The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-03-09

will astonish and delight the people OF Vir
ginia.s ~ .-------
Richmond-Iron and Coal.
The community that deals in II the We, yer,
best article OF q kind entering into con com
meree and necessary for mankind has tn
first element OF success. Richmond, there
fore. has a great advantage in several art1
icles OF commerce in which she has to some
/ degree monopoly OF trade. She has preemi
/; ,ner,ce in the manufacture OF iron and tobac
co, and since the construction OF the Chesa'
/ peake and Ohio railroad she has become the
! eastern terminus OF that road. which passes
through immense deposits OF iron-ore, ano
j practically exhaustless deposits OF The yer3
/, best coal in the world, The alignment and
/. curves OF this road are favorable, and IT:
:: CAPACITY great. 1t pours its mineral trea
i ~ s1n,res into the lap OF Richmond, and thu:
we have iron and coal added to those I'M
portant articles of commerce which Rich.
) mond controls.
.a These minerals are OF quality most desl
rabIe. We said above that the coal was the
very best. 1t has been tested by the scien'
tific chemist, aud in the iron furnaces and
in the gas-works, and its superior qualities
have been demonstrated. The Kanawha
gas-coal has forced from advocates OF COM
petYe Goals the verdict Of excellence. The
report OF MIR. HIGGINS, chairman OF the
Committee ION Gas, of this city, published
in this paper March the 9Th, shows the pro-
duction, OF gas from pound OF coal as on
, experimental list: WILLIAMS & LEWIS, ASS;
w. r. JOHNSON, 4.61; Coal Valley, 4.6S ;
and FAULKNER, 4.69-each having an lllll-
minating power OF II candles. Superior
Goals, indeed. The three specimens are
within radius OF one and half miles OF
Canuelton depot, Kanawha.
A very instructive pamphlet with regard
to the coal-rade of the Chesapeake and Ohio
Railroad Company has just been published.
This pamphlet considers the trade espe-
cially with reference to the benefits de-
rived from it by the city of Richmond.
The financial panic OF 1878 impeding the
completion of the western connections OF
this read, the directors Of the company di-
rected their efforts to the development OF
the mineral resources along their road. To
this end General WILLIAMS O. WIcKHAM,
with his assistant officers, made most Gre
ditable exertions. They acquired valuable
information on the subject, and have i'm
parted it to all who sought such knowledge
with view to mining.
The pamphlet of which we speak was
prepared by General I. NJ. ST. JOHN
consulting engineer Of the, company. II
appears from this pamphlet that "early in
1874 foe mines shipped coal by the Chesa.
peake and Ohio railroad; in 1875, ten in
1875, nineteen; and in December, 1877, off,
cial returns reported thirty-t,0o good mines
on the line OF the road" The total ship
ment of coal over the road in 1877 amount
1 ed to. 310,352 tons. The shipments from
the eompany's wharves on James river to
New York and other eastern cities in 1877
were 119.02s tons, requiring fer their trans
portation three hundred and sixteen YES
sells. These vessels, coming for secured
cargoes. necessarily brought cargoes to
Richmond at cheap ireights. The low
freights upon return cargoes from New
York and other ports-notably salt, iron,
ice, and general merchandise attest this
fact. /" Vessels that seek cargoes will bring
cargoes.n In this way the commerce OF
Richmond is promoted, and enables her TO
be more and more commercial city. The
business OF the railroad wharyes gives en-
ployment to 25O mechanics and laborers,
and the freight the road throws upon the
river strengthens the argument in favor Of
the deepening OF James rivera work that
is thus made interesting to the people Of
Ohio and the West.
The report Of General ST. JOHN says that
the mines which feed this trade draw no in
considerable amount of supplies, and espe-
cially dry goods, clothing, groceries, and
hardware, from Richmond. The local con-
sumption Of the Kanawha coal in Richmond
in 1877 was 50,656 tons.
The Richmond Gas Works give the fol-
lowing testimony with regard to the Kama
wha gas-coais: Tn 1877, s,S17 tons Of these
Goals produced 28,000,000 cubic feet more
than the same amount OF coal used in 1870,
and one ton Of the KanaWha, coal produced
8, 60cnbic feet Of gasmore than q ton OF other
Goals used in 1870. Although something
may be due to improved machinery, these,
facts prove the superiority Of the Kanawha
Goals. Continuing the account Of the expert.
ments, it Is stated in the report that in the
gas. manufactured in 1874 from Il per cent.
OF Kanawha Goals with other Goals the cam
dle-power displayed was only AGO, and
that the candle power Of gas manufactured
in 1877 exclusively OF Kanawha coal was II.
The Pennsylvania and Westn,oreiand
coal OF Pennsylvania are the only Goals
that can claim any rivalry with the Ka-
nawha gas-eoal.
III Recommending upon the statement as to
the tonnage from coal General ST. JOHN
says sss
& KS iile Increase in east~bound shipments
VAL ffst attract attention. During 1877
antsa rscite coal has been exception low
f3ann.~s