Huntington independent. [volume] (Huntington, W. Va.) 1871-1874, 1873-09-04

upon the whole line, found "a seams Il
coal. Eleven Of these seams, contai. :
ing an aggregate thickness Of 81 fe f,
are workable, and il is believed tina
the pick and shovel will disclose new
beds in addition. - 10 the cJal ana
iron of West Virginia, the maruituh
If their deposits preclUleS the poS>ibil-
| ity Of exhaGsting the mines for hund-
S Of years to come. The coal fields
He uuderlaid with q SlhferoaS sand
rock, containing q large amount ol
salt. BY means Of the arteSan well.
,unk at the kanlwha mines the sal;
companies have reached a production
Of about 800, ,000 bushels per annum
Of salt well known 10 lie traie as a
superior article. Che other valuabl'
deposits developed in considerable
quantities are copper, granite, mari,
.octing slate, kaOlin, hydraulic CEN mt,
md fire clay. Gold has been develop
ed at several points, but the ya'ue Of
thc quartz fOGNl has not encouraged
mining OF this pleoioHS metal.
II is believed thai the mineral wealth
.of West Nirainia alone vii! amIiy re-
pay The cost OF cutting a railroad from
the seaboard 10 il. The work Of the
Pennsylvania coal combinations neceS-
;arily ten IS TO develop every coal field
that cau be brought in cheap cowmmi-
cation With New York, Providence and
BuSton. The railroad company con
tend that they viii hc abe 90 bring
3oal here in competition with Pennsyl-
y.uia. The gil along the line is re-
mlrkably various AMI fertile, adapteo
to all grains, traits, vine culture, and
,tockraising. The accessibility TO cheap
coal and timber presents great adyaat-
ages to manufacturers. especially Of iron
but in fact to furniture, woodwork, and
1t! kinds Of manufacture. These are
the | cal Advantages to the States OF
Virginia and Yves. Virginia. i.oOking
beyond the local aspect Of The matter,
let us see to what extent the road is 10
become a grand trunk Fast and West
Inc. Ii starts from Richmond, on the
James. and proceeds It distance of 420
miI,s, riq q ,rd0nyiIIc, Millhoro, White
sulphur and Chr.eston 70 Huntington,
on tie Ohio river, ;.. the mouth Of tho
Guyannottc. At Richmond vessels
drawing thirteen 70 sixteen feet Of wa
Ter can go up to the docks, and the
Ohio of course taps the vast river Sys-
TEN Of navigation from PltLsbJrg and
st. Paul to interior Arkansas and NV
Orleans. Thus the grain OF Ma ol.i
and Minnesota, the c,ttcn Of the Red
river country and tha sugar and rice
from the creole plantations can find an
outlet by this Inc 20 Richmond and Ev-
rop1 The councctOas at the ocean
are the Allan line Of steamers for Eu-
rope and the Old Dominion Steamship
line for New York. The Richmond,
DanyiIle and Charlotte and Norfolk,
Petersburg AMI Southsidc railroads
make their southern rail connections to
New OrIc0ns. and tho orange ana ~.
eXludria and Richmond, Frederick
burg and Potomac railroads make the
northern rail corrections to New York
and points east The only difficulty ow
is the want OLA Western rail con- &C.
ton from HUNTINGTON. This will :, on
b. rcmcdied by a short line now build
ing to Lexington ani Louisville, aRd
another, the Cincinnati and Chesa
peakc, now building from Cincinrati.--
The western connections are now made
from huntington to Cincinnati. The
company arc con trgo;.ng a short road
from Richmond down the peninsula to
deep water on the Chesapeake, near
its mouth and ril make that the east
ern terminus Of the roGd They arc
spending large Sums Of money in in
creasing The equipment and in ere, ting
buildiugss and wharycs at Richr ond,
Huntington and uIoEg the road.