Technology on the Frontier: Mining in Old Ontario

233 Pages·1986·19.562 MB·English

by  Dianne Newell

TECHNOLOGY ON THE FRONTIER
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Technology
on the
Frontier
MINING IN OLD ONTARIO
Dianne Newell
University of British Columbia Press
Vancouer 1986
Technology on the Frontier: Mining in Old Ontario
© The University of British Columbia Press 1986
All rights reserved
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Social Science Federa-
tion of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council of Canada.
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Newell, Dianne Charlotte Elizabeth, 1943-
Technology on the frontier
Based on the author's thesis (Ph.D. —
University of Western Ontario): Technological
change in a new and developing country.
Includes index.
Bibliography: p.
ISBN 0-7748-0240-5
1. Mineral industries — Ontario —
Technological innovations — History.
2. Mineral industries — Ontario — History.
3. Ontario — Industries — History.
I. Title.
TN27.05N48 1985 338.26 C85-091441-8
The photographs reproduced in this book are from the following sources: Ralph
Greenhill, plates 1, 15; D. G. Hogarth, plate 7; Public Archives of Canada, plates 6, 10,
11; Public Archives of Ontario, plates 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 13, 14, 16
International Standard Book Number 0-7748-0240-5
Printed and bound in Canada by John Deyell Company
jor my son,
Alex Macdougall
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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations viii
List of Maps ix
List of Tables ix
Preface xi
PART I INTRODUCTION
1. The Problem 1
PART II THE 19TH-CENTURY REVOLUTION IN MINING
2. The Innovations 13
3. The Diffusion Mechanisms 43
PART III REGIONAL APPLICATIONS IN A CANADIAN SETTING, 1840-1890
4. Upper Great Lakes District 59
5. Southeastern District 91
6. Western Peninsula District 117
PART IV CONCLUSION
7. Technological Change in a New and Developing Country 141
Appendix 149
Notes 153
Bibliography 185
Indexes 207
ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATES PAGE NUMBER
1. Diamond Drill at Silver Islet, c. 1875 16
2. Miners at Silver Islet, 1870s 19
3. Frue Vanner, From Original Patent Drawing 29
4. Pumping Oil Wells using Individual Steam Engines, 1860s 36
5. Pumping Oil Wells using the 'jerker system," 1870s 37
6. Oil Refinery, Producers' Oil Co., Petrolia, 1880s 39
7. Silver Islet Mine Buildings from the shore 60
8. Silver Islet Shaft House (Background) and Rock House 79
9. Silver Islet, Abandoned 83
10. The "Big Ore Bed," near Marmora, by Susannah Moodie 94
11. Marmora-Madoc Mining Region, 1865 96
12. Dalhousie Iron Mine 98
13. "Shooting Off' an Oil Well using Nitroglycerin 120
14. "Kicking Down" an Oil Well Using the Spring Pole Method 124
15. The Jerker System with the Horizontal ("Spider") Wheel in Use 125
in the Oil Springs Field, 1979
16. The Petrolia Oilfields, 1870s 129
FIGURES
1. Canadian Mineral Export Price Indexes, 1866-1891 8
2. Technological Change as a Sequence of Developments 11
3. Processing the Output from Wells, Pits, and Mines in Ontario, 24
1841-1891
4. Plan of Silver Islet in 1879 75
5. Ontario Patents by Mining Type, 1861-1890 145
MAPS
1. Geological Setting of Ontario Mining Districts, 1841-1891 12
2. The Three Mining Districts of Canada West-Ontario, 1841-1891 57
3. Upper Great Lakes District 62
4. Southeastern District 90
5. Western Peninsula District 118
TABLES
1. Dates of Turning Points in Canadian Price Cycles, 1868-1891 7
2. Location of Petroleum Refineries in Ontario, 1870-1890 131
3. Ontario Salt Works, 1887-1888 138
4. Occupational Distribution of Ontario Patentees for Mining 144
Inventions, 1861-1890
Al. Totals for Numbers of Miners and Raw Mineral Products 149
Mined in Ontario, 1870-71 - 1890-91
A2. Canadian (Ontario) Crude Petroleum Production and Exports, 150
1867-1891
A3. Canadian Petroleum Manufactured and Exported, 1868-1877 151
A4, Canadian (Ontario) Salt Production and Exports, 1875-1891 152