Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-12-24
a RoAD TO THE SOUTHEAST.
Iatelligencer:

Editor IateHtgencer
AS the subject of Lexington and
Lafayette county coal is an impor-
tant one, | desire to direct the atten-
Hon of our people who are interested
i'll it, to an entcrprise which l think
feasible, and which needs only to be
we'll understood by those conccrlrd
to be brought about. l mean the
connection by rail of Lexington with
her mines of coal, and Salem, Dent
county, with her mines OF iron ore.
The coal of this county is acknowl-
edged TO be the very bestin the state
for smelling purposes. and there is 10
place in the state where it can be
mincd cheaper than it can here. The
ore ofDent county is said to be the
very best in the state, and is taken 10
st. Louis in large quantities for adj
mixture with Iron Mountain and
Pilot Knob ores. 1t is my UNDER
standing that no coal suitable for
smelling purposes has been found
near this ore, aud that all the iron
that is made in the vicinity Of the
iron banks is charcoal iron. which
though the best is made at much
greater expense, and is consequently
higher priced. 1t has been demon
strstcd that it is-chcaper to bring the
ore to the fuel than TO take the fuel
TO the ore. If these are facts, why
would it.not pay to build a road from
Sedalia via Versailles, Morgan county;
T~uscuinbia, Miller county; Rolla,
Phelps county, TO Salem, in Dent
county and by establishing furnaces
and rolling mills in Lexington, make
Of it the largest manufacturing town
III the interior of Missouri. Building
the road speak of, would o be SO
difficult IL matter as might be. sup
posed. The road from Cuba on the
A. and p. railroad to Salem, has been
almost entirely built by one iron
company, managed by two or three
embarrassing aud energetic men.
This road, which is some fifty to
sixty miles in length, has been built
for the sole purpose of giving, these
iron men n means of shipping their
ore AMI iron to ST. Louis, without
having. as heretofore, to haul il to
the railroad a great distance, which.
of course, took off profits. Now.
show these mcn'that in this direction,
where living is cheaper, where we
are near the markets of the Great
West, where operatives can live in
health and comfort, aud where cheap
sis ntAI haitian. p..l .,- H. | -.
their purposes. and ttlere Is no doubt
that they will be able to indulge the
people between Salem and Sednlia to
build the road. All iha. we have to
do Is to prove to them that we can
create a market. for their ores.
There will be no trouble ABBOTT the
road. Kansas City is interested in
this road; it will give her access to
these mines of mineral wealth, IT
will give her A direct road, eventual.
ly, to New Madrid, where connection
with southern water navigation is
rarely interrupted either by ice or
low water. Her southern freights
can then come by tho cheapest and
shortest route practicable. Sedaliu
is interested on similar, grounds.
Versailles and Tuscumbia are inter-
ested because they have no roads
near them, and what little navigation
is done in the Usage is of such a pre-
carious nature that it is of little ben-
.etit To the latter place. RolIa of
course would favor it, as it would
make u junction there of two great
roads.
The mining of coal here will
be a benefit TO the place, but.to make
a city the first desideratum is lnhab-
iianis. How much betterit would be
five could contrive to locate amongst
us, twice as many people to burn the
eosi as it will take to dig 1t. I do not
pretend that l know that all these
things r practieabte; but US notia-
Ing is learned without Investigation
1 start this ball in motion hoping that
ADLER men than l may roth /. TO ,itaa
II you will through
your columns call the attention of