Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1876-03-02

| us decline tSkiDS IL dDON0 tHe tOp VI
the hills;hence il is unknown to the Pan
Handle, the first road north of us. From
Z to 10 miles south of the Wheeling d
Lake Erie, and on a parallel line this
coal is below the bed of the Ohio river
and its tributaries, hence there is very
little mirage of this coal on the Central
Ohio, (the first road south of us) and
there they get it by shafting.
A little west of Hopedale, % miles
from Wheeling, this vein is at the very
summit of the hills, about 500 feet
above the level of Lake Erie and some
200 feet above the road bed.
The road here is not far above the
next seam of coal which rises to the
northwest and is soon above the track
as it descends the valley Of the ConOt-
ton; thence to Navarro, So miles from
Wheeling, there are seams of coal
above and below the road bed, the en-
tire distance; and these seams range in
thickness from ) to feet.
At Navarro all the veins are lost
above the hill, except No. 1, or Massil-
Ion, or Briar Hill, or MahOning, by
which several names it is known.
This coal is the lowest in the series, and
is i'm on the line at convenient shaft
ing depth 200 to 800 feet.) Thence to
Burton City, at the crossing OF the P,
| Ft. w. & c., 81 miles from Wheeling,
| 6S from Sandusky, ,and Ill from Toledo,
the distance from Wheeling to Toledo;
| being 19S miles, scarce II miles from a
direct line.
I confidently assert, fearless of sue
cessiul contradiction, that no railroad
in the United States has any 2O0 miles
with so many miles of coal, and of so
many and desirable qualities, located
so advantageously with reference to
the road bed, and that can be carried
SO cheaply.
In addition to the sketch of the coal
interests of the road, Judge Cochran
furnishes an account of .Other advanta-
ges in the way of populous terminal
cities, connections, and developed
country along its line, which hold out
assuring prospects of success to the pro-
jectors of the road. Beginning with
Toledo and Sandusky City. the oue
with a population of $4,000, and the
other numbering $4,000, he places the
population of fourteen intermediate
counties at 10000, and the neighbOr-
hood included in a radius of two and
Une-haif miles, centering here, at 5O,-
600. Besides furnishing data on
which to estimate the probable amount
of local traffic, Judge Cochran claims
tfat the projected road will reduce the
distance from here to Sandusky, Tole-
do and Chicago more than 60 miles, and
will put those cities and intervening
territory on a line through this city
actually 176 miles, ,and practically more
than 200 miles nearer to Baltimore than
to New York.
At Toledo we will connect with the
great net work of railways centering
there, and be part of narrow-gauge
extending thence 160 miles to South
Haven, ON the East Shore of Lake
Michigan, which connects US with
both Of the great lakes, and opens up
new and most direct route to the great
ore and lumber regions. The ten
roads the Wheeling and Lake Erie
crosses between here and Toledo, will
as Mr.. Stanley says, ''subserve its in
terests as ready made branches" and it
seems to me that local and foreis n cap
ital is 'exceedingly sensitive" and
blind with prejudice and panic if this
line is allowed to slumber. The line
has commended itself to every man
and committee inspecting it, and the
more it is studied the more it COM
mends.
i. can nc better close this letter than
by again adopting the language of
Hon. Walter Shanley, of Montreal, in
two other letters received from him:
"I still rely, on the intrinsic merits of
the Wheeling and Lake Erie" and
''am still hopeful that the spring Wi,l
bring a revival of confidence, and that
really good and promising projects,
such as ours, will be graciously re-
ceived."