USA > New Jersey > Morris County > Dover > Dover dates, 1722-1922 : a bicentennial history of Dover, New Jersey , published in connection with Dover's two hundredth anniversary celebration under the direction of the Dover fire department, August 9, 10, 11, 1922 > Part 24
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
W b
m m SU th to C E C
in an
In WI ha Ne di de lay
t
y t
B
245
charge of this work and was superintendent at Mount Hope in charge of construction and development work and in charge of mining for a period of five years. The excellent results obtained by Mr. Roche at this mine no doubt were among the principal factors that influenced J. Leonard Replogle to purchase the old Wharton Steel Co. properties in 1917.
MINES ARE CONSOLIDATED
In 1916, the Beach Glen mine and the two adjoining properties known as the Misel and Cobb tracts, were consolidated by Mr. Roche. The Beach Glen mine was then unwatered, surveyed and the ore shoots thoroughly sampled. Concentration tests were made on the ore and the property was at that time diamond drilled. The work of unwater- ing, sampling and diamond drilling covered a period of ten months and was concluded shortly after Mr. Replogle bought the Wharton Steel Co. properties. Mr. Replogle, after acquiring the Wharton, properties, offered the position of general superintendent of mines to Mr. Roche, who accepted, as financing a mining property such as Beach Glen in war times seemed to offer considerable difficulty. Mr. Roche remained with the Wharton Steel Co. for a period of two and one-half years, during which time he developed the Replogle mine, constructed the surface plant and built and operated the concentration mills at that mine. On January 1, 1920, Mr. Roche severed his connection with the WhartonSteel Co. and immediately took up the development of the Beach Glen property.
The New Jersey iron mining industry owes a great deal to the work of Mr. Roche. He has always been enthusiastic about the possi- bilities of the iron ore deposits of northern New Jersey, and in his nine years' work as superintendent of the Mount Hope and Replogle mines and as consulting engineer for the Richard mine, has introduced many changes in the mining and milling methods and has been signally successful in producing large tonnages at low cost. The prominence the New Jersey iron ore deposits have recently attained is partly due to the efforts of Mr. Roche to place them on their proper footing. Considerable credit, however, should go to Leonard Peckitt of the Empire Steel & Iron Co., to W. A. Barrows, Jr., of the Thomas Iron Co., and to J. Leonard Replogle of the Replogle Steel Co. New Jersey will ever owe a debt to these men for re-establishing her iron mining industry, as this has been accomplished principally by their vision and energy.
The ore of the New Jersey deposits is almost wholly magnetite. In two of the mines operating at present hematite is found mixed with the magnetite. Magnetite occurs in the gneisses of pegmatites and limestones, but the ore bodies associated with the gneisses thus far have proved the most important and valuable. The gneisses of the New Jersey highlands consist of approximately parallel layers of different varieties of gneiss, all of which present a more or less well- defined linear structure in the arrangement of their constituents. The layers of gneiss generally strike northeast, dip steeply to the southeast
er
ed
n h
0 1 n n
E
d. ly od
n-
nt es ers ed red er, 8.5 1er ob-
ted ally 12, on He the M. tive
246
and pitch to the northeast at low angles of from 10 to 20 degrees. The ore occurs in the gneiss as layers, some of the ore layers being roughly elliptical in shape while others are of tubular form. The ore layers are locally called ore bodies, lenses, veins or shoots, the latter desig- nation being most commonly used. The ore shoots are all conformable to the enclosing gneiss, one peculiarity of both the gneisses and ore shoots being their uniform pitch at low angles to the northeast.
At the Beach Glen mine there are four parallel shoots of ore, three of which are being developed at the present time. The series of ore shoots dip with the dip of the associated gneiss and pitch parallel to the pitch of their structure, the ore shoots having well-defined top and bottom limits. The rock overlying the shoots is called the top rock and that underneath the ore the bottom rock. The ore shoots vary considerably in width and height but along their strike they persist for unknown distances. In fact, there is no known case where any ore shoot has been found to die out or become smaller in the direction along its strike. In some cases the downward course of the ore shoots is interrupted by faults, but the faults are all later than the ore deposits and cannot permanently terminate them. In all cases where an adequate amount of development work has been done in search of faulted ore shoots, the continuations have been found. At the Hiber- nia mine, one mile northwest of the Beach Glen mine, the Hibernia ore shoot was worked for a distance of 8,500 feet on its strike with no variation in size or value of the ore. Authorities state that there is about 200,000,000 tons of present day commercial iron ore in northern New Jersey, of which 90 per cent is within the boundaries of Morris County. About 75 per cent. of the known ore reserves in Morris County is controlled by four companies, as follows: North Jersey Steel Co., 10,000,000 tons; Empire Steel & Iron Co., 20.000,000 tons ; the Thomas Iron Co., 15,000,000 tons; Replogle Steel Co., 90,000,000 tons, or a total of 135,000,000 tons.
PREPARATION OF ORES FOR MARKET
The bulk of the ores in northern New Jersey range from 35 to 50 per cent. in iron content in their natural state, and, therefore, must be concentrated before shipment to blast furnace plants. All of the ores which are being mined at the present time are magnetic, with the exception of ores mined at the Replogle and Ringwood mines. At both these mines about 30 per cent. of the iron in the crude ore is hematite, the balance being magnetite. The method of concentration is crush- ing, sizing and separation by magnetic separators, except at the Rep- logle and Ringwood mills where magnetic separation is supplemented by means of tables or jigs. On an average the grade of the ores is raised by concentration to 60 per cent. in iron, while a large percentage of the silica and phosphorus in the crude ore is eliminated.
The ores generally are crushed to a 2-inch size or smaller before concentration is commenced, and the concentrated ore is in such physical condition that it can be readily used at furnaces. The moisture in the concenerated ore as shipped is negligible as most of the ores are dried before milling. The concentrate resulting from magnetic concen-
1 e f
247
tration contains practically no moisture, does not freeze in cars and is shipped the year round from the mines to the furnaces.
Another advantage in concentrating the ores is the fact that freight rates are paid per ton on an exceptionally high grade iron ore containing 60 or more units of iron and but very little moisture, while Lake Superior ores as shipped are generally from 5 to 12 per cent. lower in iron per ton and in many cases contain 10 per cent. or more moisture. On account of their excessive moisture content consider- able difficulty is experienced through freezing of ore in cars or on stock piles in cold weather, a difficulty which is not had with New Jersey concentrated ores.
Within a radius of 250 miles of the iron ore mines of Morris County are 37 blast furnace plants. These blast furnace plants, with a total of 89 stacks, consume annually 12,000,000 tons of iron ore when running at full capacity. Most of the iron ore used by these blast furnaces is obtained from the Lake Superior region or from foreign countries. Freight rates on Lake Superior ores to eastern Pennsylvania blast furnaces are extremely high as compared to freight rates from northern New Jersey mines to the same furnaces. In view of the freight differential in favor of New Jersey ores, it has been said that this one factor alone should restore New Jersey ores to favor. For instance, where in the past an eastern Pennsylvania blast furnace plant had been consuming 250,000 tons of Lake Superior ores per annum and found that at the present time it could replace this tonnage with New Jersey concentrated ore, the saving to the furnace would be over half a million dollars annually in freight charges on such replacement of iron ores.
CONCENTRATING THE ORE
The improved methods of concentration now employed make it possible to market Jersey ores in competition with those imported from Cuba and Chile and those from the Lake Superior region. High freight rates which handicap the distribution of lake ore to eastern fur- naces, have been an incentive in developing the North Jersey mines.
In the latter part of 1920, an experimental magnetic concentrating mill with a capacity of 100 tons per day was erected at Beach Glen, and shipments of concentrate were made to two furnace plants. After shipments had gone forward for two months from the small mill to the furnaces, work was started on a concentrating mill with a capacity of 1,500 tons of crude ore per day. Shipments from the experimental mill have been kept up steadily to furnaces until the present time, but this mill has been dismantled as the large mill now is completed and in operation.
The first step taken in designing the large concentrating mill was the construction of a model of the proposed mill shown in Fig. 8. The model was built on a scale of I inch to I foot. All machines and equipment were built into the model, shafting put up and belts placed from shafting to machines. The model was found most useful during the erection of the mill and there were no corrections to be made nor
ore ach ure are en-
50 be es the th İte, sh- ep- ted is ge
'is IS ey s; 00
re 10 1S
P P y st y n ts e re of
e e
S
S
e
248
remodeling of the mill or rearrangement of equipment after the mill was completed. In building the model attention was given to safe- guarding all moving machinery and details of this part of the work were so well worked out that the department of labor of the state of New Jersey requested the model be given them to be placed on perma- nnt exhibition at the department of labor building, 571 Jersey avenue, Jersey City, N. J.
In general, the new Beach Glen mill, as shown in Fig. 9 differs from other magnetic mills treating similar ore in that it has about 60 per cent. less floor area than other mills of equal capacity, and that in treatment the entire run of mine crude ore, after passing the first crusher, is given a thorough washing before further treatment. This is clearly indicated in Fig. 7. After washing the ore is classified as "coarse ore," that is, plus 14 and minus 2 inches in size, and as "fine ore" or minus 1/4 inch in size. The coarse material, or plus 1/4 inch, is further screened into two sizes as follows: Plus 14 and minus 3/4 in. and plus 3/4 and minus 2 ins. The fine material or minus 14 in. size. is further screened into two sizes as follows: Minus 14 inch and plus 20 mesh, and minus 20 mesh. The two coarse sizes are treated on dry drum separators, shown in Fig. II, where concentrate and mid- dling is made. The middling then is discharged on to high intensity pulley type machines where the pure rock is thrown off as tailing and the middling made by these machines sent to rolls, shown in Fig. 10, to be recrushed and then further treated. There are two closed crush- ing circuits in the mill. The ore as it comes into the mill is first crushed by a 24 x 36-inch jaw crusher and elevated to a trommel screen with 3/4 and 2-inch round screen openings. The oversize from the 2-inch screen is sent to an 8-inch gyratory crusher and the crushed ore from the gyratory sent back through the trommel again until all the ore has first passed either a 34 or 2-inch screen opening before going to the separating machines. After the middling from the high intensity pulley-type machines is recrushed, it is elevated to the top of the mill and discharged over vibrating screens with 14-inch square screen openings, the oversize from these screen being returned to the rolls until all the middling has been crushed to pass a 14-inch screen opening and is joined to the minus 1/4-inch material which was in the original feed to the mill and which was first washed in the trommel and later screened through 1/4-inch screens. The minus 1/4-inch and plus 20 mesh size is treated upon wet magnetic drum separators and the minus 20 mesh material is treated by water concentration sand tables. The wet magnetic drums and sand tables make concentrate and tailing only.
AVOIDS EVILS OF DRYING
Heretofore magnetic ores have first been dried by means of tower- dryers and all the ore has been separated upon dry magnetic machines. These ores either have to be dried before separation or the fine ores treated on wet machines with additional water added because the run of mine ore, or minus 1/4-inch size, contains so much moisture that it
G
249
is too sticky to be concentrated in its natural condition. The objection to drying ores is that a tremendous amount of dust is created in the mill which is not only injurious to mill operators but is the cause of considerable loss of operating time due to the breakdown of equipment. It also is difficult to obtain first class mill men to work in dusty mills. Another objection to all dry concentration is that each individual piece of ore becomes coated with dust which contains phosphorus and the resulting concentrate is lower in iron and higher in silica and phos- phorus than if washed before treatment. Generally concentrate made in dry mills ranges between 56 and 58 per cent. in iron while in mills where the ore is washed before treatment and the fine ores separated on wet machines, the concentrate will be found to range from 62 to 67 per cent. in iron. This grade of ore is more desired by furnace men and the freight rate per unit of iron is reduced by shipping a higher grade ore.
DESIGNERS ARE NAMED
The 48-inch by 42-foot pan conveyor was built by Stephens-Adam- son Mfg. Co., Aurora, Ill., as were the belt conveyors. The gyratory crusher was manufactured by the Traylor Engineering & Mfg. Co., Allentown, Pa. The magnetic separators were built by the Dings Mag- netic Separator Co., Milwaukee.
All mill equipment is driven by a 200-horsepower induction motor, except the trommel screen and elevators which are driven by a 50-horse- power induction motor. The 200-horsepower unit was built by the Westinghouse Electric & Mfg. Co., Pittsburgh, and the 50-horsepower motor by the General Electric Co., Schenectady, N. Y. The 3-phase, 60-cycle current is delivered to the motors at 2300 volts. The vibrat- ing screens take current at 440 volts. The direct current for the magnetic separators is generated by a 280-ampere, 125-volt, motor generator set built by the General Electric Co. In the mill and from railway cars to the mill heavy parts are handled by 5-ton, hand-operated cranes manufactured by the Chisholm & Moore Mfg. Co., Cleveland.
The mill has been built to handle bessemer ore although non-bes- semer or low phosphorus ores can be treated equally as well, the general treatment applying to any of the three grades of ore found in the mine. Plans for a smaller mill for the separate treatment of low phos- phorus ores now are being made, and it is expected that the low phosphorus mill will be built at once. The new Beach Glen mill has a capacity of approximately 1000 tons of concentrate per 24 hours and the low phosphorus mill will have a capacity of 300 tons of concentrate per day.
While the experimental mill was in operation, the different Beach Glen ores were concentrated so as to determine the grades of concen- trate which will be placed on the market. Partial analyses of the three grades of Beach Glen concentrated ore appear in the accompanying table.
over- nes. ores run at it
nil fe- ork of na- ue,
fers out hat irst This | as fine nch, 3/4 e. is plus , on nid- sity and 10, ush- first Emel rom Shed all fore high top usare the reen the amel plus the bles. Fling
250
GENERAL SURFACE PLANT
Electric power for the entire Beach Glen operation is purchased from the New Jersey Power & Light Co. and is delivered at 2300 volts. A transformer station has been built at the mine where the current is stepped down from 33,000 to 2300 volts. Two Ingersoll- Rand 22 x 13 x 16-inch electrically driven air compressors with a total capacity of 2400 cubic feet of air per minute are in use at the present time. A blacksmith and drill sharpening shop has been built on the surface near the inclined shaft collar. This shop has been equipped with drill sharpeners and coke forges for heating steel built by the Ingersoll-Rand Co. Later this shop will be moved underground to do away with the transfer of steel. A steam heating plant consisting of one 150-horsepower locomotive-type boiler has been erected and the entire surface plant is heated with steam at 25 pounds pressure. A well equipped warehouse is established at the mine and the mine offices are in the same building. Considerable attention is paid to safety features and to the welfare of employees. The success of this work is demonstrated by the fact that the North Jersey Steel Co. has built up an efficient organization.
For data given in this article the writer is indebted to the admin- istrative and operating offices of the North Jersey Steel Co., Harry M. Roche, president and manager; Joseph P. Stampher, underground superintendent ; Jesse C. Stoddard, chief mining engineer, and Arthur C. Noble, master mechanic.
The preceding extracts are from The Iron Trade Review of No- vember 10, 17, 1921, published at Cleveland, Ohio.
ANALYSES OF ORES
Low Phosphorus Ore
Per cent.
Iron
65.00
Silica
5.00
Phosphorus
0.006
Lime
0.56
Alumina
I.71
Magnesia
0.98
Copper
0.00
Sulphur
O.OI
Titanium
0.13
Vanadium
0.14
Chromium
0.0I
Moisture
0.68
Bessemer Ore
Iron
63.00
Silica
8.20
Phosphorus
0.04
Lime
0.78
M
251
Alumina
1.25
Magnesia
I.12
Copper
0.00
Sulphur
0.05
Titanium
0.16
Vanadium
0.13
Chromium
0.02
Moisture
0.71
Nonbessemer Ore
Iron
58.00
Silica
10.00
Phosphorus
0.25
Lime
0.68
Alumina
2.38
Magnesia
I.IO
Copper
0.00
Sulphur
0.03
Titanium
0.12
Vanadium
0.14
Chromium
0.0I
Moisture
.
0.80
1
PART VIII Transportation
253
STAGE COACH DAYS
Opposite the Free Methodist Church in Dover is a little shoe shop in which William L. Guise is active. The other day Mr. Guise produced a copy of The Jerseyman of January 16, 1833. The paper is in tatters. The editor was C. Robbins, and the print- er, G. W. Glason. The editor will take firewood in payment of subscriptions. The motto of the newspaper, was "We hold this truth to be self-evident; that all men are created equal."
A schedule adopted by the "Western Line of Stages," reads : "New arrangement of the Western Line of Stages daily ex- cept Sundays. This line of stages will leave Joseph I. Roy's Steam- boat Hotel, Jersey City, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday morn- ing at three o'clock A. M. by way of Newark, Chatham, Morris- town, Suckasunny Plains, Stanhope, Newton and Augusta for Milford.
"On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday by the way of Pater- son, Pompton, Newfoundland, Hamburgh, Deckertown, to Milford, where the two lines connect and run six times a week through Canaan, Carbondale, Dundaff, Montrose to Owego and from thence through Ithaca to Geneva daily.
"At Newton this line interests a line of stages running through Easton to Philadelphia, etc.
THE HOUNDS AND HORN: Newark Four Corners, 1790. D'ye see that sign on the corner there, A sign no man would scorn ?- It swings from its post, our pride and boast, The sign of The Hounds and Horn ! You'll see the hunters on horseback, The hounds and the fox forlorn.
And that's the sign where we shall dine, The sign of The Hounds and Horn !
It's a long, long run from Trenton town, 'We started fresh at morn :
But I tell you, lad, we'll all be glad To stop at The Hounds and Horn ! There man and beast will be cared for, Though hungry, weary, and worn : For that's the sign where we shall dine, The sign of The Hounds and Horn !
CHORUS-So 'blow now, to show now we're dashing into town, And we shall find there the best of fare. Such is mine host's renown !
From unpublished "Poems of Newark" by Charles D. Platt.
254
THE MORRIS CANAL
The basin of the Morris Canal was once crowded with canal boats, as they stopped in Dover over Sunday, so that a boy could run all over the basin, jumping from boat to boat, as some may remember. The old freight house was the busy center of transportation. The boathouse of William Pragnall was the repair shop for boats of the line. Navigation by water from Easton to Jersey City (102 miles) opened a great avenue of commercial prosperity to this landlocked village.
But speedy railroads have now supplanted the slow canal. The towpath yields to the steel rail. Schemes for canal abandonment are now debated pro and con at greater length than can here be quoted. It is hard for some of us to follow the details of the Roegner Bill and the Parry Bill as discussed in our Legislature or the proceedings of the Court in adjusting the points in dispute between the State and the Lehigh Railroad.
Future uses for an abandoned canal right of way are planned. Lake Hopatcong and Dover, it is said, would be the gainers if the canal were abandoned. The interests of Lake Hopatcong as a sum- mer resort seem paramount. Riparian rights are affected by any changes in the level of the lake waters. Seepage from the canal creates a financial problem, if the canal should be maintained.
The Morris Canal has become a Rip Van Winkle affair.
EARLY DAYS OF THE MORRIS & ESSEX RAILROAD
The Morris and Essex Division was originally a railroad all by itself with a charter of its own granted by the State Legislature of 1835. Its intention, as its name indicates, was to run through Morris and Essex counties to Newark. When the trains reached Newark the passenger cars were hitched to horses and drawn down Broad street to the Centre street depot of the New York and Philadelphia Railroad. This, however, was an improvement which did not come into effect until 1840; in '39 there was no connection at all and passengers were transferred in stages from one depot to another. The New York and Philadelphia Railroad was able to make the distance from city to city in six hours-fifteen miles an hour being a good rate of speed for trains in those days.
The first train that ran over the Morris and Essex tracks made the trip on an October day in 1837. The maker of the first engine-Mr. Seth Boyden, whose statue is now in Washington Park in Newark- ran the train himself and Mr. Myers of Newark acted as conductor. The train passed through Summit at two o'clock in the afternoon and
255
you may imagine the interest it occasioned to the few people who, made up the population then. It ran to Madison only, for the road was not finished to Morristown until later. When it arrived in Madison and the first passengers were unloaded, a group of Morristown and Madison people who had gathered there for the purpose of a ride were loaded on and carried back to Newark.
From Newark to Bottle Hill-or Madison-was the limit of the road in the fall of '37, when it was extended first to Morristown, then to Dover, then Hackettstown, then to Phillipsburg.
At first there was but one track and the original cars were about as big as horse cars-say twenty feet long. The road bed was made by laying down two logs lengthwise of the track with timers fastened crosswise over these. Then another piece of wood was laid on this bed for a sleeper and on this astrap of iron about a half inch thick and three inches wide was spiked fast. Every day a man was obliged to walk the track and drive down the spikes, which would work out because of the jar from the trains. Even in spite of such precautions it was not unusual for an end to get loose and curl up as a passing train caught the end of the strap and the end would protrude through the floor of the car in a "snake head," endangering the lives of the passengers.
Only wood was burned for the engine fires and green wood at that. Often, as the train climbed the hill to Summit from Millburn, the steam would give out, and then woe to the rail fences, for the firemen carried good axes.
It was no uncommon thing for the engines to jump the tracks when rounding the many curves of the road; but as they were going so slow there was little damage done to anything except the patience of the travelers, who were obliged to sit still and wait or get out and stroll about, looking at the scenery for a couple of hours until the train crew "got her on" again and rang up the passengers from their excursions after flowers or huckleberries. If any of the pas- sengers were in a hurry they were apt to fume and blow up the train- men and swear at the railroad, but all hands were used to that. After all, what did it matter if one did arrive at Morristown an hour or so later than usual!
There were no freight trains before about 1845 and coal cars were not put on until later than that. There was no coal brought here by the railroad and sold by the ton antil 1861.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.