42 
THE NATURALISTS' COMPANION. 
IJVTER.ESTIJYG MIMES, 
A ride bf about ten miles brought 
us to the brow of a hill overlooking 
two famous garnet mines; one owned 
by a New York Stock Co., and the 
other by James Wren & Co., of 
Chester Heights, Pa. The former 
was visited first, and proved to be 
well worth the trouble taken to get 
there. Here are employed a torce 
of about fifteen to twenty men, dur¬ 
ing the mining period, which had 
just finished till fall. A force con¬ 
stantly is employed during the win¬ 
ter of eight to ten men. We were 
first shown the mine, which is a large 
excavation 30 to 50 feet deep. The 
garnet is mined in solid lumps, being 
mixed with another mineral. It is 
carried by a small car on a track to 
the factory, which is a large build¬ 
ing, about 100 yards distant. The 
mineral is taken out by means of 
dynamite and steam, and several 
tons are mined daily. It is then 
stored in the building, to bv^ worked 
in winter. After securing some 
fine specimens of the mineral in 
lumps, we were conducted to the 
factory. Here we saw the full pro¬ 
cess. The lumps are put through 
three crushers, and reduced, first to 
pieces the size of two fists, then small¬ 
er, and it is put through steam roll¬ 
ers, being about the size of peas. It 
is then washed by means of a stream 
flowing near, and again rolled, and 
again washed and rolled, if to be re¬ 
duced to a fine powder. It is then 
thoroughly dried by means of a dry¬ 
ing board, and put in bags, ready for , 
shipment'. It makes the finest kind 
of garnet paper. During the month 
of July, $5,000 worth was shipped 
to Boston, Mass, alone. All foreign 
njiatter is floated off during the wash- ' 
ing, as it is much lighter than the gar¬ 
net. The garnet is ground into 
various sizes; some are quite large, 
while others are reduced to a fine 
powder. After spending about an 
hour here, we visited James Wren’s, 
which is just across the street. Here 
there is a finer quality of mineral 
mined ; the garnet beingpurer. The 
machinery is also better. They mine 
as high as ten tons a day, which is 
taken out by means of dynamite. 
This mill was not running at the 
time, as they were making extensive 
improvements. The plan of crusti- 
ing is somewhat diflerent from that 
seen at the first mill, as it is all done 
with one crusher, from the course 
down to the fine powder is from the 
same machine. The process of 
washing anci drying is the same. 
About eight grades of powder are 
made here, which is shipped in large 
quantities. Any person coming to 
Delaw.are county, would do well to 
visit these famous mines, which, I 
am told, are the only ones in this 
country where garnet powder is 
made. We returned home well 
pleased with our trip. 
Warren Carter 
Wallingford, Fa. 
‘A^outh’s Golden Hours” is the 
name of a bright, eight-page, illus¬ 
trated monthly story paper to be 
published soon, by E. S. Burns, of 
Dayton, Ohio. This paper we are 
confident will be a grand success 
with so able a person as Mr. Burns 
at its head. Header, see ad., then 
subscribe. 
In Paris there are 150 tradesmen 
who deal in nothing but old postage 
stamps. 
