Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1873-03-25
FACTS ABOUT EAST TENNESSEE.
Cooke County and Coal Creek.
NO. CT.

Cooke county is one of the upper coun-
ties of East Tennessee, laying at the base of
the Smoky Mountains and adjoining the
State of North Carolina. Newport, an old
town, is the county site, with small pop
ulation and with no very active state of
business operations. 1t has been greatly
injured, in this respect, by the town of
Clifton, which has recently grown up on
the Cincinnati, Cumberland Gap and
Charleston railroad. Having the advanta-
ges of railroad. business men, as matter
of course, have concentrated their means
and their energies upon this point 1t is
as a consequence prosperous village. 1t
supports a number of stores and all of
them, SO far as we know, making money.
There are two or three establishments
engaged "a in manufacturing leather
and boots and shoes, besides an excellent
Touring mill. The educational feature is
a favorable one, there being good school,
male and female, in successful operation.
THE COUNTY.
Perhaps there is no county i'm East Ten
nessee containing a larger quantity of SUI
perior land than Cooke county. We don't
mean to affirm that there is no poor, rough
or mountainous land in the county. On
the contrary, there is q good deal sof. just
such land. The Southern portion, where
it touches the range of mountains alluded
to, is quite rough and not valuable scarce
ly for any purpose. To he sure it might
be used for the cultivation of fruit and the
raising of sheep, two advantages, natural
Iy Jailed to - this particular locality.
There is likewise some sfat lands,
elsewhere in the county too thin
for successful and profitable farming yet, |
management, might be made
available in some form or s0ther,0 There is |
that there is no disposition to occupy these |
lands on the part Of the more enterprising |
farmers. AT present, they are managed |
by men of small means, and who are CON-
tent with small earnings. tai tsaa
".'9 THE BOTTOM LANDS ic~mrG|
OH the two, rivers, French Broad and Pig
con, afford soil unsurpassed in. fertility. |
They are wide and long, and capable of |
per acre. The owners of them value them
at high figure. So high, indeed, that no 4
onecares to invest in them In fact they |
are notin the market at all.
The corn crop produced upon them is al |
ways enormous, whether q dry or q wet /
This is n fed, mostly to Z, hogs |
and cattle, and but little of it put directly |
on the market; hence Cock county is |
noted for her aft9cdsfl 80 hlaq 38oTe4aI |
HOG PRODUCTS ,i8sf
as well as her cattle product. Hundreds
and hundreds of both are thoroughly fat |
tened and sent to the Southern and East
ern markets. The result is the farmers
are rich and Independent. They are all |
doing well, under the circumstances. izia'
TIMBER.
One remarkable feature Of this county I
is, the great variety of timber which grows
upon her "aat lands" and upon her noun
tains and ridges. White pine, a rare growth
in Tennessee, is found in abundance, and
exceedingly tall and, large. Walnut is
everywhere to be found. Hickory of the /
finest quality. Tall white oak and poplar,
and indeed, every variety almost that could
be mentioned. ~
CONCLUSION.
Take Cooke county altogether, its socie-
ty, its soil, its adaptation to all the fruits,
timber, &C., &C., and we know of no better
county in East Tennessee.
.ss"' Coal Creek. = agoW
We had often heard of the Coal Greek
mines and of the rich deposits of the black
uldluOl1OS G1dU WtlC W Uc lOuuu tuCIC, Uut
to satify ourselves we visited that section
of country, and after having partaken of
the hospitalities of Mr.. Wiley, one of the
land owners of that section, pro-
ceeded, in company with his son, Mr..
Howard Wiley, to yisi the mines.
We commenced with the fartherest |
mine, which is new one, and is leased by
the Coal Creek Coal Company for twenty
five years, with the privilege of twenty
five years more, and embraces three hum
dred acres. This mine has, although new,
rooms, and is in splendid order. |
The coal vein is about four feet thick and |
of the best quality of bituminous coal. The
of the mine is, with the present |
force. provided railroad transportation is
furnished about forty five tons per. day. We
then came to mine No. 2, leased by Wiley,
Gears & Co., for twenty-five years, with
the same privilege as the above named,
their territory embracing about two hun
dred and fifty acres. The vein in this mine
is the finest we have seen, being about five
feet eight inches to six feet thick. They
and can turn out with this force, providing |
the transportation is furnished about forty
five tons per day.
Mine No. 8, owned by the Coal Greek
Coal Company, is one of the Oldest mines
there and is nearly worked out. .i2ssT ..19a!
Mine No. is leased by the Knoxville
Iron Company for Is years with the privil-
ege of 15 years more, and embraces terri~
tory of 250 acres. They are now working |
in this mine about 40 miners in 81 rooms
The vein is rich one, and their capacity |
is about los tons per day. : }tSb.H -
Mine No. was leased by McEwen & |
Wiley, but is now being worked by. the |
Knoxville Iron Company. This mine cOns |
tains fortyor fiftyrooms although onlyabout |
twenty of them are now being worked. |
The capacity of the mine with the present |
number of hands, is about So tons per day. |
Mr.. Morgan Llewellyn is the agent
of the knoxville Iron Company,
and has charge of the two
above named mines and keeps everything
in good running order, The two bosses of
these miresl are both named Thos. Thom-
as, although not in the least related TO
each other.
AS to territory for opening new mines
there is an abundance still unoccupied,
which can be leased by capitalists at rea-