The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1873-03-21

iHE BELLS CAT Marrow GVAGE RAN
EoAD.-Ihe following description of the
aro'e named enterprise, as well as the
region through whch it passes, and the
q eat natural stores of wealth its CouStruc>
tl"n Is SIre to Develop appeared in The
i"liidaysbUTE Standard some three months
ago, and would have beer published hy us
at that time had not or copy Of The paper
III SONS mysterious way escaped oar vision.
AS lhe road is designed - tap The unde-
VeLopcd coal fields and princYal forests of
Iiie northeastern part Of this county.
among our readers there are not 4 few who
WiH he interested, even At tl;is late day, in
the account given below:
There Is @ln enterprise in Blair county
hich we have often thought Of noticing ut
enc i"nEth-an ENTERPRISE The inception
art Completion Of which i LARGELY Gii.. Ia
the cut"rpris" and energy &C Gen. T. +. Bell
We allUds to the Bclis ) Gan Narrow iIf,arr
Ith!t"'d, running from Bells Mills, ou The
Ia. IL X, over the Ailcg gherv mountains
down To the valley Ct the Clcarfirld creek
his important work. which Is the only mar
row Cuage road in the State. excrut a small
one IN the anthracite coal regions. was com
n"nced in April, 1872, and since that time
the work of COustru, tiou has been pushed
with great vigor, until at this time the grad-
ing has been completed as Tar as 1he summit
and the rails have been laid within a mile
or two OF the same point
uder the supervision Of skillful and ex-
lenenced engineers, the read far rs laid
Is model OF durable and safe engineering
AND we doubt II there Is a road IN the conn
try which, under similar circUns tIuceS. can
SurpasS it in this essential characteristics
hnu this has been ACCOMPLISHED in the, face,
CT numerous, obstacles, the character Of the
country and the height OF the summit above
the point OF connection with the PcnnsyIva-
mia railroad at Bells Miiis-lwclve hun,.red
and fOrty-tiYe feet in = distance Of "ighr and
q half understanding grade of one hun
drcG and fifty eight feet per mile and very
heavy C':Tyes necessary.
The scenery along The route Of the road IS
necessarily grand. Winding IL and around
mountain ravines, crossing gorges, cErviug
arUIEhd points hundreds OF feet above the
streams below, the traveller has uufClded to
MS view panorama OF mountain scenery
unsurpassed in America, aud amply worthy
I OF a special visit hy the ad:nIrcr of nature
in her gr:udest form.
The mountain scenery, however grand,
would scarcely compensate Tor the building
of a railroad, and the gentleman who are At
the head OF the enterprise, while fully appre-
Ciatiug natures loveliucSs, are not uuIuiud-
ful OF her hidden jewels. ana il was to get
1T these that TIE construction OF the road has
been undertaken. Nature is something of
a Hiser She loves 10 hoard her treasures,
and is sometimes suCCs sS!uI until attacked
10y men OF energy aud enterprise. Such " as
the ease IN this Instance.
The line of the road passes directly thro'
4 region termiug with UudeTeiOpeu Y ealth.
Iron ore is known TO exist III large quauti-
ties. Fire clay of she finest quality II aLun-
daut building stones are numerous. I'm
meusc forests OF pine, hsrulocl1, chestnut and
/ other valuable timber whisper 10 each other
} of the good they shall do III the world when
the,aX of the wooG1nan has laid them low.
I Undoubtedly, however, tie immense, un-
B developed coal fields Oi this region are the
/ most important and are destined to he a
source OF almost iucacuiable profit 20 their
! lucky owners. This coal is nearer the east
| eTn markets than any other biJuminuus vein
/ developed, is said 10 be fully equal 10 the
/ celebrated Cumberland coal for all practical
/ purposes and viii command ready sale.
1t Is estimated that The daily shipment OF
/ coal alone over the road in one year from
( the present time will exceed five hundred
! tons.
J Thus it will he seen that the BELLS Gan
, railroad is al important enterprise, that ii
/ will open for purposes OF traffic a rich and
/ hitherto uudeyelUped country, and hat lis
( business must of necessity DO p paying one.
But this is not all. The road proposes t,
spread itself" The distance from Bell'i
Mills to CIearfield Creek, one of the bes
numbering regions in the state, is only 81 Z
! teen miles. To this point the road Will b
/ shortly completed, and, III all probability, !
will in few years extend through Clear
. field aud ad joining counties auu connect Wiz
Z other roads i'll the northwest
As we said at the beginning, the rapi
, construction Of this important artery q
trade is mainly due to the iudomitab.e cN
ertions of ieIIersl Bell. True ho OWNS Sc :
Nerai Thousand acres OF heavily timbered Ian
much Of it uudcriaid with coal-au;l sc
eral seams of iron ore and fire Clay-alOng u
/ line of the road and viii be greatly heEctii
Z ted 10y its completion, but none the less doe
/ he deserve tue communication of all V no AT
in favor OF the proper development of thos
advantages given us by nature. That h
may reap All abundant harvest from the il
vestment of time and money, is the siIcer
wish OF all who know him.
, Bells Mills already feels the impetus Civ
; en- 10y the narrow gauge railroad. y tow
/ OF over five hundred lots has been laid out
aud there is ample room for that further eS
tension which is bound to come. Many c
the lots have been sold and numerous HeN
; buildings will be erected in the spring. Ih
} shops of the Bells Gap railroad comp&n
} will all be located here, with warehouses
, transfer sidings, coal tpples, and other N
/ CeSsary buildings.
The Penn'a railroad company, which a
WAYS looks far into the future aud plans a
| cordingly, is at present engaged in ruahil
. / Eome very important and extensive lmpruv
, mcmts 1T Bells Mills looking toward Il
! transaction OF the heavy shipping bUs!ue
/ which will be dore at that point by ne1
4 ! spring. Among other things, we note II
eftsi2%n e qf fs 5sGGge G ~ iagd i9tiat tdrag IA
| , watering station for the main line, the gre;
/ CorporaIion having made arra.i gcments wit
! ] General Bell for supply OF water froI
: / Bells Run, which furnishes an abundanC
i of pure water, not only for this purpose, nt
> also for the wants OF the people.
. Altoona has had another sensation
i the discovery OF the dead bodies of two II
f,,+S both undcubtcdly the fruits of i'll,