Practically all of the ore beds, with the exception of the Mesaba, yield hard or lump ores and most of them are shaft mines in which mining has to be done underground and the ore blasted down. Blast furnaces had never used any but lump ores when along came discovery of the immense soft ore deposits lying just beneath the surface of the ground over a region one-hundred miles long in what is known as the Mesaba district of Minnesota. These soft ores were so accessible and so rich that they drew the attention of the iron makers of the whole country. But, alas! While perfectly good in every other respect, they were merely dry powder and not adapted to blast furnace methods. There were great discussion, excitement, and ridicule among or at those who invested in these soft ore mines. Eventually, of course, blast furnace men worked out feasible methods of converting soft or what are termed “Mesaba Range” ores into iron in the blast furnace. Those brave spirits, who in the face of ridicule dared to invest in and develop Mesaba properties, have long been reaping their financial reward which still shows no sign of diminishing, as “Mesaba Range” mines are “the” mines of to-day. [Illustration: A CLOSE VIEW OF THE HOOVER & MASON UNLOADERS ] While it may be done, it has not been found desirable to make up the entire “burden” or furnace charge of soft ores alone as long as lump or hard ores are obtainable to mix with them, but often more than half is soft ore. [Illustration: STARTING AN OPEN PIT MINE. THE EARTH COVERING IS BEING REMOVED ] While ores from the shaft mines, called “Old Range” ores, are won by going down into the earth sometimes as far as 3,000 feet, drilling holes in the rock, blasting down the ore, and loading it into buggies which are hoisted to the surface, “Mesaba Range” ores are made available by simply “stripping” off the thin earth covering, then caving or loading with steam shovels the soft ore into railway cars. Some of the illustrations presented show the ore trains and shovels, and the manner in which the open pits are worked in terraces. One naturally wonders how it is possible to mine and carry these ores to the shipping ports of Duluth, Superior, Two Harbors, Marquette, Ashland, Escanaba, etc., put them aboard ore carrying boats, transport them by steam power to Milwaukee, Chicago, Gary, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburg, Buffalo, and the many other iron centers and convert them into iron and steel at a profit. This, of course, is only possible because of the inventive genius of man. For every operation ingenious machinery has been constructed which has brought the cost of such operations to its lowest terms. [Illustration: UNLOADING CARS OF COAL OR ORE IS A SIMPLE MATTER WITH THE MODERN CAR DUMPER ] [Illustration: ORE CARS ARE UNLOADED BY GRAVITY AT DOCKS. THE CHUTES THEN CONVEY THE ORE FROM THE ORE POCKETS INTO THE BOAT’S HOLD ]