The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-09-17
Pyosl ne Richmond DLpdteh.
galley oF the KanRu na

This grand valley Which u 70 Dc LIa-
yyers.-d BY the Chesapeake and Ohio
railroad, is the richest on this CONT
nent. It's coal measures are unsuT-
passed for their extent, and the quality
Of the coal deposited IN them - =uPe-
Nor to any We have ever seen, and not
sIcs!l=d by any yet discovered
Besides the coal are the insIhaUstIb!e
salt wells, and the petroleum, that lies
vet lower down under the salt dspos-
it, and from which it Is supposed
arises the gas that in some of the ka-
uAWna salt works supplies the hsms
that boilz down the water 10 salt, and
also lights up the works al night. Be-
sides these, again, are tue iron ore and
other mineral deposits Of value, tee
fret being found in vast abundance
The limestone formation prevails IL
the larger part OF the Valley. whose
sol! i rlch and exceedingly prol
whether We regard the small valleys,
the lofty hills, or even ne AOuH 5aih
t1r,- Tn- forests ara dense and III
e!ude some Of the very nne-i IILlo Der ioF
housed building, snip building, heavy
.goTk OF u!l kinds, and for stsv=s, sc.
The white pine, which = abundant,
will make an extensive business.
The Ezaawha coal measures embrace
an area OF l-elJ square miles The
coal on the kAnEwhs river Is the test
vet discovered for smelling iron, FOR
gratsz, and for any other purpose what
ever. Il lies better, eau be mined
cheaper and az les risk TO life and
property than any coal yet discovered.
This coal lies in strata OF from Two TO
fourteen feet Ia thickness, aud Is found
go feet below the waller, and rises ~
feet above IL. The mining for centuries
need not go beneath the water, but the
mines being pierced from the water
mark, and worked inwarts and up
90. g. V.H.
and Is not in danger from the InnAm-
Unable yapOrs which in other mines
have destroyed so much life and prop
eFty. As these mines, with his sort OF
working, extend for nearly a hundred
miles along the route of the Chesapeake
and Ohio railroad, the reader may i'm
agiue With what east the cars may be
loaded, and with what uueXampled
facility this vast coal trade may De con
Quoted.
Transported by a road whose sharpest
grade over the Allegheny mountains
Is Twenty-Five and half feet to the
mile, We may suppose that It Will con-
Vsy TO COYtngtOn an amount OF freight
in coal, that what il now called the
Central railroad, will ind 1t difficult to
lake away. But here the James river
canal COMES to its relief, and can easily
transport everything that the Central
road CANNOT, or prefers not, to remove.
This coal must come To Richmond; and
here will be- established vast coal de
pot, whose annual receipts Will soon
reach million Of tons. The camel
coal has been selling in New York at
so to So per ton. II can be delivered
here AT s. to 60. 4 steam vessel may
carry It's fuel dt sea in Cauue! coal for
twice the distance that it can IN any
other.
With such an amount OF fuel, and
with the Immense supply OF iron ore
that Will be afforded by the mines
along the canal and road from the
Khuaw hH TO this city, We can see that
with the aid OF ordinary enterprise
Richmond must become one Of the lar
gest iron manufacturing towns in the
United States.
Immediately below the coal meas
uTes lies the salt, and geologlsts say
under the salt Is the petroleum. OF the
last-nHmed the extent l. not known.
The petroleum operations in many
parts OF of northern West Virginia and
Penn y.yauia nave come to an end
/ with sad losses; but in kanawha there
are other interests so much superior to
| 1t that no great consideration has been
Z given IL 1t.
3Ofthe soil OF this wonderful valley
l the statistics OF tine census bureau fur
nisb the poorest idea. The want of a
market has greatly restrained the
operations Of farming, and enterprise
has been chiefly direct ed 10 salt and
coal. The forest still covers the great
bulk of the land. Even in the most
billy and broken part, the moment the
forest Is removed the blue grass APP
pears, and disCioses the finest graz
ing lands. The crops produced in
some Tields would astonish our people.
A friend OF OURS has this year beheld
I the crop Of corn in Held from
which Charles Lewis men plucked
, roasting ears on their way 10
The battle with The Indians AT
[ Point Pleasant in l774-ninety-One
tradition, it has been IN corn eUeJy year
SINCE then, IL will now average from
l st-rty to serenity bushels per acre, aud II
! Is not a good corn year in that locality!
/ There were other fields in the same re-
! gion that had been cultivated in corn
I Tor sixty and seventy years successfully,
and in some OF them 100 bushels TO the
| acre is not an uncommon yield.
This - the picture OF the lower Kama
VIVA. Higher up-Fayette county, for
I instance, which is called poor-there
are fields of tobacco the present year
I that eau be surpassed by none in East
ern Virginia, and The corn crops,
I whether i'll valley or on hill, are worthy
1 of the richest lands in old Virginia.
I Grass grows everywhere, furnishing
4 excellent grazing. One Of the most OBJ
| servant men we know says that this
I poorest county of the RanRwha valley
I is better than three out of four OF East
ern Virginia for all the purposes OF pro-
! duction OF the necessaries of life.
The development of such cou ntry
must create AN immense amount OF
wealth; aud in establishing Il line OF
| Improvement connecting this city with
/ it, If we get nothing beyond it, there is
enough in this great valley to reward
us thousand lines, and to build up
here city OF immense magnitude.