The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1878-03-07

annum for an insurance Of 49, 1000. OF course
the number stated is only fer illustration
It might be increased, and the limit to the
amount of insurance might be also.
The advantage to be derived from home
Company, would consist in the avoidance Of
all unnecessary expenses for its operation
the certainty that all the demands would be
legitimate; and that it would contine the ex-
penditures to home industries and home ben.
efits.
Independent of the actual pecuniary con-
sideration involved, there would grow from
it a bond of social connection and sympathy
"a kind Of brotherhood, which would beget
a more intimate acquaintance and under
standing between the members, and exert q
| neighbors and citizens. We make the ref
erence to the subject. in the hope that the
gentleman who first suggested the propriety
of the organization, will take hold Of it and
push it to success full consummation.
| The GREAT IRON DEPOSITS OF THE
VALLEY.-Maj. Jed Hotchkiss has just com
pleted his report of the Guys Run Iron
lands in Rockbridge County-one of the
] most valuable mineral deposits of the con-
tinent. After giving various handsomely
executed maps and vertical cross sections,
showing the different geological formations,
&c., he details at considerable length the
scientific properties OF the ores, analyses of
which, by some of the most eminent geolo-
gists of the country, have determined them
to be of the richest and most valuable char
acter. We should like to follow him through
the entire report, that our readers might
know what vast mines Of wealth lie buried
in our mountains, but want Of space for
bids. We will. however, give the opinion of
one OF the largest iron manufactures OF the
country, Hon. Hester Clymer, member of
Congress from Pennsylvania. In a letter
to the great English firm Of McCalmont
Brothers, one of the wealthiest houses of
London, Mr.. Clymer, under date of August
22d, 1872, says !: .'Mr. Finnstone, whose
judgment is second to none, is of opinion
that within the next generation the great
seat of the manufacture Of pig iron
must be transferred from the Lehigh and
Schuylkill districts of our State (Pennsyl-
vania) to that portion of the State of Vir-
ginia where are these lands, since pig iron
can there be made at a rate so low that it
will be impossible for lis to compete with
them. In the opinion OF Mr.. Finnstone the
cost, to-day, would be about SIS. per ton,
while here the average cost, at this time, is
S24. per ton. Cheap iron is the nee
essity of the age, and we cannot produce it
ia this State. In Virginia. where the ore
deposits are regular, of enormous extent
and great richness, and where the limestone
and coal are in proximity, and where the
products can be shipped cheaply to the sea-
board or the great West, must be the place
where. in very few years, pig iron must
be made most largely and successfully.
The iron ore and limestone are there of
superior excellence and of unlimited quanti-
ty, the coal can be brought to the spot at
reasonable cost, and in my judgment, and
in that of all other iron manufacturers with
whom l have discussed the subject, there is
no place in the country where pig iron can
be made more cheaply and successfully
This property is but one of a number with
which. the great Valley abouuds, and which
but await the touch of capital to quicken
them into values, and make this the iron
centre of America. Our readers should Sc
cure copy Of this report and acquaint them
selves with at least some of the advantages
OF this particular section. 1t will repay the |
most careful study and the information con-
tanned in it may be relied upon. Major
Hotchkiss has them for sale at fifty cents
each.
AS pertinent to this subject, we have been
permitted to make an extract from letter,
of recent date, from Prof. N. A. Pratt, now |
of New Jersey, to Major Hotchkiss. 1t en-
courages the hope, coming as it does from |
prominent scource, that the day is not far |
distant when the eyes of the monied men
will be turned towards Virginia, and new
life open to the old Commonwealth. The
extract is as follows
II am still much interested in the deyel-
opment OF the mineral wealth of Virginia,
and had hoped that long before this Geo.
logical and Mineral survey would have been
organized. That of Georgia has done much
to draw the attention of northern capitalists.
and there is good reason to believe that after
the present uncertainty and want of conf
dence in the financial st titus passes, there
Will bea heavy exodus of money and enter
prising men from this section.''
We may state as matter of fact, and
supplementary to what Mr.. CJymerlla writ
ten, chat the President of the Eureka Com
pany, now directing the affairs of Elizabeth
Furnace, remarked the other day that he
could demonstrate to the satisfaction OF any
one, that a ton of pig iron could be made here
for something less than ten dollars, instead
of eighteen. as Mr.. Clymer has it. A fur
ther statement we are authorized to make,
that Tess than a ton of coke has produced at
the Lowmoor Works, a full ton of pig iron
These statements are the result of practical
tests. There is no speculation or conjecture
about them, and they fully establish the claim
we make. that there is no section of country
On the continent where iron can be manu-
featured aJ as much profit.
We unhesita tingly recommend Pearman's
rs the hest nd M Ost relia hla 1aaIor IF oil /