In 1882 we purchased one half of the stock of this company, and by subsequent purchases from other holders we became owners of the great bulk of the shares.
There now remained to be acquired only the supply of iron stone.

If we could obtain this we should be in the position occupied by only two or three of the European concerns.

We thought at one time we had succeeded in discovering in Pennsylvania this last remaining link in the chain.

We were misled, however, in our investment in the Tyrone region, and lost considerable sums as the result of our attempts to mine and use the ores of that section.

They promised well at the edges of the mines, where the action of the weather for ages had washed away impurities and enriched the ore, but when we penetrated a small distance they proved too "lean" to work.
Our chemist, Mr.Prousser, was then sent to a Pennsylvania furnace among the hills which we had leased, with instructions to analyze all the materials brought to him from the district, and to encourage people to bring him specimens of minerals.