The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1865-04-04
q, Wealth sf she Kasawha Valley, Il
p, tCor. OF the Boston Advertiser lrrs- -
k,SAwHA Co, w. VA.
-"'''N' I'm March 20, 1865.

r
There must he very few people in onr
eastern country who reafi,e what q rich"
fertile andtruly magnificent country this
is: and yet when Que looks at the daily
increasing crowd Of strangers who flock
here hoping to make their fortunes out
of land leases, land speculations, coal
mines ans, salt wells. it becomesevidep
that there will soon he large amount Of
information about the country collected
and spread abrosd. '' ~. | ''. ''"+ -
No stranger can imagine the richHess
of this country in bituminous coal. Stra-s
tum lies over stratum i'm the mountains.
VARYING from three to seven feet in thick
ness. and Of the finest quality. The
Pittsburg coal, which now stands so
high in the Western market, is surpassed
BY many veins which crop out along the
river andits tributaries.
Iron. toe. ofa fair quality is found in
considerable quantities. aud Limestone
sufficient for fux. so that it only needs
Yankee capital and enterprise to devel,
Oh here an iron business Of great impor-
tance and value. But coal and iron in
these days are to the general mind sub
orlinated to petroleum, and the many
visitors to these coal fields are looking
for surfaee indications Of oil. For many
Years the valley of the kanawha has
been famous for its deposits of salt, aud
many millions of bushels of salt are an
nually sent from the sclines above
Charleston to the cities South and West.
When these wells were bored they almost
invariably struck at o depth Of abont
go feet, what they called the "stinking
fluid" This fluid wonld rise In the
wells, and flow ont over the land and
into the river, and to so great an extent
that the Kanawha was Familiarity called
1.-THE old greasy" by Hat boatmen.
There are several wells now going
down OH the Elk, at Cooper's Creek. tho
month of Big Sandy Creek, Leatherwood
Greek, Mill Greek, and many more will
90 down this summer. The same actiri.
ty is displayed along the Kanawha. above
Charleston, and below along Pocatalies
River, and in the barren coal measures
between Pocatalico aud Elk Rivers. In
several of the wells, though none are yet
deep enough, good shows Of oil have been
obtained in the sand pump. a..u
But | think the greatest wealth OF this
valley lies in neither the bituminous Goa,
the salt. nor the oil, but in the cannel
coal. This coal IL richer In oil than the
English. can be lighted with . match,
and will, when lighted, lie on the CRATE
aud burn, like wood, entirely to ashes.-
The veins differ in thickness. Az Brsck.
inridge, Ky. the camel coal vein Is about
10 inches; at the celebrated Peytona
mines on Coal River it is 30 inches; at
Falling Rock, branch of Elk River.
about is miles from Charleston, u is "
inches There is said to be o vein on
Falling Rock, about seven miles from the
river, which crops out ~ feet thick; at
Mill Creek il Is At to feet thick; and Mt
Cannelton, on the Kanawha river above
Charleston, il varies from ~ to feet.
OF course tue value of these veins or beds
uf coal varies with their thickness, their
distance from navigable waters, and their
quality.
But it is truly surprising that our East
ern capitalists should have so long neg
lected these Goals, which, IL bought at
their present value, arc more certain,
sure and permanently valuable invest
ments than any stocks or bonds now IN
the market