REMARKS

Relative to the Fossiliferous Ore of Pennsylvania, and its Employment in the Manufacture of Iron. By PROFESSOR J. C. BOOTH.

In the course of a recent tour on the Susquehanna, I had an opportunity of making a few observations relative to the iron manufacture, some of which I believe to possess sufficient value to be laid before those who are interested in this foundation of national wealth. Indeed it is desirable that a freer interchange of sentiment should be maintained on this subject, and as many iron masters have made important observations in the course of their practice, I would suggest to them that their own interest lies in communicating such knowledge to the public, by its inducing a reciprocity on the part of others; for competition is less to be feared in this manufacture than in all others, since the consumption of iron will increase, at least, in proportion with its production. The hematites, and other ores of Pennsylvania, having been worked advantageously for a great length of time, I paid more particular attention to the "fossiliferous ore," which is beginning to be more appreciated than formerly, and for very good reasons. It is regularly stratified, easy of access, always lies in the vicinity of limestone, and is, in all probability, of very great extent. For a more full and comprehensive view of this deposit, I refer to the excellent series of Geological Reports, particularly the 2d, 4th and 5th, presented to the Legislature of Pennsylvania, by Professor H. D. Rogers, which are based upon the extensive series of observations made by that gentleman and his assistants.

At the Duncannon iron works, I was shown a portion of chilled iron, from the hearth stone of a furnace in which the soft variety of the fossiliferous ore had been employed. Besides pure silica, which separates, and appears sometimes to have suffered fusion in this situation, a considerable quantity of pure metallic titanium was disseminated through the iron, and in a few points, it had separated somewhat in the form of a crystalline efflorescence, in which the cubical form could readily be detected with a microscope, and in many cases even with the naked eye. Upon referring to the analysis of this ore, (Report 2nd, p. 44; 4th, p. 191 to 195; 5th, p. 115 to 117,) no trace of titanium being mentioned, should not excite surprise, when we recollect the difficulty of detecting it, unless its presence should be suspected, and when we reflect on the small amount in the ore that might be requisite to precipitate an appreciable quantity of it on the hearthstones. Beside, since this metal does not appear to combine with iron, nor to affect its quality, its detection in the ore is a matter of inferior moment, and I have merely introduced a notice of its presence from the interest with which it is regarded by those engaged in scientific pursuits. Another method by which it may be detected is to observe when the slag assumes a fine blue color, for Karsten has lately discovered that this color of the slag is due to the oxide of titanium.

A few hints may not be considered irrelevant in regard to the reduction of iron, which occurred to me in observing the ordinary processes, particularly at Danville. In roasting ores, which is generally regarded as an important preparatory step to their reduction, it is inadvisable to employ too strong a heat, for then the earthy materials and metallic oxide enter into a state of incipient fusion, which can be but imperfectly reduced in the furnace, and generally flow to the hearth in the state of slag. For although the carbonic oxide will act reducingly on its exterior surface, the inner, being completely enveloped in a compact cinder, can scarcely be affected. Probably the hard siliceous ore requires less heat than most of the other ores of iron, and indeed I give it as my conviction, that if the cost be not too great, it would be infinitely better to subject it to a coarse pulverization by mechanical means, since there is so small an amount of volatile matter in it, that simple roasting will not render it sufficiently porous. If roasting the ore be still adhered to, nothing should be more strictly watched than the object in view, which is to drive off volatile matter, and render the ore brittle and porous, and nothing can be more injudicious than to apply a heat which

will cause the ore to cake together, or become cindery, since it is then more difficult of reduction than the ore in its original state.

Another point that cannot be too much insisted on is the due and proper mixture of ores, and it might almost seem as if nature pointed out the propriety of this, in presenting the three varieties of ore in the same locality. It is a well ascertained fact, that a very large quantity of lime is requisite to bring silica into a fusible state, such as is necessary in the operations of the iron furnace, while a small proportion of alumina, in addition to those substances, requires less lime, and a much less intense heat, to form a perfect slag, or glass. Now it appears, from analysis, Report 5th, p. 116, that the siliceous ore consists almost wholly of peroxide of iron and silica, with only one-half per cent. of alumina, and that the calcareous variety contains none, and Report 4th, p. 102, the hard ore contains a mere trace of alumina. In Report 2d, p. 44, the porous and soft ore contains five per cent. alumina, and in Report 4th, p. 191 and 192, a similar ore includes five and six per cent. of the same earth. Hence it appears that the chief deficiency of the hard and calcareous ores lies in the want of alumina, which is contained in the soft ores; and that they should, therefore, be mingled in due proportion. If it is not always practicable to obtain a sufficient amount of aluminous ore for this purpose, the importance of having alumina present is such that it would become advisable to employ an argillaceous limestone as a flux, or even to use a clay, or other argillaceous material. If these points were to receive the attention they merit, I am convinced that iron masters would not so often complain of the difficulty of reducing hard varieties of ore.

Journal of the Franklin Institute.

ARCHITECTURE.

A Description of the Philadelphia County Prison, and the Debtors' Apartment. Designed and executed by THOMAS U. WALTER, Architect.

The Philadelphia County Prison is situated on the Passyunk road, about one mile south of the city. It occupies a space of 310 feet front by 525 feet in depth, with an addition on the north of 150 by 340 feet.

The façade consists of a centre building of fifty-three feet in width, with receding wings on either side, of fifty feet, flanked by massy octagonal towers. Beyond these towers, receding wing-walls are continued to the extremities of the front, and terminated with embattled bastions.

The whole exterior is composed of a blue sienite, obtained from Quincy, in the State of Massachusetts. The style of architecture is that of the castles of the middle ages, and its decorations are in the Perpendicular or Tudor style of English Gothic.

The centre building is three stories in height, diminishing at each story in regular offsets, capped with a projecting belt. The corners are finished with circular warder towers of five feet four inches in diameter, commencing at ten feet below the top of the front wall, and extending five feet above it; these towers project three-fourths of their circumference over the corners of the building, and are crowned with embattled parapets, supported by corbiels. The front wall and both the flanks are also finished with battlements, pierced with embrasures, thus forming an embattled screen between the towers, and imparting a tower-like effect to the whole centre building.

The wings are two stories in height, and contain the gates of entrance, each of which is ten feet wide, and seventeen feet high. These wings, and the octagonal towers which flank them, are pierced with slip windows, and finished with embattled parapets, in the same manner as the centre building.

The bastions, on the extreme angles of the front, are also crowned with pierced battlements corresponding with the rest of the design. They project two feet from the wingwalls, and measure, on each face, fifteen feet in width at the base, and thirteen feet at the top.

The centre building is surmounted by an embattled octag

onal tower, which rises to the height of seventy-seven feet from the ground.

The interior is disposed in two general divisions, one for untried prisoners, and the other for male convicts, whose term of service does not exceed two years; the female convicts, being confined in a building on the adjoining lot.

The main prison contains 408 separate cells, built in two blocks of three stories in height, extending from cach wing at right angles with the principal front. The cells open into a corridor of twenty feet in width, occupying the centre of each block, and extending the whole length and height of the building. The second and third stories are approached by means of granite stair-ways and galleries, supported on strong cast iron brackets; a clerk's office is situated at the head of each corridor, from which every cell-door in the whole range may be seen at the same moment.

Each cell is nine feet wide, thirteen feet long, and nine feet high, substantially arched with bricks, and floored with oak plank. They are all furnished with separate hydrants, water closets, flues for ventilation, flues for admitting fresh air, and flues for admitting warm air, generated in furnaces placed in the cellar of the building.

The furnaces are constructed at each end, and in the centre of each block, and the warm air is conveyed along passages of three feet in width, under the pavement in the corridor. The smoke flues are formed in these passages, the bottom and sides of them being composed of bricks, and the top, of cast iron plates; these flues extend horizontally from the main furnaces at each end, to the centre, where they rise perpendicularly to the top of the building; an ascending current is produced in the vertical portion of each flue by means of small furnaces constructed in the centre, and which are also made to impart heat to the cells adjacent to them; by these means an active current is formed in the horizontal flues, and heat is conveyed along the whole range, in sufficient quantities to keep all the cells of an agreeable tempera

ture.

Each cell has a wooden door on the outside face of the wall, and an iron one on the inside; both doors are secured to a cast iron casing, or frame, which extends through the whole thickness of the wall.

The hydrants and water closets are supplied from twelve reservors placed near the roof of the building; these reservoirs receive their water from the works at Fairmount.

The kitchen, bake-house, laundry and bath houses, are situated in a separate building, occupying a space of fortythree feet wide by seventy-two feet long, in the yard between the two blocks of cells; they are approached from both divisions of the prison, by means of covered passages.

The kitchen is furnished with a large steam boiler, and four cast iron reservoirs, of eighty gallons each, in which all the boiling for the prisoners is done by steam.

The apartment for females is situated in an adjoining enclosure, of 150 by 340 fect, entered by a gate-way from the yard of the main prison; the building measures 43 by 282 feet, and consists of two stories in height, embracing 100 separate cells, of eight feet by twelve, a suite of rooms for an infirmary, of twenty by fifty-one feet, and two rooms for a keeper, each twenty by twenty. The arrangements for hydrants, water closets, warming and ventilation, are similar to those already described.

The principal entrance to this portion of the establishment, is from Eleventh street; it consists of a gate-way of nine feet in width, placed in the middle of a projecting centre of| fifty feet, composed of brown sand stone, and finished in the simplest style of Egyptian architecture. The whole western front is built of the same material, and in the same style.

The Debtors' Apartment.

This edifice is situated on the Passyunk road, north of the main prison, and east of the female apartment; it presents a front of ninety feet, composed of brown sand stone, in the Egyptian style of architecture. The façade consists of a recessed portico, supported by two colums, proportioned from those of the Temple of the Sun, on the Isle d' Elkphantine, in Egypt. The windows are crowned with the massy bead and cavetto cornice peculiar to the style, and the top of the

Greenough's Statue of Washington. From the documents connected with the finishing and delivery of this fine statue, which have been printed by order of the House of Representatives, we copy the following characteristic letter of the Artist, addressed to the Secretary of State-repudiating a miserable saving in the freight proposed to be effected by Commodore Hull, at the risk of the statue. FLORENCE, May 12, 1841.

"Sir-After many delays, occasioned, in the first instance, by rumors of war, and afterwards by negotiations between Commodore Hull and Messrs. Fitch, Brothers & Co., of Marseilles, the ship" Sea," Captain Delano, is at length arrived at Leghorn to receive the statue of Washington; as is also the United States sloop of war, Preble, whose commander is charged with the duty of overseeing and assisting the shipment.

Commodore Hull informs me that he has allowed the captain of the "Sea" the privilege of touching at one or more ports in the Mediterranean to complete his cargo before sailing to America; after which, he is allowed to discharge such cargo at any port in the United States not south of Norfolk, Virginia, before proceeding to land the statue of Washington.

sand dollars had been demanded by him for the transportaI learn from Captain Delano, that the sum of five thoution of the statue, without any other cargo, and that Commodore Hull had offered three thousand five hundred dollars. Deeming the delay and risk to which the arrangement made by Commodore Hull will subject the monument, as too great to be justified by a saving of fifteen hundred dollars, I have written to Messrs. Fitch, Brothers & Co. to offer them that sum; and have preferred the risk of ultimately sacrificing that amount to the disgrace and danger of trading about in this sea with a national monument of Washington under hatches.

I may be found to have acted without due consideration for the opinion of Commodore Hull; but I beg leave to represent, that though I have been paid for this statue, I have still an interest in it-the interest of a father in his child.

It is the birth of my thought. I have sacrificed to it the flower of my days and the freshness of my strength; its every lineament has been moistened with the sweat of my toil and the tears of my exile. I would not barter away its association with my name for the proudest fortune that avarice ever dreamed. In giving it up to the nation that has done me the honor to order it at my hand, I respectfully claim for it that protection which it is the boast of civilization to afford to art, and which a generous enemy has more than once been seen to extend, even to the monuments of his own defeat.

Should it seem fitting to the gentlemen with whom rests the decision of the question, that I should myself pay the sum I have offered on my own responsibility, I request that I may have early notice of such decision."

It is only proper to add, that the Secretary of the Navy the $1500 which he with true artist enthusiasm and generoproposes, as a matter of course, to refund to Mr. Greenough sity advanced for the freight.

A Cruise after Mackerel.

A late number of the Lowell Courier contained an interesting letter from a gentleman, who being out of health, shipped on board the schooner Reward, Skipper Janvrin, on a mackerel cruise, and sailed from Newburyport on the 6th of July. We give some extracts, illustrating life on board a fishing vessel.

"A fair wind carried us beyond the bar in a few moments, and we were soon rolling and tossing on the briny deep.Before dark a thunder storm arose, which lasted all night; at this time, the usual initiation into a sea-faring life, a seasickness commenced with me, and continued about three days, the sea being very rough during the time. I was too week to go on deck that night, although I was very desirous to see a "thunder storm at sea," which has so often aroused the poet's imagination. I expected another opportunity of witnessing this inspiring scene, but did not have one. While I was sea-sick I had no appetite at all, but on getting better, it was almost impossible to satisfy myself with eating, such an effect had the sea upon me. Besides the rolling of the vessel, the manner of living, alone, would require a sickness before one could become accustomed to it. The water which is carried in barrels, soon becomes poor and even dirty, and every thing that it is used in is tainted by it. There is never but one dish set on the table at a meal, and the choice you have is to eat that, or go hungry. Corned beef, boiled rice and fish, are the usual dishes. A mess of pancakes occasionally, is the greatest delicacy to be had, However, after a green hand has been out a short time, he can eat any thing as well as the rest of them.

We sailed south, and on Friday morning were sixty miles south of Nantucket, but did not fall in with any mackerel until Saturday, when we were called to our lines before dawn of day, by the skipper, who, holding the morning watch, had discovered that there was a school around us. They bit well for about three-quarters of an hour, and we salted seven barrels that morning. It was at this time that I learned the process of taking them.

Every person has two lines, with two hooks on cach, and even when the fish are most plenty, an experienced hand can with perfect ease tend two lines, while a tyro finds difficulty in preventing one from becoming entangled, as he draws in the fish or throws the line out again. Mackerel always go in schools, but it is not every school that will bite; when they will not bite they are said to be "schooling." In this case, they are seen in large numbers, with their heads nearly out of water, swimming with great swiftness, sometimes in a direct line, and sometimes round and round, having the appearance of being frightened. A school can be scen a half a mile distant, and whenever one is perceived the vessel endeavors to "run into it," and stop it by throwing bait among them, which they sometimes succeed in doing. This bait, which is used for the purpose of keeping the school about the vessel, consists of other fish taken on board in port, and salted. It is ground up very fine in a "bait mill," and always used while fishing. The hooks are baited with a small piece of fish taken from the throat of the mackerel that are caught, and when this cannot be procured, with pieces of pork. They bite very quick, much like a pickerel, and must be drawn in, the instant they are felt touching the hook. There is no mercy shown to the fish after he is taken; by a jerk of the line the hook is torn from his mouth, and he falls into a barrel or on deck. Frequently after they cease biting, the remainder of the school is seen swimming about near the surface of the water, in which case, they are "gaffed," or hooked up, with an instrument called a "gaff," which is an iron or steel rod, two feet long, bent at the end like a hook, but without a beard, and attached to a pole about six feet long. When the fish have all disappeared, (probably sunken) the fishermen proceed to dress, wash, and salt those caught, which is done with such despatch by those practised in the business, that in less than an hour after we had ceased fishing, seven barrels were salted, and the crew's work ended for the day.

is much leisure time on board a fishing vessel, which is the dullest part of the voyage. Such time is employed by the crew in making miniature vessels, catching various kinds of fish for amusement and to eat, and in sleeping. I used to amuse myself with some old newspapers that the skipper had with him, and with the " yarns" of the crew. The fishing business is very uncertain; one may fall in with mackerel and return home fully laden with them in four or five days, or may cruise about till the stores are all exhausted, without finding any.

66

We coasted along Cape Cod for about three weeks, catching a few mackerel now and then, but found them rather scarce, and what few there were, very small. Cape Cod is, from the water, the most dreary looking place that I ever saw. As you sail along you see nothing but a sand bank, with two or three huts upon it, which have been erected for the benefit of shipwrecked sailors, who might chance to be washed on shore alive. It was frequently said, as we passed within sight of the sandy bank, by some of the crew many a poor sailor has found a solitary grave near this place."It is no terror, however, to fishermen, as they are not there during the stormy part of the season. The greatest danger fishermen are in, is of being run into by other vessels during a fog, which is sometimes so thick that you can see but little more than the length of the vessel. Such an accident occurred to a vessel that was near us almost all the trip, and she was obliged to put into the nearest port.

One morning the skipper spoke a vessel from the Bay of Chaleur, with a hundred barrels of mackerel, that reported them plenty in that bay. The skipper, thinking it was not best to remain there when he heard of mackerel elsewhere, immediately set sail and steered for home, to take a new fitout for the Bay of Chaleur. The next day we were alongside of the wharf we sailed from. Thus it is with fishermen, whenever they hear that mackerel have been caught in any other place, they all set sail for the spot, but nine times out of ten they learn, too late, that the fish are somewhere else. Many fishermen have (as I am told) been living almost entirely upon hope, for two or three years past, expecting soon to find mackerel plenty and to catch their share of them.Some last year did not catch the amount of fifty barrels, which would not pay their out-fits. They are led to suppose that they shall do well before long, because there was once a time when they found mackerel plenty, and because even now, occasionally a vessel is fortunate enough to make a good trip. But the business must, undoubtedly, be dropped by many of them, for it is evident that mackerel are pretty well caught up, and will never again be so plenty as they have been.

If any class of people ought to be well paid for their labor, it is the fishermen, for theirs certainly is a hard life. As they go in small vessels, they cannot enjoy even many conveniencies that seamen do on board large vessels, and they are obliged by necessity, to live among much filth. They cannot carry with them a great assortment of provisions, and being out almost all the summer season, they are deprived of fruits and many of those productions of the soil, which in the season of them, furnish landsmen with so many luxurious dishes."

Mackerel seldom ever bite except early in the morning, or just at night, and since they are not found every day, there

Geological Survey of New Hampshire. We received last week an interesting letter from Dr. C. T. Jackson, giving some account of his progress, &c. The following are extracts.

LANCASTER, N. H. Aug. 15, 1841.

Mr. Brewster,--Dear Sir

We have lately been engaged in the exploration of the upper part of Coos county, which is a region of considerable interest, both on account of its agricultural and geological character. One of the most remarkable curiosities is in the town of Columbia, near Colebrook Corner. It is a Pond the bottom and shores of which are covered with a thick bed of fine white calcareous marl, which was formed by the myriads of minute shell-fish which live in its waters. The growth of this marl is still gradually progressing. The bed is at present from 3 to 6 feet in thickness and covers an area of many acres, the length of the pond being 100 rods and

its width from 40 to 60 rods.

The shells are the Cyclas, Planorbis, Paludina, and a few other species which I have not examined. The Cyclas is by far the most abundant, and is rarely larger than a sixteenth of an inch in diameter, and is not so thick as the paper on which I am writing, yet principally by their accumulation has this vast and important bed of marl been produced! The origin of the calcareous matter which forms the substance of the shells, I readily traced to the limestone rocks which occur abundantly around the pond, especially in the swampy land through which the brooks pass which supply the lake. The water of the pond was found to be charged very strongly with the bi-carbonate and crenate of lime, and with carbonate of iron, in smaller proportions. It also contains ammonia, which is combined with the organic matters which are derived from the surrounding soil.

No fishes exist in the waters of this pond, but the waters are alive with an abundance of leeches, and with various kinds of insects and worms with which I am not familiar.

The people of Colebrook have been in the habit of making lime from this marl, which they burn in rude kilns, constructed for the purpose. The marl is laid while wet directly upon the wood, and the layers of wood and marl are repeated until the kiln is filled. Then the fire is kindled in the arch below the lower layer of wood, and the flame passing under the wood and marl, rises up beyond it at the farther end of the kiln. The marl, when it dries, cracks and soon permits the flame to circulate, and the wood between the marl is burned. At the close of the combustion the marl is found to be calcined into lime. The operation requires from three to four days. The soil being calcareous in the vicinity, it has not been deemed necessary to use the marl in agriculture.

Limestone of a buff color occurs in the town, but it is not yet ascertained whether it can be profitably burned for lime, since it melts at a white heat, and is difficult to manage. It may be found to make a good hydraulic cement. This I shall examine carefully next winter, when I analyze the minerals and determine the use to which they may be put. Large blocks of white limestone occur in Lancaster, but we have found but little here in ledges. There is, however, a prospect of finding the original bed in the vicinity of the loose blocks which we have discovered, for they are angular, and not rounded by distant transportation by water.

The lead ore of Shelburn is very rich in silver, but the veins are narrow, say from 2 to six inches in width. Blackblende or zinc-ore occurs abundantly in the same veins.

We are going to examine Dalton, Landaff, and that vicinity, and shall then move on to the southward, examining those places which we have not before visited.

Respectfully your obedient servant,

T. C. JACKSON.

may easily pass the notch at present, but it is better for the traveller to visit it on horseback. The scenery was briefly, but accurately described in my first Report. Fabian and Crawford have now good horse-paths to the summit of Mount Washington, and travellers ride up the Mount daily.

Yankee Enterprise.

The Brig Echo, which arrived here on Tuesday, in 20 days from Kingston, Jamaica, brings no important intelligence, except that the Island is quite healthy and business dull. Mr. Robert Clark, of Massachusetts, who came pas"Echo," had lost most of her crew by a Fever, although it senger in her, says that an English ship which lay near the was not deemed malignant. The negroes on the Island were remarkably sober and orderly, but not so industrious as before emancipation. Mr. Whitmars, whose experiments in excited so much interest in Great Britain and this country, introducing the Silk business on the Island of Jamaica has feeding worms and experimenting in making Silk. The Gostill continued eminently successful in propagating his trees, vernment was delighted with his enterprise and gave him every facility he desired to carry out his plans. He had forty acres of Mulberry trees and was erecting a spacious cocoonMr. Whitcry 100 feet long, in which to feed the worms. marsh and Mr. Clark are both from Massachusetts. The former is introducing the Silk culture which promises so well for the West India Islands, and the latter has arrived here for the purpose of procuring the necessary apparatus for the extensive manufacture of Segars, a few miles in the interior from Kingston. A ship load of ice had just arrived from Boston, much to the delight of the islanders.

PRINTED BY WILLIAM F. GEDDES, No. 112 CHESNUT STREET,