Knoxville Whig and chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1875-1882, 1875-07-21
LOCKWOOD.
Inieresting.Letter from this Pittsburg
of the SOuth.--DOwn i'm the
Coal Mines.
Especial Correspondence to the chronicle)


! Especial Corr, spondenae to the Chronicle)
RoCkwooD, July Sth, 1915.
This "Pittsburg OF the South" as II
has been denominated by some, is sit
uated at the foo, of Walden's Ridge,
about eight miles below Emory Gap.
The future railroad will pass within
half mile of the place, on ils way to
Chattanooga.
lockwood furnace is noted f'r hav-
ing made iron cheaper than any other
in the United States.
The reason Of this T., that the coal.
the ore, and the limestone are AL found
80 near together.
The cost of ore, however, has in
creased Of late years. When the fur
mace first commenced work, The ore
could be delivered for cost Of one dol
lar per ton. Now, il costs over two
dollars. The reason of this increase is,
the surface ore near the furnace has
been exhausted, aud the miner must
either go further, or drive a shaft into
the vein.
They have two furnaces at this place,
1t has capacity of about twenty tons
per day, or at least they are making
about that.
The company have narrow guage
track from the furnace to the Tennes-
see River, distance of six miles, upon
which they run daily train. Over
this road, they ship the iron to the
river and thence to the cOmpany's
IL at 7
am told that most of their iron Is
made into rails. They have a contract
TO furnish n thousand tons of rails for
the Cincinnati Southern, but did not
learn at what price.
These furnaces support a town of
something near a thousand inhabi-
tants. The streets are wide, clean and
well paved, and many of the houses
present an attractive appearance.
The company have large brick store
where au immense trade is done, not
only with the employees, but with the
DOWN IN A COAL MINE"
az wish to go in the mines" l said
to a pleasant spoken official, whom |
| found perched in little lodge, away
| | better wait and go i'm on "A car ?'i
"Ges, you had better hunt up the
| foreman of the mines, and get him to
send some one with you. It's hardly
| prudent for stranger to @ in alone. -
Thanking him for his Information,
| posted away in search of the fore
man. That gentleman found, AID the
uesIred permission granted, | was
I'm -. a4tN al
who told me to hop in " car which
was just starting. Hopping in, we
wound around the end ofthe mountain
over gorge, and came to part of the
track which rests at an angle of about
forty-five degrees. AS this was little
sleeper grade than | was accustomed
to, jumped out and clumbered around
the mountain, to the mouth of the en-
try. Here 1 waited until the car was
drawn up the inclined plane. This
was effected by means of wire rope
passing around pulley. To one end
of it a loaded car was attached at the
top, and this descending by the force
OF gravity, drew up the empty car
from the bottom. Here | was turned
over to another gentleman, who de-
posted me in car and ratified away
L
myself deposited in the middle of Wal
denis Ridge, mile from daylight, and
| don't know how may hundred feet
from the the top of the mountain. The
sensation of this semi-Plutonian Jour
ney is rather novel to the uninitiHed.
While peering about in the gloom,
one can not help wondering what
night happen, If "A healthy young
Oh oh
along.
Visions of tons OF loose coal, inter-
spersed with large boulders, and au oc-
casional i" horseback fit unbidden
through the mind, and cause " each
particular hair to stand on end.n
The structure of Walden's Ridge at
this point is peculiar. 1 am no geolo-
gist, but it requires only glance at
the formations, 10 convince one of
that fact. The coal does not lie in hOr-
izOntal strata as it does at Coal Creek
Careyville and other points, but is
disturbed or " tumbled.n | do not
know whether these are terms used by
scientific men or not, but they convey
my impression.
The coal and rock were either thrown
in, rather promiscously at first, or if
tue orig ndl uepOSlt was regular, lueTe
has been some terrible CONFUSION of
the earth, at some time in the dim
past. Old dame nature was evidently
in a playful mood, either when she
manufactured that country or some
time thereafter.
The coal lies in every conceivable
position; here it j. horizontal for a
short distance, yonder it shoots up in
the mountain at an angle of forty.five
degrees, and then again it is thrown
up on its edge. In some places the
'rooms" have been opened out to a
height of forty or fifty feet; again
'squeezes" out to passage of six
feet.
In the large rooms the miner digs
around a large body of coal, under
mining it, until it falls with a mighty
crash. a dozen tons sometimes come
down in this way. 1t requires great
care to prevent accidents by these fall
ing masses. Take it ali in all, the
miners life is one of few attractions,
and is full of danger.
The depression in the iron market is
felt at lockwood, but the institution
hoe a world pf vjtalirU lafr Vaf Vba