The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1855-06-20

whose name the place bears,) occupied by
tue brilisn IN Braddock's war Here resided
Col. CAtsueA an Englishman, under whom.
Defore the revolution, the Lead Mines of
Wythe were worked. Some remains of a
brick office, the brick for which are said TO
nave been brought from England, are stilI
seen'on the farm.
Fort Chlswell is model farm. Wide and
extensive as are its medows and fieIds
they are all under good clean fences. free
from the slightest mark of neglect. and bav.
| ing not single spot, as far as the eve copld
see, tnat was not only not poor, but ertyeue-
| ty JeTtate. And yet we we're told that the
season had been very bad; that last wear. in
| ADDITION to the drought, the meadows had
| neen eaten bare by swarms of locusts. ard
tnat the green mantle which nov covered
them. was but feeble and imperfect speci.
| men OF what, under favorable circumstances.
| say what l have omitted before, that This
| was the universal complaint in the Southwest
everywhere the season was said to bave
been the worst, and the crops the poorest
| samples Of what the country could show with
good seasons. Yet we were enraptured with
! t9e ever recurring scenes of fruitfulness and
| aoundance-the fields of living green, which
waved luxuriantly with the breeze, covering
both the hills and the meadows. If what we
saw be the bad looks of the country. what
must it be when it lets on its brightest smiles
| and gayest attire? 1t were well for the
| Board OF Trade not to see it under more ia.
v0rable auspices-the mental effects might
be disastrous
A sudden and heavy rain prevented us
from going over the fields; but we were ia.
vored with sight of two three year old fat
| cattle, intended for the Virginia State Fair.
More beautiful animals could hardly bs ina.
gln5d They weighed 22O0 and 23OO or about:
were admirably formed; and fat as they
| were. their action was lively and good. If
they do not take the premium, there must
De some better cattle here than ever came TO
the Fair before.
| The crop of wheat on the farm WAS q yery
large, and seemed to be very fine, one; hut
tho Messrs. McGavock were yery AZ nrehen-
sive that it had been nearly DESTROY ed bv a
heavy frost, which happened the Ioaday
| preceding. The injury from that tiause is
| not fully ascertained until the crop i, reaued.
We stayed to supper at Fort CHS, ell, and
had sample Of what the dairy of Il le South
| West affords, as well as its exceller house
wlfery. The coffee and the tea, the varieties
of bread, the butter, I've people, " Is ever
such eaten out OF South Western Vi ;ginia =
the cream all-all were excellent beyond
description. After these came Strawberries
and cream, when use that word wish it
| distinctly understood mean il htercily; for
| we bid good bye milk when we want over
| themountain, and never drank it except when
at least half and half never saw finer straw.
berries-indeed, they were generally pro-
nounced the finest any body had seem As a
well known friend of mine says 81 merely
mention these things now as samples-as
planks in the platform of social comfort in
the South West-a platform l shall always
| swear by, whatever be the mutation and
changes of parties!
Duly acknowledging the kindness we had
| received, we left Fort Chiswell, and made
| the nine miles to Wythevile in little over
an hour. Wytheralle has the best location
| of any of the transmontane Virginia towns
| we have seen, as far as the surface of the
land is concerned, it being gently undulating
| and affording good view around it. The
| streets are wide and well laid out, and the
houses are very good. 1t is, indeed a very
pretty place, aud there is a good deal of
wealth about it. We were treated kindly
there. We are especially obliged to Messrs.
K. McGavock VIM. Gibbony, and their good
ladies, for their hospitalities.
Monday good part of the expeditioners
left us; but there were ten yet on hand to
keep up the important investigations for
which they started, as well as to enjoy the
good things which seemed ready for US, turn
where we might. We who remained spent
the day in visiting th Lead Mines of Wythe,
| which are located on New River, l6 miles
from Wytheville. 500
In the language of friend, who com.
menced an Editorial for us at the Lead Mines.
among the most remarkable features of
South Western Virginia, are its mineral re-
sources" and upon its remarkability in this
| respect, we may pile up the language of
| praise great way without exaggeration
| The mines we visited are called the "Wythe
Union Lead Mines" and are owned and
worked by a company. The lead ore is got
ten out of a high hill near the river Il is
washed and smelted at the works Immediate
| ly on the river, whose machinery for lifting
water, crushing the ore that is blended with
rock and keeping up the blast, is worked by
water, the river there having fall and be-
ing also damned to give this power.
The ore occurs in silicious limestone,
generally of white or grey color, though
| sometimes blue. The veins are irregular in
| dip and direction, frequently turning abrupt
| ly and sending off leads or branches On
either side of the ore, the enclosing material
| is soft; on the upper side of the vein is gene
| rally reddish clay, while the bottom is
| firmer, containing crystals of phosphate of
| lead. The vein proper is generally - inches
| thick, and yields: compact sulphuret or blue
ore; compact carbonate or grey ore; crystal
| lied carbonate or cats tooth; carbonate and
oxide, brown and red; and finely divided
| sulphurat or black ore; according to Rogers,
VIM. b The blue ore occurs in irregular
masses OF cups. The yield of the rough ore
| from the mines is estimated at so per cent.
A horizontal shaft has been wrought into
| the side of the hill from the plain below. at
great expense; but it struck below the lead
veins. perpendicular shaft has been sunk
| to it, a distance of 225 feet from above, and
used as Shot Tower. The shot are conveyed
along the horizontal shaft ito which they
fall in making) byarailway.
A great many shafts have been sunk in
| getting out the ore-the veins being so ire
| guIar. These are all distances from 30 to near
| 200 feet deep. 1t is strange that the ore is
raised chiefly By hand A like primitive sys
| tenn prevails at the works, where great many
processes easily adapted to machiHey, are
| still laboriously performed by hand. The
sweeps at the buddles or vats, for washing.
| are worked by hand and it is strange enough
| to see men and little boys, each holding on
| to the end Of 3 sweep, jumping up and down
rapidly and stiff, like beings possessed A
| cam wheel would do the thing 80 easy!
/ The ore 10 the vats of running water 10 rapidly
| disengaged from the earth. aud the heavier pare
A. 81.