The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-07-21
A. Others Soc Us.

some rather uniavorable impressions Of
the State, derived from trip through It's
most rugged and unprepoSsessing portion,
that which lies along the line Of the Balti.
more and Ohio Railroad from Harper's
Ferry TO Tie Ohio river. Similar impress.
sions have been made upon previous
travellers who confined their examination
Of the State to a glance through car.wln.
dows, as they hurried along It's principal
thoroughiare, and It has sometimes been
a source Of regret to West Virgihians that
theOpportunities Of viewing their posses.
sions, so far as this class Of inspectors Is
concerned, should be confined TO noun.
tain scenery and such improvements as
the wealth Of forest and mineral treasure
Of our hill country have brought about in
the immediate vicinity Of the road.
That which is nearest, however, is by no
means the iairest, and little distance in
this case would add considerable enchant-
lnent to the view Of travellers, who look
for material improvements to gauge the
condition Of our people. II there are any
more thrifty and promising young COM
munities than the larger towns which lie
along the route referred to, they have fail.
ed TO come under our observation, and the
steady growth OF little settlements along
the line shows that the elements Of prog.
rCss arc not wanting. The country within
sight, although 1t must be described in the
language OF former citizen Of this COM
munity, as "undulating," is richer in the
possessions that make nations prosperous
than almostany other; its hills are fertile to
their tops, and their forests and minerals
are sufficient to build and propel the ma
vies Of the world; while beyond them lie
valleys that are as we'll watered and pro-
ductive as any Of the agricultural and
grazing sections OF the West!
This city seems to have commended it,
self more favOrably to the attention OF the
correspondent than other points OF obser-
walton, and he gives an encouraging &C.
count of its growth and the progress Of
It's principal industry.
Wheeling makes the impression upon
most visitors Of being larger city than 1t
really is, 1t stretches between three and
four miles along the river, and running
back between the hills and overlooking
upon an island that is connected by sus-
pension bridge 1t looks like community
that might count $4,000 inhabitants with
out mourning Theodore Tilton's reproaCh
that no western town could be trusted to
tell its own population. The last enumer.
alton, however, shows barely thirty
thousand, and it is doubtful whether the
coming census will increase the number
much. 1t has grown steadily, however,
and in the hundred years that have
elapsed since it was an Indian trading
post, and as alleged by local historians,
took its name from good Catholic priest
named Whelan, who sought to win the
first inhabitants from sCalps and firewater
to rosaries and holy deeds, it has had but
few baCksets.
Away back in the thirties some OF her
enterprising citizens concluded it was as
good a point as Pittsburgh TO manufacture
iron, and built mill at the upper end Of
the city, on the site now covered by the
works OF the Wheeling Iron and Nail
Company, known then as now by the
name Of Top Mill. Pittsburgh capital
subsequently became interested in similar
ventures here. The Shoenbergers and
other names familiar to the trade appear
in the list OF manufacturers. The Virginia
Mill was shortly afterward built on the
site OF the present Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad Depot, and when that corpora
ton got through the mountains and made
good offer for the central location on
which the mill stood, the latter was re-
moved to Benwood, four miles below. The
Belmont was subsequently built by the
Nortons, the Baileys and the Woodwards,
who afterward swarmed several times and
founded the Labelle, the Jefferson at
Steubenville, and the Ironton Mills. About
the same time the ill.starred Crescent Mill
was founded by Gill. Hartman and
the Stevens, and the city began
to cut some figure as an iron CEN
ter. It was not, however until the
war ended that the big jump was made
which put the city at the head, at least, Of
one important iron product. At that time
high prices stimulated additional invest.
ments and improvements. The Riverside
Mills and Furnace, the Bellaire Mill and
Furnace, the Jefferson Mills at Steuben-
Vile, the Top Mill, the Belmont and the
Mingo Furnaces, the Ohio Valley and the
Etna Mills and other iron and steel con-
Germs OF lesser importance were started
and the nail mills then in operation in
creased the number OF their machines and
forges largely to meet the demand for their
product. In 1860 there were less than
five hundred nail machines in Pittsburgh
and territory west and south OF that city.
In 1870 there were upwards OF six hundred
in the Wheeling mills alone, and as many
more In the western district beyond. II
the mills founded and controlled by
Wheeling capital are to be counted, she
now makes one.third OF all the nails man
ufactured in the United States. II only
the mills within her own limits are to be
taken into the account, one.tifth is little
less than her proportion.
Concerning the politics Of the State the
correspondent is little foggy. He sets
down the average Democratic majority as
being in the neighborhood OF 10000 on
total vote Of 100000, and naively adds that
it can probably be increased II necessary.
What the means may be by which such
increase can be secured in an emergency,
are not pointed out, but 1t will be remem-
bered that in 1876 on total vote of 1OO,-
526, the heaviest vote ever polled within
the State, the Democratic majority was
but 1887, while in the Congressional
elections, two years later, which furnish
the latest induces Of political feeling in the
Commonwealth, on total vote of 1874,
the total Democratic majority in the three
Districts, over the combined vote Of the