IRON MOUNTAINS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXIV, Issue 9662, 16 November 1882, Page 3

IRON MOUNTAINS.

* In the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, Mr Gabb, the American geologist, publishes a memoir on the topography, geology, and resource? of the eastern half of the island of St. Domingo. In this memoir Mr Gabb mentions the existence of an iron mountain near Hatillo, on the south side of the Maimon, which, if it is not of the magnitude of the iron mountain of Durango, in Mexico, certainly pre sents remarkable features. The Hatillo mountain is a rounded hill over 100 feet high, several hundred feet long, and in all atout three or four hundred feet across; from the savanna on one side, to -the base on the other, almost touching- the river bank. The side nearest the river is a solid mass of semi-chrystaline limestone, more nearly resembling marble than any other rock on the island, while the southern half is-an equally ! solid mass of ' very compact' magnetic ' ironstone, composed of be-.' tween67'.and 08 per cent, of metallic iron, according to the analysis of' Pro-' fessor Chandler, of the Columba' College School Mines of New York. Thousands of tons lie scattered over the surface or embedded in the soil, only requiring to be picked up. There is no section exposed whereby its character can be ascertained, and without excavation it would be hazardous to. venture an opinion as to whether it is a vein, or simply a lenticular mass. The latter seems the more probable hypothesis, since the outcrop is so limited longitudinally, and judging from analogy with similar masses in the United States. Behind the hill all signs of metal disappear on the surface, except suchstray blocks as oan with a greater show of probability be attributed to the hill itself. But for all practical purposes the iron mountain is an inexhaustible mine.. Its advantages are enhanced by its proximity- to a navigable stream, the nearness of limestone, and by its being in the heart of a great forest, where unlimited supplies of hard, wood can be made to yield all the fuel required for furnaces. >or is' this hill the only deposit of the mineral in the vicinity. Mr Gabb visited one other about three miles distant, where tho quantity of iron is still greater ; but though equally well situated with reference to flux and fuel, its .facilities for retraction are not so §oo d >