184 



BULLETIN OF TIIK 



In 18G9 the Khode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic 

 Industry jjublishcd a report relating to the coal and iron in Rhode 

 Island, from which we glean the following. The iron ore is regarded 

 as practically inexhaustible, the mass at Iron Mine Hill visible above 

 drainage being estimated at two millions of tons. 



''It is also conceded, as regards quahty, that the Cumberland ore is 

 free from sulphur and phosphorus, the most common and worst im- 

 purities, and that it contains manganese, the most prized of all the 

 elements found in connection with iron. For these reasons the Cumber- 

 land ore is sought by manufacturers at a distance, to mix with softer 

 ores and improve their quality, and is now exported from this State for 



that purpose." 



It seems that this Iron Mine Hill ore was employed in 1703, mixed 



with the hematite of Cranston, R I., for the casting of cannon. The 

 work was done at Cumberland, and, in part at least, '*the cannon used 

 in the celebrated Louisburg expedition, In 1745," were cast from those 

 ores. The mannfacture was abandoned in 17G3, owing to an explosion 

 of the furnace, by which the proprietor was killed. 



During the administration of John Adams the same ores were also 

 used for the mannfacture of cannon. It seems that the Cumberland 

 (Iron Mine IlilJ) ore -was employed in the manufacture of charcoal iron 

 at Easton, Chelmsford, and AYalpole, Mass., as late as 1834. "The 

 Cumberland ore, mixed with equal quantities of Cranston hematite or 

 bog ore, produced, for a long period, a charcoal iron unsurpassed in this 

 country. . . . The Cumberland ore contains an uncertain percentage of 

 titanium, wliich, while it improves its quality, helps make it refractory. 

 The ore is porphyritic, the magnetic oxide being associated with earthy 

 minerals, principally feldspar and serpentine." It would seem that in 

 1860, and before, the ore was largely shipped to Pennsylvania to mix 



with other ores. 



A letter of Professor Pw II. Thurston, published in this report, states : 

 '' The Cumbcrlaiid iron ore is of the kind known to mineralogists as 

 ■ 'ilmcnite'; among metallurgists as ' titaniferous magnetic ore,' andiron 

 manufacturers, on account of its peculiar value for producing steel, 

 would term it a 'steel ore.' . . . The Cumberland ore is conveniently 

 located and of inexhaustible extent; it is perfectly free from noxious 

 elements, though somewhat refractory; it will furnish a very strong 

 iron or a most excellent steel ; it can bo smelted within the State at a 

 profit ; it can be made directly into steel at a much greater profit ; steel 

 made from it will bring the highest prices in the market." 



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