The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1874-09-14
West Va, as an Iron producing Re.
zion,

West Va, aS IN Iron producing Re.
$500. glon.
A difference Of opinion as to the cheap
ness with which iron can be manufactur-
ed in West Va, has sprung up between
the Iron Age Of New York, and the Kn-
gineria0 and Mining Journal Of the same
city. Not long since the former stated
that KGnAWhA coal could be delivered on
cars on the line Of the Chesapeake &
Ohio Railroad for 800 per ton, and in
Richmond at $500 per ton that an ex'
penditure OF $2,0O0-would open a mine
capable Of producing 62 900 tons per year.
and other information scarcely less stst'-
ling. To this the Engineering Snd Mn
ing Journal replies.
On the Kanawha miners are paid &c.
10 3Ic. Der bushel, or, say, SOC. to 500
FER ton ; 10 this must be added hauling,
handling, and other general expenses, and
interest and royalty, which alone is from
II 10 20 cents per ton and the cost on
cars would DO nearer $3.50 than $l.00.
BY reference TO our table Of ireighn on
Biluminous Goals, in another column, we
see that the freights on Splint coal from
the Ksnawha region 10 Richmond Is g..
20 on Camel coal 1886 and splint
coal is quoted in Richmond at IS Goa
price on which there is very little profit
either 10 the miner or TO the dealer.
Those who have tried with q capital Of
$1,000 TO open colliery to produce go
600 tons per year, know how utterly ab-
surd these figures are.
In the same article an estimate is given
oil the cost Of making pig iron "at furnace
at mouth Of Gauley on the Ohio River
$a2 50; freight from that point to Gin
cinnatI IL g 90 per ton; 10 Alexandra,
Va, % so. thence TO New York, 81 %
to 81 90. .
We would remark, en- PEASANT, that the
mouth Of Gauley Is by no means on the
Ohio, but ia nearly 100 miles from Il; mol
is it even on navigation on the Ksnawha
II the furnace be on the Ohio, the
ireights East must be very considerably
increased and the cost Of material used
increased BY additional freights on coal
and ore. West Virginia coal and iron
are good enough and abundant enough
TO do without the systematic exaggera-
ton which we find circulated by the press
throughout the country.
In answer 10 the above structures Of
the Journal, the Iron Age replies as fol-
lows:
That the statements made in the article
referred 10 are based upon the very bes,
authority upon the subject at isue-au
thority, let US add, fully equsl to the dc
tum Of the editor Of the Engineering ana
Mining J0urndL-may be seen from the
following quotations. Referring TO our
article we stated as follows: "The fscil.
lilies for mining this coal are, from its DO.
siliOn and depth, unequalled; and It has
been estimated that an expenditure oil
$1,000 will open mine capable OF pro.
ducing 1900 tons weekly, or $1,000 tons
per snnum." In his "Report on the Ag.
riCullursl and Mineral Resources of Viz.
ginis and West Virginia" Hon. Howell
Fisher, civil engineer, geologist, and
moreover practical iron manufacturer Of
some note, speaks as follows (page 12):
II has been stated before that the chasn
Of the river Gauley renders it most pc
culisr service in It's relation TO the coal
Cutting all the coal strata for nearly its
whole length entirely through, and get.
ting down among the shales under The
coal, the river has caused the numerous
streams which pierce this whole coal re.
gion 10 cut down through most OF the
cOAl.bearing strata on their courses, leay-
ing the coal entirely above water level,
accessible al hundreds oil points, by sim
ply Scraping of the surface soil; so that,
so far as the mere getting Of the coal is
concerned, two thousand dollars will
open a mine ready TO ship one thousand
tons per week. There Is no region In the
world where less physical labor will pre-.
pare mine Tor delivery of coal at the
drifts mouth.
As 10 the cost OF coal on cars being 81
per ton, we are assured by owners OF
coal lands in the vicinity that contracts
can be made at this figure. As to frelghts
from the mouth OF the Gauley TO Gin
cinnati being l2c, W. Ii. Edwards, ESQ
President oil the Ohio & Ksuawha Coal
Company, testified before the Senate
Transportation Committee (See DID, 403
and 4G6, ReporD that 1t cost them 81, 25
TO 81 40 freight from there 10 Cincinnati;
that cosl At g per ton paid them profit
delivered on their boats or on the rail.
road, and that they had on their lands
thirteen seams, which contained SO feet Of
coal.
Professor AnStesd's authority has been
considered in this country and abroad AZ
good as that OF most experts, and BY the
commercial world as Of sufficient value 10
justify the investment Of large sums Of
money-on amount OF confidence not
always bestowed on all Professors"
whether Of native or foreign extraction.
II Tho Iron Age is guilty OF gross exag-
geraioDs," Prof Anstesd must bear the
blame, since VIC quote him ser6atim, Be-
fore the Senate Transportation Commit.
tee (pp. 463, 45O and $50 Report Prof.
Anstesd testities that "he examined the
j formation on the Gsuley Mountain, near
Hawks Nest, and reports from ftIv b
aeeeRty feet oil Workable coal, all above
water level, consisting Of veins from four
to ten feet thick" In an address deliv.
cred before the Society Of Arts, on the
CosI and Iron oil Virginia, Prof. Anstead
states As follows:
OommSen0 :S at Mill Greek; near
E q TS;o vs. nsHssion, Of the Chesapeake
Ohlo halfway, We find in Ganlcv
Mountain, which rises L,h;nd ~, ~ uaucy
TO the west to hight Of a t tae, S onnn
the railway, an unusual ihSTe.1 aooVs
workable and valuable seams. tbs o.
here about 90 feet Of workable coal in Y =
number Of seams within thickness Of
about 800 feet Of measures. Ono 81 the
lowest workable seams has been lately
opened for work, and is found to contain
about 1000 feet above the railway, al
least 10 ieet Of hard, compact coal, Of The
splint and bituminous varieties, and