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.

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To show the rapid changes that are taking place in the manufacture of
iron, I will allude to one or two of the more important improvements
that have been made in it within the last few years.
Nearly all the iron used in the world, at the present time, is manufactured with mineral fuel, and yet if reference be made to the first report,
published by the former Geological Board-a little more than thirty
years ago-it will be seen that the use of raw coal as a furnace fuel was
then announced as a new and wonderful discovery; and the first employment of mineral fuel in Ohio dates from a period considerably subsequent to
that. The old charcoal furnaces were thought to do well when they gave
a yield of from thirty to fifty tons per week. Now there are several furnaces in Ohio, each of which produces three hundred tons of pig in the
same time, and some of the English furnaces are producing six hundred
tons per week.
Much of the improvement in our furnaces has been made within the
last five or six years, and has consisted in increasing their dimensions,
viz: the diameter, from ten to sixteen feet, and the height, from forty to
sixty feet, by adding to the force and temperature of the blast, by close
top, &c. These improvements, so potent in their influence on the productiveness of the furnaces are, however, not yet introduced by half of
the furnace men in our State. By most of them, therefore, these steps
of progress are to be made.
Even our best furnaces are still behind the age, as in their productiveness and economy they come far short of what is accomplished elsewhere,
and what is attainable here. For example: the average consumption of our
Briar Hill coal is two and a half tons to one of iron. At Massilon, three
and a half to four tons of coal are used to make a ton of iron. In contrast with these figures, in the Cleveland district, in England, where
coke is used, no better than some of our own, the furnace stacks are carried to a height of one hundred, and in some instances one hundred and
two feet, and in them less than one ton of coke makes a ton of iron..With the resources at our command, and the ingenuity for which our
people are celebrated, I think we may be sure that we shall not long remain satisfied while such comparisons can be made. It is very certain
that we have not yet reached perfection in the combination of our ores, in
the choice of our fluxes, in the adaptation of our fuels, nor in the dimensions and models of our furnaces. The advantages which the foreign
manufacturer possesses consists of improved processes, cheaper labor,
and greater capital. To balance these advantages, we have better and
more varied materials, three thousand miles less transportation, and a
high tariff. By the aid of these, our furnace men, with little capital,
dear labor, and wasteful methods, are able to maintain themselves in the
competition, and are prospering. The time is not distant, however,