The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1869-07-14
An Important RailrOad.

One Of our railroad enterprises,
concerning which very little is said
is progressing favorably, and will, no
doubt, be finished sometime next
year. We refer to the extension Of
the K. &. G. Road to Danville, Illi-
nois, and thence to Chicago. In min
eral- resources Danville is rich, almost
beyond computation, and to be con-
nected with her by direct railroad
communication, cannot be otherwise
than very advantageous to our city.
The block coal of Danville must of
necessity increase the demand for,
and value Of the iron ore on the Ten
nessee and Cumberland Rivers, which
viii be shipped in large quantities
through our city, and in the tranship-
ment of which our people will mate
rally increase their business interests.
La order that our readers may have
clear idea of the richness of the
Danville coal, we copy from the La
fayette Trade Gazette an article de-
scriptive of the magnitude of the
mines, and the unusual fineness of the
quality Of the coal:
DANvILLE, ILLINOIS = IMMENSE
VEIN OF BLOCK Coal. - Notwith-
standing Dlnville has gained great
notoriety for the large quantities of
coal imbedded under and around it,
and the thousands of car loads that
have been mined and shipped to all
parts OF our Western country, new
developments In coal are being made,
that IN point of quality and mex
haustible quantity, will far exceed
anything west of the mountains, if
not east Hundreds of acres of the
purest quality of block coal, easy of
access, some portions lying just under
the surface, and others requiring only
about twenty feet of shafting, only
awaits the effort of the miner to be
put into the market.
The Vermilli0n River runs in an
easterly direction here, and the North
Fork runs south-until within about a
mile Of DaDvllle, and about half
mile of the Vermillion. when it turns
back toward the northeast, running
about One-fOurth Of a mile, then south
to its junction with the Vermillion.
thus describing three sides of a square.
The banks on these three sides are
abrupt, rising to a height of about one
hundred and twenty feet, considera-
bly, higher that on which the city
stands, thus enabling a fine view
of it. There is upwards Of fourteen
hundred acres in this tract, and when
we consider its most beautiful loca-
ton, and the fabulous wealth in
coal, buried only few feet under it,
we fail to be able to make any estimate
of its value. The coal does not run
in " dips " which become gradually
thinner until they run out, but no.
where in the whole fourteen hun
dred acres Is it less than six feet
thick and sometimes eight. 1t is es-
timated that 1t will yield ten thousand
tons to the acre. We were shown a
Spring branch Of several rods width
where the water ran over seven feet
and half of pure, dry, block coal It
is a beautiful sight to stand on the
river bank, and looking up and down
Ior nearly mile, see away up one
hundred feet, and nearly at the top, a
olacK, gHstenIng band OF coal, seven
feet thick, running the entire length
of the vision This is the case on the
north and south side. On the west
side, near the confluence of the two
rivers, the bluff is somewhat hack
from the stream. An opening has
been made into the side of the hill
here, and a considerable amount of
coal taken cut, and preparations have
been made for running chutes and
chambers. Any distance here the
vein is so thick that after enough is
left above for support, and below
for a solid floor, person can
walk erect. just above this, and
back for some distance is the most
beautiful building sites anywhere to
be found. The high ground, over
looking the city and quite large
scope far off to the south, east and
west, makes delightful view. The
/ Chicago 4 DanVilIe Railroad runs
through this tract OF land, about one
fourth of mile from the North Fork,
and one-half OF mile from the Yer
million. The most beautiful portion
on which to build, is on the side
toward the VermilliOn, and the easiest