Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1861-09-04
SaIt-.sEsscspGnre Of Kan.Wha
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The supply of salt is becoming seTpusly mOOte3
question. The value of the article npO ted into
the United States during the year ening June 80
1860 was 81 43I al. The official ables do not
give the quantity; but, estimating y sack At two
and a-haG bushels, and at a dcDf and-a halt il
price, the quantity was about 33555 bushels. II
we suppose one third of this quantir to have bsen
imported for Southern consumptiouithe supply re-
quIred for the Southern market ,Ver and above
what Is manufactured within the iouthern States
would be rs 4l2 bushels Whens this extraOrdi.
nary supply is to be obtained IS uestiOn Of sCms
interest.
The works near Abingdon, in WshIpeton county,
in this State, have heretofore nsnfactuFed about
three hundred thousand bushe sear, Owing to
the high freights the Virginia I'D Tennessee Rail
road, this supply has nearly all pne eff in wagons
through the country, and upon lats down the HoI
ston river. Several hundred lOusaEd additional
bushels would have been Manufactured for the
Eastern msrket, but for rsilad trelghts, which
brought the price in Petersbui and Richmond up
TO figure too high for cOHetltlon with the for
eigu. article.
The blockade may remoI this difficulty, and
preparations have been ccTfeted for increasing
the annual supply produced those works by about
three hundl ed thousand hhels, which will al
come East, unless the cheaf transportation on the
Holster river than on the lrginla and Tennessee
Railroad, and the streBglbt the demand in the
West shall direct lin al opposite direction. At
all events from this sourcAlODe viii 800 900 bush
els Of the 77SO0O defciey be supplied to the
Southern markets.
The only other aecassse sources of supply in
Virginia is the Salines ofRnawha. Unfortunately
the Valley Of the Kanata i now N the hands of
the enemy, Gen Wise hing been obliged TO fall
back to LswisbuTg befo q far superior force and
as Is also said, for want ammunition Cen Floyd
has marched to poineUr miles west of Lewis
burg, and IS ready to aance IN conjunction with
Gen. Wise again into tlhanawha country but is
obliged 70 await bis It'd regiment, which is de-
tanned at BOnsacks Det, fifty miles west of Lynch
burg, awaiting arms ON Richmond, being fully
equipped in every otS respect The joint forces
OF these two GeneralkiA still be only half Of that
of the enemy, unlessey be largely reinftreed by
militia who will be dly armed.
With the Kansw Valley in possession of the
South the crest antilles of salt manufactured
there, and heretofl sent to the West snI North
west, could be Owed to cur Eastern markets. We
are not informed the amount of the production
of the Kanawha Snes. but believe it has hereto
fore been about ~ 200 bushels year. 1t is GER
tsinly very largeld frcm this source alone could
the remaining 5000 bushels of the deficiency of
supply caused bhe blockade be ob.ained for the !
SOlth.
Thus Westerrrginis alone can supply the whole |
deficiency of tl'alt supply of the South provided /
only adequate ps be taken to hold possession of !
the Kanawha lley. This single object alone is
worth q costly htary expedition, and vet unfortu-
nately, this ise very portion of Western Virginia
that has beerost neglected The rc capture Of the
dreary coun penetrated by Mcclellan and ROs.
ssncranz is legendary Importance. But the pos
session of itch sud beautiful Valley of the Ka>
nawha, witlts prolific Saiines, which has been
oyerrun byh. IS Of primary importance. No
portion Of State of equal extent Is half so i'm
portant aHFe look with great int est TO the one
rations Of herals Floyd and Wise.
True tialt Of kfnaWha would have to be
wagoaed itWard over the mountains but it is
light article, and the turnpike roads
from theIlnes to CovingtOn are very foe, They
are tue skm of turnpike roads which were for
many " under the admirable management Of
the JanIRiVer and Kanswha Company. The dis
lance IA the Salines to Covington is not much
more \ a hundred miles If we should obtain
five hired thousand bushels of salt from KanaW-
ha, II article, at two dollars and half sack,
or ar bushel. would be worth half a million
of DIS to the South sum of money two or
threines as great as the cost of large military
expfon to that region. Considered a a mere
mefe Of finance, the expulsion of Cox would pay.
As article Of comfort, health AMI uecessity the /
So might sfJrd an expedition for the reeapture
ofnaWha' costing Sc rack, or SO 900, 900.