USA > Ohio > Franklin County > Columbus > Columbus, Ohio: its history, resources, and progress : with numerous illustrations > Part 26
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shale, taking its name from its stratification and black color. In its natural condition it contains from twenty to thirty per cent. of iron, but, by burning off the carbon, it becomes much richer. It smelts with great facility, making very fusible iron, and such as is especially adapted to foundry purposes.
The kidney ore-an earthy carbonate of iron-generally forms balls or excretions, lying in the shales of the coal forma- tion. When these shales have been extensively eroded, the ore is cheaply mined by " stripping," and was the main dependence of most of our furnaces previous to the introduction of the crys- talline ores. The yield of the kidney ore in the furnace averages about thirty-three per cent., or three tons of ore will make one of iron. This ore is found in greater or less abundance in every county included within the coal area.
The "black " ores of the coal-measures vary very much in purity and abundance in different localities. They are gener- ally strata of limestone charged with iron. In the southern por- tion of the State, ore of this character forms a large number of distinct beds, from two to six feet in thickness, and constitutes the principal source of supply to some fifty furnaces now in blast in that district.
In certain localities some of these stratified iron ores, near their outcrops, are changed from their original condition, have lost their carbonic acid, and have been converted into brown hematites. The average richness of the stratified ores may be said to be about the same as that of the kidney ores-thirty-five per cent. of metallic iron. The iron furnished by some of them is of very superior quality, as is proved by the reputation of the celebrated Hanging Rock iron made from these ores. Prob- ably nowhere in the world are the ores of the coal-measures so rich and excellent as in the iron district of Southern Ohio.
Such is substantially the general view of the field presented by the chief of our geological corps. We will now look at some of the leading facts detailed by the geologist of the second dis- trict, embracing the mineral region south of the line of the Central Ohio railroad.
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IRON RESOURCES.
IRON ORE ABOVE THE NELSONVILLE COAL.
According to Professor Andrews, it is impossible to make a section of the lower strata of the productive coal-measures, at any place in the field named above, without disclosing more or less iron ore. There are a few distinct and well-defined horizons in which the ore is almost always seen. Beginning at the base of the coal-measures, ore was found at a few points below the Maxville limestone. The best development was seen in section sixteen, Madison township, Perry county, where, upon the top of the Logan sandstone group, were seen nodules of siderite iron (carbonate of iron) in clay, measuring from four to eight inches thick, and overlaid by sandy shale.
On the top of the Maxville limestone, iron ore was seen at several points. In the locality just named, this ore was found from four to eight inches thick. A sample of this ore, analyzed by Professor Wormley, gives interesting results. It contains 4.30 per cent. of manganese. No alumine was found, which is re- markable for a coal-measure ore, and one overlaid by shale con- taining much clay. Of sulphur and phosphorus it contains only a trace. The percentage of metallic iron, 38.87, added to the unusual purity, makes this a desirable ore for iron-making.
The lower ores were found sweeping through the northern half of Perry county; but there was great difficulty in finding such exposures of the rocks as would enable the geologists to determine their exact stratigraphical position. Near Wolfe station, on the Zanesville and Cincinnati railroad, one of these layers of ore was somewhat largely mined and sent to a furnace in Zanesville. North of this, in the Somerset region, excellent ores were found. The report adds, that should a railroad be built through that part of the county, these ores could be profit- ably mined and sent to furnaces.
Between forty and fifty feet above the level of the Maxville limestone is a well-marked horizon of ore. The ore is seen directly behind the old Hocking furnace, at Haydenville, Green township, Hocking county, where the quality is good, but it adheres firmly to the sandstone below it. Where it could be removed from the stone it has been used in the furnace.
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On the bank of Monday creek, Salt Lick township, Perry county, this ore is well seen. Here there are three or four layers. Of samples analyzed by Professor Wormley, one yielded 41.37 per cent. of metallic iron, and another 37.50 per cent. On land, near Maxville, Monday Creek township, Perry county, a compact iron ore was found in thin layers, the whole measuring sixteen inches. Higher in the series, ore in considerable quan- tity was found in Salt Lick township, lying in layers of nodules in blue clay. Analysis showed the metallic iron to be 27.04 per cent.
Nowhere did the geologists find so persistent a horizon of ore as that found a few feet below the great coal-seam. Scarcely anywhere was a section made of this part of the vertical range of strata without the discovery of this ore. It is in nodules, often small, but sometimes very large and heavy. The ore is siderite or carbonate of iron, and yields 31.50 per cent. of metallic iron.
The strata of rocks lying above the horizon of the great Nel - sonville coal-seam, though apparently, from the hasty and in- complete explorations yet made, less promising in iron ore than those below it, will doubtless be found upon further and closer research, rich in that metal. We select from the geological report of 1870 a few instances in proof:
" On the head-waters of Sunday creek, there were seen at one place, where the shales were not cut away by the heavy sand- rock, two lines of small blue kidneys of blue carbonate or siderite, one three and the other four inches thick. At one place, near Millerstown, Perry county, a deposit of five inches of blue car- bonate of iron was seen, four feet below the middle or Norris coal. Fifteen feet above the same coal was quite a persistent deposit of ore of the limonite (brown hematite) class. This could be traced through all the hills to New Lexington, where it is found in its proper place, above the upper New Lexington coal, which is the equivalent of the great seam of Sunday creek. It measured in one place thirteen inches in thickness. A few kidneys from three to four inches thick were dug out of the layer, which were rich in iron. One of them, analyzed by Pro-
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fessor Wormley, was found to contain 43.06 per cent. of metallic iron. Forty feet above this ore, or about fourteen feet above the upper or "Stallsmith " seam of coal, is a deposit, apparently in very large nodules, of an earthy blue carbonate of iron or siderite. On a farm near Millerstown, a nodule measured two feet in thickness. On another farm in the same neighborhood, the same earthy blue carbonate of iron was seen, grouped in three layers of nodules, measuring respectively thirteen, four- teen, and six inches, making in all thirty-three inches. Samples yielded on analysis 26.12 and 23.78 per cent. of metallic iron.
QUALITY OF THE ORE.
For the purpose of general comparison, Professor Andrews gives, from Bauerman's Metallurgy of Iron, the average richness of the ores used in the famous Cleveland district in England. This average, for four samples from different localities, is 35.79 per cent., while the average for six samples from our coal-field is 36.37 per cent. In this number is included one sample of ore taken from above the great seam of coal on Sunday creek. In freedom from the deleterious element-phosphoric acid-he pro- nounces the Ohio ores far superior. The Cleveland ores give an average of 1.905 per cent of phosphoric acid, while of the five samples, thoroughly analyzed, from our coal-field, one yielded 0.18 per cent., two gave a mere chemical trace, and two con- tained none whatever. The amount of sulphur in our ores is small, not being found at all in some samples, and in others much of what is found will be moved in roasting the ore.
THE HANGING ROCK IRON DISTRICT.
That portion of the great iron and coal-field of Ohio, south of the Hocking river, is universally known as the "Hanging Rock Iron District," and has long been celebrated for the remarkably fine iron it produces. It abounds in coal and iron ore of excellent quality. The ores hitherto used have been chiefly the native ores of the hydrated sesquioxide or limonite group. The dis- trict is distinguished for its furnaces. The first furnace in the Hanging Rock district was erected by Messrs. Sparks, Mears &
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Fair, in 1826. It was called the Union Furnace, and was situ- ated about four miles back from the present village of Hanging Rock, in Lawrence county. It is reported that it went into blast in 1827, and that the first fire in it was kindled by Thomas W. Mears, now the senior partner of the firm of Mears, Kyle & Co., of the Ohio Furnace, Scioto county. That fire"was kindled to some purpose, for Mr. Mears has lived to see nearly fifty fur- naces in the Hanging Rock iron district.
HANGING ROCK FURNACES.
The geological report of 1870 contains a list of forty-three furnaces in the district, of which two were in Hocking county, six in Vinton, twelve in Jackson, one in Gallia, fifteen in Law- rence, and seven in Scioto county. Of these furnaces, thirty- eight used charcoal, and five used bituminous coal. The follow- ing interesting statistics appear in the same report:
Amount of charcoal pig-iron made by 38 fur- naces during 1869, about. 90,000 tons.
Amount of iron made by bituminous coal 16,000
Total.
106,000
Amount of native ore used, about.
260,000
Missouri and Lake Superior ores
15,000
Total
275,000
66
Amount of limestone used, about
15,000
66
Number of bushels of bituminous coal used in smelting ores for pig-iron.
1,400,000
It will be observed that the greater part of the furnaces in the Hanging Rock district are reported as using charcoal in the smelting of iron ores. It is evident that the manufacture of iron in this way must rapidly diminish for the want of timber, while the demand for iron will continue to increase. This will necessitate the use of the coal which underlies the central por- tion of the Ohio coal and iron region. By the use of that coal, iron is now produced equal to that made with the Brier Hill and other block and splint coals, and both scientific authority and practical experience justify the belief that iron can be smelted
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IRON RESOURCES.
by the use of coal from the great seam pervading the coal-field nearest to Columbus, cqual to the metal produced at charcoal furnaces.
INCREASING DEMAND FOR IRON.
We have shown elsewhere the great inerease, within a few years, of the manufacture and consumption of iron. But the demand for consumption far outruns the inereased manufacture. This is proved by the faet attested by the best current authori- ties on the subject, in this country and England, that the priee of iron has of late enormously increased, and is still rising. This of course enhances, in a corresponding ratio, the prices of the various kinds of hardware, including iron and steel, in all their forms and applications, from a cambric needle to an iron- clad man-of-war.
Still, so many and varied are the purposes to which iron is applied, and is likely to be applied, in addition to its uses here- tofore, that the consumption, instead of diminishing with the increase of prices, is steadily enlarging, and the demand is daily becoming more and more imperative. Iron-masters refuse to fill orders for future delivery, on long time, except at rates that shall be then current. They are said in England, Scotland, and Wales to be absolutely bare of stock, and to have more orders to fill at the highest rates of quotation than ean be com- plied with in six months to come. Buyers from all parts of the world are in the manufacturing districts trying to place orders for immediate delivery, and are often unable to do so at any price. This condition, in a country that manufactures half the iron consumed in the whole world, proves conclusively that the iron supply has failed to respond to the demand. Probably there is not now any business in which capital, industry, and skill would meet with such sure and ample reward as in the manufacture of iron. Beyond a doubt, a careful and candid in- quiry into the facts will satisfy any intelligent and unprejudiced business man that no place possesses greater advantages than Columbus, and few can present equal facilities and inducements for the investment of capital and enterprise in the iron manu- facture and trade.
TREASURER
AUDITOR
LE CRE TARY
ELEET
FIRST STATE BUILDINGS AT COLUMBUS.
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STATE BUILDINGS AND INSTITUTIONS.
CHAPTER XIV.
STATE BUILDINGS AND INSTITUTIONS.
THE OLD STATE-HOUSE.
PURSUANT to their contract with the State, the three original proprietors of Columbus-Kerr, Mclaughlin, and Starling- under the superintendence of William Ludlow, the director or agent appointed by the legislature for the purpose, erected a State-house on the southwest corner of the Public or State-house Square. The excavation for the foundation was made in 1813, and the building was finished the following year. The free- stone for the foundation and for the window and door-sills were brought on wagons from Black Lick, twelve or fourteen miles east of the city, through swamps and deep mud. The brick were in part made out of the mound that in those early times reared its graceful form on the high ground near the intersection of High and Mound streets.
The State-house was built of brick, and extended seventy-five feet north and south along High street, and fifty feet east and west along State street. It was two stories high, with a square roof ascending to a balcony in the center, whence rose a spire one hundred and six feet from the ground. Above the balcony hung a well-toned bell, whose clear ringing sounds were heard in the winter season, calling the people's representatives to their duties in the legislative halls. On two sides of the balcony were protected walks, affording a fine view of the young capital and its surroundings.
The foundation of the building was of dressed stone raised to the height of two feet, and there also was a belt of dressed stone on the outer side of the walls at the top of the first story. The principal entrance-door was in the center of the. south front, facing on State street. Proceeding directly forward through a small entrance-hall, the visitor encountered a door opposite the south front door. The former opened into the hall of the House
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of Representatives, appended to which were two committee- rooms and a gallery. From the entrance-hall there were stairs on the left leading to the gallery of the Representatives' Hall, and on the right leading to the Senate chamber in the second story, having two committee-rooms, but no gallery. On the west front there was an entrance-door opening directly into the hall of the House from High street. A door on the east side of this hall opened into the wood-yard-for we are speaking of times anterior to the coal-burning epoch. The legislative halls were warmed with great wood-fires built and kept glowing in the spacious fire-places ornamented with huge brass-topped and- irons.
There was no marble used in the construction of our primitive capital. The large wooden columns were handsomely turned, and painted in imitation of clouded marble. Over the west door there was built into the wall a neatly dressed stone slab, presenting a surface of five feet by two and a half, and bearing the following inscription :
" Equality of right is nature's plan, And following nature is the march of man ; Based on its rock of right your empire lies, On walls of wisdom let the fabric rise. Preserve your principles, their force unfold, Let nations prove them, and let kings behold. Equality your first firm grounded stand, Then free elections, then your union band ; This holy triad should forever shine, The great compendium of all rights divine. Creed of all schools, whence youths by millions draw Their theme of right, their decalogue of law, Till man shall wonder (in these schools inured) How wars were made, how tyrants were endured." -Barlow.
In connection with this inscription, an amusing anecdote is told relating to Mr. Ludlow, the state superintendent in the construction of the public buildings. He was a staunch Demo- crat of the old school, with a rooted dislike to the use of the word " federal," except as the name of the opposing political party. In the quotation from Barlow occurred the words " fed- eral band." The workmen, following the copy in the book, had
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engraved these words before Mr. Ludlow's attention was called to the expression. Though the objectionable phrase in the pas- sage from Barlow could be construed only to signify the union of the States, Mr. Ludlow could not bear to sce it stand so prom- inently on the front of the new Capitol of Ohio. He caused the letters cut in the stone to spell the word " federal " to be filled up, and the word " union " to be inserted in its stead. The original phrase, " federal band," then read " union band." In the latter years of the existence of the State-house, the cement or com- position covering the obnoxious word crumbled and fell off, and the word " federal " reappeared.
There was another stone of about the same size over the south door, with a quotation in verse of similar length and character, from the same author. From some cause there is no record of this inscription, and it can not be given.
Mr. Ludlow also caused a smaller stone to be placed over the east door with an inscription of his own. It read thus :
" General good, the object of legislation, Perfected by a knowledge of man's wants And nature's abounding means applied, Establishing principles opposed to monopoly." -Ludlow.
DESTROYED BY FIRE.
The old State-house, after having rendered legislative service for thirty-five years, met an unexpected doom. Early on Sunday morning, February 1, 1852, it was consumed by fire. The fire was first discovered by the watch, on the floor in the center of the Senate chamber. It was nearly extinguished, when it was dis- covered that the timbers above were on fire. The roof was soon burned through, and the entire belfry was enveloped in flames. The city fire-engineer could not reach the fire with water from his hose. Citizens and strangers, spectators of the scene, came to the conclusion that the venerable edifice, which had in its time been the theater of patriotism and zeal for the public good, as well as of caucusing and " log-rolling," was doomed to inevitable destruction. The belfry, burning brilliantly, cast a lurid light on that Sabbath morning sky. It was said that, as the frame
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STUDER'S COLUMBUS, OHIO.
of the belfry swayed to and fro, the clear-toned old bell rang out a brief parting requiem, and the structure fell with a crash upon the floor of the Senate chamber. Then, the roof gradually fall- ing in, the upper story was soon wrapped in wreathing flames. In vain were strenuous efforts made to confine the fire to the Senate chamber and the upper story. The mass of burning matter was too great to be extinguished with the appliances at hand. The flames soon reached the hall of the House of Repre- sentatives, and the entire wood-work of the building was soon consumed. Nothing was to be seen that day of the pride of . Columbus when she was a little " borough," but bare and black- ened walls.
In a few days after the fire, the following appropriate dirge, composed by John M. Denig, of Columbus, appeared in one of the city papers :
DIRGE OF THE STATE-HOUSE BELL.
Columbus, farewell! no more shall you hear My voice, so familiar for many a year- Those musical sounds which you recognized well, As the clear-sounding tones of your State-house bell.
Ere the red man had gone, I was mounted on high, When the wide-spreading forest which greeted mine eye, Gave forth from its thickets the panther's wild yell, As he heard the strange sounds of your State-house bell.
Unaccompanied, unanswered, I sounded alone, And mingled my chime with its echo's deep tone; Till spire after spire, rising round me, did swell Their response to the sound of your State-house bell.
I called you together to make yourselves laws, And daily my voice was for every good cause; When aught of importance or strange was to tell, You were summoned full soon by your State-house bell.
As a sentinel, placed on the watch-tower's height, Columbus, I've watched thee by day and by night- Though slumb'ring unconscious, when danger befell, You were roused by the clang of your State-house bell.
But while I watched o'er you, the Fire King came, And enveloped my tower in his mantle of flame; Yet, true to my calling, my funeral knell Was tolled, on that night, by your State-house bell.
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STATE BUILDINGS AND INSTITUTIONS.
Your sons of the engine and hose, ever brave, And prompt at my call, quickly hastened to save; But alas! their best efforts were fruitless to quell The flame that rose over your State-house bell.
When my cupola trembled, I strove but to sound One peal of farewell to your thousands around ; But you lost, as 'midst timbers and cinders I fell, The last smothered tone of your State-house bell.
It does not appear that the origin of the fire was ever satis- factorily ascertained. After it was discovered, the desks, chairs, and furniture in the hall of the House were removed, but very little property was rescued from the Senate chamber. The papers of the clerks were saved, but a large mass of documents perished with the building. In the ensuing spring, the brick walls and stone foundations of the burnt structure were removed, and the high board-fence was extended so as to fill the space thus made vacant, and completely inclose the square.
During the residue of the session, the House of Representatives met in Neil's Odeon Hall, and the Senate in the United States court-house. In the session of 1853, the House again met in the Odeon Hall, and the Senate in Ambos Hall. At the next session, in 1854, the same halls were occupied. In 1855, there was no session of the legislature. It is the only year that has passed since the organization of the State, without a legislative session, although our present state constitution provides for bien- nial sessions only. In 1856, the Odeon and Ambos Halls were again occupied. In 1857, the Senate and House of Representa- tives met, for the first time, in their respective halls in the new State-house.
THE OLD STATE OFFICES.
The original proprietors of Columbus, according to their con- tract with the State, erected in 1815, under the superintendence of William Ludlow, the state agent, a two-story brick building, twenty-five feet by one hundred and fifty, fronting on High street. It stood on the Public Square, in a direct line with the State-house, and about sixty feet therefrom. It was intended for the State offices. The foundation was of rough stone, and there was a belt of dressed stone around the walls at the top of
1
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STUDER'S COLUMBUS, OHIO.
the first story. It had a common comb-roof of jointed shingles. The main entrance-door was in the center of the front on High street. Besides this, there were three other front doors-one toward the north end into the office of the secretary of state, and two toward the south end into the state auditor's office, one of which was, however, kept closed. These two front doors in the south side injured the appearance of the building when viewed from the street. The center front door opened into an entrance hall, on the left of which was the governor's office, and on the right the office of the state treasurer. From the entrance-hall, and directly opposite the front door, a winding stairway led to the second story. This was appropriated principally to the State library, though it was used in early times for the offices of the quartermaster and adjutant-general, and occasionally for other public offices. The building was taken down and removed in the spring of 1857, preparatory to the grading of the Public Square.
THE PUBLIC SQUARE.
The ten-acre lot bounded on the north by Broad street, on the east by Third, on the south by State, and on the west by High street, and called the Public or State-house Square, and some- times the State-house yard, was originally inclosed by a rough rail-fence. It was then farmed for some years by Judge Pike, after which it lay in common until 1844, when it was inclosed by Jonathan Neereamer, by a neat and substantial fence, with cedar posts and handsome palings painted white. This was done under the direction of Alfred Kelley, then agent for the State. About the same time Mr. Kelley caused elm trees to be removed from their native forest and planted on the north, east, and south of the square. Their trunks were then from four to six inches in diameter. These trees were taken up from the frozen ground, so that large quantities of earth adhered to the roots. These roots with the adhering earth were set in large holes, and the greater portion of the trees lived and grew. Twenty-one of these trees are still standing-seven on the north, eight on the east, and six on the south side of the square. They afford a delightful shade, and are noble mementos of the past.
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