Part I. Report of progress in 1869, by J. S. Newberry, chief geologist. Part II. Report of progress in the second district, by E. B. Andrews, assist. geologist. Part III. Report on geology of Montgomery County, by Edward Orton, assist. geologist.

122
a mere chemical trace, and two contained 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 removed in roasting the
ore. There is therefore little difficulty to be apprehended from the ores
of Hocking, Perry and Muskingum counties, in respect to quality; the
only question is the one of quantity. This question will be carefully investigated, with respect to any given district, by all intelligent capitalists
who propose to erect furnaces in such district and rely upon it for ores.
They will not care to repeat the expensive blunders, in ill-judged reliance
upon limited ores, which have been made both in the Coal Measures of
England and of this country. In regard to the failure of many furnaces
in western Pennsylvania, J. P. Lesley, Esq., one of the Geological Corps
in the survey of that State, thus writes, in his "( Manual of Coal": "In
a majority of instances, the furnaces have been built in the neighborhood
of very insufficient beds; and a large proportion of those originally
erected blew out for the want of ore, and form picturesque ruins in secluded glens among the mountains, and on the banks of the principal
affluent waters of the Monogahela and Alleghany. This treachery of the
beds of carbonate of iron (the ore is good enough), rather than any want
of skill or capital or tariff, has been the secret cause of the periodical
and almost universal failure of iron-making in western Pennsylvania,
from the beginning until now."
I do not apprehend that the better layers of ore in the counties I have
explored will fail in persistency and prove treacherous. The question
will be whether, when the more accessible and cheaply-obtained ore has
been removed by stripping, it will be found profitable to mine the ore by
the process of drifting. This will depend upon the price of labor and
the cheapness at which other competing ores can be obtained. One
thing is very certain, that considerable ore can be obtained at the northern part of my district, which is, excellent in quality, and which will
prove valuable for mixing with the richer ores of Lake Superior.
Before closing this subject of ores, it must be remarked that the survey of 1869 did not extend to the iron region of Vinton, Jackson, Scioto
and Lawrence counties. In that region the ores are generally richer and
better than in the northern part of my district.
I append a table of the analyses of ores from the district already
explored.