Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1879-11-19
KNOXVILLE.
Shall We Have 'he PROPOSED COnnec-
sE0u
Interview Wi n Pramtn. CiIiz en-
of KnOKvtike-sOme Interest
Ing Facts.
A Piece of Sound Advice,
Louisville Commercial.

l.
Hotel, He is one of KnoxviIle's mos
prominent citizens and is largely en-
paved in the wholesale hardware trade
Knowing that Mr. Woodruff has
every means of knowing everything
in an indu trial way that concerns his
section ana ours, and that As he is ar
old cit I'm of Louisville, where be
lived until soon after the war, wher
he moved to Tennessee, the CONNER
! cj0E, thinking that his opinions woulC
be read with interest by his friends
and acquaintances here, and in fact by
the enlre business com munity, sOughl
| him at his room yes erday ana secured
from him replies TO the following Ques
tiOns touching E lst Tennessee and The
proposed Knoxville branch of the
Louisville and Nashville Railroad:
Commercially you fi0d business
| generally In good condition in your
secuon of Tennessee d?
Mr.. Woudruff-Busines is -four
ishipg. 1t is much increased over
that of the same period of last year
! The outside world hardly knows the
amount Of business that is done ia
Knox Vile. 81 g has doubled her popu.
IaLion since the war-now about Is OO0
inhabitants. She does a wholesale
business of about S. 900 900 year.
| Cts it manufacturing city of any
| importance?
MIR. W.-The manufacturing inter
ests are subordinate to it's commercial
interests, although they are very re-
spectacle, consisting of rolling mills,
Lail factories, fOandlies. Touring mills,
planing-mills ant tanneTies.
C.-What are the mineral resources
of East Tennessee? -
Mr.. W.-East Tennessee abounds in
iron, copper, zinc and lead ores, aud
an abundance of coal. 10 almost
every county of the 80 that comprise
East Tennessee, there are strong indl-
| cations of zinc and lea mines. Almost
every Hill in this section presents
strong surface indications OF iron ore
of every variety, from the red short to
the magnetic, including the brown
hematite, many Ct them being almost
entirely free from phosphorus, aud es-
pecially adapted to making steel, and
large number Of these ore-beds are
being profilably worked. The Garter
county furnaces are producing quality
of charcoal pig which Is manufactured
| into car-wheels at Knoxville. we'll
known by almost every railroad in the
| South for their superior quality. [ am
| informed by the President of the Car
| wheel Company that some of these
wheels that were made over 20 years
ago are non in active daily service. /
| spoke of zinc above; [ will add that in
| Union and Claiborne and Jefferson and
Knox counties, several zine mines are
in successful operation, and others will
be opened soon.
C.-What about the marble interest
in that section
Mr.. W.T. is assuming vast proper.
lions and many new quaTries are being
opened this year. The pink and flesh
tInts from these quarriea are becoming
very fashionable throughout the Uni
ted States, and [ fad that furniture
furnished with Tennessee marble is
invariably higher priced in all markets,
and the great durability of this marble
is making il greatly preferred for mon
uments in many cities, especially in
Boston, Phitadelphia, Chicago, ST.
Louis and Cleveland. Tue President
of the Knoxville Marble Company
told me the other day that he could
secure orders for one hundred Car loads
per day, If he only had proper railroad
facilities. In almost every county in
East Tennessee these marbles are
aUundaDtly found.
C.-WhaC railroad connections
would open up this section most ads
VantageOusly
Mr.. W.-We are very DESTROYS of Sc
cuuUg the proposed connection with
Louisville, there being only gap o.
about Sky miles to connect the press
ent terminal points Of the Louisville
aud Knoxville branch and of the
- & Il n paI h
cUn pleIIon of this gap, Louisville
would have Two Independent routes TO
Atlanta, and also communica ion VIA
Asheviiie, with North Carolina, S ruth
Carolina aud EasIeTn Georgia, giving
ner direct rail cOmmun cation with
the ports Of Norfolk, Wilmington
Charleston, Savannah and Port Royal.
OF course IL Is well known that The
narbors Of Norfolk and Port Royal
can fl Jat tue oined navies of the
Worlu. There Is a general impression
That the completion OF the Knoxville
branch simply opens up the Tonnes
see coal fields to Louisville; but this is
the least Im pOrtanG OF the advantages
mat would flow from the completion
of this road, the most important being
the opening up of the CarOlinas ana
Georgia, with direct ocean communi-
cation vita every country IN Il
world.
C--Is the Western N. G. r. r. COM
pleted from Asheville t. Salisbury?
Mr.. W.-Fnere is gap of twenty
miles to complete near Asheville,
which is now being worked by the
c0nvicts OF the State, and will be COM
pleted by next spring. The SPARTAN
burg railroad is compile ed within six
teen miles of Ashevllle, and will be
finished about the same time. This
road runs through the heart of South
Carolina, and the two open up the
entire railroad system of all the AT
Iantic States.
C.-You spoke of the Knoxville and
Ohio railroad. Was not that called at
one time the Knoxville and Kentucky
road?
Mr.. VII was; but l presume that
the name was changed by the directors
on account of Cincinnati connection
probable at that time-perhaps with
the intention OF getting the Cincin-
natl Southern to go by way OF Knox
vile.
Glow would this Knoxville con-
necti0n atftcl the Cincinnati Southern
in the way of attracting freight from
Tennessee to Louisville, instead of to
Cincinnati by the Southern road?
Mr.. W.-If Louisville will secure
the completion Of the Knoxville con
lection she will completely check mate
Cincinnati, and take away much OF
the business of the Cincinnati South
ern. Owing TO the fact that President