CLINTON COUNTY. 
303 
From what has been said, it will be seen that the quantity of ore which the Cook vein is 
capable of furnishing, is all that can be wished. Its breadth and prolongation northwards 
show conclusively that, for a long time, it will be accessible without deep excavation. 
This consideration I have thought proper to introduce, inasmuch as it bears on the perma¬ 
nence and stability of the manufacture of iron, and the expediency of permanent improve¬ 
ments. If the veins of ore in a given section of country are soon to be exhausted, then there 
is no occasion or no propriety in making extra expenditures to facilitate the transportation of 
heavy articles. On the contrary, if these collections are inexhaustible, then they constitute 
a permanent source of wealth and income to the country, and which may be increased by 
facilities for transportation, without danger of finally losing value from want of articles to 
transport. 
The Cook veins, in their northern prolongation, are traversed by several dykes ; and though 
the ore in this prolongation appears only in disseminated particles, sometimes more and some¬ 
times less, still, in my mind, there is little doubt of the real prolongation of the principal vein. 
The dykes appear to be parallel to each other, and pursue a course about N. 50*^ E. 
After leaving the site where these veins are more successfully explored, we rise to a higher 
level. Now, in many instances, when ore is disseminated in the manner we find it north of 
the actual veins, they have been found to be continued by a sufiicient removal of rock; and 
the probability of finding it in a body at any point along this range, is strengthened by the 
fact, that the Battie vein crops out to the nqrth at a lower level; for the vein appears to tra¬ 
verse the ridge rather obliquely, making a continual westing till it reaches the western slope, 
when, at a considerably lower position, the veins appear in the rock. Now it is probable that 
at any point between the Battie and Cook veins, the ore will be found by sinking a shaft to 
the level of either, or by removing what is called by miners the cap of the vein. 
Battie Ore. 
The Battie vein is to be considered as a part of the Cook vein. It is distant from the latter 
one and a half miles, and from which it may be traced by surface ore. The vein has been 
exposed in two places ; the most southerly was mixed largely with iron pyrites, especially 
the portion adjacent to the eastern wall. It is not so highly charged as to prevent its use 
in the furnace; but for bar iron, it proves brittle. On account of the injurious mixture of 
pyrites in the southerly opening, the vein was sought for twenty or twenty-five rods further 
north, when it was found to be well developed near the surface. This last opening was just 
made at the time of my examination, and the true character of the vein could not be deter¬ 
mined ; still, there was a width of thirteen or fourteen feet of vein, mixed with rock com¬ 
posed of flint, hornblende and black mica. Thick solid masses of ore, free from pyrites, 
were found traversing the vein longitudinally, somewhat wedge-form in shape, with the thicker 
portion downward, indicating an increase of ore in that direction, and the disappearance of 
rock from the vein. It is proved by reduction to make an iron similar to that made from the 
Cook ore ; which, as has already been stated, is of the best quality. 
