FIRST CFNTTJRY of NATIONAL EXISTENCE; THE UNITED STATES THEY WERE AND ARE; GIVING The progressive development op MINERAL WEALTH, including not only the precious and the useful metals, but Coal, Petroleum, and the various Alkalies and Earths in use; The PUBLIC LANDS, their sales in each year, Land Grants to Roads, Railroads, State, and Educational Purposes, their rapid settlement, the formation of States and Territories, founding of Cities and Commercial Centers ; INTERNAL TRADE ; IMMIGRATION, its increasing tide and the regions mostly sought by Immigrants ; BANKING, its successive systems AND CHANGES ; FlRE, Life, ACCIDENT, AND OTHER INSURANCE, WITH STATISTICS ; LITERATURE AND AUTHORS ; BOOKS, PERIODIC ALS, and NEWSPAPERS ; The FINE ARTS, Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, and Engraving; DOMESTIC LIFE, Dwellings, Furniture, Food, Costumes, &c. ; TELEGRAPH ; EDUCATION, Higher and Elementary, Libraries, Museums, and Scientific Collections ; BENEVOLENT and HUMANITARIAN INSTITUTIONS, &c. WITH AN APPENDIX, GIVING [The progress of all the RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS and SECTS, their peculiar Doctrines and Ordinances, their Forms of Church Government, Mode of Worship, &c., &C. THE WHOLE CAREFULLY PREPARED BY Sit (Emtmnt Corps of ^rirntifir antr ^ittrarg Him. Superbly illustrated with over Two Hundred and Twenty-Five Engravings, executed by the most accomplished Artists in the Country, carefully printed from Steel Electrotypes and in Chromo. Sold. Only l>y Subscription. HARTFORD, CONN.: PUBLISHED 33 3T L. STEBBINS.' FRANCIS DEWING & CO., SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 1873. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by L. STEBBINS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. SUBJECTS AND AUTHORS. MINING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES, fncluding Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Iron, Coal, Petroleum, &c., showing the Localities, Richness of Ores, Methods of Mining, Smelting, and applying the different Minerals to practical uses, with their values, &c., &c. FUR TRADE, various kinds and values of Furs. Of the late Pennsylvania , and other Geological Surveys; Contributor to Apple - ton’s u New American Cyclopcedia” on the same Subjects, i LAND, SETTLEMENT, INTERNAL TRADE. Western Settlement, Population, and Land Sales, Canals and Railroads, Expenditures, Lake Cities, Reciprocity, Annual Sales of Land by the Government, River Cities, Atlantic Cities, Date of Settlement, Population, Valuation, Manufactures, Exports, Imports, Growth of New York, Express Business. BANKS, UNITED STATES MINT, AND INSURANCE. Bills of Credit, Government Issues, United Slates Bank, State Banki, Suffolk System, Safety Fund, Banks, Free Banks, Number of Banks in Each State, Aggregate Capi- tal, Clearing Houses, Private Banking, New National System, &c., Establishment of Mint, Standard of Coins, Laws Regulating Coinage, Precious Metals in the Coun- try, Insurance, — Fire, Marine, Life, Accident, &c. EMIGRATION. General Migrations, Colonies and United States, Number of Aliens arrived in the United States from 1820 to 1856, and their Nationalities, Landing in New York, Future Homes. AUTHORS, BOOKS, NEWSPAPERS, BOOK BINDING. PRINTING PRESSES, TELEGRAPH. Writers, — including Theologians, Statesmen, Novelists, Historians, — Short Sketches of their Lives, their Literary Productions ; Newspapers, — Dailies, Weeklies, Periodicals, Book Trade, Publishing, Jobbing, Retailing, Selling by Subscription, Book-Bind- ing, Printing Presses, Telegraph. By THOMAS P. KETTELL. SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. Domestic Architecture, Furniture, Food, Dress, Social Culture, &c. By FREDERICK B PERKINS. SUBJECTS AND AUTHORS. ARTS OP DESIGN. Painters, Sculptors, Engravers, &c. By T. ADDISON RICHARDS, Artist, Editor of Appleton’s u Railway Guide Correspondent of “ Harper’s Magazine .” Progress of all the Religious Denominations, and Sects. By Dr. L. P. BROCKETT. EDUCATION, Including the History and Statistics of F ree Schools, Common Schools, Grammar Schools, Academies, Colleges, Professional Schools of Theology, Law, Medicine, War, Teaching, Engineering, Agriculture, Mechanics and Fine Arts ; with Special Schools for Deaf Mutes, Blind, Idiots, Juvenile Criminals, and Orphans, and Supplementary Educational Agencies and Libraries, Lyceums, Lectures, &c. By HENRY BARNARD, L L. D . , Superintendent of Common Schools in Connecticut and Rhode Island ; Chan- cellor of the State University of Wisconsin ; and Editor of the “ American Journal of Education ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH, Its Inventors, and Progress, By GEORGE B. PRESCOTT. Electrician of Western Union Telegraph Company. FIRE INSURANCE, Giving in a historical form the progress and growth of Fire Insurance in the United States from the first organized Companies up to 1871, with valuable tables, showing the magnitude of the business, rates, losses, profits, &c., By D. A. HEALD, Vice-President of the Home Fire Insurance Company of N. Y. LIFE INSURANCE, Showing the progress of the business under the Stock and Mutual principles, from the first organized Company up to 1871, with valuable tables showing the immense magnitude of the business, per centage, losses, profits, &c., By JACOB L. GREENE, Secretary Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company , Hartford , Cl. CONTENTS MINING INDUSTRY. PAGE Introductory Remarks 17 Iron Works in Virginia previous to 1622. ... 17 First Blast Furnace in 1702 17 Iron 18 First Trial of Anthracite Coal for manufac- ' facturing 18 Great Britian produces more than half of the whole product of the world 19 Iron produced from 1828 to 1840 20 Materials employed in the Manufacture. . 20 Ore in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Tennessee, New York, Canada, and Wisconsin 21 Consumption of Charcoal per Ton of Iron. . . 22 Quantities of Air used in Blast Furnaces... . 23 Furnaces in the Lehigh Valley 23 Distribution of Ores 24 Ores in New Jersey 25 Ores in Pennsylvania 26 Great Chestnut Hill Ore-bed 27 Ores in Maryland 28 Ores in Southern States 28 Ores in Western States 29 Iron Manufacture 32 Description of Blast Furnaces 32 Wrought Iron 36 Puddling 37 List of Rolling Mills in 1856 40 Mills making Railroad Iron in 1856 40 Boiler Plate and Sheet Iron Manufactories in 1856 41 Iron Wire 41 Nails 41 List of Nail Manufactories in 1856 42 Steel 43 PAGE Cast Steel 44 Table of Iron Works in operation and aban- doned in 1856 45 Production of Pig Iron 46 Distribution of Furnaces by States 46 Product of Wrought Iron 46 Value of the Iron product in 1856 47 Copper 48 New Jersey Mines 49 Tennessee Mines 50 Lake Superior Mines 51 Product of the Pittsburgh and Boston Com- pany Mines from 1852 to 1860 53 Minesota Company 55 Product of do from 1848 to 1860 56 Statistics of Lake Superior Mines 57 Copper Smelting 58 Useful Applications of Copper 60 Cost of Smelting Copper 60 Manufacture of Brass 62 Gold ; 63 Vermont Mines 64 Virginia do 64 North Carolina Mines 69 Georgia do 69 Pike’s Peak do 70 California do 71 Australia do 71 Annual production of Gold in the World at the time of its discovery in California. ... 71 Length and Cost of Artificial Water-courses in California 72 Quartz Mining 73 Table of annual productions of the Mines of California from 1848 to 1857 ' — ^3 CONTENTS PAGE Various Machines for Mining purposes ... 14 Tables showing the amount of Gold coiued by the U.S. Government, and where produced 18-9 The uses of Gold 80 Lead........ . 81 Localities of Mines 82 Iowa Mines. 84 Table showing the shipments of Lead from the Upper Mississippi from 1821 to 1841. 85 Table showing the production and importa- tion of Lead from 1832 to 1858 81 Lead Smelting 81 Useful Applications of Lead 91 Lead Pipe 91 Shot and Bullets 92 American process of making Shot, 93 "White Lead 94 List of American White Lead Works 96 Zinc 96 New Jersey Mines 96 Pennsylvania do 97 Metallurgy Treatment and Uses 98 European Manufacture 100 List of the Silesian Company Works 102 Schedule of the cost of Zinc Ore on ship- board at Antwerp 103 Z:nc Paint 103 Description of Manufacture 104 Platinum 101 Iridium and Osmium 110 Mercury 110 California Mines Ill Almaden Mine in Spain Ill Total annual production of various Mines. . Ill Metallurgy Treatment 114 Useful Applications of Mercury 114 Silver 115 Cobalt , 116 Nickel Ill Chrome or Chromium. 118 Manganese 119 Tin 119 Coal 120 Varieties of Coal 121 Relative value of different kinds of Coal. . . 124 Geological and Geographical Distribution of Coal 124 Amount of Available Coal 133 Extent of Coal Fields in different States. . . . 133 Relative amount of Coal Fields of Europe and America 134 Table showing annual amount of Lead pro- duced in Pennsylvania and Maryland from 1820 to 1860 134 PAGH Transportation of Coal to Market 135 Table of Railroads and Canals constructed for transporting Coal 142 Useful Applications of Coal 146 Illuminating Gas 141 List of Gas Co.’s, with amount of Capital, Ac. 148 Process of making Gas 152 Gas for Steamboats and Railroad Cars. . . 156 Hydrocarbon or Coal Oils 156 Table of Coal Oil Works in the United States 151 History and method of manufacture 158 Petroleum or Rock Oil 163 Petroleum in the United States 164 Daily yield of seventy-four Oil Wells 1G5 List of Petroleum Refining works 110 Land Settlement, Internal Trade 169 Land Sales in Ohio 170 Canals in the West 172 First Locomotive built in this Country 114 Population ofLand States in 1830 and in 1860 115 Detroit and Chicago 117 River Cities, Atlantic Cities 180 Statistics of New Orleans 182 New York, Telegraph, Gold 185 Comparative Exports of the Atlantic Cities 181 Harnden Express 188 Growth of New York 190 Bulls and Bears 195 Hotels in New York 191 BANKS IN THE UNITED STATES. Bills of Credit 198 Congress Issues, $358,465,000 199 Ten Thousand Dollars for a Cocked Hat ... 19U First Bank of the United States 201 One Hundred and Twenty Banks go into ope- ration in four years 201 Table of relative growth of Banks 203 Table of Number of Banks, and Capital. . . 204 Banks Located in New York 204 Alabama with Carolina, do 208 Clearing House System 209 Table of Capital of all Banks 209 UNITED STATES MINT. Establishment of the Mint, Standard of Coin, Ac 212 Value of the Dollar and the Pound Sterling in Colonial Paper Money 213 Alloy of Gold Coin 214 United States Coinage 214 California Gold 215 Weight of Silver Coin 216 CONTENTS Xlll PAGE Amount of New Silver Coin 216 Deposit of Domestic Gold at United States Mint and Branches 216 Am ount of Specie in 1821 217 INSURANCE. Fire, Marine, and Life 219 Number and Capital of New York Companies 222 Capital, Premiums, and Risks of the Fire Com- panies of the United States 223 Marine Insurance 224 Life Insurance 225 Comparative Rates of Domestic Life Insurance 226 IMMIGRATION. General Migration 228 Colonies of the United States 228 Early Immigration 229 Naturalization Laws 230 Number of Immigrants for the last forty years, with their Birth-places 231 European Migration — French and German. 232 Decrease in Population of Ireland 235 Allowance on Passage 236 Saving part of the Passage Money 239 Landing in New York — Future Homes 240 Table of Immigration 240 Location of Immigrants in the United States 242 Amount of Money received in the United States by Immigrants 243 Amount of Money remitted by Friends in aid of Immigration 243 Number of Natives arriving from abroad. . . 244 SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. Introduction *. 245 Domestic Architecture 245 Description of Buildings 246 Houses South 247 Introduction of Anthracite Coal 248 Nott’s Stoves 248 Furniture, Furnishing Goods, Ac 249 China, Glass, Silver Forks, Ac 251 Food, Cooking, Ac 252 Cooking Stoves 253 Dress 253 Social and Mental Culture 259 BOOKS. Book Trade, Publishing, Ac 262 First Booksellers in America 263 American Bible Society 264 j PAGE Harper and Brothers, Appletons 264 Number of Book Publishers in the United States 265 Gift-Book Sales 265 Sale of Old Books 266 Subscription Sales v 267 Circulation of Popular Works 267 School Book Trade 268 Reprints and American Books 269 Book Binding 269 Books of Wood and Metal 272 Description of Binding 273 Writers of America 274 Theologians, Statesmen, Novelists, Histo- rians 274 Early Founders of the Colony Good Wri- ters 274 Works of James Madison 275 Judge Marshall, Story, Wheaton, John Quincy Adams, and others 276 Cooper, Hawthorne, Willis 279-280 Prescott and Bancroft 284 Lady Authors 285 Printing Press 286 Franklin’s Press 286 Hoe and Adams Presses 297 Types 298 Machines for Casting Types 298 Stereotype, Electrotype 300 Newspapers 301 City Papers 303 Number of Papers in the United States 307 Telegraph — Origin 308 Morse, House, and Hughes Machines 311 First Lines 313 Various Lines and Companies 313 Penalty for refusing to transmit Messages.. 314 Comparison between Telegraphs and Couriers 315 THE ARTS OF DESIGN IN AMERICA. Horace Walpole 316 American Art begins with Benjamin West. . 317 Stuart, Robert Fulton 318 Sketches of the Lives of Prominent Painters 318 to 3 £5 Sculptors 326 to328 Engraving 332 Dr. Anderson 332 Copper- Plato Engraving 333 American Bank Note Company 333 Descriptions of Engraving 334 Lithography, Daguerreotype, Academies of Art, Ac 335 XIV CONTENTS PAGE PAGE EDUCATION AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITU- TIONS. Development in the Colonial Period 337 Early Efforts in Virginia 337 do do in New York 338 Early Efforts in Colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut 338 Town Action in behalf of Schools 339 Colonial Legislation and Action in the order of their Settlement 341 Virginia 341 Massachusetts 342 Rhode Island, Connecticut 344 New Hampshire 345 New York 346 Maryland 347 New Jersey, Pennsylvania 348 Delaware, North Carolina 349 South Carolina, Georgia 350 Results at the Close of our Colonial His- tory 350 Revolutionary and Transition Period 351 Opinions and Efforts of Noah Webster, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jeffer- son 352 Opinions and Efforts of James Madison, John Quincy Adams, Benjamin Rush, John Jay, De Witt Clinton, Chancellor Kent, Daniel Webster 353 Progress of Common or Elementary Schools 355 Letter from Noah Webster 355 do do Heman Humphrey 356 do do Joseph T. Buckingham 359 do do Dr. Nott 362 Recollections of Peter Parley 363 The Homespun Era of Common Schools, by Horace Bushnell, D.D 369 Letter from William Darlington, M.D., LL.D. 370 Schools in Philadelphia 371 School Holiday in Georgia 373 Old Field School or Academy in Virginia. . . 377 Remarks 380 What is Education ? 383 Remarks on the Common School System in the United States 384 Academies, High Schools, &c 388 Letter of Josiah Quincy 389 Address of Hon. Edward Everett 391 Colleges 392 Professional, Scientific and Special Schools 393 Theological Schools 393 Law Schools 394 Medical Schools 394 Military and Naval Schools 395 Normal Schools, &c ‘397 Schools of Science for Engineers, &c 400 The Lawrence School 401 Schools of Agriculture 402 Commercial Schools 403 Schools for Mechanics 403 Fine Arts — Female Education 404 School-Houses, Apparatus, and Text-Books 406 The Horn-Book 413 New England Primer 414 Webster’s Spelling Book 416 School Apparatus 422 Libraries 423 Astor Library, Boston City Library 424 New York Mercantile Library 425 Table of Libraries in the United States 429 Lyceums, &c 432 Institutions for the Instruction of Deaf and Dumb 434 Rev. Thomas H. Gallaudet 435 Institutions for the Blind 439 Institutions for Idiots 440 Institutions for Education of Orphans 445 Reformatory Institutions 446 Educational Statistics of the United States. . 451 Table of American Colleges 452 do Theological Schools 454 do Law Schools, Medical Schools 455 do Deaf and Dumb Institutions 456 do Blind Institutions 457 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS, Page. 1, Frontispiece, 2, American Iron Works, 22 3, Smelting Pig Iron 22 4, Forges at Chalons 22 5, Flattening Machine 22 6, Chestnut Hill Mine 27 7, View of Baltimore, (Steel Plate) 28 8, Puddling 32 9, Casting Pig Iron 32 10, Blast Furnace 32 11, Casting Steel Ingots 32 12, Steam Hammers 40 13, Forges and Trip Hammer 40 14, Stone Hammer 54 15, Hydraulic Mining. 65 16, Tunneling at Table Mountain, Cal 66 17, Large Rocker 67 18, Stamps for Crushing Gold Ores, 68 19, Burke Rocker 74 20, Yosemite Valley 74 21, Father of the Forest 74 22, Gold Mining 74 23, Propects in California 74 24, Chinese in California 74 25, Crushing Mill, or Arrastre 75 26, Scotch Hearth Furnace 88 27, Apparatus for Working Platinum 108 28, View of New Almaden Quicksilver Mines 113 29, Map of the Anthracite region, Pa. Mines, 126 30, Map showing Different Strata, in Coal Regions, Pa 130 31, Map showing Different Strata in Coal Regions, Pa 132 32, Mt. Pisgah Plane, Mauch Chunk, Pa. . . . 137 33, Great Open Quarry of the Lehigh 138 34, Baltimore Company’s Mine, Pa 139 35, Colliery Slope . 139 36, View at Mauch Chunk 139 37, Descending the Shaft 140 38, Fire Damp Explosion 140 39, Inundations 140 40, Breaking of Props 140 41, Undermining Coal 142 42, Breaking off and Landing, 142 43, Drawing out Coal 142 44, Fire in the Oil Regions, (Chromo) 161 45, Oil Wells 168 46, Indian Encampment 170 47, Saw Mills 172 48, Niagara Falls, (Steel Plate) 175 49, 'I'Im- Farm 176 50, Victoria Bridge, (Steel Plate) 178 51, City Hall, New York 182 52, New York Stock Exchange 182 53, Academy of Design, New York 182 54, Cooper Institute 183 55, Gov. Stuyvesant Mansion 184 56, First-Class Dwelling 184 57, A. T. Stewart’s Residence 184 Page. 58, View of Broad Street 185 59, Interior Carpet House 190 60, Interior of a Dry Goods House 200 61, Capitol at Washington, (Steel Plate) .... 200 62, U. S. Bank, Pa., (Steel Plate) 206 63, Senate Chamber 211 64, Coining Room 216 65, Adjusting Room...., 216 66, Fire, (Chromo) 218 67, Buildings on Fire 219 68, Amoskeag Fire Engine 224 69, Hand Engine without Suction 225 70, Hand Engine fore and aft Brakes 225 71, Hand Engine Side Brakes 225 72, Hook and Ladder 225 73, Hose Carriage 225 74, Life Insurance Illustrated, Mr. Jones. . . . 226 75, “ “ Mr. Smith.... 226 76, “ “ Mr. Clark.... 226 77, City Hall and Park, N. Y., (Steel Plate) 232 78, Irish Emigrants 240 79, Irishmen in Common Council, N. Y 240 80, Japanese 244 81, Wood’s Moulding Machine 247 82, Old Styles Furniture 248 83, New Styles of Furniture 248 84, Kitchen of 1770 252 85, “ “ 1870 252 86, Fashion, 1776 255 87, Evening Dress, 1780 255 88, Fashion, 1780 255 89, “ 1785 255 90, Evening Dress, 1795 255 91, “ “ 1797 255 92, Fashion, 1800 255 93, “ 1805 255 94, Children, 1805 255 95, Fashions, 1812 255 96, Boys, 1812 255 97, Men, 1812 255 98, Women 1*1 5 256 99, Men, 1818 256 100, Women, 1820 256 101, Men, 1825 256 102, “ 1828 256 103, Winter Dress, 1833 256 104, Boys and Girls, 1833 256 105, Men, 1833 A... 256 106, Women, 1833 256 107, “ 1840 256 108, Men, 1844 256 109, Women, 1850 256 110, Fashions from 1850 to 1860 256 111, “ “ 1868 to 1869 256 112, Pleasant Home, (Steel Plate) 260 113, Noah Webster, (Steel Plate) 266 114, Laying on Gold. 272 115, Embossing Press 272 116, Sawing Machine 273 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 117, 118, 119, 120 , 121 , 122 , 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, Finishing Room. Gentlemen Auth< Lady Authors.. Franklin Statue. Improved Inking Apparatus Patent Single Cylinder Machine. Four Color Machine Bed and Platen Power Machine. Telegraph Apparatus. . . Gentlemen in Fine Arts. Women in Fine Arts. . . Spring Summer Fall First Map Engraved Map of the Present Day.. . . School, Interior of, in 1770. “ “ “ 1870. “ as they are Village School House Brown School .House, Hartford. View of Girard College “ “ “ Garden Front . . “ “ “ Interior Norwich Free Academy Chicago City University Horn Book of the 18th Century John Hancock Burning of John Rogers at the Stake.. . . In Adam’s Fall we sinned all Heaven to Find, the Bible Mind Christ Crucified, for Sinners died The Deluge Drowned, the Earth Around, Elijah hid, by Ravens fed The ,J udgment made Felix afraid As Runs the Glass My Book and Heart must never part. . . . Job Feels the Rod Proud Korah’s Troop was Swallowed up, Lot fled to Zoar Moses was he who Israel’s host led through the Sea Noah did view the Old World and New, Young Obadias, David, Josias Peter denied his Lord and cried Queen Esther sues Young Pious Ruth left all for Truth,. . . Young Samuel dear, the Lord did fear. . Young Timothy learnt Sin to fly Vasthi for Pride was set aside Whales in the Sea Xerxes did die While Youth doth cheer, &c Page. . 273 187, . 283 188, . 283 189, . 286 190, . 289 191. . 289 192, . 290 193, . 290 294, , 291 195, , 292 196, , 293 197, 294 198, 295 199, 296 200, , 306 201, , 306 202, 306 203, , 307 204, 307 205, 315 206, 322 207, 322 208, 330 209, , 330 210, , 331 211, , 331 212, 331 213, , 332 214, . 332 215, , 372 216, . 372 217, . 380 218, , 392 219, , 406 220, , 406 221, , 407 222, , 407 223, , 407 224, , 408 225, 409 226, . 410 227, . 410 228, , 411 229, . 412 230, , 413 231, . 414 232, 414 233, 415 234, 415 235, 415 236, , 415 236, 415 237, 415 238, 415 239, 415 240, 415 241, , 415 242, 415 243, L 244, 415 245, 415 246, 415 247, . 415 248, . 415 249, . 415 250, . 415 251, . 415 252, . 415 253, . 415 254, . 415 1 255, . 415 J 257, Zacheus he did climb the Tree The Boy that Stole Apples Country Maid Cat and Rat Fox and Swallow Fox and Bramble The Partial Judge. Bear and Two Friends Two Dogs Eye, Nose, &c Arm, Hand, &c . Eagle’s Nest Vertebrates Articulates Mollusks, Radiates Animals of the Seal Kind Birds Flowers Geological Chart School Apparatus as it was School Apparatus as it is Desk and Settee Combined Platform Desk Assistant Teacher’s Desk Tinsby’s Globe Time Piece Numeral Frame Eureka Wall Slate School Globe Black Board Support Crayon Holder Assembly School Desks and Settees. Boston City Library, Exterior “ “ Interior Alphabet, Deaf and Dumb, A it ii it it it it it a a a it tt tt tt tt tt it tt tt tt tt tt tt it *tt a tt tt a tt tt it tt tt tt tt tt tt tt tt tt tt tt tt tt »t tt a it tt “ B. “ C “ D, “ E “ F, “ G. “ H. “ I, “ J “ K. “ L “ M, "•< N, “ 0. “ P, “ Q “ R. “ . S. “ T. “ U. “ V. “ w “ X. “ Y. “ z Page. . 415 , 416 417 417 . 418 418 , 418 419 , 419 , 420 420 420 , 420 , 420 . 420 420 , 420 421 421 , 421 422 , 422 422 422 422 422 , 423 423 , 423 423 , 423 423 , 425 , 426 , 436 . 436 . 436 , 436 , 436 , 436 436 436 436 , 436 436 436 436 436 436 436 436 436 436 436 436 436 436 436 436 436 “ “ “ & 436 American Asylnm for Deaf and Dumb.. . 437 Pennsylvania Asylum for Blind 440 Asylum for Idiots, Syracuse, N. Y 444 Camp Meeting Baptism by Immersion, (Steel Plate).... Baptism by Sprinkling. “ “ .... South Church, New Britain, Ct First Church built in Connecticut Ancient Dutch Church in Albany Ancient Swedish Church in Philadelphia, MINING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. The mineral wealth of the American colonies does not appear to have been an object of much interest to the early settlers. Congregated near the coast, they were little likely to become acquainted with many of the mineral localities, most of which are in the interior, in regions long occupied by the Indian tribes. The settlers, moreover, prob- ably possessed little knowledge of mining, and certainly lacked capital which they could appropriate in this direction. Some discov- eries, however, were made by them very soon after their settlement, the earliest of which were on the James river, in Virginia. Beverly, in his “ History of the Present State of Virginia,” published in London in 1705, makes mention of iron works which w r ere commenced on Falling Creek, and of glass-houses which were about to be con- structed at Jamestown just previous to the great massacre by the Indians, in 1622. This undertaking at Falling Creek is referred to by other historians, as by Stith, in his “History of Virginia” (1753), p. 279. A Captain Nathaniel Butler, it appears, present- ed to the king, in 1623, a very disparaging account of the condition of the colony, men- tioning, among other matters, that “ the Iron Works were utterly wasted, and the People dead ; the Glass Furnaces at a stand, and in small Hopes of proceeding.” The commit- tee of the company, in their reply to this, affirm that “ great Sums had been expended, and infinite Care and Diligence bestowed by the Officers and Company for setting forward various Commodities and Manufactures ; as Iron Works,” etc., etc. Salmon, in his “Modem History” (1746), vol. iii, pp. 439 and 468, refers to the statement of Bever- ly, mentioning that “an iron work was set up on Falling Creek, in James River, where they found the iron ore good, and had near brought that work to perfection. The iron proved reasonably good ; but before they got into the body of the mine, the people were Vol. II. 2 cut off in that fatal massacre (of March, 1622), and the project has never been set on foot since, until of late ; but it has not had its full trial.” This author also refers to the representations of the Board of Trade to the House of Commons, in 1732, as contain- ing notices of the iron works in operation in New England. From various reports of the governor of Massachusetts Bay and other officials of this colony, there appear to have been, in 1731, as many as six furnaces and nineteen forges for making iron in New Eng- land, as also a slitting mill and nail factory connected with it. The first blast furnace in the colonies ap- pears to have been built in 1702, by Lambert Despard, at the outlet of Mattakeeset pond, in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, and a number more were afterward set in operation to work the bog ores of that district. Their operations are described in the “ Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society” for 1804, by James Thacher, M. D., who was himself engaged in the manufacture. In Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the same kinds of ore were found and work- ed at about the same period. Alexander gives the year 1715 as the epoch of blast furnaces in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsyl- vania. These enterprises were regarded with great disfavor in the mother country. In 1719 an act was brought forward in the House of Lords, forbidding the erection of rolling or slitting mills in the American col- onies, and in 1750 this was made a law. In Connecticut, Governor Winthrop was much interested in investigating the charac- ter of the minerals about Iladdam and Mid- dletown. In 1651 he obtained a license giv- ing him almost unlimited privileges for working any mines of “lead, copper, or tin, or any minerals ; as antimony, vitriol, black lead, alum, salt, salt springs, or any other the like, * % * to enjoy forever said mines, with the lands, woods, timber, and water within two or three miles of said mines.” And in 1661 , another special grant 18 MINING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES. was made to him of any mines he might discover in the neighborhood of Middletown. It does not appear, however, that he derived any special advantage from these privileges, although he used to make frequent excur- sions to the different localities of minerals, especially to the Governor’s Ring, a moun- tain in the north-west corner of East Had- dam, and spend three weeks at a time there with his servant, engaged, as told by Gover- nor Trumbull to President Styles, and record- ed in his diary, in “ roasting ores, assaying metals, and casting gold rings.” John Win- throp, F.R.S., grandson of Governor Win- throp, was evidently well acquainted with many localities of different ores in Connecti- cut, and sent to the Royal Society a consid- erable collection of specimens he had made. It is supposed that among them Hatchett found the mineral columbite, and detected the new metal which he named columbium. At Middletown, an argentiferous lead mine was worked, it is supposed, at this period, by the Winthrops, and the men employed were evidently skilful miners. When the mine was reopened in 1852, shafts were found well timbered and in good preservation, that had been sunk to the depth of 120 feet, and, with the other workings, amounted in all to 1,500 feet of excavation. The oldest Ameri- can charter for a mining company was grant- ed in 1709, for working the copper ores at Simsbury, Connecticut. Operations were carried on here for a number of years, the ore raised being shipped to England, and a similar mining enterprise was undertaken in 1719, at Belleville, in New Jersey, about six miles from Jersey City. The products of the so-called Schuyler mine at this place amounted, before the year 1731, to 1,386 tons of ore, all of which were shipped to England. At this period (1732) the Gap mine, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, was first opened and worked for copper, and about the middle of the century various other copper mines were opened in New Jersey; also, the lead mine at Southamp- ton, Mass., and the cobalt mine at Chatham, Conn. In 1754 a lead mine was success- fully worked in Wythe county, in south- western Virginia, and this is still productive. It is probable that, by reason of the higher value of copper at that period, and the lower price paid for labor than at present, some of the copper mines may have proved profit- able to work, though it is certain this has not been the cast? with them of late years. The existence of copper in the region about Lake Superior was known, from the reports of the Jesuit missionaries, in 1660, and one or two unsuccessful attempts were made to work it during the last century by parties of Englishmen. The lead mines of the upper Mississippi, discovered by Le Sueur in his ex- ploring voyage up the river in 1700 and 1701, were first worked by Dubuque, a French miner, in 1788, upon the tract of land now occupied by the city in Iowa bear- ing his name. Such, in general, was the extent to which this branch of industry had been carried up to the close of the last century. The only coal mines worked were some on the James river, twelve miles above Richmond, and the capacity of these for adding to the wealth of the country was not by any means appre- ciated. The gold mines were entirely un- known, and the dependence of the country upon Great Britain for the supply of iron had so checked the development of this branch of manufacture, that comparatively nothing was known of our own resources in the mines of this metal. The most impor- tant establishments for its manufacture were small blast furnaces, working bog ores, and the bloomaries of New York and New Jer- sey, making bar iron direct from the rich magnetic ores. The progress of the United States in these branches will be traced in the succeeding chapters, one of which will be devoted to each of the principal metals. CHAPTER I. IRON. The early history of the iron manufacture * in the American colonies has been noticed in the introductory remarks which precede this chapter. Since the year 1750 the re- strictions imposed upon the business by the mother country had limited the operations to the production of pig iron and castings, and a few blast furnaces were employed in New England and the middle Atlantic states. A considerable portion of the pig iron was ex- ported to Great Britain, where it was admit- ted free of duty, and articles of wrought iron and steel were returned from that coun- try. In 1771 the shipment of pig iron from the colonies amounted to 7,525 tons. By the sudden cessation of commercial relations IRON. 19 on the breaking out of the war, the country was thrown upon its own resources, but was illy prepared to meet the new and extraor- dinary demands for iron. The skill, experi- ence, and capital for this business were all alike wanting, and even the casting of can- non was an undertaking that few of the fur- nace masters were prepared to venture upon. The bog ores found in Plymouth county, Mass., together with supplies from New Jer- sey, sustained ten furnaces ; and in Bridge- water, cannon were successfully cast and bored by Hon. Hugh Orr, for the supply of the army. They were also made at Westville, Conn., by Mr. Elijah Bachus, who welded together bars of iron for the purpose. The Continental Congress, also, was forced to establish and carry on works for furnishing iron and steel, and in the northern part of New Jersey, the highlands of New York, and the valley of the Housatonic in Connecticut, they found abundance of rich ores, and forests of the best wood for the charcoal required in the manufacture. At their armory at Car- lisle, Pa., the first trials of anthracite for manu- facturing purposes were made in 1775. But the condition of the country was little favor- able for the development of this branch of industry, and after the war, without capital, a currency, or facilities of transportation, the iron business long continued of little more than local importance. The chief supplies were again furnished from the iron works of Great Britain, the establishment of which had in great part been owing to the restric- tions placed upon the development of our own resources; and while that country con- tinued to protect their own interest by pro- hibitory duties that for a long period exclu- ded all foreign competition, the iron inter- est of the United States languished under a policy that fostered rather the carrying trade between the two countries than the building up of highly important manufactories, and the establishment around them of perma- nent agricultural settlements through the home market they should secure. Hence it was that the manufacture in Great Britain was rapidly accelerated, improved by new inventions, strengthened by accumulated capital, and sustained by the use of mineral coal for fuel, almost a century before wo had learned in the discouraging condition of the art, that this cheap fuel, mines of which were worked near Richmond in Virginia, before 1790, could be advantageously em- ployed in the manufacture. The natural ad- vantages possessed by Great Britain power- fully co-operated with her wise legislation ; and as her rich deposits of iron ore and coal were developed in close juxtaposition, and in localities not far removed from the coast, the iron interest became so firmly established that no nation accessible to her ships could successfully engagein the same pursuit, until, by following the example set by Great Britain, its own mines and resources might be in like manner developed. Thus encouraged and supported, the iron interest of Great Britain has prospered at the expense of that of all other nations, till her annual production amounts to more than one-half of the seven millions or eight millions of tons produced throughout the world ; and the products of her mines and furnaces have, until quite re- cently, been better known, even in the ex- treme western states, where the cost of “ Scotch pig iron ” has been more than doubled by the transportation, than has that of the rich ores of these very states. And thus it is the annual production of the Uni- ted States has only recently reached 2,000,- 000 tons, notwithstanding the abundance and richness of her mines, both of iron ores and of coal, and the immense demands of iron for her own consumption. So great are the advantages she possesses in the quality of these essential materials in the production of iron, that according to the statement of an able writer upon this subject, who is him- self largely engaged in the manufacture, less than half the quantity of raw materials is required in this country to the ton of iron, that is required in Great Britain, “thus economizing labor to an enormous extent. In point of fact, the materials for making a ton of iron can be laid down in the United States at the furnace with less expenditure of human labor than in any part of the known world, with the possible exception of Scotland.” (“On the Statistics and Geog- raphy of the Production of Iron,” by Abram S. Hewitt, N. Y., 1856, p. 20). The tables presented by this writer, of the annual pro- duction, show striking vicissitudes in the trade, which is to be accounted for chiefly by the fluctuations in prices in the English market depressing or encouraging our own manufacture, and by the frequent changes in our tariff. “In 1810 the production of iron, en- tirely charcoal, was 54,000 tons. In 1820, in consequence of the commercial ruin which swept over the country just before, the busi' 20 MINING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES. ness was in a state of comparative ruin, and ; over 20,000 tons were produced. In 1828 the product was 130,000 tons. 44 1829 44 44 “ 142,000 44 44 1830 44 “ 165,000 44 44 1831 “ 44 “ 191,000 44 44 1832 U “ 200,000 44 a 1840 it “ “ 347,000 it tt 1842 “ it “ 215,000 it “ 1845 tt ii “ 486,000 ii “ 1846 “ if “ 765,000 “ 1847 a “ “ 800,000 ii a 1852 “ tt “ 564,000 “ 716,674 it a 1854 “ it tt “ 1855 “ it “ 754,178 ii a 1856 a tt “ 874,423 it “ 1857 a it “ 798,157 it a 1858 “ tt “ 705,094 “ 840,427 ft ii 1859 it “ it ii 1860 a it “ 913,774 “ 731,564 a 1861 ft it a “ 1862 it ii “ 787,662 a “ 1863 u “ “ 947,604 “ “ 1864 tt it “ 1,135,497 tt it 1865 “ tt “ 931,582 tt “ 1866 a it “ 1,350,943 a H 1867 “ “ “ 1,461,626 a a 1868 tt if “ 1,103,500 a “ 1869 .t it “ 1,916,641 ft ii 1870 a it “ 2.000.000 it There was a protective duty on iron from 1825 to 1837, but none from 1837 to 1843. From 1843 to 1848 there was protection, but none from 1848 to 18G3. The high protective duty was modified in 1866, and since that time the protection has been more and more moderate as the premium on gold declined. The tariff of 1870 reduced the duty from nine to seven dollars per ton on pig iron, and from eight to six dollars per ton on scrap iron. Until the year 1840, charcoal had been the only fuel used in the manufacture of iron ; and while it produced a metal far superior in quality to that made with coke, the great demands of the trade were for cheap irons, and the market was chiefly supplied with these from Great Britain. The introduction of anthracite for smelting iron ores in 1840 marked a new era in the manufacture, though its influence was not sensibly felt for several years.* MATERIALS EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE. Before attempting to exhibit the resources of the United States for making iron, and the methods of conducting the manufacture, it is well to give some account of the mate- rials employed, and explain the conditions upon which this manufacture depends. Three elements are essential in the great branch of the business — that of producing pig iron, viz : ores, fuel to reduce them, and a suit- able flux to aid the process by melting with and removing the earthy impurities of the ore in a freely flowing, glassy cinder. The flux is usually limestone, and by a wise pro- vision, evidently in view of the uses to which this would be applied, limestone is almost universally found conveniently near to iron ores ; so also are stores of fuel com- mensurate with the abundance of the ores. The principal ores are hematites, magnetic and specular ores, the red oxides of the sec- ondary rocks, and the carbonates. Probably more than three-quarters of the iron made in the United States is from the first three varieties named, and a much larger propor- tion of the English iron is from the last — from the magnetic and specular ores none. Hematites, wherever known, are favorite ores. They are met with in great irregular-shaped deposits (apparently derived from other forms in which the iron was distributed), in- termixed with ochres, clays, and sands, some- times in scattered lumps and blocks, and sometimes in massive ledges ; they also occur in beds interstratified among the mica slates. Although the deposits are regarded as of limited capacity, they are often worked to the depth of more than 100 feet; in one instance in Berks county, Penn., to 165 feet; and when abandoned, as they sometimes are, it is questionable whether this is not rather owing to the increased expenses incurred in continuing the enormous excavations at such depths, than from failure of the ore. Mines of hematite have proved the most valuable mines in the United States. At Salisbury, in Connecticut, they have been worked almost uninterruptedly for more than 100 years, supplying the means for supporting an active industry in the country around, and enriching generation after generation of proprietors. The great group of mines at ‘Chestnut Hill, in Columbia county, Penn., and others in Berks and Lehigh counties in the same state, are of similar character. The ore is a hydrated peroxide of iron, consisting of from 72 to 85 percent, of per- oxide of iron (which corresponds to about 50 to 60 per cent, of iron), and from 10 to 14 per cent, of w r ater. Silica and alumina, phosphoric acid, and peroxide of manganese are one or more present in very small quanti- ties ; but the impurities are rarely such as to interfere with the production of very excel- lent iron, either for foundry or forge pur- poses — that is, for castings or bar iron. It is IRON. 21 easily and cheaply mined, and works easily in the blast furnace. On account of its de- ficiency in silica it is necessary to use a lime- stone containing this ingredient, that the elements of a glassy cinder may be provided, which is the first requisite in smelting iron ; or the same end may be more advantageously attained by adding a portion of magnetic ore, which is almost always mixed with silica in the form of quartz ; and these two ores are consequently very generally worked together — the hematites making two-thirds or three-quarters of the charge, and the mag- netic ores the remainder. Magnetic ore is the richest possible com- bination of iron, the proportion of which cannot exceed *72.4 per cent., combined with 27.6 per cent of oxygen. It is a heavy, black ore, compact or in coarse crystalline grains, and commonly mixed with quartz and other minerals. It affects the magnetic needle, and pieces of it often support small bits of iron, as nails. Such ore is the load- stone. It is obtained of various qualities ; some sorts work with great difficulty in the blast furnace, and others are more easily managed and make excellent iron for any use ; but all do better mixed with hematite. The magnetic; ores have been largely em- ployed in the ancient processes of making malleable iron direct from the ore in the open forge, the Catalan forge, etc., and at the present time they are so used in the bloomary fires. They are found in inex- haustible beds of all dimensions lying among the micaceous slates and gneiss rocks. These beds are sometimes so extensive that they appear to make up the greater part of the mountains in which they lie, and in common language the mountains are said to be all ore. Specular ore, or specular iron, is so named from the shining, mirror-like plates in which it is often found. The common ore is some- times red, steel gray, or iron black, and all these varieties are distinguished by the bright red color of the powder of the ore, which is that of peroxide of iron. Mag- netic ore gives a black powder, which is that of a less oxidized combination. The specu- lar ore thus contains less iron and more oxy- gen than the magnetic ; the proportions of its ingredients are 70 parts in 100 of iron, and 30 of oxygen. Though the difference seems slight, the qualities of the two ores are quite distinct. The peroxide makes iron fast, but some sorts of it produce an inferior quality of iron to that from the hematite and mag- netic ores, and better adapted for castings than for converting into malleable iron. The pure, rich ores, however, are many of them unsurpassed. It is found in beds of all di- mensions, and though in the eastern part of the United States they prove of limited ex- tent, those of Missouri and Lake Superior are inexhaustible. Magnetic and specular ores are associated together in the same dis- trict, and sometimes are accompanied by- hematite beds ; and it is also the case, that iron districts are characterized by the preva- lence of one kind only of these ores, to the exclusion of the others. The red oxides of the secondary rocks consist, for the most part, of the red fossil- iferous and oolitic ores that accompany the so-called Clinton group of calcareous shales, sandstones, and argillaceous limestones of the upper silurian along their lines of out- crop in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and east- ern Tennessee, and from Oneida county, N. Y., westward past Niagara Falls, and through Canada even to Wisconsin. The ore is found in one or two bands, rarely more than one or two feet thick, and the sandstone strata with which they are associated are sometimes so ferruginous as to be themselves workable ores. The true ores are sometimes entirely made up of the forms of fossil marine shells, the original material of which has been gradually replaced by peroxide of iron. The oolitic variety is composed of fine globular particles, united together like the roe of a fish. The ore is also found in compact forms, and in Wisconsin it is in the condi- tion of fine sand or seed. Its composition is very variable, and its per-centage of iron ranges from 40 to 60. By reason of the carbonate of lime diffused through some of the varieties, these work in the blast furnace very freely, and serve extremely well to mix with the silicious ores. Of the varieties of carbonate of iron, the only ones of practical importance in the United States are the silicious and argilla- ceous carbonates of the coal formation, and the similar ores of purer character found among the tertiary clays on the western shores of Chesapeake Bay. The former va- rieties are the chief dependence of the iron furnaces of Great Britain, where they abun- dantly occur in layers among the shales of the coal formation, interstratified with the beds of coal — the shafts that are sunk for the exploration of one also penetrating beds 22 MINING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES. of the other. The layers of ore are in flat- tened blocks, balls, and kidney-shaped lumps, which are picked out from the shales as the beds of these are excavated. The ore is lean, affording from 30 to 40 per cent, of iron ; but it is of easy reduction, and makes, when properly treated, iron of fair quality. In Pennsylvania, Ohio, western Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, the ores occur with the same associations as in England ; but the supply is, for the most part, very pre- carious, and many furnaces that have de- pended upon them are now kept in opera- tion only by drawing a considerable portion of their supplies from the mines of Lake Superior, more than one thousand miles off. Among the horizontally stratified rocks west of the Alleghanies, the same bands of ore are traced over extensive districts, and are even recognized in several of the different states named. One of the most important of these bands is the buhrstone ore, so call- ed from a cellular, flinty accompaniment which usually underlies it, the whole con- tained in a bed of peculiar fossiliferous lime- stone. So much carbonate of lime is some- times present in the ore, that it requires no other flux in the blast furnace. Its per-cent- age of iron is from 25 to 35. Along the line of outcrop of some of the carbonates are found deposits of hematite ores, the result of superficial changes in the former, due to atmospheric agencies long continued. In southern Ohio, at Hanging Rock particularly, numerous furnaces have been supported by these ores, and have furnished much of the best iron produced at the west. The carbonates of the tertiary are found in blocks and lumps among the clays along the shores of the Chesapeake at Baltimore, and its vicinity. The ores are of excellent character, work easily in the furnace, make a kind of iron highly esteemed — particularly for the manufacture of nails — and are so abundant that they have long sustained a considerable number of furnaces. They lie near the surface, and are collected by exca- vating the clay beds and sorting out the balls of ore. The excavations have been carried out in some places on the shore be- low the level of tide, the water being kept back by coffer dams and steam pumps. Bog ores, with which the earliest furnaces in the country were supplied, are now little used. They arc rarely found in quantities sufficient for running the large furnaces of the present day, and, moreover, make but an inferior, brittle quality of cast iron. They are chiefly found near the coast, and being easily dug, and also reduced to metal with great facility, they proved very convenient for temporary use before the great bodies of ore in the interior were reached. Some fur- naces are still running on these ores in the south-west part of New Jersey, and at Snow- hill, on the eastern shore of Maryland, and the iron they make is used to advantage in mixing at the great stove foundries in Albany and Troy with other varieties of cast iron. It increases the fluidity of these, and pro- duces with them a mixture that will flow into and take the forms of the minutest markings of the mould. Charcoal has been the only fuel employed in the manufacture of iron until anthracite was applied to this purpose, about the year 1840, and still later — in the United States— coke and bituminous coal. So long as wood continued abundant in the iron districts, it was preferred to the mineral fuel, as in the early experience of the use of the latter the quality of the iron it produced was inferior to that made from the same ores with char- coal, and even at the present time, most of the highest-priced irons are made with char- coal. The hard woods make the best coal, and after these, the yellow pine. Hemlock and chestnut are largely used, because of their abundance and cheapness. The char- coal furnaces are of small size compared with those using the denser mineral coal, and their capacity rarely exceeds a produc- tion of ten or twelve tons of pig iron in twenty-four hours. In 1840 they seldom made more than four tons a day ; the differ- ence is owing to larger furnaces, the use of hot blast, and much more efficient blowing machinery. The consumption of charcoal to the ton of iron is one hundred bushels of hard-wood coal at a minimum, and from this running up to one hundred and fifty bushels or more, according to the quality of flic coal and the skill of the manager. The economy of the business depends, in great part, upon the convenience of the supplies of fuel and of ores, of each of which rather more than two tons weight are consumed to every ton of pig iron. As the woods are cut off in the vicinity of the furnaces, the supplies are gradually drawn from greater distances, till at last they are sometimes hauled from ten to fourteen miles. The furnaces near Balti- | more have been supplied with pine wood dis- i charged from vessels at the coaling kilns AMERICAN IRON WORKS, PITTSBURf Wo SMELTING PIG IRON. FORGES AT CHALONS. IRON. 23 .close by the furnaces. Transportation of the fuel in such cases is a matter of second- ary importance. The mineral coals are a more certain de- pendence in this manufacture, and are cheap- ly conveyed from the mines on the great lines of transportation, so that furnaces may be placed anywhere upon these lines, with reference more especially to proximity of ores. Thus they can be grouped togeth- er in greater numbers than is practicable with charcoal furnaces. Their establishment, however, involves the outlay of much capital, for the anthracite furnaces are all built upon a large scale, with a capacity of producing from twenty to thirty tons of pig iron a day. This requires machinery of great power to furnish the immense quantities of air, amounting in the large stacks to fifteen tons or more every hour, and propel it through the dense column, of fifty to sixty feet in height, of heavy materials that fill the furnace. The air actually exceeds in weight all the other materials introduced into the furnace, and its efficiency in promoting combustion and generating intensity of heat is greatly increased by the concentration to which it is subjected when blown in under a pressure of six or eight pounds to the square inch. It is rendered still more efficient by being heated to temperature sufficient to melt lead before it is introduced into the furnace ; and this demands the construction of heating ovens, through which the blast is forced from the blowing cylinders in a series of iron pipes, arranged so as to absorb as much as possible of the waste heat from the combust- ible gases that issue from the top of the stack, and are led through these ovens before they are finally allowed to escape. The weight of anthracite consumed is not far from double that of the iron made, and the ores usually exceed in weight the fuel. The flux is a small and cheap item, its weight ranging from one-eighth to one-third that of the ores. The location of furnaces with reference to the market for the iron is a consideration of no small importance, for the advantages of cheap material may be overbalanced by the difference of a few dollars in the cost of placing in market a product of so little value to the ton weight as pig iron. The following statement gave the cost of the different items which went to make up the total expense of production at the locali- ties named in 1859. The advance in the 2 * value of ores, cost of transportation, labor, and coal, have increased these items about 75 per cent, since 1863. At different points on the Hudson river, anthracite furnaces are in operation, which are supplied with hematites from Columbia and Dutchess counties, N. Y., and from the neighboring counties in Massachusetts, at prices varying from $2.25 to $3.00 per ton; averaging about $2.50. They also use mag- netic ores from Lake Champlain, and some from the Highlands below West Point, the latter costing $2.50, and the former $3.50 to $4.50 per ton; the average being about $3.50. The quantities of these ores pur- chased for the ton of iron produced are about two tons of hematite and one of mag- netic ore, making the cost for the ores $6.75. Two tons of anthracite cost usually $9, and the flux for fuel about 35 cents. Actual con- tract prices for labor and superintendence have been $4 per ton. Thus the total ex- pense for the ton of pig iron is about $20.10 ; or, allowing for repairs and interest on capital, full $21. In the Lehigh valley, in Pennsylvania, are numerous furnaces, which are supplied with anthracite at the low rate of $3 per ton, or $6 to the ton of iron. The ores are mixed magnetic and hematites, averaging in the proportions used about $3 per ton, or, at the rate consumed of 2k tons, $7.50 to the ton of iron. Allowing the same amount — $4.35 — for other items, as at the Hudson river furnaces, the total cost is $17.85; or, with interest and repairs, nearly $19 per ton. The difference is in great part made up to the furnaces on the Hudson by their convenience to the great markets of New York, Troy, and Albany. The charcoal iron made near Baltimore shows a higher cost of production than either of the above, and it is also subject to greater expenses of transportation to market, which is chiefly at the rolling mills and nail fac- tories of Massachusetts. Its superior quality causes a demand for the product and sustains the business. For this iron per t66, 749,367 286,996 332,280 1,350,943 1,461,626 1867, 798.638 318,647 344,311 1868, 893,000 340,000 370,000 1,603,000 1859, 971,150 553,341 392,150 1,916,641 1870, 940,500 5.50,000 360,000 1,850,000 1871, 875,999 650,000 375,000 1,900,000 The manufacture of iron rails has existed for nearly twenty-five years in the United States, but has only assumed any great mag- nitude since 1854. The annual production of American rails since 18G1 has been : 1861, 189,818 tons; 1862, 213,912; 1863, 275,- 768; 1864,335,369; 1865, 356,292 ; 1866, 430,778; 1867, 462,108; 1868, 506,714; 1869, 593,586 ; 1870, 620,000 ; 1871, 722,- 000 tons. In the last named year, 572,386 tons were imported from Great Britain. The census of 1860 gives the following statistics of the iron production and manu- facture of that year. There had been very little progress in the production of iron in the country for several years previous, in consequence of the very low rafce of duty at which foreign railroad and other iron was admitted. Iron blooms, valued at $2,623,178 Pig iron 20,870,120 Bar, sheet and railroad iron.. 31,888,705 Iron wire 1,643, S57 Iron forgings 1,907,460 Car wheels 2,083,350 Iron castings of all kinds 36,132,033 $97,148,705 The opening of the war, in 1861, gave an extraordinary impetus to iron production and manufacture. The tariff and other causes reduced the importation to a mini- mum, while the demand for iron for the fabrication of small arms and cannon ; for the construction of the large fleet of iron- clads, and for the other war vessels ; for the building of locomotives, the casting of car wheels and furnishing the vast quantity of railroad iron needed to repair the old tracks destroyed by the contending armies, and to lay the tracks of new roads, extended the business vastly beyond all former precedent ; and the requirement that the Pacific railroad and its branches shall be constructed solely of American iron, as well as the increase in its use for buildings, and for shipping, have maintained it in a prosperous condition. The manufacture of steel and the other manufactures of iron, aside from those al- ready enumerated, brought the aggregate production and manufacture of iron and steel, in 1860, up to $285,879,510. The revenue tax paid on iron and steel manufac- tures in 1864 indicates that the product of the branches taxed amounted to about $123,000,000. This estimate was far below the production, as many branches were not taxed, and the returns of that year were im- perfect. The production and manufacture of 1865 were not less than 400 millions of dollars. There is every reason to expect that the de- velopment of the iron mines will be pushed forward with constantly increasing energy, and that the time is not far distant when many of the great repositories of ores we have described — now almost untouched — will be the seats of an active industry and centres of a thriving population, supported by the home markets they will create. The great valley of the west, when filled with the population it is capable of supporting, and intersected in every direction with the vast system of railroads, of which the present lines form but the mere outlines, will itself require more iron than the world now pro- duces, and the transportation of large por- tions of this from the great iron regions of northern Michigan and Wisconsin, and of 48 MINING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES. coal back to the mines, will sustain larger lines of transportation than have ever yet been employed in conveying to their markets the most important products of the country. The importation of foreign iron — already falling off in proportion to the increased con- sumption — must, before many years, cease, and be succeeded by exports for the supplies of other nations less bountifully provided for in this respect than the United States and Great Britain. CHAPTER II. COPPER. The early attempts to work copper mines in the United States have already been al- luded to in the introductory remarks to the department of this work relating to mining industry. The ores of this metal are widely distributed throughout the country, and in almost every one of the states have been found in quantities that encouraged their ex- ploration — in the great majority of cases to the loss of those interested. The metal is met with in all the New England states, but only those localities need be named which have at times been looked upon as important. Copper occurs in a native or metallic state, and also in a variety of ores, or combi- nations of the metal with other substances. In these forms the metallic appearance is lost, and the metal is obtained by different metallurgical operations, an account of some of which will be presented in the course of this chapter. Until the discover} 7 of the Lake Superior mines, native copper, from its scarcity, was regarded rather as a curiosity than as an important source of supply. The workable ores were chiefly pyritous copper, vitreous copper, variegated copper, the red oxide, the green carbonate or malachite, and chrysocolla. The first named, though con- taining the least proportion of copper, has furnished more of the metal than all the other ores together, and is the chief depen- dence of most of the mines. It is a double sulphuret of copper and iron, of bright yel- low color, and consists, when pure, of about 34 per cent, of copper, 35 of sulphur, and 30 of iron. But the ore is always inter- mixed with quartz or other earthy minerals, by which its richness is greatly reduced. As brought out from the mine it may not con- tain more than 1 per cent, of copper, and when freed as far as practicable from foreign substances by the mechanical processes of assorting, crushing, washing, jigging, etc., and brought up to a percentage of 6 or 7 of copper, it is in Cornwall a merchantable ore, and the mine producing in large quantity the poor material from which it is obtained may be a profitable one. Vitreous copper, known also as copper glance, and sulphuret of cop- per, is a lead gray ore, very soft, and con- tains 79.8 per cent, of copper, united with 20.2 per cent, of sulphur. It is not often found in large quantity. V ariegated or pur- ple copper is distinguished by its various shades of color and brittle texture. It yields, when pure, from 56 to 63 per cent, of copper, 21 to 28 of sulphur, and 7 to 14 of iron. The red oxide is a beautiful ore of ruby red color, and consists of 88.8 per cent, of cop- per and 11.2 per cent, of oxygen. It is rarely found in sufficient quantity to add much to the products of the mines. Green malachite is a highly ornamental stone, of richly variegated shades of green, famous as the material of costly vases, tables, etc., man- ufactured in Siberia for the Russian govern- ment. It is always met with in copper mines, especially near the surface, but rarely in large or handsome masses. It consists of copper 57.5, oxygen 14.4, carbonic acid 19.9, and water 8.2 per cent. Chrysocolla is a combination of oxide of copper and silica, of greenish shades, and is met with as an incrustation upon other copper ores. It often closely resembles the malachite in ap- pearance. It contains about 36 per cent, of copper. The first mines worked in the United States were peculiar for the rich character of their ores. These were, in great part, vitreous and variegated copper, with some malachite, and were found in beds, strings, and bunches in the red sandstone formation, especially along its line of contact with the gneiss and granitic rocks in Connecticut, and with the trap rocks in New Jersey. The mine at Simsbury, in Connecticut, furnished a considerable amount of such ores from the year 1709 till it was purchased, about the middle of the last century, by the state, from which time it was occupied for sixty years as a prison, and worked by the con- victs ; not, Jiowever, to much profit. In 1830 it came into possession of a company, but was only worked for a short time after- ward. On the same geological range, but lying chiefly in the gneiss rocks, the most productive of these mines was opened in COPPER. 49 1836, in Bristol, Conn. It was vigorously; worked from 1847 to 1857, and produced larger amounts of rich vitreous and pyritous ores than have been obtained from any other mine in the United States. No expense was spared in prosecuting the mining, and in furnishing efficient machinery for dressing the ores. Although 1800 tons of ore, producing over $200,000, were sent to market, the ore yielding from 18 to 50 per cent, of copper, the mine proved a losing affair, and was finally abandoned in 1857. The New Jersey mines have all failed, from insufficient supply of the ores. The Schuyler mine, at Belleville, produced rich vitreous copper and chrysocolla, disseminated through a stratum of light brown sandstone, of 20 to 30 feet in thickness, and dipping at an angle of 12°. During the periods of its being worked in the last century, the exca- vations reached the depth of 200 feet, and were carried to great distances on the course of the metalliferous stratum. The mine was then so highly valued that an offer of £500,- 000, made for it by an English company, was refused by the proprietor, Mr. Schuyler. In 1857—58 attempts were made by a New York company to work the mine again, but the enterprise soon failed. Among the other mines which have been worked to consid- erable extent in New Jersey are the Flem- ington mine, which resembled in the char- acter of its ore the Schuyler mine, and the Bridgewater mine, near Somerville, at which native copper in some quantity was found in the last century; two pieces met with in 1754 weighing together, it was reported, 1,900 lbs. A mine near New Brunswick also furnished many lumps of native copper, and thin sheets of the metal were found included in the sand- stone. At different times this mine has been thoroughly explored, to the loss of those en- gaged in the enterprise. In Somerset county, the Franklin mine, near Griggstown, has been worked to the depth of 100 feet. Carbonate and red oxide of copper were found in the shales near the trap, but not in quantity suf- ficient to pay expenses. In Pennsylvania, near the Schuylkill river, in Montgomery and i Chester counties, many mines have been ' worked for copper and lead at the junction of the red sandstone and gneiss. Those veins included wholly in the shales of the red sandstone group were found to produce copper chiefly, while those in the gneiss were productive in lead ores. At the Perkiomen and Ecton mines — both upon the same lode — extensive mining operations have been carried on ; a shaft upon the latter having reached in 1853 the depth of 396 feet. The sales of copper ores during the three years the mines were actively worked amounted to over $40,500 ; but the product was not sufficient to meet the expenditures. The mines in Frederick county, Maryland, in the neighborhood of Liberty, were near the red sandstone formation, though included in argillaceous and talcose slates. A num- ber of them have been worked at different times up to the year 1853, when they were finally given up as unprofitable. A more newly discovered and richer cop- per district in Maryland is near Sykesville, on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, 32 miles from Baltimore, in a region of micaceous, talcose, and chloritic slates. A large bed of specular iron ore lying between the slates was found to contain, at some depth below the surface, carbonates and silicates of cop- per, and still further down copper pyrites. In the twelve months preceding April 1, 1857, 300 tons had been mined and sent to market, the value of which was $17,896.92, and the mine was reported as improving. The ore sent to the smelting works at Balti- more, in December of that year, yielded 16.03 per cent, of copper. Within seven miles of Baltimore the Bare Hill mine has produced considerable copper, associated with the chromic iron of that region. Like the last two named, all the other lo- calities of copper ores of any importance along the Appalachian chain and east of it are remote from the range of the red sand- stone, and belong to older rock formations. In the granites of New Hampshire, pyritous copper has been found in many places, but has nowhere been mined to any extent. In Ver- mont, mining operations were carried on for several years upon a large lode of pyritous copper, which was traced several miles through Vershire and Corinth. At Straf- ford, pyritous ores were worked in 1829 and afterward, both for copperas and copper. In New York, excellent pyritous ores were pro- duced at the Ulster lead mine in 1853. Among other sales of similar qualities of ore, one lot of 50 tons produced 24.3 per cent, of copper. In Virginia, rich ores of red oxide of cop- per, associated with native copper and pyri- tous copper, are found in the mctamorphic slates at Manasses Gap, and also in many other places further south along the Blue 50 MINING- INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES. Ridge. The very promising appearance of the ores, and their numerous localities, would encourage one to believe that this will prove to he a copper region, were it not that, when explored, the ores do not seem to lie in any regular form of vein. In the southern part of the state, in Carroll, Floyd, and Grayson counties, copper was discovered in 1852, and mines were soon after opened in a district of metamorphic slates, near their junction with the lower silurian limestones. The copper was met with in the form of pyritous ore, red oxide, and black copper, beneath large outcropping masses of hematite iron ore, or gossan. Some of the shipments are said to have yielded over 20 per cent, of copper. The amount of ores sent east, over the Virginia and Tennessee railroad, in 1855, was 1,931,403 lbs.; in 1856, 1,972,834 lbs. ; and in the nine months ending June 30, 1857, 1,085,997 lbs.; 1858, 688,418 lbs.; .1859, 1,151,132 lbs.; and 1860, 2,679,673 lbs. Copper ores are very generally met with in the gold mines of this state, and further south, but the only one of them that has been worked expressly for copper is that of the North Carolina Copper Company, in Guilford county. From this a considerable amount of pyritous copper ores were sent to the north in 1852 and 1853. In Tennessee, an important copper region lies along the southern line of Polk county, and extends into Gilmer county, Georgia. The ore was first found in 1847, associated with masses of hematite iron ores, which formed great outcropping ledges, traceable for miles from south-west to north-east along the range of the micaceous and talcose slates. An examination of the ores, made to ascer- tain the cause of their working badly in the furnace, was the means of corroborating or giving importance to the discovery of the copper. In 1851 copper mining was com- menced, and afterward prosecuted with great activity by a number of companies. The ore was found in seven or eight parallel lodes of the ferruginous matters, all within a belt of a mile in width. At the surface there was no appearance of it, but as the explora- tions reached the depth of seventy-five or one hundred feet below the surface of the hills, it was met with in various forms, re- sulting from the decomposition of pyritous copper, and much mixed with the ochreous matters derived from a similar source. In a soft black mass, easily worked by the pick, and of extraordinary dimensions, were found intermixed different oxides and other ores of copper, yielding various proportions of metal, and much of it producing 20 per cent, and more, fit to be barrelled up at once for transportation. This ore spread out in a sheet, varying in width at the different mines ; at the Eureka mine it was 50 feet wide, and at the Hiwassee 45 feet, while at the Isabella mine the excavations have been extended between two walls 250 feet apart. In depth this ore is limited to a few feet only, except as it forms bunches running up into the gossan or ochreous ores. Below the black ore is the undecomposed lode, consist- ing of quartz, more or less charged with pyritous copper, red oxide, green carbonate, and gray sulphuret of copper ; and it is upon these the permanent success of the mines must depend. About 14 mining companies have been engaged in this district, and the production of the most successful of them was as follows, up to the year 1858: Isa- bella, 2,500 tons ; Calloway, 200 ; Mary’s, 1,500 ; Polk county, 2,100 ; Tennessee, 2,200 ; Hiwassee, 2,500 ; Hancock, 2,000 — making a total of 13,000 tons, yielding from 15 to 40 per cent, of copper, and worth $100 per ton, or $1,300,000. In addition to this, the products of the London mine, yielding an average of 45 per cent, of copper, amount- ed to over $200,000 in value ; and the prod- ucts of the Eureka mine were rated for 1855 at $86,000; for 1856 at $123,000; and for 1857 at $136,000. The value of the ores remaining at the mines too poor to transport, but valuable to smelt in furnaces on the spot, was estimated at $200,000 more. Furnaces for smelting, on the German plan, were in operation in 1857, and produced the next year 850 tons of matt, or regulus. At the Eureka mine, in 1858, there were 4 reverberatory furnaces, 2 blast, and 2 cal- cining furnaces. The fuel employed is wood and charcoal. By the introduction of smelt- ing operations, ores of 5 to 6 per cent, are now advantageously reduced. In 1857 the mines of a large portion of this district were incorporated into the so- called Union Consolidated Mining Company, and most of the other mines were taken up by the Burra Burra Company and the Polk County Company. The principal interests in the last two are held in New Orleans. The first named own 11 mines, of which they are working three only, with a monthly production of 750 to 800 tons of 12 per cent, copper, besides 5 or 6 tons of precipitate COPPER. 51 copper. This is metallic copper, precipitated from the waters of the mine by means of scrap iron thrown into tbe vats in which these waters are collected. The iron being taken up by the acids which hold the cop- per in solution, the latter is set free, and de- posited in fine metallic powder. The ore is smelted in furnaces constructed on the Ger- man plan, and being put through twice, pro- duce a regulus of 55 per cent. As soon as the proper furnaces and refineries can be constructed, it is intended to make ingot copper, and by working more of the mines belonging to the company it is expected the monthly production will soon be raised to 2.000 tons of 10 to 12 per cent. ore. The two other companies have erected ex- tensive smelting works ; and the mines of the Burra Burra are producing 450 to 500 tons per month of 14 per cent, ore, and those of the Polk County Company about 300 tons of 15 per cent. ore. Both com- panies will soon be able to make ingot cop- per. The report of the Union Consolidated Company for the first year of their opera- tions presents, against expenditures amount- ing to $307,182.77, receipts of $457,803.73, leaving a profit of $150,620.96. A large portion of the regulus is shipped to England for sale. The profits of these mines were greatly reduced the first few years of their operation by the necessity of transporting the ores 40 miles to a railroad, and thence more than 1.000 miles by land and water to the north- ern smelting works. The establishment of furnaces at the mines not only reduces this source of loss, but renders the great body of poorer ores available, which they were not before. A railroad is now in process of con- struction to connect the mines with the Georgia railroads. West of the Alleghanies, the only copper mines, besides those of Lake Superior, are in the lead region of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri. A considerable number of them have been worked to limited extent, and small blast furnaces have been in operation smelting the ores. These were found only near the surface, in the crevices that con- tained the lead ores ; and in Missouri, in horizontal beds in the limestone, along the line of contact of the granite. The ores were mixed pyritous copper and carbonate, always in very limited quantity. The amount of copper produced has been unimportant, and it is not likely that any considerable in- crease in the supply of the metal will be de- rived from this source. The existence of native copper on the shores of Lake Superior, is noticed in the reports of the Jesuit missionaries of 1659 and 1666. Pieces of the metal 10 to 20 lbs. in weight were seen, which it is said the Indians reverenced as sacred ; similar reports were brought by Father Dablouin 1670, and by Charlevoix in 1744. An attempt was made in 1771 by an Englishman, named Alexander Henry, to open a mine near the forks of the Ontonagon, on the bank of the river, where a large mass of the metal lay ex- posed. He had visited the region in 1763, and returned with a party prepared for more thoroughly exploring its resources. They, however, found no more copper besides the loose mass, which they were unable to re- move. They then went over to the north shore of the lake, but met with no better success there. General Cass and Mr. II. R. Schoolcraft visited the region in 1819, and reported on the great mass upon the Onton- agon. Major Long, also, in 1823, bore wit- ness to the occurrence of the metal along the shores of the lake. The country, till the ratification of the treaty with the Chip- pewa Indians in 1842, was scarcely ever visited except by hunters and fur-traders, and was only accessible by a tedious voyage in canoes from Mackinaw. The fur com- panies discouraged, and could exclude from the territory, all explorers not going there under their auspices. Dr. Douglass Hough- ton, the state geologist of Michigan, in the territory of which these Indian lands were included, made the first scientific examina- tion of the country in 1841, and his reports first drew public attention to its great re- sources in copper. 11 is explorations were continued both under the state and general government until they were suddenly termi- nated with his life by the unfortunate swamp- ing of his boat in the lake, near Eagle river, October 13, 1845. In 1844 adventurers from the eastern states began to pour into the country, and mining operations were commenced at various places near the shore, on Keweenaw Point. The companies took possession under permits from the general land office, in anticipation of the regular surveys, when the tracts could be properly designated for sale. , Nearly one thousand tracts, of one mile square each, were selected — the greater part of them at random-, and afterward explored and aban- 52 MINING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES. doned. In 1846 a geological survey of the region was authorized by Congress, which was commenced under Dr. C. T. Jackson, and completed by Messrs. Foster and Whit- ney in 1850. At this time many mines were in full operation, and titles to them had been acquired at the government sales. The copper region, as indicated by Dr. Houghton, was found to be nearly limited to the range of trap hills, which are traced from the termination of Keweenaw Point toward the south-west in a belt of not more than two miles in width, gradually receding from the lake shore. The upper portion of the hills is of trap rock, lying in beds which dip to- ward the lake, and pass in this direction under others of sandstone, the outcrop of which is along the northern flanks of the hills. Isle Royale, near the north shore of the lake, is made up of similar formations, which dip toward the south. These rocks thus appear to form the basin in which the portion of Lake Superior lying between is held. The trap hills are traced from Kewee- naw Point in two or three parallel ridges of 500 to 1,000 feet elevation, crossing Portage lake not far from the shore of Lake Superior, and the Ontonagon river about 1 3 miles from its mouth. They thence reach further back into i;he country beyond Agogebic lake, full 120 miles from the north-eastern termina- tion. Another group of trap hills, known as the Porcupine mountains, comes out to the lake shore some 20 miles above the mouth of the Ontonagon, and this also contains veins of copper, which have been little de- veloped until the explorations commenced near Carp lake in these mountains in 1859. These have resulted in a shipment of over 20 tons of rough copper in 1860, and give en- couragement to this proving a copper-pro- ducing district. The formations upon Isle Royale, which is within the boundary of the United States, although they are similar to those of the south shore, and contain copper veins upon which explorations were vigor- ously prosecuted, have not proved of impor- tance, and no mines are now worked there. The productive mines are comprised in three districts along the main range of the trap hills. The first is on Keweenaw Point, the second about Portage lake, and the third near the Ontonagon river. All the veins are remarkable for producing native copper alone, the only ores of the metal being chiefly of vitreous copper found in a range of hills on the south side of Keweenaw Point, and nowhere in quantities to justify the con- tinuation of mining operations that were commenced upon them. The veins on Ke- weenaw Point cross the ridges nearly at right angles, penetrating almost vertically through the trap and the sandstones. Their produc- tiveness is, for the most part, limited to cer- tain amygdaloidal belts of the trap, which alternate with other unproductive beds of gray compact trap, and the mining explora- tions follow the former down their slope of 40°, more or less, toward the north. The thickness of the veins is very variable, and also their richness, even in the amygdaloid. The copper is found interspersed in pieces of all sizes through the quartz vein stones and among the calcareous spar, laumonite, prehnite, and other minerals associated with the quartz. These being extracted, piles are made of the poorer sorts, in which the metal is not sufficiently clear of stone for shipment, and these are roasted by firing the wood in- termixed through the heaps. By this proc- ess the stone entangled among the copper is more readily broken and removed. The lumps that will go into barrels are called “ barrel work,” and are packed in this way for shipment. Larger ones, called “ masses,” some of which are huge, irregular-shaped blocks of clean copper, are cut into pieces that can be conveniently transported, as of one to three tons weight each. This is done by means of a long chisel with a bit three- fourths of an inch wide, which is held by one man and struck in turns by two others Avith a hammer weighing 7 or 8 lbs. A groove is thus cut across the narrowest part of the mass, turning out long chips of copper one- fourth of an inch thick, and with each suc- ceeding cut the groove is deepened to the same extent until it reaches through the mass. The process is slow and tedious, a single cut sometimes occupying the continual labor of three men for as many weeks, or even long- er. This work is done in great part be- fore the masses can be got out of the mine. The masses are found in working the vein, often occupying the whole space be- tween the walls of trap rock, standing up- on their edges, and shut in as solidly as if all were one material. To remove one of the very large masses is a work of many months. It is first laid bare along one side by extend- ing the level or drift of the mine through the trap rock. The excavation is carried high enough to expose its upper edge and down to its lower line ; but on account of ir- COPPER. 53 regular shape and projecting arms of copper, which often stretch forward, and up and down, connecting with other masses, it requires long and tedious mining operations to determine its dimensions. When it is supposed to be nearly freed along one side, very heavy charges of powder are introduced in the rock behind the mass, with the view of starting it from its bed. When cracks are produced by these, heavier charges are introduced in the form of sand-blasts, and these are re- peated until the mass is thrown partly over on its side as well as the space excavated will admit. In speaking further of the Minesota mine, the enormous sizes of some of the masses, and the amount of powder consumed in loosening them, will be more particularly noticed. To separate the finer particles of copper from the stones in which they are contained, these, after being roasted, are crushed under heavy stamps to the condition of fine sand, and this is then washed after the usual method of washing fine ores, until the earthy matters are removed and the metallic par- ticles are left behind. This is shovelled into small casks for shipment, and is known as stamp copper. The stamping and crushing machinery, such as have long been used at the mining establishments of other countries, were found to be entirely too slow for the requirements of these mines, and they have been replaced by new apparatus of Amer- ican contrivance, which is far more efficient than any thing of the kind ever before ap- plied to such operations. The stamps here- tofore in use have been of 100 lbs. to 300 lbs. weight, and at the California mines were first introduced of 800 lbs. to 1,000 lbs. weight. At Lake Superior they are in use on the plan of the steam hammer, weighing, with the rod or stamp-ieg, 2,500 lbs. and making 90 to 100 strokes in a minute. The capacity of each stamp is to crush over one ton of hard trap rock every hour. It falls upon a large mortar that rests upon springs of vulcanized rubber, and the force of its fall is increased by the pressure of steam applied above the piston to throw it more suddenly down. The stamp-head covers about one-fourth of the face of the mortar, and with every succeed- ing stroke it moves to the adjoining quarter, covering the whole face in four strokes. The only other metal found with the cop- per is silver, and this does not occur as an alloy, but the two are as if welded together, and neither, when assayed, gives more than a trace of the other. It is evident from this that they cannot have been in a fused state in contact. The quantity of silver is small ; the largest piece ever found weighing a little more than 8 lbs. troy. This was met with at the mines near the mouth of Eagle river, where a considerable number of loose pieces, together with loose masses of copper, were obtained in exploring deep under the bed of the stream an ancient deposit of rounded boulders of sandstone and trap. The veins of even the trap rocks themselves of this lo- cality exhibited so much silver that in the early operations of the mines a very high value was set upon them on this account. But at none of the Lake Superior mines has the silver collected paid the proprietors for the loss it has occasioned by distracting the attention of the miners, and leading them to seek for it with the purpose of appropriating it to their own use. Probably they have car- ried away much the greater part of this metal ; at least until the stamp mills were in operation. The principal mine of this district is the Cliff mine of the Pittsburg and Boston Com- pany, opened in 1 845, and steadily worked ever since. In 1858 the extent of the horizontal workings on the vein had amounted to 12,368 feet, besides 831 feet in cross-cuts. Five shafts had been sunk, one of which was 817 feet deep, 587 feet being below the adit level, and 230 feet being from this level to the summit of the ridge. The shaft of least depth was sunk 422 feet. The production of the mine from the year 1853 is exhibited in the following table : — Price per lb. Mineral Refined Yield deducting Value Year. produced. lbs. copper. lbs. per cent. cost of smelting. realized. 1853, 2,263, 1S2 1,071,298 47.33 cts. 27.32 $292,647 05 1854, 2,382,614 1,3 ' 5,808 56.35 -.4.38 320,783 01 1855, 2,995,837 1,874,197 62.56 25 33 475,911 26 1856, 3.291,289 2,220,934 67.48 24.12 535.843 67 1857, 8,363,557 2,363.850 70.28 20.44 497,870 47 1858, 8,183,085 2,381.964 71.00 21.03 475.321 89 1859, 2,189,682 1,415,007 64.35 20.50 290,097 97 1860 2,805,442 22,374,5SS Product from accu- mulated slags . . . . j- 71,530, exclusive of slags. The quantities of the different sorts for the year 1857 are as follows: — 941 masses 1, 9158,1 81 lbs. 869 bbls. of barrel work 618,781 “ 1,020 “ of stampings 791,645 “ Total 8,363,557 “ The Portage lake mining district is from twenty to twenty-five miles west from the 54 MINING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES. Cliff mine on the same range of hills. This region is of more recent development, the explorations having been attended with little success previous to 1854. The veins are here found productive in a gray variety of trap as well as the amygdaloidal, and instead of lying across the ridges, follow the same course with them, and dip in general with the slope of the strata. Some of the larger veins consist in great part of epidote, and the copper in these is much less dense than in the quartz veins, forming tangled masses which are rarely of any considerable size. On the eastern side of this lake are worked, among other mines, the Quincy, Pewabic, and Franklin, and on the opposite side the Isle Royale, Portage, and Columbian mines. The most successful of these has been the Pewabic. Operations were com- menced here in 1855 upon an unimproved tract, requiring the construction of roads and buildings, clearing of land, etc. etc., all in- volving for several years a continued heavy outlay. The immediate and rapid produc- tion of the mine required the construction of costly mills, without which a large propor- tion of the copper would be unavailable for the market. The first three years the as- sessments were $50,000, and the shipments of barrel and mass copper were in 1856 97*Vo 6 o tons; in 1857, 209^Vo tons ; in 1858, 402 tons; in 1859, tons. The proceeds from the sales up to this time paid off all the expenditures, and left besides a considerable, surplus. The Franklin Com- pany, working the same lode upon the ad- joining location, commenced operations in July, 1857, and that year shipped 20 tons of copper, the next year 110 tons, and in 1859, 218 tons; the total amount in capital furnished by assessments was $1 0,000. These two mines have been the most rapidly de- veloped of any of the Lake Superior mines. The Ontonagon river crosses the trap hills about forty miles south-west from Portage lake, and the mines worked in the Onton- agon district are scattered along the hills north-east from the river for a distance of nearly twenty miles. The outlet for the greater number of them is by a road through 'the woods to the village at the mouth of the river. The veins of this district also lie along the course of the ridges, and dip with the trap rocks toward the lake. As they are worked, however, they are found occa- sionally to cut across the strata, and neighbor- ing veins to run into each other. In some places copper occurs in masses scattered through the trap rock with no sign of a vein, not even a seam or crevice connecting one mass with another. They appear, how- ever, to be ranged on the general course of the strata. At the Adventure mine they were so abundant, that it has been found profitable to collect them, and the cliffs of the trap rock present a curious appearance, studded over with numerous dark cavities in apparently inaccessible places leading into the solid face of the mountain. The great mine of this district for fifteen years was the Minnesota, two miles east from the Ontonagon river. The explorers in this region in the winter of 1847-48, found par- allel lines of trenches, extending along the trap hills, evidently made by man at some distant period. They were so well mark- ed, as to be noticed even under a cover of three feet depth of snow. On examination they proved to be on the course of veins of copper, and the excavations were found to extend down into the solid rock, por- tions of which were sometimes left standing over the workings. Mhen these pits w r ere afterward explored, there were found in them large quantities of rude hammers, made of the hardest kind of greenstone, from the trap rocks of the neighborhood. These were of all sizes, ranging from four to forty pounds weight, and of the same general shape — one end being rounded off for the end of the hammer, and the other shaped like a wedge. Around the middle was a groove — the large hammers had two — evi- dently intended for securing the handle by STONE HAMMER. which they were wielded. In every instance the hammers were more or less broken, evi- COPPER. 55 dently in service. One of them brought from the mine by the writer, and now in the col- lection of the Cooper Union of New York, is represented in the accompanying sketch. It measures 6£ inches in length, the same in breadth, and 2£ inches in thickness. The quantity of hammers found in these old workings was so great that they were col- lected by cart-loads. How they could have been made with such tools as the ancient miners had, is unaccountable, for the stone itself is the hardest material they could find. And it is not any more clear, how they ap- plied such clumsy tools to excavating solid rock nearly as hard as the hammers them- selves. Every hammer is broken on the edge, as if worn out in service. The only tools found besides these were a copper gad or wedge, a copper chisel with a socket head, and a wooden bowl. The great extent of the ancient mining operations indicates that the country must have been long occupied by an industrious people, possessed of more mechanical skill than the present race of In- dians. They must also have spread over the whole of the copper region, for similar evi- dences of their occupancy are found about all the copper mines, and even upon Isle Royale. It is not improbable that they be- longed to the race of the mound builders of the western states, among the vestiges of whom, found in the mounds, various utensils of copper have been met with. But of the period when they lived, the copper mines afford no more evidence than the mounds. Some of the trenches at the Minesota mine, originally excavated to the depth of more than twenty-five feet, have since filled up with gravel and rubbish to within a few feet of the surface, a work which in this region would seem to require centuries ; and upon the .surface of this material large trees are now standing, and stumps of much older ones are seen, that have long been rotting. In clearing out the pits a mass of copper was discovered, buried in the gravel nearly twenty feet below the surface, which the an- cients had entirely separated from the vein. They had supported it upon blocks of wood, and, probably by means of fire and their hammers, had removed from it all the adhering stone and projecting points of copper. Under it were quantities of ashes and charred wood. The weight of the mass, after all their at- tempts to reduce it, appears to have been too great for them to raise ; and when it was finally taken out in 1848, it was found to 4 * weigh over six tons. It was about ten feet long, three feet wide, and nearly two feet thick. Beneath this spot the vein after- ward proved extremely rich, affording many masses of great size. The veins worked by the Minesota Com- pany all lie along the southern slope of the northern trap ridge, not far below the sum- mit. Three veins have been discovered which lie nearly parallel to each other. The lowest one is along the contact of the gray trap of the upper part of the hill and a stratum of conglomerate which underlies this. It dips with the slope of this rock toward the north- north-west at an angle of about 46° with the horizon. The next upper vein outcropping, 80 or 90 feet further up the hill, dips about 61°, and falls into the lower vein along a very irregular line. Both veins are worked, and the greatest yield of the mine has been near their line of meeting. The position of the veins along the range of the rocks, instead of across them, gives to the mines of this character a great advantage, as their productiveness is not limited to the thickness of any one belt which proves favor- able for the occurrence of the metal ; and the outcrop of the vein can be traced a great distance along the surface, affording conve- nient opportunities for sinking directly upon it at any point. The Minnesota Company, having abund- ant room, were soon able to sink a large number of shafts along a line of outcrop of 1,800 feet, and several of the levels be- low extended considerably further than this entire length. In 1858 nine shafts were in operation, and ten levels were driven on the vein, the deepest at 536 feet down the slope. The ten fathom level at that time was 1,960 feet in length. This mine has been remarkable for the large size and great number of its masses. The largest one of these, taken out during the year 1857, after being uncovered along its side, refused to give way, though 1,450 pounds of powder had been exploded behind it in five succes- sive sand-blasts. A charge of 625 pounds being then fired beneath it, the mass was so much loosened that by a succeeding blast of 750 pounds it was torn off from the masses with which it connected, and thrown over in one immense piece. It measured forty- five feet in length, and its greatest thickness was over eight feet. Its weight was estima- ted at about 500 tons. What it proved to be is not certain, as no account was preserved !56 MINING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES. of the pieces into which it was cut, but it is known to have exceeded 400 tons. Other masses have been taken out which presented a thickness of over five feet solid copper. The value of the silver picked out from among the copper has amounted in one year to about $1,000. The reports of the company present the following statistics of the mine from its earliest operations: — Mineral Years. No.of men Expenditure. product. Per-centage Value of Assessments Dividends. employed. Tons. Copper. paid. 1848, 20 $14,000 6£ $1,700 $10,500 1849, 60 28,000 52 14,000 16,500 1850, 90 58,000 103 29,000 36,000 1851, 175 88,000 3071 90,000 3,000 , # 1852, 212 108,000 520 196,000 $30,000 1853, 280 168,000 523 210,000 60,000 1854, 392 218,000 763 290,000 90,000 1855, 471 280,933 1.434 71 549,876 200,000 1856, 537 356.541 1,859 72.5 701,906 300,000 1857, 615 402,538 2,058 74 736,000 300,000 1858, 713 384,827 1,833 70.1 595,000 180,000 1859, 718 384,394 1,626 71 515,786 120,000 1860, j 8 months to Sept. 1 . . . . . . 1,431 ( Estimate, for the year. . .. 2,250 In consequence of recent discoveries of masses of copper running into the sandstone off* from the vein itself, the product of the year 1860 will considerably exceed that of any other year ; the profits, however, are not proportionally large, owing to the low price of copper. To this the diminished prof- its of 1858 and 1859 are partly to he attrib- uted. The product for 185V, 1858, and 1859 was divided as follows : — Years. Masses. lbs. Barrel work, lbs. Stamp work, lbs. 1857, 3,015,581 819,900 280,512 1858, 2,429,989 903,871 333,352 1859, 2,040,454 929,571 282,092 Besides the dividends named, the original stockholders have derived large profits from the sale of portions of the extensive terri- tory, three miles square, which belonged to the company, and the organization upon these tracts of new companies. Before the completion of the St. Mary’s Canal, no exact records were preserved of the amount of copper sent from Lake Su- perior. But up to the close of navigation in 1854 it is supposed the total shipments from the commencement of mining in 1845 had been about 7642 tons of pure copper. Since that time, the annual product of rough copper has been as follows : — Districts. 1855. 1856. 1857. 1858. 1S59. 1860. Keweenaw 2,245 2,128 2,200 2,125 1,910.3 1,910.8 Portage 315 462 704 1,116 1,533.1 3,064.8 Ontonagon 1,984 2,767 3,190 2,655 2,597.6 3,588.7 Porcupine, Mo., etc . . . . . . . . 28.1 Total 4,544 5,357 6,094 5,896 6,041.0 8,543.4 The condition of the Lake Superior mines at the close of the year 1860 is well pre- sented in the business circular of Messrs. Dupee, Beck,