The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1872-04-24

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the road will pass, leaving out OF view
others tributary to it, may be esti-
mated at sirty million dollars. Nor
does this include the annual products
of industry Of the city OF Wheeling and
that portion of West Virginia and
Pennsylvania Immediately tributary to
that city.
v.-THE GREAT COAL FIELDS.
The wealth in bituminous coal Of the
counties lying nearest to Wheeling, de-
serves especial mention.
The report Of the Geological Survey
of Ohio for 1869 says: "In the vicinity
Of Wheeling, near the centre of the
Allegheny Coal Basin, OF which our
coal basin forms part, the coal meas.
ures have thickness of 1900 feet, and
include, perhaps, ten workable seams OF
coal, under each of which is stratum
Of fire clay"
The Wheeling and Lake Erie rail-
road will cut this vast and rich deposit
OF coal, at or near its widest part, tor a
distance OF sixty miles.
The coal is at such an altitude that
it can be carried from the mouth of the
mines to the cars by gravitation, al a
very slight expense in the erection of
tramways, and without the aid of steam
or other motive power. The dip OF the
most of this coal is such that it drains
itself and the vein is OF such depth that
horses and mules are employedin draw
ing the cars through the mines.
The consumption OF this coal on the
borders Of the Lakes, in the West and
in Canada, which has no coal Of its own,
has of late years become enormous and
will 60 on in an increasing ratio for
generations to come.
England is beginning to turn her at
tention to the probable exhaustion OF
her coal, and Sir William Armstrong,
an eminent scientific man Of England,
has computed that, at the present rate
of consumption with an increased ratio,
her coal will only last 2l2 years, and
her manufacturers are already turning
their attention to the great coal regions
of the United States. And Professor
Tyndall, of England, says of her: We
cant make head against nation which,
in addition to other sources of power,
possesses the power Of coal" and he
adds that the destiny of England is in
the hands of her coal owners, rather
than in the hands OF her statesmen.
Reference to the map will show that
no other line Of road in the State OF
Ohio affords the same facilities for
transporting this Immense source Of
power and wealth to the markets that
most need it, as will the Wheeling and
Lake Erie.
vI.-sCPPLY OF LAKE SUPERIOR AND
OTHER ORES.
The transport OF iron and other ores
will rank next in importance to the coal
business as source OF revenue to the
line. Wheeling, as before remarked, is
rivalling Pittsburgh in the product and
of iron. 1t is therefore
matter Of the utmost necessity to its
growth and development that it should
have a cheap and abundant supply Of
the best ores in the country. 1t is est
mated that it already takes from this
one source Of supply near 10000 tons
which is now conveyed over
circuitous routes The lake and rail
transit is at least sixty miles longer than
via Sandusky and the Wheeling and
Lake Erie line.
1t is the opinion of those engaged in
this business that the opening of the
latter line will soon double the demand
for this ore, so that 10000 tolls will
pass over it per annum.
1t will thus be seen that the new line
will posses an advantage over nearly all
he great coal railways of the country
in having return loads for the coal
trains.
But there is another grand supply OF
cheap and superior ores that lie open
to the Wheeling smelters. The line
will cut through the great and inexhaust-
ible beds OF Black band ore situated in
Tuscarawas and Carroll counties The
geological report of Ohio, 1871, speak
ing OF coal No ! in Fairfield township,
county, says, ct here under
lies the famous Black band ore of that
district" and on page As, in speaking
of ores, after treating of rich deposits OF
kidney ore it says: "In .Tuscarawas
county it (the Black. band ore) attains,
in some localities, thickness Of six
teen feet" "On the old Zoar Furnace
in Fairfield township, it has
been worked Tor nearly forty years. At
the same horizon is very irregular
bed Of limestone which, on the Zoar
lands, is so largely charged with iron
as to become very good iron ore.
X "The Blackboard ores Of the
region under consideration are certainly
of great importance" Forming as they
do continuous sheets Of nearly uniform
richness, they constitute reliable basis
for mining operations, and there Is no
question that they can be proIitably
made the special object OF mining effort.
The same section also abounds in coal
and limestone in immense quantities.
This line also crosses at its widest
part the belt of sandstone known as the
"Waverly Group" Professor Edward
Orion, of Antioch College, and Assist.
ant Geologist, says: These building
stones are of unrivalled excellence,
often leaving nothing to be desired in
respect to service or beauty. They are
already used very widely through the
State in all the larger towns, and they
have also been carried in considerable
quantity beyond the limits of the State.
The annual production OF the quarrles
10 the northern part OF Ohio, as at
Berea, Amherst, &c, has been est.
mated at one million dollars, and the
demand is steadily increasing