SCHMIDT IRON MANUFACTURE IN MISSOURI. 267 



Scotia Iron Works, 9 miles south of Leasburgh station ; the Me- 

 ramec Iron Works, 7 miles south of the St. James station ; and 

 the Midland Furnace, near Steelville ; — the fourth works are the 

 Ozark Iron Works, situated at Ozark station, on a branch of the 

 Upper Gasconade River. All these are well selected spots for 

 the iron manufacture. There are, however, many more such 

 spots in this region, and the supply of ore would be sufficient 

 for a considerable number of additional furnaces. At present 

 nearly all the ore from the largest and best deposits is exported 

 to St. Louis, Illinois, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, while at the 

 same time cheap fuel abounds and lies idle in the immediate vi- 

 cinity of the ore-banks. This is evidently an unnatural and unfa- 

 vorable condition of affairs, which should be remedied by the 

 erection of more fui'naces, so that more labor and population will 

 be drawn into these districts, and that the State may enjoy the full 

 benefit of its own resources. 



As to the northern portion of the Central Iron Region, com- 

 posed of Gasconade County and the eastern half of Maries and 

 Osage Counties, it may be said that fuel and water abound, and 

 that especially in Osage County a considerable number of limon- 

 ite deposits are known to exist. In several localities some prac- 

 tical work has been done. But no general geological investiga- 

 tion has as yet been made which alone could furnish the data 

 necessary to judge of the industrial importance of the district as 

 a whole. Many of the deposits seem to be too remote from the 

 railroads — the Missouri Pacific as well as the Atlantic and Paci- 

 fic — to make their transportation to any of the existing blast- 

 furnace works profitable at the present time. If, however, private 

 reports may be relied on, there must be ore enough in these dis- 

 tricts to supply a few charcoal furnaces. 



Somewhat less rich in timber, because more cultivated, is the 

 Callaway district, whose ore-banks present a favorable appear- 

 ance, but are not sufficiently opened to be judged in regard to 

 their metallurgical value. 



III. WESTERN ORE REGION. 



Extent. — The Western Iron Region of Missouri extends prin- 

 cipally along the Osage River, over the counties of St. Clair, 

 Henry, Benton, Morgan, Camden, Miller, Cole, and over the 

 western portions of Maries and Osage Counties. The dividing 



