USA > Pennsylvania > Mifflin County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 1, Pt. 1 > Part 2
USA > Pennsylvania > Perry County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 1, Pt. 1 > Part 2
USA > Pennsylvania > Union County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 1, Pt. 1 > Part 2
USA > Pennsylvania > Juniata County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 1, Pt. 1 > Part 2
USA > Pennsylvania > Snyder County > History of that part of the Susquehanna and Juniata valleys, embraced in the counties of Mifflin, Juniata, Perry, Union and Snyder, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. V. 1, Pt. 1 > Part 2
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GEODES .- These are hollow pebbles or boul- ders of quartz studded on the inside with erys- tals. They occur of large size and great beauty at various places in the Mississippi Valley. Small ones have been observed in Tyrone town- ship, Perry County. Calcareous geodes have been found in Lewisburgh, Union County.
IRON ORES .- In this district are found a number of the ores of iron, some of them in valuable deposits, though at present (1885) the low price of the metal has almost stopped the production of ores. The principal ores are hematite, called also "fossil ore " and " block ore ;" limonite, called also " brown hematite," " pipe ore " and " honey-comb ore," and when very soft, "yellow ochre," (also called " bog ore ") ; siderite, or the carbonate of iron ; me- lanterite, or " green vitriol ; " and iron pyrites, "pyrites," or " fool's gold."
Hematite and limonite are the only ores worth working in this district, though there are hun- dreds of deposits of these ores which it will never pay to mine. Pyrites, melanterite and siderite are here practically worthless.
As iron is widely distributed in these coun- ties, and many persons who own properties on which there is some show of ore are anxious to
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JUNIATA AND SUSQUEHANNA VALLEYS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
know whether or not it will pay to open mines, the following points are suggested for careful consideration before any money is spent in dig- ging :
1. The price of the ore delivered at the furnaces.
2. The cost of hauling to the furnaces.
3. The thickness of the bed.
4. The quality of the ore and yield of iron.
5. Cleanness of the ore,-freedom from clay, sand or shale.
6. Supply of water for working, if this is neces- sary.
7. The cost of mining, difficulties in mining, etc.
To these careful attention should be paid in all mineral exploration.
Iron ore occurs in most of the formations in these counties, but there are three horizons in which it has been mined with profit-i. e., in the Clinton, Marcellus and Hamilton beds. The Clinton beds furnish the valuable fossil ore. hematite, of Perry, Mifflin and Juniata Counties. This ore is found in large deposits near Millers- town, in Perry County, at Dry Valley, in Union, and elsewhere. The following is an an- alysis of the Millerstown ore by Mr. A. S. McCreath, of the Second Geological Survey :
Sesquioxide of iron. 78.571
Sesquioxide of manganese .. .021
Alumina 4.927
Lime
.510
Sulphuric acid.
.213
Phosphoric acid. 1.502
Water and organic matter 6.015
Silicious matter. 8,017
99.776
These Clinton hematites are derived from the decomposition of a " hard-fossil ore," which, in many cases, is little more than a ferruginous carbonate of lime, as the following analysis of an ore from near Millerstown will show :
Iron. .640
Phosphorus .065
Lime ... 41.730=74.518 carb. lime
Silicious matter. 10.880
HIematite is always distinguished from other ores by producing a red or reddish streak when rubbed upon a piece of unglazed porcelain.
" Brown hematite," or limonite, is distin- guished by producing a yellow streak when
rubbed on unglazed porcelain. It is the pipe ore of all these counties. It occurs principally in the Marcellus formation. It has been mined near Newport, New Bloomfield and other places in Perry County and probably in all the other counties. Analyses of this ore by Mr. A. S. McCreath show :
Sesquioxide of iron .. 50.285
61.143
Sesquioxide of manganese ... .051 .072
Alumina 5.101
2.937
Lime. 1.070 .650
Magnesia. .342
.288
Sulphuric acid.
trace
.107
Phosphoric acid .146
.176
Water and organic matter. 7.465 9.980
Silicious matter
35.540
24.640
100.000 99.993
In the Hamilton beds the ore is fossil (hema- tite). There has been observed in Perry, Union, and probably in the other counties, narrow veins of a red specular hematite. This is a very pure and excellent ore, but the seams are un- fortunately, narrow, not more than two to four inches wide and flanked by hard rock. An analysis shows it to be,-
Metallic iron. 60.200 .
Metallic manganese. .050
Sulphur.
.016
Phosphorus. .036
A peculiarity of this ore, as found in Union County, is that it is decidedly unctuous to the touch.
Siderite (carbonate of iron) has been observed three miles west of New Bloomfield. It is a grayish-blue rock and gives a gray streak. Re- quiring roasting, it is not so valuable as other ores. It is the ore generally found associated with coal-beds.
Melanterite (iron sulphate) has been observed as an efflorescence on the rocks at Blue Hill, opposite Northumberland, where it results from the oxidization of the pyrites in the rocks. It is of a bluish-green color, is soluble and has an astringent taste. The deposits in this district are of no value.
Iron Pyrites is a widely disseminated min- cral. It is found in most limestones in small quantity; it occurs sometimes in great abundance with coal, and in this district generally in the
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PHYSICAL FEATURES.
Hamilton black shales. It often occurs in beautiful cubical, octahedral or dodecahedral crystals. In coal it occurs in flat bands, some- times of great beauty. In the Hamilton shales it occurs in the form of black, rounded nodules. These in places are so numerous as to form the bulk of the strata. When these nodules are broken open, they are often found to be formed about a shell or some other organic matter. In a well in Lewisburgh, Union County, which penetrated this shale, great numbers of very beautiful shells, fossilized in iron pyrites, were found. In this district the mineral is of no value, though it is used elsewhere as a source of sulphur and in the manufacture of sulphuric acid.
Iron pyrites when exposed to the action of the atmosphere or water, rapidly oxidizes forming iron sulphate, and sometimes sul- phuric acid. This acid sometimes appears in spring water, forming an acid spring; at other times it unites with alumina, forming an alum clay or alum shale. In the same way as iron pyrites undergoes changes when exposed to the atmosphere, so do the other ores of iron, and indeed almost all rocks and minerals. The fossil ores are, near the surface, soft and easily worked ; but if the vein dips rapidly, admitting water, they quickly pass into the hard caleif- erous ore. So the soft surface limonites, at greater depths, become hard carbonates.
Ochre .- There are two ochres found in various places in this district,-the red and the yellow. Ochres are iron ores more or less im- pure, in the form of powder, or are at least easily reduced to powder. Red ochre is in composition the same as hematite, while yellow ochre is a limonite. Both are used as pigments under the name of " mineral paint."
The Formation of Iron Beds .- Iron is an element of almost universal distribution in nature. In plants it forms the coloring matter in the leaves. In animals it is the coloring material of the blood and skin, and in the earth it colors soils and rocks red, green and yellow. In soils and rocks it exists in the form of the insoluble sesquioxide. But whenever any or- ganie matter decays in the presence of the ses- quioxide, as do plants and animals at all times,
the sesquioxide is transformed into iron car- bonate. The carbonate is soluble in water, and is slowly washed from the soil into the low- lands and swamps, where it is deposited as a carbonate so long as carbonic acid is present from organic decay; but when decay ceases, the carbonic acid gradually escapes and the ore be- comes again an oxide. Hence, iron is formed in beds or seams, and not in veins, as are the precious metals. The heaviest and most valu- able deposits of iron in all the world occur in the oldest rocks,-i. e., those called Archaan. Of this age are the celebrated deposits of Norway and Sweden, of Michigan, Northern New Jersey and British America, of Iron Mountain and Pilot Knob, in Missouri, and the great beds recently discovered in Utah, said in some places to be six hundred feet thick, solid, pure, magnetic oxide.
Formerly, when iron was reduced from its ores by means of charcoal fires, there were nu- merous furnaces throughout this district, which were supplied with ores from deposits near at hand. But when coal became the fuel, char- coal furnaces went out of use, and at the present time few furnaces are in operation, and these only along the lines of the railroads, while the production of ore has ceased, except where directly along the lines of rail transportation.
KAOLIN .- This is a soft, white, plastic ma- terial found on Jack's Mountain, in Hartley township, Union County, and probably elsewhere in the mountains. It is the basis of brick clay. When pure and free from iron, it will burn of a beautiful white color, and is used in the man- ufacture of porcelain. It is not probable that any kaolin in this district is free from iron, and hence it is only of value in the manufacture of the cheaper varieties of earthenware.
MALACHITE (carbonate of copper) .- This ore is of a green color, and exists in small quanti- ties in the rocks of Blue Hill, opposite North- umberland. The deposit there is of no value, and it probably will never be found anywhere in the district in body sufficient to work with profit. The only copper deposits in the United States now found profitable to work are those in the northern portion of Michigan,
QUARTZ .- This mineral is abundant in all
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JUNIATA AND SUSQUEHANNA VALLEYS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
these counties and under many different forms. When pure and crystallized, it occurs in glassy six-sided crystals often terminated at both ends by six-sided pyramids. It is very hard, cutting glass readily. It is insoluble, infusible and without any cleavage. Quartz is the basis of sandstone, the grains of sand being rounded pieces of quartz. It exists massive in veins in limestone, shales and other rocks, where it can always be . distinguished by its hardness. It forms all our beds of flint, hornstone and chert. Elsewhere quartz is found as amethyst, false topaz, rock crystal, smoky quartz, Cape May and California diamonds, -forms to some extent valued in jew- elry. It is the most abundant mineral in nature.
SAND .- Some of the Oriskany sand rocks in Juniata County are easily crumbled into sand, which, from its purity, has been found valuable in glass-making, and quarries are now (1885) in operation at Me Veytown and near Lewis- town, the sand from which is being shipped to Pittsburgh and elsewhere. Over one hundred car-loads a day have been taken from these quarries. An analysis shows the following composition :
Silica (SiO2) 98.8-4
Alumina .17
Oxide of iron .34
Oxide of manganese trace
Lime ..
Magnesia
Loss on ignition. .23
99.58
SULPHUR .-- This mineral has been observed as a delicate efflorescence around some sulphur- etted hydrogen springs in Toboyne township, Perry County. It is recognized by its yellow color and burning with a blue flame and the odor of a burning match. The deposit is entirely too small to be of any value.
SPRINGS-Mineral .- On Sherman's Creek, in Spring township, Perry County, are what are known as " the Warm Springs." They are beautifully situated under a high ridge of Ham- ilton sandstone and are much frequented by pic- nie-parties from the surrounding country. The amount of water poured forth is so great that
they seem more like underground streams issu- ing from the ground than regular springs. The water is considerably warmer than that in any other springs in the vicinity. Professor E. W. Claypole, on October 27, 1883, found the tem- perature of the water as follows:
East Spring. 63º Fahr.
Middle Spring 61º
West Spring. 60°
On the same day the temperature of the water in Falling Spring, three miles distant, was, according to the same observer, 55° Fahr.
In Toboyne township, Perry County, have been observed several springs whose waters bring to the surface sulphuretted hydrogen gas, which is recognized by its fetid odor, like that of de- cayed eggs. This is produced in the interior of the earth from the sulphur in iron pyrites, or by the decomposition of organic matter. This water is the same as that of the celebrated Clifton Springs in New York and some of the mineral springs of Virginia, at which places the water is considered as of medicinal value.
Bridge's Mineral Springs .-- In Mifflin County, on the banks of Jack's Creek, near Painter's Station, Sunbury and Lewistown Railroad, in a very romantic situation, are located these springs, said to possess medicinal properties. The waters are said to be bitter and unpleasant to the taste and to contain muriate and carbonate of lime and soda, sulphide of sodium, sulphate of mag- nesia, with traces of alum and sulphuretted hydrogen. A large hotel has been erected, and those afflicted with chronic diseases are invited to come and partake of the life-giving waters. It is altogether likely that the mountain air, good table board and cheerful company will here cure many troubles which have long re- sisted persistent drugging, and this without much use of the medicinal waters.
Iron Springs (chalybeate waters) are numerous in many parts of this district. The soil near the spring is discolored by a red or yellow floc- culent deposit of iron oxide. If such water be collected in a glass vessel, it is at first beautifully colorless, but in a short time it becomes filled with a muddiness, caused by the oxidation of the iron in the water, which issues from the earth in a colorless state.
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PHYSICAL FEATURES.
The ordinary springs of the county all issue from the earth carrying in solution a considera- ble amount of mineral matters, as will be dis- russed under erosion. Those waters which con- tain a large amount of lime or magnesia are " hard," because these minerals curdle soap. Waters from limestones and many shales are " hard," while that from hard sand-rocks is generally very pure and " soft," containing little mineral matter.
III. ROCKS.
We will consider the rocks of this district under three heads,-
1. The different kinds; 2. The soils pro- duced by their decomposition ; 3. The geological ages.
The rocks which make up the great bulk of our formations are limestones, sandstones, shales, with small amounts of schists and trap-rocks. These, and boulders, conglomerates, breccias, flagstones, ete., will be described and their uses pointed out so far as they have any known.
CLASSIFICATION OF ROCKS .- Geologists place all known rocks in three great classes, viz., sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous. The first are the sediments of ancient seas, lakes, etc., the second class has been formed from the first through the action of heat, while in the third class is placed all volcanic lavas. In Central Pennsylvania all our rocks give evidence that they are made of fragments collected together under water. This is true of all limestones, shales and sandstones. The only exception to this general rule are the trap-rocks of Perry County, which are igneous in origin.
LIMESTONE .- This valuable rock forms only a comparatively small portion of the surface of our district and belongs here to two different ages,-the Trenton and the Lower Helderberg, or Lewistown. This rock forms the floor of the Cumberland, Lebanon and the great Shenan- doah Valley, and by its decomposition has produced their great fertility. Limestones may be divided into three classes, depending upon their chemical composition,-
1. The pure calcium carbonates; 2. The double carbonates of calcium and magnesium ; 3. The impure stones containing silica and clay and called water-limes.
The following analyses of stones from Mifflin County will show how the varieties differ :
Pure
Magnesian
Water
Limestone. Limestone.
Lime.
Carbonate of lime ... ..
97.651
54.285
60.214
Carbonate of magnesia ... ...
1.131
36.109
1.664
Oxides of iron and alumina
.426
1.422
5.384
Sulphur
.034
.151
.000
Phosphorus
.039
.011
.068
Insol. residue.
.760
8.010
31.520
100.041
99.788
99.850
Limestone has been formed from organic re- mains, probably almost always. Much is the result of coral growth, as may be seen at Dale's Hill and near, Mifflinburg, in Union County. At other times it is formed entirely of molluscan shells, and again in places it is formed of the skeletons of crinoids, as in a bed at Lewisburgh, Union County (farm of Mr. J. W. Shreiner). Limestone is brought to the surface in solution in many spring waters and has sometimes been deposited from these waters in beds, more or less stratified, called travertine. But most of the earth's great beds of limestone are fossiliferous and produced by sea animals ; hence, wherever we find a bed of limestone we can be quite sure the sea once rolled.
Limestone may be of all colors, from pure white (marble) to black, and from pure to very impure, from a firm hard rock to the softest chalk. Its principal varieties are blue, gray, black, etc., named from its colors, red and yel- low colors being due to iron oxides, and black and gray to carbonaceous materials, for these burn white; it is called "fossiliferous," when containing fossils ; " coral," when formed of coral; " crinoidal," when full of crinoid stems. " Bird's-eye " limestone is so-called from bright, sparkling crystalline spots the size of a bird's eye ; silicious limestone, when containing silica. Chalk is soft limestone generally made of micro- scopic shells of sea animals. Marl is generally largely composed of shells, and hence, similar to limestone in composition. Tufa is a porous limestone made by deposits of lime by spring water over mosses, etc. Marble is purified limestone, which has been crystallized. It is all crystallized, though not always pure. There is no marble in our district. In Tyrone township,
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JUNIATA AND SUSQUEHANNA VALLEYS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
Perry County, and west of Lewisburgh, Union County, a rock made of rough, angular fragments of limestone has been observed. Such rocks of angular fragments are called breccia.
Carerns, " sink-holes " and " sinking springs" oceur in limestone regions and need some ex- planation. These phenomena are only seen in limestone regions. The explanation is as fol- lows :
Limestone is, to a considerable extent, soluble in rain-water, especially when this contains car- bonic acid gas in solution, as all rain-water does. Now, different strata and different parts of the same strata are of different degrees of hardness and of resisting power to the solvent action of water. The result is that rain-water, sinking deeper and deeper into the earth, eats its way through the limestone strata, until finally it forms an underground channel for itself. Some- times, owing to a peculiarity in the rock or to other conditions, a cavern is hollowed out, while at other times the stream seems to only wear out a narrow underground channel. All lime- stone regions are full of small caverns made in the way described, but sometimes they become of great extent, as the celebrated Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky, Luray and Weyer's, in Virginia, and others equally celebrated. In Pennsylvania there are interesting caverns in Centre and Berks Counties. In these caverns the forma- tions hanging from the roof are called stalactites, those rising from the floor, stalagmites, while the mass spread over the floor is called traver- tine.
The first are formed in the following way : As the water comes through the roof of the cavern it carries a load of lime in solution, but on reaching the air in the cavern a portion of the carbonic acid in the water evaporates and some of the lime is deposited. Stalactites are often hollow, because evaporation takes place on the outside of the water forming the stalactite. Stalagmites are formed in the same general way.
Sink-holes are produced by a falling of the soil into caverns beneath. They are found in all limestone regions, and generally are produced in wet seasons. Where a number occur in one place, or in a linear series, they indicate the po-
sition of the cavern beneath. In this way the Luray caverns, in Virginia, were discovered, and finally sold for $40,000. In Kentucky it is estimated that there are not less than one hundred thousand miles of underground streams. Several such are known near Lewisburgh, in Union County.
There are small caves at Dale's Hill, and at Winfield, Union County.
The Uses of Limestone .- This is one of our most valuable rocks, and, when it decomposes, it forms our richest soil. It is valuable for building purposes, for burning into lime, which is used in building and various manufactories, and as a fertilizer ; also some varieties are used to make hydraulic cement. When limestone is burned it loses about one-half of its weight, which escapes as carbonic acid gas, and, at the same time, becomes of a lighter color. In this condition (quicklime) it has a greater affinity for water, and is of an acrid, caustic nature, eating into the flesh when handled. When exposed to the air it falls into a dry, mealy powder, called air-slaked lime; but, when water is added, it unites with the water, producing great heat and forming lime-hydrate or lime-cream. This, if exposed to the air, hardens, and, slowly absorb- ing carbonic acid, returns to the form of the original carbonate. Mortars slowly change to carbonate.
In reference to its use as a fertilizer there is a great difference of opinion among practical farmers, whose opinions are to be received with respect ; but this is observed-that whereas formerly lime was used in great quantities, at the present time comparatively little of it is used. Its chemical action is believed to be to act upon organic matter already in the soil, and to make this more easily obtained by the grow- ing crop. It thus adds nothing to the soil-only enables the crop to get more of what is there ont. This is the belief in reference to it at the present time. It will be seen by this that lime may be used on limestone soil as well as on any other, and also that the use of pulverized, un- burnt limestone can be of no value, since this has no power of acting upon organic matter. Also, lime long burnt and exposed to the air and rain, so that it is largely transformed back
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PHYSICAL FEATURES.
to the carbonate, can be of little value, for it is only caustic lime which is of value here. But there are some conditions in which lime is of real value on the soil. One of these is where the land is heavy and sour with humic acids. These the alkaline lime neutralizes, and thus improves the soil; also, soils which contain silicate of potash, if limed, the silica unites with the lime, setting the potash free in the form of a carbonate-one of the most valuable of plant-foods. Such soils are benefited by lime. "Fat " or " hot " limes come from pure limestones free from magnesia, while "cool " or " lean " lime, preferred by builders, comes from stone containing magnesia.
When a limestone containing a large amount of silica and clay is burned, it does not crumble, as does pure lime ; but if the stone is crushed to a powder, and then mixed with water, it has the property of uniting with the water and resetting into a hard, durable rock, and this it will do even under water. This is " water-lime." Such limestone is found at various points in Perry, Juniata, Mifflin, and probably in Snyder and Union Counties.
SANDSTONES .- These rocks are abundant in nearly all parts of the world and in our district. They are of all colors, from a nearly white, through gray, to deep red, or even sometimes black. Sandstones consist of grains of sand, produced at a former age of the world, just as sand is now produce:l, and afterwards cemented into a solid rock. The cementing material is either carbonate of lime or iron oxide. If the former, the stone will crumble in time, for the cementing material is soluble; but if the latter, the stone is very durable, for both the sand and the iron are very unchangeable. . Some sand- stones are, however, porous, and absorbing water, this in winter-time freezes and spawls off the stone. All sandstone should be tested by immersion in water to see if it becomes heavier. If it does, it is not a safe stone to use in expen- sive buildings.
The principal varieties of sand-rock are named, from a prominent or characteristic constituent, xilicious, calcareous, aluminous, ferruginous, argillaceous, granitic, micaecous, and from their structure, gritty, friable, laminated, concretion-
ary, shaly, conglomerate, cherty. Sandstones are valuable for building purposes, but disin- tegrate into poor, thin soils.
SHALES .- These are rocks of a soft, rotten kind, which generally readily disintegrate into soil, and have a marked tendency to cleave parallel to the bedding of the rock. They in- sensibly pass into limestones on one hand, and into sandstones on the other. These rocks are very abundant in almost all parts of this dis- trict, forming a great part of the outerops and of the soils. Many of them are red, as the Clin- ton and Onondaga shales; the Hamilton are black, while the Chemung shales are generally gray. The shales associated with the coal- scams are black through the presence of carbon- aceous matter. From characteristic constitu- ents, shales are named clayey, alum, silicious, calcareous, ferruginous, bituminous, oily, etc. Shales are doubtless hardened mud-beds.
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