About 1880 the Company re-opened the 81 mine, which was located
a short distance east
of Williamstown (now Standish) , to supply ore to the
forges located on the
Saranac River, at Clayburg, a distance of approximately
11 miles. A separator
containing the latest types of roasting; stamping, screen-
ing and jigging equipment
was built on the brook. The concentrated ore from
the mill was loaded into
wagons and hauled over a plank road, which had been
recently built for that
purpose, to Clayburg. However, within a year, the
forges and equipment were
moved to Williamstown (Standish), and in 1881
the first forge began
operations near the site of the Company's present modern
blast furnace.
The new location was ideal, for it was in the heart of what seemed to be
an almost endless supply
of wood for charcoal, and only four miles from the
terminus of the Chateaugay
Railroad.
In this same year, 1881, the Chateaugay Ore and Iron Company was
incorporated, and purchased
the properties of the Chateaugay Ore Company,
the Chateaugay Iron Company,
a furnace at Plattsburg, and the Chateaugay
Railroad Company. The
Delaware and Hudson Canal Company became closely
identified with the new
Company at this time.
By 1883 the mines and mills were producing concentrated ore for some
60 forges in Clinton and
Essex counties. At Belmont, 20 forge fires were
running, the largest Catalan
forge in the country, besides a six-fire forge at
Standish, and a charcoal
blast furnace at Plattsburg. Lyon Mountain had
grown from a few shacks
in the wilderness to a thriving community of some
3,000 inhabitants, the
busiest spot in Clinton county. Nearly a million dollars
had been expended in the
purchase of machinery and equipment, for even then
those dauntless pioneers,
Williams and Weed, realized the wealth and future
possibilities which lay
in this wonderful bed of iron ore.
Improved mining methods and machinery were constantly being introduced,
and as the market demanded
it, the output was rapidly increased. This,
of course, necessitated
a like increase in milling capacity. As a result, new mills
were erected at strategic
points on the most convenient brook.
Just below the Williams Pit, No. 3 Separator, with roasting, stamping
and jigging equipment, was built, and at Bradley Pond outlet, No.4 Separator,
complete with all equipment, was erected to handle the ore from Parkhurst
Shaft. Every ton of ore was immediately turned into iron which, it
seems, was
rapidly marketed.
The method of mining at this time, which was continued for some years,
was to sink shafts on the dip of the vein to a depth of about 300 feet, and
at
intervals, along the strike (i. e., the general longitudinal direction of
the vein)
of about 250 feet. Levels were opened into the ore on both sides of
each shaft
every 50 feet, leaving a small pillar to protect the shaft. After the
ore was
blasted, it was loaded into wheelbarrows, wheeled out to the shaft, dumped
into
the skip and hoisted to the surface. The rich lump ore was sorted out
by hand
on the surface, and shipped direct to the steel mills for use in the open
hearth and
puddling furnaces.
As the demand and production of iron increased, so it was with the con-
sumption of charcoal, and in the ensuing years it became necessary to tap
still
further the forests in order to obtain an adequate supply of wood for the
making
of charcoal. In the year 1885, the Company began the erection of a
blast
furnace at Standish, extending the railroad from Lyon Mountain to that point,
and later to Loon Lake, as a part of its plant facility, in order to reach
the
furnace, charcoal kilns and woodlands that it owned.
In the year 1886, the Catalan forges at Standish were temporarily aban-
doned, and the making of pig iron commenced in the new blast furnace, using
charcoal as fuel. This resulted in the development of an entirely new
market
for this product, pig iron being an entirely different product from bloom
iron
produced by the Catalan forges. However, steel making by the Bessemer
pro-
cess was gaining by leaps and bounds in this country, and the Chateaugay
Iron,
being extremely low in phosphorus, was in great demand. Many additional
houses, a merchandising store, a school house and a church sprang up in the
village, and Standish began to make industrial history.
The Company continued to make pig iron at Standish, and bloom iron
at Belmont, until the year 1893. The major depression of that period
having
gotten well underway by this time, the Company, in order to consolidate its
operations at one point and close to its railroad, moved the forges from
Belmont
to Standish, so that both bloom iron and pig iron could be made at that point
and shipped to market by rail.
The slump in the iron business continued for several years, due to the
depression, and when the
revival of industrial activity began to show itself in
the late '90s, there came
a great demand for the ore, as well as the iron. A com-
paratively new device
for separating the ore came into the market about this time,
known as the Ball and
Norton Magnetic Separator. With this machine, it was
possible to make a concentrate
running 60 per cent iron, with a tailing of only
7 per cent iron, at the
rate of ten tons per hour per machine. The separator at
Lyon Mountain was enlarged,
and a number of these machines installed, with
very good results.
As steel making by the Bessemer process, and wrought iron making by
the puddling process,
increased, the demand for Catalan forge blooms decreased,
not on account of quality,
but because these new processes could make wrought
iron and steel which would
serve the purpose at the time for less than half the
cost of Catalan forge
blooms. As a result, the American Bloomery, which for
many years had been the
backbone of the iron and steel industry of the country,
was doomed.
The Company subsequently abandoned its Catalan forge operations and
continued making low phosphorus
pig iron in the blast furnace, using charcoal
as fuel, and also continued
to ship concentrates and lump ore from its mines at
Lyon Mountain,
By now, it was obvious that the Chateaugay Ore Beds were very exten-
sive, this having been
proven by openings on the outcroppings for a distance of
several miles, and to
a considerable depth, all of the ore being of the same char-
acter and purity.
Because of the exceptional quality of the ore and the iron, the
demand continued to increase,
and it became evident that the property should
be operated on a much
larger scale.
At this time, The Delaware and Hudson Company had a considerable
financial interest in
the Chateaugay Ore and Iron Company. After having
a study of the property
made, President Willcox, of The Delaware and Hudson
Company, recommended to
its Board of Managers that they take over the
Chateaugay Company and
operate it. On July 29, 1903, the Board of
Managers of The Delaware
and Hudson Company authorized that procedure.
The narrow gauge railroad, which meanwhile had been extended to
Lake Placid, was promptly
supplanted by a substantial, standard gauge road.
At the same time, wherever
possible, grades and curvature were reduced to make
possible the heavy movements
of iron ore which were contemplated from the
property, and which subsequently
took place.
A large steam power plant was built, and two 500 K. W. electrical
generators were installed
to furnish electric power for the electric motors, which
were installed in place
of steam-driven engines, at isolated points, and also for
additional electro-magnetic
separators. There were also installed two Laidlaw
Dunn air compressors,
to insure an ample supply of compressed air for the
drilling machines in the
mine.
Because of the tremendous amount of charcoal used by the blast furnace,
the increasing difficulty
of securing a sufficient supply, and the fact that by this
time coke had replaced
charcoal in most of the blast furnaces in the country, and
could be secured at a
much lower cost, the Standish Furnace was changed from a
charcoal to a coke furnace.
Between the years 1903 and 1907, a great deal was done in the way of
replacing much of the
light equipment with heavier and more substantial equip-
ment. The output
of ore and pig iron was considerably increased.
Then, in 1907, came the new President, Mr. L. F. Loree, with many
years of scientific engineering
and practical experience behind him. A new
separator, which was badly
needed, was completed in this year, equipped with
the latest improved magnetic
separators, crushing and screening equipment, and
did excellent work.
Unfortunately, it was destroyed by fire the following year,
which made it necessary
to use the old No.2 Separator, which had been closed
down.
A well defined plan of study of the property was immediately put into
action by the President.
This included a magnetrometric and geological survey,
diamond drilling, chemical
analyses, and surveying and mapping the mine
workings. The results
of this study revealed that the Chateaugay Ore beds
were tremendous in size,
containing an almost endless supply of iron ore, prac-
tically free from Sulphur
and Phosphorus.
It took several years to complete the above mentioned exploration work,
during which time the
Company's mines and blast furnace operated continually.
In 1914, plans were made
for the development of the ore body on a large scale,
which included a new hoisting
shaft, to be 1,600 feet deep, with steel headframe
and modern electrically-driven
hoisting equipment.
This work was well under way, and the shaft down 900 feet, when the
demands for Chateaugay
iron and iron ore became so great, on account of the
war, that it was necessary
to postpone the development work, in order to con-
centrate all activities
on production.
In 1917, it became necessary to build a new separator, because the old
No.2 Separator was beginning
to fail badly, on account of the many years it
had been standing.
The new separator was completed and put in operation
by the fall of 1918.
In 1919, when the demands of the war had eased up considerably, it
was decided to proceed
with the development of the mine. The No. 1 Shaft,
which had been sunk to
a depth of 900 feet, was extended to a depth of 1,685
feet, with four compartments;
one for pipe and ladderways, one for men and
supplies, and two for
hoisting ore, all enclosed in steel and concrete.
Levels were opened east and west on the strike of the vein, at intervals
varying from 150 feet
to 300 feet, depending on the nature and character of the
vein. Stopes were
opened up, and electric locomotives installed, and by 1924
all of the mining operations
were confined to the new No.1 Shaft.
In 1921, it became necessary to make repairs and changes at the Standish
Furnace, which included
a new hearth and bosh, skip hoist and stock bins, pig
casting machine, and a
25,000 cubic foot Turbo blower. In this connection,
a sintering plant was
built at Lyon Mountain, in order to sinter the concentrates
for the furnace, and also
to make additional sintered ore to be sold.
In May, 1924, the separator, which had been completed in 1918, was
destroyed by fire.
It had been intended to make this separator building entirely
fireproof, but due to
the difficulty in obtaining materials on account of the war,
and the urgent need of
the new separator because of the failure of the old No.2
Separator, it had become
necessary to use considerable wood in the construction
of the interior of the
building.
Plans were made, and work immediately started, on the building of a
new and larger separator
and concentrating plant, which was built entirely of
steel and concrete, making
it absolutely fireproof. This was completed and put
in operation in June,
1925.
By the year 1925, the plants and equipment of the Company were
modern in every way, including
a well developed mine, with one main hoisting
shaft, with steel headframe
and concrete and steel hoist house; a large and
modern concentrating plant,
both built of steel and concrete, being absolutely
fireproof; at the furnace,
a skip hoist and bins, pig casting machine, turbo
blower, a cooling system
and a revolving distributor. The subsequent years
have been devoted entirely
to operating the plant and marketing the products.
shaft34.jpg pg 72
Go to Mine History Page 4 ........
rodbigelow@netzero.net 
