The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1871-07-04
VyeiZel County. West VIRGINIA.

A correspondent from Springfield, Illi-
nois, has been prospecting in West Vir-
ginia, recently ,and, of the different coun
ties visited, records his opinion of Wet
zel County in the following:
"You are quite well aware tha. l took
trip through West Virginia, Il few
weeks ago, and that I promised You, that
upon my return,I would give you briet
account of what l saw there. tits with
the intention of fulfilling that promise
that l now write.
81 must state here at the outset, that
l verify believe that there is not another
State of equal territorial extent, that can
leeitimately boast of an equal amount
of wealth, in.coal, iron, timber and oil
l left home with strong prejudices
against West Virginia, and it required
the strongest testimony imaginable to
convince me that my prejudices were un-
founded.
"You know | am not known as q
newspaper correspondent, and that do
not own a dollars worth of property in
West Virginia, and have no interest of a
pecuniary nature in writing you this
communication. IF l were connected
with the press l certainly should make
an effort to bring the superior advanta-
ges of West Virginia before the people,
and especially direct the attention Of
capitalists to the brilliant opportunities
for investing capital.
"1'o make any distinction between one
section of the State and another, or be-
tween different counties, might seem i'm
proper; but while l admit that all have
advantages of one kind or another, yet
l must try here to state that l have been
in no county that offers such induce
ments to capitalists, as Wetzel County.
This county is washed for distance Of
twelve miles by the waters of the Ohio
River, contains 100000 acres of land,
and has so many other advantages, that
! will try and enumerate them more in
detail II.
''Let me mention just one thing in
this place by way of a starting point:
New Martinsville is the county seat Of
that county, and is situated on q beauti-
full river bottoms on the bank of tue
Ohio River. The people there pay
S12 per ton for their coal. which
is brought from Wheeling, forty miles
above; while right there, by the side Of
their town, there is q vein of superior
coal, seven feet in thickness, and at a
depth of only sixty feet beneath the sur
face; yet it remains undeveloped, while
the people depend upon Wheeling to
furnish them with coal. A splendid op-
portunity for capitalists, and one that |
think still remains open.
eat this place q, large creek Fishing
Creek) empties into the Ohio. There is
a fall of probably six feet per mile
while distance of about % miles up
the stream there is another vein of ex-
cellent coal, claimed to be 13 feet in
thickness. A horse railway, at trining
expense, could be. built, and the coal
mined and shipped to the landing Oh the
Ohio River, for mere nominal cost
If it pays to ship coal from Pittsburgh
and Wheeling to Louisville and Cincin-
natl, it certainly would be equally prof.
table to ship from New Martinsville. 7
ga few miles from the same vein of
coal, about seven miles from the river,
there occurred some time ago large
land slide. l visited the place. and you
can imagine my surprise when l discov-
cred the petroleum oil oozing up through
the ground, and depositing itself here
and therein the little depressions around.
| gathered about pint and brought it
home, with me. Good judges (oil mem
pronounce it to be of excellent quality.
"Never were surface indications more
clear, or more promising; never did ge-
ology point more conclusively' to any
locality as "Oil Territory" than Wetzel
County. a.H si .-5ar ..z g,
"Again, IL Is so convenient to ship the
oil, and the land is so cheap, that any
capitalist having a knowledge Of these
things would be guilty of great folly
should he decline investing. | am salts
fed that the only reason why these coal
beds and oil regions are not worked is
simply because our capitalists have no
knowledge of them and of the advanta-
ges they offer. l have been tempted to
write an article for the press, but as l
could make nothing by it, having no
capital, l concluded to remain silent
But l can assure you as friend, that if
you have any surplus copital, you can
not invest anywhere or in anything that
will yield better returns than the coal,
iron, oil or timber of Wetzel County,
West Virginia"
EgB f. TULLY writes to the Rural
Neu Yorker that the best time to kill