 
 
 TRIBUTARY TO SAME 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 
 Mine Location — Virginia, Minnesota 
 
 A Type of Sanitary Alley, Mine Location —Virginia, Minnesota 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
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IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 Concentrating Plant, Coleraine, Minnesota 
 
 €J A large portion of the ore on the Western Missabe Range 
 occurs mixed with sand, making it necessary to build wash- 
 ing plants to remove the worthless material and bring the 
 ore to a merchantable grade. 
 
 €| The Concentrating Plant at Coleraine consists of five units, 
 each unit comprising the following: 
 
 1 Receiving bin, 
 
 1 -20 ft. revolving screen, 2 in. holes, 
 
 1 Picking belt, 
 
 2-25 ft. log washers, 
 
 2-18 ft. "turbo" washers, 
 20 Overstrom tables, 
 
 1 Shipping pocket, 
 Necessary settling tanks, rock bins, sand pumps and 
 driving mechanism. 
 
 •J Each unit is operated by a 1 00 h. p. motor. The capacity of 
 each unit is 4,000 tons of crude ore per day, or a total of 
 20,000 tons per day. 
 
 €J All structural work was furnished and erected by The 
 American Bridge Co. 
 
 <J In the mill, trestle and tail track, there are 6,400 tons of steel. 
 
 ^ The Power Plant comprises the following: 
 6-72 in.xl8 ft. H. T. boilers with tile stack. 
 1-26x52 and 16x48 Prescott, Cross Compound, Condensing 
 Pumping-engine; capacity 1 2,000,000 gallons, delivering 
 through a 30 in. steel main to mill, 
 1-26 and 52x48 Cross Compound, Condensing, Corliss 
 engine, direct connected to 1 250 K. V. A., 6,600 volt, 60 
 cycle generator. 
 The necessary exciter sets, (switchboard, transformers, etc.) 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 CUYUNA RANGE 
 
 ^ The Cuyuna Range lies in the vicinity of Deerwood, 1 00 
 miles west of Duluth. 
 
 ^ The occurrence of the ore deposits on the Cuyuna 
 Range differs greatly from that of the Missabe. The Cuyuna, 
 in a broad sense, occurs as a series of detached lenses or 
 bodies of iron bearing material, in connection with the great 
 slate area which abounds throughout this section of the State. 
 Within these lenses of iron bearing rocks, the ore deposits 
 are found. The ore bodies dip steeply from the horizontal, 
 conforming to the dip of the slates, their long dimensions 
 being about parallel and lying in a northeast and southwest 
 direction. The south range consists of a long, narrow belt, 
 containing a series of iron formation lenses, lying close to- 
 gether, parallel and overlapping. The deposits on the north 
 range are more scattered and cover a larger area. 
 
 <J The Kennedy is the pioneer mine of this range. This 
 property is being worked by the Rogers Brown Company. 
 Shipments began in the year 1911 and to Jan. 1, 1912, 
 amounted to 147,431 tons. Several other properties have since 
 been opened. 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 Kennedy Mine, Cuyuna Range 
 
 Armour Mine, No. 1, Cuyuna Range 
 
IRON 1 N D USTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 RAILROADS 
 
 DULUTH & IRON RANGE RAILROAD. 
 
 <J The Duluth & Iron Range Railroad was built from Two Harbors to the Ver- 
 milion Range at Tower, a distance of 67.6 miles, in 1884, and extended to Ely, 21 
 miles east of Tower, in 1888. It was built into Duluth in 1886, and branches were 
 extended from its main line to the Missabe mines in 1892 and 1893. 
 
 DULUTH, MISSABE & NORTHERN RAILWAY. 
 
 ^ The Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railway was constructed from Stony Brook 
 to Mountain Iron, a distance of 48 miles, in 1892. The Biwabik branch from Iron 
 Junction to Biwabik, a distance of 15 miles, -was constructed in 1892. The Superior 
 branch from Wolf to Hibbing, a distance of 16 miles, was constructed in 1893. The 
 Duluth extension from Columbia Junction to Duluth, a distance of 29 miles, was 
 completed in 1893. The Alborn branch from Coleraine Junction to Coleraine, a 
 distance of 53 miles, was constructed in 1906. 
 
 GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY LINE. 
 Missabe Division. 
 
 ^ The Great Northern Railway Line acquired what is now its Missabe Division, 
 over which line ore is transported from Missabe Range mines to docks at Allouez, 
 Wisconsin, by purchase of the Duluth, Superior and Western Railway (Duluth and 
 Winnipeg) in 1898. At time of purchase this line extended from Duluth to Deer 
 River, connecting with the Duluth, Mississippi River and Northern Railway at Swan 
 River, this latter road extending to the mines. In 1898 the purchase of the Duluth 
 and Mississippi River and Northern Road was affected, -which gave the Great 
 Northern a line through to Barclay Junction, (now Chisholm), Minnesota. In 1900 
 and 1901 extension was built from Barclay Junction to Virginia, and in 1901 and 
 1902 line was built from Ellis (near Virginia) to a point on the old D. S. & W., at 
 Brookston. In 1902 and 1903 what is now designated as the "South Range Line" 
 was constructed from Hibbing to Virginia. There has also been built a "cut-off' 
 known as the Kelly Lake Fermoy Line. 
 
 <I All the roads mentioned above transport ore from the Missabe Range. The 
 Duluth & Iron Range handles the ore from the Vermilion District. 
 
 •fl The following shows the general equipment of the ore carrying roads neces- 
 sary for the handling of the enormous yearly tonnage from the Missabe and Ver- 
 milion Ranges: 
 
 No. of No. of 
 
 Road Mileage Engines Cars 
 
 Duluth & Iron Range 200 104 5627 
 
 Duluth, Missabe & Northern 328 110 7789 
 
 Great Northern (Missabe Division.) 310 75 6876 
 
 CJ The branch line of the Canadian Northern Railroad between Fort Frances and 
 Duluth will be finished some time during the present year. This road passes 
 through Virginia and no doubt later will also carry ore from the Missabe Range. 
 
 <J In the summer of 1910 the Soo Line finished a branch road to the Kennedy 
 mine. This, together with the Northern Pacific, gives the Cuyuna District two rail- 
 roads. At present the ore from this newly-found range is being handled by the 
 Soo Line through their new dock at Superior. 
 
IRON INDUST RY OF MINNESOTA 
 
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IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 Section of D. M. & N. Ry. Main Line, showing double track, 100-lbs. to the 
 yard rail, steel ties and rock ballast 
 
 50 miles of track for the storage of ore - Proctor, Minnesota, D. M. & N. Ry. 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 ORE DOCKS 
 
 Duluth & Iron Range Ore Docks at Two Harbors. 
 
 Dock 
 
 Length 
 
 Width 
 
 Working, Storage Capacity 
 
 No. 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Ft. In. 
 
 Tons 
 
 1 (Steel) 
 
 1376 
 
 51 8 
 
 5,200 
 
 2 
 
 1280 
 
 49 
 
 31,200 
 
 3 
 
 1054 
 
 49 
 
 25,500 
 
 4 
 
 1042 
 
 49 
 
 25,200 
 
 5 
 
 1050 
 
 49 
 
 25,200 
 
 6 (Steel) 
 
 920 
 
 51 3 I i 
 
 37,000 
 
 
 
 Total Tons 
 
 196,100 
 
 Duluth, 
 
 Mis sab e 
 
 & Northern Ore 
 
 Docks at Duluth. 
 
 Dock 
 
 Length 
 
 Width 
 
 Working, Storage Capacity- 
 
 No. 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Tons 
 
 2 
 
 2336 
 
 49 
 
 38,400 
 
 3 
 
 2304 
 
 59 
 
 57,600 
 
 4 
 
 2304 
 
 57 
 
 76,800 
 
 
 
 Total Tons 
 
 1 72,800 
 
 Great Northern Ore Docks at Superior, Wis. 
 
 Dock Length Width Working, Storage Capacity- 
 
 No. Ft. Ft. In. Tons 
 
 1 2244 62 8 112,200 
 
 2 2100 62 8 105,000 
 
 3 1956 62 8 97,800 
 
 4 (Steel) 1812 62 6 1 05,700 
 
 Total Tons - 420,700 
 Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Ry., at Superior, Wis. 
 
 Dock Length Width Working, Storage Capacity 
 
 No. Ft. Ft. Tons 
 
 1 1200 58 60,000 
 
 During 1911, about 6,934,000 tons of ore was handled by 
 the Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railway from the West 
 Duluth docks; 6,367,000 tons by the Duluth & Iron Range at 
 Two Harbors; 9,920,000 tons by the Great Northern at Super- 
 ior, and 1 47,000 tons by the Soo Line. 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
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 Loading Boat at Ore Docks 
 
 Fire Tug, W. A. McGonagle 
 
RON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
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IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 LAKE TRANSPORTATION 
 
 /•*j\NE of the first ships of commerce to arrive in the harbor 
 II hp of Duluth was the Meteor, in September, 1868. The 
 capacity of this boat was about 500 tons. The first 
 cargo of ore shipped from Minnesota was carried by the 
 steamer Hecla. This ore was loaded on August 1 9, 1 884, at 
 Two Harbors at the Duluth & Iron Range dock and consisted 
 of 1427 tons. 
 
 €| At the present time there are about 400 boats used for 
 the ore carrying trade. The capacity of this fleet is estimated 
 around 55,000,000 tons of ore a season. This is in addition 
 to the transportation of coal and grain. 
 
 •J The Pittsburgh Steamship Company owns 1 05 boats. 
 
 €J Ore is being carried on the Great Lakes over an average 
 distance of 1 ,000 miles for as low as 50 cents a ton, the boat 
 owners paying the unloading charge of 1 cents a ton. 
 
 f^ The following will give an idea of the size of the newer 
 boats constituting a part of the ore carrying fleet: 
 
 
 
 Length 
 
 Width 
 
 Tonnage 
 
 STEAMER 
 
 Feet 
 
 Feet 
 
 Gross Tons 
 
 Col. J. N. Schoonmaker 
 
 617 
 
 64 
 
 14,000 
 
 W. P. Snyder, Jr. 
 
 - 
 
 617 
 
 64 
 
 14,000 
 
 Thomas F. Cole 
 
 - 
 
 605 
 
 58 
 
 12,000 
 
 L. S. DeGraff 
 
 - 
 
 605 
 
 60 
 
 12,900 
 
 W. B. Kerr 
 
 - 
 
 605 
 
 60 
 
 12,300 
 
 <I The usual time of loading an ordinary size boat of about 
 1 0,000 tons is six hours. The steamer Corey was loaded at 
 Superior, September 8, 1911, with 9,456 gross tons of ore in 
 twenty-five minutes (actual time loading). The steamer W. P. 
 Palmer unloaded 1 1 ,000 tons of ore at Conneaut in two hours 
 and fitty-eight minutes. 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 Minnesota Steel Company Shop Buildings 
 
 ^ The plant of the Minnesota Steel Company is located on 
 the St. Louis River, nine miles from Union Depot at Duluth, 
 on a tract of 1 500 acres, with two miles of water front and 
 connected by the Spirit Lake Transfer Ry. and Interstate 
 Railroad, with all railroads entering Duluth or Superior. The 
 present plans include: 
 
 Two blast furnaces — 500 tons daily capacity each; thin lined, -water cooled shells; 
 
 10 stoves, gas washers, etc. 
 Ninety Koppers type by-product coke stoves. 
 Seven open hearth furnaces — rated capacity 75 tons each. (Each furnace equipped 
 
 with 400 h. p. boiler for utilizing waste heat.) 
 Four 4-hole soaking pits. 
 One 40-in. reversing Blooming Mill, steam driven, with low pressure turbine 
 
 generator set. 
 One 28-in. finishing mill — Motor driven 
 
 One 16-in. continuous roughing train with j 
 
 3 Stand 12-in. finishing I MotQr driven 
 
 2 Stand 10-in. finishing ( 
 
 2 Stand 8-in. finishing ' 
 
 Power house— 10,000 K W capacity 
 
 Blowing engine — 4 gas driven 40,000 cu. ft. capacity 
 
 Pumping station — 30,000,000 gallons daily capacity 
 
 Machine Forge and Structural Shop. 
 
 Two continuous reheating furnaces — regenerating type, end discharge, designed to 
 
 use 16-foot billets. Estimated daily capacity of 1,000 tons ingots. 
 All buildings steel frames, enclosed with two-piece concrete blocks. 
 
RON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 Open Hearth Plant 
 
 Merchant Mill 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 Hot Blast Stoves 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
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IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 SAFETY APPLIANCES 
 
 /-gt\NE of the most important developments in connection 
 yl|7 with the operation of large industries is that pertaining 
 to the safety and protection of the workmen, and the 
 practical application of approved safety devices to all classes 
 of machinery in the mines, shops and railroads. 
 
 •I Since the organization in March, 1908, of the Safety 
 Committee of the United States Steel Corporation, much good 
 work has been done in the cause of safety, one of the features of 
 which has been the arousing of an intelligent interest among 
 the employees themselves. 
 
 C| In all machine shops, platforms 3 feet or more above 
 the ground are guarded with hand-rails and toe-boards, all 
 gearing is covered and belts are protected up to 5 feet from 
 the floor. In fact, protection devices are applied to all ma- 
 chinery where any element of danger exists. 
 
 in ffr/s d is fief 
 
 CJ In 1911 there was expended^by the United States Steel 
 
 Corporation, in safety work, the sum of $148,000; during 
 1912, to July 31st, the expenditure was $40,000. 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 Type of Engine used at the Oliver Iron Mining Company's Mines. 
 Note the guard railings for protection of men. 
 
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 Safety Houses — Men use these to protect themselves from flying material 
 hurled by blasting in the pits. 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 
 
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RON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 Type of Switchboard in the Power Plants of the Oliver Iron Mining Company 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 Emery Wheel — Showing method of safe-guarding 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
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IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 Draeger Oxygen Apparatus — Used in case of fire or bad air to extricate men 
 from dangerous places 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 ^^*HE annual consumption of timber used by the Oliver 
 ^i^ Iron Mining Company is approximately 25,000,000 
 feet board measure of mining timber, and 30,000 
 cords of lagging. To insure these requirements it has to have 
 extensive standing timber reserves. A department of Timber 
 lands, maintained by this company, employs a large number 
 of men, especially during the winter seasons when the logging 
 operations are carried on. 
 
 Oliver Iron Mining Company Logging Camps on Bass Lake, showing 
 
 Mess Camp, Sleeping Camp, Blacksmith Shop, 
 
 Office and Stables 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 Loading assorted mining timber logs on cars for shipment to the mines 
 
 Logging crew eating dinner in the open on the works 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 Mining timber logs being stored in the east arm of Burntside Lake 
 
 Driving mining timber logs down the Cloquet River 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 Land and Colonization Work of 
 ^he Duluth & Iron Range Railroad Company 
 
 ^^*HE Duluth and Iron Range Railroad Company received from 
 IL the State of Minnesota a Swamp Land Grant of 606,720 acres 
 to aid in the construction of its railroad. Taxes on these lands 
 are covered by the gross earnings tax of the railroad. However, on 
 September 1 st, 1910, the management of the Duluth & Iron Range 
 Railroad Company voluntarily placed these lands upon the tax list, 
 thereby aiding in helping develop the country, build up its schools, 
 and otherwise support the districts in which considerable lands, in- 
 cluding State lands, which did not pay taxes, are located. 
 
 ^ Ten years ago a policy of colonization was adopted and sales of 
 lands to speculative holders discouraged as far as possible. Land 
 sales were made only to actual settlers and in amounts, so far as pos- 
 sible, of forty and eighty acres, thereby encouraging the small farmer 
 and making more rapid and certain development. So far as is 
 possible the settler is placed only in districts where wagon roads 
 have already been built. The Land Department spends for the con- 
 struction of wagon roads about $ 1 0,000 annually. 
 
 <J In order to eliminate as far as possible the pioneer work of the 
 settler, a demonstration farm was established, which is now operated 
 under the supervision of an expert agriculturist who supervises and 
 acts as agricultural advisor to all settlers in Duluth & Iron Range 
 territory. He also organizes Farmers' Clubs, Poultry Associations and 
 various co-operative institutions and helps in marketing problems. 
 At Meadowlands Colony, where the demonstration farm is located, 
 some six hundred acres have been cleared and plowed and are being 
 sold in ten and twenty acre tracts to small farmers for truck raising, 
 fruit growing and poultry farming. These are proving successful and 
 this work will be continued. 
 
 <J At this point some nine years ago the entire settlement consisted 
 of less than a dozen people. Today the settlement has over six 
 hundred people and is opening up this school year, September, 1912, 
 a fine four room graded agricultural consolidated school with addi- 
 tional class rooms for agricultural, domestic science, and manual 
 training courses. The school is steam heated, has fan ventilation 
 open plumbing with sanitary drinking fountains and has ten acres of 
 land cleared and prepared for agricultural and various other kinds of 
 work. This land cleared and ready for use was donated by the 
 Land Department. 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 School House at Meadowlands 
 
 Hay Field at Meadowlands 
 
IRON INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA 
 
 •J The Department has purchased the most up to date machinery 
 for developing the country, including a traction engine for operating 
 road graders, and the most up to date deep tilling plows. 
 
 •J Original investigation and demonstration work is being carried 
 on in connection with peat and muck lands under the supervision of 
 the Dean of the Agricultural Department of the University of Minne- 
 sota. 
 
 •I It is the intention of this Department to make the administration 
 of its Land Grant a benefit not only locally but to the entire state and 
 country. 
 
 The following tabulation gives the distance in 
 Range towns from Duluth: 
 
 mi 
 
 iles of 
 
 TOWN 
 
 RANGE 
 
 RAILROAD 
 
 DISTANCE 
 
 Ely 
 
 Vermilion 
 
 D. & I. R. 
 
 116 
 
 Tower 
 
 Vermilion 
 
 D. & I. R. 
 
 98 
 
 Allen Junction 
 
 Junction Point 
 
 D. & I. R. 
 
 73 
 
 Two Harbors 
 
 Ore Docks 
 
 D. & I. R. 
 
 27 
 
 Biwabik 
 
 Missabe 
 
 D. & I. R. 
 
 87 
 
 Biwabik 
 
 Missabe 
 
 D. M. & N. 
 
 78 
 
 Virginia 
 
 Missabe 
 
 D. & I. R. 
 
 97 
 
 Virginia 
 
 Missabe 
 
 D. M. & N. 
 
 72 
 
 Eveleth 
 
 Missabe 
 
 D. & I. R. 
 
 100 
 
 Eveleth 
 
 Missabe 
 
 D. M. & N. 
 
 69 
 
 Mountain Iron 
 
 Missabe 
 
 D. M. & N. 
 
 72 
 
 Chisholm 
 
 Missabe 
 
 D. M. & N. 
 
 81 
 
 Hibbing 
 
 Missabe 
 
 D. M. & N. 
 
 84 
 
 Marble 
 
 Missabe 
 
 D. M. & N. 
 
 77 
 
 Taconite 
 
 Missabe 
 
 D. M. & N. 
 
 82 
 
 Coleraine 
 
 Missabe 
 
 D. M. & N. 
 
 86 
 
OLIN LIBRARY - CIRCULATION 
 DATE DUE 
 
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 PRINTED INU.S. A. 
 
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 II