Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-03-17
NEW SERIES---NO. ITO

much or more In the manufactur,
Of eopperas. Thisis given to show
the quality of the ore as we'll as its
abundance.
As | said before, Polk county
Tenn, and Carroll county, Va, are
about three hundred miles apart
| have travelled over almost every
mile of the intervening distance,
and have found copper at various
places, with evidences of its pres
enee on almost every mile The
stratum or foundation is identical,
and the production very similar !;
and l believe the inference is a fair
and legitimate one, that this Smoky
Mountain, as it is called, is con-
unuous eupriferous upheaval,
which deserves the attentive con-
slderation, not only of individuals,
but Of the State and national gov
ernments. EiaHas
Here in Knoxville we are near one
thousand feet above sea level, while
the Smoky Mountain Range, the
atitrfdhf Tnohsand feet, and oeea-
sional peaks running up five hun
bred to one thousand feet higher.
South of this range some thirty
miles, and nearly parallel with it,
runs the Blue Ridge, which may be
called the mother of southern waters;
for, while numerous streams flow
down its southern slopes, the 0coee,
Hiwassee, Tennessee, Big Pigeon,
French Broad, Nolachucky and
Watauga flow down from its northern
slopes, cross cutting metaliferous
strata, each cutting the Smoky |
Mountain to its base, and pouring |
their waters into the valley of East |
Tennessee and each crossing just,
as it were, at its entrance into civil
lied life, a heavy and magnificent
course of hematite iron ore under
laid by lead This well defined |
course of mineral furnishes, with |
the unlimited water power and |
Astounding forests at the base of the
mountain, platform for mining
and manufacturing unsurpassed, in
my humble opinion, by any country |
on the globe. --a-f as5sr
This course in Tennessee is two
hundred and thirty miles in length,
and is a definite waymark at the
southern terminus of the limestone
formation, and tells the man of
science and research where the
transition series begin; and after
he crosses the clay and tale slate,
the gniess, granite, feldspar and |
quartz, which form hill from seven
to eight miles in width, he reaches
the primitive or mieaceous forna-
ton which, so far as the Virginia
and Tennessee mines arecOncerned,
is the natrix Of copper /
This inviting field for copper
operations lies from fifteen to forty
miles southeast of the trunk line of
railroad through East Tennessee,
contiguous to and in a section
already noted for its pure water, its
genial and temperate climate and
its generous and fruitful soil. May
we not, with just pride and we'll
grounded confidence, offer this as
the Gland of promise" to the agri-
eulturist, the miner and manufactu-
rer of our own and other lands
We have here, in copper alone,
a field seven times larger than that
on which England has expended
her money and energies, and been
growing rich, for near two thousand
years; and while their operations
were commenced within a stones
throw of the ocean wave, and have
been stopped at the depth of 300
feet by degree of heat beyond
human endurance, here we may
begin two or three thousand feet
above water level, and mine for
ages unhindered by causes which
have so long hindered and now
closed operations in many of her
most productive mines.
Already, 1 have trespassed to
long upon your time, but the Geld
is so large, and the subject so at
tractive, and the advantages to be
derived from intelligent and we'll
directed efforts to develop and
improve these treasures, so mu-
scattered around US by an
all bountifnl Creator, that / hope
you will pardon this in one who has
spent almost forty years of his
life in working as he can now
conscientiOusly say, for the deVel-
opment and upbuilding, physi-
cally, intellectually and morally,
of the land that gave him birth
East Tennessee.