The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-02-05


tempt to estimate by calculation the amount
Of coal contained within given number Of
miles OF your road would be futile.
without deeming il necessary to resort to
trigonometrical survey Of even a small por-
tion Of the field. it Is quite obvious, even to
the practiced miner, that there are above the
water-levei, between Big Sewel mountain
aud Charleston, within five miles on either
side Of the line Of your road, thousands Of
millions Of tons. The same seams could, Of
course, be reached by pits OF moderate depth
between Charleston and Huntington; and
the amount Of coal available from West Yir-
ginia is incidentally Iarge--suficient, allow
ing normal ratio of increase in conSump-
ton. to supply the western markets for a
thousand years TO come"
SOMETHING ABOUT THE COAL TRADE.
Some OF the most profitable railroads in
the country derive their chief revenue from
the transportation Of coal-e. g., the receipts
Of the Reading railroad from the transporta-
ton of coal alouc for the year ending No
yembcr so, 1871, amounted to $S,28l, ,2l3.14.
The anthracitc-coal trade Of Pennsylvania
amounted in 1910 to 959.973 tons; in 1850 it
had increased to 1855, 800 tons; in 1850 to
S5l3.123 tons; and in 1870 10 1o,849,S9o
tons. The increase in bit,Iulinous coal was
even greater. Add to such figures as these
the fact that coal is becoming scarce ana hlSn
in Great Britain and on the Continent. ana
That orders are coming already from Madeira,
Rio .Ianeiro, Aspinwali, st. Thomas, Mar
tiniaue, Havana, Valparaiso, and other DIS
tant ports for American coal, and the further
fact that the kanawha and New River Goals
arc of superior quality for shipping ana 1uel
PURPOSES. and some conception may be
formed of the importance OF opening these
mines to the InartS of trade anu commerce,
especially by road 100 to $50 miles nearer
the open sea than those by which the Cuul-
bciland and Allegheny coal, are delivered
for shipment.
The Baltimore and Ohio railroad delivered
in Baltimore last year 100000 tons of Cum
berland coal. 1t is believed that within two
years the Chesapeake and Ohio will deliver
at least that amount, which would yield the
road in freights over S5,000.000. There will
also be Il large demand for the superior cam
mel coal of the kanawha Valley. Nearly $780,
600 tons Of camel coal per annum have been
imported. and sold ut an average price OF
| fourteen TO eighteen dollars per ton in New
York. This whole supply may be drawn
from the Kanawha Valley at such a redue-
ton of price as will greatly increase the
amount consumed: for it is certainly the
fuest coal in the world not only for pro-
| ducing g;s, but also for burning in stoves OF
CRATES. From the time we reached Camel
ton, on our trip TO tue Ohio, our party
| burned camel coal i'll Il common wood
stove, and had one OF the hottest fires VIC
have ever seen.
The coal traffic for the West over the Chcs-
apcake and Ohio railroad has already become
very important and must greatly increase.
Already they send to Huntington sixty cars
of coal every night, and frequently us many
more in the day. The quantity of coal from
Pittsburgh passing Huntington in single
year was GO,0O0,O00 bushels. or 2,l43,00C
tons. The amount received ut Cincinnati
last year was over ! 100000 tons. 1t is eS'
pectcd that the coal-licds Of kanawha will
ultimately supply this large demand, and al
a saving of not less than S3,00O,000 per an
nun to the consumers in Cincinnati. Will
not the reign of "old King Cole" in all OF
it, glory, be established and pcrpctuated by
this great railroad? But the
! IRON ORES
along the line of the Chesapeake and Ohio
railroad excel in variety, richness, abun
dance, and superior quality, and value tol
| the purposes Of commerce, all that has hith-
crto been claimed for them. They consist
| according TO recent reports, OF very rich
| brown hcnatitcs, magnetic, lossiliilerouS, ar.
| .illaceous, Spccuar, and other varieties re-
uuircd for the manufacture of superior quail.
ties of iron and steel, which can be pro-
duccd, as shown by actual demonstration
upon the line of this road, cheaper than any.
| where else in thp nitpI STATES
But the whole line OF the road abounds in
the greatest variety of
| OTHER MINERALS
A recent writer, himself distinguished ge
ologiSt, and one thoroughly acquainted with
the minerals of Virginia and Of the whole
country, gives the following graphic sketch
| of the minerals to be found along the line OF
| this road:
Near Richmond are granite Glarrics out
Of which is now taken the stone from whc,
the new State Department building in Wash.
ingtOn is being constructed. Twenty miles
north of Richmond arc deposits of mari, the
best manure for the wheat and tobacco-tields
of Virginia. Next Oh Il geological map YOU
meet with the @old-bealiug region of Nirgi-
nia, which has been for long time unlnc-
thodicaily worked. Near by is found copper
| Around keswick station are slate qllalrieS,
whence merchantablc slate of good quality
has been taken. In Augusta county, near
Staunton, is Il famous bed of kao!in or poI.
ceian clay. Near Swoopc's station, and fur.
thcr west near Covngton, are beds of that
| kind of limestone, which is made into ny.
draulic cement-that from Swoope's station
has been and is now prepared in considers.
ble quantities, and has already high repu.
tation. In the New river canyon valuable
beds Of tire-clay and pipe-clay have been
already opened, and tire-brick OF the best
quality has been made. And, finally, the
whole OF West Virginia through which the
| Chesapeake and Ohio road passes abounds
in salines, and rs you pass over the railroad
toward Huntington you may see some of the
most extensive salt-woraS in the United
| States.
"In this list we have said nothing of the
| veins of iron ore, beginning with vein OF
hematite thirty feet wide, near TOlersyille,
| Louisa county, of which, at the Victoria
| furnace, two and half tons now make II ton
| OF pig iron !; continuing with Il vein of ar@il.
| laceolls ore near Gordonsville; !; veins of mag.
netic ore near Rocktish gap; hematite near
Fishers station, containing from 4Oto 30 per
| cent of iron, and lyiug so we'll that it is now
mined for sixty cents 4 ton; immense cliffs
of hematite further west, in Il region already
dotted with furnaces, where the ore can he
mined and put in the cars for Sl.40 per ton,
| including the royalty; deposits of tossilifer-
Gus ore near Panther gap, very rich, and
found in band eighteen inches thick
| where the railroad crosses ii, and easily
mined. This is the same kind OF
ore which, at Lewiston, in Penusyl-
! vania. is now mined from a vein nine
inches thick at Il depth of 1000 fe4t, and
! its value is SO great that even at this denlb