THE WEST SHORE,
203
IRON ORE OP THB PACIFIC NORTHWEST. that it Beeni M if tho Divine Architect had decreed
that the seat ot great iron niannfaoterie should Ik on
BY a curious, but valuable, protiiiioii of nature, iron, I Iigot sound. Rather moro enterprising than their Ore.
the most indispensable of metals, is bIbo Uio most fpm nrnghlmra, the penile idling tho " iIoJIUinuu of
widely dissomiuuUJ, being found in uearly evory the Facifla coast " have examined into and mapod
geological stratum, and amidst tho most divers out and desorilMnl their prinoiml minural deposits, and
surroundings. It is, thoroforo, not to be accounted extra- are enabled to inform tho world that upon oertnin islands
ordinary that its ores are extremely common throughout and tho neighboring maiu lands thero exist IhvIh ot iron
the Pacific Northwest, being found in uearly every ooun- ore, ooal, and limestone, sulHoiont beyond doubt to fur.
ty in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, as woll as in many nish steel and iron for tho universe. There are doxit
districts of British Columbia, to tho northward. of an excellent quality of brown hematite (limonite) in
The parsimony, or rather, the iguoranco, of logisla- Skagit oouuty. Threo inexhaustible lied ou Cypres
tures, has thus far prevouted the almost unmatched island havo received particular attention, and an exam
mineral resources of this part of the Union becoming jnation by an expert has revealed some facta of great
known through au always necossary geological survey, value. These ore are magnetic, and lie in sandstone
and left to chauco or the exertions ot voluntary and and slate, but of what geological age doe uol apear.
usually inaccurate observers, tho dissemination of that The Tyll lode has two parallel bed twenty-eight feel
information which should be the care of the steto. Con- apart, and of a thickness of thirty-two and thirty-seven
soquontly, whatever is at this day said of the occurrence foot respectively, and are traceable on the .urfaoo for
and extent of the iron ore lxxlios is largely approxima- over threo thousand fool Tho Malxd, varying from
tive in it application, and the samo is true of tho do- twenty to sixty foot in thickness, and tho Gmimr, fifteen
posits of all other valuablo minerals. feet, aro, like the former, easy of bocohm, ami ar com-
Notwithstanding a certain barrenness of detail which posed of oxidiw! ore ot a uniformly high percentage
enfolds the subject, one is able, by tho help ot what ha value. A trial lot was sinolUnl and pronounced first,
boon printed in relation to the iron ores of the Pacific class. Tho principal value of these Unlike the , other
Northwest, to point out die existence and locality ot ov. on l'uget sound. lie maiuly in tho choapnes of trans,
oral bods, or collections of Ixxls, which by their extent portation ami tho nearne of coal ami lime.U.1.0 in im.
and position warrant one in assuming that they will bo mouse quantilio. Other dexit of nearly a great
the future source of tho greater part of tho iron made iu value exist in numerous localities 0111 Mid near the souii.l,
' this region. These de,smiU may be designated, first, notably one within flfWn mile of Tseoma. iMthin.
the Lower Willamette Heda; s.xond, tho of Signal- acum Uxl have furnish.nl hematite ore for the i I. ast
mio W T and third, th.e of Tcxada island, in tho furnace at Irondale, an.l promising or. exist in Hal
Gulf of Georgia, 1). 0. These do not, by any moans, com and other oountie. In the aggregate tho aoeu.nu,
comprehend all of the valuablo deposit, but are simply lation. of bog (limonite) and magnetic ore. seem nox
the most extensive, and at present, by reason of their uaustibl.S and the iron worker o the far distant fu
location nmear as the most easily and profitably worked, ture wmturn will very likely teke the .am view.
JZT we 1 known, a git many consideration. lVrhap. tho m.,t remarkable of all the iron de.U
which affeU tho value of a de,Hsit y Wde. iU are th.mo of the Bnoquatmio pas, wuich also rank
e tent anTpur y The principal one bthe case of iron among tho most Important on the coast I retty well up
o est alSility; for tho product, crude cast iron, i. in the Cascade, .evonty miU from tidewater, there ex.
0 such weigh for a given value that cheap Iran. tt or. which compare well in chomlea, am,,, on
, inUmarket i. an imperative necessity. Heond with those of the famous Uke Superior Ixxl. Iron
he all n of fuel and .luxe, for smelting the raw mountain i. three mil., from the p, and b grated
1 brmelchanteblo metal; mineral coal i. tho only by immense layer of magnetite of th following cm
fuel used in a largo way, enabling the art of .melting te rs.lion:
rise to the dignity of a business, and thi. fuel must be Metallic iron 7. 7 1. mu
mined che to the blast furnace where it i. to U con. Mum.. Jj
sumed, f..r like crude cast in,.., it will not ,y expensive rh.mphoru J
transix.rtation. Then a bulky fiux, limestone, U nse.1, Bulpbur... '"
and t IS eouirctolhadverycheaply. Iti.only by Thi. analysi. i certainly very low In tho. o Ijeo.
a combbat on of cheap ore, cheap fuel and cheap lime- tionablo .ul.Wnce. .ulplmr . pplMru, and the
IS output, that American iron- i. uo doubt the or would .melt Into uncommon I,
nter. are "le i. maintain hemolve against a ,s,w- pure iron. Will it i. not by th. r.uli ,t the analysi
M ZZ iJC down an excellent article of of a .ingle M mm that practica iron worker, ar
e ful con petition mi y vmvtmlm , vm UU
K 'Z It Z. S do eve Ltr w th the removal ot The de.iU ar. known a. th. Dny .n and hav.
ten. and promise W ao even o .
thBi?re is . hK-lity that cmbine all the als,v cit.nl vary from m te on liundr.l ami fifty M In thhkn..
a,lvX-1" Tl miL degn.; ., much in fact. The amdysi given U from a s.s.imen taken from th.