or THE 



I NIVERSITY 



or 



MURPHREE'S VALLEY; ECONOMIC GEOfiwrr""" 109 



furnaces in the United States for more than two years and a 

 half; or one of the large furnaces of the Birmingham District, 

 running continuously, for more than three hundred years ! 



What amount of ore may be realized from the other lim- 

 onite deposits of the valley is as yet a matter mostly of con- 

 jecture and speculation. But judging from their size, num- 

 ber, and their apparent capacities, it would be a conserva- 

 tive opinion, that in the aggregate they will yield more ore, 

 by several million tons, than the Champion Mines deposit. 

 This opinion may be predicated on the four larger deposits 

 alone, without including the possible outcome of the numer- 

 ous smaller ones, and hence that the capacity of this valley 

 may be safely estimated at about 50,000,000 tons of avail- 

 able limonite ore. 



As yet most of this superabundant raw material is unutil- 

 ized. It awaits better facilities of transportation which will 

 justify the extensive employment of capital and labor in its 

 development. It is now probable that at no distant period 

 the Huntsville Branch of the Mineral R. R. will be ex- 

 tended to make northern connections, and that the establish- 

 ment of productive enterprises along it line will surely fol- 

 low. With ample transportation furnished, this valley 

 would afford facilities, and advantages for the cheap manu- 

 facture of iron, or its conversion into steel, or structural 

 forms, unexcelled by any other portion of the State. 



