wmm IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I "- lill&l Hi 1- u "M 1.8 1.25 U IIIIII.6 6" M .ne in this way mines that are voloped, bene- than anything a whole country, and especially such a miner- al country aa Canada, where the ore districts extend for hundreds of miles, because objec- tionable ore is found in some parta. There ia bud ore in almoat every iron district. Ti- taniferous ore h found in Minnesota, on the north shore of Lake Superior, not far from the district where '* The Minnesota Iron Co." produces the very best Bessemer ore, and aunilarly, orea too high in phoaphorus and aulphur are found in (he Marquette and Menominee districts, not far from the moat celebrated mines of pure ore. It is most un- fair, therefore, to give our ores a bad name, because in some parts of our vast mineral districts are to be found some objectionable matters. Not only owners of American mines have spread these reports, but some of our own people are much too quick to con- demn the products of their own country, People who know nothing about the subject have told me that our ores are no good, but strangely enough these are generally the op- ponents of Commercial Union, who claim to themselves all the loyalty in the country. It is a queer loyalty which refuses to recognize whatever is good among our own produc- tions. Within 110 miles of Toronto, both close to the Midland branch of the Grand Trunk, and also near the Canadian Pacitic Railway, are deposits of Bessemer ores of excellent quality. An analysis ^of ore from a laige bed IN' THE T0WN.SH1P OF BELMONT shows sulphur, only a slight trace ; phos- phorus, 0.002, or one-thirtieth of the per- mitted limit for phosphorus in Bessemer ore; metallic iron, 65.36 ; the chemist remarking on the exceptional purity of this ore. Anoth- er analysis of average ore taken from all over this deposit gives metallic iron, 66.29 mang- anese 0.42;phosphorus, 0.024;silica,8.19;tita- uium'none ; sulphur, practically none. These analyses were made by chemists of large blast furnaces in the States, and have fully confirmed the first analysis made by Profea- lor Chapman, of "The Toronto School of Science," from surface samples of this ire, who remarked : — "'This is an exoeediilig- ly good ore, not too close in texture, rich in metal, quite free from titanium and practi- cally free from phosphorus and sulphur, while the rock matter would be almost self- fluxing. It ia well adapted for final treat- ment by the Bessemer process." Dr. Chap- man's opinion has been fully confirmed by practical iron men. One prominent man in Cleveland writes, "I can sell all the ore of this quality thati can get." Professor Thomas Heys, of this city, who examined this ore bed, makes a similar report regarding the l<^uality of the ore, and estimates there are at least one million tons of ore within one [hundred feet of the surface. THE SNOWDE.V TKON DISTRICrT, in the prepai'ation of charcoal a number of men, and would make a good local market for the farm produce of the surrounding country. AN ERRONEOUS IMPBE.SSION CORRECTED. The Canadian market is too small to induce capitalists to put up the expensive works ne- cessary to make iron and steel, but if the whole North American market,were open to ua there are many pointa where furnaces would be erected. And here let me correct an erroneoua impreasion with regard to the amount of fuel neceasary for smelting iron. It was stated recently in a Restrictionist paper that it required two tons of coal to smelt one ton of ore. This is not the case, the fact being almost the reverse of this. Mr. John Birkinbine, of Philadelphia, editor of the American Journal of Charcoal Iron Worhrs, a very high authority, in a '"itter to the Iron Aye, computes one ton of coke only to make one ton of pig iron. A correspondent of the Bufi'alo Commercial Advertiser last fall stat- ed that 1,900 lbs. of Pennsylvania coke smelts 1^ tons of Lake Superior 66)1 per cent, iron ore, which yields one ton of pig iron in the furnace. An account appeared recently in the Iron Age of a run at the Union steel works, Chicago, where only about half the weight of fuel was used in smelting a quan- tity of ore, the proportion being about 1,750 lbs. of fuel to 3,500 lbs. of ore. FURNACES SHOULD BE CONVENIENTLY .SITU- ATED. This makes a vast dffference in consider- ing the favorable locality for a blast furnace. If we had free trade with our continent, why should not Toronto be an excellent point for a blast furnace and a good distributing point for its products ? We have the best of ores within 125 miles of us and are much nearer to the fuel than many furnaces in the States. Connellville coke is carried 600 miles to the Ch-cago blast furnaces, and still they do an immense and very increasing business. A BENEFIT TO THE WHOLE COMMUNITY. Although the manufacture of iron and steel benefits a community more than any other, one impressive fact may be stated to show the apathy of Canadiaub in these matters. Take the C. P. R. east from Toronto, and when you get a little more than 100 miles down the line you will be in the mineral district and close to deposits of Bessemer ore suitable for making steel rails. This mineral district ex- tends for hundreds of miles, the C. F, R. traversing a great portion of it. Were the steel rails over which you are travelling made from Canadian ore ? Not a bit of it. These rails were bought in England, probably made from Spanish ore, and in their manufacture did not ccutribute one dollar's worth of benefit to any Canadian, although simi- lar ore from which the rails are made d deliver at fur- Ills quauty Hevs. ot this can get pitv. who TotesBor i. nomas examined this ore from Canadian ore ? Not a bit ot it. These uia reqmrecT^i au^ rives moat of her bessemer ore from Spaiu, from whence also the United States gets the greater part of their imported ores. For some time past reports have appeared show- ing that the Spanish ore deposits cannot last much longer. Recently a statement has been published that the Campanil district, one of the most important, has very much reduced its production, and that before long it will csase altogether, The exhaustion of Spanish ores will produce far-reaching consequences ; if England were deprived of these ores she could no longer produce the cheap steel she now manufactures, and a great and radical change must take place. When the Spanish ores are exhausted (and a very few years muB*' see the end of them) no part of the world will offer greater inducements for the manufacture of steel than our own Canada, and if a sufficient market is opened to her, there is no reason why this eountry should not become a large producer cf iron and ateel, and obtain a share of that prosperity which naturally fellows. In that case it would not be at all surprising to see some of the large English iron manufacturers transplant- ing their works to Canada. We should then have an opportunity of seeing how far their loyalty goes ; the boot would then be on the other leg, I am very much mistaken if these same English manufacturers, having transplanted their business to Canada, would not be the most enthusiastic Commercial Unionists of us all. This is no visionary dream, for already English manufacturers are looking towards Canada ; within the last few months I have had several enquiries from England regarding our ores and iron mines. EFFECTS OF THE UNITED STATES DUTY. There is at present a duty of 75c. per ton on all iron ore entering the United States ; this, of itself, is a handsome profit on mining iron ore, and even 50c. per ton is a good pro- fit on tho whole output of a large iron mine. The duty of 75c. per ton then prevents many iron deposits from being worked. There are some large beds of very pure ore so favorably situated that they will pay in spite of the duty,but these are comparatively few. The opponents of Commercial Union tell us that we have the Canadian market ; this is true, but the Canadian market does not amount to much ; 300,000 tons of pig-iron is about the annual consumption of Cacaua, reqairing about 500,000 tons of ore ; half a dozen good mines would produce this, in fact two of the leading mines in Michigan would easily do it. The Chapin mine on the Menominee Range last year produced over 330,000 tons.and the Cornwall mines in Lebanon County, Penn. put out in 1887 the enormous quantity of 700,000 tons, or over 2,000 tons a day for every working day throughout the year. One single furnace company in the States, " The North Chicago Rolling Mills Co.," uses 1,700 tons of ore a day, as much as would supply the whole of Canada. A LIMITED HOME MARKET. Our market, besides being so small, is very much scattered, and distance tells heavily in the transportation of iron. In Nova Scotia iron and coal occur in oloee proximity, and there is every facility for cheap iron manu- facture, but where is their market? The back as return freight, and deliver at fur-, n-^ces in Pennsylvania, close to their destina , tion. A large trade would be done in this way \ if there was no duty ; our iron mines that are now lying idle would be developed, bene- fitting our back country more than anything else,giving employment to numbers of miners, a good market to the farmers in the neigh- bourhood, as well as business to the store- keepers. COMMERCIAL UNION DI.SCU.S8ED. This trade would also benefit the Uni ed St te8,for in consideration of the great ques- tion of Commercial Union we should not look at it only from our own standpoint, but should see how it will affect our neighbours. Buffalo is now becoming an important dis- tributing point for iron ores, and will be still more so in the future ; ores are delivered there by vessels from Lake Superior and dis- tributed by rail to furnaces in Pennsylvania. Lake Superior ores are taken from the mines to Marquette, Ashland or Two Harbonrs on Lake Superior, or to Escanaba on Lake Michigan, and then shipped by boat a dis- tance probably of over 1,000 miles to Buffa- lo, whence they are again transhipped to railways which carry them to the furnaces, thus necessitating three different handlings, and this route be