fast Mfnuesscc Iron and mn\. 



We copy from tlie New York Daily Times of the 21st of February, 1869, 

 the following letter from its Knoxville correspondent. Omega, giving the 

 substance of a conversation with Gen. John T. AVilder of the Rockwood 

 Iron Company, in Roane county, East Tennessee, concerning our iron, 

 coal and marble. 



Knoxville, Tenn., Wednesday, Feb. 17th, 1869. 



Some weeks ago there was organized in Knoxville an Industrial Associ- 

 ation, which is likely to be the means of gathering and disseminating 

 much valuable information concerning the resources of East Tennessee. 

 I was so much impressed with some statements made by Gen. J. T. 

 Wilder, formerly of Indiana, now of this State, at the last meeting of the 

 Association, that I went to him after its adjournment and had some con- 

 versation with him, the substance of which I wish to present for the con- 

 sideration of your readers. First, let me state that soon after the close of 

 the war, Gen. Wilder came to East Tennessee to make a thorough inves- 

 tigation of its resources. He made this investigation for his own satisfic- 

 tion and for the satisfaction of a company of capitalists, who proposed 

 investing largely in iron works if his report should be favorable. Before 

 beginning his explorations, and that he might the better judge of what 

 he should see, he made a verj' thorough examination of all the principal 

 iron establishments of the United States. Having spent the earner years 

 of his life in a manufacturing establishment ho had a practical and thor- 

 ough knowledge of the various kinds of iron and of its application. T 

 mention these facts in order that his opinion may have due wei^t. 



Ho is now working .successfully a large iron blast furnace at Post Oak 

 Springs, in Roane county. His works are situated four miles from the 

 Tennessee river, in the midst of ono of the finest agricultural sections of the 

 State. He uses red fossiliferous ore, yielding 50 per cent, of iron in the 

 blast furnace, and making iion of a very superior quality. His ore lies one- 

 half mile from his furnace. 1 le has three and one-half miles of iron ore, two 

 veins side by side, four and sis feet thick. He digs his ore at a cost of 50 

 cents a ton, and carries it to the mouth of the furnace bj^ a small railway 

 running down the hillside at a gentle decline. His coal is about one-half 

 mile off, in great abundance — venis over five feet thick, splendidly drained. 

 It is semi-bituminous, free from sulphur, and makes charcoal iron. He 

 uses it in his furnace raw from the mine. Not one pound of it is coked, 

 and thus far he has made an excellent quality of iron. Some of the 



