IRON AGE 196 IRONSIDES countries produced the chief supply, out- side of the United States: Cuba, 653,829 metric tons; Newfoundland, 769,821 metric tons; France, 1,671,851 metric tons; United Kingdom, 15,285,083 metric tons: Algeria, 782,047 metric tons. Tne imports of iron ore into the United States in 1919 amounted to 476,- 461 long tons, valued at $2,385,689. The exports amounted to 996,569 long tons, valued at $4,308,746. The total produc- tion of pig iron in 1919 was about 30,- 646,000 long tons, valued at $809,246,000. There were exported 321,261 long tons of pig iron, valued at $12,313,183. There were in Dec. 31, 1919, 262 blast furnaces in operation. There were at the end of 1919 22 open hearth furnaces in the course of construction. The steel produced in the United States in 1918 amounted to 44,462,432 loBg tons. Of this 9,376,235 tons were Bessemer steel, 34,459,391 tons were open hearth steel, 115,112 tons were crucible steel, and 511,693 tons were other steel. Steel production in othe^ countries in 1918 was as follows: United Kingdom, 9,744,891 metric tons; Germany, 14,875,- 753 metric tons; France, 1,809,771 met- ric tons; and Canada, 1,717,318 metric tons. IRON AGE, in classical mythology, the last of the four great ages of the world described by Hesiod, Ovid, etc. It was .supposed to be characterized by abounding oppression, vice, and misery. In scientific archaeology, an age, the third in succession, in which weapons and many other implements began to be made of iron, stone having been used for these purposes in the first, and bronze in the second. As the advancement of each tribe or people is not necessarily at the same rate as that of their neighbors, the Iron Age probably did not begin every- where simultaneously. In Denmark, and perhaps some of the adjacent regions, it may have commenced about the Christian era. IRON BARK TREE, a name given in Australia to certain species of eucalyp- tus, and particularly E. resinifera, or red gum, on account of the extreme hardness of the bark. IRON CROSS, a Prussian order, in- stituted Mar. 10, 1813, by Frederick William III., to be conferred for dis- tinguished services in war. It was made of iron to commemorate the grim "iron" period at which it was created. The decoration consists of a maltese cross of iron, edged with silver, and is worn round the neck or at the buttonhole. The order was revived by William I. in 1870, on the eve of the great war with France. The grand cross, a cross of double the size, is presented exclusively for the gaining of a decisive battle, or the capture or brave defense of a fortress. In the course of the Great War (1914- 18) the Emperor Wilhelm II. awarded over a hundred thousand crosses to the German troops and officers. IRON CROWN, a crown of gold set with jewels, made originally for the kings of Lombardy, and deriving its name from the fact that it inclosed within its round a circlet of iron, said to have been forged from one of the nails used in the crucifixion of Christ. It was supposed to confer upon the holder sovereignty over all Italy. Napoleon I. was crowned with it at Milan on May 26, 1805. IRON GATE OF FRANCE, a name for the town of Longwy, a fortress of France on the Belgian frontier. Louis XIV. gave it the name. IRON HAND, THE. See Berlichin- GEN, GCETZ VON. IRON MASK, MAN IN THE, a mys- terious French prisoner, confined in the Bastille and other prisons in the reign of Louis XIV., who has been the subject of numerous plays, stories, and novels. Funck-Brentano in his work on the Bas- tille proves conclusively that this person was one Matthioli — secretary to the Duke of Mantua who was found guilty of treason and imprisoned for life. The mask he was compelled to wear was of black velvet stretched over a steel frame. IRON MOUNTAIN, a city and county-seat of Dickinson co., Mich.; on the Chicago and Northwestern, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul and the Wisconsin and Michigan railroads, 50 miles N. W. of Escanaba. It derives excellent water power from the Menomi- nee river; is the trade center for miners of Dickinson county and the adjoining farming section in Wisconsin; and is al- most wholly engaged in iron mining. The city has several daily, weekly, and monthly periodicals, and a national bank. Pop. (1910) 9,216; (1920) 8,251. IRONS, shackles, fetters, or bilboes for the feet, especially such as are used on board ship. IRONSIDES, a name popularly ap- plied to the regiment of a thousand horse which Cromwell raised mainly in the E. counties for service against the king early in the great Civil War. The name, already given for his bravery to an Eng- lish king, Edmund, was first attached to Cromwell himself, but passed to the men at whose head he first appeared at Edge- hill.
