Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1878-11-15
REMARKS FROM A TRAMP.

MINE-NUTTALBURG AND The STRI-
KERs-FIRE CREEK-A NIGHT SCENE
AT THE MINEs-COKE, BOW 1T Is MADE,
&C., SC, WC.
Correspondence of the Staunton VINDICAToR.)
ANDERSON, w. VA.
November 4th, 1873 I
This little town, while it is one of the
youngest is also one of the busiest and
NEST tlourishing railroad towns along the
g. y O.. line. 1t is in Monroe county, on
Greenbr er river. within a stones throw
Of Greenb,ier county, and within gun shot
Of Summers, and like all towns of rapid
growth has drawn the larger portion of its
population from the East, among whom
are some enterprising citizens of Augusta
The irropressible G. &. GCoch, Of Staun-
ton has found out it is a good business CELL
tire and the store of Gooch IL Peck, IS one
of the attractions OF the place. Mr.. d. H .
Mohler, late of Augusta has Il large steam
saw mill ON the river below, and does an
extensive lumber business where Mr.. VIM.
Kunkle, formerly of Staunton is also en-
gagged in business. Mrs. D. M. Sheppard,
of WayneShoro is the fashionable milliner
of the place and is well patronized, Mr.. N .
B. Sheppard superintends the brick
work on that division of the G. & o. road
and Mr.. w. A. Hancock, a mute and
graduate Of the Institution at Stanton
is the efficient assistant railroad agent and
telegraph operator. There are five stores
here three of which are large ''citifed''
looking establishments and enterprising
concerns; MIR. G. LobbaEs, G. G. Gooch
Il Co.'s and the Grange Cooperative store,
joint stock concern, run by the grangers
in the three counties for 40 miles around.
II is a successful enterprise conducted On
a strict cash basis End is largely patron
zed. There arr two physicians, DR.. Vim.
L. Barksdale. late of Halifax county and
Dr. Spcer: first class hotel and railroad
eating house, Mr.. D. T. Cogbill proprie-
tor, and young but growing and we'll
conducted male and female boarding school
of which Rev. Mr.. Laird, formerly OF
Rockbridge, is pri, .cipaI. There are nine
new dwellings and a puDlic school build
ing in progress of construction, a large
portion of the town haveing been built
from the steam saw mill OF two enterprls-
ing Canadians, Messrs. Boa & Brother,
who have constructed the first boom that
has successfully withstood the floods OF
the Greenbrier. The sound OF the saw
and hammers lutes the ear on every hand,
the smell of new paint pervades the at
mosphere and ''go ahead" seems to be the
walchword Of Anderson and the jewellers
thereip.
LAUNCHING A NEW RIVER STEAMER.
AS 1 passed Hinton, % miles west Of
this place, a pretty little steamer lay at
anchor there. She had been la unched that
day and is the first steamer that has foated
on these waters. She is a neat little stern
wheel craft, built by William Collins. an
experienced boat builder Of Portsmouth
Ohio Her length from stem to stem is 12O
feet and width 20 feet. Her draught is
very light not more than three inches now.
and when the engine is put in, which will
be about the middle of the month. she will
not draw more than eight inches. The
whole cost will be about $4,000. The stea-
mer is owned by an association, principal
~ of railroad men, under the style of the
New River Steamboat Company, of which
Messrs j. E. Mallory, W. Lowry, Egbert
Fowler, II. F. Thomson aud Galloway,
are the directors, Nh. Egbert Fowler, the
Commemorative Attorney of Summers
county, being President.
In two or three weeks this pioneer OF
New River will be ready to commence her
regular trips. She will at first ply be-
tween Hinton and Crumps Bottom, but III
the spring, with the $4,000 government
appropriation for the improvement Of New
River, the channel over the shoals will be
deepened so that she can run up the river
to Central Depot on the A. NJ u 0. road
in Pulaski county thus opening up SONS.
fine country III GILES aud Pulaski, penetra
ting one Of the best lumber regions in the
West, also opening short and cheap
route from the Southwestern portion of
Virginia, via: Hinton to the KanaWht
Valley and the Ohio. 1t is very credita-
BILE enterprise and promises we'll for the
energetic little company who have it in
hand.
THE COAL MINES AGAIN.
Since last wrote you from the coal
regions west of this point in the KanaWha
Valley, [ have again passed through that
interesting locality. Stopping at Blacks
burg, found Mr.. Hoge had, with his
usual energy, succeeded in pumping dry
the subterranean lake in his lower coal
mine and had an increased force of hands
in all three mines and the firm was ship
ping train of cars loaded with coal every
day. Two miles above Blacksburg MIR.
Brewer lSmith is operating at Paint Greek
with large force on the same seam of
coal which is mined at Coalburg, miles
below. 1t is a very popular CRATE coal.
He has the best dumping and separating
arrangement l saw. Every load of coal in
its descent from the weighing house is
separated by screens of different sizes Into
three grades, according 10 the size of
Jumps, the largest sized Jumps are worth
there only 81, 20 per ton, the smaller, which
is fine for CRATES, rs cents per ton. 1t is
the freight charges that brings it up to So
III StauntOn.
COAL VALLEY
is the coal centre of this region There
are eleven mines, all in operation at this
place and within miles. From thG cap
ital Cnghill house here, run by Mr. j Il.
johnson, so fayorably known to Western
travellers, dehouched upon the bIackened
field, From CanneltQn, busy little coal
town on the opposite OF the river, large
quantities of the famous camel coal are
dawn across the river by steam fxlurs
to theJailroad. Your correspondent did
not have an opportunity of ascending the
remarkable incline of 2200 feet and wit
Messing the interesting operations there
Taking in little of the activity on the
Codl hileY Slu0 was nolo CldH enough
for my time. The long trains of heavily
laden cars which come in here from the
various mines during the evening and
block up several tracks for hundreds Of
yards making with the putting engines,
hurrynx telegraph dispatchers and scores
of railroad officials and enpl ,yees, busy
scene not often witnessed outside OF a larg-
city, all disappear during the night and |
make way for the morning 3 rush.
THE PRECIOUS FUEL
for car load of which you Stauntonians
pay $50 is here as cheap as the stones on !
your streets. The railroad hands dump it |
make ballast Of it when dirt and stone are !
not conven emit, a Car load upsets and it is |
not worth The trouble of gathering up
again, 1aborers burn it in big heaps along |
thi.dx,z as;da t4,o h.aie