The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-04-30
r,,..,,,.,, TO the Sea.

S--=------=----[--------
Cincinnati to the Sea.
a.n.a Cincinnati COMMERCIAL.
Gs.s.rr.xE AND ONO RMLRoAD,}
p,,-rn Wnsr Va, April Is, 1852.
NV 1.!.st"ar months from this date there WI
"",;nnous line of rail direct from Cin-
n pr 70 Richmond and the sea. The work
. an. s.ss heen talked about SO hong, and writ
si' o ne" 40 much, and hoped for SO devoutiy,
g &C.; n . fair way to be completed. As write,
~ thunder-topes from the New river Gifts
thsf are being thrown into the stream by the
torca of punpowder to make way for thls
ereat road greet my ears. Peal or peal tue
scho of this gunpowder-thunder roits over
fho mountains. The narrow bench tl!at n
he;np emf IN the rocks win soon be the MN.
wav between Cincinnati and the ohio Fal,ey
and Richmond and the Atlantic. Inc ols-
tanco rom Cincinnati to deep water on the
Tnn,os hv tbis route will only be hve nun
drnd ond seventy miles. The western con.
nact;or between Huntington and Ctnclnnatl
A. ,,a,r assured. the full amount subscribed,
a,d .I,e work will be pushed through at once
TN no>v Grade that has been obtained De-
+,rn.n richmond and Huntington is now as
sursd all the way to Cincinnati, as sec by
the latest estimates.
Communication between the ONO 'a'ies
and the Virginia seabord was the'ne OF
discourse and discussion long before railroads
were thought Of. The idea then was 10 CUT
a canal from the head waters OF James ,isel
70 the head waters OF New river, nhahhs
both these rivers narisabtc by means ol
locks and dams, and thus cstsohsu s''oh,
water navigation between the ONO river anu
the ocean. Washington himself tIssoc pei,
sonal examination of much OF the proetsseu
line. and wrote several articles IN encourage
,..o,,. IF Tho nroiect. From that dav to this
the matter has been under consideration oy
the greatest and wisest Of the Nirgtnians, the
Eater.line project having been set ASIDE 1or
the time by the discovery of railroads.
With the dawn of the railroad era the pro-
;ect of connecting the Ohio and the James
bv iron has been agitated, and u brave at-
tempt made BY Virginia to carry 1t out some
twenty wears ago. She built some three nun
drcd miles of the road from Richmond INTO
the mountains, but the war stopped the
work. after she had spent some ten millions
of dollars upon it, and Left her bankrupt.
She could not finish the road, and such was
the anxiety of her people TO have it finished
that tbcy donated the greater part OF What
they had done to n New York company III
order that the work might be ptisheo
through. ,,,cD
The New York company, headed by Z;
Huntington. vice-presidcnt OF the central
Pacific, and one of the leading railroad ops-
rators of America, is now pushing the work
through the mountains from the ONO river 10
White Sulphur Springs. to which polht ,ie
road is already built and in running order.
They have issued Sl5,000,pO0 of first mort
cacc bonds, the price of which III the mar
Eeis of New York and the Old Weird indl-
cate the abiding confidence which caflfif has
in the project of uniting the Virginia sea"
board with the Ohio.
This great road that has been talked about
for half a century, and worked upon ior u
quarter of century, now lacks not hlucn
over a wear of completion. Let there De re-
ioicinc at both ends of the line and along the
way, for mighty work is this.
THE NEW RIVER COUNTRY.
There Is no way to get through the noun
taips other than By the natural pass through
which flow the Greenbrier and New rivers
These streams are exceedingly wild and rapid,
scanning to have cut their way down from
near the tops of the mountains to the base,
and while they afford the only practicable
route for a railroad, it Is an expensive ana
difficult enc.
The country upon either side OF New river
is but struggling mass Of Irregular noun
tains, from five to nine hundred feet high,
and cut into all possible forms and shapes by
the wear of the rapid water courses OF CELL
turtles. These mountains come right down
10 the waters edge, making banks which are
little less than perpendicular walls OF rock,
from fifty to three hundred feet high.
Against these walls the swollen, angry waters
dash in vain, doing nothing toward remoV-
ing the obstruction, except to gradually wear
away the base, and thus loosen huge boul-
ders, which pitch into the stream and become
further distractions. So. in addition to being
hemmcd in by narrow banks, the river is
filed with bolldcrs, which have been pre-
cipitated in by the undermining force OF the
waters. And then, above all, imagine the
river sweeping down "gradc" OF over
twenty feet to the mile, and you have some
thing of an idea of its character.
The cost Of the road from White sulphur
Springs to Huntington, u distance OF about
115 miles, will not be less than fourteen MIL
lions of dollars. From this something o.
the character of the country through wmch
it passes can be learned. There Is one mile
of grading on New river that will cost ninety
five thousand dollars.
Perhaps the very worst difficulties to over
come are between the mouth of Gauley and
Miller's Ferry, distance OF eight miles. l
passed over this on foot, climbing around on
the sides of the mountain 80 as to have
good view, sometimes being near the top,
and sometimes down where the workmen
were blasting. At points where several miles
were under the eye ut q time, the puts OF
smoke from the line of "blasters," and the
accompanying loud reports, reminded one OF
fights ut long range in war time. The great
rocks which were heaved into the air and
thence into the river below, however,
showed that it was q war of q different sort
from that usually waged by gunpowder.
The first three miles this side of Gaulev is
called "Hobelson's Section" from the fact
that gentleman from Pennsylvania of that
name has the contract. HobelSon lives in
shnnty among his men, half way up the
mountain, and gives his personal attention to
the work. was told that he employed some
two hundred and fifty men, who are paid
from dollar and half to two dollars and a
quarter day. The last are such as work III
the tunnel.
SO far more contractors have been smashed
up on the line than have made anything.
was told of contractor from Richmond who
succeeded in sinking his entire capital--ten
thousand dollars-in few months. A large
cut near the Kanawha Falls used up one con-
tractor, and his successor came out fifty dol
lars behind. Some have made money, but
more have lost than made. The very cold
nf -