USA > New York > Essex County > The military and civil history of the county of Essex, New York : and a general survey of its physical geography, its mines and minerals, and industrial pursuits, embracing an account of the northern wilderness > Part 33
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1 Mr. W. T. Foote, and W. F. Gookin.
388
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
and a half of ore. These are hoisted to the surface, where by the action of appropriate machinery, the buckets are discharged into cars which carry it by a rail road along an inclined plane to the company's wharf, at the lake, or by the same machinery, the ore may be deposited on a plat- form, ready to be conveyed away by teams. The ore is conveyed on the rail trains in the pits by cars from the breast, and discharge into boxes, which are hoisted up the slide or inclined plane, to the platform above from which it is transported. These slides require ropes seven hun- dred feet long to connect with the drum in the engine room. Steam is the motive power, created by three sta- tionary engines, for all the movements and elevating of the cars, buckets and boxes with ore about the mine. The rail road, which conducts the cars to the lake, is about three- fourths of a mile in length. From the wharf it is shipped for exportation. This ore does not require separating. No stone appears in it, except an occasional slight cleavage from the wall rock. The following is the analysis of this ore in 1856, by Prof. A. A. Hayes :
Proto and peroxide of iron,
90.54
Phosphate of lime,.
3.80
Amphibole, 2.80
Silicic acid,
1.60
Pilanferous iron,
1.26
100.00
About two hundred men are constantly employed in this mine. I descended the perpendicular shaft in an iron bucket, accompanied by Mr. John O. Presbrey, the courteous agent at the mine. The stopping of the bucket at the foot was so gentle and noiseless that I was scarcely aware the descent of more than three hundred feet was ended. A strange, wierd and thrilling spectacle was revealed. There was no noise but the ceaseless clink of the hammer, and the jarring of the machinery. Along the different chambers a series of twinkling lamps, shin-
389
NATURAL HISTORY.
ing more and more dimly, as the long lines receded in the deep darkness, were sufficient to reveal the low, dark arched roofs supported by massive and glittering doric columns. These columns stand about one hundred feet apart, and average sixteen feet square. They are chiefly formed of solid ore, a most costly material, as each column contains about one thousand tons of ore. At the remotest extremity of one of the galleries I noticed a single light moving, and inquired the cause. It was a lantern carried by one in pursuit of powder, kept in that retired spot in small quantities for immediate supply, and to guard against accidents. With every precaution, frequent serious cata- strophies occur in blasting, through the carelessness or inadvertence of the workmen. Several years ago, the pillars of ore left to support the enormous burthen of rock and earth above a chamber previously worked yielded to the weight, and the whole mass was crushed together. The concussion is represented to have been not unlike an earthquake, rending the earth and dislocating the massive rocks for acres. I was struck by the singular freeness of this mine, in its deepest recesses, from dampness, and by noticing the pure and dry atmosphere which pervades it. In summer the temperature is cool, but in winter the cold is severe in the pits. A remarkable and unusual effect was produced, when, in the progress of the work, the dif- ferent passages were connected. A strong current of air, precipitated down one pit and rushing in a powerful draft through the mine, ascended at the opposite extremity of the bed by another opening. The volume of air was so great, that it became necessary to erect partitions in the mine, to protect the workmen from the cold, and to pre- vent the extinguishing of the lamps. The Cheever mine was one of the first opened in the town of Moriah. It has occupied and will probably maintain the highest rank in respect to reputation and value, both by the quality of the ore and the position and locality of the bed.
Goff Bed lies in the vicinity of the Cheever, and possesses a great similarity of ore. It is situated near the margin of
390
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
the lake, and has connected with it a wharf and separator. This bed was opened in 1845, and was formerly owned by Hon. George W. Goff, but three or four years since was purchased by its present proprietors, known as the Champ- lain Ore and Furnace Company. Besides its advantageous location on the lake shore, this mine enjoys another great and rare facility in being penetrated by nearly horizontal openings. It has three of these openings, one of which follows the vein almost eight hundred feet. A mule car is employed in the transportation of the ore from the mine. This bed is not at present worked, but when in operation it yields about four thousand tons of ore annually. The ore is magnetic, and about one-half taken from the mine requires separating. It is exported to various markets. When both this bed and the furnace at Westport, owned by the same company, are in operation, they give employ- ment to about one hundred men. This is esteemed a val- uable ore.
Port Henry Ore Bed is situated in a ravine between two hills, about one mile west of Cheever bed. This mine is owned by George B. Pease, and has been but partially developed. About one thousand tous have been raised. Prof. Hayes has made the following analysis :
Metallic Iron,
64.15
Oxygen with it,. 34.15
Silica,
4.10
Lime and Magnesia, 1.10
Phosphate of lime, ... 6.20
He remarks, " the ore is very much like the covering ore of the Cheever bed, and will doubtless as it comes from a deeper point, exclude much of the earthy minerals now found with it. It is a soft ore, working easily."
Cleveland Mine, formerly known as the Sherman bed, is located near the above, and is owned by a company in Cleveland, Ohio. It has been worked the last three years with an annual production of ore from eight to ten thou- sand tons, which is principally conveyed to Cleveland for
391
NATURAL HISTORY.
puddling purposes. A shaft has been sunk about two hundred feet. Steam is used as the motive power, in hoisting the ore and pumping the mine. From thirty to one hundred men are employed about the mine and in connec- tion with the business. Most of the ore requires separating.
About six miles west from Port Henry and upon an ele- vation of nearly fifteen hundred feet above the lake is situated a cluster of pits and shafts which open into seve- ral different ore beds ; but occupying the corners of several lots, they stand within a space embraced by an area of five acres. These shafts descend into a deposit of ore, that can be divided by no visible lines ; but beneath the surfac e there exists a uniform and unbroken mass of ore. The operations in several of these pits have so nearly approached, that the sound of the implements in one may be distinctly heard in another. When this ore was first worked, it was conjectured that it formed an enormous pocket; a term used by miners, to designate an isolated and limited body of ore, without the formation of a vein and liable to sud- den exhaustion ; but as the pits descend and expand, it is asserted, that the evidence augments of the presence of an inexhaustible deposit. The opinion seems to be warranted, that all this extended eminence has been formed by a vast upheaval of iron ore, and that the whole formation of these hills is charged with the mineral. The terrific power of the agency which wrought this work, is indicated by the position of the disturbed and dislocated rocks of the vici- nity. The whole district is barren, broken and distorted. The worthlessness of the territory, as estimated by an ordinary standard, appears from the fact, that most of this land was originally sold at fifty cents the acre.
Indications of the presence of iron ore in Moriah were revealed at an early period, in the occupation of the town. When the Kellogg survey was made in 1810 of the territory, appropriately designated the Iron Ore tract, strong attractions disturbed the magnet, and particularly along the common lines between lots Nos. 21, 23, 24 and 25. No openings were made on any of these lots until
392
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
1824, although large specimens of ore had been found ten years before on lot No. 25.
The Old Sanford Bed is situated on lot No. 25, of the above tract, and is about six miles from the wharves at the lake. The subject of ore upon this lot excited some degree of attention in the summer of 1824. Messrs. Harry Sher- man and Elijah Bishop proposed at that time to Mr. D. E. Sanford, the owner of No. 25, to become associated with him in exploring the lot, and that each should pay him one hundred dollars for an undivided one-fourth interest in the property. The terms were accepted and operations were immediately commenced by the parties, near the north-east corner of the lot, and ore was discovered about one foot below the surface. Other places within a few rods were explored with the same result. A few rods south of the first opening, a large boulder of iron, as it was conjectured, was found embedded in the earth, with many smaller pieces strewn upon the surface. On attempt- ing to remove this supposed boulder, it was ascertained to be the outcropping of a vein, or the index, as it proved, to an enormous body of ore. It was followed down, the excavation being enlarged about a rod square. The ex- plorers still believed it to be a limited deposit of ore, but their work was in fact the opening of the old Sanford bed. Ore from this bed was tried in a blast furnace at Port Henry, in the year 1834, but the experiment from injudicious management was unsuccessful. Two years later, Mr. G. W. Goff used at the same furnace some of the lean ore, which had been thrown out, at the bed, and was purchased by him at fifty cents per ton. Mixed with the Cheever and other ore, it produced good iron. In the spring of 1846, the property came into the possession of John A. Lee, George Sherman and Eliphalet Hall. Mr. Hall sold his interest the same year to Mr. A. J. Rosseau of Troy, who transferred his title in 1849, to Messrs. S. H. & J. G. Weatherbee. When I first examined this bed in 1852, teams were driven into it, down a slight depres- sion of the ground, and loaded directly alongside of the
393
NATURAL HISTORY.
breast of ore. At that time, the length of one of the openings was two hundred and fourteen feet, with an average width of thirty feet. The breast of ore worked was about eighty-two feet. The ore was then stratified, easily drilled ; a single blast not unfrequently threw off thirty tons of pure ore. A large infusion of phosphate of lime was at that time disclosed in this ore. Another breast was worked in the mine that exhibited a face of ninety-nine feet; sixty feet in length and an average depth of twenty-five feet. This bed is now entered by three distinct shafts. One of these requires a rope five hundred and fifty feet long; another a rope of two hundred feet, and the third opening is one hundred and fifty feet deep. The ore is raised by cars on an inclined plane of about forty-five degrees. The cars are hoisted by a wire cable, moved by the agency of a drum and steam power, to a platform at the mouth of the shaft, where they are made to discharge themselves by a simple apparatus. The ore falls upon a large sieve, which separates the coarse from the finer particles. The lumps are destined for puddling furnaces, and the fine for other purposes. The average yield of this bed during the last six years has been forty- three thousand and three hundred tons of ore. It is used in forges, furnaces, and rolling mills, and requires no sepa- rating. The Sanford ore is inclined to be cold, short, and is extensively used as a mixture with ores of an opposite quality to render them neutral.1 We descended into this mine by a box along the inclined plane escorted by the agent, Mr. Tifft. The depth is about two hundred and thirty feet. The area worked in this bed, from the nature of the ore, has acquired a different and more compact form than the chamber of the Cheever bed. The distance from
1 Red or hot short iron, is ductile when cold, but extremely brittle when heated, a defect caused by the presence of a small quantity of sulphur. Cold short iron is ductile when hot, but brittle when cold ; caused by a small quantity of phosphorus. Neutral iron is exempt from both of these defects.
4
394
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
the point where the ore passes under the cap rock, to the bottom of the present working, about thirty degrees, is three hundred and fifty feet, and the length of the bottom from east to west is two hundred and fifty feet. The shaft is about one hundred and fifty-five feet deep to the ore. Drifts have been run north and south from the bot- tom of the shaft, making a breast of one hundred and seventy-five feet. The base rock has not yet been reached, and the thickness of the breast is therefore still to be de- termined. The Miller pit is a few rods north of the old bed, the vein dipping at forty-five degrees. The depth from the light hole is about one hundred and fifty feet, length of breast two hundred feet and height about forty feet. The roof which has been left in excavating the old bed is lofty, and supported by eleven corresponding pil- lars, averaging fifty feet high and thirty feet square, and computed to contain already one hundred thousand tons of ore. Among numerous other explanations of their processes, Mr. Tifft described the methods pursued in working the mine. Commencing at one extremity, a pre- scribed depth is excavated, which is preserved to the other extremity and laterally throughout the opening. By this system a nearly level surface is maintained, and the size and foundations of the pillars preserved. My attention was directed in this mine to the working of a diamond drill, and the implement with its operations was courte- ously exhibited and explained to me. It may be pro- nounced a vast improvement in economy, efficiency and safety to the usual drilling by manual labor. The instru- ment is operated either by hand or steam power. In the process I witnessed, two men turned the propelling wheel, and the instrument bored into the hard ore with great ease and incredible rapidity. From two hundred and fifty to three hundred men, including teamsters, are em- ployed in connection with this bed. Two large steam pumps draw off the water from the two deepest pits. I noticed in this mine the same singularly low temperature
1
395
NATURAL HISTORY.
I observed in the Cheever bed. The following is the analysis of this ore :
Metallic iron, 72.09
Insoluble silicious matter, .34
Phosphorus,. .01
Oxygen and moisture, 27.56
100.00
Bed on No. 21. In the year 1829, parties by digging a shaft about twelve feet deep, discovered ore on this lot. It was then owned by Jonas Reed and Elias Smith of Moriah, and Allen Smith of Addison, Vt., who had purchased it of the original proprietors for a merely nominal sum. The latter sold his one-half interest about this time for the sum of one hundred and twenty-five dollars, and Messrs. San- ford, Bishop & Sherman, with a view of avoiding compe- tition, acquired a title to a majority of the different interests, and paid as the consideration for their purchase, " five hundred tons of old bed ore in the ground." No further operations occurred at this bed, until the year 1846, when it came into possession of Messrs. Storrs & Rosseau. The actual and practical opening of the mine is referred to this epoch. The entire interest in the property had pre- viously been divided into small fractional shares. Mr. Storrs secured a preponderance of these shares. In 1846, the parties resumed operations in the shaft, which had been opened and abandoned more than twenty years before, and after sinking it about thirty feet, reached the body of ore. In 1852, a judicious observer wrote me, in reference to the bed and the indications of ore in the vicinity : " It would be difficult to obtain an approximation to the quantity of ore, in this single deposit, without estimating the contents of the entire hill."1 The result has vindicated the accuracy of this judgment. Messrs. Storrs & Rosseau succeeded in raising about one thousand tons of ore, and in 1853 conveyed their interest to the American Mineral Com-
1 J. P. Butler, Esq.
396
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
pany. This company erected extensive separating works for the purpose of extracting the phosphates from the ore, while separating the latter for market. They did not succeed in procuring the phosphates in sufficient purity for agricultural uses, and after an expenditure of several thousand dollars in the experiment, the scheme was relin- quished. The company was at the same time engaged in mining the ore for market. This association passed through various changes.
On the organization of the Port Henry Iron Company, that company, under various agents, furnished a large amount of ore for market, until 1864, when Weatherbees, Sherman & Co., having purchased personally one-fourth of the capital stock, became the managing and selling agents. This position they still occupy. The shaft which we de- scended, accompanied by Mr. Goff the superintendent, is two hundred and thirty feet in depth. The track upon which the ore boxes move, is supported by heavy timbers, which traverse the chasm. Looking down from the box, in which one is slowly gliding in the descent, into the hideous cavern, where the lamps are flickering far below, a spectacle is revealed, grand and imposing, but calculated to disturb ordinary nerves. The magnitude of this deposit will appear from the fact that the area of the opening is nearly two hundred and twenty-five feet from the base of the slide on the north end, to the first pillar on the south side, and about one hundred feet on the bottom from east to west. The solid ore on the south side, is vertically about one hundred feet high. Drifts have been driven on the north side, at right angles under the rock one hun- dred feet. Other drifts have been driven east and west from the pillar. The length of the opening in that direc- tion is two hundred and twenty-five feet. Above a part of the opening, the superincumbent rock and earth have been removed. The roof is high and apparently formed of the cap rock, and supported chiefly by columns of the same material. An average of thirty-six thousand tons of ore is
397
NATURAL HISTORY.
yielded annually by this bed. The annexed is an analysis of the ore :
Protoxide of iron, ..
25.29
Peroxide, “ ‘
(yielding metallic iron, 69.82) 71.65
Alumina,
40
Oxide of titaneum,.
Trace
Phosphate of lime,.
.39
Magnesia,
.05
Silica and insoluble matter,
2.22
100.00
The pay roll, embracing this mine and those on Nos. 23, and 24 comprises from two hundred and fifty to three hundred names.
In this, as in every mine I have explored in Moriah, I was impressed by the quiet, discipline and regularity, in which its vast operations were conducted. This harmony and subordination conveys a most favorable idea of the judgment and efficiency of the system of management that prevails. It is said that laborers prefer a situation in these mines to toiling on a farm or in lumbering occupa- tions.
Beds on Lots 23 and 24. These lots are contiguous to Nos. 25 and 21 which embrace the ore beds above de- scribed. In the year 1824, while the development of the mine on No. 25 was in progress, Jeremiah Cook, the owner of No. 23, began an exploration on his side of the dividing line between the two lots. He associated with him, Solomon and Hiram Everest, to whom he sold one- half of his interest for two hundred dollars. This was the earliest opening of lot No. 23. After effecting this opening, the parties commenced disposing of interests in the mine, as minute as 's and possibly 312 on a valuation of four thou- sand dollars for the entire bed. Mr. Rosseau, the partner of Mr. Storrs, secured a majority of these shares, as the latter had obtained those of No. 21. Old pit on 23 was opened in 1823 and Brinsmade shaft on the same lot in 1865. These are the only openings upon this lot. There
398
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
is one shaft on No. 24 which was opened in 1845, but not extensively worked until 1864. The annual yield of No. 23 for the last six years has been an average of nine thou- sand four hundred tons of ore, and that of No. 24 since 1864 has been nine thousand seven hundred tons. The ores from these beds are used in forges, furnaces and roll- ing mills. I have seen no analysis of the ore, but under- stand that the quality of No. 23 is similar to that from the old bed on No. 25 as they lie in direct contact. Old pit on 23 is three hundred and fifty feet deep. Brinsmade shaft is one hundred and fifty feet deep with a breadth one hundred and seventy-five feet from north to south. The shaft on No. 24 is two hundred and thirty feet. A steam engine of twenty-four horse power is used at these beds for raising ore and running a pump for draining the pits. The vein on 23 grows thicker as it advances south, and it is conjectured that it extends to No. 21, a distance of six hundred feet.
New Bed. The deposit, which is now known by this name was discovered by E. E. Sanford in the south-west corner of lot No. 24, in the year 1844, and was opened by him the following season. The sale already mentioned of the Old Bed by Mr. Sandford to Sherman & Hall, em- braced his title to the New Bed. Mr. Hall the same year (1846), sold his interest to Mr. A. J. Rosseau, who in 1849 conveyed the same interest to Messrs. S. H. & J. G. Weatherbee. The bed was first practically worked in 1845, and has produced, during the last six years, an ave- rage of six thousand seven hundred and twenty tons of ore annually. The ore is in large demand for forges and blast furnaces. The following is an analysis of this ore :
Pure metallic Iron, 71.19
Insoluble silicious matter, 1.12
Phosphorus,.
a trace
Oxygen and moisture,.
27.69
About one-third of this ore requires separating. It is inclined to be red short and when mixed with the ore of
399
NATURAL HISTORY.
the Old Bed, produces a neutral iron of exceeding tenacity. It is stated that the demand for the New Bed ore is larger than can be supplied. The pure ore from this bed is pro- nounced by those interested, to be the richest ore known to exist in this country. "Perfectly formed crystals weighing more than an ounce, are often found, the plane surface of which resembles burnished steel, rather than iron ore." The bed contains the celebrated shot ore, and on my former examination I found it difficult to obtain a large specimen, from the fact that it disintegrated by the touch. The depth of this bed, measuring along the slide from the light hole to the base is seven hundred feet on a slope of forty-five degrees, with a thickness at right angles with the vein varying from fifteen to thirty-five feet. A seventy-five horse power engine is required for hoisting the ore and pumping the water from the bed. This mine is about six and a half miles from the lake and possesses the same facilities as the other bed, for the transportation of ore.
A separator and saw-mill are propelled by the steam power, which hoists the ores. At the saw-mill all the lum- ber and plank are produced, which are required for the mines and plank road. From fifty to seventy men are employed about the mine and separator.1
Barton Bed. This mine is situated on Lot No. 34, Iron Ore tract, and is about seven miles from Port Henry. It was opened previous to 1850, and was formerly owned by Caleb D. Barton. This ore has been highly esteemed by forge holders. In 1863 the mine was purchased by the Port Henry Furnace Company, and is now owned by the same individuals, under the corporate name of the Bay State Iron Company. A large proportion of the ore yielded by this bed, has been used in the manufacture of pig iron. About eight thousand tons of ore is produced per annum, and an average of thirty-five men, including
1 I am chiefly indebted to the zeal and public spirit of Mr. W. F. Gookin for the statistics embraced in the above notices.
400
HISTORY OF ESSEX COUNTY.
teamsters, are employed about the bed. The following is the analysis of the Barton ore :
Magnetic oxide of iron, 51.418
Oxide magnesia, Trace
Titanic acid, 0.110
Aluminium, 0.329
Magnesia,
0.159
Lime, .
0.498
Silicic acid (quartz, with a very little horn- blende), 47.433
Phosphoric acid, 0.050
0.003
Sulphur, ...
10.000
Quantity of metallic iron, 37.24
Phosphoric, .. 22
The Barton ore is used by the Bay State Iron Company furnace, at Port Henry, in combination with the Cheever ore, and in about equal proportions. The ore from the Barton@bed is slightly mixed with silex.
Fisher Hill Bed. This mine was opened at an early period in the history of Moriah, by Fisher, and was sold by him to Eliphalet Hall. During a long term of years, the title was involved in a remarkable and exciting litiga- tion, which was ultimately settled by a compromise. The mine is situated about seven miles from the lake. It was purchased by its present proprietors, an eastern company, in the year 1863, at seventy-five thousand dollars. The ore is lean and silicious, and requires separating, but is classed among the best ores of the district, and is in great requisition among the forges of the vicinity. It finds market also with the iron manufacturers along the Hudson, and in various other localities.
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