Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1876-03-04
Il on ARIFSTOWN JEFFERSON COUNTY, W. VA, SATURDAY, MA
Letter from Ohio.
BELLArnr. ONO. February 25, 1873.

BgLLArRE, ONO. February %, 1875.
DEAR "FgEE Pass ~ have been snjonrn-
ing here for the past three mouths, aud bave
fnally concluded to drop you a few lues. CIV
ing you faiat description of this section o'
,he country. Bellsire Is thriving and very
prosperous pogag city, of about 5000 inhab-
itants. he's grown rapidly during the past ise
wears. in fact but ten years ago there were but
few houses 10 constitute the town. Now
she can boast of six Glass Factories, Nail
works, Rolling Mills, Cement Mills, and As-
ricultural Implement Mandatory OF con-
siderable magnitude. Bellairc is located on
the banks Of the Chic river, four uileS south
of Wheeling, in Belmont county, Oain. &C.
cessible from all poin,s East, West, North and
South, by Railroad communication also the
advantage of the Ohio river.
q. The Central Ohio Division Of the B. X. q.
R r. connects here with the Wheeling branch
of the same roal. making through lioe 10
all important points West. The River Divi-
sion of the Cleveland c Pittsburgh L. Il. ter
inmates at this point. There Is quite an ex-
tensiye railroad fever throughout Ohio at the
present time, principally coudned TO the Mar
row Guape. There are about 400 miles OF
n G.. Roads under construction, and more
Than double the distance in contemplation u
Ohio alone.
The principal portion of the new railroads
west adopt the y. c.. System and a number os
old roads are changing their track 10 the three
fee, pnaee. The system is becoming more
nopular daily, throughout the entire country,
aud well it may, as the cost ol the graduation
and superstructurc ready for the rolling stock,
scarcely oxccsds the cost Of a frSt-claSs Mead
anized turnpike, and You have road that
answers all purposes, l'st as well as a road
that is built at cost OF $4,000 or S3O.OOO
per mile. They are making arrangements To
commence the graduation OF Narrow Guage
road running from Bellaire, South West, some
einhtv miles The surveys have been mad
Inv Mr.. O. Barrett, Jr.. The company i Tor
tnnate in securing the services of Mr. L., as
he is thorough, practical, experienced enel-
neer He has been engaged ~ locating and
constructing roads for number q! years with
great success. aud has but few, II a1y supe-
Tiors as a locating engineer. The people
along the line Of the new road owe their
thanks 10 the never firing energy Of It's prcsI-
dent, Col. j. II Sullivan, who knows 10 sucn
A word as fail He was the protector oi and
President Of the Central Ohio Road.
The surrounding country for considerable
distance Is very roughly broken. The soll Is
Of very sandy nature, and little lime
stone. Cjal abouuds in large quantities, being
percep,ible almost wherever You may go, Is
delivered 10 the consumer in Belare Tor
seven cents per bushel. Timber in abundance
believe. as a general thing, the prices for
farming lands ia this aud adjoining counties
range from $40 To $50 per acre For agri-
cultural purposes it cannot be compared with
the lands of the s. V. as the Valley lands are
far superior in natural quality. You may go
last west. or 10 any other point. but viii mol
find any section to equal the old Shenandoah
Valley.
The stock business Is carried on here 70 a
considerable extent The Is. & O. Il. i. have
stock wards at this point where they unload to
feed and water; the stock are then reloaded
and shipped East, principally to the BALTIC.
market. | had the pleasure OF meeting three
gentlemen from Loudoun county few days
since. and assure you it was very agreeable
it does fellow good 10 meet the genuine OLD
Vircinian occasionally. They were on their
return from Chicago, having a number OF stock
cattle. which they had Purchased there Mr..
4. T. Filler had about one hundred. should
think that some Of Jefferson County's farm
ers could make the stock business profitable
the coming season those who have land a
dapted to grazing. as stock cattle are very
plentiful and prices are low in Chicago. The
charges per car, via B. & 0. R Il. from Chi
cago TO Harper's Ferry is $lOi TO Charles,
town Sl14. Good cattle can be bad for 3!
and 81 cts per pound.
Wishing you all well, am,
Yours truly, TRAVELLER