The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1869-12-23
Thursday, December, 2s, 1869.
The Prospects Of our Tewn and County.


From all the signs Of the times we are
persuaded there is o. bright future before our
town and county The extension Of the
Chesapeake \ Ohio R. R., to the White Sui
phur ana The certainty that it will be compile
ted. at an early day TO the 0hie, have already
.exsrtcd sensible influence on Che value Of
property in tho town and county, and inspir-
ed fresh hopes in our people. Within the
present year. mihofe than eighty new Houses
many Of them costly and elegant Structures
have been erected in our. town. And, from
what we hear, the coming year will witness
no relaxation Of The spirit of'enterprize sahd
lin Improvement among our .citizcns. As soon
as, the spring. orens, the sound Of the ham.
mer and the saw, will be heard in all parts Of
THE toxa.sa Many new buildings are in con-
temptation, andthcrc is hardly vacant house
in the town,
,,soNor is this. spirit confined to the town a.
The, extensive iron works. Of Slbcrt + Goa
few miles west Of us will be in operation, in
january, and we understand that that ener-
: estic frm, propose to duplicate their furnace,
pduripg the year, 4s. ssso7se sssaslszsfs
sfs One or two other companies, Of northern
men, have purchased lands along the line of
the Railroad, with the view of erecting fur
naces, at an early day. s''. S.'s'.. - '-'l'a
Intelligent @ineraloggists are exploring our '
mountains, and every day is ,bringingto light
new deposits ofsminerals. We understand,
that within week or two, astonishing dis
coveries have been made Of veins Of iron ore,
of superior quality, and almost. bopSndless exis
tent. Some idea may be formed of the rap
id appreciation Of property, from the fact
that tract Of 1900 acres Of mountain land
near Buffalo gap, which stands assessed for
taxation on the commissioners books at $3.50,
has recently been sold for Thirty THOUSAND
DOLLARS Ea'''i's kf'. iels iteos 80 Il .sa
An. intelligent iron master from Pennsyl7
wanna, recently stated to a gentleman ans Of
Stauntou, that they had no deposits Of iron
ore, in Pennsy which would bear COM
parisou With those which he had visited in
the western part Of Augusta. And, he added,
that he did not believe that any such deposits
could be, found on, this continent, unless. at
the iron mountain in Missouri, and possibly
ina district Of country bordering on. Lake
Superior. 80, ~
,e But our ore beds have the advantage oycr
those of proximity to the best coal fields Oh
the one hand, and'of' ready access to the cas-
tern markets on The other. veg ~.
We have learned, from good authority
that during the. last summer, two intelligent
iron-men. from Pennsylvania who were on a
visit to the White Sulphur were discussing
the relative cost Of producing iron, in Virr
ginia, and Pennsylvania and in the course
of the discussion, one said to the other, that
iron coulf be made at point between Staun
: ton and Covington, and transported to New
York, for .seven dollars per ton less than Il
could bepr0duced, at the furnaces IN Penn
*y,vania. Issue was at once, joined on. this
proposition, and the parties then went into .
minute calculation (both being Thoroughly
eonversant with the .business) of the various
items of cost Of production and transporta
ton, aud the astonishing fact was developed
{ that,isoa could be made II. Nsgiaia, ana
shipped to Ncm Yo,as, for EIGHT DOLLARS
PER TON LESS THAN IT COULD BE MADE In
PENNSYLVANIA - - -
It is notla all surprising, therefore, thai
the grcatiron city of Pittsburg, which nov
draws its supplies of iron ore from Lake Su
.Iperior, should desire to establish railway com
munication with the iron mines Of Augusta
~ From all we, aean gather, from converse
,ations with intelligent men, who have person
ally examined the iron Banks Of the .Nortt
Mountain, we are satisfied. that Stauntot
will, at NO distant day, become the centre q
the largest iron interest on. the. Atlantic
islope 9All that is, necessary is to open tn.
coal-fclds so miles west Of the White Sui
phur. This will be done within, year o.
two at most, and then every species of man
.iufacture of which iron and timber are, eth.
constituents, will spring into active operation
at this point. 81 '''C@ F''
Already we learn that the enterprizins
firm Of Sibert &C.,, have been looking ou
for a site, Staunton,s to establish a Roll
4 ing Mill? Such an establishment, would, al
once, give mploymcnt to . large number, q
hands, and add greatly to our wealth and pop
sulation. One mill of this kind will soor
lead to the erection Of others; and, in, |
short time, machine shops, for the manufac.
ture Of drills, reapers, threshers. wheat-fans
&C.. will spring up. Coal, timber, iron, rents
d and the means of subsistence, will all be
cheaper here, than in The cities and towns
north Of us and our genial and salubrious
climate will be much more favorable to me
chanical operations, than. the rigorous win
tiers Of the north. Why should weasend te
Buffalo New York, fol, Threshing machines
and to Maryland and Chicago, for drills, and
reapers, when they Ian be manufactured al
less cost. TO say nothing of freights and in.
'surance) at our own doors :, I 'l , =.
st And just here we have. one single word Of