The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1865-09-01
The CITY 81 wheeling.

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The city 81 wheeling.
The following mention of this city is
made in ssWet Virginia: Its Farms
and Forests, AIines and OIL Wells" a
work now in prsss aearly ready for
tissue, written by j. r. Dodge, of the
iEU. S. Department of Agriculture, who
has devoted much attention to the re-
sources and statistics of this. State:
Wheeling is atpresent the capital of
i West Virginia, as 1t is the commercial
metropolis of the State. Geographically
it's position is near its northwestern eX-
tremity, yet it is in the direct line of
/ trade and travel between Baltimore and
all the prominent cities of the west. 1t
is ninety-five miles from Pittsburg by
the river, and three hundred and sixty
five miles by water from Cincinnati.
Its railroad communications are fur
4 nished by the Baltimore and Ohio, the
Central Ohio, the Cleveland and Pitts
4 burg, and tho Hempfield railroads. 1t
has thus naturally become the focus of
n trade embracing wide scope Of
country, which is steadily increasing
with the development of the agricu1tu-
raj and mineral resources for which the
region is distinguished. The National
Road, the great artery of western traY-
| ell before the era of railroads, and
proud monument of the wisdom of
| Henry Clay, the statesman of the west,
crosses the Ohio river at this point, by
a wire suspension bridge of one thou
sand and ten feet span.
The site of the city is n narrow allu-
vial tract extending three miles along
the river, of varying width, shut in1by
high hills. The tucile pen of N. +.
Willis thus spOrtively described the
town and its location on his visit there
in 1859: il.7l iii.'.fti2
"Wheeling, as town, confesses to
the one little drawback of too cOdL'd an
atmosphere for the lovers of clean linen
the idlest inhabitant being under the
necessity of two clean shirts a day (too
much coke upon little tOwn')-but its
suburban capabilities are unequalled.
Close behind the town, divided from it
only by the high hills which form the
bank of the Ohio, is a deep-down noun
tain-Iirt, well-wOoded valley, in
laid with n most beautiful tributary
stream, and giving hundreds of such
sites for gentlemen's villas us no land
scape artist could better contrive. 1t
quito made my blood Jingle to stand on
the htll-top, overlooking the town on
one side and this glorious vale on the
other, and Imagine what IL would be-
when Wheeling was suburbanized like
Boston-the original Wheeling a thou
sand times more pictpresqu ely beapti-
d.
Wheeling derives its chief reputation
and n large portion of its business and
wealth from its manufactures of iron.
| glass, paper, &C., which occupy the In
Dor and attention of a large per centhge
of It's population.
There are now in operation four mills,
producing annually forty thousand
tons of nails and spikes, whose qnali-
| ty and finish challenge comparison
with any manufactured elsewhere.
I Two railroad iron works claim an an
nua1 production of fifteen thousand
tons. Three mills for making bar,
sheet and plate iron, produce annually
twelve thousand tons. The total value
of the annual products of these mills
i exceeds five million dollars. Seven
fnundries produce yearly one thousand
tons of stove, and one thousand five
4 hundred tons of other castings.
4 Four shops for the manufacture and
4 repair of steam engines and machinery,
i in addition, to the repair shops of the
i Baltimore and Ohio and Hempfield
4 Railroads, turn out work amounting
to three hundred and fifty thousand
dollars annually.
!. Tho product of five glass works
amounts to five hundred thousand dol
lars yearly.
Ten breweries annually produce for
ty-1Ye thousand barrels of fermented
liquors, of which thirty thousand are
3
j, Six tanneries produce the value oil
three hundred thousand dollars.
Three paper mills produce printing
and wrapping paper and bonnet boards
one hundred Thousand dollars worth
yearly. ,ia {sg AZ > =
Two oil distilleries yield an annual
product of ten thousand barrels of re!
: fined oil. -..5-...,z-t -
Steamboat building is a prominent
branch OF industry. Seven boats were
built throughout during the past wear.
and as many more were furnished with
cabins and engines.
d IL was formerly a great depot for
wagon building, mainly for the SOuth-
ern market The same Manufacture is
now diverted to the furnishing of ann
balances and army wagons to the Gov
ernment. 80
Avery superior common cigar, known
rs the wheeling Stogy," is made here
the demand for which is SO increased
that seventeen shops are engaged in the
manufacture. There were made fifteen
4 million of these cigars last wear, valued
Mt one hundred and fifty thousand dol
/ lars. - ~
The manufacture of candy has be-
come an Important item, -amountinC to
one hundred thousand pounds i5er an
L mum. - az
j In addition to this enumeration there,
are four MISUNDERSTANDING three plaiinp-l
mnlSt three sash and blind factories
one OF cotton and one of wooden goods
with shops for the manufacture Of con,
per. ware, furniture, clothing, harness
and trunks, lead pipe, and many other
i articles OF general and local! necessityy
/ For manufactures requiring large
motive power or large quantities Of.
fuel, Wheeling viii always be u desira5
pie point The vast beds of coal which
underlie all the adjacent hills and
1 which are often of such easy access.
that the coal can be wheeled from the
MINES MINES 70 the furnace without interme-
diate handling, will always afford an
tnexhaustible supply of fuel at the veIv
lowest price. AT the same time the
nalnntaetlrer has easy access by river
ana railroad to all the mari Z OF {ile
country.
The city IS well supplied with water
rom the Ohio River, by powerful and
Wen arranged water-le works, and lirbte5
with gas, whichiis furnished AZ the low
esq price; the business streets and
| MAJ, NM g are Wen PAYS while the