Kanawha Valley star. [volume] (Charleston, Va. [W. Va.]) 1856-1861, 1856-12-23
From the Charlottesville Advocate.
Editorial Cerrsspunden.s,
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KAxAwuA..:Ndr. 27.1S5G

+ That the editor ofa Fillmore paper
should now date his,htter from the
Salines Of Virginia. is not surprising
after the result. OF. the late election is
rrecollected. We are, o LITTLE surpris,
ed that Ridsway oftbe Wig, Melon
| aid Of the JjrSi1ia5a, and Little Of
| the ,Neus areno here as their destiny
requires. Probably Ridgway, after
rolling early, started early and is
somewhere higher up the stream just
now. Wherever they may be We
hope they are spending good time
For ourselves though enjoying a lib
eral hospitality and very pleasant So
ciety of Charleston, we do feel intense.
ly bored: in waiting day after day for
the river to rise that we may take a
Steamer for the West. The idea Of
ofgo;ng back to. Virginia m stages
across the Aleghany mountains is ont
of the question as it is beyond COM
parison the most tedious and disagree
able route We ever travelled. &,
= There is a great deal in the immense
mineral resources Of this Valley and
in it's social and commercial relations,
to interest every man who wishes to
see Virginia deyelope her untold
wealth. & all Of her people bound to-
eether in those social and CONNER
icial bands which make her interest
and her people one and the same.
r. Here, within the range Of twenty
miles, are located the famous salt
wells of Kanawha, yet scarcely work
ed to anything like their full devel-
ment. Here, along the very banks Of
the Kanawha, Elk and Coal rivers, lie
deep and inexhaustible veins of btu.
minous and camel coal unsurpassed
for variety richness by the coal mines
Of PENNSYLVANIA or of England. Why
have they not been extensively work
ed! Why does not camel coal Of,
Kanawha fill the coal yards of Alex
andria and Richmond and shipped
thence to New York, and become the
successful competitor OF the Lehigh
and Cumberland coal, thus ensiching
and making our Atlantic
coast the coal yards Of the pnions-l
is the coalfrom this Valley FL |
ling the markets Of Cincinnati ana
Louisville, even under all the disad-
Of and uncertain and expen-
sire navigation of the river Kanaw-
1a. We know that it can be, carried
BY Railroad to Covington and thence
by Canal to Lynchburg, Richmond,
Petersburg, Norfolk and all interme- !
liate points, and there at a less price
than issnow commanded by thecoal of
PENNSYLVANIA Why is all this! The
answer is easily given: 1t is because
Virginia is so foolish SO very suici-
ial in her policy Of Internal Improve
nents, that she will not prosecute to1
a speedy construction the great line
Of railway between Covington and the
Ohio, to which she. now stands pledg-
ID and which Nature seems on every
hand to have designated as the great
artery ofcolnmerce between tho Sea-
board5and the Valley Of the Mississip-
pi. The very light grades of the pro-
posed. road, t6evastfy superior coal
banks which crop ont upon the. very
inc of the road, the less expensive
constructions Of the road, and the .ad-
of q milder climate, all are
which the Cevington and
Ohio road wfll.possess over the roads
pfPennsyleaniaaud Maryland, wheth-
nr we regard. them as lines of travel
or as thoroughEresfof trade. Nor is
this dollar and cents estimate Of the
Covington and Ohio road all that
enter into our calculation. Is it moth
ing to the Old Commonwealth that
this portion of her fair domains re-
gion extening from the Allegheny to
the. Ohio. from the Pennsylvania
line to the Big Sandy, rich in miner /
ais and agriculture, advancing by rap
id strides in population and wealth
should be estranged by habits of
thought and political feeling from the
Eastern portions of the Statei' Her
commercial and social relations are
down the river, with. Cincinnati and
other parts of Ohio, and much they
may be nationally and geographically
to the popular sentiments Of
that most odious Ohio they do and
will Unnecessarily imbibe at her .pollut.
ed fountains of all social and politi-
cal hercsies. What Virginian of the
true mould would not give more than
may estimate the cost of the
4 ovington and Ohio Railroad, that
the hearts and interests OF this great
section were indissolnbly linked to
ours BY hooks of steel! Who can tell
the extent TO which Virginia social
~ and politically may not be carried
BY an influence which is not now 80
much Of Virginia as of o liol 1t may
cost MS millions to ,buill the OHIO
Railroad, but il 10 Of gtestsr ra!us
=