Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1860-09-13
On the Wing.
Of The Star.
KAsAwHA Co, wEsrrRN Minerva, :

kANAwHA CO., WKsrHRN NrRerNIA,l
= August %, 1850.
.rHE ONO RIvrR-BLANSrnHAssrr IsLAsp-.
Tall CoRs-SrRAMBoAr-oNSIBU -FLoAf-
ING GROCERIES AND DAsuxRRKAN sALooSs-
The KKAsAwHA RIVERA Rich CouSrRI-rHE
Coal FIELDS OF wKsrrRN vTRsrNIA--CoAL
OL-THK PRosPKcrs AHEAD.
Dsay Star Behold me ''foating down the riv
er Ohi-o'' on the steamer Melrose, stern-wheeler
with deck engines and IS inches draft-good for
, any stage Of the water Starting from Parkers
burg we Immediately came in view Of Banner
hasset's, (familiarly known here a. a Bianny,''
renowned In history and story as the residence of
the unfortunate Blannerhasses and the locale of
striking incidents in the career Of Aaron Burr.
Alas for romance the gay halls Of the Banner
hassetts are leveled with the dust and the island
is famous now mainly as a corn-feld, growing
one hundred bushels to the acre. Just below the
island we entered upon some Of the difficulties Of
Ohio river navigation at this season. in the shape
30 shoal water and a narrow shifting (quIcksand)
achannel. 10 was interesting to watch the pilot
dodging the tow-heads and sand-bars, following
With the eye Of instinct rather than of knowledge
one would think, the sinuous path Of safety.
The river was bordered all the way by rich
bottom land-now on the Virginia shore, and now
on tie Ohio shore. These bottoms almost invari-
ably were covered with corn, promising crop Of
unusual abundance. The cora crop of this year,
from appearances, will be very heavy In this re-
gion, and the farmers looking with some soli-
citude to the foreign news the prospect is that
unless there is foreign demand corn will not be
more than twenty cents per bushel, other bread
stuts in proportion.
We were constantly passing what they call here
" store boau," which carry general assortments
OF ofgoods, groceries, dry goods, glass and tnware,
etc. etc, for retail along the river shores; also,
floating daguerrean saloons, where we could see
the country girls hocking aboard with their fel-
lers' to get their "picters tuck" IL struck US
oddly to witness the extent to which the spirit of
accommodation seems 70 be carried by these Ohio
river boats On going aboard asked the Cap
tain IL could land at the mouth Of the Kanawha
Anywhere you like he said; and In fact pas
sengers are dropped from these boats pretty much
where they indicate, as from an omnibus The
boats are Of light draft, and don't require the
formality Of wharf landing place, but "scoot
uP'' to the shore, drop passenger or a little
freight, and are OF again. ..
stopped at Point Pleasant, at the mouth Of the
kanawha, growing place, and the county seat
Of Marion county, Va. There are now four steam
boats plying regularly up the Ksnawha as high as
the salines, some seventy miles-two Cincinnati
boats and two from GallIpolis, a point on the
Ohio shore q few miles below Point Pleasant
On one of the latter-ths Julia Mafit-I took pas
sage for Charleston, ten miles below the salines
The kanawha struck me az a river Of wonderful
beauty, willow fringed and bcrdered deeper by
rich vegetation OF the most brilliant green at
season when the vegetation elsewhere 10 parched
and brown. The background was filled up by
bold hills covered with a magnificent growth of
trees-such trees ~ we hear Of az existing I'm the
far far west, but which did not anticipate fnd-
inn in rfrffb fbar
river Is excellent. Probably no bottom land on
the Kanawha can be bought for less than $40 or
$50 per acre. Away from the river, as the surface
gets more broken and difficult Of access the price
OF land decreases very rapidly, and immense tracts
OF land, admirably adapted for stock raising, can
be bought for the merest song. II 10 well for the
purchaser 10 look to his title, however. The In
security Of land titles In Western Virginia from
defective surveys aud other causes is one great
reason why, with all is natural advantages, this
section continues com paratively unbroken forest
The immediate vicinity Of the Kanawha, how
ever, presents quite business aspect. A large
sum Of money Is being expended this season for
the improvement Of the navigation of the river
Four dredging machines are at work, and the
contractors engage to complete the Improvement
Of the river as high up az Loup Creek, twenty
seven miles above Charleston, by October, 1881
The readers Of the Star aware Of the inex
haustble wealth Of the coal fields of this river and
Its tributaries Elk and Coal rivers but nothing
short Of personal inspection can give an adequate
idea Of this pfofusion Veins Of camel coal three
10 four feet In thickness, splint coal three to six
feet, and bituminOns coal from four to ten are as
"eommon as goose-pasture'' here. Yet with all
this abundance Of mineral resources the work Of
mining here has heretofore been an uphill one,
and Is only now beginning to be a remunerativ We
ma a L.
merous compeny-undertakings are stranded all
about. AT Peytona, on Coal river Boone COUNTY,
found two companies successfully engaged in
mining and shipping camel coal to market Gin.
cinnati, Louisville, New Orleans, and other
points. During the last nine onths these COM
panies have sent down $50 900 bushels Of excel
lent camel coal. They propose soon to erect fac
tories and make oil on the spot. In Kanawha
county the manufacture Of Oil has grown I'D to
an extensive business, there being some eight or
nine factories actively at work, and turning out
from go 70 1000 gallons each Of crude oil Der
day At some Of these factories the oil is refined
but considerable portion Of 1t goes to Maysyile,
Ny, and other places for this purpose.
There seems no good reason why coal mining
should not be even more successfully prosecuted
here than in the Pittsburg district These coal
fields are $50 miles nearer Cincinnati (the great
mart Of the Western coal trade) than the Pitts-
burg fields; the navigation Of the Ohio below the
kanawha river 10 open during the winter for
weeks frequently, while the upper Ohio is frozen
over and there seems to be no doubt Of the SUI
periority Of these coal fields over those Of Pita
burgh- Heretofore there does not seem to have
been a. good management exercised here az at
Pittsburg, In having boats always loaded ready
for rise Of water. A better system has now been
inaugurated here, however. Thus on the 18th
inst. the Virginia Camel Company, taking ad.
vantage Of rise Of eight feet In the Kanawha.
shipped nine boats, containing $1,000 bushels of
camel coal from Coal river to the Ohio. For
about four months Of the year, say from July Is,
10 November Is, the Ohio river below the mouth
Of the kanswha, and the Kanawha below the
mouth Of Coal river, are too low for navigation,
but ~ due watchfulness, as above, shipments can
be made. The business on Coal river has had
drawback from sudden rises Of water injuring
The navigation works; but these WORKS are now
10 De strengthened and guarded, and an additional
lock and dam constructed at the rivers month.