Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1858-08-24
lcorespoaasnee OF the R'tamoa9 Enquire
A Tour Through Virginia and the SOUTH


A Tour Through Virginia and the south
LOCOMOTIVE SKETClEs-No. XVIII.
Furnaces and Lcad Works on tae .Nsm R'vcr.
We are only ten mites from Max Meaiow Depa''
and the line of the Virgins and Tennessee ka'lro"'
and can occasionally hear the shr herald OF the ap
preaching train, as it rushes up the valley. our
sketches, therefore, are Locomotive Skefche' st'''
since they depcribe the OF the State on Inc
great lines OF our railroad Improvement, ana tehu
TO d-veope the means Of their support and proht.
The lead region Of the New River, IL, to the line
of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, even al pre-
SENT source OF profit, but eventually 1t must become
great item OF freight and assume an Importance no'
now dreamt Of in the revenues OF that road anu '"o
industry OF this part Of the State The mines in'su'
be made to produce 5000 tons Of lead tor every 'oo
they now produce or have produced, with even more
prof, than at present per tou and many mines OF the
same capacity might be profsbly located here The
great want however now felt, aud which would %
still more severely felt, under an increased proouc-
ton, is the want of fuel for smelling Wood is not
only growing scarce, but at BEST It Is lar
mineral coal for the purposes ut the smeter' "ele
info: med by the gentlemen of The mines tnat e1perr
mepts have been made with mineral COAL ana one
bushel of the New River fossil fuel was found equal
TO twelve bushels of charcoal. This is really as
touishing, and We were not prepared for such
great difference. But even admitting that one
bushel of coal equal TO six OF charcoal, winch
is about our calculation, The difference IN Tue COST OF
manufacturing might, by the means OF COAL oe re-
duced more than one half. And why should II not
The New River can be made navigahle Tor down
freight, in bslteaux, for aimpy tr'f'ng sum; and
the actual cost of carrying, 10 to SO per cent
ores TO Ceutral" would be even less than the pre-
seut cost of teaming the metal to Max MeadOws-thuS
saving the cost OF freight from the Meadows 10 Ceh-
trial. and placing the in close proximity to the
coal At Central, coal can be- delivered for l0 cents
per bush.l, or three dollars per ton, with good
profit to the PRODUCER therefore, one bushei Oh eoa
costing ten cents would be equal to SIX oushelS OIL
charcoal costing six cents per bushel or thlrty s'A
cents With this difference still in favor OF coal,
the mineral fuel will be- constantly reducing In price,
willis The charcoal will he constantly increasing. In
Penney lvania coal is sold within ten miles OF the
mines for 81 so TO 81 w per ton, while IN France,
charcoal is worth twenty cents per bushel. But these
two great items would not be the only gain effected
by bringing the lead ores to Central to be smeed.-
The facilities TOR an increase Of business would be
Unlimited and the profits increased in proportion.-
The mining might be- done for less than half its pre-
cent cost, and the smelling in the same proportion
Coal is the "open sesame of our mountain and the
Philosophers stone that turns the baser metals into
gold!
The present furnaces Of the Wythe lead mines, are
QUE reverbersting," one stag heath, and one
Scotch furnace. From these, sswe before stated from
500 to 600 tons of metal run yearly These works
are on the banks Of the New River, from which the
ower is supplied. The river. at this point is rapid
and indeed II continues for some ten miies below
but here email dam gives powerful fall OF several
feet, which propels three arge breast or under shot
wheels with resistless force. From these are cup
Piled the motive power for the crushers the blast
aud the pumps-which last six In number, and
double acting these sapply the "buddes and Jig
cling machines" with water for washing the ores
Those ',iiggng machines" are the invention OF our
friend, Capt. Thos. P-therck, and are now generally
in use the separation Of the ores OF lead, "copper"
tin, &C.. from their gauge tgangues.) They are
simple and used with great economy over the Old
style Of "buddes" Formerly grea. part OF the
ore was wasted in the primitive processes which our
old lead miners made use OF, and even now great
quantities OF the metal which they lose, are collected
from the stream that runs by the old lead furnace
Judge Fulton has recently made over hundred tons
of pig lead from the wash OF the stream with profit
of over fifty per cent on the operation. He s still
collecting the waste and has Elk buddles' in active
operation. But the Judge need not depend on the
wash of the stream or the waste of our old miners;
this sulphuret exists on his property in undoubted
Fnr min
are in our opinion equal to those of the old inners
Some ten miles below the lead mines are located the
new iron furnace OF David Graham Esq on the banks
of the river and junction Of the Barren Syringe"
which propes the machinery. These springs are
large and never failing, aud though but three or four
hundred yards from the furnace thay supply all the
power for the "bast." The force, however, is small
for the pupose; yet, Mr. Graham has made up in in
renuity what he lacks in water, and the dyest time
does not affect him. We will refer to these works
again; also his iorges on Reed creek, some distance
on the other side of the river. Mr. Grahams estates
on the New River are very extensive and comprise
very good and the minerals rich and plentiful. We
examined the vast deposits Of iron ores aud very fair
outcrops of lead, with large quantities of Baryter,
which is very pure and heavy, or what lie known as
the furnace tract. Mr. Graham is Of our old iron
mas,ers-indeed he has grown old in the business.
from which he has aplassed ample fortune, and is
now preparing for retirement to enjoy it, There are
several furnaces on New River and lite tributaries
amongst these may name the West Fork furnace
of Mr. r. L. Toncray, on the West FORK OF Little river
now standing and the works of Alexander Pierce and
those of Kiocaunon and Saunders on Cripple creek i;
also foundry on Little river. &C.
barren SPRINGS, August, 1855 DEBow.