Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-08-19
FROM A COAL PIT.
Rsmphis Ladies' 90 Down lHt0 Realms Of
BarkRess-A Delightful Place for
Summer EXeursiOHists
The Riches Of East Tennessee-cheap Fue
for HemphIs-ExactiOH Of Railroads
-Aa Absurd Adventure Of a
Mule.

Sea, ana NOdl OTSek ullueos hHSuC
1 write, are fifteen hundred feet. Tit
highest point on the railroad from
Knoxville to Lynchburg is 25OO fee
above tide-Water. What magnifi
cent arch the railway constitutes a
il bends like a great bridge of iroI
over the mountains between the
two cities. 1t is not OF thi:
highway that I would speak. Cite
OF Tennessee and adjacent States have
an abiding interest in these eOal-helds
hardly less patent than in the system
OF roads destined to make this the
richest of American States.
THE JOURNEY.
Tuesday afternoon we left Knox
vile on the road CT which we read in
reports Of certain legislative investi.
eating committees. 1t is not the less,
however much It has cost the State,
a most useful highway, planned as it
was by men OF broad intelligence and
forethought, who rightly appreciated
not only the value Of q road to the
coalfields, infinitely the richest and
most valuable in Tennessee, but an
ticipated the action of Cincinnati and
Louisville, cities which might well
become bidders for this road when
sold under the statutory mortgage
held BY the State of Tennessee.
CAREYvILLE.
Forty miles northwest from Knox
vile Is the little village Of Careyville,
where miners dwell. Here, in the
midst OF the mountains, we spent the
night. Hot, intOlerably hot in the
valley below, we slept, ,soundly famed
by cool winds that swept down
from the lOftier nights OF the
Cumberland range. We listened
to stories told by miners
aud mOuntaineers. Tney told Of
snakes that came down from the cliffs
above, paTched by summers heat, TO
ind water in the valley below. A few
dsys ago a miner traversing the noun
tain side was bitten by rattle snake.
He applied tobacco to the wound, but
gss soon paralyZsd. Retaining his
senses, he rolled down to the road fre-
auented By wagOners. There was no
whisky or other remedial agent to be
found, and the poor fellow soon
breathed his EST. A little girl was
bitten in this village. Her father
Scared the wound deeply with q
razor, and then applying his lips drew
forth the acrid poison. The child's
life was saved.
Many such stories were told. A
travelling agent Of New York bust
ness house listened. When the clock
struck ten, and we retired, this peri
patetic drummer, fearing snakes and
highwaymen, could hnd no fastening
for the door Of his apartment. BE
sought the landlord OF the little inn,
aud was told that there was not lock
on any door in the village. Next
morning we found that the stranger
had hesped up chairs, tables and
trunks against the door TO such an
extent that the landlord encountered
no little difficulty In giving him exit
10 the breakfast table. When ques-
toned closely about his conduct, he
said he had read q report made some
time ago by one Cooper, who asserted
that the mountain districts were in
tested by Ku-KluX, and that snakes
snd Ku-KluX constituted a cOmbina-
ton of horrors too terrible for his
nerves.
TO COAL CREEK.
Wednesday morning our party,
consisting Of Mr.. McEWen, of the coal
mining firm Of McEgen, Wiley & Co.;
Colonel John Williams, of Knox;
Prof. Stafford, State GeOlOgist; two
ladies from Memphis, and your cor
respondent, left Careyville for Coal
Creek, ten miles distant, the center Of
the mining district. AT Careyville
two productive shafts have been sunk;
1t Coal Creek there are five mines
opened. The richest, aud that pro.
ductiVe OF the best coal and most &C
cessible, Is worked by McEWen, Wiley
4 Co. From the mouth OF this pit,
about one hundred feet above the
railroad, hand cars descend, from
which coal is dumped " into cars
sent hither from all the leading cities
Of the South. The productive ca
pacity OF these mines is only limited
by facilities for the transportation Of
coal to Knoxville and other cities.
One hundred tons are dug daily at
cost Of four cents per bushel. 1t costs
eight cents per bushel delivered In
Knoxville, or twenty cents per barrel
of p bushels. 1t Is delivered In Chat
Lanooga at an absolute cost of 13c per
Dushel, and will be sold in Memphis,
where Messrs. McEWen, Wiley 4
Co, propose TO establish a depOsi-
tory during the coming winter, at 81
per barrel. The freight charges to
Memphis, not less than 6ic per barrel,
are three times greater than the cost
Of the coal. The coal must pass over
four roads, and 10 properly adjusting
rates iOr each the greatest difficulty
has been encountered. The Knox
Vile and Kentucky road 30 miles, the
Knoxville and Chattanooga road, 10
miles, the Nashville and Chattanooga
road, % miles, and Memphis and
Charleston, go miles, each must
exact a pro rata share Of the
freight charges. The Nashville
and Chattanooga road charges
81 80 for every car sent by connecting
roads over the q miles between Chat
tanooga and the eastern terminus Of
the Memphis and Charleston road at
Stevenson a sum seemingly disprOpOr-
toned to the relative distances ira
versed. Despite this fact, Messrs.
Nee ven, Wiley & Co. intend to con-
fine the cost of Pittsburg coal Ia Men,
phis during the next winter TO VI per
barrel. Fifty coal CARS for these
mines have Just been built at Bruns'
wick, Georgia, and another coal fam
Inc Ia the Bluff City becomes impos--
sibIe. In nothing does this coal differ
from the best shipped from Pittsburg.
CANEEL COAL,
which burns In thin pieces like ta-
Der. also abounds. There are certain
fy five, perhaps six, different horizon.
Lal strata OF coal supirimpOsed one
above the other from the base to the
6ummit of the mountain. The thick
ness Of these strata vary from four to
sayen feet. The vein now wrought
& four and half to Ave feet thick.
IN THE PIT.
Two mountain ranges, the Cumber-
land and Waldran's Ridge, resting
side by side for forty miles with only
space between for railway track and
mountain torrent, hedge In these
treasures OF the worlds progress.
There IS only a single gap, this at
Coal creek, through which the coal
measures OF the Cumberland range
are accessible from the east and from
your western side of the mountains
q railway train may never ascenu
these Alpine hights. Dame Nature
hedged In with impossible barriers
and guarded for centuries with sedu-
IOus care all this mea5ureless wealth.
The lapse OF ages has perfected Its
value, even as time lends meiloWness
70 wine, till at length this mlghtier
than Chinese wall Is broken through
and steam drags forth the riches oi