Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-05-08
From the Enquirer.
Letter Oh The Resources, improvements
and commerce. Of Virginia.

From the Enquirer.
Letter Oh Tho Resources, improvements,
and commerce Of Virginia.
The coal fields Of Virginia and the scor1d.
In directing attention to the min eral
wealth Of Virginia, even the casual observ-
er must be attracted by cur magnificent
coal fields, which at once substantiate The
oft repeated assertion, that ours is natural
lly the richest State in the Union, since no
other State, except perhaps Illinois, con-
tains so great an area OF coal formations,
and no other contains the same combinations
of fuel and metalifnrous ores. Sfathosf
coal those vast deposits of ores would be
mparatiyely valueless, and would forever
remain as Improbable as they now are
But those fields ief subterranean fuel only
await our action, to be the means, in con-
nection with our mineral wealth, of usher
ing in new era for Virginia, more splen-
did in results than our most sanguine hopes
could lead us to anticipate.
We place coal first in the }ist OF miner
ais, as the most important item at the pres
entrday in the political econ omy OF nations.
It is the chief aid of man in subjecting the
provisions Of nature to his use and pleasure;
it warns him, it carries him, and works
for him-a powerful slave to 'sdraw our
water and hew our wood" to propel our
steam ships, our rail cars, our printing
presses, and all our abor- saving machines.
1t is, in fact, the most useful, powerful,
and valuable agent we realizing in
effect the ideal philosophers stone Of time
gone alchemists.
Virginia contains nearly, if not fully,
one this.d Of the great Allegheny, or Ap-
palachian coal field, which extends from the
head waters Of the Allegheny river in the
South western part Of Pennsylvania to tue
Northern eztremities Of Georgia and Ala
hama, and underlics an area Of not less than
1900 square miles.-
The greatcst length Of this field, from
North to South, is over $50 miles, and its
greatest breadth about l73, Or from a point
near Cumberland, Maryland, in the East,
to point near Lancaster, Ohio, in th=
West. Its Average breadth has been vari-
ously computed, but 100 miles viii be as
near the truth as we can now approach.
Of this vast area Pennsylvania is supno-
sed to contain $4,000 SQUIRE niles, Vir. in
ia rs, 900, including detached basins on the
East Of the mountains, Ohio $4,000, Ken
tucky $500, and Tennessee 5000, Ma
~ land $50, and Alabama and Georgia A.
40 square miles
We are aware that our estimate is great
er than that which prevails, but recent ex
plorations have rather extended than di-
minished the figures which represent the
size Of this greatest coal field in the world
But when We say that this vast field under
| lies $4,000 square miles, we do not mean
that every acre or even every mile Of its
vast extent, is positively supported BY coal
We mean, as Ill other writer's do, when
speaking Of coal formations, that such is
the extent or bounds of this field, and such
the area of coal bearing formations. ID the
different regions and basins appertalulng to
the great Allegheny or bituminoas coal
Geld.
che probability is, that not more than
one-haIf Of the whole extent is underajd
with available coal but the same may &c
said CT al our coal fields, since, in many
places, tie supporting measures rise above
the coal measures, and in others, much Of
the coal has been swept away by erosion or
the action Of Yatcr and othcZ natural eau
scs.
This may BE said with full force Of that
part Of the field which is in Pennsylvania
where it is broken into detached formations
and design9tod on our geolog;cel maps BY
a multitude Of small basins under local
names-such as the 'sBlossburg," Tow
anda," BROAD Top" Goal Basins" &c
Tn Virginia, which contains the centre Of
the formation, the coal is thicker and less
broken than ia any other State. We
should not feel safe, however, to predicate
any estimate on the quantity Of available
coal, even in Virginia, on more than two
thirds Of the total bituminous area--say
Is. 900 square miles or 10000, 900 acres.
But this only refers to that part Of the APP
alachian fe ia which lies in this State, and
does not include several local deposits OF
immense value from their location, in Eas-
/ tern Virginia, or several anthracite forma-
tons, lying on the Eastern slope Of the Al
leghanes, in the same range Of country as
that which contains the Pennsylvania an
I~thracite.
That part Of Virginia which IS drained
BY the waters and tributaries Of the Ohio,
may be considered one entire coal-feld
even to the sources Of the Holston. and tc
the point where the New River intersec's
the Virginia and Tennessee Rail Road, and
from the Ohio at Petersburg and Wheel
ing, to Che lead waters Ct tie Potomac
which constitute the Allegheny coat field Of
Virginia twill be seen that our figures
are even below the mark, since the ares
thus bounded, contains nearly half Of the
entire State. The general, or average
! thickness Of the various seams of coal, fron
! SIX to twelve and even fifteen in some To-
, calities, which, form the carboriferous stra
ia Of this coal field it is impossible to de
, termine, since they are found IN some re
. gions over one hundred feet in thickness
and in others even less than ten feet
though this minimum strata ID generally
on the outside edges CT the field. Yet il
the Frostburg, Maryland Basin, which is
local deposite Of the Allegheny system
there have been developed sixty-six feet 0
coal measures, of whick >only forty ere de
posted in seams of workable size; the lar
; gest of which is from ten to, fifteen fee
thick, and is known locally as the "Big
Vein,'' ''Pittsburg Coal,' Main Coal,
X &C.
In the Pittsburg locality, we find TIL