HISTORICAL. 15 



iron expected, the yield being only a.bout eight or ten tons per day, when the 

 furnace was expected, under proper management, to yield twenty five or 

 thirty tons per day. The trouble was attributed to various causes, but finally 

 it was concluded that the furnace was not properly constructed, and that the 

 bosh, or lower part of it, was not in the right shape to produce the best re- 

 sults. Hence, after a blast of about two months, it was blown out and the 

 bosh changed. It was blown in about the first of June, and, it was claimed, 

 made more and better iron, but still its workings were far from satisfactory, 

 and it was banked and stopped about the first of September.* 



The Nineteenth Legislature made an appropriation of $50,000 for the 

 development of the iron industries at Rusk. I had been directed by your 

 Board to employ an expert to visit Rusk and make an examination of the 

 furnace, plant, iron ore, lime rock, timber, etc., and make report of the result 

 of his examination. After corresponding with, and upon the recommenda- 

 tion of several leading iron men, 1 employed Mr. John Birkinbine, of Phil- 

 adelphia, to make the examination His visit and examination was made 

 about the first of June, 1885, and in July he submitted an interesting and ex- 

 haustive report, in the conclusion of which he says: "I have no hesitation in 

 saying that you have a furnace plant better equipped than a majority of the 

 charcoal furnaces in the United States. In fact, I do not think there are 

 more than fifteen in the country which may be considered equal to it in all 

 respects. The ore supply seems to be sufficiently abundant for the require- 

 ments of the present and near future, and the quality, as indicated by analy- 

 sis made, will give you an ore richer than the average ores throughout the 

 United States, and produce iron of good quality. You have unusual facil- 

 ities for manufacturing charcoal cheaply, and of superior quality. You are 

 unfortunate in having no supply of good flux immediately available, but 

 this disadvantage is less than it would be in a furnace using mineral fuel. 

 You can produce iron with an expenditure for labor no greater than the 

 average at charcoal furnaces throughout the United States, and the cost of 

 making pig iron at Rusk is less than the majority of the furnaces in the 

 country. You are at a disadvantage in having but one railroad, and that a 

 narrow gauge, but that may be overcome largely by the cordial co operation 

 of the officers, which, they assure me, you would receive. There seems to be 

 a variety of industries which can be made to pay, and utilize a large portion 

 of the pig iron produced in the furnace, but it is probable that you will have 

 to, at least for the present, combine several of these to obtain satisfactory re- 

 sults, and afterwards, if the indications point to certain of these being most 

 advantageous, the others can be dropped. With the large area of your State, 

 its rapid growth, and increased demand for all manufactures of iron which 

 accompany such development, there would seem to be a good opportunity for 

 the transformation of such of the product of your furnace as you cannot sell 

 into merchantable commodities." 



After the consideration of Mr. Birkinbine's report, your Board determined 

 to make immediate preparation for starting the furnace, and authorized me 

 to employ Mr. R. A. Barrett, of St. Louis, as furnace superintendent. Mr. 

 Barrett had superintended the construction of the furnace, and had great 

 confidence in making it perform all that had originally been promised. He 

 came on at once and set about making the necessary preparation for its oper- 

 ation. He put in a new bosh, changing the shape of the same as originally 

 constructed. "We had a supply of coal on hand, taken in the settlement with 



* Reports of the Superintendent and Financial Agent of the Texas State Penitentiaries 

 lor two years ending October 31, 1884, p. 12. Austin, 1885. 



