New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-08-10
THROUGH THE SOUTH.
so,rTH-wEsTERN VIRGINIA

Trxc-A NEW IDEA RAILROAD SALT |
WORKS. =,
WvruryLLE, July t7.-New River, from the
,,on lead Companys works downts course to the rail-
,s might easily be made n9vigabe, and thus by the
sovncin cost of aid greatly in the develop
,,en OF this mineral region. The Virginia legislature
OF its last session. attempted action in the matter
aud Col Graham Senator from this district says IL VIII
he successful next Winter. From the railroad hor'h-
ward it is navigated by small steamer. The copper
mines once extensively worked lie on the southern
side of the Mountains No work is now done al any
OF them probably because they objects OF spe'u
laion rather than legitimate operations, ana aso o
count OF the low price OF suphuTets ana small "en'"
for the metal itself They once shipped seVelai lno"e'
tuns a year. and when worked in abuSnoss-llke way
viii probably again be profitable The ore on the sur
face is usually black or red oxide passing into saphuret
ne the vein dcepens The mines are similar TO the PUCK
town Copper Mines, Cleveland, ard occupy sinl
lar geological position.
All along the borders Of the zinc and lead belt, at IN
tervals. are found immense deposits of iron ore.
visited several OF the furnaces at which II Is WoIke'
Tero orc 1--WE furnaces and FORCES in Wyhe and one
furnace in Pulaski ALL except the last, are cola past
That and two in Wythe are owned or run by NoF'he'H
men Further south, on the same ore lead are -"
more forces and three furnaces OF the I'VE III "''"
only two ere now in blast and is about 10 go H.
These Arc AL small AFT rs and their machinery is OF the
c,udcst character The furnace in Pulaski makes some
pretcnsons modern ideas, ana It's yedlS repor'e' DIT
10 TINS per day. The fuel used In all THESE furnaces
charcoal No effort has been made in the South 10 use
tie imncr e beds OF b..umiuous COAL except by some
Northern lncn near Knoxville. In this region coal exists
parallel with the Iron Mountains and the lead and iron
ore veins the north side OF the railroad from near
the Blue Ridge into Tennessee, at distance OF from
one to eight miles from TINT line OF transporta-
ton. yet hardly any work deserving the name
has been done. little digging has been
commenced near Chrstiansburg, and saw at that de-
pot some coal for shipment surprised to find 1t
very closely resembling anthracite, yet not positively
the same An observer reports that from the appear
and characteristics Of some specimens from the
same county, he thinks this is similar to the coal OF the
Stony Creek division Of the Schuykl region As inc
Stony Creek passes into anthracite the same may
he the case here This is not at all impossible, for
this section has been carefully examined Prof.
Rogers anavzed three samples of coal from Botetout
and Montgomery Counties, ard found an average OF ~
per cent carbon and volatile matter The ash is red
Tn analysis shows excellent coal for the manufac-
turc OF iron and told that it very superior
coal for generating That found near this place
seems to be a little bitumnOus, but gave red ash
No Judgment could be formed, as there is no
opening on the vein. do not think it will prove at any
point to be cokng coal The veins are OF great Wutn'
near this place. reported TO be 80 feet wide, seems
10 be succession Of veins very close together as Is
the at several points in Dauphm and Lebanon
Counties in Pennsylvania. The geological formation
and the geographical position the same as in the
''""N'
though they appear at intermediate point. The ap
pearance o. immense bodies OF coal the surface in
REGION fact beyond dispute Its quality and ex-
tent remain to be determined Its existence in guam
tty Is OF great importance In view Of the large deposits
of ron salt lead zinc, copper and limestone in such
close proximity.
One of the furnaces which visited Cripple Creek
IS by Mr. Gallup, formerly of NewYork. The stack
Is unwiedy pile of masonry but the working body OF
the furnace small as IT produces only about three to
fonr tuns per day. his endeavor being to get quality
rather than quantity. He waterpower and the old
fashioned wOOdcn-tub blast noticed that the blast at
the lead works obtained in the same manner His
rich, and half tuns making one tun of the
best quality No. gray pig. The furnaceman was an
old negro venerable both in years and service He
told me that this the 18th blast he had made The
oil fellow nothing of science but he certainly un
dersood the practical part of the business Mr. Gallup
leases the property paying 81 per tun OF iron made The
property consists 400 of mineral and farming
land He hauls his iron to Wythevile, at cost Of S. pei
tun He uses to make tun of iron, average of ~
bushels of charcoal and II tuns Of ore, with the usa
quantity If limestone. The charcoal costs him now
about q cents per bushel, but has cost cents Lime
stone almost nothing, he gets it within dozen
yards of the runnelhead. Hence may estimate that
his iron costs him about s2 per tn, he sells all that
is suitable for carwheels at S5 per tun at the railroad
depot. with good management, he certainly has
fine business prospect Talking with Mr. Henry,
Superintendent OF the Atlantic, Mississippi and
learned that the trouble in getting suitable
iron wa not much the in the management
Of the furnaces, few regularly to quality To
Northern the surprise is that they do not chill up
dozen times year. An Old wheezy blast which groans
as it blows, and waterwheel which pauses on the
center to take rest the characteristics of ALL Bnt
an exceedingly soft and tractable enables them to
make blasts averaging nine ten months long. Tho old
cOored fuTnact-m:n told Inc that the zinc in the
sometimes troubled them and several times his trunnel-
head had become clog that they had short blast
and that In blowing ont the air f,lled and the
ground covered rs in snowstOm. The old mans stock
of chcmica knowledge did not tell him that the eecy
flakes Were c oxide Of zinc. This, learned
occurred - other furnaces, and avoided by little
in the selection of tie This also fire.
Qucntly contains quantities Of manganese.
Further Cripple Creek are two furnaces not
yet in blast though Ovnedby Pcnnsylvanians, is
soon to in On the creek Is old-fasLoned
waterb'ast forge 1t Is rc6etty affair." and when the
stamps the whole frame creaks and wriggles
like eld car'-whcel This forge is now many years
Old AMI probably has not heen in any way improved
during the Inst half century. They make excellent
tough barrCn using 200 to bu,he, of charcoal the
tun and two fires, making 80 pounds per day in
each when they work The iron sells at Wythevie and
Lyncburg NJ five cents per pound description OF the
water blast would require inu, t. understood
but curiosity now becoming rare, relic OF the org -
nal system Of ironnaking hundreds OF year, ago 1t
az improvement in its day the old goats hide
bellows, though far behind the age Some people,
insist that better iron Is made with 1t but TIL, is
mistake. the quality of the iron thus made being
counted FOR by the fact that greater quantity OF char
coal and an excellent grade of the ore Gre used
Such some Of the mineral TO he found
around this place and along the line Of this railroad.
of the country far has been spectators,
who depeeate and buy property, and hold II for high
prices; then adventurers without money, who bond
property, tak largely, and expect to realize by selling
10 persons in NewYOrk or elsewhere; they d.appOint
the people and OF confidence Lastly, we'll
meaning mon who engage in entepses mounting large