The Locomotive - Lighthouse Survival Blog

189:lJ THE LOCOMOTIVE. 9^
founding in America in the year 1S92, and thus show the progress that hiis l)ec'n made-
in 250 years. The face of the tablet carries a pattern of woven bamboo, and the back
is an impression of phiited straw, the whole being untouched by tools. When the pre-
sentation was made, Mr. C. J. H. "Woodbury, who had been instrumental in obtaining tiie
kettle, gave an account of the rise of the iron industry in America. lu 1622 the Jamestown
colony built iron works at Falling Creek, a tributary of the Janics River, for the purpose of
reducing bog iron ore. The works had a[)proached completion when the Indians
attacked the settlement, killing 350 persons, and burning the buildings (March 22, 1622).
Tiie bog iron deposits in the Upper Saugus meadows were discovered by Thomas Dexter,
and he informed his fellow-townsman, Captain Robert Bridges, who went to London
and formed a company to work them. It is said of Bridges that he had "suavity and
winning social manners,"' which probably accounts for his success as a company pro-
moter. The works were built, and were voted free by the (xcneral Court of all rates an