The New era. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1865-1871, 1865-10-05

ton of the Alleghanies and their slopes
in this section of that great mountain
range:
Summit EZerations.
Summit in latitude 37ao 1850 feet;
Summit at crossing of Baltimore and
Ohio railroad, 1920 feet; Western pla-
teau at White Sulphur springs, 1000
feet; Source of Cheat and Greenbrier
rivers, 2,4OOfeet; Blue Ridge, near Har-
per1s Ferry, 800 feet.
liberation Of the Valley Of Virginia.
Near the Potomac, 500 feet; At Gov
ington, 902 feet; At Staunton ,222 feet;
Elevations acest Of the Mountains.
Cheat river, valleys of western decliv-
ity, 1875 feet; Mouth of the Greenbrier
1888 feet; Tygart's valley, lowest with
in the mountains, 1000 feet; Ohio river
err at Kentucky line, $50 feet; Kanawha
river at Charleston, 800 feet.
The first of these divisions, the sum-
init and the table-lands of the Allegha-
MES comprises a narrow strip little more
than the average width of a county. and
extends from the Alleghanian backbone
to the chain of mountains which are re-
ally continuation of the Cumberland
range, and known as Cotton Hill, Gau-
ley, Laurel Hill, &c. Thevalley between
these two ranges lies at Il level Of $50
to 1000 feet above the sea; the Green
brier valley, for instance, for a length of
$50 miles, having an average elevation
of 900 feet. Much of the cultivated
land of Greenbrier county, which is one
of the summit counties, lies at a height
of 800 to 1000 feet, and yet ripens corn
and sorghum without difficulty, and en-
joys a winter climate of great mildness.
The second division includes the val
ley of Virginia or the Shenandoah val
ley, averaging, perhaps, fifty miles i'll
width, and extending through the old
State of Virginia in a southwestern and
northeastern direction. Only themouth
of the valley is embraced in West Vir-
ginia. Its average elevation in this see
ton is, perhaps, | 700 feet.
The third section, which may be said
practically to represent the elevation of
square miles, or tWo-thirds of its entire
area, including and almost bounding Oh
the east the greatcoal basin, lies between
the attitudes of 600 to 1900 feet. The
uplands, Il few miles from the Ohio, with
an elevation differing considerably at
different points, may be averaged at 500
feet. In the Kanawha valley, below the
falls, the river is little more elevated
than the Ohio from Parkersburg to Point
Pleasant, but the river bluffs rise precip-
itously, giving the surrounding country
an average of at least 600 feet for sixty
miles, with u considerable increase to-
wards the falls. The average forthe en-
tire section is, perhaps, 1 100 feet. Bya
comparison with other points in the Mis-
sissippi valley, this elevation will not be
found to indicate a region particularly
mountainous in its altitude:
Bellefontaine summit (highest land in
Ohio 400 feet; Hillsboro', Ohio, ,l3l
feet; Portsmouth, Ohio, (Ohio river
$40 feet; Columbus, Ohio, 1852 feet
Northern Indiana, sources of Maumee,
$50 feet; Prairies of Illinois and Wiscon-
sin, $50 feet; Blue mounds, southern
Wisconsin, $40 feet; Chicago, Illinois,
Louisville, Kentucky, al feet; st. Lou
is, Missouri, Upper 1870 feet; Knox
Vile, Tennessee, 643 feet; Huntsville,
Alabama, 600 feet.
Thus the greater portion of West Vir-
ginia, though appearing so mountainous
from the broken characterof thesllra;lce,
is of less elevation than Logan and Har-
din counties, in Ohio, which are SO level
in districts of highest elevation as to pre-
sent the appearance of swamps, and sug-
gest to the agriculturist the necessity Of
surface drainage, while the ascent has
appeared like a continuous plain from
the Ohio river.
The slope of the Alleghanies Oh the
west is more abrupt than on the east,
making rapid descent for the rivers for
a short distance, whence their flow is
gentle, with grades not unlike those OF
rivers upon the eastern side of the ONO,
the only essential difference being the
greater rapidity Of the Alleghanian
streams near their sources.
THE VALLEY COUNTIES.
The lower part Of the valley Of Nir-
ginia, from Harper's Ferry west to the
summit Of the Alleghanies, embracing
the counties of Jefferson, Berkeley, Nor
gan, Hampshire, Hardy, and Pendleton,
is included in West Virginia. For the
variety and fertility of lis soils, fine wa
tar.noWar central DQSitinn s:,Iuhrinlls