Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1859-04-05

4 ! left Ma. lcLt:s---lhAt COOL, steady, quiet
Old tuwn---.u lun down 10 The Coal niines
auI the Salt works Of Pomeroy, Ohio II
10 u curious pace lndeedi six mIleo of con
tinuous housce, and yet only seven thou
saud illhabita,ns. Why New York, will
ils millions souls, is hardly six miles long.
10 Is? pomeroy is soIidiy bull, but has
only seven Thousand. 'fhe enigma is
solved, whenyou learn that it has, buta
single streell running along The Ohio's
bank. aud that the people live in sort ol
prutls,cted Therniopye, with water on one
nldo and inaccessible bluffs OH tie other.
u most incongruous population it has; for
i,s mining interests draw together peop'e
from ali the countries Yf Europe YET,
,here is a ''sprinkling" Of excei!ent aud
ciyil people aul ha ply our destination
Was ;lL titu home of one Of them, the gen
t.enan having in charge the great inter
es.s uf the place. This was IN admirable
Oesinning 70. one wishing TO sec the pro
oeos by wnich large masses OF coal are goi
out of the bowels Of the hills. and how the
,iepths Yield UP the salt that is to season
tie food OF the West.
~ after breakfast, we sailed out TO see
the SPECIAL products OF Pomeroy. The
tire. s.rikinr fact which we observed was
lhis, that Nature. so kindly provident, has
thrown together these three elements. Coal
.ouut, anu a nsvigable River. Leave ou
any oue aud You have spoiled the charm
Dus tie three, coming together, con r'ou'e
"a perfect arrangement. Not two hundred
1eat from the Oao, rises the bluff from
one To Two hundred feel high. Half way
uu this bluff, can be seen from the river,
a seam or stratum Of coal, from tive t"
se,eu ieet in Lhickne $, most admirably
sl.uaLed Tor working, for an inclined plan"
passes the coal direcIy from the mine to
the boats ON the river. On the bank aI"
tie G.sll wells, and the Goals are plunged
down 10 the very mouth OF The furnace
Lint that kindly accommodation?
We began with the Salt works. All
along The river bank are thousands of bsr-
,els of salt. waising transport to the ma
ket This eall is rs fine rs any III the
,yorld-uune excels it in puriiy and in
nneness of the grain. 1t sells at TWEEN y
cen the bushel this year; bushtl weigh
iu5 if,y ponds. Sold At nineteen cen,-
tic bu5heI it Yields no profit, sold a
tweutv-threc cents. it will give fortune
in short Time. On the spot then, th-
trade will see that it is worth n". hall Il
cent pound.
The wafer is obtained from wells each a
thousand feet deep. Trese wells are tw''
aud u half inches ia diane er. There is
apparently Il basin of salt water Il filth oi
mile below the surface, julyed by indl.
ca,iuns, which il will make my letter to,
scientific to speak Of. When the frat well
wac sunk, tho water guShed up with gr+a
force, and rose 10 a hi sht OF several iee,
abuye Tie surface, rs il does at Paris now
but later it merely ran over AT the Top, am
now in al! the wells it has TO be pumped
up. The process of evaporation will no.
try to explain, except To say that the fir~l
series Of vats are directly over the furna
ces and that the steam arising from item
is passed along pipes through TIE other
vats. and thus a great economy OF h'a5 l.
effected. One single concern manufactures
l45 ushels of salt daily. There must b.,
i. dozen Of these Establishments in Puu,e
ROY. Their grea nyeni % ism h in
eAhauStible supply OF tuei JUS hanI
while The brine is of the besa kind
We climbed up he bank and stool a
the mouth of the coal mine. We coulI
look but little way into The sub,erranear
cavern, and there AL was daGkneSs Bu
We We're too old to be AFRAID ot the datk
and 50 seating ourselves III one OF Ihe low
smut coal cars which horses draw on
railroad into the hill our brgrin,ed con
uuctor cheerily shouted to the Belerophnr
which was to 4 aw u, aud in a mlnu
ua,k kness became visible. Our coniuc'u
was half-grnwn boy, with very dry
lace and still dirtier shirt, and W. in
voluntarily asked ourselves the question
whether miners enjoy the clean shir, priv
iiese OF Monday, which gneral cu$lon
grants " the rest of mAnhluI To maxi
tho lace of our driver stil more hi;ieou5
i,e nal suspended fom the front o. hi,
uny,Lored cap small Ol lamp, with :
houh Oil one side OF such univ ersa' alapta
ton. that the miners, | am tempted I" b.,
lleye. could make their lamps stick 10 tIl'
lnce of burniel ei boxing glass Ba
seen. caught at random inlo the front of :
hoy's or mans cap. and throwing grea
harlng, tumlng hame (ail'terHlioh. St
called. iudulyeul reaIer) II makes a grim'
lace look like SUM" CHARACTERS read of ii
Milton, if indeed you Do not see u Poly
phemus in each cUunleuance. 70 epeal
the truth. the last comparison does seen
the best. and with some comp agency we
Say i,) extremely proper, and the cave W,
will call 1E'na, the boy PoIyphemus
wInle the writer will take The small Gre, Ii
of tilling himself the sa se Ulysses.
itAmble on, on. on. Where the VEIN Is
ti'in, duck your heal, for hat is all th'
collision" you need ear ON he sub,er
rsnean railway. Where the VEN as thick
iais. Your head and see the prety top
smoo.h aud shiny, Of shale. On bo.i
aides see the coaI. raw materials OF hon
Iu4eh com.oit! Yonder, rumbln4S an
,o~riuss and bIAsumss and gleaminss oi
".nsr n.ners' iigh!s. On, on, on. N2h'
saI Isft, pathways where ih"y are ahin-