The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1874-01-05
Of her generous and noble citizens with the
wealth OF nations"


energy, push and vin, are concerned, but
he is seconded by band of earnest, en-
terprising and intelligent workers, who are
in full accord with his most laudable hopes
and noblest enterprises, and with these
co-operators the work has a life and vi
tality infused into it which promises
well for the future of this great much
needed road.
By reference to large and exhaustive
work on the "coal statistics" of the world,
by r. @. Taylor, who is of the first au-
thority upon such subjects, it will be seen
that Virginia has twenty-one thousand
square miles Of the coal.bearing region in
the great Allegheny or Appalachian coal
field, and Pennsylvania has fifteen thou
sand. Now it is very evident that nothing ex-
cept the Development of the Pennsylvania
coal lands makes the mighty difference in
her productive mining wealth as compared
with Virginia. Well and truly may CAPT.
tai as well as labor cry Eureka! when con-
templating the future Of this magnificent
coal field, in which, also, are to be found
so vast and varied an amount of other val
liable minerals, to say nothing of the in
exhaustible forests OF fine timber and the
grazing aud farming capabilities of the
lands to which we are referring. For not
only is the bituminous coal of the softer
kinds to be found there, but camel, splint,
semi-bituminous and other hard Goals are
to be met with in the greatest abundance,
and why let them lie there forever, out OF
| reach of this great and busy world, which
| SO much needs them? 1t is well-known
fact that the famed Frostburg (Maryland)
coal does not surpass in quality much OF
the coal to b, mined amid the hills
and mountains of West Virginia.
The Emperor of Brazil, Don
Pedro ii. reads his newspapers by gas de-
rived from coal mined at Clarksburg, West
Virginia, but this had never been the fact,
had not the energy and noble enterprise of
| go-ahead Baltimore and her sensible and
far-seeing citizens, aided by brave and big
hearted little Maryland, penetrated the
primeval solitudes of the wilderness of hills
and mountains, and brought that great
civilizer, the locomotive, to the feet and
through the dark bowels Of these noun
tains Of wealth, waking the beautiful green
valleys and the signing solitudes of the
hills with the heavy tread of the snoring
engine, and bore away the precious
black diamonds" to the sea-shore. But
this Shenandoah Valley and Ohio railroad
will open up new and very extensive
region further south, from which the cities
l of Virginia can draw much of the life
breath Of an extensive and ever-increasipg
commerce, and thus grow to wealth and
commercial importance by the same means
that Baltimore has so rapidly and so sue
cessfully built up her trade and augmented
her commercial and manufacturing i'm
portance.
| And now, as the gloomy "winter of our
discomfort" is about blown over, and the
late amnesty bill has it sin the deep bosom
of the ocean buried" will quote from the
Old Commonwealth, a live newspaper pub
lished in Harrisonburg, Virginia, an ex-
tract in relation to General French, the
pre- sident of this company:
General French, the president, is q
Northern man by birth. He graduated
at West Point in the class with General
Grant, and served in the Mexican war.
New Jersey, his native state, presented him
with gold sword Sometime after he
moved to Mississippi and was large
planter when the civil war broke out, and
entering the Confederate army served with
distinction throughout the war;"
Since writing the above article have
been shown specimen of genuine anthra.
cite coal, which was found not far from
the town of Bridgewater, in Rockingham
county, and the gentleman upon whose
land this coal has so recently been discoy-
cred says the vein is seven feet thick.
There are inexhaustible amounts of iron
ores of several varieties in the same local
ity in which this coal is found, and taking
all these facts into consideration in add.
ton to the abundant and most excellent
water-power privileges which belong to
the promising villages of Bridgewater and
Berlinton, that are both beautifully stu
ated upon the banks of North river, one
of the tributaries of the Shenandoah, in
dcates and points towards these villages
as being almost certain to have future OF
which few are now dreaming, or ever dare
to speak about without smile of incre-
dulity, playing over the face of the fossil
listener but to few who have the spirit
OF this progressive and fast-moying age
fully developed in their minds, it is one Of
the things that they must reasonably and
confidently look forward to. $500
| Nearly the, first question asked by
men, before immigrating, is, "Are there
any chtls and feper there ?' This ques-
ton can, happily and most emphatically,
be answered in the negative, when it is
asked in regard to all this portion of the
great and fertile Valley of Virginia.
| These villages are in the midst of re-
| gion of country at once fertile and romantic.
The famous and symmetrical Round Hill
overlooks them both, and is to these
North river towns what Lookout noun
tain is to Chattanooga in Tennessee,
which q writer beautifully described as
sentinel watching over the youthful
days of that already thriving city on the
Tennessee river-made so by coal and
iron-so with Birmingham, Alabama,
which has grown in four years from moth.
ing to be city of commercial importance
in that state-so ofaIronton, Ohio Ash
land, Kentucky, and score of other
towns that we might easily designate.
Taking all these positive facts into consid-
GRAFTON, only for one moment and we will
at once perceive the wisdom, prudence and
far-seeing business capacities of the COM
pany in naming Bridgesoater as the head
quarters of the company, for there are two
railroads already projected and one over
hat finished q refer to the Narrow Gauge),
which will become the great arteries
through which the life of brisk and
thriving trade will build up
this lovely village. Already at the long
neglected. and "unappropriated natural
DAM on North river, not o quarter OF q