Kanawha Valley star. [volume] (Charleston, Va. [W. Va.]) 1856-1861, 1858-03-09
NO..45
Ff'Pm the /" Richmond Enquirer"
Water C0nHettIOIf Of the Atlantic aud The
Ohio, through iirgfuia.

~ DeIttNa we stTS Jl5nli Id saying That
there is, inEthe public mind Of Virginia, i
latent general feeling that, after tie com
pletion Of our great Central railroad line
e the navigable waters Of tile 0Iio--after
that commanding enterprise shall have
done its noble part III drawing u our cit
les its torrents Of travel ana masses Of
freight, something will yet remain undone
towards ensuring tie ful6Inieut Of the
high commercial and industrial destiny
the hand Of nature has marked oat for us.
Our hotels will b. thronged with voya-
gers, for business, or for pleasure; and
the shuttlss 5ef trade vii tiy5 Is and ffo,
through tile hands Of our merchants, with
a rapidity heretofore unknown. The
stimulus viii extend to our farms, our fac
tories, our. ship-yards. to every scene Of
now languishing activity oar soil pre-
sents. Calculations Of tie vast benfts to
enufesto the Commonwealth, from this too
long deferred work, can hardly be too
sansuine. 50 highlydo we Ourselves ap-
preciate III that we could wish the mea-
gre appropriation toEthe Goyhiston and
Ohio road proposed by the present. Leg
islature, could be swelled from $500, 00U
to SIS, oO0,Do0, and the locomotive sent
from Norfolk to the Ohio before The Watt-
ing Of a second year. Y
But, IN the construction Of d railway
track across the mountains, Virginia will
not have done eeerytRiag 10 deFelop her
matehless advantages. Size will then
possess only what every St,te North 81
her has possessed for years. Boston,
New York. Philladelplia and Baltimore
have, each3and all, their iron way, unbro-
ken, to the far VEST less directFand legel
and more liable to obstruction byssnow
than ours. but still having the present
benefit Of ian earlier start and Of adyan.
tages Of capital What we may expect,
from initiating their exampleia this rds.
Epect is q share Of the great fund of West.
Fern traffic. Nature tells US te stretch
out our hands and grasp nearly tht
WHOLE ofit
How shall we do this? How, but By
providing, for the heavier portion of tht
communication between East and West
those facilities which a railway can OIL,
adequatel II furnish the lighter aud MOI,
costly par ? How render certain Ill,
commercial supremacy a railway car
make probable, save by opeHibg to oul
ports an avenue for the flour, wheat, pork
| iron, &C. VI the West. as cheap as, ant
shoIter than, the Erie canal Of New York
Without some such means Of transport, !
|. is the opinion Of many that the peculia
wealth Of our own counties trhTersed b,
| the line-the camel coal and salt Of In,
| Kanawha+Hrwill not reach Id say appre
ciahle volume, our seaboard cities. Wild
tsuch means, tits anseasily proven fact
fthat those two articles alone would 500
build up aatonnage equal To tRaE the Eri
Ecanahnow collects from theawhole OF III
wide and Iteeming tributary dbmains--
| And yet tliat work, though closed BY 10
Hat least five months iii the year, am
though not tonof coal is dug afong ii
banks, now carries greater amount 3
freight than the New York Central, III
Erie, the Pennsylvania Central and III
Baltimore and Ohiofailyays all combined
Can We construct such q work 2 5
Does the profile Of The route! between th
Great Falls Of Kaaawha and the head
waters Of James River admit of making
canal capable Of Competing, inHcost an
.leertaintyof transport with the master
piece of De Witt Clinton This ques
ton is ali old one men whose scienc
land experience could NOT but weigh pow
feffuIly in any mind have leaned to III
negative aud yet ID IS certain that Ii
Ebaiance Of authority turns most decided
lily to( The affirmative. Minutessuryey
| byengineefs az the FIRST standing. declar
for the entirs pracsieability lof lhe entel
4 prise; and that at a cost far from serious
in view Of the objects to be attained
Z Lockage, TIE supply Of The sum nit leve
the dificultIraTine Of New River, and 4
the other difficulties Of the project, hay
in turn been consideeed, as dacuFnenl
published BIZ the Legislature at ditferel
ftimes show; and all pronounced arr
thing but iasnrmonntabla Ths passaE
u of the mountain, from Gle waters Of Il
Names to HE Greenbriet. is only son
twenty miles whereof ind snlnenit leye
proposed III be fed By means oF d dam III
ii tostly1han many a railroad embankpfen
J. coyeresQins. The difference of l6ckal
! lin favor 6f! the Erie canals samplY coyers
by the nafein between eightSddllars al
, eight cents, the cost6f transporting a {
from Cincinnati TO New York Via tt
3 work, and dollars and twenty six ci
!. the cost Of carryihgone from The san
point to Norfolk BY the proposed Kateriin
II These Hasty rematkss on a subject
great import to the people Of our good q
State, have been successfully tlis sight
: very noble pamphlet we have once )
: fore very slightly adyerted Is, written,
!. we are informed, BY a gentleman Of Nc
folk, and denominated an 14gpeul for !
SPEEDY completion Of tie lpdter hae Of VI
giiaia, and through that, d The great &c
! trail mater line Of tie Union. This b
chure isaceompanied by amap, and bes
|, evidence DC the cIearest and mo i praet
! I'll study OF the subject. That its reasc
4 ing and deductions are anything but h
! low and visionary, the comments of
1 The leading papers Of. New ORR city 6
assurance Says the E.Presssof
Idate:
q This isnot all poetry ] Norfolk, "
n It's magnificent harbor, and the gr
ie Chesapeake, with its confluence Of Jan
lrivet, were made for so,lsstsing but I
something Is not yet realized, and is