on the banks of the Tyne, and there are several large firms engaged in its manufacture upon this river, under whom many hundred men find employment. In consequence of the present state of Europe, it seems that the manufacturers in Germany and the other countries receiving their supply of soda from England through the Baltic ports, are in a very depressed condition, and in consequence of this state of affairs the price of soda is fallen 20 per cent. on the Tyne since the declaration of war, and most of the large houses have heavy stocks in their warehouses. The prices of soda have also fallen in New York, the entrepot of soda of English manufacture with the Western hemisphere. Some time before the declaration of war a Tyne house entered into a contract to make a large quantity of bleaching powder for St. Petersburg. In the present state of things the contract cannot be completed.

LAKE SUPERIOR MINING NEWS.

Mr. John W. Bradford, formerly connected with the editorial department of one of the dailies of this city, and of much experience and talent as an editor, has undertaken the publication of a journal in the Ontonagon Region. We doubt not that it will be a good paper. The following is the prospectus entire. Terms, Three Dollars per annum.

It is proposed, if sufficient support and patronage shall be secured, to publish, at Ontonagon, a newspaper, semi-weekly in the summer months, and semi-monthly during the remainder of the year, upon the departure of the mails. It shall be devoted

To the News of the Day

To the Development of the Mining Interests of the Lake Superior Country

To Scientific and General Intelligence relating to those Interests—

To giving Accurate and Thorough Reports of the condition of all the mines and mining stocks of this section of the country, and also of the sales here, and in the principal cities of the United States, so that each may find correct and reliable reports of the market in other places

To advocating all subjects that shall advance and promote the improvement and growth of this section of country, and a more immediate and speedy communication with other parts of the country by Water, Railroads, and Telegraphs.

We shall commence in an early number, a complete and minute History of the Discovery, Exploration, Settlement, and Mineral Development of the North-western country, and more particularly of the Lake Superior Region, the materials for which we have been for some time collecting.

An Express will be established between this place and the Lower Lakes, by which we shall be enabled to transmit and receive the Earliest Intelligence. We shall make personal explorations of all the mines and mineral lands here, and give împartial reports upon them at the earliest opportunity, so tha we shall be able to furnish the most reliable news of their progress.

We have not undertaken this enterprise without an anxious appreciation of the responsibilities and labor involved in the performance of our duties, and we are resolved that integrity and impartiality shall be maintained in all we publish; and for the success of our enterprise we must depend, next to our own exertions, upon the patronage of the public; should that be at all adequate, as we firmly hope, we shall gratefully labor to fulfil our duties, and continually add to the value of our paper as we are able.

THE MINING CHRONICLE,

Published weekly in this city, by M. B. Monck & Co., is a diligent and laborious co-operator in the field of mining intelligence, formerly conducted as the "Iron Manufacturers' Journal." It is prepared with skill and care, and is always interesting.

MINING MAGAZINE.

EDITED AND CONDUCTED BY

WILLIAM J. TENNEY.

ART.

CONTENTS OF NO. IV., VOL. III.

ARTICLES.

1. THE PROPERTY OF THE PRIDEVALE IRON COMPANY. By Professor WM. B. ROGERS

PAGE

855

871

II. ON THE DECOMPOSITION OF ROCKS AND RECOMPOSITION OF
THEIR METALLIC CONSTITUENTS. By JOHN CALVERT
III. ON FUCHS'S METHOD FOR THE DETERMINATION OF IRON. By
J. R. BRANT

IV. THE VENTILATION OF MINES AND COLLIERIES. By JOHN

PHILLIPS

V. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE FORMATION OF METAL-
LIFEROUS VEINS. By B. COTTA, Professor at Freiberg

VI. AMERICAN GEOLOGY.

876

886

MINING MAGAZINE:

DEVOTED TO

Mines, Mining Operations, Metallurgy, &c. &c.

VOL. III.-OCTOBER, 1854.-No. IV.

ART. I.-THE PROPERTY OF THE PRIDEVALE IRON COMPANY.— REPORT OF PROF. WILLIAM B. ROGERS, STATE GEOLOGIST OF VIRGINIA. THE following report of the mining resources of the Pridevale Iron Company will be found more detailed and specific than was contemplated when the geological examination of the property was first proposed. This has arisen from the variety and minuteness of the observations which I have found it necessary to make. Had I met with a seam of ore of the great thickness and extent which rumor so often vaguely ascribes to these deposits, I could, in a short time, have made all the examinations necessary, to assure the Company of a solid foundation for enterprise, and to guide in the mining operations which would be required. But in the Pridevale tract, as in the coal regions of Virginia and Pennsylvania generally, the seams of iron ore are not large, and are fluctuating. I have, therefore, felt it to be vital to the interests of the Company, that I should examine every layer of ore on or near the Company's land, in order to learn, in the first place, whether from these multiplied sources, notwithstanding the absence of any large deposit, an adequate supply of ore could be anticipated; and, in the second place, by a comparison of their character, thickness and continuity, to form a safe judgment as to which beds are the most desirable for use, and the most to be relied on for permanency.

With these views I have visited every opening of importance within the limits of the property, as well as many in the neighborhood, and I have included in my examinations the coal seams and beds of fire-clay and limestone of each locality. The result of this extensive exploration has been the conviction that the Anna, Henry Clay and Woodgrove furnaces can each command an adequate supply of ores of various composition and richness, and that by a judicious mining of the better varieties, the products of the furnace and rolling-mill may be impressed with the best qualities which the several uses of the metal demand.

As a knowledge of the geological place in the associated rocks, of the several layers of iron ore, coal, or limestone, is essential

to the successful tracing of their outcrop, and therefore to the determination of their continuity, and the area which they cover, I have made it an object of prominent importance to ascertain the succession, and, as nearly as time and means would permit, to measure the thickness of each band of sandstone, slate, shale, or limestone, included in the tract, and to locate in their proper places the layers of ore and beds of coal and fire-clay.

The results I have embodied in a graphical form, in two Geological Sections, representing the several beds of rock, and their included valuable deposits.*

In presenting the results of my observations, it will be convenient, as well as useful, to classify them under the following heads:

Of the general Geological Structure of the District.
Of the several groups of Ore Beds.

General Remarks on the Ores.

Of the Coal Seams.

Of the Limestones.

Of the Fire-Clays.

OF THE GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE DISTRICT.

The Laurel Hill range, upon and along the western flank of which the Company's land is situated, is a broad, moderately elevated mountain, prolonged from Pennsylvania, in a S. W. direction, for some thirty miles into Virginia, and forming the last conspicuous swell in the area of the coal bearing rocks. The strata comprising this mountain present what is called an anticlinal structure-that is, they come downwards from its centre towards the opposite sides of the ridge, and form, when unbroken, a continuous arch, the flat crown of which corresponds to the centre of the mountain. The inclination or dip of the strata, on the north-west side of the mountain, is towards the north-west; that on the opposite side, towards the south-east. This structure is clearly revealed in the grand gorge, or winding transverse valley, by which the Cheat River passes through the Laurel Hill.

Here, about midway between the opposite flanks of the range, are seen the peculiar sandstones and slates of a formation geologically far below the true coal-measures, but which sometimes includes a thin and delusive coal seam. These rocks form the upper part of the Vespertine series of Virginia and Pennsylvania geology. In a broad arch, externally concentric with this, is the group of reddish and buff sandstones and soft red shales, associated with a thick mass of limestone, and terminated above by dark shales, including several valuable layers of iron ore. This is the Umbral series of the Virginia and Pennsylvania geology. The

* These Sections have been omitted,