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780 [Assembly 



' The Adirondac Company was originally incorporated with a ca- 

 pital of $1 jOOOjOOO. Large sums have been disbursed in the pro- 

 gress of these improvements J in opening the wilderness*, and in a se- 

 ries of experiments upon the ores of this district. The tragic death 

 of Mr. Henderson in the midst of these scenes, which his great en- 

 ergy and spirited enterprise had tended so much to animate and 

 reveal, impeded these efforts. The depression in the iron interest, 

 and considerations of private expediency have induced a tempora- 

 ry suspension of these magnificent works. It is with profound re- 

 egret that we contemplate such immense industrial capacities un- 

 improved, such vast resources lying waste. Not a sound, not a 

 rriovement of business indicates the heart of a region boundless in 

 the bounties of nature. No occupation but agriculture engages 

 the attention of the agents of the proprietors. These pursuits are 

 conducted with great success, and in a highly judicious and in- 

 telligent system. 



Moriah Iron District. — The tract, thus appropriately distin- 

 guished by the State Geologist, is scarcely subordinate to the 

 Adirondac district in the magnitude of its deposits ; equal in the 

 quality of its ores, and far more eligibly situated in the present 

 medium of access to markets. Fourteen beds are now discovered 

 and partially explored.* They hav^ all been fully tested, and 

 afford ore adapted to every practical use. The Cheever mine, 

 until recently owned by the Port Henry Company, has been 

 opened more than forty years. It is situated about one-fourth of 

 a mile from Lake Champlain, and three miles north of Port 

 Henry. It presents an average breast of about 14 feet pure iron. 

 Occasional pyrites occur in this ore, but not sufficient to impair 

 its quality. The ores of this district are all magnetic. The ore 

 of this mine separates in large blocks and is of peculiar value for 

 the blast furnace. In the past summer, the pillars of iron left to 

 support the enormous burthen of rock and earth above the cham- 

 ber formerly worked, yielded to the weight, and the whole mass 

 was crushed together. The concussion was like an earthquake, 

 rending the earth and dislocating the massive rocks for acres. 

 The Gof Sf Foot bed is a large and valuable bed in the immediate 



* I am greatly indebted to J. P. Butler Esq., for an elaborate and carefully arranged de- 

 BcriptioQ of the ore beds of Moriah. 



