None of these mines have been developed beyond the uncovering of a face. As yet there is no furnace for smelting them, and no means provided for bringing them off the mountains. There is no difficulty about reaching them with spur railroads and inclined planes. It has occurred to me as possible that a narrow gauge railroad might reach all of these mines, without heavy grades, by starting at the highest point of the Lake Shore road and following the divides from mountain to mountain. This, however, can only be determined by a special reconnaissance. [Sidenote: Cle-ellum ore beds.] There are large deposits of iron ore also on the east side of the Cascade Mountains, not far from the crest line, on the waters of the Cle-ellum River. Three distinct beds are reported. They are all in the valley of the Cle-ellum River. The upper bed is situated about eight miles above Cle-ellum Lake, on the main and east fork of the Cle-ellum River. This bed has been described to me by Mr. Whitworth and Mr. Burch. The distance from the Northern Pacific Railroad is twenty-five miles, following the Cle-ellum valley. It is within sixteen miles of the most distant location made of the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway; and by another route which has been spoken of, this railroad would pass close to the ore bed. Mr. Whitworth says concerning it: "The ledge is well defined, and is traced and located about two miles, its course being nearly north and south. It is apparently from forty to sixty feet in width, and pitches at about an angle of 20° to the west. The casing rock is porphyry. The deposit is evidently extensive. The ore appears rich, is magnetic, and is reported to assay from 56-1/2 to 66 per cent. I obtained samples of the rock, from which satisfactory tests can be, no doubt, obtained." The elevation of the iron ore outcrop is estimated at 3,000 feet, which would place it nearly on a level with the summit of Snoqualmie Pass; but it is only about 200 feet above the local water-level. Mr. Burch says concerning this ore bed, which has now been bought by Mr. Kirke for the Moss Bay Company, that the strike of the bed is northeast, whilst the outcrop runs northwest. The ore is in five or more separate beds, each bed being on an average forty to fifty feet thick, and the beds separated by rock. The ore can be followed but a short distance along the strike. [Sidenote: Burch's ore bed.] Burch's iron ore bed approaches the Cle-ellum River about four miles below the Kirke bed, and extends in a northeast direction to the headwaters of Boulder Creek, a distance of five miles. The outcrop crosses three high ridges. The dip is south, at an angle of 45°. The width is at least twenty feet. A ferruginous limestone lies against the ore on the south side. The limestone is 300 or 400 feet thick. It seems to overlie the iron bed. Its outside or top layers are pure blue limestone.