The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-10-18
Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad


has shown n grca, zeal in It's behalf, and has
subscribed literally 10 its stock. We hope to
hear yet even more encouraging evidences of
the devotion to the work in that quarter. Our
friends on the Ohio are doing all in their
power 10 advance the cause:
CIScISNArI, October 49, 1867
E'Hors Dispatch, Richmond, Va:
TIL" great interest which you have mani
Tested in the completion Of the Ches:.pcake
and Ohio railroad, and the devclopcmcnt of
the material resources of Virginia, induces
me 10 furnish you for publication the follow
ing letter from one of the most ntellgcn /
| IRON men of the great West. The facts con-
tanned in this letter are more valuable and
viii have more important influence upon
| our great scheme than any which have thus
| TAR been brought before the public:
OFFICE c. & c. MgSpESHALL & Co,
No. - Vine street,
CIScISSATI, October 10, 1867.
| J. &. Patton, Esq, kLngton, .n".:
Dear Sir,-Iour note making inquiry re-
speeding the character of kanawha coal rs
Il blast furnace fncl is received, and III reply
NAV briefly say that we have thoroughly
| tested lis quality for this purpose in our fur
mace near Wheeling, with the most satlsfac-
| tory results, regarding il rs better adapted TO
| smelling iron than any known coal OF the
| Allegheny field. We used the Campbell $
|
| results The estimate in which our furnace
| manager holds those Goals is evidenced by the
| fact that am authorized To contract for u
| supply 10 be carried up the river 10 " hecilh9
| for use III our furnace there. .
! An extensive acquaintance with nearly All
| parts Of our Allegheny coal ticl Jnstiilrs me
| in saying that know OF no coal equal 10 IL III
every respect, and that there is no portion Oh
The field so richly developed ~ on the waters
of the Great kanaWha, or where 1t can be
brought INTO use ut SO cheap rate.
The coal in the MahoninS valley, when
| is now used by the works Of Governor
| Todd and others there, has hitherto been
| regarded as of the finest quality known
| by the works which use il; but our
| founder, who has managed furnaces many
years in shat valley, places the hallIwh;t coal
uuuuesliouably before ii: and The extent TO
which the seams of that coal are developed
| bear no comparison with the seams on the
| kanawha while the cost of mining III" for
mer must always be tWo or three times the
cost of mining the latter.
Since the trial of kanaWha coal by lis III
April last, two furnaces of large size have
| been or are about 10 be commenced 1T lronton,
| Ohio, designing TO use ii aS fuel, ana one
near this city is also provided for, intending
| TO use the k:luaWha coal, Missouri Iron noun
| tain ore and the lime stone of this vicinity.
| A careful comparison of the coSto making
| pig metal with these materials in this place
| proves it 10 have 4 very decided advantage
| over anv other iron district III the ONO valley
| IN advantage which cannot be superseded I'm :
| til you can by railroad 10 connect with the
| Virginia Central railroad, or an Improvement
| of the navigation of New river, bring together
| the rich brown hcmatitr ores existing along
| that railroad and river, and the Goals OF ia
| uawha and also the limestone OF the Green
| bricr. ! am informed that the brown hcma-
| tile ores 10 which ! refer can be mined ana
placed on the Virginia Central railroad ut !:
| cost of about one dollar per ton: if SO, by 4
| reciprocity of frcightS between thus district
| and the kanawha coal region, this ore can be
laid down ut the kanawha salneS Tor - per
ton or for Il ton of iron, 50 thr"c-q larter ton
| of FINEST onc from Grcenbrier, Sl.Jo; ana TWO
| aud Il half tons coal seventy bushelSJ At not
| over -four cents per bushel, $50; making the
| total ont side cost of material per ton OF IRON
| :lu3o These appear 10 me 10 be the hlGhcSt
cost for materials 1T the present high prices OF
| Labor and is less than half the cost OF similar
materials in the most favorable OF the districts
where iron is now made III the ONO ana Mis-
siSSippl valley.
| Intelligent iron men have seen clearly since
the trial of the character OF your Goals, that II
the materials l have referred 10 are thus
brought together, the hanawha valley and
the ore region VIII be 1T an early day tcemInS
hives OF industry and wealth, ANA one OF The
most important cen tres of the iron mauufac
turr of the United States must be in this por-
ton of the interior OF the State OF Virginia.
Yours truly, CYRUS MESpESHALL.
The cost of manufacturing pig iron 1T Gin
| cinnati may be- stated as follows:
One and a half tons of Missouri Iron Noun
tain ore, 1T =. 30 per ion...............sl -
| Scyruty.iive bushels kanawha coal, at
| T. cents per bushrl.. Observation-Disclosures. 90
| Half ton Of limestone. -
Cost at Cincinnati of materials for ton
OF IRON. So -
| Add labor for the manufacture of ton Of
| lron......... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. ~
Total cost of one ton of ron............S22S :"
| At Jackson Ohio, the ore and coal of that
| locality being used, the cost OF making iron Is
| stated aS follows:
| Two and thrce-quarter tons of ore required
III II per ton............ ..........' .'Hll :"
| One hundred bushels bituminuus COAL. %
Three quarter tons of limestone -
Cost of ton of pig iron. ................s-o %
Atanothcr furnace at the same place the
cost is reported as follows:
" = ''''O q '''''' 81 10
one hundred bushels bitumino"s coal
at 10 cents per bushel ...... .......... ~ ~
Sixteen hundred pounds limestone...... : "o
Labor ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS : W.
Toni cost of q ton of pig iron. $50 10
at,he charcoal furnaces in Ohio the cost Of
making iron is stated as follows
Two and 4 half tons OF ore IL u per ton,
$40 10
One hundred and fifty bushels charcoal
atcigh cents ................... J. 10
Labor including LINES tonc............... 90
Cost per ton. .........................S2 90
This estimate probably applies to cases
where the ore and timber belong 10 the owner
| of the furnace If the ore and coal were pur-
chased, as in the case OF The stonecoal fur
uaces, the cost OF the materials would bc
much greater. The capital invested in the
| charcoal furnaces is much greater than in
| SiouccUal furnaces.
Timber land which will yield forty cords
per acre sells III twenty dollars per acre
wood standing, worth fifty cents per cord :;
common laburcrS receive - % 10 81 - per day.
| Ii appears from the above statements that The
cost of making pig iron III the West is not
less than thirty dollars per ton, whilst on the
line OF the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad the
| cost will not be much more than fifteen dol.
lars per ton.
Notwiths landing the high prices of labor
and materials, the manufacture of iron has
been extremely profitable i'll the West.
The supply Of coal suitable for The manutac-
tnre of pig iron in The Ohio Valley is ex-
tremely limited. Thus far only about three
hundred acres of coal adapted 10 the manu-
tacture of pig iron have been discovered III
Southern Ohio. The seam OF coal is small,
and the mining is expensive.
In the kaniwha valley the supply of coal
of the best quality for the manufacture OF
iron is almost unlimited the seams are large,
above water level, and Immediately Oh the
line of the railroad.
1t has long been ell-known that the ka-
nawha coal, for many purposes, was superior
to any in the United States but It's superb
GRITTY for the manufacture OF iron now estab-
IsLed in connection with IN abundant supply
OF iron ore of the best quality on the line of
the railroad, will have Il most decided iullu
euce i'll favor of our great work.
A knowledge of the extent OF the coal and
iron product of the United States and Eng
land, and its rapid increase in the last few
I h..r lrlS